Milking opportunity

As the son of a dairy farmer, Kaleb Rodgers of Vanzant, Mo., had an upbringing much different than most of his peers. 

By age 10, he was milking by himself before and after school, while his father, Mike, who worked full time off the farm, handled the feeding. And Kaleb says he wouldn’t change a thing. 

“My great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather both milked,” said Kaleb, who, along with his wife, Erin, now owns and operates Twin Knobs Dairy on land purchased by his grandfather in 1951. “It’s in my blood. All I ever wanted to do was milk cows. That’s who I am.”

“And I wanted him, so it was kind of a package deal,” added Erin, who was born and raised in the nearby town of Mountain Grove. “I’ve always wanted to live on a farm.”  

“And we both love critters,” Kaleb said.

In fact, a love of animals is at the heart of the Rodgerses’ relationship. The couple met more than 15 years ago at the veterinary clinic in Mountain Grove, where Erin was working as a veterinary technician, and they married in September 2013. Together, they have one son, Everett, 8, and hundreds of animals in their care.

In addition to the 200-cow dairy, they operate Action Farms, a large operation that includes a commercial dog kennel and Maine Coon cattery, various livestock ranging from Hampshire pigs to Highland cows, a menagerie of domesticated poultry—even peacocks—and several exotic animals, including an emu, spider monkeys, lemurs and kangaroos. In fact, Erin, who holds a state wildlife rehabilitation permit, is currently bottle-feeding an orphaned raccoon and has nurtured a variety of Missouri wildlife, from a bobcat kitten to white-tailed deer fawns. The Rodgerses also own residential rental properties and commercial properties. 

Likewise, in the last decade, the couple has worked diligently to gradually expand the family’s dairy operations. The farm originally comprised 100 acres, which Mike still owns, but Kaleb and Erin have since added more than 1,000 acres of surrounding land to the family’s holdings. That’s not an easy feat, considering the dairy’s location in the Mark Twain National Forest. 

“All I can think about is growing and getting bigger,” Kaleb said. “That’s just how I am. My brain never stops.”

From trials come turning points

Like an idyllic scene from a milk commercial, the dairy cows spend their days carefree, rotationally grazing on the farm’s lush green pastures. The additional acreage also allows the Rodgerses, with help from Mike, to raise about 200 head of beef cattle and produce their own hay. 

Typically, Kaleb handles the twice-daily milking, which he fits around Everett’s schedule, while Erin manages Action Farms and the rental properties. Mike, who sold his share of the dairy to the couple several years ago, looks after the beef herd and the hay feeding for all of the cattle.

The family currently does not have any dairy employees, with Erin handling the milking when Kaleb is away. The lack of hired labor has been a significant challenge for the Rodgers family, for one specific reason: “To continue to expand and grow, you have to have help,” said Erin. “We’re really rural. You just can’t find anybody.”

With fewer helping hands, Twin Knobs’ operations may look a little different than other dairies. In breeding, the farm uses Jersey bulls instead of artificial insemination in the mixed Jersey-Holstein herd. “It works for us,” said Erin, noting that their farm’s calving rate is typically more than 90%.

The Rodgerses also raise and keep all their heifers, which has helped the herd grow yet also presented a problem a few years ago. “They all kind of freshened at the same time, and our barn wasn’t ready,” Erin recalled.

Before their current milking parlor was built, the older, much smaller barn could only milk four cows at a time. With a bigger herd but limited capabilities, Kaleb often spent 16 hours a day milking.

“We had no infrastructure, period,” he said. “It was to the point that we had to get smaller or get bigger.”

But he and Erin knew that downsizing might not be an option if they wanted to stay in the dairy business.

“So many dairies are going out around us that we genuinely felt like we either needed to expand or eventually we might not be able to have somebody come pick up our milk,” Erin said. “It might not be worth coming to get it because there are no other dairies around us.”

Following the path of many others from farming legacies, Kaleb and Erin found themselves at a similar crossroads: how to finance improvements to remain profitable or whether to exit the business altogether.

Success starts with the right partner

However, they weren’t ready to throw in the figurative towel just yet. Kaleb had previous experience working with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to implement practices such as watering systems and rotational grazing. While the Rodgerses intended to construct a new milk barn independently, they wondered what assistance from the NRCS might be available for infrastructure improvements to complement a new, larger facility.

To find out, Kaleb contacted Theresa Woods, NRCS area agricultural engineer for Texas County and surrounding areas. Initially, the plan was only to upgrade the holding pen, but after visiting other dairy facilities with Theresa, the list of potential improvements grew, especially when considering future expansion.

“In designing a dairy, it is important to try and plan ahead to allow everything to flow smoothly and to have enough room for expanding if needed,” said Theresa, who has designed animal waste structure improvements for dairy, beef, pork and poultry. “In the initial talks with Kaleb and Erin, we discussed the holding pen and layout, which, in turn leads to questions of, ‘Would you like to flush or include a feeding floor anytime in the future?’”

