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in herd management<br />
Laingspring Dairy Ltd<br />
Muller Brothers<br />
The Laing family: Ted, Tyron, parents Bertha and Ray with Dean<br />
Moore, Hi-Pro<br />
Farm & Family<br />
Ray and Bertha Laing and sons Tyrone and Ted own<br />
and manage the dairy of 165 lactating cows. The Laing<br />
farm was established on this site by Ray’s great-grandfather<br />
in 1872, located north of Steinbach, Manitoba.<br />
Facilities Description<br />
The Laings built new facilities in 2014 designed for<br />
robotic milking, and expanded the herd from 160 in a<br />
tie-stall barn to 165 cows in comfort stalls. They downsized<br />
the cow herd to 138 before the move and then expanded<br />
to 165 with purchased heifers.<br />
The barn is a six row design, 260ft by 142ft. Milking<br />
is with three DeLaval VMS robotic milking systems, expecting<br />
that the fourth will be added in the short term<br />
future with capacity for over 200 cows.<br />
Muller Brothers – Richard, his son Paul, and brother Rene with<br />
Denis Hague, Hi-Pro Business Development Specialist (Dairy),<br />
Carman, MB<br />
Farm & Family<br />
The Muller brothers, Richard and Rene, continued<br />
the family farm tradition as the fourth generation on<br />
this farm since their great-grandfather started here<br />
in 1901. Richard’s son Paul returned to the farm five<br />
years ago after an <strong>Agri</strong>culture Business degree from<br />
the University of Manitoba and 10 years employment in<br />
the agricultural industry. He continues to work off the<br />
farm part-time for a crop chemicals and seed company<br />
but has primary responsibility for the management of<br />
the dairy enterprise. Richard, who was responsible for<br />
the dairy herd, says, “Paul was the stimulus to expand<br />
the dairy herd and build the new barn.” Paul has one<br />
brother who is involved in ag retail, and two sisters not<br />
involved in the farm.<br />
Continued on page 47<br />
AGRI LEADER » 2016<br />
45