Do you know someone who has been milking cows for over 30 years? We’d like to feature him or her in A Heart for Dairy for February. Please call 320-352-6303, or email andrea.b@dairystar.com
DAIRY ST R “All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 18, No. 23
January 28, 2017
“We had the parlor and barn design planned out three-fourths of the way through, before we decided to see robots.” - Stephen Roerick
Plan B: Roericks install robots By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
SWANVILLE, Minn. – With a year gone by of milking with robots at Roerview Dairy, the Roericks are more than pleased with their decision to expand and update their facilities. “Never in my 30 years of dairying did I think we’d be milking with robots,” Roger Roerick said. “Even three years ago, I didn’t think we would.” On Dec. 8, 2015, Roger and his wife, Diane, and two sons, Stephen and Craig and their families, began milking their 175-cow Holstein herd with three Lely A4 robots on their farm near Swanville, Minn. Alongside the robots are three brushes, an automatic feed pusher and three automatic manure scrapers within the 132- by 208-foot, six-row, crossventilated freestall barn. The barn also includes two intensive care unit pens behind the robot room and dual feed lanes on the outer walls. Turn to ROERICKS | Page 10
ANDREA BORGERDING/DAIRY STAR
The Roericks – Craig, Roger and Stephen – stand in their new six-row, cross-venƟlated barn. The Roericks began milking their 175-cow Holstein herd with three Lely A4 robots on their farm near Swanville, Minn., in December 2015.
The 45th: what Trump means for the dairy industry By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
Over the last two years, Donald Trump promised an America with opportunity for every citizen, but as the business mogul was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States Jan. 20, questions still lingered for the future of the dairy industry. “They always say that governing and campaigning are two different processes,” said Chris Galen, spokesperson for National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF). “Now, we have a chance to see how Trump will govern.” While on the campaign trail, the now-president spoke of several priorities of his future administration, including trade agreements, secure borders and multiple government reforms. “Some of those priorities are of interest to agriculture,” Galen said. “Others could pose a challenge.” Trade agreements In weeks leading up to Trump’s inauguration, NMPF and 15 other organizations expressed the benets of agricultural trade in a letter to the forming administration. “… As the Trump Administration assembles its team and policies, U.S. agricultural trade interest must be maintained, not only in existing markets, but by expanding access to new Turn to TRUMP | Page 6
Livelihood gone in one night
Deutschs lose barn, 63 cows in re By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
ELKO NEW MARKET, Minn. – In one night, the core of what makes up Cindy and Ray Deutschs’ livelihood went up in ames. “I would give anything to milk our cows tonight. Anything,” Cindy said. A re claimed Cindy and Ray Deutschs’ 65-stall tiestall barn during the early morning hours on Jan. 13 on their dairy near Elko New Market, Minn. The 63 cows inside the barn along with their three dogs died in the re. Fourteen cows in the milking herd, along with all the youngstock survived. Turn to DEUTSCHS | Page 7
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Ray and Cindy Deutsch stand in the middle of where their dairy barn and cows once stood. A re burned the barn and 63 of their cows on Jan. 13 on their farm near Elko New Market, Minn.
Page 2 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017
DAIRY ST R www.dairystar.com
ISSN 020355 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave. Sauk Centre, MN 56378 Phone: (320) 352-6303 Fax: (320) 352-5647 Published by Dairy Star LLC
General Manager/Editor Mark Klaphake - mark.k@dairystar.com 320-352-6303 (ofďƒžce) 320-248-3196 (cell) 320-352-0062 (home) Ad Composition Nancy Powell 320-352-6303 nancy.p@dairystar.com Amanda Thooft 320-352-6303 amanda.t@dairystar.com Consultant Jerry Jennissen 320-346-2292 Editorial Staff Andrea Borgerding - Managing Editor (320) 352-6303 • andrea.b@dairystar.com Krista Kuzma - Assistant Editor (507) 259-8159 • krista.k@dairystar.com Jennifer Coyne (320) 352-6303 jenn@dairystar.com Ron Johnson (608) 874-4243 ron.j@dairystar.com Ruth Klossner (507) 240-0048 cowlady@centurylink.net Cassie Olson (715) 245-6848 cassie.o@dairystar.com Brittany Olson (320) 352-6303 brittany.o@dairystar.com Advertising Sales Main Ofďƒžce: 320-352-6303 Fax: 320-352-5647 Deadline is 5 p.m. of the Friday the week before publication
Sales Manager - Jeff Weyer (Northern MN, East Central MN) 320-260-8505 (cell) jeff.w@dairystar.com Mark Klaphake (Western MN) 320-352-6303 (ofďƒžce) 320-248-3196 (cell) Laura Seljan (National Advertising, SE MN) 507-250-2217 fax: 507-634-4413 laura.s@dairystar.com Jerry Nelson (SW MN, NW Iowa, South Dakota) 605-690-6260 jerry.n@dairystar.com Mike Schafer (Central, South Central MN) 320-894-7825 mike.s@dairystar.com Lori Menke (Eastern Iowa, Southern WI) 563-608-6477 • lori.m@dairystar.com Megan Stuessel (Western Wisconsin) 608-387-1202 • megan.s@dairystar.com Deadlines The deadline for news and advertising in the Dairy Star is 5 p.m. Friday the week before publication. Subscriptions One year subscription $35.00, outside the U.S. $110.00. Send check along with mailing address to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378. Advertising Our ad takers have no authority to bind this newspaper and only publication of an advertisement shall constitute ďƒžnal acceptance of the advertiser's order. Letters Letters and articles of opinion are welcomed. Letters must be signed and include address and phone number. We reserve the right to edit lengthy letters. The views and opinions expressed by Dairy Star columnists and writers are not necessarily those of the Dairy Star LLC.
The Dairy Star is published semi-monthly by Dairy Star, LLC, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246. Periodicals Postage Paid at Sauk Centre, MN and additional mailing ofďƒžces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246.
North America dealers. A glance at what’s inside
Dairy Proďƒžle brought to you by your
It’s been a busy few weeks across the nation as President Trump was sworn into ofďƒžce Jan. 20 in Washington, D.C. Mia and Alex Roerick were able to witness this historical event with their mother as part of a high school class trip. As other family members held down the fort on their 80-cow dairy near Upsala, Minn., the Roericks toured the nation’s capitol. Read about the Roericks’ trip on pages 2-3 in third section. While many people followed the inauguration By Mark Klaphake from home, Dairy Star caught up with producers who had an opinion to share about President Trump and Editor his administration. Read about the dairy industry’s concerns and hopes of the new president in the “From our side of the fenceâ€? feature found on pages 15-16 in ďƒžrst section. At Duncanson Farm in Winona, Minn., Pat, Dan and Michael Duncanson know the importance of continuous improvement for their herd. By focusing on transition cows and selecting traits that are long lasting, the Duncansons have maintained an average pregnancy rate of 26 percent and a ďƒžrst service conception rate of 53 percent. To learn how they reach these values, turn to pages 18 and 20 in ďƒžrst section. Alan and David Gunderson and their families have a lot to be thankful for after receiving the 2016 Morrison County Farm Family of the Year award. The families value their time spent with the cows, but also sharing their on-farm experiences with community members. Take a glimpse into the Gundersons’ community involvement and why they are deserving of the farm family award on pages 23 and 25 in ďƒžrst section. Two groups of producers are taking charge in Buffalo and Trempealeau Counties to address water quality in the area. The Buffalo-Trempealeau Farmer Network was formed last spring, providing producers with workshops on cover crops, soil health, and the opportunity to form relationships with professionals. To read how this group began, turn to pages 3 and 5 in second section. Happy reading!
Favorite quotes from this issue:
“Out here, in addition to the price of the premium going up so drastically, another big issue is network availability.� - Rep. Paul Anderson (First Section, Page 11)
“Remember that the transition to organic farming is a three-legged stool – including yourself, crops and the animals.� - Trish Dougherty (Second Section, Page 6)
By the Numbers
somatic cell count 73K: Average at MARS dairy. (First Section, Pages 12-13)
Paakkari’s farm is away 200: Miles from the Arctic Circle. (Second Section, Pages 14-15)
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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017 • Page 3
It’s all inside...
FIRST SECTION
Third Section: Pages 7 - 8 Kittson Roseau
Marshall
Marshall
People in the Dairy Community
Pages 10, 14 Dairy Calendar Page 11 Dairy’s Star Youth: Ben Nestingen
Pages 15, 17 Some Udder Stuff Pages 18 - 22 Classieds
Sherburne
Hamlin
or n
Kingsbury
Douglas Charles Mix
n nso
Brookings
Lake
Moody
McCook Minnehaha
Meeker
Wright Hennepin
McLeod
Renville
Yellow Medicine
Carver Scott
Sibley Lyon
Redwood
Nicollet Brown
Murray
Rock
Nobles
Isanti
Transition barn helps Duncanson Farm achieve 26 percent preg rate First Section: Pages 18, 20
Dakota
Rice
Goodhue Wabasha
Cottonwood Watonwan Blue Earth Waseca Steele Dodge Olmsted Jackson
Martin
Faribault
Freeborn
Mower
Winona
Fillimore
Altura
Houston
Ha
Da
vis
on
Sa nb
Miner
Deuel
Kandiyohi
Chippewa
Lac Qui Parle
Codington
Winona
Anoka
Swift
Grant Clark
Benton
Stearns
Pope
First Section: Pages 1, 7
go
Page 4 Cow gives birth to triplet heifer calves at Torgerson dairy Page 9
Roberts
Day
Big Sto Stone
Mille Lacs
Morrison
Douglas
Stevens
Deutschs lose barn, 63 cows in re
Pine
Todd Grant
Elko New Market
Carlton
Crow Wing
isa
THIRD SECTION
Ottertail
Aitkin
sey
Third Section: Page 6
Cass
Ch
Pages 22 - 23 Dairy Recipes
Becker
Washinton
Meeting heifer benchmarks
First Section: Page 36
Kanabec
Morton
en
nom
Mah
Clay
Pages 3, 5 Buffalo-Trempealeau Farmer Network assembles to address water quality Page 7 FSA expands eligibility for project funding Pages 8 - 9 I-29 Moo University holds a series of wintertime workshops Pages 10 - 11 The “Mielke” Market Weekly Page 12 Dairy markets
Pages 14 - 15 Dairying Around the World Page 16 Mid-American Hay Auction Results
Norman
Third Section: Pages 12 - 13
Women in Jeans: Cindy Swenson
Ra m
Barsness Family
Nicollet
Itasca
r
SECOND SECTION
Polk
Kids Corner: The
Second Section: Page 6
Koochiching
Hubbard
Page 30 Dear County Agent Guy Page 31 A Little Bit of Sunshine Page 32 Just Thinking Out Loud Page 33 Dairy Good Life Page 34 Something to Ruminate On Page 35 Lender outlines Wisconsin’s path to dairy industry revitalization Page 37 Opelt purchases family’s herd
Starbuck
Wilkin
Manure safety: recognizing hydrogen sulde
rse
Page 29
Third Section: Pages 2 - 3
Organic certication explained at conference
St. Louis
Red Lake
Tra ve
Changes in tetracycline for digital dermatitis
Beltrami
Pennington
eu
Page 26 FSA News & Notes Page 27 The Transition Pen Page 28
St. Cloud
Lake of the Woods
Su
Gundersons named Morrison County Farm Family of the Year
Upsala
Roericks attend inauguration, tour D.C.
First Section: Pages 1, 10
Le
Pages 23, 25
Roericks install robots
Annual meeting presents tips for raising youngstock
Wadena
Midwest Dairy Association District meeting dates approach
Second Section: Page 4
Swanville
Melrose
Clearwater
Page 22
Jer-Lindy Farms named 2017 Innovative Dairy Farmer of the Year
Lincoln
Marsheld Agricultural Research Station wins national milk quality award
Brooten
Pipestone
Pages 1, 6 The 45th: what Trump means for the dairy industry Page 5 Minnesota House, Senate pass bills for insurance assistance, await governor’s approval Pages 8 - 9 Ag Insider Pages 12 - 13
Hutchinson
Turner
Bon Yankton Homme
Lincoln Clay
Union
Lyon
Osceola Dickinson Emmet
Sioux
O’Brien
Clay
Palo Alto
Kossuth
Glendes value registered Holstein herd, use for extra income
FROM OUR SIDE OF THE FENCE:
How do you think Donald Trump will do as president? Pages 15-16
Plymouth
Grand Meadow, Minn.
Zone 1
For additional stories from our other zone, log on to www.dairystar.com
Dairy Prole: Phil Suess Page 39
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Second Section: Pages 20 - 21
Page 4 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017
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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017 • Page 5
Possible relief ahead
Minnesota House, Senate pass bills for insurance assistance, await governor’s approval By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
Sheri Sexton was shocked when her insurance premium penciled out to be over $2,000 per month for 2017. “It’s not affordable. I thought, ‘How are we going to work this?’” said Sexton, who milks 90 cows with her husband, Vince, near Millville, Minn. A bill has been passed on both sides of the Minnesota legislature proposing nancial help to the Sextons and other Minnesotans suffering from high insurance premiums. The bills from the Senate and the House of Representatives will come together to be negotiated within a committee to propose one nal bill for Governor Mark Dayton’s approval. “It was a bill that was very pressing,” said Rep. Paul Anderson from Starbuck, Minn. “We had to get it done sooner rather than later and we did get it done.”
“The biggest issue with it right now is the administration is saying it’s going to take so long and be so expensive to roll out the bureaucracy to administer the program.” REP. PAUL ANDERSON
Within the House of Representatives, Anderson said he and most other republicans voted for the bill, which passed on Jan. 19 with a 73-54 vote. The bill offers a 25 percent rebate on health insurance to people based on need. Anderson’s farming constituents need it. “Out here, in addition to the price of the premium going up so drastically, another big issue is network availability. In Stearns County there are only
a couple of plans available after Blue Cross [Blue Shield] dropped all the individual members they had. Availability and price were the two things I heard about the most,” Anderson said. The Sextons could also use the assistance, especially since they didn’t qualify for the MNSure subsidy. With the family’s health history including bouts with Leukemia and breast cancer, health insurance is necessary. “There’s no option of not having health insurance for us,” Sexton said. Anderson said in the House of Representatives it’s an issue that is agreed upon regardless of political stance. “… it’s my take that there’s broad consensus we need to get this done. The only difference is the exact bureaucracy – how do we get the money out to the people. I think that’s why the democrats voted against this,” Anderson said. Within the committee, Anderson said everyone needs to be willing to compromise. “The biggest issue with it right now is that the administration is saying it’s going to take so long and be so expensive to roll out the bureaucracy to administer the program. The way we have it now, checks going to the actual recipients based on residency and income verication,” Anderson said. “If the governor’s folks can show that we can get the plan done quicker by the money going through the insurance companies, that’s an area where I can compromise. We have to get this money out to the people as quickly as we can.” The House’s bill also includes a passed amendment for farm co-ops to offer health plans. “That’s not as easy as snapping your ngers and offering a health insurance plan. This has been tried before and hasn’t really worked, but at least the statute is in place to allow co-ops to look at that again,” Anderson said. Both the Sextons and Anderson are hopeful for a positive outcome. “In the conference committee, hopefully the governor and the governor’s staff will be there, negotiate and come up with a bill he can sign…,” Anderson said.
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FOLLOW THE ROSENHAMMERS – Dairy Star’s latest contributing columnists. The Transition Pen is where father and daughter duo – John and Laura – are sharing their experiences in farm transition.
