We’ve Expanded! Dairy Star welcomes our new readers in our expanded circulation area!
DAIRY ST R
Volume 21, No. 18
“All dairy, all the time”™
November 9, 2019
A barn, dairy family strengthened Hoffmans excited to be milking again after facility collapsed last winter By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
CHATFIELD, Minn. – After the Hoffmans watched four sections of their freestall barn collapse Feb. 28 and in the following days under the weight of snow from severe winter weather, they then watched as their cows – and potentially their place in the dairy business – leave the farm in trailers to go to other dairies. “When we sold the cows, it was the rst time in 116 years a Hoffman didn’t milk a cow on this farm,” Corey Hoffman said. “It was pretty overwhelming.” But now the Hoffmans are back milking 305 cows, and their dairy, freestall barn and
family are stronger than ever. On Oct. 8, cows lled the barn the Hoffmans rebuilt on their farm, North Creek Dairy, near Chateld, Minn. Corey and his wife, Bridget, along with their two children, Garrett and Tira, farm together with Corey’s brother, John, and his wife, Danielle, and their son, August. Corey’s and John’s parents, Gary and Jo, are also a part of the dairy. “It was emotional,” Hoffman said about the day they brought their new cows home. “When the rst trailer unloaded, I said, ‘I’ve got it together. I’m not going to cry.’ I looked over at Dad and he was crying so I had to walk away.” The Hoffmans did not initially know if this day would come. “We were wavering whether to milk [again] or not,” Hoffman said. “If we were going to exit dairying, that was the time KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR to do it.” They had been investing in Corey Hoffman stands in the new barn his family constructed this summer on their 305-cow dairy near Cha�ield, Minn. The Hoffmans were forced to rebuild a�er their barn collapsed unTurn to HOFFMANS | Page 5 der the weight of snow last winter.
Brookings becomes hub for football fanfare SDSU dairy program highlighted in ESPN’s College Gameday By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
PHOTO SUBMITTED
SDSU student Agusta Grams feeds a calf while an ESPN crewmember lms at the college’s dairy farm Oct. 25 in Brookings, S.D. The na�onal sports channel traveled to South Dakota for their weekly College Gameday coverage.
BROOKINGS, S.D. – In the world of college sports, ESPN’s College Gameday coverage is a coveted event to feature a university’s athletics and school spirit. But more than the good fun of friendly rivals on the eld, this event brings light to the college’s lesser-known trademarks. For the South Dakota State University Jackrabbits, that trademark is their dairy farm and processing facility, the Davis Dairy Plant. “Every week, ESPN is interested in highlighting key features of colleges,” Dr. Vikram Mistry said. “SDSU has a lot of great things, and one of those is ice cream, specically our cookies n’ cream.” Mistry is the dairy food and science department head at SDSU. Video crew members from the national sports channel arrived on campus Oct. 25 to shoot clips for a highlight reel aired that following Saturday, Oct. 26, during the SDSU vs. North Dakota State University football game in Brookings, S.D. The purpose of the shoot was to provide a glimpse into the Turn to SDSU | Page 7
Page 2 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019
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 Consultant Jerry Jennissen 320-346-2292 Editorial Staff Krista Kuzma - Editor/Wisconsin (507) 259-8159 • krista.k@dairystar.com Andrea Borgerding - Associate Editor (320) 352-6303 • andrea.b@dairystar.com Jennifer Coyne - Assistant Editor (320) 352-6303 • jenn@dairystar.com Danielle Nauman (608) 487-1101 danielle.n@dairystar.com Stacey Smart - Staff Writer (262) 442-6666 • stacey.s@dairystar.com Maria Bichler - Copy Editor 320-352-6303 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 - Joyce Frericks 320-352-6303 • joyce@dairystar.com 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 Amanda Hoeďƒ&#x;er (Eastern Iowa) 320-250-2884 • amanda.h@dairystar.com Julie Barnes (SE WI and Northern IL) julie.b@dairystar.com Megan Stuessel (Western Wisconsin) 608-387-1202 • megan.s@dairystar.com Ashley Curry (Northeast WI and Upper MI) 920-539-7268 • ashley.c@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.
A glance at what’s inside
Many parts of our coverage area have been experiencing winter-like weather. For this issue’s “From our side of the fenceâ€? we talked to dairy farmers about calf care management, especially during winter months. Read on pages 15-16 in ďƒžrst section how these dairy producers manage the youngest of their herd during the colder months. With the cooler weather and the falling snow, the paper is also thinking about Christmas. Dairy Star is once again having the annual Great Christmas Heifer Giveaway. While adults can win a cash prize, there are two calves up for grabs in the youth giveaway. Turn to pages 24-25 in ďƒžrst section to read more about the calves and about the details of how to sign up. This issue we also brought back our popular photo-only Day in the Life feature. Instead of focusing on one family and a story, all staff members stopped in at dairy farms across our coverage area to snap a picture of what was happening at the moment. Check out the photo feature on pages 16-21 in second section. Two cooperatives in our coverage area have made changes. Associated Milk Producers Inc. recently announced the closure of two of its plants – one in Rochester, Minn., and one in Arlington, Iowa. Read about the reasons behind that decision on page 11 in ďƒžrst section. And Plainview Milk Products Cooperative, which has a plant location both in Plainview, Minn., and Hastings, Minn., has a new general manager, Guy Huus. Read more about the person taking over this management position on page 34 in ďƒžrst section. While top care for their cows is a priority for dairy farmers, sometimes there is one cow in the herd that receives special attention. For Adriana Aldinger, this cow’s name is Vegas. She and the 8-year-old Holstein have a special bond and have spent a lot of time together, CORRECTION: including Vegas helping Aldinger’s boyfriend propose. Read more about what In the Oct. 26 Dairy Star, in this cow has meant for Aldinger and her family’s farm on page 6 in second the article, “On-farm creamery makes cheese from eight Jersection. At Vir-Clar farms, caring for their animals and farm is shown through their sey cows,â€? it should be clariďƒžed attention to detail while using their new automated feeding system. The 2,000- that the Woodses feed about two cow, 3,500-acre operation has a state-of-the-art feed center, which automates pounds of organic corn per cow to entice them into the milking nearly every step of the feeding process – from onsite ingredient access and parlor. Also, Gary Grossen, is a loading to feed delivery – saving signiďƒžcant dollars in annual feed costs for the Wisconsin Master Cheesemakfarm near Fond du Lac, Wis. Read more about it on pages 6-7 in third section. erÂŽ. Dairy Star regrets the error.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019 • Page 3
It’s all inside... Columnists Ag Insider
Pages 8-9 First Section
Country Cooking
Page 22 Second Section
For additional stories from our other zone, log on to www.dairystar.com
Bon Yankton Homme
Clay
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SDSU dairy program highlighted in ESPN’s College Gameday
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First Section: Pages 1, 7
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Fayette
Bremer
Wright Franklin Butler
Black Hawk
Grundy un Webster Hamilton Hardin
Greene
Houston
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Crawford Carroll
Fre
Washington
Hubbard
O’Brien
Sioux Plymouth
Brookings
Wadena
Osceola
Winona
Fillimore
Mower
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Freeborn
Faribault
Martin
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Turner
Jackson
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Hutchinson
Nobles
Cottonwood Watonwan Blue Earth Waseca Steele Dodge Olmsted
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Charles Mix
Rock
Second Section: Page 6
Wabasha
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Douglas
Gregory
McCook Minnehaha
Murray
Goodhue
Rice
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Moody
Nicollet
Brown
All
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Hoffmans excited to be milking again after facility collapses last winter First Section: Pages 1, 5 - 6
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Mellette
Miner
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Adair
Adams Taylor
Madison Warren Marion Mahaska Keokuk
Union R
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Clarke
Lucas
Decatur Wayne
Monroe Wapello
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Aurora
Sanborn
Brookings
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Jerauld
Kingsbury
Vegas shines in Aldinger herd
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Buffalo Lyman
Beadle
Scott
Sibley
Winona
Dakota
Wa s
Hand
Carver
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Pages 10 - 11 Second Section
Hamlin
Hennepin
McLeod
Renville
Yellow Medicine
sh
Jackson
Hughes
Deuel
Anoka
Wright
Meeker
Chippewa
Lac Qui Parle
Codington
Clark
Kandiyohi
Isanti
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Stanley
Hyde
Spink
Sherburne
Swift
Grant
Benton
Stearns
Pope
Po
Sully
Day
Stevens
Ra
Faulk
Potter
Big Stone
Pine
Mille Lacs
Morrison
Douglas
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Edmunds
Todd Grant
First Section: Page 34 Carlton
Su
Dewey
Jones
The “Mielke” Market Shannon Weekly Bennett
Wilkin
Brown Walworth
Otter Tail
Plainview
Huus named general manager at Plainview Milk Products Cooperative
Aitkin
Crow Wing
Le
Page 33 Haakon First Section
Roberts
Marshall
McPherson
Ziebach
Come Full Meade Circle
Richland
Sargent
Cass
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Campbell
Corson
Dickey
McIntosh
Becker
Clay
Ransom
LaMoure
Emmons Sioux
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Tra ver se
Stutsman
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Cook Lake
Itasca
Au
Fall River
Kidder
Logan
Pennington Custer
Burleigh
Morton
Page 32 First Section
Polk
Trail
Steele
Norman
Oliver
Page 31 Grant First Section Adams
Making Cents of Perkins Dairy
Griggs
Lincoln
Lawrence
Foster
Koochiching
go
Butte
Wells
Sheridan
First Section: Pages 12 - 13
St. Louis
Red Lake
Eddy
McLean
Beltrami
Pennington
Grand Forks
First Section: Page 10
MDA issues grant funds for farmers in time of need
isa Ch
Harding
Nelson
St. Paul
Lake of the Woods
Marshall
Benson
Waverly
Duske makes dairy more efcient to prioritize family
Roseau
Pipestone
Bowman
Walsh
n
Slope
McHenry
Kittson
io
Stark
Pembina
Ramsey
Mercer
Veterinary Hettinger Wisdom
Cavalier
Towner
Pierce
Ward
Page 30 First Section
Rolette
Un
Billings Golden Valley
Bottineau
Dear County Agent Guy Dunn
First Section: Page 39
Da vi so n
McKenzie
On the Road Renville Burke with Princess Kay Page 27 Mountrail First Section
First Section: Pages 18, 20
Dairy Prole: Joel Hauder
Clearwater
Page 26 First Section
Williams
Frazee
Top Performers: Blumenfeld Holsteins
FSA News & Notes
Divide
Hawley
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Je
Van Buren
Louisa
Henry Des
Moines
Lee
Fountain
Women in Dairy: Stacy Leiding First Section: Pages 20 - 21
Parker
DAIRY ST T R
Graber family to provide Jersey calf for Dairy Star Great Christmas Giveaway First Section: Pages 22-23
Waverly
A Day in the Life
Second Section: Pages 16-22
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Page 4 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019 • Page 5
ConƟnued from HOFFMANS | Page 1
Trust the experts Future success starts with today’s nutrition At Famo Feeds, we strive to provide the best support for your operation and work to accommodate your specific needs.
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Cows have been in the new barn at North Creek Dairy since Oct. 8. The barn was constructed with a snow load raƟng of over 40 pounds.
their dairy for the past 12 years with their parlor, calf barn, feed pad and manure pit. “We just thought we can’t just let it sit here and collect dust,” Hoffman said. “But if the insurance didn’t come through, we couldn’t afford it.” Thankfully for the Hoffmans, their insurance made them an offer that allowed them to rebuild. “We did not have loss of income coverage so that hurt big time and to be honest, prior to the collapse, I didn’t know what loss of income coverage was,” Hoffman said. “Now we know.” They also now know about snow load ratings and that there are no building codes for agricultural buildings in Minnesota. “We’ve never bothered to ask that before. You just trust that the builder knows what they’re doing,” Hoffman said. The initial part of their freestall barn built in 2007 had 230 feet of the 290-foot area collapse. The 122-foot addition in 2015, which was built by a different company and withstood the severe winter weather, had a higher snow load rating of 35-pounds. The Hoffmans’ new barn has a snow load rating just over 40 pounds. For comparison, commercial buildings have a snow load rating of 38.5 pounds.
