Bob and Sherry Gates, of Gateway-Acres, Poy Sippi, will host the Waupaca-Waushara Holstein Picnic, at 11 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 19.
Events get under way with a viewing of the Gateway-Acres herd, followed by a tailgate-syle lunch. The picnic will also include a judging contest, door prizes and a silent auction to benefit the Waupaca-Waushara Junior Holstein Association. A few of the silent auction items include an autographed Green Bay Packers football, two Green Bay Packers football tickets, cookbooks with homemade products, wine and cheese baskets, a Greg Jennings standup, Milwaukee Brewers sausage bobblehead and T-shirt, Mary Kay basket, prints, four season passes to World Dairy Expo, clothing items from various artificial insemination organizations and more.
The speaker for the day is Jim Rickert, Wisconsin Holstein Association president.
Gateway-Acres is located at N3931 State Highway 49, one mile south of Poy Sippi.
Bob’s great-grandfather, Ed Gates, purchased the farm in 1896. In the late 1940s Bob’s parents, Herb and Lucille, took over the farm. Bob purchased the farm from his parents in 1978. At the time of the purchase there were 23 cows and just one silo.
Over the years the farm has been upgraded to a 74-stall milking barn, a maternity pen, 15-stall dry cow facility, heifer facility with 60 freestalls and several calf huts. He also added another three silos.
The herd consists of 100 percent registered Holsteins including 88 milk cows and 90 youngstock. The cows are milked twice a day, with a current Rolling Herd Average of over 23,000 pounds of milk, 877 pounds of butterfat and 705 pounds of protein.
For more information, contact the Gates at 920-987-5380 or visit www.gatewayacres.com.