Adam and Charlie Freis

Local, District: U.P. West Central Local, District 4
Number of Milk Cows: 230
Total Acres Operated: 500

Adam and Charlie are the definition of a true team. On their family’s farm, Freis Dairy LLC, Adam milks, feeds and does the field work, while Charlie cares for the calves, manages the breeding program and is responsible for the herd’s health. Together, they’re also raising six-year-old Rylyn who loves every part of the dairy farm! Adam and Charlie are high achievers with both of them receiving Menominee County Farm Bureau Young Farmer Achievement Awards.

Q&A:

Q: What’s your favorite season on the farm? Why?
Adam: Spring. Who doesn’t like chisel plowing?
Charlie: Summer because everything is easier when it’s warm.

Q: What do you love about being a farmer?
Adam: Everything but the bills.
Charlie: The lifestyle.

Q: Ultimate cow? Sired by who? Average production?
Adam: Any HoJo sired by an excellent JUI bull. Production… infinite.
Charlie: 189 sired by Lazarith. Peak production at 127 lbs.

Q: Why do you milk cows?
Charlie: It all started from a hobby.

Q: Farm management style in three words.
Adam: Work in progress

Q: If you were given $1 million dollars to invest in your farm, what would you do with it?
Adam and Charlie: Pay it off

Q: What are you known for on the farm?
Adam: Muscle. My wife’s the brain.

On their farm:

If you visit their farm in the western U.P., you’ll directly see the impact of Adam and Charlie’s forward-thinking nature. They recognize the challenges facing the dairy industry today and are proactively managing potential risks by breeding the majority of their herd to A2A2 sires in the event that the A2 milk market reaches them. In the future, they’d like to grow their farm and build a heifer facility.

This article was originally published in the May/June 2022 issue of the Milk Messenger. Subscribe »