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3B Farms transitions from dairy to beef while staying with Holsteins
Jeff Bullerman stands inside one of the calf barns on the family’s rural Adrian farm. Julie Buntjer The Globe
By Julie Buntjer | jbuntjer@dglobe.com ADRIAN — When Steve Bullerman quit milking cows in the late 1990s, he wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the black and white Holsteins that had been a fixture on his rural Adrian farm.
Bullerman, son of Steve. The fatherson duo, along with Jeff’s cousin, Ted Bullerman, comprise the 3 B’s in 3B Farms, LLC.
In search of a new use for the dairy barn, the family connected with other dairy farmers in the area and began buying bottle calves to feed and grow to finishing weight.
Today, 3B Farms brings in 200- to 300-pound calves and raises them to 1,550 pounds before they are marketed to Packerland in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The calves are raised on Jeff’s farm, and moved to Ted’s farm for finishing.
“As time evolved, we started building the barns we have today,” said Jeff
“In 2003 we started building cattle barns,” Jeff shared of the initial starter
and grower barns. By 2005, construction began on their first slatted floor finishing barn. The style was chosen for management and manure purposes, with four more slatted finishing barns constructed during the next five years to reach their current capacity. “Calves go from the starter to grower barn, and at 600 pounds they go to the finisher barn,” Jeff said. “Today we’re at about 4,000 head and finish out a little over 3,000 head a year.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 45
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