Bill Shuler of Baroda says he either "had to do something dramatic, or quit the dairy business altogether." For a fourth generation farmer and dairyman, Shuler elected to follow the path toward doing something dramatic and he's ready to show the world what he has done with hopes that you'll take him up on the opportunity to see his enterprise first hand at a public open house on Saturday, July 9th.
Shuler owns and operates G. C. Shuler & Sons with his sons Billy and Wyatt at 10823 Date Road outside of Baroda. He has joined the space age, the 21st Century, or whatever else you might like to call it by virtually fully automating his dairy farm with the amazing new technology of robotic milking machines inside his new 30,000 square foot barn which sits alongside a second new 24,000 square foot barn where he hopes to capitalize on the agri-tourism trend in Michigan's Great Southwest.
Shuler plans to not only open his automated barn to the public so they can see how well the cows are treated, but to also then serve fresh ice cream, milk, butter, yogurt and other dairy products right on site as his plan advances.
To better understand the current state of affairs, it is helpful to recapture a bit of the history of the property, which Shuler loves to tell and plans to share with visitors interested in the heritage the farm brings to the region.
In 1848 Barney Eidson purchased 160 acres along Date Road and built a house and barn. Twelve years later, a Mrs. Lawrence bought the property from Eidson for $12,000 and 8-percent interest per year and began making and selling cheese there. At some point the Lawrence family lost the property or simply abandoned it until Shuler's great grandparents Henry & Margaret Shuler, who had a farm of their own just up the road apiece sold it and bought the Lawrence farm in 1882. They, too, started making butter and cheese, and Margaret would take eggs, butter and cheese and head for St. Joseph in her buggy.
Shuler says the back lot of the property was filled with walnut trees, but they were all cut down, piled up and burned to ashes, after which two teams of oxen pulled the remaining stumps to make way for hogs, chickens and dairy cows owned by his grandfather Grover Cleveland Shuler and later Bill's father, Ward and his brother Wade partnered in the late 1940s to run the farm. An uncle, Woodrow (Ward's brother) died at the age of 8.
By the early 60s the chickens were gone in favor of more cows, and by 1967 Ward & Wade won the Ford Farm Efficiency Award for Dairy operations and earned a trip to Annaheim to the Ambassador Hotel, the Disney studios and United Artists Studios. While on an aerial tour of Southern California in a helicopter, an Indiana farmer joked that there appeared to be a crack in one of the propeller blades. A week later the chopper crashed killing everyone on board.
By 1985 Ward & Wade dissolved their partnership. Bill married Carolyn Mae in 1986, and his mother's name is Shirley Mae, and his grandmother's name is Olive Mae. Ward died last year in March in the same room in which he was born and the same room where both of his grandparents died in the family homestead which has been beautifully restored a couple of hundred yards from the main barn. That was the dying wish of Bill's father, and they added a 12-foot addition to it as well.
Bill's sons Billy & Wyatt are very interested in carrying on the family farm as the fifth generation of the family. He himself went to Michigan State University in the mid-70s for veterinarian school, but that school was dramatically over populated so he went to agricultural school instead, and earned his Dairy Science degree. His sons have both graduated from MSU as well.
The three work daily to maintain their enterprise which now has 50 cows and growing. The new robotic milking machinery is a major attraction for dairy farmers from across the nation who routinely come to see the incredible set up the Shulers have established here.
The cows are all free to roam anywhere in the barns and pasture lands that they wish. They can give milk, eat, drink, or lay down at any time that they want, and Bill says "They are the cleanest, most contented cows you will ever meet in your life." The sawdust floor is accompanied by a track with an automatic scraper that cleans the path of manure every six hours. Large self-activated brushes can be approached and turned on by the cows themselves to scratch their backs, sides, or any surface on demand.
The barn cover is made in Ontario and features a roof and steel structure with canvas-vinyl that lets light through, but stays cool, and sides made of polycarbonate, UV tinted to filter ultra-violet rays. A venetian hybrid tunnel system sucks all the air in one direction, and all lights and fans are computer controlled based on temperatures. A total of twenty-four 72-inch fans move air steadily through the barns.
The real star of the show, however in this state-of-the-art facility, is the robotic milking system which Shuler calls, "Simply mindboggling!" The barn is the cow's 24/7 home, although they can wander out to pasture, but, says Shuler, "With everything they want and need inside, there's little reason to head outside!"
Shuler's cows are registered Holsteins and Jerseys with registered Brown Swiss and red & whites, too. He has one bull, Punk, a 2,000 pound, 5-and-a-half year old, however the farm uses artificial insemination for breeding by that bull.
Ideally, the cows milk themselves 2 to 3 times a day, after feeding on hay, grain and corn silage all mixed together which rolls out automatically several times a day in an automated trough.
There are 8.6 lbs of milk per gallon, and each cow produces 9 gallons of milk per day, for nearly 100 pounds of milk total per cow. Milk is picked up every other day and put into the Michigan Milk System at Constantine and is part of the Foremost Farms co-op of Wisconsin. Some of Shuler's milk is used routinely by companies like Old Europe Cheese Company in Benton Harbor.
The robotic milking process takes about 7 to 8 minutes per cow, and gauges on the machine track how much milk comes out of each cow and allows for the regularity and consistency that cows like to establish as a routine.
Milk arrives in the equipment room where its 101.2 degree temperature is dropped to 58-degrees before being cooled further to 37 to 38-degrees before a bulk tank using propellers to agitate it. Everything is systematically washed three times a day with a full wash, rinse, detergent and acid wash to sanitize for safety. The storage tank will hold 2,700 gallons of milk and the milk is picked up by the dairy co-op every other day.
Things are looking up at Shuler Farms and you can see it all up close and personal by heading to the Public Open House on Saturday, July 9th from 10am until 3pm. Prepare to be both intrigue and impressed. While there is no charge to attend the open house, Shuler asks that you consider bringing non-perishable food items to be donated to the local food bank for those who find themselves hungry with limited resources to sustain themselves. You can help "pay it forward."