“It’s built like it should have been from day one,” Hoffman said. Since the Hoffmans were able to reuse about 95% of the previous barn’s concrete, the dimensions of the barn and the number of stalls stayed the same; however, it is now built stronger. The rafters are bigger, with the largest ones having 20 2- by 8-foot boards glued together. It also has more posts to support the 124-foot width span of the barn. Previous to the collapse, the barn had four supportive posts compared to the new barn that has six or seven, depending on the location. Rebuilding their freestall barn also allowed the Hoffmans to switch to tunnel ventilation compared to previously having Big Ass Fans with natural ventilation, along with installing LEDs instead of metal halide lights. Their gates are now berglass instead of metal. “Everyone thinks it’s so tragic we lost our barn,” Hoffman said. “Yes, it is, but, on a positive note, it will be built double the strength, and we converted it into tunnel ventilation, which I think is the way to go. Before we would have been stuck with what we had.” It also helped the Hoffmans create a stronger family bond. “Everything that happened has been an eye opener for us,” Hoffman Turn to HOFFMANS | Page 6
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Page 6 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019
Con�nued from HOFFMANS | Page 5
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Herdsman Jose Perez (le�) talks with Corey Hoffman Oct. 29 at North Creek Dairy near Cha�ield, Minn.
said. “What we thought were big problems before weren’t and now I know as a family we’ve gotten along a lot better because we all have a common goal now.” This summer, the Hoffmans were busy making preparations for their barn. Construction of the building started Aug. 1. “Everyone commented about going on vacation without the cows here, but there were so many meetings, emails, phone calls and other things to
“The outpouring of support of everyone in the ag community has been extremely humbling.” CORY HOFFMAN, DAIRY FARMER
get done,” Hoffman said. “The building went really well, but it would be nothing to have 25-30 people here every day. We were swamped.” The busy summer meant the Hoffmans were able to start milking nearly one month earlier than expected. Hoffman said the targeted start date had been Nov. 1. A dairy farming friend had taken the springing heifers for the Hoffmans at the time of the collapse; however, because the Hoffmans sold the rest of the herd, they had to search for another herd to purchase.
“We were really grateful for the cows we found,” Hoffman said about the herd they bought from the Moldenhauer family in La Crescent, Minn. “They are awesome cows. They are just as good if not better than the animals we had before, and they (the Moldenhauers) are great people to work with.” The Hoffmans have 343 cows with dry cows. In the next 90 days, they will have 78 heifers calving in. “That’s a lot for us,” Hoffman said. The barn has 382 stalls, but has a total capacity of 440 when including pens for dry cows, close-up cows, heifers and the maternity area. At the start, the Hoffmans began milking their herd twice a day, but are planning to get back into their routine of three-times-a-day milking. They also plan to be at full capacity by Jan. 1, 2020. “The outpouring of support of everyone in the ag community has been extremely humbling,” Hoffman said. “I think a lot of people were rooting for us to get back into milking and here we are. Without their help there’s no way we would have made it through.” And now with a new freestall barn, the Hoffmans are condent they will make it through the winter without a collapse. “Even with the Farmer’s Almanac saying we’re supposed to get lots of severe weather, we’re ready for it now,” Hoffman said.
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ConƟnued from SDSU | Page 1
process of making the college’s staple food. Crewmembers spent several hours between the farm and processing plant, learning from facility managers and student employees about how the cows are cared for and then how their milk is processed into dairy products. “It was amazing to see how long they spent (at the farm) getting enough lm for the short clip,” said Ethan Johnson. “The amount of time they put into it, getting the right shots and all the details for a 45 second video was fantastic for us as a department and the industry as a whole.” Johnson is a sophomore studying dairy manufacturing. His family milks 100 cows in Minnesota’s Cottonwood County. As a student employee, Johnson is responsible for many processes at the dairy plant. On Mondays and Tuesdays, he helps make cheddar cheeses. Wednesdays, he processes milk to be made into ice cream on Thursdays. And on Fridays, Johnson and his co-workers clean and prep the plant for the following week’s food production. When the lm crew arrived, Johnson was scheduled to work. He was stationed to push ice cream into the containers to eliminate air pockets. “My supervisor texted me the night before and said to be prepared,” Johnson said. “I thought it was all pretty cool.” Following the processing plant tour, the crew spent time at
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Emma Friauf completes her shiŌ in the milking parlor at South Dakota State University’s dairy barn as camera crews lm the milking process Oct. 25 in Brookings, S.D. The lm was a part of ESPN’s College Gameday featuring SDSU. the dairy farm as the cows were being milked. To make sure both the farm and processing plant were actively operating at the time of the lm crew’s visit, schedules were rearranged, said Mistry. “We wanted them to see the ice cream being made; taking it all in and enjoying the process,” he said. “Same at the farm. We adjusted the milking schedule so they would see students milking cows.” Freshman Emma Friauf was onsite to demonstrate the milking procedure and answer questions from the lm crew. “To have a football camera
crew lm a bunch of cows, they were all really excited to be a part of it,” Friauf said. The student employee is from Glencoe, Minn., where she grew up working on Loren and Laura Olson’s farm in Hutchinson, Minn. At SDSU, she is studying dairy production. During the farm tour, crewmembers not only tried their hand at milking cows, but also learned about calf care and how the milk is transported to the processing plant. For Friauf, the most interesting comment she received was about the university’s milking procedure.
“We use a yellow foam as pre-dip,” Friauf said. “One of the lm crew asked me if it was a lube to make milking more comfortable. That became an opportunity for me to explain how it’s a disinfectant to clean the teats before we dry them and begin milking.” Once the footage was shot in the dairy farm and processing plant, the crewmembers returned the following day to speak with consumers at the college’s dairy bar. Here, people attested to the school’s renowned cookies n’ cream ice cream. Before Saturday’s 2 p.m.
kickoff, the highlight reel was played intermittently amidst the sports broadcast from 8 to 11:30 a.m. “There’s hardly any other university program like ours that has a direct farm to plate program like we do,” Johnson said. “They really did a nice job tying in all parts – the farmers, the plant manufacturing and the product you would nd in the grocery store. You don’t always see that in today’s society.” For Mistry, he saw this visit from ESPN as a platform to showcase the university’s opportunities to young students and also demonstrate the career possibilities within the dairy industry. “We see year in and year out the demand for young people to pursue careers in dairy,” he said. “This was our chance to be king for a day and showcase what is unique about what we do here.” As young people in the dairy industry, both Johnson and Friauf were pleased with the fanfare SDSU’s program received. “This wasn’t just shown to people at the game,” Friauf said. “Thousands of people saw this across the nation, and it showed what we do to care for the cows and produce a healthy product that is safe to eat.” Johnson agreed. “There’s a need for more people looking at dairy in a positive light,” he said. “And this video did that.” The clip can be viewed online at https://youtu.be/ mriNAnidkOw.
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Page 8 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019
Dairy margins improve
Milk prices move into levels not seen in ďƒžve years. AMPI discontinues production at two plants Cheddar cheese prices have not been this high since late Due to a decline in dairy farm numbers and milk 2014. That has provided a boost to Class III milk prices. production in the region, Associated Milk Producers, USDA’s latest all-milk price for all of 2019 was projected Incorporated is shutting down two of its plants. Those to average $18.40 per hundredweight. That is more facilities are the Rochester, Minn., cheese plant and the than $2 higher than the average for 2018. Arlington, Iowa, nonfat dry milk plant. Ag Insider According to the Dairy Market Report The milk that had been processed at these published by Dairy Management, Inc. and plants will be routed to other AMPI plants. the National Milk Producers Federation, the balance sheet for dairy farmers has Ag labor bill reforms H2A visa Program also been improved by the Dairy Margin A bipartisan agriculture guest worker Coverage program. This report said the bill has been introduced in the House. This two negatives in the U.S. dairy markets are bill would provide legal status to current ag the modest decline in butter prices and a workers and their families. It also makes decline in U.S. dairy exports. changes in the H2A visa program, allowing year-round permitting. The National Dairy hay costs rise Milk Producers Federation supports the Alfalfa hay prices are rising in proposal, saying dairy farmers have a Minnesota. USDA said the latest alfalfa unique labor crisis because their jobs are By Don Wick price in Minnesota was $134 per ton. That not seasonal or temporary. Columnist is up $3 from the previous month and up $14 from one year ago. Nationwide, Hours of service legislation introduced the price for alfalfa has averaged $181 per ton. That Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in compares to $179 in the previous month and last year. Congress to provide ďƒ&#x;exibility and relief from Hours of Services rules for agricultural haulers. The Responsible USDA to purchase dairy products and Efďƒžcient Agriculture Destination Act adds the USDA plans to purchase $50 million in ďƒ&#x;uid milk same 150-air-mile radius to the back end of a hauler’s for food banks and nutrition assistance programs. This destination, which currently applies from the trip origin. Section 32 purchase is part of the administration’s It also clariďƒžes that this exemption would apply in trade mitigation assistance. The agriculture department every state on a year-round basis. The legislation was bought fresh milk for the ďƒžrst time ever last year. Since introduced in the House by representatives Angie Craig that time, more than $250 million worth of milk has of Minnesota and Lloyd Smucker of Pennsylvania. been purchased. Farmers with harvest delays should contact their USMCA expected to move quickly when it reaches insurance provider Congress Farmers with a federal crop insurance policy can The U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement implementing now request more time to harvest crops by ďƒžling a legislation could be soon be sent to Capitol Hill. Once Notice of Loss with their approved insurance provider. the trade deal reaches Congress, The Russell Group The end of the insurance period for corn and soybeans President Randy Russell said it will be considered is Dec. 10. Once the loss notice is ďƒžled, insurance quickly. “I think there are sufďƒžcient votes in the House providers will then grant additional harvest time on a and Senate to pass it. I’m cautiously optimistic we’ll case by case basis. USDA’s Risk Management Agency have the USMCA done between now and when Congress is encouraging farmers experiencing harvest delays to breaks for Christmas.â€? Russell said it is possible to have contact their insurance agent as soon as possible. something ratiďƒžed by Thanksgiving. “There’s been lots of work happening to move through the ďƒžnal details.â€?
Smith invites Mnuchin to meet with MN farmers Senator Tina Smith has formally invited U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to visit rural Minnesota. Smith said Minnesota farmers have been hit hard by tariffs, low prices and bad weather. Smith wants Mnuchin to hear ďƒžrsthand from farmers about the difďƒžcult economic conditions. Fed cuts benchmark interest rates by 25% The Federal Reserve has cut the benchmark interest rate by a quarter percent. This is the third interest rate deduction this year. Fed chair Jerome Powell also indicated interest rates will likely stay at current levels unless the economy takes a sharp downturn. MPCA emphasizes manure management The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is reminding farmers to manage manure applications appropriately. To avoid runoff, MPCA is emphasizing the setback rules when spreading manure. In the news release, the agency said Minnesota livestock farmers will be applying billions of gallons of manure, which can be inďƒ&#x;uenced by the above average rainfall. Hortman named MMPA Legislator of the Year The Minnesota Milk Producers Association has named House Speaker Melissa Hortman as its legislator of the year. The MMPA cites Hortman’s work to secure funding for the dairy sector in the last legislative session. MMPA honors Miron Farm The Minnesota Milk Producers Association has named Miron Farm of Hugo as its 2019 Producer of the Year. The Miron Farm includes Fran and Mary Ann Miron, their sons Paul and Andrew and their families. Miron Farm was established in 1887 and now milks 120 cows. Steady membership growth for National FFA Organization Minnesota FFA Association President Lafe Aarsvold said there was a positive vibe at the National FFA Convention. “The energy is high,â€? Aarsvold said. “That’s exactly where our organization is headed, more Turn to AG INSIDER | Page 9
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ConƟnued from AG INSIDER | Page 8 membership and also more attendance at convention.” The National FFA has record membership this year with more than 700,000 members. National FFA Organization CEO Mark Poeschl said the growth is steady. “As an organization, we have the opportunity to continue engaging agricultural education students that aren’t involved in FFA. It’s our goal by 2028 that every person in agricultural education will be an FFA member. We’re taking tangible steps to make sure that happens.”
