The Hoard's Dairyman Farm, just north of
Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin
Fort Atkinson is a city in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, United States. It lies along the Rock River (Illinois), Rock River a few miles upstream from Lake Koshkonong. The population was 12,579 at the 2020 census. Fort Atkinson is the largest city ...
, was purchased in 1899 by
W. D. Hoard, a former governor of
Wisconsin
Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
. Hoard used the farm as a laboratory for testing ideas for his magazine ''
Hoard's Dairyman'', like the use of
alfalfa
Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, ...
for feeding dairy cattle.
This farm was begun in the mid-1800s by Asa Snell. Much has changed since Snell's era, but a few of his buildings survive: the 1845 farmhouse, a machine shed/garage, a horse-barn/heifer shed, and the core of the main dairy barn. Snell's farmhouse is a two-story
Italianate-styled building, with walls of brick made nearby at a brickyard owned by Snell himself and Milo Jones. A kitchen wing extends to the east leading to a summer kitchen, and other wings extend to the north and south. The house's roof was originally flat. Hoard replaced the flat roofs with
hip roof
A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downward to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope, with variants including Tented roof, tented roofs and others. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other ve ...
s soon after he bought the farm.
[ With ]
Hoard bought the farm in 1899. Before then he had served in the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, edited the ''Jefferson County Union'' newspaper, started the Wisconsin Dairyman's Association, founded the important agricultural journal ''Hoard's Dairyman'' in 1885, and served one term as governor of Wisconsin from 1889 to 1891. Despite his venture into politics, Hoard remained very interested in agriculture and the scientific improvement of dairy practices. He bought the farm to use as a lab for testing the effectiveness and practicality of the ideas that he promoted in his magazine.
[
These are some of the important innovations tested at the farm:
* ]Alfalfa
Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, ...
: Hoard showed that this perennial legume could be grown in northern climates. He demonstrated practical methods of growing, harvesting, and preserving the crop. He further showed that it could be used as a high-quality feed for dairy cattle
Dairy cattle (also called dairy cows) are cattle bred with the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cattle generally are of the species '' Bos taurus''.
Historically, little distinction was ...
.Silo
A silo () is a structure for storing Bulk material handling, bulk materials.
Silos are commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, woodchips, food products and sawdust. Three types of silos are in widespread use toda ...
s and silage
Silage is fodder made from green foliage crops which have been preserved by fermentation (food), fermentation to the point of souring. It is fed to cattle, sheep and other ruminants. The fermentation and storage process is called ''ensilage'', ' ...
: The farm tried this economical method for fermenting cattle feed, rather than drying it.
* Eradication of bovine tuberculosis
Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle, bison, African buffalo, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The members of this group are classif ...
: Hoard had begun promoting a campaign against TB in 1895, and continued it at the farm.
* Loose pen housing: In 1912 Hoard began advocating raising cattle in pens rather than individual stalls, aiming to save construction costs and ongoing labor. This is now common practice.
* Herd test: Starting in 1917 Hoard's farm "was the dominating influence in the founding of the herd test, proved sire, brood cow research program conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture."[
* Single-purpose dairy cow:][ The farm maintains the oldest continuously registered herd of ]Guernsey cattle
The Guernsey is a breed of dairy cattle from the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is fawn or red and white in colour, and is hardy and docile. Its milk is rich in flavour, high in fat and protein, and has a golden-yellow tinge due ...
in the country. For over a century, the herd was housed in the same barn that was purchased by Hoard in 1899. It was enlarged several times to a final capacity of eighty cows. In the summer of 2007, the herd was moved to a new, state of the art free-stall facility and expanded to 270 milking cows.
References
External links
Hoard's Dairyman Farm
{{coord, 42, 56, 48.8, N, 88, 50, 15.6, W, type:landmark_region:US-WI, display=title
Buildings and structures in Jefferson County, Wisconsin
Farms on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin
National Register of Historic Places in Jefferson County, Wisconsin