Large dairy operation takes shape near Pierce

PIERCE — Let the milking begin.

Construction is complete on a new milking barn out at Longs Peak Dairy LLC in Pierce and the owners are gearing up operations to handle up 6,000 cows producing 300,000 pounds of milk per day.

Greg, Barry, Eldon and Arlan Marrs teamed up with Rick Podtburg in 1998 to join their operations to increase their competitiveness in the market. What resulted was an operation with 1,300 milking Holsteins, a heifer-raising farm and 200 dairy steers with locations in Fort Lupton and Johnstown.

The families were looking for growth possibilities to remain competitive in the market when they were offered the chance to purchase the former Andrijeski Holsteins dairy in Pierce. In 2000 they purchased the operation and started making plans for the location.

“The Front Range and Johnstown are undergoing intensive growth, as is Fort Lupton,” Podtburg said. “We knew we still wanted to be in Weld County so we could be close to the Front Range. It is difficult to stay in agriculture if you don’t expand.”

The dairy is located at 45490 County Road 39 at the intersection of Weld County roads 39 and 92, four miles east of Pierce and about 15 miles north of Greeley. The ownership qualified for a permit allowing up to 6,000 cows on the farm. Podtburg said the group filed for the permit to allow for growth over the next 10 to 15 years.

They received approval from the Weld County Planning Department in 2002, but waited for construction until milk prices improved. In 2002 dairymen received an average of $11.80 per 100 pounds of milk produced. In January the average price was $15.70 per 100 pounds, an improvement of 33 percent.

“We decided to build in Pierce because we are a healthy and viable operation and we wanted to grow as quickly as our business sense allowed,” Greg Marrs said. “We discovered the opportunity in Pierce and it fit into our financial and management resources to expand the operation.”

There are currently 1,200 cows milking at the location using the existing barn, but the group knew the facilities would need to be upgraded and enlarged to support their plans.

The new barn has a computer monitoring system, which includes radio collars to identify individual cows and video cameras to visually watch the action on the floor. Construction costs associated with the 150,000 square-foot barn were approximately $2 million.

The building is partially heated using heat extracted from the milk during the cooling process.

The Longs Peak Dairy expansion is one of many examples of the growth of the dairy industry in Colorado. According to the Colorado Agricultural Statistics Service, Colorado is home to 101,000 dairy cows, which individually produce an average of 21,770 pounds of milk each year. In 2003, gross income from dairy products in Colorado was $264.5 million.

According to a report published in 2000 by Andy Seidl and Stephen Weiler, assistant professors of agricultural and resource economics at Colorado State University, The economic impact of dairies on five northeastern Colorado counties was estimated to be more than 86 percent of Colorado’s total dairy production in 1999.

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