One family 3,000 cows

Mike Paulus has more plans thrown out the window by 9 a.m. than many people do all day.

The lifelong Town of Fredonia farmer wakes up every morning with a schedule of what he’d like to accomplish by the end of the day, but the unpredictable nature of his business often steps in to alter his plan of attack.

Some of that is nature itself. Rain or shine can dictate operations on Paulus Dairy LLC. A dry, clear day can mean longer hours cropping, while rain could lead to working on equipment.

“They realize every day can change and you have to be able to go with the flow,” farm co-owner and Mike’s wife Lori said.

“You live with that,” Mike said. “If something happens, it’s not a big deal anymore.”

Such is life on the family farm that has been operating for six generations. Mike’s parents Ed and Elvira Paulus bought the farm from Elivra’s uncle John in 1975. They sold it to Mike and Lori in 1986.

Their son Andy is a partner in the business — he will be the seventh generation of owners — and their daughter Tiffany Schneider works as the farm veterinarian. Two other daughters live in the area and help out when they can while managing their non-farming careers.

While inconsistent weather regularly impacts farmers, the Pauluses try to limit another uncertainty—the health of their enormous herd of 3,000 cows, about half of which have to be milked every day.

A couple of years ago, the farm began investing in devices that are put in cows’ ears when they turn one year old.

“The best way to describe it is a Fitbit,” Mike said.

The sensors monitor cows’ activity, rumination (cud-chewing) and temperature. The information is sent to a computer and is available on smart phones.

Each cow develops its own baseline for health. When a category gets out of whack, an alert pops up on the device’s software.

“We have found the sooner you can treat a cow, the quicker she will return to health,” Mike said.

The technology is five years old and representative of the speed at which the computer industry can impact farming.

The devices are a drastic improvement from processes the Pauluses used to employ.

“Years ago, we would walk through and observe. If a cow is sick, she may not look sick,” Mike said.

“We still walk pens, but now we have more knowledge than we ever did before.”

Schneider’s work goes a long way in helping maintain herd health. She writes protocols for the care of calves by adult cows.

“It’s a lot of being proactive so they don’t get sick,” she said.

A small fever in a cow can warrant the equivalent of an aspirin. A higher fever indicates an infection.

The cows stay inside at the farm since the Pauluses don’t have enough land to allow them to eat grass outside. They are fed rations that include eight different elements blended together. A nutritionist twice a month tests the feed.

“We’re basically feeding these cows like athletes,” Mike said. “We don’t want fat cows.”

Having happy cows, he said, leads to  higher-quality milk.

“The industry found out the more comfortable a cow is, the better it will turn out. That is what we strive for, putting out a better product,” Mike said.

The goal, he said, is to “produce one pound of milk as efficiently as we can.” The farm produces roughly 85 pounds of milk per cow per day.

Their 4%-fat milk goes to Baker Cheese in St. Cloud. The majority of it is used to make string cheese; 2% of the fat is taken out and used for ice cream and butter.

Back when they had a mere 200 cows, Mike and Lori used to finish their chores at 8 p.m. and head in for the night. Nobody checked on the cows until 5 a.m. the next day. If a cow had a calf overnight, they were on their own for hours.

Now, the Pauluses have 25 employees they call “team members,” some of whom work nights so they can attend to the cows.          Lori said the employees “are like family because they’re with us so much.” Some of the employees’ have had their own family members join them, and Mike said he is proud that some have gone on to buy farms and run their own operations.

“Our role has become more of teaching to pass on knowledge we have gained,” Mike said.

The Pauluses keep a constant watch on their farm through a camera system. That allows them to ensure proper protocols are being used and to correct errors.

“Years and years ago it was more of a family thing,” Mike said. “Now it’s a business and it has to be run like a business.”

But it is still run by the family.

Schneider, who came back to the farm in 2015 after working as a vet in Cedar Grove and Kiel, where she lives. She said she became a vet because she always liked the scientific part of farming and enjoys working with farmers.

Andy returned to the farm after working for his uncle doing concrete construction.

“It’s in the blood. I like working with the animals and all the challenges. It’s a different challenge every day,” he said.

His role includes looking over the herd in the morning and then doing an array of field work. “There’s always something,” he said.

Lori is in charge of bookkeeping and human resources, and is happy that her children return to the farm so she can spend time with her grandchildren.

Mike is more of a general manager and does cropping. He grew up on a farm.

“I was 18 and knew it all. And now I’m 61 and still learning,” he said.

“The world is changing. Technology is changing. We’re always trying to make the farm simple and efficient.”