Trivia challenge A quart of milk weighs 2.15 pounds. That answers our last trivia question. For this week, what is the weight of a gallon of milk? 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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A humbling new beginning Duske makes dairy more efcient to prioritize family By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
WAVERLY, Minn. – Garret Duske’s days are busy milking and feeding cows, caring for a herd of feeder steers, and running cropland; but he is never too busy for family. “Our family motto is God rst, family second and farm third,” Duske said. “We really try not to work on Sundays because that’s our day to spend together.” JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR Duske milks 100 Garret Duske and his son, Emmit, 11, stand outside a pen of heifers at the family cows on his family’s dairy farm near Waverly, Minn. Duske has focused on making the 100-cow farm dairy farm near Waverly, more efficient so he can spend more �me with family. Minn. The dairyman and his wife, Amber, purchased the farm in 2015 from Minnesota Department of Agriculture to update his Duske’s father, Cliff, and uncle, Keith. milk room. When Duske rst returned to the family farm as He does all the A.I. work on the cows and heifan employee for his dad and uncle, he envisioned ers, where the heifers were previously bred with a growing the business to several hundred cows and bull. Duske looks to breed a moderately sized animaximizing the dairy’s inputs. mal that has the longevity for the barn’s 94 tie stalls. “Honestly, I had a big head back then,” Duske “I’ve really started to look more closely at gesaid. “I wanted 300-plus cows and thought the netics and breed for components,” said Duske, who whole thing would take off. Then, I reevaluated my has a few Brown Swiss crossbreds to add durability goals and realized life is too short to put so much to the herd. emphasis on something like that.” In the elds, Duske now uses liquid fertilizer After a short stint away from the dairy, Duske to cover his 500 acres of cropland. Previously, the returned, purchasing the farm from the older gen- family was applying a dry fertilizer. They also cut eration and creating a career that married well with 100 acres of meadow hay. his intentions of being present for his family. He also hires out his silage harvest, which can Over the past four years, Duske has made im- be done in a day and a half and allows more exprovements to the dairy to make daily tasks more ibility to complete other tasks on the dairy. efcient, allowing more time to spend with his wife “Yes, there’s a bill when it’s all done, but I can and four children – Emmit, 11, Hazel, 9, Colton, 5, focus on other things and there’s not the wear and and Charlotte, 2. tear on myself,” Duske said. “I like to be in the house by 6:30 every night Most recently, Duske began running a nishso I can take the kids to wrestling or gymnastics,” ing operation where he purchases bull calves from Duske said. “My ultimate goal is to reduce labor area farmers and raises them to feeder steers. At any and make more time for family.” given time, he has 50 to 70 calves on milk. Duske milks in the morning, while his father “Last April, I saw the price of bull calves,” and uncle help feed the cattle, clean the barn and Duske said. “When we penciled it out, those feeder do eldwork. During the week, two employees take steers are what have kept us aoat.” the evening milking shifts. Duske works with two feed companies to de“I’m not afraid to let others milk the cows,” velop rations for his milking herd and youngstock. Duske said. “I’ve learned I have to ask for help and can’t do The dairy farmer has also transitioned to using it all myself. I like to hear a lot of different opinions automatic take-off milking units and put in an auger and then make the best decision for me,” Duske system to clean the barn quicker. Two years ago, he said. “With the calves, we’ve been able to improve put in three fans at the end of the barn to create tun- the weight gain of our weaned ones.” nel ventilation, and is currently replacing stalls to The improvements to the farm have not been accommodate the larger frame of his Holsteins. made without second guesses, especially when the This fall, Duske used grant funding from the dairy economy has been bleak. “Farming has been stressful the last four years,” Duske said. “The prices are good again, and I’m starting to feel better. But, there were a lot of gut checks and praying at night for God to give me the answers.” Every decision Duske has made to make the dairy more efcient has created a more positive experience for his family. Emmit, enjoys spending time on the farm after school and during the summer months helping feed and bed the youngstock and working on equipment. With area communities encroaching on Duske’s farm, he realizes the future of the dairy may be limited and it may simply not be what his children want to do as a career. But in the meantime, Duske is content in knowing he has made the necessary changes to continue dairy farming and raising a family. “I’ve realized I can farm without needing to be JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR big, and if I can’t make it with all that I have, then Garret Duske talks about Big Mama, a 7-year-old I shouldn’t be farming,” Duske said. “Really, it’s cow that can be traced back to the farm’s start. been a humbling few years.” Duske now breeds for components and longevity.
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019 • Page 11
AMPI stops production at two plants Decision allows cooperative to focus on products with higher return By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
NEW ULM, Minn. – Associated Milk Producers Inc. recently announced it has stopped production at two of its plants – one in Rochester, Minn., and another in Arlington, Iowa. “The co-op’s board of directors and the management team took a look at the situation, and dairy farms in those areas have left the business,â€? said Sarah Schmidt, vice president of public affairs for AMPI. “The best decision for the co-op going forward was to close those plants, and direct resources to other plants and opportunities that could deem the best returns for members’ milk checks.â€? The Rochester plant made 640-pound blocks of cheese and had 75 employees while the Arlington plant made non-fat dry milk and employed 49 people. Tom Hoscheit is a member of the AMPI corporate board, representing southern Minnesota in District 1. He and his son, Cole, milk 350 cows on their dairy near Caledonia, Minn. “We monitored this for quite some time before we made a decision, and then we looked at all our options,â€? Hoscheit said. “These plants have to be productive, or we have to do something different. This decision affects a lot of farmers and it affects a lot of employees, and we don’t take this decision lightly.â€? The Rochester plant’s downtown location was one reason for it being chosen to stop production. “The location is not ideal for bringing in milk trucks and hauling out cheese,â€? Schmidt said. “It’s a plant that was built as a three-story structure several years ago. That type of a building is not conducive to new investments in cheese making equipment. It would have been a signiďƒžcant amount of money to bring that plant up to today’s modern cheese making equipment.â€? Within the last two years, AMPI has updated its cheese vats in its Sanborn, Iowa, location, where it makes 640and 700-pound block cheese, and in its Paynesville, Minn., plant, where it makes 500-pound barrel cheese. The cooperative’s cheese plants in Jim Falls, Wis., and Blair, Wis., that make 640- and 700-pound block cheese had also been updated in 2011. “The next plant on the list would have been Rochester, and it was going to be extremely difďƒžcult and very costly to invest in new cheesemaking equipment at that location,â€? Schmidt said. While the Arlington plant also showed its age, the reason for its closure is based on the product it made. “Non-fat dry milk is not the best return on a dairy farmers’ milk,â€? Schmidt said. “If you look at the class system in dairy products, non-fat dry milk is a class 4 product and that is the lowest price paid for milk. We were always directing milk to the plants with the best returns.â€? Schmidt said the best returns include making milk into cheese or butter, or selling milk to other companies to bottle ďƒ&#x;uid milk. “A non-fat dry milk plant does come in handy in times of over production so while it always was the lowest return on members’ milk it was good in times of ďƒ&#x;ush,â€? Schmidt said. “We are deďƒžnitely not in a time of ďƒ&#x;ush anymore like we were two years ago. ... Plants aren’t full in the Upper Midwest anymore.â€?
The milk normally taken in at these two locations will be diverted to others in the area including to the plants in Blair, Wis., and New Ulm, Minn. Some milk will continue to be delivered to the Rochester plant because it is sold to Kemps and used for bottling. The bottling portion of the Rochester plant that is rented by Kemps will continue to operate. “Absolutely every pound of milk still has a home,â€? Schmidt said. “We’re just redirecting and rerouting that milk to a different plant location.â€? In the immediate future, AMPI members will not see any changes. “Long term those are the conversations we’re having right now – trying to map where’s the best home for each member’s milk,â€? Schmidt said. “Hauling will be something to consider. The goal is that members don’t experience any change right away and long term just looking at hauling and making sure it’s as fair as possible.â€? While production at each plant has stopped, it has not yet been decided what will happen with each facility. The cooperatives’ other plants will operate as usual. In addition to the Jim Falls, Blair, Sanborn and Paynesville plants, AMPI has a hard-Italian cheese plant in Hoven, S.D., and a consumer package cheese plant in Portage, Wis., that takes the cooperatives’ blocks and barrels of cheese, and cuts and wraps it into consumer ready products. It also has a non-fat dry milk plant in Freeman, S.D. “That plant is different than the Arlington plant because it has the ability to make high heat and super high heat nonfat dry milk, which is a type of non-fat dry milk that can yield a higher premium than traditional non-fat. It is used in a lot in baked goods,â€? Schmidt said. In addition to cheese, AMPI also makes consumer packaged butter in New Ulm, Minn. This year, the cooperative launched its new brand, Dinner Bell Creamery, with its butter. “It’s something our dairy farmers have wanted to do for many years, and now we’re in a place and time where you can launch a brand for a fraction of the cost when it comes to advertising because we’re able to use social media to share our story and the internet through our website,â€? Schmidt said. After the ďƒžrst of the year, the cooperative will also start marketing cheese under the same brand. This and closing the two plants are all part of AMPI’s goal to ďƒžnd the best market for the milk from the cooperative’s members. “We want the farmers to know we’re trying to improve their bottom line and do the best job of marketing their product,â€? Hoscheit said “They all do a good job of producing milk and put a good quality product into the bulk tank. It’s our job to pick up that product at the farm and market it as a co-op. That’s what we’re trying to do.â€? Schmidt had similar thoughts. “All dairy farmers can know that they produce a wonderful product and there is great demand for it, especially cheese and butter,â€? Schmidt said. “That’s the business AMPI member owners have invested in, and I think that’s a really wise move long term. Butter and cheese consumption continue to grow every year.â€? And while the dairy economy has been tough, Schmidt said this move to shut down plants is a good business move. “The headline on the surface of this announcement does look scary, but this is not a bank telling AMPI to sell two plants,â€? Schmidt said. “The co-op ďƒžnancially is the healthiest it’s been in the past ďƒžve years. This is the co-op making a good decision for the long term.â€?
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Page 12 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019
MDA issues grant funds for farmers in time of need Program to help establish, maintain Grade A license By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The dairy industry has been through turmoil with extended low milk prices and a rise in farmers exiting the business. But with such trouble came opportunity for dairy farmers in Minnesota. In a one-time program, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture offered the AGRI Dairy Farm Improvement Grant to help farmers maintain or establish Grade A licensing. “Commissioner of Agriculture Thom Peterson saw it is as [MDA’s] responsibility to provide what dairy farmers needed,” Courtney Beer said. Beer is the livestock investment administrator with the MDA Ag Marketing and Development Division. The grant provided 100% reimbursement for on-farm projects, consulting or guidance that would maximize a dairy’s prots as a Grade A farm using supplemental funds from the state’s budget. Of the 117 grant applications, 87 were approved for a total of $745,000. “We initially anticipated $250,000 being allocated to this grant program,” Beer said. “We were able to provide three times that amount because of the extra funding we had available and knew we needed to offer something that would directly help farmers.”
JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
Ed Boehlke explains the updates he will make to the barn’s milkroom with grant funding from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Boehlke milks 50 cows with his brother, Ron, at Southview Jerseys LLC near Waverly, Minn. Ed Boehlke is one of the grant recipients. With the funding, Boehlke and his brother, Ron, will be able to make substantial improvements on their 50-cow Jersey farm near Waverly, Minn. They have already put in a new well and will update the barn’s milkroom with white walls to meet Grade A codes. “We always said if the well needed to seriously be replaced, then we would go through the process of becoming Grade A,” said Boehlke, who purchased the farm from his father in 2011 and formed Southview Jerseys LLC with his brother. “I guess in a way procrastination paid off for us.” The Boehlke brothers heard of the grant opportunity last spring from their
creamery eld representative. “He told us we needed to replace our well and in doing so there was this opportunity to go to Grade A and have the state help pay for it,” Boehlke said. “We weren’t at a risk of losing our market as Grade B farmers, but we’ve heard of creameries dropping patrons because of that, and we didn’t want that to be a risk.” Beer agreed. “Farmers take pride in the product they’re producing,” she said. “And as Grade A farmers, they can keep that channel to sell milk.” The grant was developed at the beginning of the year with the applications being accepted in March. By June 30, grant recipients were selected. Dairy farmers now have until mid-
year next year to complete their proposed projects. “We understand Minnesota has had an interesting year,” Beer said. “We wanted funding to be available as quickly as possible, but we also want farmers to take the time and consult with their team in making the right decisions for their dairy.” Boehlke plans to complete his projects in early November, and once reimbursed, he anticipates not having to pay anything out of pocket. “If I have to pay anything, it will be very minimal,” Boehlke said. Of the 87 approved projects, the minimum awarded was $781 and the maximum was $10,000, with an average award of $8,500, said Beer. “A lot of the projects received the full award,” she said. “With MDA’s Livestock Investment Grant, we are only reimbursing 10% compared to this one’s 100% reimbursement. It’s a great way for dairy farmers to make drastic improvements.” Russ Koch was told of the grant from a friend; it would help him repair his tiestall barn that was damaged in a re. “Normally, for the price we’re getting for our product, it’s tough to do things to keep going,” Koch said. “But this is a new means to get things done and get on track faster.” Koch and his wife, Barb, and son, Jacob, 15, milk 36 cows on their dairy farm in Kanabec County near Brook Park, Minn. Once the barn renovations are complete, Koch will have room for 52 milking cows. He plans to have the facility fully operational by Christmas. Turn to MDA | Page 13
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019 • Page 13
ConƟnued from MDA | Page 12
“We’re slowly expanding our herd with heifers and then we won’t have to switch cows,” Koch said. “Overall, the conditions will be a lot better, especially in the winter.” Recipients came from all corners of the state, as well as all farm sizes. In analyzing the projects, many were concerned about on-farm milk storage capacity, Beer said. “As hauling rates have increased or the unknowns of the weather, some improvements made will allow for extra storage,” she said. Using government dollars was never a thought for Boehlke until this opportunity became available.
“With this program, now I’m Grade A which means another $1 per hundredweight more for my milk,” Boehlke said. “If I can make more money, then I can upgrade my facilities, improve cow comfort and increase productivity.” Beer agreed. “I can’t encourage dairy farmers enough to look into MDA grants,” she said. “We’re giving them an opportunity for improvements that will help them stay longer in the industry.” As the agriculture economy changes, funding opportunities such as this dairy grant will help create a positive impact in Minnesota’s dairy industry.
