Founded in 1950 by Henry and Frances Wagler, Wagler Dairy began operating with 18 cows and a few hogs. Today, under the guidance of their son, Kenny, and his wife, Lesa, the farm has grown to many times that size with about 750 cows and multiple dairy barns.
Wagler Dairy and Nutrient Management Partners were recently honored at the Indiana State Fair as featured farmers, a program sponsored by Corteva Agriscience.
“It’s about stewardship and the fact that every job on the farm includes details and a purpose,” Sarah Wagler said.
Founded in 1950 by Henry and Frances Wagler, the dairy began with 18 cows and a few hogs. Today, under the guidance of their son, Kenny, and his wife, Lesa, the farm has grown to many times that size with about 750 cows and multiple dairy barns.
The Brown County family farming operations combine a tradition of passion, dedication, and hard work of yesterday with today’s technology.
“We practice very good stewardship of the land, the cows and the environment,” Kenny said.
Through the years, Wagler Dairy has remained focused on cow care and comfort.
The barns housing the dairy cows feature comfortable bedding, plenty of water and feed to eat throughout the day. Climate-controlled fans and misters keep cows cool even when temperatures rise to uncomfortable levels.
“While people often envision cows grazing in green summer pastures, our summer days here in southern Indiana often reach 90 degrees or more with high humidity levels,” Sarah said. “During those hot days, we could open the barn gates and the cows would still stay in the barn. Dairy cows are creatures of comfort. They sleep on beds of soft sand and they don’t want to get out in that heat and humidity. They want to be pampered.”
Kenny and Lesa’s son, Justin, and his wife, Sarah, own and operate Nutrient Management Partners, a custom manure application company. The business helps support Wagler Dairy, other dairies, and the hog industry.
“Manure is an excellent fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and other nutrients. It also adds organic matter to the soil, which may improve soil structure, aeration, soil moisture-holding capacity and water infiltration,” Sarah explained.
Each year, Nutrient Management Partners applies more than 200 million gallons of liquid manure from dairies and hog farms to area cropland throughout southern and central Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois.
“Manure is not willy-nilly applied to fields,” Sarah explained. “It is applied with precision to meet the prescriptive needs of soil based on fertility tests and GPS mapping. We can even provide the raw computer data to farmers, and they can plug that data into their precision software to fill in any agronomic needs of any crops.
“We care about our dairy cows and we are good stewards of the land,” she added.