READ THEIR COLUMN EVERY ISSUE ON PAGE 27 IN FIRST SECTION.
Page 6 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017
ConƟnued from TRUMP | Page 1
markets,” the letter stated. Last year, the U.S. dairy industry exported nearly 15 percent of the total milk produced in the country, according to NMPF. With a strong U.S. dollar, markets are currently softened, and actions to disrupt trade could be detrimental for dairy producers. “This presidency is a doubleedged sword,” said Dan Glessing, vice president of the Minnesota Farm Bureau (MFB). “Exports are our biggest thing for dairy. Putting up barriers with countries is a concern of mine. However, [Trump’s] a very global person and could open more doors for us.” Glessing milks 75 cows near Waverly, Minn., with his parents and family. Two agreements at the greatest risk are the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada and Mexico and also the tabled Trans Pacic Partnership (TPP). “U.S. dairy has been successful with NAFTA, as Mexico is currently our largest export market,” Galen said. “However, right now, TPP is in a deep freeze. We need to remind the new administration of the opportunities this trade agreement gives us for new exports.” TPP would allow the United States to play a larger role in Asia’s economy, building stronger relations with Japan, Vietnam and Malaysia, amongst others. “The real issue is that if TPP is not viewed as the right thing, then Congress and the administration need to take a step back and look at creating a better agreement,” Galen said. “I hope trade discussions don’t end in a trade war, reducing our opportunity to export dairy.” Kevin Paap, president of MFB, agreed. “Bottom line is that we’re growing more than we’re using, and we need to expand our markets,” said the Blue Earth, Minn., crop producer. “We have to increase our market share outside of our borders. As [other countries’] economies grow, we have to continually use that to our advantage.”
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Secure borders Since Trump’s campaign began, his platform has contained the notion of securing U.S. borders from illegal aliens. However, that same notion is a threat to the agricultural industry and a majority of its workforce. “We don’t want to lose our current workforce and access to the future workforce,” Galen said. “Cows will still need to be milked tonight, next week and in six months.” Paap agreed. “Many U.S. citizens would rather not work with cows or crops,” he said. “We need to consider how we’re going to provide a legal, experienced labor supply in the U.S.” Without doing so, Paap sees those who would make up the U.S. workforce instead create a larger agricultural industry in their home countries. “We have to be willing to import labor or import food,” Paap said. Government reform Throughout the campaign, Trump stressed regulation relief and the reform of taxes, health care and environmental policies. “Those are all important issues that will affect dairy farms like mine,”
Glessing said. Among the different regulations, Galen foresees President Obama’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) and estate taxes taking heat from the new administration, which could have a serious impact on the dairy industry. “With a new EPA leader, I wouldn’t be surprised to see WOTUS go down the drain, so to speak,” Galen said. “We have to go back to the drawing board and start again with a more reasoned approach.” The Margin Protection Program (MPP) for dairy is another policy that is expected to see change with the administration. “This is going to be a busy year in Congress and it’ll depend how big of an appetite our representatives have beyond trade and health care – the two biggest issues,” Galen said. “In dairy, there is nothing more important than the need to x our safety net program by the end of this farm bill – sooner if at all possible.” The next four years With Trump’s background in business, and lack thereof in politics, this presidency will be unlike any other in history. “He’s not worried about being politically correct and is an advocate for agriculture and dairy,” Glessing said. “That’s a positive thing in my opinion. He’s not afraid to not do
“I hope trade discussions don’t end in a trade war, reducing our opportunity to export dairy.” CHRIS GALEN, NMPF
what’s expected, but what’s right for our country.” Galen agreed. “We’re all small businesses, being dairy farmers,” he said. “Trump is able to understand that.” However, Trump is not the only one making decisions on Capitol Hill. As power shifts and unknowns are certain, Paap encourages producers to continue telling their story. “We need to be worried about the people in D.C., and the disconnect with agriculture. They think of farming and they think of a nostalgic time,” Paap said. “Agriculture is like an iPhone. It’s not the same as it was two, ve or 10 years ago. We’re continually improving, becoming more sustainable.” As Trump’s presidency gets underway, questions that arose during the campaign will be answered, hopefully, with the people’s best interest in mind. “We didn’t elect a king, we elected a president,” Paap said. And how that president and his administration will choose to support the dairy industry is crucial for rural families across the country. “Trump’s decisions could be a good thing,” Glessing said. “Or it’s going to be a long few years trying to milk cows.”
Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017 • Page 7
ConƟnued from DEUTSCHS | Page 1 Commitment. Relationships. Trust.
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Cindy and Ray Deutsch took over the farm in 1983 from Ray’s dad, who bought the farm in 1948. The stone-foundaƟon barn that burned was built in 1915, but had been updated over the years. “We’re heartbroken,” Cindy said. “[The cows] meant everything to us. They weren’t just cows, they were our life. They gave us a really good life, way of living and put our kids through college.” At 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 13, a friend driving past the farm on his way to work stopped to awaken Ray and Cindy to tell them about the re. “I had to get dressed because it was 15 below and then we had to see what we could do,” Ray said. Rushing to get outside to their cows, the Deutschs were met by raging ames engulng the barn, shooting as high as the 80-foot tall silo beside it. “Like everyone says, it’s like a bad dream. It’s like you’re dreaming,” Cindy said. “It was so bright we didn’t need a light at 4:30.” They ran to the east end of the barn where they usually let the cows out. “Part of the roof had fallen in and it was sagging pretty bad so I didn’t open that door. I didn’t want to get too caught up [in the re],” Ray said. “Then we went to the front door and the re chief got there. We couldn’t see in, so we didn’t go in.” Cindy said as soon as the Elko New Market re department arrived, it immediately called for backup from surrounding towns because of the size of the re. Although the barn had 65 stalls, there were 63 cows inside. Cows that would normally occupy the two empty stalls during the day are let out to be with the switch cows in their adjacent barn at night. The Deutschs will never know the reason for the blaze that stole their livelihood. The re marshal ruled the cause undetermined. “We had a lot of good breeding and genetics in our herd. Throughout the years, we would try to keep improving. They were a high producing herd doing well for us,” Ray said. The Deutschs have been dairy farming since 1983 when they took over for Ray’s dad, who had bought the farm in 1948. In addition to the milking herd, the Deutschs raised their replacement heifers, steers and crops on 450 acres. Situated on a gravel road just a few miles north of town, many neighbors would pass by and admire the stonefoundation barn built in 1915. “It looked like an old barn but it had all new siding and new steel, and was updated. It was in good shape,” Ray said. The barn was outtted with tunnel ventilation and had stalls six feet in length with comfort mattresses. “Our faith and family kept us going throughout the years,” Cindy said. Faith and family – especially their three adult children and their families – along with the dairy community have also kept Ray and Cindy going
throughout this tragedy. This includes their employees, like Kim Simmons. “They are just such great people to work for,” Simmons said about Cindy and Ray. “I didn’t feel like I was going to work. I looked forward to going to work.” The 48-year-old is the oldest of the Deutschs’ hired help. Most employees are high school students. “I’ve seen how they are with the kids. Ray is such a teacher to the boys and he’s such a good role model for them. He’s patient, kind, honest, softspoken and never gets upset or angry. He teaches the boys how to handle different situations,” she said Simmons also described Cindy. “Cindy is like a mom to [the high school employees]. She’s compassionate, kind, funny, dedicated, hard working and teaches them how to be responsible. I think anyone who knows them loves and respects them,” Simmons said. When Simmons heard about the re, she said she was devastated. She and two other employees decided to set up a page on GoFundMe.com with a goal to raise $10,000 for the Deutsch family. “I didn’t know what to do, and I felt helpless so that’s why I started the Go Fund Me page. They’ve raised their kids and they have insurance, but this is a way for people who care about them or are affected by their story to help,” Simmons said. Cindy and Ray have been in awe of their dairy farming friends, neighbors, family and other supporters. “The outpouring of people is amazing. Everything that has been brought to us has been amazing. We’re very humbled by all the people who have been here,” Cindy said. During and immediately after the re, farmers showed up with trailers to haul the remaining cows to nearby farms to be milked. Since then, people have stopped by with food, owers and offers of help as they continue the clean up process. “I’m kind of lost because I always had a schedule. I knew what I was going to do every day and now I don’t have that schedule,” Cindy said. Having a constant ow of people at their house helps. “It’s better when people are here. It’s more sad when you’re alone,” Ray said. The Deutschs are taking one day at a time as they continue cleaning up the remains of the barn and contemplating their future. “If we were 30, there would be no question. We would rebuild the barn and start over. But we’re not 30. We’re in our 60s. All our children have their own careers,” Cindy said. “We have a lot of thinking to do. We don’t want to make decisions when we’re in such an emotional rollercoaster.”
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Vilsack will take over as head of USDEC Page 8 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017
As expected, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will take over as the new president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. Effective Feb. 1, Vilsack will oversee this organization that concentrates on boosting exports of dairy products and ingredients. In an interview, Vilsack said this job provides an opportunity to continue to advocate for agriculture. “You obviously have a product that is easy to sell and it is a continuation that I’ve had for the last number of years on proper nutrition for children here and around the world. It’s an opportunity for me to work for people that I know are hard working. The dairy producers of this country care deeply about their operations; about their families and their communities.” Vilsack said he appreciates the innovative approach seen within the dairy industry.
Advice for the new ag secretary In comments made before Sonny Perdue was named as his successor, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said whoever got the job will be a very lucky individual. Vilsack said the new USDA leader will inherit 90,000-plus employees who are dedicated to agriculture. Vilsack said the USDA job also provides an opportunity to work on a bipartisan basis throughout rural America. “I hope they have as much fun as I had for the past eight years.” Vilsack left a 24-page letter to the incoming Secretary, offering his advice. Topping that list, Vilsack said the career staff at USDA should be utilized. “Sometimes there is a clash between the political appointees and the career folks and that doesn’t need to be; everyone has the same goals to promote agriculture and make lives better for people in rural America.”
Perdue is the pick Former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue is in line to be the next agriculture secretary. In a statement, President Donald Trump said Perdue is going to deliver big results for all Americans who earn their living off the land. Perdue served two terms as governor, running from 2003-2011. Perdue grew up on a diversied crop and dairy farm. After a brief time as a Ag Insider practicing veterinarian, Perdue became involved in agribusiness. At the present time, Perdue is the managing partner for AGrowStar, which operates grain elevators in Georgia and South Carolina. Perdue also founded Houston Fertilizer and Grain Company and Perdue, Inc., which is involved in agriculture By Don Wick retail, warehousing and Columnist freight. A strategic plan for the Farm Bill Following the delegate meeting, the American Farm Bureau Federation board of directors met to put together its strategic action plan for the year ahead. Minnesota Farm Bureau President Kevin Paap said that plan includes a focus on the new Farm Bill, “but, also reform; regulatory reform, immigration reform as it deals with ag labor and tax reform.” Paap said the new administration can bring a new approach to regulations. “It has to be transparent with all stakeholders involved.” The AFBF annual meeting was held in Phoenix. USDA milk production estimate updated According to USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, U.S. milk production increased slightly for 2016. A small increase in the size of the dairy herd is credited for the milk production bump from December to January. For 2017, the WASDE report projects milk production at 217.1 billion pounds, a modest increase from the previous forecast. The all-milk price is expected to average between $17.60-$18.40 per hundredweight in 2017.
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Label enforcement sought Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin has introduced legislation that would require the Food and Drug Administration to enforce labeling standards for imitation dairy products. The FDA denes milk as a product that comes from a lactating animal, which ies in the face of the soy milk, almond milk and similar imitation products. Baldwin’s bill would provide timelines for the government to enforce label standards. Buffer timeline could change Minnesota House Agriculture Policy Committee Chairman Paul Anderson is seeing signicant agriculture policy issues on the agenda this session, including buffers. “We’re hearing that the implementation rule on buffers is to be in effect on public waters by November, but we don’t think it’s possible. Now, with the new super weed, Palmer amaranth, we think we need to pull back a bit. I introduced a bill that would push back these effective dates on buffers by two years.” Anderson said taxes are also a challenge. “We’re hearing land prices are starting to fall. We hope to pass a bill coming out of the tax committee that would have the state pay a credit of up to 40 percent on local school capital referendums. That would help some of the folks that have those high property taxes. Hopefully, we can make some progress this year.” IDFA promotes Soubra The International Dairy Foods Association has named Heather Soubra as the chief of staff. Soubra has been on the IDFA staff since 2008 and was serving as the director of industry relations and special projects. Turn to AG INSIDER | Page 9
Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017 • Page 9
ConƟnued from AG INSIDER | Page 8
Lunemann takes over AgriGrowth chairmanship Pat Lunemann is the new board chairman for the Minnesota AgriGrowth Council. Lunemann is a partner in Twin Eagle Dairy at Clarissa and is the past president of the Minnesota Milk Producers Association. Rod Hebrink of AgStar Financial Services was elected vice president. Cargill’s Mark Jirik is treasurer and Land O’Lakes’ Tom Wegner is secretary. Ertl honored for state fair efforts During the Minnesota State Agricultural Society Annual Meeting, former Minnesota FFA Executive Secretary Jim Ertl was given honorary life membership. Ertl retired this past year.
Trivia challenge Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts represents the State of Kansas. That answers our last trivia question. Stephen Babcock is known for making a scientic advancement within the dairy industry. For this week’s trivia, what was that innovation? We’ll have the answer in the next edition of Dairy Star. Don Wick is owner/broadcaster for the Red River Farm Network, based in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Wick has been recognized as the National Farm Broadcaster of the Year and served as president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Don and his wife, Kolleen, have two adult sons, Tony and Sam, and ve grandchildren, Aiden, Piper, Adrienne, Aurora, and Sterling.