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Page 14 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019
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From Our Side Of The Fence
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019 • Page 15
How do you adapt your calf management for cold weather?
Megan Johnson of Bode Dairy Gibbon, Minn. Sibley County 560 cows Tell us about your calf raising facilities. We have an indoor and outdoor facility. The indoor facility has 17 transition stalls in the front half and two pens in the back where groups of 16 calves can drink from an automatic feeder. All calves in the transition stalls are bottle fed 3 quarts of milk morning and night. A ventilation tube runs through the middle of the barn. There are two overhead doors at the end of each auto feeder pen and one overhead door in the front of the barn. Curtains line both sides of the barn and box fans are installed in the back of the barn. The outdoor facility, known as the condos, are open front individual stalls where a majority of the calves are pail fed. Curtains are put up in the winter time. We also have a dozen-plus domes located in the grove during the summer months and are situated in front of the condos during the winter. What is your calf care protocol immediately after the calf is born? Once a calf is born, an employee warms a bag of ďƒžrst colostrum in the colostrum warmer. The calf stays with mom for up to one hour after birth. The naval is dipped while still in the pen and again when moved to the newborn calf pen. Once separated, the calf is immediately fed 4 quarts of colostrum followed by a First Defense pill and a nasal vaccine for Bovine Coronavirus, an Escherichia Coli antibody. The calf is put in a bedded newborn pen and fed 3 quarts of second colostrum within the next 12 hours. The newborn is given an ear tag and genomic tested. How do you adapt your calf management for cold weather? All the doors are closed to the barns when the temperature falls below freezing. A sliding wall is slid over to close the space between the maternity area and newborn calf pen. A heater is turned on in the newborn facility during the winter months and jackets are put on the calves. A slab of straw is shaken into each pen daily or two slabs every other day. The pens are cleaned as often as possible. The calves have water available to them and fresh feed, which is a 22% protein calf ration. We add Calf Insure, a gut health probiotic supplement, to the milk of the younger calves every morning. We make sure the calves are drinking every last drop of their milk. At the ďƒžrst sign of any illness, the calf is treated. In the case of scours, the calf is given electrolytes followed by a bolus pill. We never underestimate the power of observation. Tell us your best calf survival story. Many years ago, in the middle of winter, when we were still calving and milking in the old barn, a set of twins were born and appeared to be stillborn. The ďƒžrst calf was taken outside and by the time the second calf was removed from the barn, we were in for a great surprise. The ďƒžrst baby calf was awake and waiting for us. The cold weather gave him the jump start he needed. What are the greatest difďƒžculties of caring for calves during the winter months? How do you address these? Keeping them healthy and thriving. We have found that being consistent with deep bedding, providing calf jackets, daily observing any changes to the calf, treating when necessary and early, and keeping the calves up on their ďƒ&#x;uids is extremely beneďƒžcial. Describe one health challenge you have had to overcome in your calves. How did you manage it? About three years ago, we had an outbreak of Salmonella Dublin. Our newly weaned calves were showing signs of respiratory distress/ illness. But, the calves didn’t respond to the treatment. Death was dismal and quick, calves dying two to three days after showing initial signs. It spread from our 200 pound calves up through our 400 pound calves. After several months and losses, it was diagnosed as Salmonella Dublin. We started vaccinating for this bacterial disease. Now the moms get the vaccine which is passed on to the baby. What is one change that has been most beneďƒžcial for your calf management? Our cleaning protocol. We had been battling scours and respiratory illnesses. We would run bacterial tests to swab bottles, pails, holding tanks, transport carts, whatever was part of the calf feeding process. Bacterial levels were high from milk residue. So now, from harvesting milk in the parlor until the milk is delivered to the calf’s pen, everything is pre-rinsed, washed in hot soapy water with a reduced temperature detergent, post-rinsed and ďƒ&#x;ipped over to dry. We spray a sanitizer disinfectant on a regular basis on calf paneling, bottles, pails, nipples, etc. The auto feeder and the holding tank connected to it are cleaned daily. Our colostrum milk is bagged and refrigerated as soon as possible after the cow is milked. The bag is numbered according to the day so the milk is not kept
Tricia Badillo Shadycrest Holsteins Altura, Minn. Winona County 675 cows Tell us about your calf raising facilities. Our calves are raised in hutches. The weaned calves are in pens of 12 in an open-faced barn What is your calf care protocol immediately after the calf is born? After the calf is born, we care for the navel and then give it identiďƒžcation with an ofďƒžcial ID metal ear tag. After that, we use two towels to wipe off excess liquid. In the cold months, calves are put into a hot box to dry them. The calves also receive Inforce 3. Colostrum is fed within two hours of birth. How do you adapt your calf management for cold weather? First, we use calf jackets. Bedding is strictly long straw bedded once weekly or more often if needed. Our feeding schedule stays the same year round. Calves receive three bottles a day until 7 days old. Then they switch to a bucket at 8 days old until 53 days old. They start at one-half gallon working up to 1 gallon each feeding around 21 days. We feed 1 gallon in both the morning and evening. In the middle of the day we give one-half gallon to each of the calves, so a total of 2.5 gallons each day. Since the calves are in hutches, our best management for the calves in winter includes calf jackets, consistent feeding times, ample bedding, warm water twice a day and consistent care. Tell us your best calf survival story. Winter is always the hardest on a calf that scours. It’s much easier for the scouring calf to dehydrate, decrease in body temperature and then die. So, these calves prove to be challenges when they get sick. Our best survival calf story was one that needed multiple IV’s and had to come into our calf milk house and be taken care of with much TLC. After about a week of her being inside with us, she started to come around. In time, she was able to regain strength and go back outside. What are the greatest difďƒžculties of caring for calves during the winter months? How do you address these? In hutches, I’d have to say everything. It’s cold, it snows, calves don’t gain as well and don’t drink as much water, but we try to keep a proactive and preventative approach to raising our calves. We try hard to be consistent with all we do with the calves. Describe one health challenge you have had to overcome in your calves. How did you manage it? It would be not eating grain until the calf was in the weaning stage. We collaborated with our veterinarian and other experts, and stopped feeding the middle of the day feeding at day 36 of age. The thought is if the calf is always full of milk she will not eat grain. We got a great response in the overall health of the calves after this change. We like to believe healthy rumen, healthy calf. What is one change that has been most beneďƒžcial for your calf management? Taking the weaning stage out 10 days longer. The calves were weaned at 50 days before, and now they wean at 60 days. We wanted to give them a bit more frame building and growing time on milk. And, we have the milk because we use waste milk or milk from cows with higher somatic cell count for pasteurizing to feed the calves. in the refrigerator for longer than three days. After three days, it is moved to the freezer. Calves are fed pasteurized milk. The pasteurizer is ďƒžlled, emptied and washed twice a day. The holding tank, which holds milk used for the pasteurizer, is emptied and run through a wash cycle every evening. We have clipboards hanging in the calf barn ofďƒžce where we record treatment information. We write down the date, calf number, reason for treatment and drug given. The employee who administered the treatment initials it. This information is also added to the main computer records. That way any employee has documentation to reference before administering medication. We also stick color coded magnets on the calf pens so we know at a quick glance who is struggling with scours or something respiratory. Turn to OUR SIDE | Page 16
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Page 16 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019
ConƟnued from OUR SIDE | Page 15 Stefan Maassen Maurice, Iowa Sioux County 1,700 cows Tell us about your calf raising facilities. We have 300 calf huts and a 32- by 265-foot calf barn with 130 individual calf pens. Most of the huts sit on a dirt and grass area where we change directions seasonally. We would like to switch to all buildings in the future for efciency of feeding and the ability to close things up in the winter. We put up the barn in 2017 after needing additional calf space. What is your calf care protocol immediately after the calf is born? After the calf is born, we have a notebook where we record the mother and important information. Colostrum that has been previously pasteurized is put into a warmer. The calf is then tagged, given an oral calf guard vaccine, and the navel is sprayed with 7% iodine. The calf is tube fed once the colostrum is warmed and ideally within the rst hour after birth. How do you adapt your calf management for cold weather? We feed mostly pasteurized whole milk. We increase our feeding volume and also raise our milk temperature depending on how cold it is outside. We bed more frequently with straw or after a large rain or snow event. All the calves get a calf coat once daytime highs stay under 30-40 degrees. New calves being placed in an outside hut also have a plywood door placed in front of the hut to keep the newborn calf from stumbling outside during extreme cold or a large snow event. Once the calf is 1 week old, a door is not needed. The new calves placed inside the barn are warmer as we adjust sidewall curtains for temperature and ventilation. Tell us your best calf survival story. When calves happen to get sick with scours and I spend a lot of time treating or giving electrolytes, and then I come back and the calf is doing much better. It is exciting to see when treatments work and your time and effort pay off to help the calf get back to good health. Although prevention of sick ones is the best, it is nice to see some calves make a quick recovery. What are the greatest difculties of caring for calves during the winter months? How do you address these? The greatest difculty of raising calves in huts in the winter time is snow removal after a large snow event. It takes a lot of work to scoop and remove the snow from the hut and feed buckets. This is where calves in the barn shine because we are able to close the curtains and scoop snow to get feeding equipment into the barn. Giving calves warm water in the winter is also a challenge. We give all calves warm water in separate pails as long as possible, but when daytime high temps go below freezing, we give smaller amounts of water and try to throw it out again before it freezes in the pails. Describe one health challenge you have had to overcome in your calves. How did you manage it? A big health challenge we have faced and continue to deal with is Mycoplasma. We somehow got it into the herd years ago, and we now give a Mycoplasma Autogenous implant with our strains in it to help prevent this. We also keep our huts spaced out far enough for no suckling to occur between calves. If a
Nathan Schwab Gibbon, Minn. Nicollet County 130 cows Tell us about your calf raising facilities. Our calves are raised in our old tiestall barn in individual calf pens. We still utilized our existing ventilation and added air tubes over the pens. What is your calf care protocol immediately after the calf is born? Our calves are given First Defense Tri-Shield and we spray their navals with iodine. A gallon of good quality colostrum is given as soon as possible after birth. How do you adapt your calf management for cold weather? All newborn calves are put in a calf warmer until they are dry. After they are removed we put a calf jacket on them. We also feed more milk and add straw more frequently to the pens. Tell us your best calf survival story. Our calving pen is in the dairy barn right across the feed alley from our robotic milkers. Numerous times I’ve been called to deal with issues with the robots in the middle of the night to nd a cow calving with difculties. Our robots have denitely saved calves on our farm. What are the greatest difculties of caring for calves during the winter months? How do you address these? Caring for sick calves in the extreme cold. We have a heated room for any struggling or sick calves during the cold. Describe one health challenge you’ve had to overcome in your calves. How did you manage it? We struggled this past winter with calves scouring from both E. coli and Coronavirus. We switched from using the First Defense bolus to using the First Defense Tri-Shield and it eliminated the problem immediately. What is one change that has been most benecial for your calf management? Why? Our old calf raising facility did not have good ventilation. Using the current ventilation and adding the air tubes in the current barn eliminated most of our respiratory issues with our calves.
calf does show signs, it is treated as soon as possible to have a better recovery. We also pasteurize our colostrum and the milk that is fed to the calves. What is one change that has been most benecial for your calf management? When we started to pasteurize all of our colostrum. I thought it would take a lot more time and work, but now that we are on a daily schedule of checking colostrum quality, bagging and pasteurizing it is so easy. When we grab a bag we know we are feeding a high-quality colostrum to the calf for the rst feeding. The rst feeding is the most important to have a chance to have the healthiest calf possible.
Lisa and Jason Walcheski Morrill, Minn. Morrison County 75 cows Tell us about your calf raising facilities. We raise our calves in individual calf huts until there about 2 months old. We then wean them and move them into a bigger area that holds 10-15 calves. What is your calf care protocol immediately after the calf is born? We move them into a birthing pen and spray their navels with iodine and vaccinate them with Calf-Guard and Inforce 3. We feed them colostrum about two to four feedings. After that, we put them on milk replacer. Once they start drinking on their own, we move them to their own calf huts. How do you adapt your calf management for cold weather? We make sure they have plenty of bedding, feed them three times a day and put calf blankets on them. When it is really cold, we cover the calf hut doors to keep it warmer inside. Tell us your best calf survival story. I feel anytime you can raise a calf to be a cow that’s the best survival story of all. It takes a lot of work and time to raise calves. You have to keep an eye on them and watch for any kind of diseases they catch and then take steps to get them healthy again. What are the greatest difculties of caring for calves during the winter months? How do you address these? Keeping them warm and making sure they have plenty of fresh water, food and plenty of bedding. Describe one health challenge you have had to overcome in your calves. How did you manage it? Usually the calves are healthy when born. Scours are mainly more challenging, and we treat them with one capsule of Tri-Purity and 24 hours later with one capsule of Tri-Starter Jr. What is one change that has been most benecial for your calf management? Having them in their own calf huts makes a difference. You can monitor their water and food intake better, and it is easier to catch if the calf is getting sick.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019 • Page 17
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Page 18 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019
Top Performers
Blumenfeld Holsteins focuses on animal potential, health to promote performance Blumenfeld Holsteins LLC Hawley, Minn. Clay County 500 cows
150 days in milk, Lepto 5 at the second pregnancy check, and another J-Vac and Vision 8 at dry-off. What does your dry cow and transition program consist of? Dry cows are dry treated with ToMORROW tubes, and we also use an udder sealant, OptiShield. We prepare closeup cows three weeks before calving. Dry cows will be housed on a loose housing/bedded pack starting this fall, and close ups cows are brought to the closeup pens that are part of the main lactating barn. Having this area part of the main milking facility helps with transition because the cows have less changes to adapt to once they are fresh.