Perhaps with further growth in mind, the Rodgerses wanted to implement both improvements. “It just snowballed,” said Kaleb. “It’s like, while we’re doing this, let’s do it.”

In addition to a larger holding pen, Theresa designed several improvements grouped together under one roof (literally) as a new, approximately 36,000-square-foot structure.

The plan included a large dry stack facility, also called a pack barn, divided in half by a long hay manger with two concrete feeding floors on either side, creating two separate pens. Connected to the feeding floors is a new concrete-floored holding pen and return alley from the parlor.

All the floors slope slightly downward to utilize a manure flush system. A new lagoon was built with a recycle pump to bring wastewater from the lagoon to several flush tanks, which, when flushed or emptied, wash manure down the concrete to converge into a connected, newly constructed waste separation facility.

There, the waste then flows down a concrete ramp to a 6-foot-deep gravity tank or pull-plug tank. A pipe drain in the corner returns liquids to the lagoon, leaving behind most solids. Once the tank is full, the solids can be manually removed and spread on fields.

The plan was ambitious, but Erin and Kaleb weren’t alone. To help turn these dreams into reality, they applied for assistance through the NRCS’ Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). This federal program helps producers implement improvements to their facilities or land that also benefit the environment, such as improved water quality and soil conservation.

Financial assistance to implement practices is available through practice payments, formally known as cost-share, where each practice has a payment associated with it. But receiving assistance isn’t guaranteed. The Rodgerses had to compete with other farms for funds in the general EQIP statewide animal waste fund pool. Each applicant receives a score based on a conservation assessment of the farm and the practices to be implemented.

Before applying, Kaleb and Erin provided NRCS with a comprehensive nutrient management plan, which documents the operation’s manure production, the fields on which the manure will be spread, and at what rate to ensure proper nutrients without over-
applying. Having an approved nutrient management plan wasn’t necessary for their application, but it would help it score higher when competing for funds.

Fortunately, Kaleb and Erin were approved for assistance through a conservation incentive contract. They broke ground for the new milk barn in the fall of 2022 and completed it by Labor Day 2023. Construction of the other improvements also began that year, with the final step of installing the pack barn roof completed in June 2024.

Tough journey to a rewarding destination

As Erin and Kaleb will tell you, undertaking that amount of construction while also milking their herd was not easy. Coordinating so many different contractors at once was equally challenging. But these short-term difficulties proved more than worth it.

“I’m the happiest person in the world,” Kaleb said about the improvements.

As intended, the upgrades increase the farm’s operating efficiency. The flush system reduces the time and labor needed to remove manure from holding areas, keeping the dairy cleaner and less pungent. Additionally, the larger parlor can milk 12 cows simultaneously and features an auger-feeding system, replacing manual bucket feeding. 

Not only does Kaleb get more sleep these days, but the cows also seem to enjoy the improvements. Because milking time is reduced, they spend less time in the holding pen and more time grazing. The covered pack barn also allows them to relax out of the elements, enhancing their comfort and boosting milk production, which is currently about 8,000 pounds daily.

“The animals are happier, and I’m happier,” said Kaleb. “It’s made everybody’s life so much better.”

Less time milking also gives Kaleb and Erin more time for dairy industry involvement. Currently, Kaleb represents the southeast district for the Missouri Dairy Board, serves on the resolutions and corporate resolutions boards for Dairy Farmers of America, and is a member of the Ozarks Division Board for the Midwest Dairy Association. 

“By being more connected, you tend to learn more. Knowledge is power,” Kaleb said.

Erin also represented Missouri Dairy this year in Missouri Farmers Care’s “Farm Team” campaign with the St. Louis Cardinals, including ads (see page 18) and video promotions with team mascot Fred Bird. 

This summer, the Twin Knobs Dairy is hosting Missouri Dairy’s Summer Social, where Kaleb and Erin, along with Theresa Woods, will discuss the processes and benefits of making infrastructure improvements.

Even though major upgrades were completed only a year ago, Kaleb and Erin still want to continue improving their operations.

“I do think that technology is probably our focus right now,” said Erin, when asked about what’s next. “Maybe we’ll do a robot someday.”

“And to grow land-wise, if possible. That’s always a plus,” Kaleb added.

It’s with this vision that the couple has been able to preserve the lifestyle they love for themselves and their son, Everett, both now and in the future.

“A lot of people may think of dairying as baggage because you’re tied to the farm and don’t get to do a lot of things,” Erin said. “To me, it’s worth the cost for him to have the opportunity that so few kids get to experience—that’s what I want out of all of this.”

To learn more about NRCS on-farm assistance, contact your local office or visit nrcs.usda.gov.