Gilmer Dairy

By Jessie Shook

For over 100 years, the Gilmer family of Lamar County, Alabama, has been a part of the agriculture industry. With its start as a cash crop and livestock operation, Gray Gilmer decided to make dairy the main focus during the 1950s dairy boom. Gray excelled at it and was able to expand the herd over 60 years and three generations.

Will Gilmer, now co-owner of Gilmer Dairy, LLC with his father, David Gilmer, is a third-generation dairy farmer and the sixth generation of his family to farm in their community. After Will left the family farm for college with the intention of becoming a computer engineer, it did not take long before he knew where he belonged. “It only took six weeks of being off the farm to realize that I wanted a career in agriculture,” Will said. “By my senior year, the opportunity to live on the farm and work daily with my father easily won out over other career possibilities.”

Will never felt the pressure to continue the dairy. “Obligation to continue the family legacy had nothing to do with the decision,” Will added. “Now, that legacy is not lost on me and it is something I’m proud of, but neither brought me back nor prevents me from making necessary changes to keep our farm economically viable.”

Just like the passing down of Gilmer Dairy from one generation to the next, the need for food to survive and thrive will always secure the need for farmers and farmland in generations to come. “As long as our farmland can be best utilized for some kind of food production and also provide a positive economic return, it’s important that we manage it the way those who come after us can carry on our legacy,” Will said.

Gilmer Dairy consists of 230 head of Holstein cows and heifers. The farm is roughly 500 contiguous acres of pasture and cropland with an additional 100 acres of leased cropland. They milk their dairy cows twice a day – early in the morning and early afternoon. “We are members of a dairy cooperative; all of our milk is shipped to a commercial dairy processing facility where it is pasteurized, homogenized and bottled for retail sale along with milk from other dairies that supply that facility,” Will said.

The care and well-being of the dairy cows are a main priority at Gilmer Dairy. The farm is a part of the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management Program (FARM). This program includes standards for animal care that can be tailored to the size and management style of individual farms. “The standards of our farm include maintaining a working relationship with professionals such as large animal veterinarians and dairy nutritionists, vaccination protocols and the judicious use of medically necessary antibiotics, providing clean water, sufficient pasture space and age-specific feed programs,” Will said.

The Gilmer Dairy milking cows spend most of their time on pasture or a dry lot. “Our primary Bermudagrass pasture for the milking herd includes access to shade, water troughs and a feeding area the cows can enter and exit free choice,” Will said. “They have access to two shade barns that are equipped with fans, misters and water troughs for hot summer days.”

The cows are regularly examined by a veterinarian and have a diet formulated by a dairy nutritionist. The cows’ diet consists of forages, grain products and vitamins. Gilmer Dairy also has a protocol for breeding their heifers. “They are not bred until they are at least 14 months old because at this point, they will have the proper body size and structure to safely carry a calf from conception to birth,” Will added. “Our heifers are bred to ‘calving-ease’ bulls whose offspring tend to be smaller than the breed average at birth.” This is done to decrease the potential for complications during the heifer’s labor and delivery.

From an environmental sustainability standpoint, Gilmer Dairy utilizes the cow manure and wastewater from the milking barn to fertilize the pasture and cropland in accordance with a nutrient management plan. They also employ a combination of no-till and contour farming practices to protect against soil erosion. “We follow an NRCS-developed Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan that allows us to utilize the stored waste fertilizer which decreases our need for commercially manufactured fertilizers,” Will said. “This waste is field-applied by honeywagon in rates determined by soil conditions and crop nutrient requirements.”

The dairy industry in Alabama does present many challenges to dairy farms across the state. Two challenges that Gilmer Dairy faces are acquiring hired help and the size of the dairy. “It can be difficult to find good, committed, affordable labor,” Will said.

“Thankfully, through the years and even now we have dependable nonfamily employees, but it could be an issue if we expand our operation and need to expand our workforce.”

This leads to the second challenge – size. “Like most other businesses, costs have risen, profit margins have tightened and economies of scale need to be

harnessed in order to generate enough profit to remain sustainable,” Will said. “In other words, get big or get out. That’s not to say there is not a place for smaller dairies … some have very successful niches selling directly to the public or supplementing income through agritourism, but the long-term prospect of being able to sell small volumes of milk in the conventional cooperative/commercial system is not very good.”

Because of the challenges within the dairy industry, Will advocates for the industry through serving in agriculture organizations, including holding the current position of President of Lamar County’s Farmers Federation. “I’ve also served in several different dairy-specific organizations, working on both promotion and policy. From a public-facing standpoint, I’ve actively promoted our farm and industry on social media for years and have been a featured speaker at several state and national conferences.”

With a decline in dairies across the state of Alabama, farms like Gilmer Dairy are few and far between. “The most rewarding part of dairy farming is knowing that you are producing a safe, healthy food product that people are enjoying multiple times a day,” Will explained. So, fill up your glass of milk and support your local dairy this month for National Dairy Month, Will and other dairy farmers across the state will thank you.