Provitello Farms

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By Tom Rivers trivers@batavianews.com  published in Daily News

Genesee County Manager Jay Gsell, left, talks with Jurian Bartelse, manager of Provitello’s veal-raising facility in Elba. Provitello raises the animals in group quarters. (Rocco Laurienzo/Daily News)

ELBA — About 70 “decision makers” were introduced to a new crop of farmers, a group that brings technology and a passion to the agriculture businesses.

Torrey Farms, Lamb Farms, CY Farms and Provitello, a veal-raising operation in Elba, showed community leaders on Tuesday how the businesses are incorporating a new generation of farmers.

Torrey Farms is in its 12th generation and 206th year of farming. Torrey has grown to about 10,000 acres. The farm has 200 year-round employees and peaks at 360 workers during the harvest season. The farm has drastically expanded in the past three decades. In 1978, Torrey was farming 700 acres.

Siblings Mark Torrey, John Torrey and Maureen Marshall created a farm that is vertically integrated, with Torrey growing, packing, marketing and trucking the produce.

Beginning seven years ago, a new Torrey generation started full-time at the farm. Now five of Mark’s children — Molly, Travis, Shannon, Jed and Jordyn — are working at the farm and two more are at Cornell University.

The children have to work their way up from the bottom, Marshall said. They aren’t just handed managerial roles.

They have been taught to respect every position on the farm, to honor their commitments and to grow quality products, Travis said during the 20th annual agriculture tour coordinated by the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce.

The farm measures worker output and hours with a computerized system. Workers have chips in their hats and crew leaders use a probe to register each basket of cucumbers and other produce. Two Torrey locations, in Lyndonville and Potter, clock workers in and out by scanning their handprints.

The farm’s fields are mapped with a computerized system and that system also records pesticide use and other inputs, which helps the farm track the cost-per-acre of its fields.

Many of the planters and combines are outfitted with “auto-steer” technology, where the equipment could drive itself. The technology keeps the machines in straight lines, without overlap in seeds and chemicals.

Travis said technology can only do so much. The farm still needs to bring in workers to harvest many of the crops.

Susie Boyce takes a photo of the rotary milking parlor at Lamb Farms in Oakfield during Tuesday’s Genesee County agriculture tour. (Rocco Laurienzo/Daily News)

“I don’t know if you will replace that human hand you need to pick apples and cucumbers,” he said at the Elba Fire Department Recreation Hall.

The five Torrey children, all in their 20s, have found niches, either managing work crews in the fields, running and buying equipment, helping to manage a dairy farm, working in human resources, or selling the produce.

“There are no job titles,” Marshall said. “Everybody works together as a team.”

She said there are many opportunities at the farm, and not just working with animals and out in the fields. She said marketing and soil specialists are needed. She sees a big need in agriculture for distribution logistics, people who know how to coordinate getting the product to the buyer.

Lamb Farms milks nearly 4,000 cows at two locations, one in Oakfield and the other in Batavia. The farm has another 4,400 calves and heifers. The farm employs 90 people and only seven are in the owners’ families.

Lamb is owned by the Lamb and Veazey families. The farm has opportunities at many levels for careers, from entry-level milkers to high-tech embryo transfers and lab work. Lamb can always use a good mechanic and animal caregivers.

“We have the opportunity to employ the whole spectrum,” said Jim Veazey, co-owner of the farm. “We try to do everything as a collective group — not as a dictatorship.”

The farm is implementing Global Positing System technology to map fields and keep track of soil types and yields on about 8,500 acres. Lamb also is building a manure digester that will use methane gas to run a generator, creating electricity.

CY Farms has 30 employees who run an operation that includes 5,200 acres. Co-owner Craig Yunker has reached out beyond his family for managers.

Yunker’s son, Christian, returned to the farm about a year and a half ago after six years working with Farm Credit in New Jersey. The younger Yunker said the hours are longer at the farm, but he followed his father’s advice about working somewhere else after college, before deciding whether he wanted the farm life.

