Our Story

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In 1926, Mary and Rollie Baumbach moved with six of their nine children from The Flat Road farm in Norwood to the current farm. They operated the farm as a family business, selling milk, eggs, beef, pork, chicken, and grain. In 1944, their daughters, Grace and Mary, purchased the farm for their parents after having previously rented it. 

Harrison and Grace purchased the farm in 1948, and they were married the following year, in 1949. While Grace taught school, she continued running the farm, and Harrison worked as a logger in the surrounding area. Their only son, Douglas, was born in 1950. As he grew up, Doug worked on the farm and also helped a neighbor with milking cows. Eventually, Harrison and Doug bought the neighbor’s herd, launching their own commercial dairy. Sadly, Harrison passed away in March of 1971. 

In 1972, Doug made the decision to officially become a dairyman. A new barn, feed room, and manure pit were built, and the cement floor he insisted on has helped keep the manure pit functional to this day. At that time, our herd consisted of Holstein and Brown Swiss cows. Sadly, like many farmers across the state, we were affected by PBB contamination and had to destroy our entire herd. Beginning in 1974, we rebuilt the herd by purchasing registered Holsteins from New York, continuing this process until 1978, when we no longer needed to purchase additional cows. 

In 1976, Sarah was born, marking the fourth generation on the farm. For a short time, the farm was known as Dou-Mar Dairy Farm after Doug’s marriage, but in 1978, the name was changed to HD Farms, which remained the farm's identity for the next 43 years. 

In 1982, we built a new dry cow barn, and Grace retired from teaching to help full-time on the farm, milking cows and feeding calves. That year, we also transitioned to using artificial insemination and officially became a closed herd. To improve calf care, we started using Polydome calf hutches, which provided a cleaner and more comfortable environment. Later that year, disaster struck when Doug was crushed by a semi while helping it up a hill for a delivery. His recovery was a long and difficult journey, but with the support of family and friends, the farm carried on.

In 1983, we made major updates to the barns by removing the walls of the Dairy and Dry Cow barns and replacing them with curtains to improve airflow and enhance cow comfort. In 1986, we switched to AgBags for forage storage and introduced Calf Condos to give our youngest heifers a space to socialize in small groups. By 1989, we had removed all Harvester silos and replaced them with a new feed room. In 1991, Sarah moved back to the farm to finish high school and work alongside the family. We worked with the MSU Extension office to implement a new dry cow program and added animated salt to their diet in 1992, preventing calcium buildup in the cows' livers. Over the next several years, we continued refining our agronomy practices. To accommodate the growing herd, we built the Large Heifer Hoop Barn in 1998, and in 1999, we added poly pillow mats in the barns to improve cow comfort.

In 2006, Jason Roy and Sarah were married, and the 5th generation of the farm began with the birth of their children: Parker in 2007, Temperance in 2010, and Annabelle in 2012. Later that same year, the farm became MAEAP certified, making us the first farm in Charlevoix, Emmet, and Oswego Counties to achieve this certification. On September 28, 2006, we received our cropping system certification. In 2008, we upgraded the milking parlor with a new system, including automatic takeoffs. To improve cow comfort, we installed a grooved rubber floor in the lactating cow barn in 2010.

In 2013, we began using A2 semen for breeding, staying ahead of the curve in improving herd quality. From 2014 to 2020, we grew corn to offset low milk prices while continuing to enhance our agronomy. As a result, we reduced the amount of acreage needed to feed each cow from 3.5 acres to just 1.5 acres. Sadly, in 2018, Grace passed away just six months shy of her 100th birthday. Always striving for greater sustainability, in 2019, we partnered with Short’s Brewing Company, using their spent brewers grain as a feed source for the cows.

Noticing a growing concern for animal welfare and specifically the practice of dehorning cattle, we started using polled semen in 2021.  This eliminates horns through genetics.  After much discussion of the future of the farm, Doug and Sarah decided to partner and create Norwood Centennial Farms in July of 2021.  Cow manager was implemented to track cow health and heat patterns in November of 2021.  Throughout the summer of 2022, the farm received a face lift and added 1,276,000 yards of fill from US 31 being redone.  This allowed us to level off the feed lot where the AgBags are stored, create a circle drive, reinforce the manure pit and make a road around it, raise the large heifer lot to the barn foundation height, and regrade the ditch by the road.  During the summer, several maintenance and landscaping items were addressed to prepare for farm tours.  The old stave silo was also torn down in the fall making room for future expansion.  Several of the staves were kept and repurposed around the farm.  We had a forest management plan created to become better stewards of our forests on the farm.  The plan will implement a select cut and sapling planting schedule to keep our forests healthy.

