Tour the Miedema Family Dairy Farm with Us
Post Date: 09/02/2026
For National Dairy Month 2026, the Miedemas showed us around their family farm.
Ashley and Jesse explain their operation from birth to teenage years to breeding to milking, along with some of the equipment needed to make it all happen.
Watch the full video here:
A Dairy Cow’s Lifecycle
Birth to Teenage Years
It’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg scenario when it comes to where to start this lifecycle, so we’ll start at calfhood.
Soon after the calves are born, they move over to the calving barn to avoid catching an illness in the main dairy barn. In the calving barn, they start on colostrum, either milked from their mother or dried. After 2-3 days, they’ve learned how to take milk from a bottle, and they’re moved into group housing with robotic calf feeders.
The robotic calf feeders read the calves' ear tags and dispense their daily allotment of milk in increments throughout the day.
Some calves are so eager, they’ll try to milk upwards of 20 times a day!
To maximize space and avoid overcrowding, the calves are placed in groups of 12 - 13 per pen, based on their age. When they’re fully weaned from milk, they move over to the Miedema homestead pastures for their teenage stage.
Breeding & Birth
Around 13 - 14 months of age, the cows are now old enough to be bred and move back over to the dairy barn where they’re artificially inseminated.
Fun fact: In the farming world, “AI” means artificially inseminated.
The goal is for the cow to have their first calf at 2 years old. They have “preg checks” every two weeks, and once they’re confirmed “bred,” they are monitored for the rest of the pregnancy.
Throughout pregnancy, the cows continue to milk, up until approximately 60 days from calving. At this point, they move over to the “vacation pen” to rest while they prepare to have a baby. Here, they’re fed a lower-energy ration, balanced by the nutritionist, to maintain their weight.
When they show signs of approaching their birth date, they move over to the calving pens, which are conveniently located for frequent checks so they’re ready to welcome their newborn calf.
Equipment Needed to Run a Dairy Farm
Calf Feeder
The Miedema family invested in calf feeders, which do a big cleaning of the lines every 6 hours, which has improved calf health!
Rumination Collars
The rumination collars monitor how much each cow eats a day, their activity and how much they’re ruminating.
Cows regurgitate, re-chew, and swallow their food throughout the day; the length of this rumination is an indication of health.
The collars notify Jesse to check on the cows if the rumination levels drop, which can indicate an illness.
Due to the size of the Miedema herd, thorough, daily checks on each of the cows can be difficult. These collars make herd management a lot easier!
Their activity levels can indicate the best time to breed. Rather than watching each cow to see if they’re in standing heat, the collars will notify Jesse when the best window is to artificially inseminate the cow.
The Parlour
When it’s time to milk, the cows are guided towards the parlour by a crowding gate that lowers behind them.
The double-twelve parlour features technology that reads the cow’s collar and feeds information to the screen, flagging things like an injured cow to keep the milk free of medication or colostrum milked specifically for the calves.
The screens report how much milk the cows produce compared to their norm and flag underproduction, which could indicate illness or only mean the udders need to be reattached to the milker.
The udders are washed, cleaned, and stripped before the milkers are attached, which have automatic take-off, removing the milker once the milk slows so the teats don’t get damaged. They’re then iodined again.
Once the cows are milked, their collars then sort them back into the respective pens.
This whole process takes approximately 2 hours, twice a day.
The milk is fed into a tank, which is collected by the dairy truck to take it to its processing destination. Today’s milk is going to a cheese factory!
Farm Equipment
In the video, you’ll see a Case IH Puma 200 Tractor attached to a Haybuster. They put a bale in, the Haybuster shreds it up, and it’s added to the feed mix (TMR). Not shown in the video is their Strawbuster, which creates fresh bedding for the cows.
You’ll also spot a Case IH 430 skid steer loader (SSL) used for transporting bedding in and out of the dairy barn.
These are only a few of the pieces of equipment used to run the dairy farm!
Looking to make your daily milking easier? Come share your pain points, and we’ll set you up with farm and construction equipment to make your day-to-day more efficient and productive.