Raj Lall, president and CEO of Vets Plus, Inc. (VPI) in Knapp, Wisc.; and John Vrieze, owner of Emerald/Baldwin Dairies (Emerald, Wisc.; Baldwin, Wis.); announce a partnership between the two businesses. The agreement, which has the option to renew annually, will allow VPI to conduct field trials at Emerald Dairy, as well as utilize their on-site classroom and facilities for training and customer visits.
“John is an innovative and ‘green’ producer; he is very concerned about minimizing – if not eliminating – the carbon footprint of his dairies. To be able to partner with a local and progressive dairy, such as Emerald Dairy is very exciting for our team,” Lall said. “This strategic partnership will take Vets Plus to the next level and will benefit our distribution partners and, ultimately, the producer with proven products to enhance the bottom line for dairy producers.”
Within the three dairies Vrieze owns – Baldwin Dairy (founded in 1997), Emerald Dairy (1999), Emerald Dairy II (2001) – there are about 2600 cows, of which, 2200 are milking. The VPI/Emerald Dairy partnership will fulfill the mission of both organizations to increase production and the overall well-being of the cows using nutraceuticals, through trials and R&D opportunities.
In addition to the dairies, Vrieze’s wife, Pam, manages a greenhouse, which is heated using the methane that is a byproduct from the digester. They are also experimenting with the digester effluent and other byproducts on the farm to become more self-sustaining at the greenhouse. Vrieze has made significant investments into such processes, which also allow them to sell the bio-gasses that are created during the anaerobic digestion process to companies to help power homes using natural gas.
The Vrieze family has farmed in St. Croix County since 1906, starting with Vrieze’s grandfather. Vrieze is proud of the fact that his carbon footprint, per cow, is much less today than the generations of his grandfather and father.
Source: Vets Plus, Inc.