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Page 10 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017
ConƟnued from ROERICKS | Page 1
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The Roericks’ barn measures 132- by 208-feet long and has six rows and dual feed lanes on the outer walls. The barn is cross venƟlated and includes two intensive care units behind the robot room. “I’ve milked the cows and cleaned the barn with four different systems,” said Roger, who began dairying in 1983 with 25 cows. Over the years, the farm grew to 120 cows that were milked in a double-5 herringbone parlor. The herd was managed as two separate entities – 75 cows in a freestall barn and 45 cows on a bedded pack. By 2012 – three years after Stephen and Craig joined their father – the Roericks merged their herds and began exploring options for improving their facilities to meet the dairy’s growing needs. “We knew we needed to expand, and at rst we wanted to do so with a heifer shed, but pricing was a lot,” Stephen said. “That’s how this project got started.” For more than two years, the Roericks reviewed their options and began making plans to build a larger freestall barn and milking parlor. “We wanted to get to 3X milking and get rid of the bedded pack,” Roger said, “but labor was a concern.” Stephen agreed. “We wanted to manage cows, not people,” he said. The Roericks originally budgeted nearly $90,000 for labor in the original parlor facility, but quickly realized that that estimate was on the low end of what
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the actual value would be. Without expanding their herd signicantly, the Roericks were not going to receive nancing. However, through a different facility design and grant funding, nancing an expansion project that would meet the Roericks’ needs was possible. “We had the parlor and barn design planned out three-fourths of the way through, before we decided to see robots,” Stephen said. From a cash-ow perspective, installing a robotic milking system appeared to be a better option. “With robots, the cost is more upfront, but we’re way more ahead now than where we’d be with a parlor,” Roger said. Craig agreed. “The whole time, our design was built around cow ow,” he said. “Little of that changed when we put three robots into one room.” The barn was designed in a short L-shape, with the freestall at the west end of the facility and the robot room, containing the three machines, at the east end, and the bulk tank and ofce off to the south. The Roericks designed the facility with the opportunity to place an exact replica of the barn on the other side of the bulk tank to form a U-shaped facility. “We planned ourselves to death,” said Roger, chuckling. Because of the option to expand, the Roericks also had to increase their manure pit from nine months of storage to 18 months. Once the project was planned and approved, construction took nine months, beginning May 2015 with an anticipated start date in September. However, because of heavy spring rains, the Roericks did not begin moving dirt for the facility until July, pushing back the rst milking to winter. “I’d like to say I wish we would’ve started sooner, but I can’t complain,” Stephen said. “We had too much going on and we needed to be in the right nancial position. Getting that extra time allowed that.” By November, the freestall barn was complete and the herd was moved. “On Thanksgiving, we moved the cows into the barn, but still milked them in the parlor until December,” Stephen said. Allowing the herd a few weeks to transition to the new facility resulted in a smooth transition when the robots were used. “It takes a good team – nutritionist, veterinarian, equipment service team, breeding program specialist, banker, farm business manager and you,” Roger said. “We dropped off a bit in production when we moved the cows, but by the time they started using the robots, they were up eight pounds and are now substantially higher than that.” Over the last 12 months, the Roericks have seen a 20-pound increase in milk production with cows visiting the robots an average of 2.8 times each day. “We hoped to see a gain of at least 10 percent, but hope to keep increasing,” Craig said. “Our expecTurn to ROERICKS | Page 11
Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017 • Page 11
ConĆ&#x;nued from ROERICKS | Page 10
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Roger Roerick (leĹŒ) visits with his sons, Craig and Stephen, while looking over their Holstein herd. The Roericks are able to observe their herd closely with the help of acĆ&#x;vity monitors. tations is for the herd to maintain a 100-plus pound average each day and maintain components.â€? With activity monitors, the Roericks are able to observe their herd and make adjustments for improving nutrition, reproduction, udder health, and, ultimately, production. Not only has the herd improved, but also the Roericks’ personal life. With young children at home, the robots have given Stephen and Craig more time with their families, and allowed Roger and Diane to share coffee before the days begin. “We’ve been able to cut out eight to 10 man hours in a day,â€? Stephen said. “What used to take four hours
is now done in 1.5 hours.â€? As the Roericks reďƒ&#x;ect on the last three years of planning, executing and adjusting to their new way of dairying, they are pleased with the results and are hopeful for the future of Roerview Dairy. In the coming years, the Roericks hope to complete the other side of the barn and further expand their operation. “Since we put the barn up, it’s been a dream,â€? Stephen said. Craig agreed. “Thank goodness [the bank] said ‘no,’ to the parlor,â€? he said. “We’ve been extremely pleased with the facility.â€?
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Page 12 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017
Intensive training yields high milk quality
Marsheld Agricultural Research Station wins national award By Cassie Olson
cassie.o@dairystar.com
STRATFORD, Wis. – Producing milk of the highest quality is a shared goal amongst dairies. The University of Wisconsin’s Marsheld Agricultural Research Station (MARS) in Stratford, Wis. recently received national recognition for its production of high quality milk. The Platinum National Dairy Quality Award (NDQA) will recognize MARS’s high milk quality standards at the National Mastitis Council Annual Meeting in St. Pete Beach, Fl., Jan. 28
through 31. MARS is one of six farms selected for the award from a pool of 122 applicants. Station superintendent and herd manager Nancy Esser said receiving the award is a testament to the hard work of the station’s 23 employees. “Contrary to popular belief, it is very difcult for a research station to achieve a low somatic cell count,” Esser said. “To receive acknowledgement for everyone’s hard work is truly an honor.”
CASSIE OLSON/DAIRY STAR
Nancy Esser is the staƟon superintendent and herd manager at the Marsheld Agricultural Research StaƟon in Straƞord, Wis. The herd recently received naƟonal recogniƟon for milk quality as a PlaƟnum Dairy Milk Quality Award recipient.
CASSIE OLSON/DAIRY STAR
The UW Marsheld Agricultural Research StaƟon milks its herd of 125 dairy cows in a double-8 herringbone parlor. All employees are trained and re-trained on milking procedure and protocols to ensure consistency across the enƟre UW-Madison herd.
The award application evaluated several measures and practices that affect milk quality. Bacteriological quality measures were evaluated through the herd’s somatic cell count (SCC) and standard plate count (SPC). The MARS dairy herd managed an average SCC of 73,000 and SPC of 1,120 while maintaining a rolling herd average of 29,520 pounds of milk per cow per year with
a fat test of 4 percent and protein of 3.1 percent, all of which contributed to receiving the Platinum NDQA award. What sets MARS apart, however, are their protocols and the employees who continue to follow them. Esser said precision is demanded when working with research animals. “There are many hands across the UW herd, in general. We want everyone to do
everything in one way,” Esser said. “The staff is trained to take samples, milk and identify mastitis. Then, they are re-trained. It is a very intensive process.” The herd at MARS is unique. It is one of 12 University of Wisconsin Agricultural Research Stations and one of the three locations for the UW Turn to MARS | Page 13
WANTED Stearns County
DAIRY PRINCESSES The Stearns County American Dairy Association is seeking candidates to participate in the 2017 STEARNS COUNTY DAIRY PRINCESS CONTEST I have enjoyed my experience of being a Stearns County dairy princess in many ways. My favorite part was watching all the smiles from kids when you give them a dairy treat and telling them why I love my job as a farmer! - Anna Westerman Dairy princess candidates must be at least a senior in high school and not yet 24 years of age by July 1, 2017. The candidate or her parents must be actively engaged in the production of milk in Stearns County for sale to a licensed plant during the current year. A candidate also qualifies if she or her parents are employed on a dairy farm in a dairy related capacity.
For more information please contact: MARY ROSEN at 320-493-8668 or rosendairy@albanytel.com The Princess Banquet will be March 11, 2017 at the Freeport Community Center. $10/ticket, open to the public with dinner at 7:30 pm and coronation program at 8:30 pm.
Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017 • Page 13
ConƟnued from MARS | Page 12 dairy herd. MARS is home to 125 milking cows and 530 to 540 dairy heifers. The station’s primary purpose is served as the university’s heifer grower. Calves are brought in at three months of age after weaning and are put into group housing. The calves are bred and will stay in Stratford until six weeks prior to calving. Heifers who are conrmed pregnant with a heifer calf will be transported to the UW’s Emmons Blaine Dairy Cattle Research Center in Arlington, Wis. Heifers carrying a bull calf, however, stay at the MARS location. The heifers are calved in and complete their rst lactation before they are moved to the Arlington location at dry-off. This makes the MARS herd an entirely rst-calf heifer herd. “Being that it is all rst-calf heifers, one might assume we are expected to get a milk quality award. Considering what we do to our cows and the research we have going on, it is much more difcult to maintain,” Esser said. All of the MARS employees are trained extensively in mastitis identication and treatment protocols. The milking staff rst visually identies cows that may be sick or show signs of subclinical mastitis. DHI tests are also used to identify those with high cell counts. A California Mastitis Test (CMT) is performed on all high SCC animals. If an animal is identied as sick, she is treated with Spectramast. Animals that show abnormalities, but are not sick, are treated on a per case basis or other management options, such as quarter milkings, are practiced. Cows that habitually show signs of mastitis are agged as do not treat and are culled from the herd. With four to ve studies being conducted at a time, attention to detail is
CASSIE OLSON/DAIRY STAR
Greg Swart, one of the herdsmen at MARS, goes over a list of cows during a herd health check. Swart is one of 23 employees at the research staƟon. important. “It is a lot of work; there are a lot of little pieces that go together in a study. The amount of work that goes into one data point on a graph in a research study is astounding, which is why our crew is so big and highly trained,” Esser said. This is not the rst award the herd as received for milk quality. At a more local level, the MARS herd has been
recognized for milk quality from Foremost Farms. This year, the herd is likely to receive its third consecutive superior quality award from the plant for having a yearly SCC average of below 100,000. Esser said the work of the staff made receiving the Platinum NDQA possible. “This station is a staff of hardwork-
ing people. They’re doing an outstanding job and this award is a testament to that work,” Esser said. As the herd manager, Esser said she is excited for everyone involved with the herd. “I am elated,” Esser said. “I am so happy we have received this award; it is a pat on the back to all of those who deserve it.”
Schedule of Events 9:00 am 10:15 am
10:30 am
Registration - Trade Show Open 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Early Bird Drawing - Chanhassen Dinner Theatre Tickets SESSION A
SESSION B
SESSION C
Small Giants: Strategies for Small Farm Survival
25 Years and Counting: Building on the Past for a Bright Future
Communication: The Key to Labor Management
Dr. Jeffrey Bewley, Extension Dairy Systems Specialist, University of Kentucky
Jim Dickrell, Editor, Dairy Herd Management
Betty Berning Extension Educator, Agriculture Business Management, University of Minnesota
11:30 am
Special Presentation: Carver County Dairy Expo 25th Anniversary – Auditorium
11:45 am
Keynote Session: Feeding America, Feeding the World Phil Plourd, Dairy Economist, Blimling and Associates – Auditorium
Monday, February 20, 2017 CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL
Norwood Young America, MN A seminar and trade show for dairy producers.
COST: $10/person $5/Student (with ID)
12:45 pm
2:15 pm
(Includes lunch, refreshments and program notes. Cash or check only.)
3:15 pm
Enjoy lunch and the Trade Show SESSION D
SESSION E
SESSION F
The Effect of Hay Rake Type on Ash Content in Hay
Using Precision Technology to Improve your Farm
Escuela de Mastitis** Science of Mastitis
Abby Neu, Extension Educator, University of Minnesota
Dr. Jeffrey Bewley, Extension Dairy Systems Specialist, University of Kentucky
Door Prize Drawings, Ladies Basket, Grand Prize
For more information, contact Colleen Carlson at 952-466-5306 or check the website at z.umn.edu/expo2017
Jorge Delgado Bilingual Trainer – Dairy Specialist, Elanco Animal Health ** Please note this entire session will be presented in Spanish.
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Page 14 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017
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From Our Side Of The Fence
Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017 • Page 15
How do you think Donald Trump will do as president?
Darin Von Ruden Westby, Wis. Vernon County 50 cows How do you think Donald Trump will do as president? President Trump has no experience as a public servant, so it will be interesting to see how he and congress work together. I think there will be a large learning curve for him. We will have to see whether he will be able to work with both democrats and republicans for the country as a whole. I think the rst 30 days in ofce will be a good signal of where we are headed. What are topics President Trump needs to address when he is president? Infrastructure, especially as it relates to agriculture. Our rural roads are deteriorating. And, our rail system needs upgrades to handle the large volume of product that needs to get to the ports for international destinations. Trade should be high on the list so we can keep more jobs in the United States, which means there will be more disposable income for the use of purchasing food produced here. In the trade arena, we need to address currency manipulation so the United States does not become a dumping ground because of the value of the dollar. Do you think President Trump will follow through on his anti-free trade rhetoric and how will that affect the dairy industry? I think he will follow through on his anti-free trade agenda. If trade agreements are reworked to the ideals that President Trump talked about during the campaign, it will be a positive for dairy. But if we lose some of the current agreements on the export side, we could see a negative impact. What are main issues in agriculture that need to be addressed? The main issue that needs to be addressed in agriculture is concentration regarding mergers that have happened and those that will happen. Farmers have fewer options for purchasing the products they need to operate, and there are fewer markets for them to sell into. Another issue is foreign ownership of land and production facilities, which results in local economies being devastated by the dollars leaving those rural communities. Water is another issue, as it is vital for human life. We in agriculture depend on it for everyday activities in order to produce high-quality food for the consumer. As a dairy farmer, the current dairy program needs a lot of work. The Margin Protection Program is not working. If this program is to continue, we need to be on a level playing eld with crop farmers and get the same subsidy levels crop farmers get for their insurance purchases. The last issue is pricing structure, as we are losing more of the consumer dollar. What aspects of the current ag policy do you think are working and should be maintained in the next four years? Just about every sector of agriculture is nancially struggling, and it doesn’t look like this year is going to be much better. One bright spot might be the Renewable Fuels Standard, as President Trump seems to agree we need to produce more homegrown fuel, which will come from the crops we grow in the Midwest. Tell us about your farm. My wife of 26 years, JoAnn, and our children, Brett, 23, and daughter, Alyssa, 18, own 230 acres and rent an additional 72 acres of cropland and 50 acres of pasture. Last year, Brett purchased the dairy herd and machinery, so he is the fourth generation to farm. Joann works at Vernon Memorial Hospital in Viroqua as a quality improvement coordinator. Alyssa is attending Rochester Technical College in Rochester, Minn., in the veterinarian assistant program. My parents live close by, so there are days when three generations of Von Rudens are working side-by-side on the farm.
Pat Lunemann Clarissa, Minn. Todd County 790 cows How do you think Donald Trump will do as president? I’m not convinced President Trump is prepared for the seriousness of the position. He doesn’t grasp how what he says and does impacts countries and people around the world. I hope I am wrong, as we need our president to be successful in his role. Much will depend on if his cabinet level appointments understand their departments, give good advice, and then if the president takes that advice under serious consideration. What are topics President Trump needs to address? Obviously, the cost of our health care system and how we pay for it. More insurance is not the answer. We need to control costs through eliminating the massive paper shufe we have now and enact tort reform. That is just a start. The federal decit was ignored in this election, but needs to be addressed. The extreme points of view in this country that are driving public policy are unhealthy and threatening our democracy. We need the president and congress to work together to enact legislation that truly is good for the nation long term. We have had a stalemate for several years that needs to stop. Hopefully, the president can lead that change by doing the negotiating he has promised. Do you think President Trump will follow through on his anti-free trade rhetoric, and how will that affect the dairy industry? If the president does follow through on his rhetoric, we in agriculture are in deep trouble. Fifteen percent of our milk ends up in a different country, or about one day out of seven. I’m not convinced that abandoning the Trans-Pacic Trade agreement is a wise move. China is not a part of that deal, and backing out just makes them the Pacic trading superpower, instead of the United States. We are in a position in our dairy industry to become a serious exporter of product, especially to Asian countries where the population is growing and incomes are rising. We need to be a reliable supplier of the products they want. Once the value of the dollar becomes weaker, we would be in position to have some good times. What are main issues in agriculture that need to be addressed? Who is going to own our farms, and who is going to be doing the work? As our farms consolidate and grow larger, it becomes nearly impossible for anyone other than family to own a farm because of the tremendous capital it takes to own and operate one. Demographically, we are running out of people who want to do farm work in this country. Those who want to work are already employed. Immigrants have lled the shortfalls in farm labor and at food processing plants in recent years, but the rhetoric is that we don’t need them. Farm protability is an issue. Our milk price safety net is inadequate. What aspects of the current ag policy do you think are working and should be maintained in the next four years? Ag policy has shifted us to a free market scenario, where government payments are small or nonexistent. I expect that to continue, as changes are unlikely. It works, but sometimes not in our favor. Tell us about your farm. I am the third generation on the farm. My father, two of his brothers and my grandparents came to Todd County from Germany in 1925. My wife, Jody, and I have raised our six children on the farm. Our youngest, Alex, lives with us and works part-time, mostly on the cropping side. We started our dairy career with 60 cows in a traditional barn for the rst 15 years, and then built a parlor and freestall barn in 1996 that seems to keep evolving. We have a number of dedicated employees that have been here for many years. We have relationships with neighbors to help with heifer growing, along with planting and harvesting crops.