What is your current herd average, butterfat and protein? The rolling herd average is 30,143 pounds of milk, 1,160 pounds of butterfat and 930 pounds protein. How many times a day do you milk? If you do not milk 3X a day, have you tried it in the past? We are currently milking 2.8 times a day through DeLaval robots. Do you contract your milk? Has it been successful for you? We do not contract milk. Describe your housing and milking facility. We have a 6-row freestall barn with a central feed alley with a hybrid cross vent/curtain ventilation
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system. Two years ago, we retrotted the barn and put in DeLaval’s VMS robotic milkers, using a free-ow milking style. Cows choose their own milking routine and frequency. What is your herd health program? We run an aggressive vaccination protocol with fresh cows receiving Inforce at freshening, Bovi-Shield Gold and JVac at 40 days in milk, another J-Vac at
Through the years you have been farming, what change has created the biggest jump in your herd average? That is like asking which drop of rain caused the ood. A lot of little things Turn to BLUMENFELD | Page 20
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ANDREA BORGERDING/DAIRY STAR
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What is the composition of your ration? What has been one of your most recent changes that has been successful for you? We feed BMR corn silage, dry alfalfa, haylage/baleage, cottonseed and pressed beet pulp along with a commercial grain mix. We feel the BMR corn silage has made a large impact on production, and netuning forage quality is huge.
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CLOVER PATCH DAIRY MILLERSBURG, OHIO Alan and Sharon Kozak 429 Reg. Jerseys #4 GJPI in U.S. 58 lbs/cow/day 5.3F 3.8P 135,000 SCC “I like Udder Comfort,™ especially for fresh heifers. Getting colostrum into the calves and Udder Comfort onto the udders are post-calving priorities here,” says Alan Kozak. He and Sharon operate Clover Patch Dairy, Millersburg, Ohio, milking 429 registered Jerseys. Their herd is No. 4 in the U.S. Genomic Jersey Performance Index (GJPI). They produce just under 60 lbs of 5.3F 3.8P 135,000 SCC milk in a grass-based system. (https://wp.me/pb1wH7-7n) “We use Udder Comfort because this is the product that works. It softens udders and removes edema fast. It reduces swelling and congestion in fresh animals better than anything else we’ve tried, getting udders in great shape, fast. It’s also part of our routine for any clinical mastitis. “But our main use is at freshening. We spray fresh udders consistently after milking for the first 3 to 4 days. Udders are softer, milkers stay on better, and milkout is more complete. Quality udders and quality milk, that’s what I like to see.”
Quality Udders Make Quality Milk To locate a dealer, call 1.888.773.7153 Visit our new website at uddercomfort.com @uddercomfort For external application to the udder only, after milking, as an essential component of udder management. Always wash and dry teats thoroughly before milking.
Page 20 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019
ConƟnued from BLUMENFELD | Page 18
can make the whole picture very different. What role does genetics play in your production level, and what is your breeding program? Genetics for us are huge. We feel that one has to build the cow from the inside out and realize the potential by management. In other words, breed for a model cow in your herd by using top of the line genetics and then through keeping the cow healthy and putting quality feed through her she will in turn perform to her genetic capabilities. You cannot use the cheapest genetics and then expect your animals
to perform to the top of the average. Nature does not work that way. As for our reproduction program, all cows wear an activity tag, and any cow not bred by 70 days in milk is enrolled in our Ovsync program. Re-sync is used for any open cows during herd check. Cows are conrmed pregnant using DHIA milk samples. What type of improvements would you like to make that would increase your rolling herd average even higher? We have some opportunity with early lactation 2-year-old visits to the robot that would drive peak milk, and we are
ANDREA BORGERDING/DAIRY STAR
This cow is an example of what Blumenfeld Holsteins strives for in their breeding strategy. The farm uses top of the line genetics on the herd.
always working to remain cutting edge with genetic improvement. We upgraded three robots to help with fresh heifer adaptation. Cow comfort and forage quality are always on the radar as well for any possible upward adjustment. List three management strategies that have kept you profitable. Genetic progress to keep raising the bar with animal potential, animal health to keep performance expression unhindered and forage quality to give them the best possible opportunity to perform. What would you say are the three most important factors for you that helped you attain your current herd average? Along with working on the management strategies in the previous questions, teamwork is huge. To have every team member performing at the top of his game is key to success. Also, robots helped us increase milkings per cow per day and help drive each cow’s potential upward as the cows now have the opportunity to excel on an individual basis within the herd. Tell us about your farm. Blumenfeld Holsteins is part of Spring Prairie Colony, a Christian based community near Hawley, Minn. We’ve had dairy cows since we started in 1979. The rst barn built was an 80-cow tiestall. In 1995, a wing was added to increase cow numbers to 120 and a dou-
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019 • Page 21
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1843 Sep Hrs, #163669.................................................$89,900 4 JD 9870 STS, ‘08, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 3262 Sep Hrs, #160885.............................................. $101,900 16 JD 9870 STS, ‘10, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 3242 hrs., 2400 Sep Hrs., #161419 ...............................$99,500 3 JD 9870 STS, ‘09, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 2360 hrs., 1580 Sep Hrs., #163675............................................. $109,500 5 JD S550, ‘12, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 1426 hrs., 1077 Sep Hrs., #161903............................................. $154,900 4 JD S660, ‘16, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 655 hrs., 478 Sep Hrs., #143510............................................... $199,500 2 JD S660, ‘13, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1045 hrs., 688 Sep Hrs., #154698 ...................................... $209,500 17 JD S660, ‘12, 1342 hrs., 1025 Sep Hrs., #155239 ...... $178,000 17 JD S660, ‘15, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 787 hrs., 545 Sep Hrs., #157075............................................... $229,500 15 JD S660, ‘14, Corn/Bean, 2WD, #155345 ................. $189,500 5 JD S660, ‘14, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 769 Sep Hrs., #155826 ................................................................... $230,500 4 JD S670, ‘15, PRWD, Duals, 1361 hrs., 1014 Sep Hrs., #143718.................................................234900 2 JD S670, ‘12, PRWD, Duals, 2319 hrs., 1834 Sep Hrs., #143860............................................. $149,500 7 JD S670, ‘13, 2WD, Duals, 1462 hrs., 998 Sep Hrs., #145812............................................... $189,500 6 JD S670, ‘14, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1902 hrs., 1260 Sep Hrs., #153514 ............................ $192,900 16 JD S670, ‘17, 2WD, Duals, 257 hrs., 186 Sep Hrs., #146346 .................................................................... $349,500 16 JD S670, ‘13, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1584 hrs., 1190 Sep Hrs., #161854 ............................ $180,400 11 JD S670, ‘14, PRWD, Duals, 1759 hrs., 1218 Sep Hrs., #144313............................................. $164,900 11 JD S670, ‘17, 2WD, Duals, 918 hrs., 496 Sep Hrs., #146349 .................................................................... $269,500 8 JD S670, ‘16, 2WD, Duals, 614 hrs., 422 Sep Hrs., #148148 .................................................................... $279,500 8 JD S670, ‘14, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1665 hrs., 1265 Sep Hrs, #155388.............................................. $210,000 10 JD S680, ‘14, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1639 hrs., 1251 Sep Hrs., #161855............................................. $209,500 17 JD S680, ‘13, PRWD, Duals, 1426 hrs., 1013 Sep Hrs., #144322............................................. $169,500 7 JD S680, ‘13, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 2112 hrs., 1391 Sep Hrs, #162070.............................................. $196,400 7 JD S680, ‘13, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 2767 hrs., 1871 Sep Hrs., #161858 ............................ $169,500 15 JD S680, ‘14, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1743 hrs., 1361 Sep Hrs., #156460 ............................ $205,500 15 JD S680, ‘12, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 2486 hrs., 1881 Sep Hrs., #163765...............................................$159400 16 JD S680, ‘15, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals,
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1153 Sep Hrs., #144328............................................. $194,900 16 JD S680, ‘14, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 2429 hrs., 1781 Sep Hrs., #159509............................................. $187,400 16 JD S680, ‘14, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 12 hrs., 671 Sep Hrs., #161645............................................... $259,500 5 JD S680, ‘14, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1861 hrs., 1248 Sep Hrs., #147716............................................. $209,500 11 JD S680, ‘12, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 2308 hrs., 1529 Sep Hrs., #152167............................................. $149,500 3 JD S680, ‘12, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 2262 hrs., 1680 Sep Hrs., #154637............................................. $184,000 14 JD S690, ‘14, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1972 hrs., 1446 Sep Hrs., #153332............................................. $194,000 14 JD S690, ‘14, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 1998 hrs., 1480 Sep Hrs., #161532............................................. $217,400 3 JD S690, ‘14, PRWD, Duals, 1812 hrs., 1317 Sep Hrs., #145222 .................................................................... $189,500 17 JD S770, ‘18, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 243 Sep Hrs., #156063 .................................................................... $329,500 14 JD S770, ‘18, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 270 hrs., 190 Sep Hrs, #155380................................................ $389,500 7 JD S780, ‘18, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 502 hrs., 268 Sep Hrs., #159539............................................... $421,900 1 JD S780, ‘18, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 483 hrs., 235 Sep Hrs., #157910............................................... $425,000 16 JD S780, ‘18, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 377 hrs., 279 Sep Hrs., #154461............................................... $425,000 16 JD S780, ‘18, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, Spreader, 522 hrs., 327 Sep Hrs., #154560 ................................ $419,500 16 JD S780, ‘18, Corn/Bean, PRWD; Duals, 463 hrs., 283 Sep Hrs., #157911............................................... $420,000 10 Pickett Twin Master, ‘14, #159226........................ $148,500 RIPPERS 6 JD 512, ‘12, #162033 ...................................................$15,900 7 Case IH 870, ‘12, #163215 ..........................................$40,400 5 Case IH 870, ‘12, #160721 ..........................................$43,900 14 Case IH 870, ‘13, #160533 ..........................................$46,400 ‘15 Case IH 875, ‘14, #150892 ..........................................$51,900 17 JD 2700, ‘07, #151561.................................................$17,900 5 JD 2700, ‘12, #162338.................................................$20,900 1 JD 2720, ‘13, #162185.................................................$29,900 8 JD 2720, ‘14, #155362.................................................$37,900 8 JD 2720, ‘13, #161404.................................................$34,900 4 JD 2730, ‘16, #143847.................................................$59,500 7 JD 2730, ‘15, #152025.................................................$87,205 11 JD 2730, ‘15, #143523.................................................$79,500 8 Kuhn 4850, ‘15, #154000 ...........................................$34,900 11 Case IH 9300, ‘03, #162470 ........................................$18,900 1 Krause 4850-15, #163794 .........................................$15,900 10 Krause 4850-18, ‘07, #152120 ............................ $16,900 3 Tebben DT7M24, ‘16, #155258 ..................................$10,995
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49,500
$
ARARTICULATED 4WD TRACTORS 10 JD 8450, ‘84, Partial PS, duals, 1789 hrs., #161603 .... $19,500 7 JD 9400, ‘99, Partial PS, duals, 6460 hrs., #163523 ........69500 17 JD 9530, ‘09, PS, duals, 3073 hrs., #163522 ............. $149,500 15 JD 9530, ‘07, PS, duals, 4340 hrs., #161774 ............. $152,400 1 JD 9630, ‘11, PS, duals, 4220 hrs., #162597.............. $141,900 14 Ford Versatile 9680, ‘95, Syncro, duals, 6873 hrs., #161602.......................................................$49,400 1 JD 9560R, ‘12, duals, 3000 hrs., #163796................. $197,500 15 JD 9560R, ‘14, PS, duals, 4495 hrs., #158665 ........... $179,500 15 JD 9560R, ‘14, PS, duals, 5127 hrs., #158666 ........... $165,000 16 JD 9560R, ‘14, PS, duals, 2746 hrs., #159510 ........... $217,400 16 JD 9560R, ‘12, PS, triples, 865 hrs., #161649 ........... $254,000 11 JD 9570R, ‘18, PS, duals, pto, 242 hrs., #147190 ..... $389,500 8 JD 9570R, ‘17, duals, 653 hrs., #163754................... $319,900 15 JD 9620R, ‘16, PS, duals, 2533 hrs., #161527 ........... $279,900 16 JD 9620R, ‘17, PS, duals, 1281 hrs., #163225 ........... $319,500 14 JD 9620R, ‘15, triples, 2330 hrs., #161422 ............... $283,900 CHISEL PLOWS 7 White 445, ‘95, 14 ft, Rigid, #163317 ...........................$9,500 8 JD 2410, ‘10, 28 ft, 3-Section Folding, #161403 ..........$34,900 17 Krause 4814, 17 ft, Rigid, #161625 ............................$10,900 16 Sunflower 4233-23, ‘10, 23 ft, 3-Sectio, #163583 ....$28,500 5 Wil-Rich 657 DCR, ‘13, 28 ft, 3-Section #163557 .......$32,900 14 Case IH Flex Till 600, ‘11, 61 ft, 5-Section, #160261..$46,400 COMBINES 7 JD 6620, ‘81, 4500 hrs., 4500 Sep Hrs., #156979 ...........$8,500 7 JD 9400, ‘89, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Singles, Chopper, 6793 hrs., 4198 Sep Hrs., #156978 ...............................$18,995 1 JD 9500, ‘92, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Singles, 4246 hrs., 2850 Sep Hrs., #163670................................................$19,500 5 JD 9500, ‘95, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, Chopper, 4285 hrs., 2953 Sep Hrs., #163536 ...............................$19,500 7 JD 9600, ‘90, 6778 hrs., 4605 Sep Hrs., #155273 .........$18,900 6 JD 9610, ‘98, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Singles, 4619 Sep Hrs., #163581................................................$17,900 5 JD 9610, ‘99 Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 4965 hrs., 3424 Sep Hrs., #163535................................................$29,900 7 JD 9650 STS, ‘02, Corn/Bean, PRWD, duals, 5002 hrs., 3459 Sep Hrs., #161213 ...............................$44,900 17 JD 9660 STS, ‘04, 2WD, Duals, 3731 hrs., 2670 Sep Hrs., #150873................................................$49,500 17 JD 9660 STS, ‘05, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 3538 hrs., 2331 Sep Hrs., #151601 ...............................$49,500 3 JD 9660 STS, ‘04, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 2228 hrs., 1562 Sep Hrs., #163577 ...............................$74,000 6 JD 9670 STS, ‘08, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 2668 hrs., 1748 Sep Hrs., #163474 ...............................$81,400 14 JD 9750 STS, ‘00, 7685 hrs., 5021 Sep Hrs., #155851..$39,500 4 JD 9770 STS, ‘09, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 1878 Sep Hrs., #162933................................................$95,000 5 JD 9770 STS, ‘09, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals,
AL
ST
JD S690, 2014, 1744 hrs., 1303 sep hrs., #145222
JD S670, 2013, 1584 hrs., 1190 Sep Hrs., #161854
Over 1200 items with pictures updated daily • Go to www.mmcjd.com
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JD 9660 STS, 2005, 3538 hrs., 2331 sep hrs., #151601
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JD S550, 2012, 1426 hrs., 1077 Sep Hrs., #161903
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Page 22 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019
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Stella’s story
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The new DeLaval Parlor P500 milking system PHOTO SUBMITTED
96
Graber Maid-rite Stella is this year’s Dairy Star’s Great Christmas Giveaway heifer calf prize. Stella is provided by the Grabers, who farm by Parker, S.D.
