In Perryville, Ohio, Ayers Farm has found a way to connect tradition with innovation. The seventh-generation dairy is home to more than 600 Holstein cows, and their diet includes an unusual ingredient: brewer’s mash from the Budweiser plant in Columbus. What could have gone to waste is instead being used to feed cows and keep the farm more sustainable.

Kathy Davis, who helps run the farm, explains it simply. By using byproducts from other industries, the farm keeps material out of landfills while giving their herd valuable nutrition. Farmers, she says, have always been recyclers. Along with brewer’s mash, the cows also receive distillers grains, corn gluten, soybean meal and cottonseed. In the past, the farm even fed potato waste from a local Frito Lay plant to steers.

Ayers Farm is also embracing technology. Breeding-age heifers, lactating cows and dry cows wear activity monitors. Cameras in maternity pens help keep a close eye on cows during calving. These tools provide data that allows the family and their team to address health or production issues before they become problems.

For Kathy, the work is about more than just producing milk. She believes it is also about people, from employees to nutritionists and veterinarians, who make the farm’s success possible. The farm employs 25 people, manages 1,500 acres and raises replacement heifers alongside the milking herd.

Like many dairy farms, Ayers Farm faces challenges with labor and hauling milk, but they are exploring solutions such as beef-on-dairy breeding to improve margins. Looking to the future, succession planning is an important focus. With Kathy’s father and uncle in their seventies, she and her cousin are steadily taking on more responsibilities to keep the farm thriving for the next generation.

The story of Ayers Farm shows how creativity and sustainability can shape the future of dairy while holding onto the values of family farming.

How about you - what byproducts or innovative feed solutions have you seen or tried on your farm or in your community?