How Michigan Farmstead Uses Farmbrite To Bring Farm Education To Their Community
Updated: Oct 5
Discover how Michigan Farmstead, formerly Critter Barn, uses Farmbrite to help educate future generations about the importance of farming.
Update: Critter Barn is now Michigan Farmstead. Since this Customer Success Story was originally published, Critter Barn has adopted a new name that reflects its growth into a broader agricultural education destination. Its mission remains the same: teaching about farming and agriculture while inspiring people of all ages and abilities through hands-on experiences at the farm. This story retains the Critter Barn name where appropriate to reflect the organization at the time of our original interview.“Life is a journey, and if you fall in love with the journey, you will be in love forever.” – Peter Hagerty –
1984 was a pivotal year in the history of the United States, but also around the world.
Globally, the world saw a mix of significant political events, cultural milestones, and technological advancements. That same year, in a rural area of the lower peninsula of Michigan, just east of Holland, an incredible story of agriculture, education, family, and faith was just getting underway in Zeeland.
Mary Rottschafer and her family had just made, what can only be understood in hindsight, the life-changing decision to move from the city to the country. As family and friends often do, Mary had planned a surprise party to celebrate this decision and welcome her and her family to their new community.
As sometimes happens, original plans morphed into something different. Over the course of the first six years, their dream of tending to a simple, small garden turned into hosting school field trips for unique, educational, and hands-on experiences for children of all ages. But in the next four decades that followed, the organization grew from those early school field trips into an agricultural education destination that has welcomed more than 100,000 visitors.
“Agriculture Is A Gift of Nature”
Founder, Mary Rottschafer, reflected on the role Critter Barn played over its first four decades.
“We teach that agriculture is a gift of nature and give people of all ages the opportunity to witness the wonder of new life. Together we study the impact of the seasons and the role that plants, animals, and the environment play in our sustainability.”
- Mary Rottschafer -
As part of our Customer Success Stories project, we had the opportunity to sit down with two employees and stewards of the organization then known as Critter Barn and its mission to serve children from all walks of life.
Tony McCaul, Executive Director, and Ian Klaes, Livestock Operations Coordinator, were kind enough to carve some time out of their busy schedules to talk about all things Critter Barn: the challenges, the rewards, and the unique programs that draw visitors in from all over the country. And as new users, they shared how Farmbrite has brought a new level of operational management, details, and efficiency to their crops, livestock, and office responsibilities.
For this article, we pulled some gems from our discussion and included snippets in the paragraphs that follow. It was a wonderful experience for us at Farmbrite, and we think you'll quickly see what a gem this organization is to the local, regional, and national agricultural community.
The Importance of “Hands-on” in Farming and The Future
Michigan Farmstead is a 36-acre nonprofit agricultural education destination in Zeeland, Michigan. Originally known as Critter Barn, the organization has grown from its humble beginnings into an education hub where visitors can experience agriculture and learn through hands-on interaction with the farm.
Tony grew up on a pig farm and later earned his undergraduate degree from Michigan State in Agricultural Education. He then went on to earn a master's degree in Sustainable Agriculture from Colorado State University, and taught for 14 years prior to becoming the Executive Director.
Ian is a graduate of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln with an Agribusiness degree focused on livestock industries. He joined the organization in January 2025. His responsibilities cover all animal and livestock-related planning, inventory management for feed and bedding, and veterinary checks.
“Technology can never take over farming completely, but it can assist in agriculture.”
- Ian Klaes -
Ian’s comment above really set the stage for the basis of our incredible conversation. He continues that this is one of the critical things Farmbrite has shown them and what they hope to pass along to the children, “Technology can be beneficial if used correctly. It can never replace farming totally, but it can be used in accordance with farming, and together with farming, it can make our decisions more sound…”
Agriculture, Technology, and Education Combine As One
During our conversation, we touched on a variety of topics, but one theme that weaved throughout was the interplay of agriculture, technology, and education at Critter Barn and how Farmbrite helps make that possible:
Livestock Management - The entire Critter Barn crew can see at a glance the number, type, gender, age, and a variety of other pieces of information on all their animals. They can schedule tasks, reminders, and record notes, track treatments, feedings, inputs, breeding, and offspring - it’s all available and more.