Craig Yunker about five years ago formed a partnership with the Bartelse family in Canada. They formed Provitello, a veal-raising operation, and built a facility next to the CY Heifer Farm in Elba.

The Bartelses wanted to raise bull calves in the United States. The family’s business was threatened in 2004 when the U.S. temporarily banned Canadian-raised beef from coming into the U.S. because of the Mad Cow scare. The Bartelses have since bought out CY’s share and Provitello has bought three of the barns at CY to raise baby bulls in their first month. Then they move into a barn where the animals are in groups of 60, instead of being confined in individual stalls.

Jurian Bartelse, manager of the operation, said Provitello is well ahead of animal welfare goals for the American Veal Association. Provitello has 1,200 calves in its facilities, animals bought at local dairy farms. Provitello uses a computerized system to feed the animals a milk powder feed. Provitello only has three employees that run the operation. Slats in the floor catch the manure, keeping the facility clean with little work from employees.

The animals have chips in their ears and that allows the farm to trace the animals from their birth farm. The chips also are used to keep track of the feed intake. If an animal isn’t eating, the farm will be alerted to check the calf’s health.

May Pat Hancock, the Genesee County Legislature chairwoman, has been on the agriculture tours before, including a previous stop at Torrey’s. She said the local farms are rapidly changing.

“It’s a fast-changing industry,” she said. “They use technology on the ground, where it makes sense and makes money.”

Entering Their 3rd Year of Successful Group Housing:
Western New York Farm Raising Group Housed Automated Fed Veal

by Colleen Rudolph ~ Intern at Provitello published in The Producer’s Connection Jan 2008

With the inevitable phasing out of individual stalls and tethers, the quest for new and innovative husbandry methods has swung into full gear. The industry changes are a direct result of a more involved and vocal consumer. As a result, producers are assessing their needs and options to convert to group housing.

This unique facility has taken on the role as the only milk-fed veal producer in the United States to use automated feeding technology.

With the vast technology available today, our industry has the opportunity to embrace
this know-how and incorporate it into our production systems. Although very common in Europe—and to a lesser extent Canada—this technology has been long overdue in the United States.

In 2005, a new facility was constructed in Western New York with innovation in mind. This group housing operation has been utilizing the latest technology in the production of top quality veal calves.

An Alternative for the Future:
One Company’s Quest for the Perfect System

Known as Provitello, L.L.C., this division of Grober Nutrition—a leading manufacturer of milk replacer and veal feeds—has been demonstrating exactly that for the past three years. Using Förster Technik® Stand-Alone feeders, Provitello is able to deliver multiple feedings per day to its large herd of 1,000 calves, without any increased labor input.

This unique facility has taken on the role as the only milk-fed veal producer in the U.S. to use automated feeding technology. Automated feeding simply refers to exactly that: each group of 60 calves at Provitello is fed by a computer assisted, automated feeder. These feeders run 24 hours a day, mixing and dispensing milk to stations equipped with nipples. By feeding this way it closely mimics nature, allowing the calves to suckle for their milk.

photo: Colleen Rudolph, Intern at Provitello, with the Forster machine.

Communication between the individual calf and the feeder is accomplished via an electronic transponder tagged to the calf’s ear. With this communication taking place, the calf has access to whatever settings have been preset by the farm manager into the operating system. Provitello uses a “Bio-Rhythm” feeding schedule where by a calf can drink numerous times per day at his leisure. Again, this mimics a natural setting as to how a calf would feed from its mother, yet it is controlled as to avoid any problems associated with over consumption.

Once the calves have established a good daily milk intake, Provitello implements their grain program. Working along side the milk feeder, using the same transponder, the grain feeder distributes feed according to a preset schedule. The farm staff is simply required to keep the grain bins full and check intakes, keeping in sync with Provitello’s labor friendly routine. The information to and from all feeders is communicated through a central computer where specific software presents the information in a practical manner.

