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Truttmann Dairy LLC Blanchardville, Wisconsin
Reproduction at Truttmann Dairy LLC is the result of team effort! Pictured (right to left) are members of the team: Doug Truttmann, Allie (the dog), Collin Legler, Dwight Truttmann, Dan Truttmann, veterinarian Tim Bruns, and GENEX representatives Lindsey Geddes and Scott Schultz.
Excellence in Genetics & Reproduction Platinum Award Winner
Truttmann Dairy LLC, located in southern Wisconsin, is operated by owners Dan and Shelly Truttmann along with Dan’s father Dwight, brother Doug and nine full‑time employees. The family began farming in the early 90s, utilizing rotational grazing while focusing on growing cow numbers. In 1998, they built their first barn. By 2012, the herd outgrew the grazing acreage, and the Truttmanns’ turned their focus to cow comfort and production within a freestall facility (though they still utilize some rotational grazing for bred heifers).
voluntary wait period with cows bred, on average, at 83 DIM. Cows are bred on a natural heat as much as possible with activity information provided through the SCR Heatime® system (now known as an Allflex Livestock Intelligence system). If a cow hasn’t come into heat by 100 DIM, they double lute her and watch for heat. If necessary, the process is repeated 14 days later and in rare instances followed with Ovsynch.
Today, the dairy consists of 472 milk cows, mostly Jerseys with a few Holsteins. The herd averages 67 pounds of milk, 4.9% fat and 3.7% protein.
The top 50% of cows receive up to two services of sexed semen. If needed, one service is to conventional semen before being bred to beef. The bottom 50% of the herd is all bred to beef. Altogether, that equates to 58% sexed semen use along with a 52% sexed semen conception rate.
The dairy excels in reproduction with a 37% pregnancy rate, 53.9% pregnant at first service and 80% bred by 150 days in milk (DIM). The breeding protocol includes an 80 DIM
“It has taken a team to get where we are repro-wise,” explains Lindsey Geddes, GENEX Reproductive Program Senior Technician who provides the breeding service. “From
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the healthy happy cows to the owners, employees, nutritionist John Binversie with Quality Liquid Feeds, veterinarian Tim Bruns, and the GENEX team, including reproductive consultant Adam Koppes; sales manager Scott Schultz; and relief technician Charles Hookstead, it’s a team effort.” Dan says he enjoys working with GENEX because of the bull lineup (particularly the positive DPR Jersey sires) and because he can trust GENEX representatives to have the dairy’s best interest at heart. “Lindsey and Scott take great care of us and our herd! Lindsey is the best! Her personality is bigger than even the Jerseys, and she does an amazing job of knowing the herd and not missing a thing. I never have to think about whether the job is done right. It always is.” Three years ago, the dairy’s reproduction program changed after Dan put in the SCR system with activity and rumination monitoring collars. He wanted the system specifically for health monitoring for the pre- and post-fresh cows and wasn’t certain it would do a better job at heat detection than tail chalk. “However, after two weeks, we let the collars do the work and our conception rate improved soon after,” notes Dan. “Our preg rate has gone up by 10 points, all while cutting hormone use to near zero and significantly increasing the use of sexed semen.” Lindsey explains that at first, she too was worried about relying fully on the collars but soon learned to love the system as well. Dan adds, “We don’t miss heats like before. The system is great at detecting estrus and showing how strong a heat is. It has forced us to wait a bit longer before breeding, knowing the optimal time to breed. In addition to helping improve reproductive performance, it has helped keep the herd healthy and minimize lameness too.”