”
max ceiling height requirement for DeLaval SynchroArc™
Up to
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Graber family to provide Jersey calf for the Dairy Star Great Christmas Giveaway By Jerry Nelson
3
jerry.n@dairystar.com
cow flow control options
ZERO
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Contact one of the following dealers to learn more: IOWA Kramer Bros. Monticello, IA 319-465-5931 Prairie Land Ag Supply Inc. Rock Valley, IA 712-476-9290 United-Suckow Dairy Supply West Union, IA 563-422-5355 Postville, IA 563-864-7417
WISCONSIN Advanced Dairy/Bob’s Dairy Supply Spring Valley, WI 715-772-3201 Ederer Dairy Supply Plain, WI 608-546-3713 Joe’s Refrigeration Inc. Withee, WI 715-229-2321 Mlsna Dairy Supply Inc. Cashton, WI 608-654-5106 Professional Dairy Services Waunakee, WI 608-849-5043
Mondovi Dairy Systems Inc. Mondovi, WI 715-926-5777 West Salem, WI 608-769-2113 The Scharine Group Inc. Whitewater, WI 800 472-2880 Mt Horeb, WI 800-872-3470 MINNESOTA & SOUTH DAKOTA D&D Ag Supply Pennock, MN 320-599-4466
East Central Dairy Supply Mora, MN 320-679-1029 Farm Systems Melrose, MN 320-256-3276 Watertown, MN 605-886-7401 Sioux Falls, SD 800-284-0015 S&S Dairy System LLC St. Charles, MN 507-932-4288 Professional Dairy Systems Wadena, MN 218-632-5416
is a registered trademark of Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A. and “DeLaval” is a registered trade/servicemark of DeLaval Holding AB © 2019 DeLaval Inc. DeLaval, 11100 North Congress Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri 64153-1296. All facts and figures are the result of data collected on test farms and pilot farms. Data compared to DeLaval Champion. Results may vary and are not guaranteed. www.delaval.com
PARKER, S.D. – Stella is a very special Jersey calf. “Our family has owned Stella’s cow family since the early 1930s,” Cal Graber said. But that is not the only thing that makes Stella special. This December, Stella will become part of a new forever family when she is awarded to one lucky child whose name is drawn during the Dairy Star annual Great Christmas Giveaway. Stella’s current owners are brothers Cal and Jay Graber, who milk 30 cows on their dairy, Graber Jerseys, a registered Jersey dairy near Parker, S.D. “Stella has a sweet personality and is a very friendly calf,” Jay said. Stella was born Oct. 18. Her dam is Graber Listowel Sophia-P, and her sire is Sunset Canyon Maid-rite-ET. “Stella is Sophia’s rst calf,” Cal said. “Stella’s maternal granddam, Graber Eclipses Sadie-P, is 7 years old and just had her classication raised to EX-90. Stella is a descendant of one of Graber Jersey’s most preeminent cow families.” Stella’s sire was sold to a syndicate during the 64th All American Jersey Sale in November 2016 in Louisville, Ky. Graber Jerseys was able to purchase a share of Sunset Canyon, which entitled them to a certain quantity of his semen. The Graber family has a long history with the Jersey breed. The farm began with Cal’s and Jay’s grandparents, Peter H. and Laura Graber, who were married in 1926 and started farming in 1927. Their parents, Jerry and Rachel, took over in 1955. Now Jay and Cal have become the next generation. With only 30 head in its milking herd, Graber Jerseys might seem like an old-fashioned outlier by modern standards. “We made the choice to only milk as many cows as our stanchion barn will hold,” Cal said. “That has enabled us to focus on improving our herd’s genetics. We have had a closed herd for many years. The only new genetics we have brought in has been through the use of A.I.” In addition to milking their herd of Jerseys, Cal and Jay own and operate 2,500 acres of Turner County farmland. The herd at Graber Jerseys has been on ofcial Turn to GRABER | Page 23
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019 • Page 23
ConƟnued from GRABER | Page 22
DHIA test since shortly after the end of World War II. The Grabers began to use A.I. in the early 1950s. The Graber brothers are no strangers to the idea of sharing their herd’s genetics. Cal and Jay have sold hundreds of breeding bulls and have provided breeding stock for dairies in 24 states. Some of their animals have been exported to such far-ung places as Australia, New Zealand and Ecuador. About 25 bulls born at Graber Jerseys have entered commercial A.I. stud service.
“Our cows tend to have long lives. We’ve had several cows last until their teens.” CAL GRABER, DAIRY FARMER
“Our cows tend to have long lives,” Cal said. “We’ve had several cows last until their teens. This longevity helps make it possible for us to be very selective with our breeding choices. We spare no expense when we purchase semen and use only the best bulls available. Over the last year or so, we began to use sexed semen. In the past, when there were more small
JERRY NELSON/DAIRY STAR
Brothers Jay and Cal Graber are the owners of Graber Maid-rite Stella, the baby Jersey calf that will be given away in December as part of the Dairy Star’s Great Christmas Giveaway.
herds around, we sold a lot of bulls as herd sires. These days, most dairies use A.I. As a result, heifer calves are worth more than bull calves.” The Grabers have used genomic testing for several years. “Genomic testing has greatly accelerated the genetic progress of our herd,” Cal
said. “We test every female in our herd. Stella’s dam and granddam have both tested positive for the ability to produce A2/A2 milk. Some of our best customers are people who want a cow who is gentle and produces A2/ A2 milk for home use. The cow often becomes a part of the family.”
Like many Jersey herds, the cows at Graber Jerseys produce milk that is high in butterfat. It is not uncommon for the Grabers’ herd to average 5.2% butterfat during the cooler months. Their cows are fed a ration that consists of homegrown ingredients, including alfalfa haylage, corn silage and shelled corn.
Both Cal and Jay showed Jersey cattle when they were in 4-H. “I would sometimes be teased by other kids about our little Jersey cows as I led them to the show ring,” Cal said. “But I’m glad that we stayed with the breed. My oldest grandkids are just getting to the age where they can join 4-H and show cattle. It will be nice to see the tradition of showing our Jersey cattle as 4-H projects being carried forward.” The Grabers hope Stella’s new owner enjoys her as much as they did. “It’s a huge honor to furnish a calf for the Great Christmas Giveaway,” Cal said. “Hopefully, Stella can be the foundation of some young person’s herd. There are many Jersey herds that began as a humble 4-H project, herds that now provide a living for a family. As far as we’re concerned, that would be the best-case scenario.” Cal and Jay are sad to see Stella go but are optimistic her new owner will be inspired by her. “Being part of the Great Christmas Giveaway is deeply gratifying for us,” Cal said. “If Stella provides encouragement for one child or one family, it will all be worth it.”
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Page 24 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019
+
DAIRY ST R
The Great Christmas “GRAND” PRIZE
GIVEAWAY 2019
Grand Prize Drawing Will Be Held Thursday, December 12, 2019 THE WINNERS WILL BE POSTED ON WWW.DAIRYSTAR.COM, MILK BREAK NEWSLETTER AND ON FACEBOOK.
ADULT “GRAND” PRIZE
2) $1,000 CASH GIFTS! 17 & UNDER “GRAND” PRIZE
“Grand” Prize Heifer Calf:
GRABER MAID-RITE STELLA Born: October 18, 2019
Dam: Graber Listowel Sophia-P Sire: Sunset Canyon Maid-Rite-ET Granddam: Graber Eclipses Sadie-P Grand Priz Calf come e from Grab s Jerseys In er c. Parker, SDin
J and Cal Graber, pictured with Graber Jay M Maid-rite Stella heifer calf that will be given a away in the Great Christmas Giveaway drawing.
