Life's Best Moments on the Dairy Farm

For Dan Brick, childhood was a collection of moments on his family’s dairy farm listening to Sports Talk radio with his dad in the barn. As they tended to their cows together, they would listen eagerly for the Green Bay Packers to score the winning touchdown.

“We’re big Brewer and Packer fans. My dad would be on one side of the barn, and I’d be on the other as we listened to the games,” Dan says. “Those are great memories from growing up that I shared with my father.”

 

From the time he was a young kid, Dan was always involved in the day-to-day operations of his family’s dairy farm, Brickstead Dairy, in Greenleaf, Wis. However, after graduating from high school in 1992, Dan became an official business partner with his dad, Eugene, making him the fifth generation to run the operation.

“As a kid, this is the only thing I ever thought of doing when I grew up,” Dan says. “Even when I got older and thought about having a different profession, I always felt in the back of my mind that I can do this.”

When Dan took over the farm officially in 2001, following Eugene’s retirement, they were milking 55 Holstein cows. Today, the dairy supports 1,000 cows and 1,500 acres of farmland. Growing their operation was always the goal for Dan.

“We work hard to be able to hand our business off to the next generation,” Dan says. “That’s what our goal has always been as a family.”

In addition to 14 full-time employees, Dan’s oldest son Sawyer, 13; and twins, Elijah and Ian, 11; help him on the farm as their sports schedules allow. Additionally, Dan’s wife, Melanie, helps with farm recruitment when she’s not busy with her full-time school social work job. Dan always returns the favor, by helping her haul school supplies to her office in town.

“My son Ian is very involved in the farm; he gets up with me at 3 o’clock in the morning and works with me until 4 o’clock in the afternoon during the summer,” Dan says.

The moments that matter

Dan always knew it would take long hours and dedication to run a dairy, but he also recognizes that hard work buys him something priceless: time and memories with his family. Having the boys on the farm helps to recreate those special moments he shared with his own dad, but Dan wanted to make sure he spent time with his family off the farm, too. By expanding the operation and hiring staff, Dan can step away from the farm from time to time — something that wasn’t always a luxury he had growing up.

“The kids complain about Sports Talk radio, but we make memories in other ways. They show cows at the local fair and I’m able to help more with those projects than my father was able to because of the help we have on the farm,” Dan says. “It has created great memories that I will always remember and cherish.”

When Dan was considering taking over the farm, his mom often joked with him that he could kiss any vacation time goodbye, since someone always needs to be on the farm.

Instead, he leveraged his family’s dedicated work ethic that once prevented them from taking time off, to have the best of both worlds. Dan keeps his phone on him when he’s off the farm in case of an emergency with the cows, but it’s important to him to spend those moments with his family.

“My mom is really proud of everything we’ve done with the farm to be able to keep it in our family, but still have time to spend with each other,” Dan says.

Building for a better future

One day, Dan hopes he can share his mother’s pride seeing what his own sons have done with the farm.

“Our whole road used to be Brick farms and now ours is the only one left that we were able to keep in the family. I’m probably in the same boat that my father was in when I was the age that my kids are now, thinking about how we’re going to be able to pass
it down,” Dan says.

“I think we have to keep growing; we can’t sit still. It’s hard to say where the farm will be when it does come time for the kids to make a clear choice to continue or to exit farming. I personally
do not see how we’re going to have our small dairy here in Wisconsin support the whole family; it’s going to have to be expanded.”

Caring for the land and his herd are at the forefront of Dan’s methods to sustain his operation for future generations. These practices are important to him to ensure his farm’s name is well-thought-of in the community.

“I think the biggest thing I’m doing, and what my kids hopefully will continue, is trying to enhance our operation to make sure that we have, first of all, a good product but also a good name,” Dan says. “If we can carry on that name, I think it will take us a long way — even if we decide to have a satellite farm somewhere else. When we move into a different area or community, we get a lot of pressure and it’s going to be a little bit more challenging to be able to farm going forward.”

Producing dairy products that are made ethically and sustainably isn’t Dan's only important objective as he looks to further expand his operation. He also keeps the people and families ultimately enjoying his milk in mind as he makes business decisions.

“I want consumers to know all the work we put into making milk to ensure we have a very safe and wholesome product. Also, what we do to be sustainable, what agriculture does to protect our water and to make sure that our carbon footprint is as low as possible when we produce dairy products,” Dan says. “I think if you look at it from a standpoint of the nutritional value, what you’re getting for the carbon footprint that we’re using to create it is unmatched.”

He says he hopes consumers know there are real families behind their favorite dairy products — like the Bricks. Just don’t hold it against them if you’re not a Packers or Brewers fan.

To make sure he’s up to date on industry news and farming practices he can use on his own operation to attain his goals, Dan keeps in touch with the tightknit dairy community.

“One of my favorite things about farming is the people we’re dealing with. Everyone is there to help you, and there’s always someone to share their ideas with you,” Dan says. “I know dairy producers from different parts of the country and most of my friends are from the industry. It’s just a great community to be a part of, that’s what makes it so enjoyable.”