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DAIRY ST R
Volume 24, No. 6
“All dairy, all the time”™
May 14, 2022
Set on dairying
From teenage farmhand to independent farm owner By Stacey Smart
stacey.m@dairystar.com
STACY SMART/DAIRY STAR
First-generaƟon farmer, Adam Vanden Wymelenberg and his wife, Marie, and their children – (from leŌ) Oscar, Ezra and Mabel – milk 155 cows and farm 280 acres near De Pere, Wisconsin. The Vanden Wymelenbergs purchased the farm in 2017.
DE PERE, Wis. – At the age of 13, Adam Vanden Wymelenberg got his rst job. By working on a dairy farm, he kicked off his dream of becoming a farmer someday. The son of an electrician and a dog groomer, Vanden Wymelenberg would be the rst in his family to dairy farm. Starting with six cows in his grandpa’s pig barn, this rst-generation farmer now milks 155 cows near De Pere on a farm he purchased in 2017. “Farming has been a goal of mine ever since I can remember,” Vanden Wymelenberg said. “I was always fascinated by farming and glued to watching tractors. I caught the farming bug when I was pretty young.” Vanden Wymelenberg worked his rst job until he graduated from high school, building up knowledge on the industry. “First, I learned how smaller farms ran, and then I went to a larger farm and learned how those operate, so I have experience in both,” he said. Vanden Wymelenberg and his wife, Marie, have three children – Ezra, 4, Mabel,
3, and Oscar, 15 months – as well as another child on the way. Marie is an emergency room trauma nurse who cut back on her hours to stay home with the kids but picks up shifts as time allows. Vanden Wymelenberg has one full-time employee and a handful of high schoolers who help primarily on evenings and weekends. His 280 acres of crops are custom done by a neighbor. In total, Vanden Wymelenberg has milked at three locations, beginning with the farm he purchased from his grandpa in 2009. The barn was set up for raising pigs, but Vanden Wymelenberg transformed it for use with heifers. His rst milk cow was an animal he took on at the coaxing of a friend – a special needs heifer that suffered a stroke and struggled to use the left side of her body. “She became my project animal,” Vanden Wymelenberg said. “I ended up breeding her, and she freshened in and did good. I milked her with a portable pump and added on a few more cows.” When he reached a half dozen milking but was dumping the milk, he knew he needed to either dive in completely or quit. He started looking for herds to buy and a barn to rent. At the time, he was working for a large dairy as a herdsman.
Turn to VANDEN WYMELENBERG | Page 7
Farming by feel Brekken does not let blindness slow him down By Stacey Smart
stacey.m@dairystar.com
MCFARLAND, Wis. – Imagine seeing only shapes but no details at close range and seeing nearly nothing from far away. This is what life is like for dairy farmer Cory Brekken. However, he can still do many of the same things other farmers do. Cory milks cows, feeds, does eldwork like cutting hay, and also performs maintenance on equipment. He treats cows and does much of his own veterinary work and can also breed cows and assist with difcult calvings. He drives tractor, runs the chainsaw and maneuvers around the farm with ease. Legally blind since birth, Cory suffers from Leber congenital am-
aurosis. He is missing cells in both of his retinas and as a result has had minimal vision his entire life. “I grew up this way, so it’s all I’ve ever known” Cory said. “I’ve been farming like this for so long that it doesn’t really seem challenging to me.” Cory milks 75 cows and farms 200 acres near McFarland. He began working on the farm as a salaried employee in 2000. For 18 years, Cory managed the dairy for the radiologist who owned the farm until purchasing the operation in 2018. From day No. 1, the farm has practiced seasonal calving and rotational grazing. Cory’s herd goes dry around Jan. 10, and cows started calving again this year March 1. “I don’t have a freestall barn, so Turn to BREKKEN | Page 7
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Cory Brekken milks 75 cows and farms 200 acres near McFarland, Wisconsin. Brekken was born legally blind and farms with limited vision.