If approved by Weld County planning, a new dairy west of Fort Lupton could place the population count of dairy cows on the property above that of people in town.
It’s part of a rush to supply Greeley’s Leprino Foods cheese plant, an operation thirsty for thousands of pounds of raw milk. Front Range Dairy, contracting with Longmont agriculture developers AGPROfessionals, wants to build the dairy on the southwest corner of Weld County roads 20 and 21 in a plan to reutilize a previous large-scale turkey farm.
Planned for the grounds of an old Butterball poultry production facility, the special use permit application with the county reflects an approximate 2,000-3,000 head dairy and a 5,000-6,000 head dairy heifer feedlot, with a total animal count at 8,000 units. The existing poultry barns would be removed and the remaining infrastructure would receive updates for the dairy and feedlot operations.
Located on a parcel of approximately 152 acres, planned activities for the dairy include milking dairy cows, feeding, housing and raising replacement stock, storing and processing feed, storing and maintaining dairy equipment and farming. Support structures for the site will include buildings and corrals for livestock husbandry, equipment storage, maintenance facilities, waste management control structures and employee housing.
Pretty standard stuff on a large scale, according to William Wailes, dairy extension specialist for Colorado State University.
“The No. 1 reason we have so many new dairies coming to Colorado is that Leprino Foods has built a new cheese plant in Greeley, and the demand for about 7.5 million pounds of milk is critical for their operation,” Wailes said. “We have had various dairy farmers across the country looking to move in here. Some are deciding to come, some are starting to build and some are getting permits.”
According to Wailes, when the permit applications go in, they aim high, planning for eventual growth.
“A lot of times when people get permits to build, they get those permits with room for expansion,” Wailes said. “I’m pretty sure that is the case we are talking about now, I’ve not heard of anybody who is really going to come in with 8,000 cows to start with.”
Wailes believes that the operation would likely start with several thousand head, moving up to the higher count several years down the road, under the rules of the larger permit. In order for that to occur, several factors would come into consideration for the 152-acre parcel.
“That is plenty large enough for an 8,000 cow dairy, depending on the plan. The biggest issue for them is to figure out how to disseminate all the animal waste and manure from the operation over a certain amount of acreage,” Wailes said.
Wailes said that is often accomplished by using a portion of the acreage to grow feed using the waste, and making arrangements with feed suppliers to barter manure for a portion of the feed used by the dairy.
The biggest hurdle for any dairy locating in northern Colorado is water. With each cow using between 35 and 50 gallons per day — higher when hot — the water requirements to support a large-scale dairy are formidable, and likely the largest expense by far.
“About 87 percent of milk is water,” Wailes explained. “When we have cows producing at a certain level, it’s pretty challenging to meet all the water requirements. But there is plenty of water here. It’s just expensive. Most of the people who come already know it will cost more to dairy here than in many parts of the country.”
Despite the size, Wailes stops short of classifying the operation, or ones of similar size in the state, as “factory farms.”
“Very rarely do we have just a corporation that comes in and buys something,” Wailes said. “These are family farms. Some are much larger than others. They have put themselves in position with their balance sheets to be able to afford water if they are coming here. If they cannot, they better look somewhere else, because it’s the most critical ingredient in a dairy cow’s ration. If they can’t afford the water, then they can’t afford to dairy here.”