Duane Alberts Pine Island, Minn. Dodge County 600 cows How do you think Donald Trump will do as president? President Trump’s election ushers in a transformative shift in how government relates to the private sector. While Trump may have no prior service in government, he has extensive experience as a businessman in encountering government hurdles, such as regulations. Trump inherits a U.S. economy where growth has been cut in half over the last 30 years. His proposals to improve the economy by cutting taxes and infrastructure spending are likely to be met with stiff opposition by a budget conscientious Congress, as well as the realities of a $20 trillion U.S. government debt. The Trump administration faces a serious economic situation. What are topics Trump needs to address when he is president? First and foremost, Trump needs to identify and address the various economic bubbles that have been created by the zero-interest rate environment and quantitative easing. Zero interest rates have affected asset values, equity prices and bond prices. They have overstimulated expansion and construction in various areas of the country’s economy. Do you think President Trump will follow through on his anti-free trade rhetoric and how will that affect the dairy industry? The United States has 14 free trade agreements with 20 countries. Those 20 countries account for 43 percent of agriculture exports. In 2015, 62 percent of all dairy exports were shipped to free trade agreement countries with 15 to 16 percent of all U.S. dairy products being exported. Trump has questioned the benets of current trade agreements and has stated that the dollar was too strong, implying the United States might need to get the dollar down if it remains elevated. Milk prices have been globalized, yet the price of farm assets needed to produce milk in the United States have not been globalized. The result is that dairy farmers can’t afford to replace those assets without a major expansion, pushing the debt further down the road. Dairy exports are necessary to move product and increase dairy farm revenue, but they do not necessarily increase dairy farm prots. Hopefully Trump will nd a solution when looking at how trade agreements relate to domestic prices. What are main issues in agriculture that need to be addressed? First, the new administration needs to address immigration. Farmers need legal foreign workers. Over regulation: The regulatory burden on farmers and other business owners must be lifted. The Waters of the United States rule should be eliminated. Tax reform: Estate taxes should be repealed. Health care insurance: Farmers cannot afford individual, non-group policies. What aspects of the current ag policy do you think are working and should be maintained in the next four years? The crop insurance program seems to be working well. Tell us about your farm. Alberts Brothers Dairy is a six-generation farm. It consists of myself, two brothers, Dave and Rick, a nephew, Eric, and niece, Laura, as well as our families and employees. We milk 600 registered Holsteins, raise our own calves and produce our own feed. Turn to FROM OUR SIDE | Page 16
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Page 16 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017
ConƟnued from FROM OUR SIDE | Page 15 Neil Metzger Lester, Iowa Lyon County 220 cows How do you think Donald Trump will do as president? I am optimistic that he will do a ne job. I think it is important that he lls up his cabinet with knowledgeable people who will help with his decision making. I think his lack of political experience may harm him at times. Obviously, he has a proven track record as a successful businessman and that experience should help him. What are topics President Trump needs to address when he is president? I think one of the top priorities needs to be repealing and replacing Obamacare. Health insurance prices are out of line and there needs to be reform in that area. Also, working to create a more peaceful world by defeating radical terrorism. Do you think President Trump will follow through on his anti-free trade rhetoric and how will that affect the dairy industry? I’m not sure what he will do. He seems to say bold things and ends up backing down. If he does follow through, it would probably have a somewhat negative effect based on the uncertainty it creates with other countries. What are main issues in agriculture that need to be addressed? Maintaining subsidy programs in the 2018 Farm Bill. What aspects of the current ag policy do you think are working and should be maintained in the next four years? The Ag Risk Coverage program (ARC-CO) and the Dairy Margin Protection Program (MMP). Tell us about your farm. I farm with my dad, Rodney, three brothers, Vance, Eric and Toby, and my sister, Emma. We milk 220 Registered Jerseys. My siblings and I will be the third generation to milk Jerseys on our farm. We farm 700 acres and also have 60 cow-calf pairs.
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Steve Klaphake Freeport, Minn. Stearns County 145 cows How do you think Donald Trump will do as president? I think President Trump will do a great job, because of his business background. Also, he surrounds himself with very smart business people. What are topics Trump needs to address when he is president? President Trump needs to be tough on immigration and follow through with what he said on the campaign trail. Also, he needs to be tough on other countries trying to take advantage of the United States and our generosity. Do you think Trump will follow through on his anti-free trade rhetoric and how will that affect the dairy industry? I think it will help the dairy industry because President Trump will open more countries to fair trade. What are main issues in agriculture that need to be addressed? President Trump should open the farm bill to change the MPP. What aspects of the current ag policy do you think are working and should be maintained in the next four years? President Trump should work on the farm bill and make better trade agreements with other countries – especially China. President Trump has chosen many intelligent and successful business people in his cabinet, so I feel they should make better business decisions because this country is a very large business. Tell us about your farm. My wife, Pam, and I have six adult children – three sons and three daughters. We have two sons who are partners in the farm. We own 340 acres and raise corn and alfalfa. We have been a robotic dairy for seven years and are very pleased with them.
Brent Ziegler Green Isle, Minn. Sibley County 270 cows How do you think Donald Trump will do as president? I hope that he is a successful president. If he does well it will be good for all of us as Americans. He needs to take his business skills and apply them here, namely assembling a solid team and listening to them. He also needs to not be so sensitive to criticism. What are topics President Trump needs to address when he is president? Strengthening the economy, reasonable immigration reform that allows good hardworking people a chance at citizenship, and health care. Do you think President Trump will follow through on his anti-free trade rhetoric and how will that affect the dairy industyr? Obviously, trade is very important to agriculture. Anything that is done to diminish our ability to sell our products overseas will be detrimental. What are main issues in agriculture that need to be addressed? Lack of consistent protability. Also, nding and maintaining an adequate workforce, whether it is domestic- or foreign-born. What aspects of the current ag policy do you think are working and should be maintained in the next four years? The exibility in crop production and crop insurance. Also, the MPP could work if some adjustments are made to it. Tell us about your farm. My wife, Sarah, and I are the sixth generation to own our farm. We have two boys, Matt and Tommy. We milk 270 cows, raise all our heifers and farm 510 acres. We could not do this if it were not for our tremendous team of three full-time and eight part-time team members
Mike and Linda Hanson Good-Vue Farms Goodridge, Minn. Pennington County 127 cows How do you think Donald Trump will do as president? We are reserving judgement on our new presidents’ potential for success or failure. With little history to evaluate him on, inconsistency in positions from his past and near term, a lack of detail in his plans and a penchant to focus on trivial slights rather than more signicant policy issues, too much is unknown. If he exhibits rational leadership leading to a successful presidency, then hopefully most Americans will be successful as well. That we will support and celebrate. What are topics Trump needs to address when he is president? At this moment, our opinion is that President Trump would have a smoother and more successful path for his agenda by mending fences with the signicant number that did not support him and should make it an ongoing task. Second, reafrming U.S. relationships with our allies would better support his foreign policy agenda. Specic items he indicates he will address such as infrastructure improvements, health care/insurance and immigration are topics we agree merit attention. However, it remains to be seen if we will support the policies he may propose since there has been very few details offered to evaluate. Do you think Trump will follow through on his anti-free trade rhetoric and how will that affect the dairy industry? Arguably, some trade deals could probably benet from reassessment and restructuring to the advantage of ag producers and consumers. However, to limit or eliminate trade with other countries could be devastating and likely limit consumer choices as well. Dairy has recently felt the boom and bust of international demand. Jeopardizing those markets and making it more difcult to sell U.S. products abroad shouldn’t be an option. Once markets/customers are lost it is very challenging to get them back. We hope President Trump means something different than his rhetoric suggests. What are main issues in agriculture that need to
be addressed? Beyond trade issues, getting to work soon on the 2018 farm bill should top the list of ag issues to tackle. An improved dairy program, continued support of crop insurance, and a renewed conservation title are most likely top priorities. Though we do not have employees outside of family, immigration should receive serious discussions. Food labeling that requires truthful information for consumers needs attention, and considering the current makeup of congress, nutrition programs will undoubtedly be addressed. It is likely there will be vigorous attempts to seriously reduce the farm bill budget again. Agriculture needs to develop logical farm policy that is good for all citizens to garner support. What aspects of the current ag policy do you think are working and should be maintained in the next four years? Beginning producer programs, crop insurance, and conservation programs such as CSP seem to have been working reasonably well and should remain in some form. ARC/PLC programs could use an examination of how yield information is determined, but may remain. Most programs, including nutrition titles, should be reexamined to identify needed improvements that among others include cost effectiveness and delivery systems with less bureaucracy. Tell us about your farm. Our farm is in the northwest corner of Minnesota, about an hour from the Canadian border. We have 127 cows – 75 percent registered Ayrshires and 25 percent registered Holsteins. In addition, we farm nearly 3,000 acres. Cash crops include soybeans, spring wheat and malting barley. The remaining acres are used for corn silage, dry hay and baleage for the dairy. Labor and management is supplied entirely by family which includes ourselves, Mike’s father, Lynn; and three sons, Matthew, Steven and David. David’s wife, Ashley Swenson DVM, also serves as a valuable advisor. Having sons graduating college with a desire to dairy, we jumped off the cliff in the fall of 2015 and began construction on a new dairy facility. Last September, the cows moved from 40 tiestalls to a cross ventilated freestall barn which includes two Lely robots and a Lely Vector robotic feeding system. The new barn also has 36 freestalls for dry cows and two maternity pens. A feed kitchen for the Vector and a heated shop are attached to one end. We are still growing cow numbers to reach the barns capacity while learning to manage in a different way. Heifers and calves continue to be housed in the old facilities.
Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017 • Page 17
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Repro Leaders
Transition barn helps Duncanson Farm achieve 26 percent preg rate tice them when pushing up feed, which is done three times a day, or bringing the cows to the parlor for milking. We also watch their behavior. We know our cows well, so if they seem to be more active we know something is up. Sometimes we don’t see them standing, but know they are in heat from the hair on their tailhead standing up or their hip being scuffed.
Duncanson Farm Pat, Dan and Michael Duncanson Winona, Minn. Winona County 110 cows What was your pregnancy rate average last year? Our herd had a pregnancy rate average of 26 percent. What is your voluntary waiting period for cows? For heifers? We have a 60-day voluntary waiting period for our herd.
How do you conrm pregnant or open cows? We conrm cows pregnant with milk samples through DHIA. We do this 11 times each year. For heifers, we always try to keep a good bull around to make sure they are pregnant.
What is your rst service conception rate? We had an average of 53 percent. What is your reproduction program? Do you use a synchronization program? We watch for heats. I (Pat) do all the breeding on the farm. I only ovsync two or three cows per month. How do you observe heat? We visually watch heat whenever we are in freestall barn. I especially
for for the no-
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
The Duncansons – (from leŌ) Dan, Pat, holding Dustyn, and Michael – milk a herd of 110 cows that has an average pregnancy rate of 26 percent and a rst service concepƟon rate of 53 percent. They dairy near Winona, Minn.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017 • Page 19
“Every tube pays back double so we start every lactation with Udder Comfort.” — Alan Dykshorn
DYKSHORN HOLSTEINS, IRETON, IOWA, Alan Dykshorn with Greenlea Ad Ae-Red-ET EX92 at 2016 World Dairy Expo 400 cows, RHA 25,500M, SCC 150-180,000
“Every tube pays back double so we start every lactation with Udder Comfort™,” says fourth generation dairyman Alan Dykshorn of Dykshorn Holsteins. They milk 400 registered Holsteins in Ireton, Iowa. They have been using the product for over 10 years. “We make sure to use it after each milking on our fresh cows, especially first-calf heifers, to remove swelling quickly during the first week. “In our first year of doing this, we saw our SCC average fall 100,000 lower on our first-calf heifers. We also saw lower counts on mature cows, but it was most noticeable on the 2-year-olds. They have less stress, and as a result, we see production increases of 1000 pounds per head per lactation.
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Page 20 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017
ConƟnued from REPRO | Page 18
pay much attention to fertility or health traits. We mostly use bulls from Semex and Accelerated Genetics. Our oldest cow is 9 years old and in her seventh lactation. She is still doing well and really hasn’t had any problems, even during the lactation when she had twins. Those are the kind of cows we are looking for.
How are cows and heifers bred? Do you have a different philosophy for breeding both? Cows are bred while in the at parlor at milking time. For heifers, we might use a bull that is a little better for calving ease. We put a bull with the heifers after they have been bred by A.I. once. We do this because it’s important to get heifers calved in on time.
Other than that, there is no difference. What do you do to settle hard breeders? I will give a hard breeder a shot of GnRH at service time. The last chance service is a straw of Angus semen. How many times do you try to breed a cow before you sell her? We quit breeding at 200 days in milk. If they aren’t pregnant by then, we don’t need their problems. They have to be a really special cow to go past that point. Is there anything you have done or changed that brought about a signicant improvement in your reproductive program? We built a transition barn in 2010. If everything
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Cows rest in the transiƟon barn the Duncansons built in 2010. They said having that barn has helped them beƩer manage their transiƟon cows, which in turn has helped reproducƟon. goes well for cows at calving time and shortly after, getting cows pregnant is easy. We ran out of haylage in 2015 and had to feed fresh haylage for two weeks. I couldn’t get any cows pregnant for about 90 days after that. We had a pregnancy rate average at 32 percent at the time, but because of this challenge, it dropped to 22 percent. We are now working our way back up.
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
This is the type of cow the Duncansons strive to breed in their herd: one that is 9 years old, in her seventh lactaƟon, rarely has problems and keeps up with milk producƟon.
Tell us about your farm. The farm consists of my parents, Dan and Lynda, me (Pat) and my wife, Heidi, and our three kids, along with my brother, Michael, and his wife, Rachel. We milk 110 registered Holsteins and farm 400 acres.
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
The Duncansons milk their cows in a double-8 at barn parlor with eight milking units. The parlor is where they breed their cows.
