Story and photos by Laura Hooten-Broyles, Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations, Weatherford, Texas

Clowdus Dairy LLC is a family-owned and operated dairy farm located in Evant, Texas.   The operation is owned and managed by Zac & Kelsi Clowdus.  Established in 2000, the farm focuses on the production of high-quality milk, along with prioritizing animal health and welfare.  They also remain focused on conservation and put emphasis on sustainable practices that promote healthy soil, water retention and renewable energy.  

Zac is a 4th generation dairy manager who is following in the footsteps of a long line of successful dairymen, including his father, Laurence Clowdus. Zac grew up on a dairy in Alvarado, Texas, in Johnson County and in 2000 moved to Hamilton, Texas, to begin managing his own dairy.  During this time, he met Kelsi, a native of Hamilton and they were married in 2010.  In addition to maintaining their notable presence in the local dairy industry, they also have the full-time job of being parents to four beautiful children, Addy, Parker, Payson and Kollyer.    

Clowdus Dairy focuses on the Holstein cattle breed and currently milks 1700 cows.  Animal health is a top priority on their operation as they focus on herd health and nutrition programs.  The dairy cattle are fed twice a day with a calculated high-quality diet developed by a professional nutritionist, to produce the highest milk yields.  The cows are housed in fan and sprinkler cooled, free style barns which include comfortable and clean sand bedding.  

Zac manages his cows in an extremely calm atmosphere, claiming, “Happy cows perform better.   We do our best to keep them in an environment as natural as God created, with minimal disturbance.”  

Staff constantly check individual cow data collected with animal collar data technology that each animal wears. The data provided by the collars allows Zac and his staff to monitor rumination activity for a balanced diet and heat detection for reproductive cycles. This data monitoring provides the dairy with the ability to be proactive on preventative care for those animals requiring urgent attention.  

There are a multitude of moving parts that go along with managing a dairy operation and Zac takes great pride in his employee retention.  An operation such as this takes a lot of manpower, attention and care, and he wouldn’t be able to operate without the 20 properly trained staff members he employs to work alongside him daily.

His staff not only assists with day-to-day care of the animals but also plays an important role in manure management.  Clowdus Dairy operates a closed loop system where manure is designed to be utilized on site by the operation.  This level of control allows the dairy to prevent excessive nutrient loading in the local watershed.  Beginning with the capture and collection of the manure three times daily down the lanes, solids are then surface applied to grass fields based on limits outlined in a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan (CNMP).  

Zac was introduced to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in 2013 through agency assistance with the development of a CNMP to efficiently apply animal manure in an environmentally sustainable manner. Ultimately, the goal of being able to recycle the manure nutrients for maximum grass production while minimizing environmental impacts was made possible through Zac’s willingness to examine all areas in which the dairy could improve, including resource conservation.  Clowdus Dairy has continued their conservation planning with NRCS over the years, resulting in receiving financial assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to add a water well and pipelines to distribute water and cross fencing to properly manage grazing of their dairy heifers and non-lactating cows.

Josh Bauman, NRCS district conservationist in Hamilton, said “Zac Clowdus has been great to work with on implementing a conservation plan for the dairy.  He’s innovative, dedicated, and a true steward of the land.  Over the past decade, he has devoted countless hours to improving not only the productivity and efficiency of Clowdus Dairy, but also the long-term health and sustainability of the dairy and land through his hard work and partnership with NRCS.”  

Over the last several years, Texas rainfall patterns have been less than optimal. Zac and Kelsi both mentioned that 2023 was a particularly tough year as they sat on their porch, tears in their eyes, deep in discussion on the potential future of Clowdus Dairy.  At this time, the dairy had just finished expanding their lagoon storage capacity and needed the ability to lower water levels in the lagoons following recent rainfall events.  To do so, the dairy needed to expand their ability to land-apply liquid manure on their pastureland.  Applying with manure trucks or mobile, big-gun sprinklers was not feasible.

Kelsi said, “Zac has always been a forward thinker and methodical in utilizing available resources”.  

Once again Zac reached out to NRCS to revise his conservation plan and see what opportunities might be available.  Through a CNMP update and extensive engineering designs, the operation was able to install a pumping plant to deliver wastewater material through a pressurized waste transfer pipeline to three center pivot sprinkler systems to evenly distribute nutrient rich effluent on bermudagrass fields with financial assistance from EQIP.  

Nicholas Schalitz, an NRCS engineer in the Weatherford Zone Office said, “Zac’s willingness to look at a problem from all perspectives and put his trust in our technical abilities made this project the success it is. In addition to land-applying his liquid manure, Zac also took steps to go above and beyond with the incorporation of his solid manure into the soil through specialized aeration implements. Zac follows his CNMP without fail, continues to go beyond what most would consider to be enough and does so with conservation on his mind.”

Zac said “The assistance and support we have received from NRCS both at the local and zone level have been integral to our operation.  There are so many resources available that people just aren’t aware of.  I would encourage others to reach out to someone for help or to lean on industry professionals such as those at NRCS for guidance.”  

The Clowdus family is proud to be a part of the fabric of American agriculture. “The dairy industry is tough.  This is a long, hard job, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Zac loves what he does and works extremely hard to be able to provide for our family, community and country and we are so blessed to have this opportunity,” said Kelsi.