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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

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