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ARTICULATED 4WD TRACTORS 2 JD 9620R, 2015, 620 hp, 455 hrs., #125913..................................$399,000 6 JD 9560R, 2012, 560 hp, 1681 hrs., #133796..................................$249,000 1 JD 9560R, 2013, 560 hp, 2226 hrs., #127914..................................$235,000 1 JD 9630, 2010, 530 hp, 1746 hrs., #123341..................................$209,000 3 JD 9630, 2011, 530 hp, 1925 hrs., #134865..................................$204,000 7 JD 9430, 2011, 425 hp, 2200 hrs., #134950..................................$189,500 5 JD 9630, 2008, 530 hp, 3004 hrs., #135019..................................$169,000 6 JD 9620, 2006, 500 hp, 4700 hrs., #134870..................................$148,000 2 JD 9520, 2006, 450 hp, 5016 hrs., #110315..................................$141,500 5 JD 9300, 1997, 360 hp, 4445 hrs., #132726.................................... $79,000 8 JD 9400, 1996, 425 hp, 6200 hrs., #134367.................................... $79,000 5 JD 9400, 1998, 425 hp, 8346 hrs., #134904.................................... $59,900 FIELD CULTIVATORS 6 CIH 200, 2011, #129150 ...... $55,000 8 JD 2210, 2011, #106313 ..... $52,900 5 JD 2210, 2009, #131140 ..... $44,900 1 JD 2210, 2005, #120515 ..... $39,500 5 JD 2210, 2006, #119500 ..... $37,900 11 JD 2210, 2007, #102810 ..... $37,900 2 Case TIGER MATE II, #129749.................................... $25,000 2 JD 985, 1995, #130971 ........ $18,000 MOWER CONDITIONERS 2 JD 946, 2014, #126997 ........ $32,000 7 JD 946, 2014, #126629 ........ $30,900 10 JD 956, 2013, #121134 ........ $28,900 1 JD 956, 2011, #126054 ........ $27,900 9 JD 830, 2015, #134944 ........ $25,900 11 JD 946, 2011, #126500 ........ $25,500 6 NH H7150, 2012, #126620.................................... $24,500 10 JD 835, 2012, #130580 ........ $24,000 8 JD 946, 2009, #132018 ........ $23,500 11 JD 635, 2013, #134300 ........ $21,900 10 NH H7150, 2011, #122976.................................... $19,900 8 JD 835, 2008, #131315 ........ $18,500 11 JD 946, 2005, #130363 ........ $17,500 12 JD 635, 2008, #126498 ........ $15,900 PLANTERS: DRAWN 1 JD DB44, 2014, #114004 ...$169,000 8 JD DB44, 2015, #132329 ...$169,000 6 JD DB66, 2009, #101972 ...$149,000 4 JD 1770NT, 2014, #134722..................................$127,330 4 JD 1770NT CCS, 2013, #125129..................................$115,000 5 JD 1770NT CCS, 2012 #135066..................................$105,900
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#133944.................................... $22,900 11 NH BR7090, 2008, 123046 .. $21,900 2 JD 458 SILAGE SPECIAL, 2010, #132415 .............................. $19,500 10 JD 458, 2009, #131244 ........ $18,900 11 JD 568, 2007, #131763 ........ $18,900 10 JD 582 SILAGE SPECIAL, 2006 #132056.................................... $18,500 7 JD 457, 2005, #134613 ........ $17,900 8 JD 568, 2007, #131030 ........ $17,500 8 JD 457, 2006, #134509 ........ $15,900 UTILITY TRACTORS 8 JD 6175R, 2015, 650 hrs., #135147..................................$148,000 2 JD 6155R, 2015, 155 hp, 170 hrs., #134317..................................$129,900 1 JD 6155R, 2015, 155 hp, 179 hrs., #124983..................................$129,500 1 JD 6145R, 2015, 145 hp, 293 hrs., #120190..................................$124,900 4 JD 6145R, 2015, 145 hp, 268 hrs., #120191..................................$122,900 9 JD 6150R, 2013, 150 hp, 698 hrs., #127915..................................$119,000 6 CIH MAGNUM 180, 2010, 180 hp, 1227 hrs., #131001 ..............$103,500 11 JD 7920, 2003, 170 hp, 4910 hrs., #134912.................................... $94,900 6 CIH 145 PUMA, 2013, 145 hp, 755 hrs., #134447................... $84,500 4 JD 6430, 2010, 120 hp, 2500 hrs., #131347.................................... $80,000 7 JD 6430, 2008, 115 hp, 1346 hrs., #132066.................................... $79,500 8 JD 6430, 2010, 120 hp, 696 hrs., #128336.................................... $72,500 4 JD 7420, 2007, 115 hp, 4776 hrs., #134043.................................... $64,900 10 JD 6430, 2008, 120 hp, 3072 hrs., #125897.................................... $64,500 4 JD 7420, 2007, 115 hp, 5301 hrs., #134042.................................... $58,900 8 JD 4955, 1989, 210 hp, 8190 hrs., #133760.................................... $52,900 10 JD 7520, 2007, 13300 hrs., #134769.................................... $34,900 6 JD 4555, 1991, 155 hp, 11500 hrs., #133681.................................... $32,500 1 JD 4255, 1991, 120 hp, 11822 hrs., #133470.................................... $27,900 10 JD 4440, 1981, 130 hp, 9095 hrs., #123224.................................... $26,900 10 International 5488, 1982, 185 hp, 8140 hrs., #129314 ................ $24,500 4 JD 6120R, 2015, 120 hp, 132 hrs., #124875..................................$118,900 4 JD 6110R, 2016, 110 hp, 110 hrs., #133619..................................$112,000 2 JD 6125R, 2014, 125 hp, 225 hrs., #127948..................................$106,000 4 JD 6110R, 2015, 110 hp, 104 hrs., #119898..................................$105,900
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Midwest Dairy Association District meetings continue Dairy farmers are invited to Midwest Dairy Association’s Minnesota Division District Meetings beginning Jan. 4, and continuing through April. Twenty meetings are scheduled, each of which will include a report from the dairy farmer board member serving the district, along with an update from staff and a complimentary meal. The full schedule of meetings can be reviewed at MidwestDairy.com/For Farmers. County American Dairy Association groups may also conduct business in conjunction with the meetings. Several locations will also include Minnesota Milk Producers Association Dairy Management Workshops. Dairy farmers may attend the meeting closest to them, regardless of the district in which they live. No RSVPs are required. District meetings are a chance for dairy farmers to learn how their checkoff investment is spent and ask questions of the board members they elect to manage the program. In 2016, Midwest Dairy launched an initiative called Dairy 3 for Me, for which more than 10,000 pledges were made by people who recognized the importance of getting three servings of dairy each day for good health. The meeting presentation will explain how Dairy 3 for Me applies to the farm families who make those three servings available, how dairy partners are helping to champion the importance of dairy, and how the community and country benets from dairy. For more information, contact Alyssa Olson at 1-877-577-0741Call: 1-877-577-0741 or email aolson@midwestdairy.com. The schedule is as follows: • Feb. 3: Pizza Ranch, Alexandria, 11:30 a.m., District 7: Douglas, Grant, Pope, Stevens, Traverse. • Feb. 7: The Cactus, Perham, 11:30 a.m., District 3 and 4: Becker, Cass, Clay, Hubbard, Wadena, East Otter Tail, West Otter Tail, Wilkin. • Feb. 9: Crow River Winery, Hutchinson, 11 a.m., Distrct 12 and 13: Meeker, Wright, Carver, McLeod. • Feb. 14: The Oaks, Willmar, 11:30 a.m., District 11: Big Stone, Chippewa, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Renville, Swift, Yellow Medicine. • Feb. 15: Armed Forces Reserve Community Center, Cambridge, 12 Noon, District 10: Anoka, Benton, Chisago, Hennepin (with DHIA), Isanti, Sherburne, Washington. • Feb. 24: Lewiston Silo School, Lewiston, 11:30 a.m., District 21: Winona (DHIA) • March 2: Cabela’s, Owatonna, 10 a.m., District 19: Blue Earth, Faribault, Freeborn, Martin, Steele, Waseca, Watonwan. • March 6: Stewartville Legion, Stewartville, 12 Noon, District 20: Dodge, Mower, Olmsted (with DHIA). • March 7: McIntosh Community Center, McIntosh, 11:30 a.m., District 1: Beltrami, Clearwater, Kittson, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, Roseau. • March 9: Pizza Ranch, Slayton, 12 Noon, District 18: Cottonwood, Jackson, Lincoln, Lyon, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, Rock. • March 11: Tobies Big Kettle Room, Hinckley, 12 Noon, District 2: Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Kanabec, Koochiching, Lake, Mille Lacs, Pine, St. Louis. • March 13: American Legion, Millville, 7:30 p.m., District 17: Wabasha (with DHIA). • March 16: Branding Iron, Preston, 7 p.m., District 22: Fillmore (with DHIA). • April 1: Good Times, Caledonia, 7:30 p.m., District 22: Houston (with DHIA), Fillmore.
Target Your Customers! Advertise Online at www.dairystar.com If you would like to advertise, call 320-352-6303 for more information.
Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017 • Page 23
Gundersons named Morrison County Farm Family of the Year
Award reects brothers’ community involvement BY JENNIFER COYNE Staff writer
UPSALA, Minn. – On any given day of the year, the communities of Morrison County are sure to see Alan or David Gunderson volunteering their time towards organizations and events that are near to their lifelong career of dairy farming. It is because of that dedication that the Gunderson brothers, and their families, received the 2016 Morrison County Farm Family of the Year at Farmfest Aug. 3 in Redwood Falls, Minn. “Last spring, we found out we had been chosen as
JENNIFER COYNE/ DAIRY STAR
The Gunderson, David (leŌ) and Alan and Alan’s son, Daniel, are this year’s Morrison County Farm Family of the Year. The Gundersons milk 65 Holsteins with their families near Upsala, Minn.
JENNIFER COYNE/ DAIRY STAR
Daniel plays with a young calf as Alan watches on. One day, Daniel hopes to dairy farm, like his father.
a nominee, but we were surprised when we found out we had won,” Alan said. “There are lots of people in our county who are just as deserving.” Alan and David milk 65 Holsteins with their wives, Tina and Patti, respectively, on their family’s 67-year-old farm near Upsala, Minn. Alan and Tina have two stepchildren, Kaitlyn and Derek, and two young children, Jacob, 10, and Daniel, 7. David and Patti have three grown children – Sara, Amy and Karl – and two grandchildren, Makayla and Leo.
The family farm began in 1950, when the Gundersons’ parents, Loren and Helen, started with 140 acres and milked 10 cows in a 14-stall tiestall barn. At the time, they also raised pigs. “Basically, we’ve been milking our entire lives,” David said. “After school, we never left the farm.” Alan smiled and agreed. “Dad just told us to take over when he was not able to, so that’s what we did,” he said. Rather than pursuing careers off the farm, David and Alan created a partnership in 1989, and have since Turn to GUNDERSONS | Page 25
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Page 24 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017
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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017 • Page 25
ConƟnued from GUNDERSONS | Page 23 dedicated their lives to dairy farming and sharing their passion with others in central Minnesota. The dairymen are involved in their local church and community, through the re department and legion auxiliary, as well as the Morrison County American Dairy Association Board and local DHIA and creamery boards. The Gundersons have also hosted University of Minnesota Extension eld days, and in 2013, the family hosted the county’s annual breakfast on the farm event. “We’ve kind of done everything but be involved in the Farm Bureau,” said Alan with a chuckle. Each summer, the Gundersons help with the county fair’s milking contest – a dairy promotion event that allows local celebrities to test their dairying skills against those of the county dairy princesses. “We have the county commissioners, priests and sheriffs compete,” Alan said. “Last year, we drew a big crowd.” However, dairy farming is more than promotions. For the Gundersons, milking cows has also allowed the family to stay connected and rooted in agriculture. Over the years, the Gundersons expanded their tiestall barn, installed a manure pit and purchased an additional 200-some acres of tillable land for corn, oat and alfalfa production. “We’ve added on as needed in order to keep going,” Alan said. While Alan maintains the herd health, David milks the cows. “Basically, I’ve been milking for 44 years,” David said. “Since 1975, when chores were done the hard way.” Often times, Jacob and Daniel also help with daily chores, and Karl lends a hand when he is able.
While family time is often found in the barn, both Alan and David work together to give each other time off of the farm with their families. “We’re a lot more exible than we used to be,” David said. Alan agreed. “If I have to take off early for a basketball tournament, I can be back in time for evening chores and David covers for me during the day,” he said. “We really try to not do more than routine chores on the weekend, so that we both have time with family.” In their years of farming together,
PHOTO SUBMITTED
The Gundersons (from leŌ) – Karl, Paƫ, David, Tina, Daniel, Jacob and Alan – are the 2016 Morrison Farm Family of the Year. The family received the award at Farmfest in Redwood Falls, Minn., last August.
JENNIFER COYNE/ DAIRY STAR
A calendar photo of the Gundersons’ barn reminds Alan of the rewards in dairy farming.
the Gunderson brothers have learned to work through challenging times in the industry. “When we bought land a long time ago, the rst few years after that were pretty tight,” David said. “But now, we’re here.” Alan agreed. “We’ve learned that we don’t buy what we don’t need and try to keep our overhead costs pretty low,” he said. This has been especially important with milk and grain prices uctuating. With young family members involved on the dairy, the Gundersons think their parents would be proud of the strides their sons have made in the industry and the interest the third gen-
eration has developed for dairying. “At 88 years old, Dad would still come out every day and be a part of the dairy,” Alan said. “He would watch us for hours and make sure everything was getting done.” Alan and David are humbled to have received the Morrison County Farm Family of the Year award, and hope to continue their family’s dairy and share their experiences with area communities for many years to come. “A lot of people tell us how nice it is to come out to the farm and how open we are,” Alan said. “We’re happy where we are and where we’ve been, and I think the awards says it all – it feels good to be honored by our peers.”
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On Jan. 9, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) started offering an early termination opportunity for certain Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts, making it easier to transfer property to the next generation of farmers and ranchers, including family members. The land that is eligible for the early termination is among the least environmentally sensitive land enrolled in CRP. FSA News & Notes The practices eligible for early termination are as follows: • CP1, establishment of permanent introduced grasses and legumes • CP2, establishment of permanent native grasses • CP3, tree planting • CP10, grass already established • CP11, trees already established All other practices are not eligible for the land tenure provisions. This change to the CRP program is just one of many By Ryan Brunn that USDA has implemented based on recommendaStearns Co. Exec. Dir. tions from the Land Tenure Advisory Subcommittee formed by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in 2015. Normally, if a landowner terminates a CRP contract early, they are required to repay all previous payments plus interest. The new policy waives this repayment if the land is transferred to a beginning farmer or rancher through a sale or lease with an option to buy. With CRP enrollment close to the congressionally-mandated cap of 24 million acres, the early termination will also allow USDA to enroll other land with higher conservation value elsewhere. Acres terminated early from CRP under these land tenure provisions will be eligible for priority enrollment consideration into the CRP grasslands, if eligible; or the conservation stewardship program or environmental quality incentives program, as determined by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. According to the Tenure, Ownership and Transition of Agricultural Land survey, conducted by USDA in 2014, U.S. farmland owners expect to transfer 93 million acres to new ownership during 2015-19. This represents 10 percent of all farmland across the nation. For more information about CRP and to nd out if your acreage is eligible for early contract termination, contact your Farm Service Agency (FSA) ofce or visit www.fsa.usda.gov/crp. To locate your FSA ofce, visit http://ofces.usda.gov.
