The Gerrits Family

Born and raised on his parents' 40-cow dairy farm in Oneida, Wisconsin, Brian Gerrits returned to the farm after completing high school.  Eventually, Brian and his father formed a partnership, with Brian purchasing the farm in 1989 after his father passed away unexpectedly.  Brian continued to farm with his wife, Lynn, and three sons, expanding the herd to 75 cows shortly after purchasing the farm.

In 1990, Brian and Lynn had the opportunity to go to a conference in Florida and visit a 5,000-cow farm.  At the event, Brian realized the direction the dairy industry was going and wanted to be a part of it.  When he came back from the conference, he began to look for opportunities to partner with other farmers who shared his vision.

With ten years of experience building and working with large dairy farms, Brian worked as a consultant, helping farmers develop and carryout business plans to build or expand dairy farms.  Through his work consulting, Brian met Lynn Davis, Mark Diederichs, Ron Schwenck, and Doug Theil.  Brian worked with the four partners as their consultant to build phase one of Lake Breeze Dairy.

During the planning process, Brian was invited to join the partnership with the rest of the group.  Initially, Brian selected the cattle to fill the barns and put systems and protocols in place so the farm would operate smoothly.  From there, Brian moved to managing the business and financial affairs on the farm.  After those areas were running efficiently, the partnership moved forward onto phase two of Lake Breeze Dairy, bringing it from 1,500 cows to 3,000 cows.

After the second expansion of Lake Breeze Dairy, Brian had more opportunities to work on the business side of the organization.  In 2005 he began working full-time for the dairy.  Shortly after, in 2007, when Lake Breeze Dairy was fully operational, Brian approached the group about building another dairy, just as they had with Lake Breeze Dairy.  The group agreed, and they started down the path to officially becoming Breeze Dairy Group.

Today, Brian is the Lead Director for the Board of Breeze Dairy Group.  He and his wife Lynn have three sons.  The two younger sons, Bradley and Geoffrey, are actively involved in the organization.  Bradley is the Director of Operations for Breeze Dairy Group.  Geoffrey is the Chief Financial Officer.  Their oldest son, Curtis, is an agricultural loan officer and resides in Minnesota with his wife Cassie and their three children.

The Diederichs Family

Mark Diederichs knew at a young age that he wanted to be a dairy farmer.  Growing up on his family's 60-cow dairy farm near Johnsburg, Wisconsin, Mark was always passionate about working with dairy cattle.  After graduating high school, Mark returned to his family farm and spent the next few years managing the herd.

In 1982, Mark married his wife Laurie.  At that time, he was still working on his family's farm.  A couple of years later, Mark bought the cattle from his father and rented the buildings and land from him for several years before he purchased the land and buildings from his parents ten years later.

Mark rented land and began purchasing feed from a neighbor in 1995 to focus solely on the herd, which he expanded from 60 to 150 cows.  After farming with 150 cows for about four years, Mark and Laurie knew they wanted to expand the herd and began looking at options.

Lynn Davis, Mark's long-time nutritionist, approached Mark about a partnership to build a large dairy in early 2000.  Together, the partners developed a business plan to build what is now Lake Breeze Dairy.  During the construction of phase-one of Lake Breeze Dairy, Mark continued to manage his 150-cow herd while also overseeing the construction of the new dairy.  When Lake Breeze Dairy was completed, the majority of Mark's cows moved to that farm and Mark began managing Lake Breeze Dairy.

As of recently, Mark and Laurie have begun to enjoy their retirement from the daily responsibilities at Lake Breeze Dairy.  They enjoy spending time with their three children and two grandchildren.  Of their three children, their middle daughter, Heather, works at the Central Office of Breeze Dairy Group.

The Schwenck Family

A couple of miles down the road from Lake Breeze Dairy, Ron Schwenck grew up on his family's 60-cow farm.  After attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison and receiving his bachelor's degree in dairy science, Ron returned home to purse his passion and farm with his father.

When his son Rick, who is also a partner in Breeze Dairy Group, graduated from college and was considering returning home to farm with his father, Ron knew they had to expand their 60-cow dairy to support both himself and his son.

While Ron was contemplating an expansion, he had discussions with their nutritionist, Lynn Davis, and the opportunity to form a partnership and build Lake Breeze Dairy was presented to him.  The timing was ideal, so Ron and Rick joined the partnership.

After Lake Breeze Dairy was built, the cows from Ron's home farm moved there.  After the milking cows moved to Lake Breeze Dairy, Ron raised bull calves from the dairy to be steers.  He also had a small beef herd.

Today, Rick Schwenck is the Director of Livestock Management at Breeze Dairy Group. Ron still has his beef herd and a crop farm.  Many of the crops from his farm go to the cows at Lake Breeze Dairy.

The Davis Family

Lynn Davis grew up on a 50-cow dairy farm in northwest Wisconsin.  After earning his bachelor's degree at UW-River Falls, Lynn went on to Iowa State University where he received an M.S. and Ph.D. in animal nutrition.

Lynn and his wife, Catherine, who he met during grad school, moved to Appleton, Wisconsin in 1983 where they started Nutrition Professionals, Inc. with a former classmate.  Nutrition Professionals, Inc. is a team of Ph.D. level, independent dairy nutritionists who develop and help farmers implement a customized feeding program, designed specifically for their dairy herd.

While working as a dairy nutritionist, Lynn met Mark Diederichs, Ron and Rick Schwenck, and Doug Thiel.  After more than 15 years of working together, Lynn approached each of them with an idea to form a partnership.  Each individual farmer was considering expanding their smaller herds, but from Lynn's past experience, he knew they could be stronger and more successful together.

In 2001, Lynn brought Mark, Doug and the Schwencks together to begin planning what is now Lake Breeze Dairy.  He and Catherine were passionate about this project; they knew the farmers had similar goals, values, and work ethics.  Ultimately, the partnership added Brian Gerrits, and the five families went on to develop Breeze Dairy Group.

For the first 13 years, beginning after Lake Breeze Dairy was built, Lynn was accountable for the nutritional rations of the herds.  After a several year transition, Lynn moved out of his role as the nutritionist in 2016 and now works as an advisor for the Breeze Dairy Group herds.

The Thiel Family

Doug, Roger, and Roman Thiel grew up near Hilbert, WI.  Growing up, their family milked 85 cows before selling the milking herd in 1998 and custom raising heifers and steers.  

Today, Doug continues to run the home farm by raising steers and growing crops.  Roger is currently an Engineer for a general contractor that services a wide variety of industries, including dairy farms and food processing facilities.  Roman recently retired from Appleton International Airport, Operations Division.

Being partners with Breeze Dairy Group gives Doug, Roger, and Roman the opportunity to be a part of the agriculture community and allows them to continue pursuing their passion to be involved with their family roots as dairy farmers and stay connected with the production agriculture industry.