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Meet The Grafts
Leatherbrook Holsteins
Spending summers on his grandfather's dairy farm in Ohio, Adam Graft had an appreciation for the dairy industry from a young age. He always knew that one day, he would like to operate his own dairy. After graduating from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, he moved to California to practice veterinary medicine on dairy farms. He rented a small dairy in the region but didn’t find much opportunity for growth. He met his wife, Jane, while in California and they moved back to Georgia in 2005 to put roots in the ground.
In his early years of dairy farming in the state, he rented a dairy in Barnesville, Georgia. The dairy was previously owned by a retired farmer, and when Adam took over he started milking 300 cows.
“Starting out with a smaller number of cows allowed me to figure out what worked and what didn’t,” said Adam.
After a few years in Barnesville, he had the opportunity to purchase a dairy from two retirement age couples looking to get out of the business in Americus, Georgia. This was the beginning of Leatherbrook Holsteins.
Throughout the years, Adam has continued to develop and expand his operation. Today, he milks several times the amount of cows he started with 20 years ago.
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint," said Adam. “Today was built on yesterday.”
Leatherbrook Holsteins has two parlors operating around the clock, one parallel and one rotary parlor. The dairy also plants and harvests all of their own forages for feed. A unique approach to their hay harvest that has yielded positive results is chopping their hay instead of baling it for haylage and silage.
Farmers continue to be leaders in sustainable and environmental practices, and Adam is no exception. He installed a methane digester on the dairy, which constantly recycles manure and other organic materials. The system uses bacteria to break down cow manure and organic materials, which creates biogas. The biogas contains methane, but is then captured and used to generate renewable natural gas creating recycled energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The remaining digestate is used as fertilizer for the crops.
Adam and his wife Jane have four children, Lee, Reese, Emmie, and James. Lee is currently in college at Cornell University. Both the boys are interested in the dairy industry.
“My favorite thing about this industry is being able to control your own destination,” said Adam.
With time and patience, Leatherbrook Holsteins has grown into an industry-leading dairy in the Southeastern United States. Adam has always been committed to learning and expanding his
knowledge base to make his goals a reality. He currently serves as Vice-President on the Georgia Milk Producers Board of Directors.