Team effort, improvements breed results

Lynn Grooms
Apr 25, 2022
Apr 25, 2022

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Linda and Jeff Wepner, center, farm near Manawa, Wisconsin, with their sons Alex Wepner, left, and Kyle Wepner.

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Cows are fitted with activity collars to help the Wepners detect cows in heat. Activity systems on the market can help monitor rumination, cow temperature, cow location within a barn, cow position, eating time and more, according to the Pennsylvania State University-Extension.

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Milking data are captured on a computer screen. The 300-cow milking herd at Wepner Farms averages 86 pounds of milk per day.

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The milking-area design at Wepner Farms provides for smooth cow movement.

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Lynn Grooms

Lely robotic milking system at Wepner Farms

A cow is milked by a Lely robotic milker. It's one of six such robots at Wepner Farms, which were installed in summer 2020.

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Lynn Grooms

MANAWA, Wis. – Tyler Boyer has watched the Wepner Farms dairy herd continue to improve – especially in the past year. An artificial-insemination specialist for CentralStar Cooperative, he nominated the Manawa-area farm for CentralStar’s ReproStar award.

Lynn Grooms writes about the diversity of agriculture, including the industry’s newest ideas, research and technologies as a staff reporter for Agri-View based in Wisconsin.