After the data has been transferred, it is displayed in the office on the main computer. Using the Förster Technik® Calf Manager program, information is available to the farm staff throughout the day. The program allows the staff to analyze each calf individually, in addition to the group as a whole, twice daily just as they would observe things if they were manually feeding the calves.

photo: Provitello Staff – Roberto Ayala, Jurian Bartelse, Colleen Rudolph.

General Manager Jurian Bartelse explains, “The computer database works in
harmony with both the feeding machine and the farm staff, but the data needs to be analyzed daily to ensure the best results.” Useful facts such as total powder consumed, grain intake, and drinking speed can all be observed. However, the most widely used application pertains to the individual calf’s feeding behavior. Bartelse adds, “The most useful part of the system is the daily consumption data per calf. It allows us to see each calf’s intake for the current and previous day and make decisions based on that.” Many different figures are collected and recorded on a daily basis to assess the feeding behavior of the calves, the performance of the group, and the consistency and accuracy of the feeder itself. All of these functions work together to foresee any problems and to assist in replicating strong results. For its management purposes, Provitello uses the available technology to the utmost, but never looses sight of the fact that the human factor is irreplaceable.

Technology Vastly Different from 20 Years Ago:
Group Housing & Automated Feeding

In keeping with Provitello’s unique management style, they have been experimenting with some new concepts to enhance their housing’s performance. Two recent trials are now being incorporated into the facility’s husbandry program. This past summer, the concept of a “starter” barn was researched and tested. Featuring natural ventilation, bedded packs, and
smaller groups, calves learned to drink off the feeders with less competition while experiencing a higher level of comfort. Once calves reached four weeks of age, they were then moved to the finisher barn. “The [growth] performance of the calves was better than our traditional first four weeks, with reduced mortality as well,” recounts Bartelse. This method provided a stronger calf to work with in addition to other benefits and as a result, several starter barns are now being used.

The other concept Provitello envisioned was allowing access to outdoor pens. After seeing it
first hand while on a trip to Switzerland last year, Jurian decided to integrate the idea himself.
Incorporating what he learned, Provitello tested an outdoor area which the calves had access to for three hours per day. Tested against a control group that stayed inside, the outdoor calves were heavier and healthier at shipping time.

An experimentation of giving calves access to an outdoor area three hours daily was so successful that it will become a permanent aspect of the facility at Provitello in Elba, NY.

The success of the trial has insured that it will become a permanent aspect of the facility this coming spring.
The outdoor pens and starter barns, in addition to the automated feeders, have generated a lot of attention from a variety of groups and individuals throughout the U.S. and overseas. It has been Provitello’s hope that continued traffic through their veal barn would help dispel every myth conceived about veal production and would go a long way in educating anyone who may not know what veal is or how it is raised. As part of that philosophy they have always kept their doors open to anyone wishing to visit. University and high school classes are common visitors to their facility as well as farm groups, fellow veal producers, and some international guests. “It’s great to see the reactions of people that have never seen a veal operation,” says Bartelse, “you can almost see their opinions changing and many times they are completely fascinated.” The open door policy is what reinforces the point that there is nothing to hide.

The success of Provitello has not been built on technology alone. It is through their compassion for the animals that Provitello has and will remain successful. Young animals require constant care and attention, and that’s what they provide. “With over 30 years in calf raising experience, all nutritional, social, biological, physical and health parameters are met. It has always been our intention to exceed those basic requirements,” says Heather Copland, Marketing and Communications Manager for Grober Nutrition.

As stated in Provitello’s motto “Committed to Innovation through Technology and Compassion”
they have excelled in technology and efficiency— and continue to—but it’s their concern for the welfare of the calves that has compelled them to design a system that produces such quality animals. It is what drives them still today to continue making improvements to increase care, comfort, and compassion for the animals.

Jurian Bartelse, Manager of Provitello, in his
office checking out the readouts from their computer calf feeding program. Jurian is also a director on the American Veal Association board.

As Bartelse says, “We will never be satisfied and we will continue to push the envelope when it comes to veal calf housing and feeding.” As they strive to prove that automated feeding is a viable option for anyone, they are creating a path of possibility by demonstrating a realistic alternative.