For Bill Thiele, the recent opening of their new milking parlor and freestall barn has been a project more about transitioning to the next generation of dairy farmers than increasing milk cow numbers. Thiele Dairy was founded by Thiele's grandparents and has carried on that family tradition, slowly adding cow numbers and improving facilities with technology.

Today, the dairy is operated by Thiele, his brother Tom, and another brother Ron and his wife, Karol. More recent additions to the dairy team have been Tom's son Scott, and his wife, Cecily, and Ron and Karol's son, Luke, and his wife, Morgan.

FAMILY TRADITION: Multiple generations of the Thiele family, including Bill Thiele, pictured in front of the family's new milking parlor, have been involved in dairying near Clearwater. "We wanted to see forward, to work to progress and evolve, so we could move forward and help the next generation be successful in our operation," Thiele says.

When Scott first joined the operation a couple of years ago, the family was already deeply involved in expansion plans for their cow numbers and facilities. "We learned something years ago when we built what up until recently was our current facilities," says Bill Thiele, who also serves as president of the Nebraska State Dairy Association. "We learned that when you build new facilities, you need to think about not only what you are going to build, but the next phase that isn't even thought of yet."

So, they took their time in planning, preparing and designing the new parlor and barns, which they started to move into in March. When the new facilities were completed, they had already done dirt work for the next barn that isn't on the drawing board and probably won't be built for many years.

"You have to think far ahead," Thiele says. "From way back, my family and I have been aware of how our grandparents helped our mom and dad get started farming and in dairying," he says. "We know that our parents risked it all to help us get started too, so we were willing to take our time and learn about how we wanted to transition to the next generation," he says. "We wanted to see forward, to work to progress and evolve so we could move forward and help the next generation be successful in our operation."

"Thiele Dairy and all of our dairies are large family businesses," says Rod Johnson, executive director of the Nebraska State Dairy Association. "As our dairies look forward in their facility planning, as well as the generational transfer, they need to consult the best experts in every phase of their planning," he explains. "In a dairy or any business, the owners and managers need to concentrate on what they do best, and for dairy operators, that is caring for their cows. They need to bring in subject experts to advise them as they address each of the issues or challenges they face."

For Thieles, that meant attending farm transition educational sessions, talking to other farmers and working with their farm transition team, including professionals in the area. "When transitioning to another generation, it is important that the interests of the current family members operating the farm are taken into consideration for the long run, as well as being able to set up the next generation with a business plan to be successful," Johnson says. "With Thiele Dairy, each phase of their growth and expansion has relied on the successful plan that was laid out years or decades before," he says. "This allows the operation to systematically grow, without wasted investment along the way."

This planning all took place about the same time the Thiele family was making a major upgrade to their facilities, Thiele says. "We were milking early-lactation cows at the main dairy, and then we moved the late-lactation cows to a second site," he explains. "We hired an agriculture engineer to help us bring all the milking and feeding to one site, so we could handle the milking, handle the manure properly and handle the additional number of cows."

Whether it was the actual milking parlor and milk handling facilities, or a window gallery area where visitors to the dairy can view milking time, thought was given to the needs of not only tomorrow, but also years from now, Thiele says. "Our facilities were also built around cow comfort," he says. "If you take care of the cows, they will take care of us."