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Rural communities grapple with growth of large-scale farms

Tom McClellan has a herd of 450 cows on his Darien Township farm. He’s been watching with interest the growth of larger dairy farms, including the Rock Prairie Dairy, just over the Walworth/Rock county line. Terry Mayer/staff photo.

(Read the full story in the e-edition HERE.)

DARIEN TOWNSHIP — Tom McClellan runs the same farm on which his grandfather, father and uncle built a parlor and free-stall milking barn, a new concept back in October 1966. The operation has continued to undergo numerous transformations to keep pace with changing times and technology.

“We’re still milking in part of the original barn, and we’re awfully fortunate to be doing that,” said McClellan, who rents out much of his 2,500 acres, which are planted in corn and beans and provide forage for a herd of about 450 cows. “But we’ve added on, remodeled, moved and removed buildings. Many of the things we started with are long gone. It’s been a lot of hit and miss, but you learn and make things work.”

McClellan and his family have survived — on Wisconsin Highway 11 in Darien Township — while many other smaller, mom-and-pop businesses in agriculture and other industries have not.

That’s because the so-called mega farms, either expanding older operations or new ones, are becoming more and more common. Rock County features two of the largest: Larson Acres in Magnolia Township southwest of Evansville is an example of the former, while Rock Prairie Dairy in Bradford Township represents one of the latter ... CONTINUED