REGISTER FREE AT ANY OF THE PARTICIPATING BUSINESSES FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019 • Page 25
IOWA
REGISTER AT THESE PARTICIPATING BUSINESSES:
ALLAMAKEE COUNTY • Bodensteiner Implement Waukon • 563-568-3463 • Equity Livestock Waukon • 563-568-4501 • Innovative Ag Services Waukon • 563-568-3455 • Waukon Veterinary Services Waukon • 563-568-2487 BREMER COUNTY • ViaÀeld Sumner • 563-578-3214 BUCHANAN COUNTY • Bodensteiner Implement Rowley • 319-938-2222 • ViaÀeld Winthrop • 319-935-3336 CHICKASAW COUNTY • Ag-Land Equipment New Hampton • 641-394-4226 • Bodensteiner Implement New Hampton • 641-394-3061 CLAYTON COUNTY • Bodensteiner Implement Elkader • 563-245-2470 • Innovative Ag Services Elkader • 563-245-1230 Monona • 563-539-3501 DELAWARE COUNTY • Edgewood Feed Mill Edgewood • 563-928-6405 • Manchester Livestock Auction Manchester • 563-927-2540 DUBUQUE COUNTY • Bodensteiner Implement Dyersville • 563-875-2724 • Brunkan Equipment Worthington • 563-855-2434 • Cascade Livestock Auction Cascade • 563-852-3533 • Eastern Iowa Dairy Systems Inc. Epworth • 563-876-3087 • Helle Farm Equipment Dyersville • 563-875-7154 • Innovative Ag Services Cascade • 563-852-7245 Farley • 563-744-3337 • New Vienna Ag Automation New Vienna • 563-921-2896 • Skip Breitbach Feeds Balltown • 563-552-2393 • Scherrmann’s Implement Dyersville • 563 875-2426 • Ungs Shopping Center (IAS) Luxemburg • 563-853-2455 FAYETTE COUNTY • Bodensteiner Implement Clermont • 563-423-5206 Oelwein • 319-283-4371 • ViaÀeld Arlington • 563-633-3415 Elgin • 563-426-5566 Maynard • 563-637-2285 FLOYD COUNTY • Livestock Systems Charles City• 641-220-5257 HOWARD COUNTY • Bodensteiner Implement Cresco • 563-547-2152 • Farmers Win Coop Cresco West • 563-547-5660 JACKSON COUNTY • Innovative Ag Services Andrew • 563-672-3228 JONES COUNTY • Bodensteiner Implement Monticello • 319-465-3515 O’BRIEN COUNTY • Associated Milk Producers Inc. Sanborn • 712-729-3255 SIOUX COUNTY • Rock Valley Hay Auction Co. Rock Valley • 712-476-5541 • Sioux Dairy Equipment, Inc. Rock Valley • 1-800-962-4346 WINNESHIEK COUNTY • Bodensteiner Implement Decorah • 563-382-2961 • Brynsaas Sales & Service Decorah • 563-382-4484
• Farmers Win Coop Burr Oak • 563-735-5427 Ridgeway • 563-737-2244 • Franzen Sales & Service Fort Atkinson • 563-534-2724 • Langs Dairy Equipment Decorah • 563-382-8722
MINNESOTA
BECKER COUNTY • Adkins Equipment Inc. Detroit Lakes • 218-847-3131 BENTON COUNTY • Arnold’s of St. Cloud Sauk Rapids • 320-251-2585 • First National Bank of MilacaGilman OfÀce • 320-387-2233 • Gilman Co-op Creamery Gilman • 320-387-2770 BROWN COUNTY • Associated Milk Producers Inc. New Ulm • 507-233-4600 • New Ulm Regional Vet Clinic New Ulm • 507-233-2520 CARVER COUNTY • Bongards’ Bongards • 952-466-5521 • Lano Equipment of Norwood Norwood/Young America 952-467-2181 • Storms Welding Cologne • 952-466-3343 DAKOTA COUNTY • Werner Implement Vermillion • 651-437-4435 DOUGLAS COUNTY • Nelson Creamery Nelson • 320-762-0115 • Osakis Creamery Assn. Osakis • 1-800-584-9236 • Pro Ag Farmers Co-op GarÀeld • 320-834-2271 FILLMORE COUNTY • Farmers Win Coop Rushford • 507-864-2161 GOODHUE COUNTY • Ag Partners - Grain Site Bellchester • 651-923-4453 Wanamingo • 507-824-2231 Wanamingo-Agronomy Location 507-824-2215 • Ag Partners Farm Store Cannon Falls • 507-263-4651 Goodhue • 800-732-1439 Pine Island • 507-356-8313 • GB Feed and Supply Bellechester • 651-923-4425 • Midwest Livestock Systems Pine Island • 507-356-8349 HOUSTON COUNTY • Farmers Win Coop Caledonia • 507-725-3306 Houston • 507-896-3147 Spring Grove • 507-498-5321 KANABEC COUNTY • East Central Dairy Supply Mora • 320-679-1029 • Fluegge’s Ag Mora • 320-679-2981 KANDIYOHI COUNTY • D&D Ag Supply & Construction Pennock • 320-599-4466 • Farm-Rite Equipment Willmar • 320-235-3672 LE SUEUR COUNTY • Ag Partners - Agronomy Le Center • 507-357-6868 • Ag Partners - Agronomy Le Sueur • 507-665-6277 • Ag Partners - OfÀce Le Sueur • 507-665-6270 MCLEOD COUNTY • Arnold’s of Glencoe Glencoe • 320-864-5531 • Leedstone Glencoe • 320-256-5575 • Mueller Sales & Service Dairy Equipment Glencoe • 888-205-0974 MEEKER COUNTY • Farm-Rite Equipment Dassel • 1-888-679-4857
MILLE LACS COUNTY • Foreston Co-op Creamery/ ADM Alliance Nutrition Foreston • 320-294-5711 • First National Bank of Milaca Milaca • 320-983-1333 MORRISON COUNTY • Litke’s Veterinary Service Pierz • 320-468-6666 • Modern Farm Equipment Pierz • 320-468-2161 • Pierz Co-op Pierz • 320-468-6655 • Sunrise Ag Cooperative Buckman • 320-468-6433 Lastrup • 320-468-2543 Little Rock • 320-584-5147 Pierz • 320-468-2168 OTTER TAIL COUNTY • Bongards’ Perham • 218-346-4680 • Farmers Elevator of Fergus Falls & Henning 218-736-3301 • PCCA-Country Store Perham • 218-346-7075 • Perham Stockyards Perham • 218-346-3415 • Pro Ag Farmers Co-op in Henning 218-583-2947 • Pro Ag Farmers Co-op in Urbank 218-267-2401 PIPESTONE COUNTY • Gorter’s Clay & Dairy Equipment Pipestone • 507-825-3271 RICE COUNTY • Ag Partners - Agronomy Morristown • 507-685-2700 SCOTT COUNTY • Ag Partners - Farm Store Belle Plaine • 952-873-4224 • Ag Partners - Coop Tire & Auto Belle Plaine • 952-873-3001 STEARNS COUNTY • A&C Farm Service Paynesville • 320-243-3736 • Ag Venture Feed & Seed, Inc. Watkins • 320-764-9910, 800-779-8910 • Albany Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Albany • 320-845-2801 • Arnold’s of Kimball Kimball • 320-398-3800 • Arnold’s of St. Martin St. Martin • 320-548-3285 • Arnzen Construction/St. Rosa Lumber Freeport, In St. Rosa 320-836-2284 or 1-888-276-1751 • Associated Milk Producers Inc. Paynesville • 320-243-3794 • Centre Dairy Equipment & Supply Inc. Sauk Centre • 320-352-5763 or 1-800-342-2697 • Dairy Star Sauk Centre • 320-352-6303 • Dairyland Supply Sauk Centre 320-352-3987 or 1-800-338-6455 • DHIA Sauk Centre • 320-352-2028 or 1-800-369-2697 • Ecker Feed Service, LLC New Munich • 320-837-5249 • Elrosa Grain & Feed Elrosa • 320-697-5515 • Farm Systems Melrose • 1-800-636-5581 • 1-800-247-0012 • Farm-Rite Equipment St. Cloud • 320 240 2085 • Feed Co. Paynesville • 320-243-3938 • Freeport State Bank Freeport •1-800-252-9856 • 320-836-2126 Greenwald • 320-987-2265 New Munich • 320-837-5297 Melrose • 320-256-7208 • Hartung Sales & Service, Inc. Freeport • 320-836-2697 • Lake Henry Implement Lake Henry • 320-243-7411 • Leedstone Melrose • 1-877-608-3877 • Melrose Implement Inc. Melrose • 320-256-4253 • Modern Farm Equipment Sauk Centre • 320-352-6543 • Nutrien Ag Solutions 320-352-6564
STEELE COUNTY • Ag Partners - Agronomy Owatonna • 507-413-8000 • Northland Farm Systems Owatonna • 800-385-3911 TODD COUNTY • Olson’s Custom Farm Service Staples • 800-477-7059 • Pro-Ag Farmers Co-op Feed Store Browerville • 320-594-2711 • Pro-Ag Farmers Co-op in Clarissa Clarissa • 218-756-2112 • Pro-Ag Farmers Co-op in Eagle Bend Eagle Bend • 218-738-2552 WABASHA COUNTY • Ag Partners Farm Store Lake City • 651-345-3328 Plainview • 507-534-2531 • Beck Implement Elgin • 507-876-2122 • Leedstone Plainview • 507-534-3161 • Wingert Sales & Service Plainview • 507-534-2285 WADENA COUNTY • Aldrich Tractor Inc. Aldrich • 218-445-5430 • Dairyland Equipment of Menahga Menahga • 218-564-4958 • Olson’s Custom Farm Service Verndale • 218-445-5500 Sebeka • 218-837-5749 WINONA COUNTY • Benson Farm Service Lewiston • 507-523-2188 • Elba Coop Elba • 507-796-6571 • S&S Dairy Systems St. Charles • 507-932-4288 WRIGHT COUNTY • Hobert Sales Inc. Cokato • 320-286-6284, 1-800-820-6455 • The Country Store/Munson Lakes Nutrition Howard Lake • 320-543-3517, 800-663-9177 YELLOW MEDICINE COUNTY • Farmward Cooperative Wood Lake • 507-485-3153
SOUTH DAKOTA BROOKINGS COUNTY • W.W. Tire Brookings • 605-696-7400 CODINGTON COUNTY • Midwest Ag Supply Watertown • 605-882-2497 HUTCHINSON COUNTY • Associated Milk Producers Inc. Freeman • 605-925-4234 MINNEHAHA COUNTY • Central Valley Dairy Supply Brandon • 605-467-0812 • Midwest Livestock Systems Sioux Falls • 800-705-1447 ROBERTS COUNTY • Valley Dairy Supply Corona • 605-432-5224
WISCONSIN
GRANT COUNTY • Argall Dairy Systems, West Platteville • 608-348-3385 • Fuller’s Milker Center, Inc. Lancaster • 608-723-4634 • Innovative Ag Services Cuba City • 608-744-2287 • J. Gile Dairy Cuba City • 608-744-2661 • Scott Implement Platteville • 608-348-6565 PEPIN COUNTY • Anibas Silo & Repair Arkansaw • 715-285-5317 PIERCE COUNTY • Ag Partners Grange Hall • 715-647-5002 • Western Wisconsin Farm Store Ellsworth • 715-273-5066 TREMPEALEAU COUNTY • Associated Milk Producers Inc. Blair • 608-989-2535 VERNON COUNTY • Koon Kreek Feeds Coon Valley • 608-452-3838
To view a complete list of participating businesses, log on to www.dairystar.com
*Enter as often as you like. One entry per store visit, please. Winners must be 18 years or older and a Grade A or B dairy farmer for heifer, or 17 years or younger and a son or daughter of a Grade A or B dairy farmer for heifer calf. Winners must also live in the Dairy Star circulation area to be eligible and are responsible for transport of animal.
Page 26 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019
USDA opens 2020 enrollment for DMC Dairy producers can now enroll in the Dairy Margin Coverage for 2020. The United States Department of Agriculture FSA News & Notes Farm Service Agency opened signup for the program that helps producers manage economic risk brought on by milk price and feed cost disparities. The DMC program offers reasonably priced protection to dairy producers when the By Ryan Brunn difference between the allStearns Co. Exec. Dir. milk price and the average feed cost (the margin) falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producer. The deadline to enroll in DMC for 2020 is Dec. 13. Dairy farmers earned more than $300 million from the program in 2019 so far. Producers are encouraged to take advantage of this very important risk management tool for 2020. All producers who want 2020 coverage, even those who took advantage of the 25% premium discount by locking in the coverage level for ve years of margin protection coverage, are required to visit the ofce during this signup period to pay the annual administrative fee. Dairy producers should denitely consider coverage for 2020 as even the slightest drop in the margin can trigger payments. The 2018 farm bill created DMC, improving on
D i ffarmers earned Dairy d more than $300 million from the program in 2019 so far. the previous safety net for dairy producers. DMC is one of many programs that FSA and other USDA agencies are implementing to support America’s farmers. For more information on enrolling in DMC and taking advantage of an online dairy decision tool that assists producers in selecting coverage for 2020, visit the DMC webpage at https://www.fsa.usda. gov/programs-and-services/dairy-margin-coverageprogram/index For additional questions and assistance, contact a USDA service center. To locate a FSA ofce, visit http://www.farmers.gov/service-locator. Farm Service Agency is an Equal Opportunity Lender. Complaints about discrimination should be sent to: Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250. Visit the Farm Service Agency Web site at: www.fsa.usda.gov/ for necessary application forms and updates on USDA programs.
