Adam Westenbroek, owner
Bakersfield, California, USA
Adam Westenbroek didn’t grow up milking cows, but his childhood dream of becoming a California dairyman took root early. Riding along with his dad, a semen salesman in Chino, California, Adam was drawn to the work ethic and routine of dairy life. “I was always impressed with the work ethic of a dairyman,” Adam recalls. “I thought they worked hard, and I liked to work, even just doing household chores growing up. I thought it would translate well to doing dairy chores.”
Today, Adam manages Westwind Dairy in Bakersfield, a family-run operation where cow comfort, cutting-edge technology, and personal values intersect. Over the last decade, he’s transformed the dairy into a place that not only produces high-quality milk but also supports his growth as a husband, father, and leader.
Bakersfield’s brutal summers, with temperatures often soaring past 110°F, make heat stress an ongoing challenge. That’s why Adam turned to Nedap’s activity monitoring and smart sorting gates to reduce stress on his cows, and himself. “One of the ways I thought could help with that was these activity collars and sort gates, just not forcing the cows to stand up out of the shade,” Adam explains. “They can hang out in the shade and get feed when it’s cooler, earlier in the morning or late at night.”
What surprised him most was the immediate improvement in cow behavior and performance. “Right away, I noticed my intakes actually went up. I thought I would see a decrease because I wasn’t standing that cow up, but it did the opposite,” he says. “And obviously, that translates to milk.”
The added bonus? A healthier work-life balance. “One of the main reasons for adopting the technology, that has really nothing to do with cows or heat stress, was because I wanted to spend more time with my family,” Adam shares. “There were a lot of times before we did this that I wasn’t able to go to my kids’ games because I just wasn’t done. Now most days, we’re done with all cow treatments and breeding by 7:30.”
“One of the main reasons for adopting the technology was because I wanted to spend more time with my family.”
A self-proclaimed “cow guy,” Adam took pride in his breeding skills and was initially skeptical about relying on technology to do a job he’d always done manually. “I used to take a lot of pride in heat detection,” he admits. “When we went to the activity system, I still chalked cows. I didn’t think it was as good as me.”
But the data told a different story. “Come the first vet check, they didn’t do so good, the ones I thought were hot and Nedap said were not,” he recalls with a laugh. “What had to happen was I needed to learn to trust the collars. Trusting the collars has been probably one of the biggest changes for me.”
Now, Adam uses the Nedap system to access everything from heat alerts to health lists right on his phone, giving him the flexibility to manage the herd more efficiently and spend time on bigger-picture decisions.
For Adam, every day is an opportunity to improve the dairy, whether it’s replacing a soaker line or coaching a new employee. “Doing something to make this dairy a little bit better is something that drives me every day for sure,” he says.
That mindset extends to building stronger relationships with his team. “I want my guys to understand that the decisions I make aren’t for me, they’re for the cows,” Adam explains. “My goal is that they develop the same love for the cows that I have.”
Thanks to Nedap, Adam has more time to lead intentionally, both on the farm and at home. “Getting to spend time with my kids doing hockey, coaching them… That’s meant a whole lot to me,” he says. “The way the dairy runs now, it’s totally different. It hasn’t changed the goal, it’s just changed how we do it.”
Want to discover how Nedap technology can support the future of your farm? Westenbroek Dairy proves it works. Find your local distributor here to introduce this technology to your farm!
Seamless integration between activity monitoring and sorting
Fewer lockups, increased rumination, improved performance
Active heat stress monitoring
Spend time where it matters, both on the farm and at home