Reporting - Ian offers a great example of this “trifecta” with one of his classes with the kids, affectionately known as the Critter Crew. He asks his Crew which two rabbits, in their opinion, they think would have the best breeding results. After each gave their answers, he pulled out the reports from Farmbrite, which quickly showed, based on past data, in fact, which two rabbits would produce the best results.
From Many Tools to One - Tony explains their journey to find the right farm management software for them. They looked at them all, some software excelled, for instance, at sheep and goats, another at poultry; they’d worked in spreadsheets, but nothing was able to capture the breadth and depth of the variety of animals they work with like Farmbrite.
Accountability - With the number of visitors to their farm, an average of 6,000 per month, there are lots of questions regarding hundreds of animals. Farmbrite gives Tony, Ian, and their entire team the ability to find the information they need right then and there.
With the help of grant funding, the organization purchased three iPads, allowing staff working with Critter Crew to pull up Farmbrite records directly on the farm. Kids can explore information about the animals and learn firsthand how data supports better decision-making and animal care.
The Impact and Overall Experience with Farmbrite
“Before we had Farmbrite, we had one person who was the gatekeeper of all information.”
- Tony McCaul -
The move from 3 acres to a 36-acre campus represented tremendous growth for the organization, along with new operational challenges.
Prior to Farmbrite, a small handful of individuals managed all the farm's data. To borrow an appropriate pun, information was siloed and wasn't available where and when Michigan Farmstead's management and staff needed it. Now, over thirty employees, and where applicable for educational purposes, Critter Crews also have access to that information.
Thanks to grant funding, the organization was able to purchase iPads that put farm data directly in the hands of those who need it. As Farmbrite became part of its operations, communication improved, new efficiencies emerged, and staff and students gained greater access to the information supporting animal stewardship and care.
Advice to the Next Generation of Farmers
Probably the most fundamental piece of advice that Tony, Ian, and the entire staff try to impress on the kids and visitors is that each of the animals on a farm serves a different purpose. Some are for food production, others for fiber production, and some are for companionship.
“The big thing we always like to start off with is that our animals have different purposes.”
- Tony McCaul -
Instilling the lost art of animal care is a high priority for the entire organization. Tony, Ian, and their entire team work to impress the importance of starting off with the basics.
“I cannot imagine doing my job without Farmbrite.”
- Ian Klaes -
For instance, when a new animal arrives on the farm, the farmer performs a complete wellness check and documents that information, teaching students the skills needed to identify and understand patterns in the data. When you walk into a barn or a stall, the use of your five senses yields a complete assessment of that animal’s well-being.
Start with the elemental aspects of good animal husbandry, love and care for the animals, and part of doing that goes beyond basic “animal care”. Nowadays, it involves using tools like Farmbrite to track all the aspects of an animal's health and care to ensure the animal is not only surviving but thriving.
Today, that continued growth has a new name: Michigan Farmstead. The change reflects how the organization has grown beyond its Critter Barn roots into a broader agricultural education destination while preserving the hands-on approach that has defined its mission for decades.
Farmbrite continues to demonstrate how technology can support that mission without replacing the experiences at its heart. Livestock records, task management, reporting, and real-time access to farm data give staff and students better information while keeping the focus where it belongs: on agriculture, education, and responsible animal care.
Michigan Farmstead's evolution is also a fitting reflection of something Tony and Ian emphasized throughout our conversation. Technology doesn't replace farming. Used thoughtfully, it helps people learn from it, manage it, and make better decisions about it.
No matter your farm’s size, its focus of operations, its geographic location, crops only, livestock only, or crops and livestock, it doesn’t matter, Farmbrite has the tools you need to manage your agricultural operation efficiently, profitably, and sustainably.
If you’ve been searching for a farm management tool like the one our friends at Michigan Farmstead use, we invite you to give us a try and discover all we have to offer. Set up a free 14-day demo to explore all the features. Check out our extensive offering of Farmbrite documentation, helpful resources, and how-to-Farmbrite videos.
We love seeing how our customers use Farmbrite, farm management software, to solve real problems, and we’d love to spotlight you. If you’re interested in being featured in an upcoming customer story, submit yours here.
