Defiance County dairy gets state OK to expand

10/22/2004

FARMER, Ohio - Vander Made Dairy LLC near here in Defiance County received a permit from the Ohio Department of Agriculture last week to expand to 1,010 cows from 620 that it has now.

Lambert Vander Made, who is a partner in the farm with his parents, Bert and Corrie, said yesterday he hoped to have 900 cows on the farm by the end of the year.

The Agriculture Department did not receive any comments on the application during the public comment period, and Mr. Vander Made said he has never had any complaints. The farm was started in 2000 after the family moved to Ohio from the Netherlands.

Two more applications for dairy farm expansions in northwest Ohio are pending before the Agriculture Department. Manders Dairy LLC in Wood County and Peters Dairy LLC in Henry County have asked for permits for 1,600 cows.

Both have just under 700 cows now.

All three farms originally were developed by Vreba-Hoff Dairy Development LLC in Wauseon, which helps immigrants build dairies.