Otto Ferg started the brown swiss tradition in the family in 1926 when he purchased his first "grade" brown swiss. After purchasing and breeding more brown swiss he handed the farm over to his son, Franklin in the mid 1940s. Franklin then purchased four registered brown swiss and decided to establish the prefix of "Lone Oak Swiss." This name originated from a large Red Oak tree growing alone in the middle of a pasture of Franklin's farm in Manawa, WI. Franklin was the proud breeder of the world famous cow "Lone Oak Ima Doll." She held the brown swiss protein producer record for close to ten years and her name is still recognized today with several awards such as the "Ima Doll Protein Award." Franklin also bred some other excellent cows such as Lone Oak Bampa, Lone Oak Dutches and Lone Oak Klassic. Lone Oak Swiss has had 11 bulls in AI Stud, seven of which were sons of Lone Oak Ima Doll.  The farm also had numerous All-American, Reserve All-American and Honorable Mention Awards.  Plus numerous animals were sold in foreign countries. Franklin bred registered brown swiss for 54 years before the business was sold to his son Thomas.

 

The original farm was located in Manawa, WI.  It was all moved to Waupaca, WI in 1976 when Thomas joined with his father Franklin until 1991.  This is when Thomas purchased the remainder of the herd.  Franklin stayed active with the daily farm chores until the herd was dispersed in 2003.  After Thomas retained management of the dairy he was able to be successful with many All-American brown swiss including a bull "Lone Oak Patrick Ewing" who was named unanimous All-American bull two consecutive years in a row.

Since the dispersal of Thomas' herd in 2003, his nephew Adam Spierings retained the Lone Oak Swiss prefix. He is trying to build the herd back to what it used to be. He currently has six milking cows with a classified average of 87.5 points and 88 mammary system. There are also seven heifers growing up.  One of these heifers, Adam's grandfather, Franklin bred and Adam later bought as an embryo during the 2003 dispersal. Adam is very excited about his future in the dairy industry and can not wait to see what the future has to hold for him.

Adam is currently a senior at the University Of Wisconsin River Falls majoring in Dairy Science. He is a member of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity where he has been involved with many activities and recently served as Noble Ruler. While away at college his animals are being housed at his cousins, Josh and Terry Nett's, owners of Auburnvale Swiss.  Josh and Terry have done a great job in raising the animals and has treated each one as if it were one of their own. Josh was also given the love for the Brown Swiss Breed from his grandfather Franklin, he strives for a herd of greater than 50% Brown Swiss cows and excellent production at all times.  He has treated Adam very fairly and has given him a great opportunity to expand his herd while away at school. Something a student without a family farm is very rarely able to do.

 

 

The cows coming home from pasture.  This was the cover of the Hoards Dairyman August of 1999.