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day catch up to the other calves their age and be good replacements. Hope that all the penicillin, drenching uids and time given to the mothers of these two calves will pay off, and they will be able to keep up with the rest of the herd. When I walk into the barn and see the two cows that calved early eating at the bunk and full of milk; two other cows that had slipped and thanks to our oat tank therapy, are walking again; and the young calves crying for more milk, I know why God put me here. Because even when I can’t save every cow, I am still making a difference. Not reaching my goal doesn’t mean I had a bad year, but rather a challenging one that drives me to keep striving. The year 2017 is going to be a wild ride. I exceeded my goals for reproduction and our number of cows due to calve in June, July and August is at a record high. Oh, and did I mention I’m also getting
The Transition Pen
By John & Laura Rosenhammer Father/Daughter Farming Duo As a new year begins, it is time to analyze all that happened on the farm in 2016. Last January, I sat down with my dad and uncle to discuss how 2015 had gone and to make goals for 2016. Two of my top goals were to decrease the number of cows and youngstock that died on the farm and to decrease mastitis infections in our fresh heifers. My strategy to attain these goals involved both prevention and treatment. I followed our vet’s protocol for our farm on which vaccines to give, checked on cows that were down in milk or not eating, gave treatment as needed, recorded everything I did and called the vet for help when I was stumped. Yet, we still lost more cows on the farm in 2016 than 2015. How could this happen? Luckily, I keep a log on each cow that is sold or has died, write down the situation and what was done for her. The day after discovering a cow had died from hardware, I ordered magnets for the entire herd. After losing a cow to toxic mastitis that wasn’t detected soon enough, I rely on my rumination collars to alert me whenever a cow is eating less so I can check on her right away. When a fresh cow isn’t taking off, I take a blood sample before treating her just in case there is something more than low calcium. I started changing the needle each time I give a shot in order to prevent leukosis. If a cow slips and isn’t up within a few hours, we put them in a water tank for therapy. When a calf looks off, we give them electrolytes right away and if they don’t improve, I I.V. them with lactated ringers to keep them hydrated and stay ahead of whatever bug is attacking them. All of these practices give me hope. Hope that even when a cow doesn’t show much interest in trying to get up after a fall, I’m doing the best I can for her. Hope that all the extra attention I’ve given to our two premature heifer calves will allow them to some-
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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017 • Page 27
married in July? I remember my dad saying he was breeding an awful lot of cows. I told him to relax because there is no way they could all get pregnant. Like everyone else, I’m hoping to see cull cow and heifer prices increase as we will need to sell to make room. With bull calf prices where they are, sexed semen is looking more appealing as well. My number one goal is to work with consultants and draw out a clear path to how our farm is going to transition, and I can start gaining equity. Once that is progressing, I want to make a timeline for adding a third milking and adding onto the freestall barn, which is all contingent upon when we can get a lagoon set up, (hopefully this fall) as we have very limited manure storage. I look forward to working with many talented dairy consultants via AgStar and Farm Business Management to set up strategies to meet these goals.
Page 28 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017
www.extension.umn.edu/dairy
Betty Berning bberning@umn.edu 320-203-6104
Changes in tetracycline for digital dermatitis
Rafael Bisinotto rbisinot@umn.edu 612-625-3130
Several changes in the way dairy farms can use antibiotics occurred with the arrival of Jan. 1, 2017. At this point, most people are aware of the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) and the effect it has on some of the practices we used in raising replacement heifers. The same legislation that brought in the VFD also changed access to certain over the counter (OTC) drugs. One of the drugs affected by this change were the tetracyclines that hoof trimmers commonly used to treat digital dermatitis (hairy heel warts). On top of this, it is expected that at some point in 2017, the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS) is going to start a pilot tetracycline testing program. This piBy Gerard Cramer lot program will test 1/15 of all grade A raw U of M Extension milk for tetracycline residues on a quarterly basis. What does this mean for your farm? Primarily, you will notice that your hoof trimmer will no longer be able to show up on your farm with tetracycline powder that they purchased themselves. Farms will have to supply it. Unfortunately, there are no antibiotics with a licensed label claim for the treatment of digital dermatitis. This means that the use of tetracycline to treat these cows is considered an extra label drug use. For farms to be able to continue to use tetracycline powder, the farm will need to get their veterinarian to write a prescription. To write a prescription, your veterinarian will require the farm to have a veterinary client patient relationship (VCPR). The VCPR means that the veterinarian is familiar with the client (farm owner), the herd being treated, and the client must agree that the people who use antibiotics on their farm (including hoof trimmers) follow the veterinarian’s specic directions. A prescription needs to include a dose, application method and appropriate milk and slaughter withdrawal information. To ensure your farm continues to use antibiotics responsibly and is not affected by the change in both access to tetracycline powder and the pilot testing program, it is important that your veterinarian and hoof trimmer communicate and develop a treatment protocol that suits each of them. Your veterinarian will want to be certain that the specic instructions they provide on their prescriptions are followed to ensure the milk withdrawal period is appropriate. Research conducted at the University of Minnesota has shown that treatment with tetracycline powder does create residues in the milk and teats do become contaminated with the treatment. This raises some questions for veterinarians writing prescriptions. They will want to ensure a system exists to ensure proper dosages are used to prevent violative residues. A violative residue is a residue that is above the maximum residue limit (MRL) of 300 ppb for tetracycline.
Hugh Chester-Jones chest001@umn.edu (507) 835-3622 Gerard Cramer gcramer@umn.edu 612-625-8184 Marcia Endres miendres@umn.edu (612) 624-5391 Sandra Godden godde002@umn.edu 612-625-8177 Les Hansen hanse009@umn.edu 612-624-2277 Brad Heins hein0106@umn.edu (320) 589-1711 Kevin Janni kjanni@umn.edu (612) 625-3108 Karen Johnson ande9495@umn.edu 320-484-4334 Brenda Miller nels4220@umn.edu (320) 732-4435 Kota Minegishi kota@umn.edu 612-624-7455 Randy Pepin pepin019@umn.edu (320) 333-1369 Erin Royster royster@umn.edu Jim Salfer salfe001@umn.edu (320) 203-6093 M. Scott Wells mswells@umn.edu 612-625-3747 Emily Wilmes krek0033@umn.edu (320) 255-6169
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Figure 1: Example of 3 different tetracycline dosages from left to right 25g, 5g and 2g. From this University of Minnesota research, we know that applying 2 grams or less of tetracycline powder per lesion for a maximum of two lesions per cow will not cause violative residues in individual cows and is enough to successfully treat the lesion (see photo of different dosages). A complicating factor is that although the MRL is 300 ppb, some of the tests used to screen milk can detect tetracycline residues at a much lower level. What you and your veterinarian will need to consider is how your milk processor is going to implement the NICMS pilot program, and how they will use the results of tests that nd tetracycline residues below the MRL. In most cases, if an appropriate dose of tetracycline is used on individual animals, the risk of contaminating the food supply with violative residues is minimal. However, in some cases your veterinarian might be uncomfortable with the risk of potentially contaminating the milk supply and include a milk withdrawal period. The bottom line in all of this is for you to be sure your hoof trimmer and veterinarian have developed a protocol that ensures cows with digital dermatitis receive appropriate treatment and also addresses the new rules around the use of and testing for tetracycline.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017 • Page 29
Manure gases can be deadly. Hydrogen sulde (H2S) is one of those gases. Dangerous H2S levels were measured in barns where deep bedded pack was being removed and around outdoor stored manure basins that were being agitated. Hydrogen sulde was implicated in incidents of human and animal deaths and injuries on dairy farms in Pennsylvania and Maryland in 2012 and 2013. Human and animal deaths are rare, but all deaths are tragic and preventable if you remember that stored manure can generate and give off dangerous levels of H2S. Not all stored manure generates dangerous H2S concentrations. Moderately priced H2S detectors can be used to measure H2S concentrations to avoid exposure. There are other practices that can help reduce your H2S exposure and risk during bedded pack removal and manure agitation and handling. Hydrogen sulde is a colorless gas commonly known By Kevin Janni for its characteristic rotten egg odor. Physiological effects of U of M Extension H2S exposures are listed in Table 1. Prolonged exposure to H2S at low concentrations reduces your ability to detect its presence so your sense of smell is not a good indicator after even only a few minutes of H2S exposure. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends a 5 parts per million (ppm) short term exposure limit (10 minutes) concentration for H2S. At 100 ppm, H2S is considered an immediate danger to life and health. Hydrogen sulde is a by-product of anaerobic breakdown of sulfur containing material. Sulfur can come from drinking water, concentrate-based feeds and dried distiller’s grains soluble (DDGS). Sulfur is also in gypsum (calcium sulfate, CaSO4·2H2O) which is used as a bedding material and copper sulfate (CuSO4) which is used in footbaths. Waste milk protein contains sulfur, too. Animal manure stored in bedded packs and manure storage basins become anaerobic where sulfate reducing bacteria generate H2S. Hydrogen sulde emissions depend on manure crusting, pH and temperature. Uncovered manure storage basins that store liquid after solid-liquid separation may not form a crust and tend to have less H2S in the stored liquid manure. Manure storage basins with either natural crusts or a plastic cover would be expected to have higher H2S levels. Deep manure packs may also generate and accumulate H2S. Accumulated H2S is released when manure in basins is agitated prior to removal or the deep bedded pack is broken into for removal. Hydrogen sulde release can present an immediate danger to people and animals depending on concentration and exposure duration. The greatest risk is during the rst hour of agitation. Hydrogen sulde gas is heavier than air, so it tends to stay close to the ground and collect in low spots if not dispersed by other means. Its dispersion after being released from stored manure depends on many factors including distance from the source, wind speed and direction, nearby obstructions and sunshine. Increasing separation distance allows more time and space for H2S to disperse to less dangerous concentrations. People or animals next to agitated manure or inside buildings may be exposed to dangerous gas levels very quickly. Higher wind speeds help disperse H2S out of doors. People standing upwind of an agitated manure storage will experience lower H2S concentrations compared to people downwind of an agitated source. Nearby buildings and low spots can create dead areas where H2S can remain at dangerous concentrations. Sunny weather warms the ground and causes air to rise which helps disperse emitted gases. Human and animal deaths and near-lethal exposures during open-air manure storage agitation led to a Penn State study on manure gas risks associated with gypsum bedding use. Observations and recommendations from Penn State fact sheets include: • Gypsum bedding adds sulfur to manure that can lead to dangerous levels of H2S gas at agitation; however, not all farms with gypsum bedding have safety problems. • Keep non-essential people away during agitation, especially children who are at increased risk as H2S is typically at higher concentration close to the ground. Nearby cattle are also at risk. • Secure storage from entry; provide rescue and fall protection; gas monitors are recommended. • Manure moving–mixing–agitation creates highest gas levels for the rst hour. Leave the area. • Crust–free manure and additives seem to allow continuous H2S release, lowering agitation risk. • Gypsum benets for cow bedding and agronomic values must be balanced against the potential gas hazard.
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Outdoor manure storage agitation. More information about the Penn State study and fact sheets about handling manure with gypsum is available at http://z.umn.edu/gypsum. Minnesota has a H2S property line standard of 50 ppb (30 min average) that cannot be exceeded more than two times per year and a 30 ppb (30 min average) that cannot be exceeded more than two times in ve consecutive days. These limits are 400 times lower than the concentrations that possibly cause fatigue, appetite loss, headaches and dizziness. Table 1. Physiological responses to hydrogen sulde (H2S) (OSHA, 2017). Concentration in Parts Per Million Effect on Humans Odor threshold 0.01-1.5 Prolonged exposure may cause nausea, 2-5 eye tearing, headaches, sleep loss Possible fatigue, loss of appetite, headache, irritability, poor memory, 20 dizziness Eye inammation and respiratory tract 50-100 irritation after one hour Coughing, eye irritation, loss of smell after 100 2-15 minute exposure Marked eye inammation and respiratory 200-300 tract irritation after one hour Staggering, collapse in ve minutes, loss of consciousness and possible death in 30-60 500-700 minutes Rapid unconsciousness within 1-2 breaths 700-1,000 and death within minutes Nearly instant death 1,000-2,000 Source: https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/hydrogensulde/hazards.html
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Cow yard luge Page 30 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017
Some years ago, snowboarding was added to the roster of winter Olympic events. That’s all well and ne, but I can’t wait until the International Olympic Committee sanctions my personal favorite extreme winter sport, the activity known as the cow yard luge. The cow yard luge was invented several decades ago by a humble dairy farm kid who lived on the plains of eastern South Dakota. It originated due to a combination of the boy’s ardent desire to y across the snow and the distinct lack of steep terrain in his area. The problem was that we farmed this annoyingly at land. It was annoying due to the fact that it wasn’t anywhere near hilly enough to produce the warp factor 10 speeds I longed to experience during my sledding expeditions. I expended numerous hours and endless energy running down our snow-packed driveway and then
jumping onto our sled. This technique generally resulted in maybe two milliseconds of speedy sledding. I theorized that my tremendous acceleration was causing the runners of the sled to heat up and melt through to the gravel below. My hunger for sledding speed eventually led to a sporting breakthrough of historic proportions. I was sitting on our sled and daydreaming about blasting through a sea of humongous drifts; the sled’s runners throwing up soaring white rooster tails; the frothy snow stinging my face. The only thing I lacked, I reckoned, was a way to get the sled up to the desired velocity. If only I had some kind of power plant, some means of propulsion. But, alas; no such contrivance was available to me. I was staring gloomily at the snow when I heard a cow in our cattle yard bawling. Stupid cows ... hey, wait a minute.
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I suddenly remembered that my sister, Di, had taken it upon herself to tame a calf she had named Betsy. Betsy had grown up to become a strapping Holstein cow who tipped the scales at nearly a ton. She had retained her docile manner, and I Dear County Agent Guy was willing to bet she could still be haltered. I scrounged up some old baling twine and constructed a makeshift halter which included an extralong lead. Recalling that Betsy loved ear corn, I borrowed a few ears from the crib and headed for the cow By Jerry Nelson yard with the sled in Columnist tow. As expected, Betsy allowed me to walk right up to her. She unquestioningly accepted my ear corn offering and was soon greedily gobbling the ill-gotten grain. Distracted by her treat, she didn’t seem to notice when I slipped the halter over her head and quickly tied its lead to the front of the sled. I then leaped onto the sled, my heart pounding with anticipation. Betsy nished her corn and craned her neck to look back at me, a puzzled look on her face. At least I think it was puzzlement; it’s hard to interpret the facial expressions of some cows. Betsy didn’t appear to have any interest in pulling the sled. She instead moseyed back to me and started snufng at my face, giving me a hearty dose of her noxious cow breath. As if that might induce me to give her more corn. I was totally and utterly annoyed. “Get going, you stupid cow,” I said. Betsy responded by attempting to clean my glasses with her noxious and slobbery tongue. That did it. I took aim through my saliva-coated glasses and planted my st right on her kisser. Betsy jerked her head up in astonishment and swiftly stepped away. This caused the sled to move just a bit and the creak of the runners on the packed snow startled her even further. I quickly discovered Betsy had a hidden “Jeckyll and Hyde” personality. Gone was the gentle blackand-white behemoth; Betsy had been transformed into a maniacal demon. Betsy wheeled and broke into a gallop, her head high, her tail up, her eyes bulging out of their sockets. She became a bellowing bovine blur as she sped across the cattle yard. I clung to the sled for dear life as I thumped over stones, dodged terried cows and jostled across frozen cow pies. I should have been awarded extra points for maintaining my composure throughout the ordeal. The only time I screamed was when Betsy launched a salvo of digested forage products directly into my path. So, that’s the history of what I hope will become a new winter Olympic sporting event. For those who want to practice the cow yard luge themselves, I have two words of advice. First, make sure you choose a non-maniac cow. And second, never, ever, ride the sled face rst. Jerry is a recovering dairy farmer from Volga, S.D. He and his wife, Julie, have two grown sons and live on the farm where Jerry’s great-grandfather homesteaded over 110 years ago. Jerry currently works full time for the Dairy Star as a staff writer/ad salesman. Feel free to E-mail him at: jerry.n@ dairystar.com.
