To kick off the year, it seemed fitting to have not one, but two Farmers of the Month. Congratulations to Dale Bogart and Duane Ducat from Kewaunee!
Bogart and Ducat both ran farms on their own until deciding to merge and create Deer Run Dairy. I didn’t get a chance to speak with Ducat, but I did sit down with Bogart. He didn’t grow up on a huge dairy farm or anything like that, he didn’t even grow up in Wisconsin. He moved here because of agriculture.
“I grew up in Ohio. My parents were not farmers. My dad had a little hobby farm,” Bogart said. Growing up he had an interest in beef cattle but realized that it wasn’t exactly what he wanted in the end. “It’s been something I wanted to do as a child. I started working with livestock…I grew up with beef cattle. But, I realized that wasn’t a path that was gonna keep me in business.”
Once he decided beef wasn’t going to be his future, he switched to dairy. He said that as most farmers starting out, he learned a lot of things the hard way, but it worked out. Bogart chose to move to Wisconsin because his grandparents lived here and he wanted to have a dairy farm. He moved up to the dairy state, got a job on a farm, and by 1981 he had his own farm.
Bogart and Ducat ended up meeting years ago while they were both milking in older facilities on their own. Bogart mentioned that the big question on their minds was, “How are we going to stay in the business?” They were in similar situations where they knew they wouldn’t be able to build a new dairy on their own. That’s when they decided that the move for them was to create a partnership. They merged their assets and built Deer Run Dairy.
Bogart explained that being in business with a friend can be tricky, but as long as your goals are the same and you respect each other as business partners, things can run smoothly. “It’s different. It’s good and bad. We can agree and disagree and we don’t have to sit down at Thanksgiving or Christmas…It’s a business arrangement. We respect each other, we’re good friends, and our goals are the same. That’s what makes it easy.”
Besides having some good words of advice for farmers who are in a partnership, he also had some advice for the younger generation of agriculture. “It’s a hard business to get into, but if you’re willing to work hard enough, I think you still can.” Bogart wanted to reassure people that it’s hard, but it’s not impossible. “It’s not easy, but if it’s your dream and you wanna work hard enough, I think it’s still possible.”
He said that the younger generation should also think about the farms that might not have a kid or someone who’s interested in taking over. That’s one avenue where things could work out in their favor. Not every farmer has an heir to pass the farm down to once retirement comes around so they’ll be looking for that person. You’d hate to see a farm forced to leave the industry simply because there’s no one there to take it over.
Bogart also gave his thoughts on the dairy industry as a whole and what he sees for the upcoming months. “Well, the outlook right now for the amount of milk on the market versus the demand on the market isn’t real good.” He also did give some hope. “I think right now the markets are to where we’ll be alright unless the bottom falls out…I think we’re protected pretty well by marketing, that we’ve got a baseline set. I think things can be okay.”
At this point, no one truly knows what 2021 will bring, but it’s interesting to hear people’s thoughts on it. You can listen to the full interview and his insights on 2021 right here.
Congratulations to our January Farmers of the Month, Dale Bogart and Duane Ducat of Deer Run Dairy in Kewaunee! Also, thank you to all of the farmers for what you do to keep food on our tables. We appreciate you!
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