2023 was a big year for us at the farm.  We launched our website that includes our farm events and shop.  We can now be found on Yelp, TripAdvisor, and PureMichigan.  In March, Leelanau Cheese started regular pickups of our milk to test its cheese making ability.  We joined the Charlevoix Chamber of Commerce and became a Bier's Brewery music sponsor.  Our line of summer sausages and beef sticks made from our culled cows was launched in March.  We were fortunate to be picked up by several local vendors before the year ended.  We worked with a biochar company on a research project to test the use of biochar in manure.  Even though the concept of using biochar in manure and on fields is sound, it is cost prohibitive at this time to use on the scale that would be needed to be affective on farms.  We contracted a specialized agronomist to dial in our agronomy protocols and improve our agronomy practices.  This will help us to maximize crop yields using the least amount of acreage along with making us even better stewards of the land.  We switched our mineral provider and increased our per cow milk production to an average of 100 lbs. per cow per day with twice a day milking.  The mineral change along with the use of Cow Manager has increased our conception rate to 40% and pregnancy rate to 50%.  Tours began this summer and grew enough momentum for us to continue.  We enjoy showing people our farm.  The beginning work started for our CNMP (Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan) and will be finished in the beginning of 2024.  Our manure pit was certified which opened the door for us to qualify for the MAEAP Farmstead and Livestock Certifications.  We also finished our Forest Management Plan that allows us to take better care of our forests and qualifies us for the MAEAP Forest, Wetland, and Habitat System certification.  Just in time for the holiday season we launched our suet wreaths.  To finish out the year our social media presence has grown, and we can now be found on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

2024 was a great year for the farm. Gracie, born on January 6th, quickly became the farm’s mascot. In late January, we completed and submitted our Conservation Nutrient Management Plan (CNMP) to the USDA for engineering review. By March, we achieved a major milestone—our farm was verified in all four MAEAP certifications (Cropping System, Livestock System, Farmstead System, and Forest, Wetland, and Habitat System). This made us one of just thirty-seven farms in Michigan to have all four certifications, and the only commercial dairy farm in our regional MAEAP area.

We also enrolled in the Feed in Focus program through MMPA, which allowed us to upgrade our planter with a 2x2 system. This addition enables us to place fertilizer 2 inches away from the corn seed at planting, reducing fertilizer use and eliminating the need for an extra field pass with a broadcast spreader.  In the spring, Doug was diagnosed with bone cancer and began chemotherapy treatments through the summer and fall. In November, he underwent a successful bone marrow transplant and was cancer-free by the end of the year.  To ensure the cows are more comfortable and to reduce milk waste, we transitioned to milking the cows three times a day. This system allows the cows to hold less milk between milkings, improving their comfort.  In terms of outreach, we joined Taste the Local Difference and were listed in their annual directory, as well as on the Michigan Farm Bureau’s “Buy it Local” map. We also became members of the Cheese and Dairy Guild and launched a new initiative as a Harvest Host, offering an exciting new way to share our farm with visitors.

We participated in the Charlevoix Farmers Market for the first time this year, which was a great way to introduce our products to new customers. Our farm tours continued through the summer, with regular tour times that helped boost attendance. We also added group sunset hayrides to our offerings, which were well-received.  In July, we launched our line of A2 cheese spreads, available in four flavors, marking our fourth product line. Sarah also wrote a children’s book about Gracie, which has been illustrated and will be ready for purchase in late Spring 2025.  We had a blast participating in the Charlevoix Venetian Parade for the first time and also installed a new farm sign in September, making it clearer that Norwood Centennial Farms and “The Warner Farm” are one and the same.

We enrolled in the USDA's Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) for both our cropland and forest land. Through this program, we are creating a pollinator plot to attract more pollinators, with plans to eventually develop an educational walking path in the area. Additionally, we planted Triticale cover crops on all our cornfields, which helps reduce erosion and provides green fertilizer for the fields.  To improve farm efficiency, we installed a new commercial boiler in the fall, replacing our older one, which will reduce heating costs. We also worked with our neighbor to erect a beautiful log cross to mark the burial site for any cows that pass away on the farm.  Before the year ended, we joined the Great Lakes Business Network to help protect the Great Lakes. We wrapped up 2024 on a high note, receiving a Silver Quality Award from MMPA and ranking seventy-third in milk production herd average among farms in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin.     

Looking ahead to 2025, we have several exciting plans in store. First, we will be installing a new farm well, which will provide a much-needed increase in water supply. When spring arrives, we’ll plant saplings in our forest area to fulfill our Forestry CSP requirements. We hope to collaborate with local volunteer groups to accomplish this task. We are continuing to expand the locations where our products are sold. We’ll maintain our presence at the Charlevoix Farmers Market and, this year, hope to participate in the Charlevoix Business Expo as a Taste of Charlevoix vendor. To make on-farm shopping more convenient, we’ll be adding a grab-and-go option, in addition to continuing our online ordering system with farm pickup. In January, we were excited to be notified that we received two RAEP grants. With our expanding sales, we’ll be installing a walk-in freezer to store more inventory. We also plan to implement our Forest Management Plan in early spring, which includes performing a select cut in our forest area. We’re continuing our work with NRCS engineers on our CNMP and hope to implement several of the outlined projects this year. Additionally, we’re expanding our farm tour schedule to both Saturday and Sunday this summer to accommodate more visitors. We’re also building a barrel train to add an extra attraction to the tours. “Gracie the Cow Grows Up on the Farm,” Sarah’s children’s book, should be ready for purchase by April. It will be available on Amazon, our website, and other platforms. We’re also focused on continuing to improve our herd production and health, with the goal of moving into one of the top 50 herds in milk production this year. As part of this effort, we’re looking into upgrading our herd management software, which will help us make even better decisions about the herd’s care. Lastly, we’re beginning to plan for our Centennial Celebration in 2026. One of the events we’re working on is hosting "Breakfast on the Farm," an MSU-sponsored event that will allow the community to experience farm life and learn more about where their food comes from.