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I’m taking The Kindness Challenge I feel like tension between people lately has been running on the high side. It seems to be everywhere. A large part of that is due to the political climate. People are polarized about our new president. I’ve seen the hate-lled comments come A Little Bit of Sunshine from both sides. It gets ugly. It’s not pretty. Living in the upper Midwest in January doesn’t necessary help the situation. Fewer days of sun makes some of people’s happiness slip away for a short time. Plus, we’ve been dealing with ice, and now a snowstorm at least in the southeast corner of Minnesota. I know that’s what we deal with here, but when the weather starts to interfere with driving, jobs and even makes walking outside treacherous (in the case of the ice) it can be wearing. By Krista Kuzma Let’s just say people everywhere could use a little more sunshine and happiness in their lives Assistant Editor right now. Good Morning America recently featured a segment about The Great Kindness Challenge. Over 10 million kids in 12,000 schools have signed up for the challenge, which encourages the kids to take on as many simple acts of kindness as they can. They even have a list on their website for the students to follow if they need a few ideas. There are other organizations and days dedicated to reminding people to be kind. The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation celebrates Random Acts of Kindness week Feb. 12-18, April 30 is Pay It Forward day and Nov. 13 is World Kindness Day. But kindness should go beyond these dedicated days. Can you imagine our world if everyone focused on being a little kinder to each other every day? Anyone can be kind and the act doesn’t have to be a grand display. It can be as easy as saying hello, giving a smile, complimenting a person or saying thank you. A few of the examples on the acts of kindness list for kids taking The Kindness Challenge include: draw a picture and give it to someone, say thank you to the crossing guard, invite a new friend Can you iimagine C i our world ld to play, lend a pencil to a if everyone focused on being friend, whisper thank you to the librarian and sit a little kinder to each other with a new group of kids at lunch. Although these every day? are geared towards kids, they can easily be turned into things adults can do, too. I’m going to take on the kindness challenge myself to be more conscious about my actions and add a little more kindness to each of my days. I want to make sure to smile and laugh a little more, while complaining and judging less. Sure, that may seem simple or small, but wouldn’t you prefer to meet someone with a smile on their face rather than a frown? I’ll try to be more understanding when my patience wears thin and I want to help out my neighbors a little more. They are constantly kind to us by blowing snow off our sidewalk if we haven’t gotten to it yet. I also want to write a few, out-of-the-blue thank you letters and actually hand-write a few letters to friends I haven’t talked to in awhile. Texts or emails are ne, but handwriting a letter just seems more personal to me. Plus, I love getting snail mail, especially when it’s unexpected. Social media is an area where all of us could give out kindness a little more freely. Words typed can be just as mean as ones spoken. So, will you join me? Let’s all be a little kinder to one another. What will your random acts of kindness be?
Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017 • Page 31
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Aging gracefully Page 32 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017
I was shopping for farm jeans at Saver’s last month when an announcement came across the intercom. “Attention shoppers, today there is a 30 percent discount for shoppers over 55.” I thought, too bad I wasn’t that old. When I put my clothes on the checkout counter, the clerk asked me if I wanted the senior discount. I told her I wouldn’t qualify for another month. She said that was close enough. Now I didn’t know what to think. Did I look that old? I sure didn’t feel in my mid-fties. Before I could process the thought of using the senior discount, the clerk announced that I saved over $15. Maybe getting older isn’t such a bad deal after all. I don’t think I’ve changed much over the years. I still wear jeans and t-shirts every day. I just don’t tuck the shirts in anymore. I always have my hair tucked up in a baseball cap. I still look like one of the guys.
While the clothes are still of a young style, they are covering an older body. I don’t spring up from my milking squats as quickly. I will grab a tail and pull myself up or push up on a stall divider. I prefer to walk across the yard instead of jog. I don’t seem to be in such a hurry to get tools for repairing broken water cups. But when cattle are out, I can still run them down as long as they don’t run too fast. I’m trying to age gracefully in my own style. I bring up age because we seem to be at a crossroads as we face another year of farming. We realize we need to adjust the way we do things in order to get the job done. We are getting older, but so is everything else on the farm. We have to start asking ourselves, when does something get too old? This might be considered a trick question around here. Mark’s grandfather, Nick, built the original dairy
My
Story “We couldn’t have two year olds milking 100 lbs. without it!”
Kris Houdek
Wake-Up Holsteins Caledonia, MN
That’s how Kris Houdek, Wake-Up Holsteins, Caledonia, MN, describes adding Vita Charge Dispersible Powder to the milk replacer in their robot feeder. On the advice of her veterinarian, Dr. Mike McCormick, LaCrescent Animal Care, Kris started adding the prebiotic supplement to the medicator on their feeder three years ago. Houdeks have a 27,000# average and diversify their 400 cow registered Holstein herd by adding value to the herd with genomics. They are under contract with bull studs, which help plan their matings and then the studs select sire prospects through genomics on bull calves as young as three weeks. Wake-Up Holsteins has exported embryos to Japan and Germany and sells females in regional sales. “I’m under lots of pressure to save these calves,” says Kris. “Every heifer carries an embryo from one of our flush cows, so they are worth $3,000 to $5,000.” Kris didn’t have such good luck with the robot feeder initially. “At first we put the calves on it right away but they were getting sick and I was losing calves. We changed our vaccination program, and kept each calf in an individual pen the first week to ten days. We also started the calves on Vita Charge. “We ran out of Vita Charge once and alerts for low intakes went off on twelve of 25 calves. Powder back in. Intakes returned to normal. It’s so simple.” When they’re 60 days old they’re ready to go off milk. There is no stress when they go into the next pen without milk. “How a heifer grows the first 60 days of her life sets her up for a lifetime of production,” says Dr. McCormick. “The feed man says he wishes all his customers had calves that looked like Kris’s.” She loves how content, healthy and aggressive her calves are with Vita Charge. “It helps the heifers drink all their allotment every erenc is like night and day!” day. The difference
barn in 1936 with 12 stalls on the south side for his Guernsey cows and six stalls on the north side for the work horses. It was a simple, practical barn built to last as long as the wooden beams stayed true. Over time, the horses left and the stalls were converted for more cows. The Just Thinking Out Loud beams were reinforced or replaced to keep things working. Mark’s dad, Ralph, realized his dad’s barn wasn’t going to be a barn for the future. He had replaced the Guernseys with Holsteins, and the cows were becoming too big for the small stalls. His two young By Natalie Schmitt sons were also getting bigger. Columnist The new barn was built in 1971. Ralph built a 50-stall New York-style comfort stall barn with teal steel siding and white trim. It was the style and color of the times. It was a welcomed change from the old barn. The stalls were bigger. The lighting was brighter. The feed delivery system was easier. There was room for the boys to help their dad farm. By 1981, Ralph added 30 stalls when the boys came home to farm full time. The barn has been tweaked with a few new updates over the past 45 years. I’m pretty sure every water cup has been replaced, but all in all, the barn has held up well. This brings us to our crossroads. Is this the barn for the next generation? Do we keep investing money in repairs and updates, or do we put it towards something new? Or, do we say enough is enough? How old is too old? Here might be another way of looking at things. The rst tractors Ralph used to farm with were a John Deere B and a John Deere 530. These were his big tractors in the 1950s. Over time, these tractors were retired to the back of the machine shed and forgotten as bigger equipment was needed to keep up with the demands of a growing farm. Once Ralph retired, he rescued his 530 from the shed and worked to restore it to the glory days. It looks great on the outside but still only has 30 horsepower under the hood. It can’t keep up with the 200 horsepower tractors we run today, but we still use it for moving chopper boxes and hay inverters out of the shed. It still serves a purpose, but not in its original capacity. A few years ago, Austin pulled the old B out of the machine shed and restored it as well. Now we have two old tractors that look like new. They look great in a parade or as moveable lawn ornaments. Even though the old tractors and the old barn look good on the outside, they struggle to t into today’s farming practices. Some might say they are nothing more than monuments to previous generations. I think they bring a sense of character and charm to the farm. The old hip roofed barn stands as a sentry at the end of the driveway. It welcomes guests and serves as a reminder of simpler days. Eventually we will stop using the old barn to house calves. When that time comes, we’ll have to discover a new use for an old barn that has aged gracefully over the years. Just like us, I guess the life expectancy of a barn depends upon how you take care of it from the inside out. Natalie, Mark and his brother, Al, Schmitt farm together near Rice, Minn. They milk 100 registered Holsteins under the RALMA prex. Their four children are great help around the farm and are pushing Natalie out of several jobs. Therefore she is thankful to have something else to do. For questions or comments please e-mail Natalie at mnschmitt@jetup.net.
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Adventures in cultured dairy
I can clearly remember my college nutrition professor singing the praises of cultured dairy foods. High consumption of cultured dairy foods is associated with greater longevity, he explained to us more than once. I’m sure he’s reveling in all of the new research that’s beginning to explain why probiotics improve health. Anyway, his passion and persuasion convinced me to add cultured dairy to my diet. Which meant that even though I don’t care for the taste, I forced myself to eat yogurt every day for years. Dairy Good Life Fast-forward a decade or so and there’s still yogurt in our fridge. Glen and the kids enjoy yogurt, so I keep it on hand. For a long time, I grumbled about paying for yogurt when I could be making it at home from our virtually unlimited supply of milk. But I could never convince myself to try making it. The milk has to be boiled and carefully cooled before the starter culture is added, then kept warm in an incubator of some sort while it cultures. It just sounds like a lot of monkey business to me. So, in the interest of keeping my family cultured, I keep buying yogurt from the store. I, however, skip the yogurt and enjoy viilia inBy Sadie Frericks stead. Viilia is a Scandinavian cultured dairy food with a thicker-than-yogurt consistency and a tangy avor. It Columnist tastes great in my smoothies and is super easy to make at home with my endless supply of milk. Unlike yogurt, which requires sterilized milk and a warm environment for culturing, viilia is made with cold milk and cultured at room temperature. Plus, viilia provides both benecial bacteria and yeasts, whereas yogurt just provides bacteria. Our most recent exploration into the world of cultured dairy involved another ancient food with a funny name: ker. We were at the grocery store one day when the kids spotted the collection of brightly colored ker bottles and asked if we could buy some. (Package design marketing works, people.) Instead of saying no like I usually do to their endless grocery store requests, I said yes. Heck, if they wanted to choose a new dairy food over the bazillion other choices at the grocery store, I was all game. I gured if nobody liked the drinkable cultured milk, I could add it to shakes and smoothies. We picked out an assortment of avors – vanilla, strawberry, blueberry and raspberry. I noticed the label said the product would stay fresh, even after opened, until the expiration date, which was still a couple months away. The capacity to keep makes sense. Cultured dairy foods were likely developed to extend the shelf life, so to speak, of milk. The health benets of cultured dairy foods were like a bonus side effect. The verdict on ker was positive. Three of the ve of us like it. Glen mixes it half-and-half with milk, Monika drinks it straight up, and I add it to shakes. I can’t count how many bottles we’ve consumed since. I even started making my own ker. It’s that darn we-have-hundreds-of-gallonsof-milk mentality coupled with a strong desire to make it cheaper than I can buy it. I ordered the ker starter culture, which is actually a small, spongy colony of benecial yeast and bacteria referred to as a ker grain. Like viilia, ker is cultured at room temperature with cold milk. It took a couple batches to gure out the right ratio of starter culture to milk, but now I’m making some pretty darn good ker. My homemade, unavored ker tastes nothing like the store-bought variety, which is doctored up with sugar and pectin, but it tastes just as good in my shakes and provides me with an assortment of benecial microorganisms. One of these days, I should write a note to my nutrition professor and thank him for indoctrinating me with the benets of cultured dairy. I don’t know if we’d be on this adventure without his persistent lecturing. Every time I read a new research report about the importance of probiotic foods, I’m more and more grateful that we’re fans of cultured dairy. Research has shown connections between a lack of benecial microorganisms in the human gut and multiple health concerns, including obesity, cancer, anxiety, depression, gastrointestinal issues, poor immune function and food allergies. So, it stands to reason that the greater variety of cultured dairy foods we include in our diets, the healthier we’ll be. Perhaps the next stage of our adventure will include lmjölk, piimä, matsoni or one of the other traditional cultured milks. Sadie and her husband, Glen, milk 75 cows near Melrose, Minn. They have three children – Dan, 10, Monika, 7, and Daphne, 4. Sadie also writes a blog at www. dairygoodlife.com. She can be reached at sadiefrericks@gmail.com.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017 • Page 33
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Page 34 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017
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THE ORIGINAL
Nutrition insight
The Dairy Star publication has a long history of offering a variety of articles that explore all aspects of the dairy industry. I have enjoyed reading Dr. Jim Linn’s dairy nutrition column for many years. It is with great honor and humility that I recently accepted the request to lead this column upon Jim’s retirement. No doubt, I have some big boots to ll. I grew up on a registered Holstein and Jersey Something to Ruminate On farm in Ada, Minn., a small town in northwest Minnesota. When not busy on the farm, the days of my youth were lled with 4-H and FFA dairy judging, dairy quiz bowls and showing dairy cattle. I received my bachelor of science degree in animal science from the University of Minnesota in 1994. Prior to returning to graduate school, I worked as a dairy cattle nutritionist for four years at an elevator in southeast Minnesota. In 2003, I obtained my master’s degree in dairy cattle nutrition from the University of Minnesota under the advisory of Linn. My graduate work foBy Barry Visser cused primarily on transition cows and different Nutritionist treatments to minimize metabolic challenges preand post-calving. During this time, I also had the opportunity to work as assistant herdsman of the university’s dairy herd. For the past 14 years, I have served as a Vita Plus dairy specialist, providing dairy technical support throughout Minnesota and the surrounding states. Forage density work completed with my colleagues about 10 years ago has become a foundation of feed management success for many producers as we evaluate key aspects of forage quality on their dairies. I have had the opportunity to share this information at producer meetings from California to Delaware and, of course, in the Midwest. The one common theme across the country is the economic importance of forage quality in maximizing efciency to the dairy cow. I have continued to explore and implement innovative nutrition strategies on dairies and also had the opportunity to lead forage and carbohydrate discussions at the Four-State Dairy Nutrition and Management Conference in Dubuque, Iowa. I live in Hutchinson, Minn., along with my wife, Shannon, and three daughters, Rachel, Kayla and Hannah. We are actively involved in our local school and church and serve as adult leaders to our local 4-H club. In addition, I enjoy serving on several regional and statewide dairy boards. The girls enjoy a number of sporting activities and particularly look forward to showing cattle through 4-H. From that time 40 years ago when I was just old enough to carry a bottle of milk to the calf barn to the sophistication of the modern dairy farm today, I am reminded on a regular basis what a privilege it is to be involved in the dairy industry and work with so many wonderful people. I look forward to sharing ideas and comments on current topics in dairy nutrition throughout the months ahead. My goal is to provide you with “something to ruminate on.” Barry Viser is a dairy specialist for Vita Plus. To contact Visser, email bvisser@ vitaplus.com.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017 • Page 35
Lender outlines Wisconsin’s path to dairy industry revitalization ron.j@dairystar.com
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Long considered America’s Dairyland, Wisconsin lost its milk production crown in 1993. That was when, for the rst time, herds in California, the Golden State, churned out more milk than those in Wisconsin. But Wisconsin bounced back in the succeeding 23 years. Although California continues to lead in milk production, Wisconsin has become the United States’ largest cheese producer. Sam Miller, managing director of agriculture banking for BMO Harris Bank, spoke about Wisconsin’s turnaround Jan. 4 at the 2017 annual meeting of the Iowa State Dairy Association, Cedar Falls, Iowa. He titled his presentation, “On Its Whey Back: Wisconsin’s Dairy Turnaround.” As the event’s keynote speaker, Miller discussed how the lessons learned in Wisconsin might be applied to Iowa. California, Miller said, was able to boost its milk production due to four factors. First, feed was cheap. Second, dairy farmers sold their expensive land in the Los Angeles Basin and moved to cheaper land in the Central Valley. Such moves let them expand their farms and lower their tax liabilities. Third, dairy cows were cheap, and the Upper Midwest had 5 to 10 percent more than it needed, so California farmers bought many of those. Fourth, large, efcient, commodity cheese plants went up in California, where milk production costs were lower. The loss of its milk production lead and other events in California sent a wakeup call to Wisconsin, Miller said. In response, the State of Wisconsin and dairy farmers went to work. In 1992, the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin (PDPW), a group dedicated to educating dairy farmers so they could better manage their businesses, was formed. Nine years later, the Dairy Business Association (DBA), an organization that lobbies to improve regulatory certainty and advocate for dairying, was founded. Also, in 1988, the president of the University of Wisconsin formed Dairy Task Force 1995, and Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson established the Dairy 2020 Task Force and Council. Other milestones include Wisconsin’s 2004 livestock siting law and the start of planning grants and loans to dairy farms from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce. At the same time, Miller said, Wisconsin cheesemakers began focusing on specialty cheeses as a way to add value to milk and to make Wisconsin products stand apart from what much of the rest of the industry was doing. “Wisconsin turned its dairy industry around because of three things: people, infrastructure and natural resources,” Miller said. On the people side, the DBA was instrumental in getting Wisconsin’s livestock siting law passed. “It essentially said, ‘Look, if you meet the state’s requirements for a permitted livestock operation, you can put that business into place.’ That’s when the fortunes of Wisconsin, in terms of milk production and stemming the tide in the loss of cow numbers, really started to turn around,” Miller said. Also, a couple of really important things came out of the Dairy 2020 program, Miller said. One was early planning grants that gave farmers a systematic way to go through the planning process for enlarging their herds. The cost of that planning was partly paid by the state grants.
