By Katrina Elsken
Lake Okeechobee News
OKEECHOBEE – Davie Dairy is the winner of the 2026 Red Larson Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Agriculture Industry.
The dairy got its start in 1959 in Davie, Fla., and moved operations to Okeechobee in 1967. Bill Berman said two families were involved in starting the dairy, “so we didn’t want to pick a family name.
“We’ve had two families that are not related by blood who have been in business together since 1959. At least one is fourth generation, and it’s unusual for two families who are not related to get along for all those years and still manage together," he explained.
Over the years, the dairy has invested in new technologies to make the operation more efficient and to comply with Florida Department of Environmental Protection rules about nutrients in runoff.
In 2014, the dairy was honored with the This Farm Cares Award by Florida Farm Bureau for an innovative approach to reducing phosphorus in runoff.
“The problem of phosphorus leaving dairy farms and getting into waterways that flow into Lake Okeechobee is a big issue,” Berman explained. Dairy waste is loaded with phosphorus, he added.
When the state enacted a rule that limited phosphorus leaving the farm, Davie Dairy built frees stall barns, Berman continued. “That’s a system where you house the cattle, collect the waste, and use it for fertilizer.”
He said even with this nutrient recycling, some phosphorus was in the water on the edge of the farm. He said they treat that water with an Alum chemical.
“The phosphorus that gets to the edge of the farm and would leave the farm. You treat that water with an Alum chemical that ties up the phosphorus. It’s kind of trapped there,” he explained.
“Luckily, the state of Florida Department of Agriculture has helped with funding to make that happen for quite a few years,” he said. The Department of Agriculture hired a company to manage it. Berman said Davie Dairy was the prototype for this system, which has been adopted for use at other dairies.
Davie Dairy is home to 2,500 lactating cows and several hundred dry cows. They milk 2,500 cows three times a day. “We were the first in Okeechobee County to have a rotary parlor,” said Berman. He said their rotary milking parlor went into operation in February 2022 and has been a great asset.
“If we hadn’t built this facility, I don’t think we would be in business. From 2022, we were having a very tough time. Without the efficiency of this thing and the ability to milk a lot of cows quickly, I don’t think we would have been able to stay in business,” said Berman.
He said the advanced technology of a rotary milking parlor makes it possible to milk the cows three times a day. Before they added the rotary parlor, they milked twice a day in a traditional milking parlor.
In the rotary parlor, one by one, cows step onto a slowly moving platform and are connected to the milking machine. The platform has 72 individual stalls and rotates very slowly. After completing the circle, the cow is disconnected from the milkers and leaves the carousel.
Other changes have helped make the dairy more efficient, he continued.
“Several years ago, we decided to downsize our heifer raising and send our baby calves elsewhere to be raised. They come back to us a few months before they have their first calf,” he explained. “We’ve got some heifers in Kentucky and some as far away as Kansas. The most important thing is the feed is there. You’ve either got to bring the feed to Florida or send the heifers to where the feed is. Raising calves in Florida is very challenging because of the hot weather, the rain, and the mud. We’ve already shown the results are superior to what we can do in Florida. It also frees up some of our people to do other things.”
The dairy’s breeding program has also changed.
“One of the interesting things that we do, is we only want to have enough replacement females to keep our population steady and growing,” he explained. They only use Holstein semen for their best cows, and they use “sexed semen” so about 95% of the Holstein calves born on the dairy are females. Those heifers will be raised as replacement cows for the dairy.
The rest of the 2,500 dairy cows are bred with Angus bulls because those calves are more valuable on the market, he explained. “We want either black calves or Holstein females,” he said.
The Angus cross calves are sold to people who raise them as beef cattle.
“The reason they are so valuable is that the whole beef industry is short of replacement cattle,” Berman said.
Keeping the cows comfortable is also key to the success of the dairy. "We have a ton of fans and sprinklers and all sorts of things to cool them off," said Berman. "If you cool the cows properly and feed them properly, you can get a lot of milk. If you don’t cool them, you’ve got problems.
The award was presented during the 2026 Best of the Lake Awards celebration at the Okeechobee KOA on Oct. 2.
![OKEECHOBEE -- The rotary milking parlor at Davie Dairy makes it possible for them to milk 2,500 cows three times a day. [Photo courtesy Bill Berman]](/uploads/original/20260930-100328-1db-Best of the Lake Davie Dairy 1.jpg)
![OKEECHOBEE -- Davie Dairy [Photo courtesy Bill Berman]](/uploads/original/20260930-100354-5b0-Best of the Lake Davie Dairy 2.jpg)
