When the Hilmar Cheese Company announced in May 2021 that it would be building a cheese and whey processing plant south of Dodge City, KS, it marked another major success for the Kansas dairy industry.
Hilmar’s facility, which is expected to be operational in late 2023 or in 2024, will create 247 new jobs. The project and associated dairy farms needed to supply the facility will bring an additional dairy farm and other support positions to the region. Hilmar officials said it represents more than $1 billion in investments to southwest Kansas.
“Dodge City was selected because it is a supportive agricultural region in close proximity to the local dairy industry,” said Hilmar’s CEO and president, David Ahlem.
The bottom line is Kansas has been generating plenty of milk production over the past quarter century. The Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) reported in 2021 that the dairy industry had contributed $1.39 billion to the state’s economy, along with 4,018 jobs when considering indirect and induced impacts.
Over the past 29 years, the Kansas cow herd doubled while milk production quadrupled, according to KDA data.
It begs the question: Why has this sector of the state’s agricultural industry exploded over the last three decades, and how did it happen?
“Abundant feed, ag-friendly policies and communities, and room to grow were the main factors in our move to Kansas,” said Ken McCarty, a 2005 graduate of Kansas State (K-State) University’s Department of Animal Sciences and Industry who was still a teenager when his parents, Tom and Judy, moved the family’s dairy from Sugar Run, PA, to northwest Kansas in 1999.
Another factor, McCarty adds, is location: “As my dad always tells us, ‘In Kansas, we are halfway to everywhere.’”
The McCarty’s processing plant in Rexford, KS, is one of three large processing plants currently operating in the state, with the others in Garden City and Hugoton.
“What was really driving recruiting efforts is that we had the feed supply,” said George Blush, who was the dairy program inspection manager for KDA from 1999-2018. “We had silage; we had corn; we had everything (dairies) needed readily available. There were a couple California dairies that came in and expanded their operations in Kansas. They said that within a few years, they could pay for a dairy just based on the cost (savings) they experienced in feed and transportation.”
Mike Brouk’s 24-year career as a dairy specialist for K-State Research and Extension has put him smack dab in the middle of Kansas’ dairy growth. He remembers the early part of his career when cow numbers were struggling: “That was a real low point,” he said.
While marketing efforts were getting dairy producers’ attention, K-State specialists went about doing what they do best. Brouk was involved in studies that aided cow comfort, including installing fans in barns and other heat abatement strategies. He worked on strategies to improve nutrition and forage quality and to develop heifers that have been raised for several states and even for producers in Qatar.
Agricultural engineer Joe Harner, who retired in June 2022 after 40 years at K-State, was instrumental in designing facilities on Kansas dairies, including waste and water management systems that used sand to filter manure.
“If you look at work like Mike (Brouk) did with heat stress, everybody could adopt it,” Harner said. “Regardless of the size of operation, everyone could benefit from the work we were doing.”
The western side of Kansas has been preferred for the so-called mega-dairies—those with 2,000 cows or more. The eastern side of the state has been more common for smaller dairies.
Technology also has played a critical role in the past 20 years, including systems that recycle water so that it is used multiple times on the farm and automated milking systems—often called robotic milkers—that allow cows access to the milking parlor 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“We know that dairies in the area rely on K-State’s research to advance the industry,” Ahlem said. “Research and education are critical as our industry progresses toward sustainability goals.” — K-State Research and Extension