“From a banker’s perspective, the grants did a lot of good,” Miller said. “Not only did the grants help farmers expand, but they also let some dairymen make accurate projections that prompted them to not expand.” Milk Volume Production (MVP) loans were also offered. These loans were made to cover part of the cost of buying dairy cattle. Those low-interest loans, Miller said, were for seven years. Payments were not required the rst year and only interest needed to be paid the second year. “These early planning grants and Sam Miller MVP loans were not BMO Harris Bank put at the department of agriculture,” Miller said. “They were put at the department of commerce. That was really to signal to everyone that not only is the dairy business important, but it’s an important industry for the state. That sent the message to everyone, whether you were in the agriculture sector or not.” Natural resources Wisconsin’s dairy industry revitalization was aided by its natural resources. Miller said the state has abundant surface water and groundwater, and there’s usually enough rain to grow crops, such as forages. That meant Wisconsin farmers could grow crops for their dairy cattle cheaper than farmers in other states. There have been regulatory hurdles as dairy farms have grown larger, Miller said. But he said Wisconsin is still home to dairy operations of all sizes.
Infrastructure important Wisconsin already had a solid dairy infrastructure when the dairy industry turnaround began. It included numerous cheese factories and other milk processors, articial insemination rms and equipment supplies, Miller said. Add to the list dairy professionals such as veterinarians, nutritionists and lenders. The state’s labor supply and culture of working also helped. Wisconsin’s abundance of paved roads, allowing for uninterrupted milk pickup from farms, was another advantage. In 1998, Wisconsin was home to 1.8 million dairy cows. That number dropped steadily until 2004, Miller said. Then cow numbers leveled off and started to rise. The state’s average herd size stood at 52 cows in 1994. But by 2012, it had risen to 110. Milk per cow improved, too. Between 1988 and 2004, Wisconsin’s milk production stayed rather stagnant, growing by just 1.4 percent. But it grew by 1 percent each year after 2004. There were changes on the people side, too. “A lot of families stayed together, in terms of their dairy business,” Miller said. Instead of sons or daughters setting up their own farms, some decided to farm together or with their parents, milk more cows and make their labor more efcient. By working together, family members not only produced more milk, but gained a better quality of life, Miller said. Economic engine Miller wrapped up his presentation by calling Wisconsin’s dairy industry an economic engine for the state. Dairying is now estimated to contribute $43.4 billion to the state’s economy each year. “Dairying became such a powerful engine,” Miller said, “thanks to many people and stakeholders working together.”
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Page 36 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017
Women In Jeans Cindy Swenson Nicollet Nicollet County 300 cows
Family: My husband, Paul, and I have two children; Christopher, 28, and Ashley, 25. Our son works in manufacturing off the farm. Our daughter is a veterinarian, owning her own business specializing in embryo transfer work, and works on the farm when time allows. Her husband, David, works with us and also continues to have a hand in his families’ farm in northern Minnesota. Tell us about your farm. Our farm is my husband’s family farm. We have the oldest, continuous registered Holstein herd in the nation dating back to 1885. We have four Lely robots that we started in July of 2013. We raise all our replacement heifers, with some being on our farm, and some on a custom heifer raising facility. We sell our bull calves at about 1 week to 10 days old. We have a pasteurizing system that is connected to our robots which pasteurizes waste milk and pumps to our calf barn for our calf feeder. The heifer calves start on the system at 5 days and are weaned at 60 days. We run 800 acres of land, both owned and rented, and raise corn, soybeans and hay. What’s the busiest time of day for you? In winter, it is early morning and late afternoon into the evening. During the spring, summer and fall cropping months, it is most of the day. When you get a spare moment what do you do? I like to just sit, relax and read. Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. Every time we make advancements on our farm is a memorable experience. So, when we rst got married and added on the tiestall barn; when we built our freestall barn and added a parlor; when we put in our robots. Each one of these advancements didn’t come without trouble and lots of prayer, but each one was unique and showed success, dedication and love to our industry. What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? Working together as a family. I remember a time in the hay eld when there were three tractors and family members were driving all three. All of us were working together towards a common goal for the day. And now, working with our adult children, it is most rewarding to sit around a table and discuss our next goal or advancement and how to achieve it. How do you stay connected with others in the industry? Our kids were active in 4-H and showing cattle. We, as a family, gained many lifelong friends
in the agricultural industry. We also stay active through the ADA and the Holstein Association. We try to attend workshops and go to World Dairy Expo when time allows. We stay on top of industry news in order to continue to make plans for the future. In your opinion, what’s the importance of women in today’s dairy industry and how have you seen that change over the years? I think the role of women in today’s industry is the sky is the limit. The only limit we have is what we put on ourselves. Watching our daughter graduate as a veterinarian in a class of 90 percent women really told us that women are making a huge impact in this industry. Women can and are taking on more management roles. Where physical limitations for women may have played a role years ago, most of those have been helped with new technology. We have seen many women on our farm work as feed consultants and in other facets of this industry. I think this industry, more than any other, has done a good job in recognizing that a woman’s role is as important as men’s. If you could give a tour of your farm to a prominent woman in today’s society, who would it be? I would give a tour to any woman that walked on our farm. I would let her know what goes into making a healthy, wholesome product for our society. I would show her the love and care we have for our animals. I would tell her that all farmers truly care for the land that they work and the food they produce. And, I would hope by the time she left our farm, she would use her voice to tell the world of this great industry. What is the best vacation you’ve ever taken? The three days we spent in San Diego, Calif., watching our son graduate from Marine boot camp. It was one of the proudest times we spent together as a family. The second was when our daughter and I went to Hawaii to watch Christopher come home from a deployment in Afghanistan. It was both a relief and an honor to watch him and a plane full of young men come home to their families. Pray for all service people who have served and those still serving, for they and their families sacrice a lot.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017 • Page 37
Opelt purchases family’s herd By Cassie Olson
cassie.o@dairystar.com
NEILLSVILLE, Wis. – When a new year rolls around, many people develop resolutions to have a fresh start. This year, however, one farmer had other changes in mind; so did his cows. Isaac Opelt of Neillsville, Wis., embarked on his dairying career after purchasing his parent’s herd of 56 milking cows, Jan. 1. Opelt said he felt a sigh of relief as he delivered the check to his father, Larry Opelt. “I’ve always planned to buy the cows,â€? Opelt said. “The time was ďƒžnally right.â€? The family ďƒžrst brought cows to their Neillsville farm in 1987. Larry had started farming with his brother before buying their farmstead. He continued to milk the herd of cows until 2005, when he sold the cows after beginning his career as a mailman. Despite the sale, Opelt’s dream of farming continued to grow. He worked for other dairies throughout high school, but it did not take long for him to admit it wasn’t enough. “It was in my blood; all I had ever done. I wanted cows again,â€? Opelt said. “When I graduated high school in 2009, we started getting cows.â€? They revamped the dairy with 22 cows. While growing the herd from 2009 to 2011, Opelt worked on other dairies in addition to doing chores at home. He began farming at home fulltime in 2011, but was always under the direction of his father. In recent years,
his roles have changed. “For the last two years, I was still making decisions through him, but I took on a lot more responsibilities. I started doing all the work with the nutritionist and vets,� Opelt said. Opelt was always clear of his intentions of purchasing the herd. Opelt and his father agreed that he would purchase the herd in 2016. The markets, however, had other plans. “The plan was that I would buy the herd last year. With milk prices where they were at, we were pretty nervous to start that transition, so we decided to wait a year,� Opelt said. As the new year came, Opelt made his purchase. He now owns the farm’s milking and dry cows, as well as all the heifers, totaling 120 animals. He said the transition was a smooth transfer of ownership. While not much has changed just yet, he is hopeful of what the future holds. “I’m looking forward to watching the farm grow as a whole. I’m ready to see what I can make of this place,� Opelt said. Although Opelt now owns the herd, Larry continues to milk with his son. He helps with morning chores before heading off to his mailman job for the day. He returns in the evening to help with chores, as well. Opelt said he is very grateful for his father. “I am very fortunate to have my dad,� Opelt said, “He set me up very good. I wouldn’t be where I am at without him.� Opelt now rents the barn and fa-
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of them. It’s hard enough to get started, it’s the only way to do it,â€? Opelt said. Opelt said the biggest challenge he expects to encounter is money, but he is hopeful. “Money will be the biggest challenge as I learn to manage the ďƒ&#x;uctuating milk price,â€? Opelt said. “It will be a struggle, but I know it’s something every farmer has to go through.â€? Navigating his challenges does not waiver Opelt’s passion for his herd. “I enjoy working with the cows. I like seeing them have a calf, their outcome and how well they perform,â€? Opelt said. As Opelt begins his own dairying career, he is most thankful for the hard work and advice of his father. “Dad set me up very well to succeed here,â€? Opelt said. “I am very thankful for the opportunities he has given me.â€?
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cilities from his dad. He hopes to begin purchasing the buildings down the road. “I eventually plan to buy everything; once the cows are paid off in three years, I will be able to start buying the equipment and real estate after building up some equity,� Opelt said. Opelt has advice for other young farmers who are in the transition process. He said taking the time to get off his own farm and work for others made him a better farmer. “Take some time to work for other dairies; you will learn a lot,� Opelt said. “Work for bigger and smaller herds alike. I did it and it helped me understand management practices I did or didn’t like.� He also said it is important to remember that you are not expected to know all the answers. “Always ask questions – and a lot
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Roger Lange milks 100 head on his family dairy at Crofton, Nebraska. Until recently he was often forced to sell his fresh heifers because they wouldn t let down their milk.
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Isaac Opelt milks 56 cows on his family’s farm near Neillsville, Wis. Opelt recently purchased the cows to begin his dairy farming career.
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Page 38 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017
Dairy prole Phil Suess Grand Meadow, Minn. Mower County 60 cows How did you get into farming? I was born into it. My dad milked cows, but had Rheumatoid arthritis so the family helped with chores. Because of that, I’ve been milking since I was 5 years old. I started farming full-time after I graduated from high school in 1968. I then bought the home farm in 1973. The facilities needed more xing than we could afford, so my wife, Deb, and I sold that farm and bought our current farm in 1990. I plan to retire when I fall over dead. In addition to farming, I’m an auctioneer, and I haul cattle for other people. I also co-manage the Rock Dell Creamery.
Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017 • Page 39
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ing? How did you achieve this? Watching one of our heifers go to the Star Struck 3 sale and bring $29,500. It takes a lifetime of breeding to get there. We didn’t expect it, so it was fun to see. What are your plans for your dairy in the next ve years? We plan to keep going and not make any big changes to the farm. Things will stay status quo. What is your favorite thing to do on the farm? I like milking because it’s quiet time. It’s two hours of thinking without being interrupted. What is your favorite dairy product? I like ice cream, especially Chocolate Dream from Kwik Trip with fresh strawberries on top.
We like going to Outback.
What is your favorite tool? Cordless drills are the handiest because What is your favorite technolthey can go anywhere. ogy? I like the computer. It can store so much information, and How do you or your family like to you can get so much information spend time when you are not do- from the Internet. ing chores? Deb and I spend a lot of time with our 16 grandkids. We Tell us about a skill you possess have grandkids here every week- that makes dairy farming easier end. We also like to go out for a for you. Handling cows and diWhat do you enjoy most about good meal every once in awhile. agnosing problems quickly. I can dairy farming? I like to work, and I like to work with quality cattle. I got into Jerseys in the ‘70s, and then became interested in registered animals, so I bought a few. When we moved to this farm, we worked to get our whole herd registered through the genetic recovery program. In addition to milking our own herd of Jerseys, we also house and milk animals for other people. What are your thoughts and concerns about the dairy industry for the next year? Price volatility is always a concern. Good prices never last as long as the bad. It will be interesting to see how the new president and Congress will affect things.
take a look at a cow and tell if she is sick. I don’t have to call the vet very often. If you could have a celebrity help you with chores for a day who would it be? Donald Trump. I would want him to get out on the farm so he knows where we’re coming from and what our needs are.
What advice would you give other dairy farmers? You’re in it for the long haul. Ride the ups and downs because you can’t just jump in and out. What has been the best purchase you’ve ever made on your farm? The skidloader. It is the cheapest hired man I’ve got. What has been your biggest accomplishment while dairy farm-
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Page 40 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 28, 2017
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Commercial Reel
Kuhn North America is committed to creating innovative mixers that will provide a quality ration and years of low-maintenance service. From 147 – 1320 cu. ft. mixing capacities.
KuhnNorthAmerica.com
New Kuhn Knight Vertical Maxx VT 180, #2981 - Call
New Kuhn Knight VT156, #2993 - Call
New Knight 2044, #3625
New Kuhn SL 118, #3589
New Kuhn SLC141, #3482
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New Kuhn Knight 2044, #3665 - Call
New Kuhn Knight 2054, #3557 - Call
New Kuhn Knight SL 114, #3558 - Call
New Kuhn Knight SL 124, #3480 - Call
New Kuhn Knight SL118, #3667 - Call
New Kuhn Knight SL124, #3598 - Call
New Kuhn Knight 2290, #3446 - Call
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Salesmen: Tony Steinhart (608) 778-3491 or Joe Ryan (608) 778-2900
4116 Hwy. 80 S. Platteville, WI
Office: (608) 348-9401 or Toll Free: 1(888) BUY-PATZ www.steinhartsfarmservice.com
4116 Hwy. 80 S. Platteville, WI