Higher input costs, labour shortages, changes in regulations and tighter margins are the realities facing dairy farmer Matthew Hoff the owner of Coldsprings Farm located in Maryland, 90 minutes outside of Washington DC.

“Being profitable is pretty high on the list of challenges,” Hoff says. “Regulations have changed rapidly over the last 20 years, especially around manure management, animal welfare and employee training.”

Despite the pressure, expansion has always been part of the farm’s strategy. Since Hoff’s father died in 2004, the herd has nearly doubled in size, although rising construction costs have made growth increasingly expensive.

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“Prices for building have doubled in the last 10 years,” he explains.

The Hoff family milked 200-300 cows until the mid-90s, before expanding to 700 cows by 2004.

Hoff later rented another farm before deciding to consolidate operations at home and build another shed, bringing the herd to its current size.

Today, the farm is home to 1,300 Holsteins in a fully indoor system with a strong focus on genetics.

Around half of all heifer calves are produced through embryo transfer programmes, with genetics sold to bull studs and private buyers.

“Right now we have 10 bulls that are in active stud,” he says.

Milk production

The farm ships two trailers of milk each day, with cows averaging around 40kg MS per day of which is 4.5% butterfat, 3.5% protein.

“We have been breeding for fat and protein,” he says.

Milking takes place in a 20-unit parallel parlour that has been in place since 1992, which he admits is “worn out”.

“We milk three times a day but only shut down twice a day. We start at 4am and milk all the cows, which takes six hours. Then we will milk the first 600 cows again, and shut down for three hours. They will start back up for milking at 4pm,” he says.

Milk prices have fluctuated significantly in recent years. Hoff says prices dropped sharply at the end of last year before recovering due to stronger protein markets. Since 2020, the farm has used the Dairy Revenue Protection (DRP) programme, a government-backed insurance scheme that protects against market volatility and is similar to crop protection.

“You watch the markets and know where your break-even costs are. The minimum price is set for the 12 months,” he says.

Feed

Feed production is another major focus on the 2,500ac operation. Each year, the farm harvests 1,000 acres of small grain silage and 1,400 acres of corn and 700 acres of soyabeans.

Additional feed ingredients, including distillers’ grain and canola meal, are purchased and mixed on farm.

“We have a high concentrate mineral package,” says Hoff.

Using their own mixed mill, the farm grinds 15t of grain daily, with diets made up of roughly 50% forage diet.

“We are always a week away from a drought at any point and the last couple of years have been particularly dry,” he says. Some of the cows are in their eighth lactation.

“Our regular cull rate is about 30% but then we sell 10% for dairy on top of that.

"We have way more heifers than we need. We are about 90% heifers to cows.

"Culled cows are averaging at $1,900-$2,000 (€1,630-€1,720) and that’s not for big fat cows,” Hoff explains.

All input costs have risen over the last few years, but so has his income.

He used to only average between cull cows and calves $700 (€600) head per year, now they are at $1,700 (€1,460).

Labour remains one of the farm’s biggest expenses after feed. Coldsprings Farm employs 33 people, including 25 full-time workers.

“Culled cows and calves now pay our labour costs,” says Hoff. His payroll is the second highest cost after feed with the average worker paid $80,000 (€69,000).