Dairy Production Systems
23343 NW County Road 236
High Springs, Florida 32643
(386) 454-7977
(386) 454-7966 - fax
DPS News
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Dairy Locations
» Branford Farm (Map
of Branford)
» Bell Farm (Map
of Bell)
» Georgia Division (Map
of Georgia)
» Mississippi Division (Map
of Mississippi)
» New Frontier Dairy (Map
of Texas)
Florida Division
Branford Farm
The farm known today as "Dairy Production Systems - Branford Farm" was originally constructed in 1989. It is located approximately 12 miles north of DPS - Bell Farm at the intersection of US 129 and CR 138 just southeast of Branford, Florida in Gilchrist County. The dairy is nestled along the Santa Fe River.
DPS - Branford is a 2,400-cow dairy and includes 593 owned acres as well as 200 adjacent acres under lease. Of this total of 793 acres, 400 acres are under irrigation and are triple-cropped to supply much of the forage needs of the dairy herd.
The milking facility is a double-30 parallel design with the capacity to milk 2,100 cows three times a day. It is strategically placed at the center of six loafing sheds and twelve feeding lanes that are shaped in radial, semi-circle fashion. This design minimizes the distance which cows must travel to and from the parlor. Newly renovated in March 2007, the state of the art freetall barns were desgined with cow comfort priority one. Cooling fans and water sprinkler lines are placed above the feed alleys and freestall beds to help cool cattle during Florida's notoriously hot, humid summers.
The milking herd is fed a total mixed ration (TMR) continuously. The diet is corn silage based, and incorporates alfalfa hay, whole cottonseed, cottonseed hulls, corn meal, citrus pulp, molasses, and a soybean meal-based protein premix that contains vitamin mineral package to round out the diet. Dry cows graze on pasture year-round and are supplemented with a TMR.
The herd is on official DHIA test, with a rolling herd average of 21,100 pounds, 734 Fat, and 620 Protein. Milk quality is excellent with somatic cell counts averaging 250,000 for the past year.
Bell Farm
Dairy Production Systems - Bell Farm was originally constructed in 1988. The farm is located approximately 3 miles south of Bell, Florida on US 129 in Gilchrist County. The Bell Farm is approximately 12 miles south of its sister location, DPS - Branford Farm.
The property consists of 430 acres and 170 of those acres are irrigated cropland that supply a portion of the forage needs of the dairy herd.
DPS - Bell Farm has one double-24 parallel milking parlor in which the lactating herd is milked three times per day. The clever design of the farm situates the feeding alleys and loafing barns in a semi-circular or radial design with the parlor strategically placed in the center of the pens. The milk cow corrals are open sand lots with shade structures over the feed alleys. The radial arrangement of the housing facilities lends itself to easy access with minimal travel for the animals. Dry cows are housed on pasture and are supplemented with a dry cow ration and kept out in pasture until calving. The farm has the capacity to hold up to 2,200 animals with 1,760 of those milking.
DPS - Bell Farm has a separate parlor to milk the hospital cows. It is a single-12 parallel parlor and is situated just to the right of the larger "milking herd" parlor. This separate facility allows the staff to tend to special needs cows on a completely different and less hectic schedule.
Cows in the DPS - Bell Farm herd produced an average of 20,952 pounds of milk per cow. Additionally, the farm posts 703 Fat and 630 Protein. As with all DPS-owned and/or managed herds, milk quality at the farm is excellent.
The Bell Farm location also houses DPS's youngstock facility. Calves from both the Bell and Branford locations are combined here and raised to approximately 300 pounds, at which time they are marketed to outside heifer growers for further development. DPS repurchases the bulk of the youngstock produced on its two farms and adds them back to the herd at approximately two years of age.
Georgia Division
Dairy Production Systems - Georgia Division is located near Baconton, Georgia, in Mitchell County. This 3,800-cow dairy and includes 1,045 owned acres as well as 468 adjacent acres under lease. There are three milking facilities on the farm including a double-18 herringbone, a double-20 herringbone, and a double-12 herringbone which primarily serves as a hospital facility year round, but also handles the overflow of cows when milking numbers exceed 3,000 head. The milking herd is housed in freestall barns year round, and sand is used for bedding. Cooling fans and water sprinkler lines are placed above the feed alleys to help cool cattle during the hot, humid summers.
DPS - Georgia Division is guided by Warren Lawrence, General Manager. The herd is on official DHIA test with 21,067 Milk, 743 Fat, and 637 Protein. The herd continually posts excellent milk quality numbers averaging a somatic cell count of 153,000 for the past year.
Mississippi Division
Dairy Production Systems - Mississippi Farm is located in Edwards, Mississippi near the geographical center of Hinds County. Originally constructed in 1992, DPS purchased this farm in July, 2005. The DPS - Mississippi herd is housed year-round in sand-bedded freestalls for comfort and sanitation. The herd is milked three times daily in the double-24 herringbone design milking parlor. There is freestall/corral capacity for approximately 1,400 head of milking animals. In total, the herd consists of approximately 1,650 head of mature cattle.
The non-lactating herd is housed on pasture year-round and is supplemented with a balanced total mixed ration (TMR) daily. Youngstock are not raised on the farm.
The farm consists of a total of 220 acres, all of which are devoted to the housing of the mature herd. Corn silage is produced under contract by outside and adjacent sources, and all other feedstuffs are purchased and shipped in as needed.
DPS - Mississippi Farm operates under the direct daily supervision of Mel Nicholson, General Manager. Mel combines his talent and experience with those of the DPS team with outstanding results. The herd is on official DHIA test, and currently boasts a rolling herd average of 23,165 Milk, 875 Fat, and 714 Protein.
Milk quality, which is a focus in all of DPS-owned and managed herds has seen dramatic improvement since the farm was purchased, with somatic cell counts dropping from an average of over 600,000 in 2003 to just over 200,000 today and still falling.
New Frontier Dairy
Aside from owning dairy farms, Dairy Production Systems offers management services to other production dairy facilities. Currently, DPS manages one dairy located in Dublin, Texas. The 4,500-cow dairy is co-owned by DPS CEO David Sumrall and Marc Peperzak.
Originally constructed in 1987, the farm today consists of nearly 1,000 acres and boasts three milking centers. Cattle are housed in open corrals with shades and feedbunks are lined with fans and misters to keep cattle cool and comfortable during the Texas summer.
The DPS management team lends its leadership to the site management team and DPS protocols and management systems are utilized on site.
