J. We designed our facility in 1973 on 160 acres of desert land on the eastern edge of the irrigated farm land in the Salt River Valley in Central Arizona. The initial plan was to accommodate approximately 2000 milking cows, plus dry cows, calf starting facilities and pens for the growing heifers and steers. In 1981 with the acquisition of an adjacent 160 acres we completed an expansion of this facility to a projected combined capacity of 4500 cows in milk, 3X per day. We are a member of the United Dairymen of Arizona, a milk marketing cooperative, with a strict base-excess market sharing plan.
Producers share in market sales according to the amount of base they own.
We have acquired our production base from dairymen retiring from the business. Our milking facility consists of 4 polygon parlors equipped with automatic takeoff machines, with back flush. The original 2 parlors are 24 stalls each, and the latter 2 are 32 stalls each. Our milking parlors are arranged in the center of the milking pens. The dry cow, calving, fresh cow, and calf starting facilities are all located in close proximity for efficient coordination of activities.