Virtual Farm Tour: Learning from new ventures is the philosophy at Tri-Fecta Farms

Tri-Fecta Farms is located in Fox Lake, Wisconsin. The Schultz family has milked 400 cows since the dairy farm was established in 1993. (Photo credit: The Schultz family)

The Schultz family (left to right): Kari Gribble, Keven Schultz, Cheryl Schultz, Nick Schultz and Katy Schultz. (Photo credit: The Schultz family)

Tri-Fecta Farms is owned and operated by siblings Nick, Kari and Katy. Katy manages the cows, calves and employees on the operation. Nick takes up the cropping, feed program and machinery maintenance. Kari oversees all the financials for the farm. (Photo credit: The Schultz family)

In 2020, Tri-Fecta Farms opened a farm-raised beef market. This diversified their farming business and created the opportunity for consumers to build connections with the local farm. (Photo credit: The Schultz family)

Close-up cows are moved to a bedded pack pen 24 to 48 hours before calving. The calf stays with its dam until it is cleaned off and standing. (Photo credit: The Schultz family)

Beef-on-dairy calves are raised together with the dairy replacement heifers until the heifers enter the breeding pen and the beef move to a finishing pen. Raising beef has diversified their farming business and created an opportunity for consumers to build connections with the local farm.

According to Katy, group housing of preweaned calves makes labor efficient, encourages calf socialization and supports calf performance.

After weaning, calves are moved into a pen with two adjacent super hutches with 12 calves. Here they receive the same BSF starter with 18% crude protein as they received in the preweaned period.

The mob feeders are washed and sanitized twice daily. Each feeder has five nipples. This ensures that, in a pen of four calves, each calf always has access to a nipple. Worn-in nipples are used for the youngest calves to allow for easy sucking while brand-new nipples are given to the older and more aggressive calves.

Katy is committed to showing consumers modern agriculture. If they are a beef market customer, or students on a field trip, Katy wants consumers to understand what modern agriculture looks like, how animals are raised, and where their food comes from. (Photo credit: The Schultz family)

After cash cropping and raising beef cattle on multiple sites for several years, Keven and Cheryl Schultz of Fox Lake, Wisconsin, decided to consolidate their farming operations and build a brand new 400-cow dairy in 1993.

They instilled a passion for agriculture in each of their three children – Katy Schultz, Nick Schultz and Kari Gribble. In 2008, they began transitioning the farm to the three siblings. Today, the team at Tri-Fecta Farms continues to milk 400 dairy cows.

“We need to do it better, not bigger,” Katy remarked.

Katy said that she “manages anything with a heartbeat,” which includes the dairy herd, calves, beef feeders and employees. Nick heads up the cropping and feed programs, and machinery maintenance. Kari oversees the farms financials. Keven and Cheryl continue to be actively involved on the farm.

“Clear communication and a level of trust to make decisions that exceeds personal goals is how we make this operation successful,” Katy said.

A focus on animal health and wellbeing from minute one

Katy said she utilizes a hands-off approach during calving, only interceding when a cow is in distress.

“Calves stay with the cow for a few hours,” said Katy. “We have found benefits from the stimulation of being licked off.”

Calves are bottle-fed 1 gallon of maternal colostrum once they are standing. They receive a dose of Multimin^® and one First Defense^® bolus, and are tagged. Katy applies dehorning paste and covers the paste with tape. During cold weather, calves stay in a warming pen until they are completely dry, are fitted with a calf jacket, and then are gradually introduced to the cold weather. Next, they are placed in a group pen.

Group housing benefits

Katy explained that calves are placed into groups of four and will stay with their group as they enter the milking herd. Each group is fed 3 gallons of Vita Plus Talon, a 25/25 milk replacer, via a mob feeder twice daily. After a couple days, they are introduced to water and Vita Plus BSF calf starter with 18% crude protein.

“There are two major benefits to group housing: bonding of calves and saving labor,” Katy remarked.

Calves are grouped based on age, and develop together, creating a group mentality. She said she has observed that bonding and socialization stimulate them to do things with other calves such as eat and drink water.

Katy and one other employee feed calves. In one hour, one person can feed 45 to 50 calves. She said the two calf feeders prioritize clear communication. Each monitors health and overall wellbeing of each calf, consistently sharing their observations with each other.

Raising beef calves alongside dairy calves

Katy said, for years, her friends asked if they could buy beef directly from Tri-Fecta Farms; in January 2020, the family began marketing farm-raised beef.

Beef-on-dairy calves are raised in the same way as the dairy calves, Katy said. Ideally, if she can put four beef calves together in a group pen, she will. Dairy calves begin the weaning process at around five weeks of age, and the process takes about 10 to 12 days. The youngest calf in the pen determines weaning time.  If a pen includes beef calves, Katy extends the weaning process by one week. She said the beef calves grow better if they are even 5% larger when they are weaned from milk.

After weaning, calves are moved into a pen with two adjacent super hutches in groups of 12 and continue to receive the same BSF starter grain. They stay in this pen for about two weeks.

Next, they move to a transition barn and introduced to a grower feed after about a week. They are fed a heifer TMR, starting at about eight months of age. At 14 months of age, the beef and dairy animals are separated. Dairy heifers are placed into a breeding pen, and the beef animals are finished out.

Tri-Fecta Farms Family Market

Originally, Katy sold the beef at local farmers markets, but she soon discovered she had enough local demand that she did not need to travel. Plus, the on-farm market, which is open for two hours on Saturdays, offers consumers an opportunity to see where their food is raised. Meat is sold by the cut versus the pound.

Katy said the goal of the market goes beyond selling product.

“I want customers to know how their food is grown and what modern agriculture looks like,” Katy emphasized. “With rising food costs, we keep it simple to ease people’s anxieties around price.”

“Our farm family”

With a focus on gaining efficiencies, Katy emphasized the value of a cohesive team. She said most people who have worked on the farm have been employed for more than 11 years.

“We don’t say ‘our employees,’ we say ‘our farm family,’” Katy said.  “It has never been a you-versus-me, but a team environment.”

Katy carries this approach into hiring, focusing on the attributes that make an employee a great team player.

“Our focus is not on time spent, but on completing tasks and completing them well,” Katy said. “I will never ask someone to do a job that I will not do myself. This is part of building trust and confidence with employees.”

Looking forward, Katy said the team at Tri-Fecta Farms is not afraid to try something new.

“Learn something from everything you try,” Katy advised. “Keep it simple, and don’t over complicate things. These animals have an intuition on how they can grow and function. It is our responsibility to take care of their health and environment.”