SILVERSTREAK DAIRIES

Silverstreak Dairy is our mother farm. Here we focus on transitioning cows from their dry period through calving and into the lactating herd for our Minnesota sites (Silverstreak, Bluestreak, Greenstreak). We milk 1,000 cows in a double-18 parallel parlor three times a day and house about 500 dry cows. Silverstreak has recently built a new dry cow and maternity facility where we monitor and care for cows and newborns before and after calving. On average, we calve 100 cows per week. There are no springing heifers at this location as all heifers calve at the Lakin Dairy and Feedyard. Youngstock are cared for in individual hutches, then females are sent down to Lakin Feedyard while our beef/Holstein crosses are sold locally to neighboring farms. In addition to cattle, Silverstreak has a crops and manure team that manages the growing, harvesting, and storing of all silage, haylage, and feed commodities for the year.

Our goal is to provide optimum care to our young calves before they go to the grower and to give focused care to our dry cows and fresh cows so they are healthy and productive through their next lactation.

Bluestreak Dairy was the second of the Streak dairies purchased in 2003 from the Loran and Mark Kaschmitter family. Today we have expanded the site and are proud to have Matthew Kashmitter, Loran’s oldest, as a partner of Silverstreak Dairies, LLC. At Bluestreak we milk 680 cows in a double-12 herringbone parlor three times a day. All Bluestreak cows are freshened at the Silverstreak site and brought over weekly from Pierz, a 30-minute trailer ride. They return to Silverstreak once they are pregnant and dried off. Bluestreak houses our larger, older cows who fit well in the herringbone parlor and who enjoy a shorter walking distance to and from the parlor. All cows are bred to Angus/Simental semen, so we rely on the other sites, along with Lakin Feedyard, to breed and grow Holstein heifers to keep our facility full. With 10-full time employees, BlueStreak ticks right along with high milk production and strong reproduction. The Silverstreak Crops and Manure Team takes care of growing and putting up our silage, haylage, and feed commodities for the year.

Our goals include diligent heat detection, consistent repro programs, and steady milking routines to maximize milk production from our older cows.

Greenstreak Dairy is located in Borup, Minnesota and is a little farther north than its sister farms, but equally as productive! This farm is home to our younger cows – usually lact=2 to Lact=4 – and focuses on optimal care and growth for their productive life ahead. At Greenstreak we milk 2,200 cows in a double 24-parallel parlor, some twice a day and some three times. Weekly, a semi-load makes the round trip with fresh cows from Silverstreak to Greenstreak and a returning trailer of dry cows from Greenstreak to Silverstreak. Half the herd is bred to sexed semen and half to beef cross semen. At this site we buy all our feeds and forages from our neighbors who we have built relationships with.

Our goals include diligent heat detection, consistent repro programs, and steady milking routines to aid in udder cell growth.

Warner Dairy is located in Warner, South Dakota and has 2,000 cows milking three times a day using a 48-stall rotary parlor. Warner Dairy is where all our fresh heifers start their milking careers after calving in at Lakin Dairy. Warner monitors our heifer production for Silverstreak Dairies as they see first-hand the fresh heifers from Kansas, how they are performing health production wise. Warner’s herdspersons have constant communications with our fellow herdspersons in Lakin. They communicate when heifers arrive and how they are performing. This team effort is key to growing and developing strong productive cows who will be in the herd for years and years to come. On the crops side, Warner buys all feeds and forages and we strive to maintain great relationships with our neighbors, growers, and the community to make that possible.

Our goals include milking cows as efficiently as possible with our rotary parlor, repro health and consistency. Since using mostly sexed semen at this site we also strive for continual genetic improvement through our youngest cows and repro program.