College friends build dairy farms through partnerships
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Austin Copenhaver and two college friends in the United States started a dairy business by partnering with retiring farmers instead of relying on family inheritance.
The three men initially aimed to manage a 3,000-cow dairy and began in 2013 by partnering with Todd Hathorn, who owned a 400-head farm in the Finger Lakes region of New York and wanted to retire.
They formed Ivy Lakes Dairy as an LLC, later expanding to house additional cows from another retiring couple and building new facilities. As Ivy Lakes Dairy grew to 1,250 cows with an average milk production of 31,500 pounds, the partners pursued individual opportunities. Copenhaver began managing a separate dairy farm, Gorham Dairy, in a partnership with a forage supplier.
The group maintains constant communication, talking three to four times weekly, to navigate differing management styles and ensure alignment with their shared vision. With the USDA projecting significant farmland turnover in the next 20 years, Copenhaver suggests that these non-family partnerships may offer a path for young people who lack the means to buy land outright, but stresses the importance of choosing partners with compatible goals and integrity.
