Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers (WSBDF)

Emphasizing Business Planning and Pasture-Based Farm Management

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Meet Former Students: Andy Jaworski

“I was raised to believe you can’t make a living on farming alone,” says Andy Jaworski. He grew up on a farm and enjoyed farming, but he decided to study finance at UW-Milwaukee rather than studying agriculture. After college, however, he couldn’t see himself in an office job, and he started working for Rick Adamski and Val Dantoin, milking cows. Rick and Val encouraged him to attend Short Course and the Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers (WSBDF), and he attended the program in 2008-09. Speaking of his experience, Andy says, “Once I learned more about grazing and the organic route, I decided that if I put all my effort into it, I can make farming my career.”

andy jaworski val dantoin rick adamski 1
Andy Jaworski, Rick Adamski, and Val Dantoin in 2009.

Since completing the program, Andy has been following a path towards that goal. In the spring of 2011, he entered into a three-year sharemilking agreement with Rick and Val. As part of a formal business partnership, he bought Rick’s dairy cows, used his milking facilities, and paid off this investment during his three years of sharemilking. In 2014, Rick decided he wanted to get out of dairy farming. Andy, at this point, moved his cows and operation to his parents’ farm, where he reinvested his earnings from his herd into a freestall barn with a Lely robotic milker. He is currently paying off this investment while renting land from his parents. He milks 60-75 cows, uses management-intensive grazing, is certified organic, and sells milk to Organic Valley. With his free-flow robotic milking system, his cows are able to enter the barn on their own and get milked as often as they want, averaging two milkings a day.  His long term goal is to buy and own the family farm without needing a supplemental job, and he is steadily progressing towards that goal.

 

Robotic Milker
Robotic Milker on Andy Jaworski’s farm

Andy says that WSBDF gave him time to self-reflect and write down his intermediate and long-term goals, and he appreciated learning first-hand from the farmer instructors about the mistakes they made and their strategies for success. “I learned that your first investment should be in the cattle, then the equipment, and then the land. This is exactly the order I’m doing it. Cows are not a depreciable asset, and I’m watching my investment grow.”

Of course farming life still has its challenges. Even with the robotic milker, Andy can’t leave the farm without finding someone to cover for him. That said, Andy is enjoying the freedom of running his own farm and being his own boss. He says, “I don’t know what else I’d rather be doing.”

Support WSBDF:

Support WSBDF

The support of our many sponsors is what makes our work possible. Click the logo above to learn more about how you can support WSBDF.

Student Testimonials

“The business plan put it all into reality. It gave me confidence."

“You have the opportunity to make lifelong friends; you have so many people there that have the same interests and the same drive.”

"We came away with a barn-full of inspiration, and the solid ground-under-our-feet feeling of having been shown 'how it is' with all the beauty and the sweat right there."

“My fears were primarily financial. The WSBDF showed me that there were different institutions…to loan me money and that is what really got me started."

“I really enjoyed all the speakers we had and all the real life experiences they were able to share.”

"I'm by nature a cynic who doesn't often run into programs, meetings, or groups that truly embody optimism and change, but WSBDF manages to accomplish that in a humble and practical way."

“The most beneficial thing by far was…the network of people I met – classmates and mentors – that are actively farming…to learn from what they are doing and compare [these things] to what I’m doing.”

“The School opened my eyes up to a different direction of farming that has worked out very well for me. WSBDF was very important in my decision to start a grass-based dairy farm.”

“I took the grazing courses [with WSBDF]…and this is the best crash course I’m ever going to get.”

"I can sincerely say that the WSBDF course was everything I had hoped for, and then some. I met a lot of great people, learned an incredible amount, and came out of the experience feeling inspired"

“The School made me think outside of the box…and look at the many ways to approach a farm business.”

"The quality and depth of the presenters for the WSBDF has given our family a top notch how-to manual for entering into a grazing based business and life."

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Read more about

  • Pasture Management Course Now Available Online!
  • Now Available Online!
  • Learning from the Experts
  • A Business Planning Emphasis

Ride to Farm

Link to Ride to Farm Website

Each year the WSBDF hosts Ride to Farm, a 100K bike ride with rest stops at local farms. All proceeds from this amazing event support the WSBDF endowment. Click the Ride to Farm logo above to learn more.

Barn Dance

Barn Dance

The Partnering for Progress’s Barn Dance & Chautauqua celebrates Wisconsin’s working lands, and raises funds to support the important work of the nonprofit partner organizations, including WSBDF. And it's a lot of fun! Click on the image above to learn more!

WSBDF

Sponsored by the UW-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems and the Farm and Industry Short Course, both within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; and by Badgerland Financial, Culver’s Restaurants, Organic Valley, Wisconsin Cattleman’s Association, Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, and Wisconsin Farmers Union; with additional support from the NIFA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program and individual and corporate contributions to the UW Foundation WSBDF Endowment Fund. A full list of each year's contributors is available in our newsletter, available through the link below:

2018 Newsletter

Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers

The WSBDF office is located in the Soil Science Building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison Campus.

Mailing Address:

1535 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706

Phone:

608-265-6437

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