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and be thankful for it. Princess Kay of the Milky Way, Amy Kyllo, serves as the Minnesota dairy community’s goodwill ambassador. Throughout the year, Princess Kay helps people understand the dedication of dairy farmers to wholesome and nutritious food, and the way milk is produced. Princess Kay does many school presentations, represents dairy farmers at the Fuel Up To Play 60 events that are held in conjunction with the Minnesota Vikings, and is very active during June Dairy Month sharing the importance of dairy farming and dairy foods. Amy grew up in Byron, MN living and working on her family’s dairy farm. She is a senior at the Association Free Lutheran Bible School. She enjoys music, loves to read and is an avid Minnesota Twins baseball fan.
p le
bedding, water, poop pies and a manure spreader that actually spread. The museum did a great job of teaching children through play and fun activities. As I look at the things in my life that seem like the worst of times, I need to look beyond myself to look out not for myself but for how my life can touch others. To humbly, unselshly and untiringly represent each of you as Princess Kay and to remember the hard work and dedication of each one of you farmers that I represent. As we nish harvest and look back over the year, each of us will see both the best of times and the worst of times. We will see hardship and success, a great buy and a stupid sell, a moment of strain and a moment of laughter. But as my mom always tells me, I hope each of us is able to look for the good. See the many ways we have been blessed with the best of times. Let us recognize each good moment no matter how ordinary
G e nt
Charles Dickens, in his book, “Tale of Two Cities,” has this quote: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Lately, I have been thinking this is true of life, especially in the fall. As dairy farmers, fall is the best of times as we harvest the fruits of our labor and tuck the farm away for winter. There is a sense of accomplishment, joy and completion in On the Road with bringing in the corn, Princess Kay silage, soybeans, bedding and everything else, knowing we will be able to provide for our animals over the next year. As we work to nish everything, the fall colors are so lovely that we cannot help being amazed at the beauty all around us. An orange pumpkin on a house’s By Amy Kyllo front step always makes 66th Princess Kay of the me smile. Milky Way But fall can be the worst of times, too. Long hours trying to beat the clock to get the crops in. Worries over breakdowns, repairs, muddy elds and the moisture levels of the crop. Concerns about whether everything will fall into place nancially. These are realities for us. One of the best of times this past month was the opportunity to talk to children about farms, cows and the nutrition of dairy products. Just this month, I got to talk to 293 kindergartners and rst graders and their 15 teachers as I visited two elementary schools – one in Pipestone, Minn., and the other in Plymouth, Minn. These opportunities are precious. I spoke with them for 25-30 minutes in their classrooms. Talking to the children during class time about choosing dairy and then seeing them actually do it when I was in the lunchroom is part of what makes being Princess Kay the best. Another opportunity I had this past month was visiting the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota in Mankato, Minn., to help with butter making for kids and families. They got to knead bread dough, bake their mini loaf and make fresh butter to put on their loaf. What a good way to see where your food comes from. I know some of the people were surprised that butter is simply made by agitating heavy cream. In the museum area, I got to play with several delightful little girls in their interactive freestall barn exhibit which was complete with lights, a fan, food,
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019 • Page 27
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Page 28 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019 Joe Armstrong armst225@umn.edu 612.624.3610 Luciano Caixeta lcaixeta@umn.edu 612-625-3130 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 Joleen Hadrich jhadrich@umn.edu 612-626-5620
www.extension.umn.edu/dairy
Management, genetics of lameness in Holstein, Jersey cows By Brad Heins, Cassandra Stambuk and Heather Huson University of Minnesota
Les Hansen hanse009@umn.edu 612-624-2277 Brad Heins hein0106@umn.edu 320-589-1711 Nathan Hulinsky huli0013@umn.edu 320-203-6104 Kevin Janni kjanni@umn.edu 612-625-3108 Karen Johnson ande9495@umn.edu 320-484-4334 Claire LaCanne lacanne@umn.edu 507-332-6109 Brenda Miller nels4220@umn.edu 320-732-4435 Kota Minegishi kota@umn.edu 612-624-7455 Erin Royster royster@umn.edu Jim Salfer salfe001@umn.edu 320-203-6093 Mike Schutz mschutz@umn.edu 612-624-1205 M. Scott Wells mswells@umn.edu 612-625-3747 Emily Wilmes krek0033@umn.edu 320-255-6169
Improvements in animal welfare are a priority for animal agriculture and can benet both animals and producers. There is a growing concern for the well-being of animals in response to the demand of consumers for welfare-certied products. Lameness is a major animal welfare and economic issue for the dairy industry and is a challenge to overcome due to lameness being caused by many factors. Lameness challenges the sustainability of dairy production systems due to the pain and ensuing animal welfare issues along with signicant economic losses. Digital cushion thickness is a strong predictor of lameness and is associated with sole ulcers and white line disease. In a recently completed study, we collected lameness information and digital cushion thickness from seven commercial dairy farms (ve Holstein farms and two Jersey farms) and one bull facility (Holstein and Jersey) in New York. The study included 698 cows and 85 bulls (Holstein and Jersey), and hooves of animals were evaluated with ultrasound images of the digital cushion at the sole ulcer site. The objectives of our study were to examine the inuences of management and environment on digital cushion thickness and identify genetic markers for lameness. The table shows results for digital cushion thickness by breed and farm management characteristics. Digital cushion thickness (DCT) measurements of Holsteins were greater than DCT measurements of Jerseys for both cows and bulls. Holsteins are the largest U.S. dairy breed, and, therefore, thicker digital cushion in Holsteins may support hoof integrity for their larger body size. Older cows had thicker digital cushions than rst lactation cows for two factors related to production. When the farm milked cows on a rotary parlor and the farm averaged less than 90 pounds per cow per day. Furthermore, older cows had thicker digital cushions than rst lactation cows when bedded with manure solids, rubber ooring was present in the feed alley, and farm employees had to manually scrape manure out of alleyways with skid loaders. For both lactation groups and bedding type, the cows with stalls bedded with sand had thicker digital cushions than the cows bedded with manure solids. The digital cushion was thinner for all cows when there was rubber present in the feed alley of the barn. These results may help identify animals with higher odds of developing lameness by highlighting key management factors
and specic digits of hooves of importance for monitoring. This could allow producers to monitor those cows closely and adjust management practices such that lameness is prevented or detected early enough to alleviate pain, improve resolution of cases, avoid possible major changes to the hoof structures and prevent negative effects like decreased productivity. Results also indicate that lameness is a complex disorder inuenced by genetic and environmental factors. Genetic markers associated with digital cushion thickness change depending on breed, hoof digit and foot. It is important to note that genomes of dairy cattle are not fully understood. There could be genes in genomic regions from this study inuencing variation in lameness that are not yet characterized. The genetic markers discovered in this study have the opportunity to be used in breeding programs utilizing genomics to select against claw horn disruption lesions and lameness. Digital cushion thickness (inches) by breed and farm management characteristics for rst and second and greater lactation cows. Variable Cows Bulls
First lactation
Jersey 0.34 0.30 Second+ lactation
Parallel parlor Rotary parlor
0.47 0.37
0.48 0.44
Milk yield (≤90 lb./day)
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Milk yield (>90 lb./day)
0.48
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Do all cows with high ketones need treatment? By Luciano Caixeta University of Minnesota
Ketosis is an early lactation metabolic disease frequently observed in highproducing dairy cows because of the mismatch between high nutritional demands and decreased feed intake. We have seen multiple research publications showing that ketosis is associated with decreased milk yield, increased occurrence of other diseases, suboptimal reproductive performance and increased culling. It has been determined that each ketosis case costs on average $289 when we add up these losses. For all these reasons, many dairy farms across the country test fresh cows for ketosis using urine ketone sticks or a cow-side blood test on a regular basis and treat all cows deemed positive (i.e., threshold is trace ketones or greater when using the urine test, and beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) concentration > 1.2 mmol/L when using blood test). Although treating ketotic cows using oral propylene glycol or intravenous dextrose decreases circulating ketones, many dairy cows have lower circulating ketones on subsequent days even without administration of any treatment. Moreover, in herds monitoring ketosis twice per week, it is common to nd cows that are producing a lot of milk and look clinically normal while having high levels of ketones in urine or blood. Therefore, we need to ask two questions when we are interpreting ketosis monitoring results: Are all cows that test positive sick? Do all positive cows need treatment? Attempting to answer the rst question, our group at the University of Minnesota conducted a study in ve farms across the state. In our study, we measured blood BHB once between 3-10 days in milk and used milk production during the rst week post-partum as a proxy for wellbeing during early lactation. After that, we monitored milk production, reproductive performance and culling rates for all animals enrolled during the whole lactation. As expected, approximately 20% of the cows in our study had high blood BHB (> 1.2 mmol/L). Among these cows, we identied two subgroups of ketotic cows. The rst subset of cows were in the top 50% for milk production while having high blood BHB concentrations. These animals had similar milk production, re-
productive performance and culling likelihood than non-ketotic (healthy) animals throughout the whole lactation. On the other hand, the cows that were in the bottom 50% for milk production and had high blood BHB, produced less milk throughout lactation, had impaired reproductive performance and were more likely to leave their herd by 60 days in milk. Our early results corroborate the hypothesis that not all cows with high concentrations of blood BHB in early lactation are sick. Our investigations are ongoing, and we have not yet performed a study that specically answers the second question; however, our results – and previously published data – indicate that animals with high blood BHB that are doing well (i.e., eating well, producing high amounts of milk and have good general attitude) are not sick and do not necessarily need treatment. The probable explanation for the high blood ketone concentrations in these ketotic cows that are doing well is a greater mobilization of body reserves (i.e. fat and protein) necessary to overcome the energy decit triggered by their elevated milk production. In our experience, we expect these animals will have lower blood BHB concentration once they overcome this extreme energy decit without the administration of propylene glycol or dextrose. At this moment, we do not have research-derived objective measurements to determine which animals are indeed sick and need to be treated. Therefore, carefully observing fresh cows for their clinical appearance and well-being in addition to measuring ketone levels in blood or urine and monitoring milk production in early lactation are paramount to determine which animals are sick and need treatment. Our current recommendation is to treat only ketotic cows that appear to be suffering from excessive energy decit in early lactation. In simple terms: Cows that are eating well, producing a lot of milk and appear healthy do not need treatment for ketosis. In conclusion, not all cows with high circulating ketones are sick nor need to receive treatment. Thus, careful monitoring and examination of fresh cows are important to improve case selection, decrease treatment costs and avoid unnecessary treatment of high producing cows that are healthy.
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A nal memory Page 30 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019
Memory can be a curious thing. My memories of my father’s sudden passing are a good example. Jumbled images and emotions boil through my mind. The bolt of shock that shot through me when I found Dad lying motionless on the kitchen oor, his blue eyes unblinking and vacant. I instantly knew that he was gone. Trying to perform CPR while I waited an eternity for the ambulance. At the hospital, the anguished faces of my siblings. The quiet moan that arose from my family when the doctor made it ofcial. A major coronary. There was nothing anyone could have done. The soul-crushing business of arranging a funeral. Picking out a casket, buying owers. Were we doing it right? Would Dad have been pleased? The overow crowd at the funeral. We had no idea that Dad knew so many folks. Emerging from
the church into the balmy April sunshine; a gorgeous spring day. Dad would have been pleased. The slow ride to the hardscrabble hillside cemetery. The pastor saying his words and the Legion starting its military rites. A young man put a bugle to his lips, and Taps echoed off the headstones. Who would not be moved when Taps is played at such an occasion? I tried to get through it by recalling the words. All I could remember was “day is done.” Dad, a lifelong dairyman, had once been a sailor. Then I remembered George Tate. About six months before Dad died, George had stopped at our farm. George, a local farmer, was hauling hay for us with his truck-mounted stack mover. George had parked his truck near our dairy
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barn. He unfolded his lanky frame from the cab and moseyed over to Dad and me. George never passed up an opportunity to chat. Especially, it seemed, when he had a chance to talk with Dad. I am sure we had Dear County Agent Guy work to do (when does a dairy farmer ever rest?), but I decided to hang around the two older guys and listen to their conversation. At some point, George asked Dad if he had been in the service. Dad said that he had. “What branch?” asked George. Dad replied By Jerry Nelson that he had joined the Columnist Navy when he was 17. A look of intrigue crossed George’s weather-beaten face. Where had Dad sailed? The South Pacic said Dad. “Iwo Jima?” asked George. “That’s right,” said Dad. A broad smile split George’s kindly features. “I was at Iwo Jima too,” he exclaimed. What transpired next was a wonder. My siblings and I knew that Dad had served in the war, but it was a chapter of his life he was reluctant to discuss. What little he did say were not words of shame but those of a man who had looked upon an unspeakable horror and was trying to shield his children’s eyes from a ghastly sight. As George and Dad visited that day, I listened in quiet amazement as the two old salts swapped stories. George spoke of bullets pinging off the hull of his landing craft as he ferried troops to the island. Dad recalled how the recoil from a salvo of his battleship’s nine 16-inch guns would cause the massive vessel to rock from side to side. They both spoke soberly of the terrible losses our forces sustained. At length George said, “We’ve seen a lot of Fourth of Julys, haven’t we?” Dad nodded in silent agreement, seeming to be suddenly embarrassed by the fact that I had been eavesdropping. That afternoon, I learned more about Dad’s part in the war than in all of the previous 38 years combined. As the last notes of Taps died out, I glanced around the cemetery to see if George were there. I espied him at the fringe of the crowd, standing tall and erect, his hand to his temple in a crisp military salute – an old warrior’s nal tribute to a fallen comrade. At that moment, I wanted to give George a bear hug and thank him for lending me a deeper understanding of my father. But, I did not for fear that I would appear unmanly. But God, how I wish I had. For George had bestowed upon me a gift on that long-ago autumn day, a gift I have passed along to our sons. Memories of a man who never shrank from his duties, be it to his family, his farm or his country. So, the next time you pass a cemetery and see rows of tiny ags uttering in the breeze, pause to give thanks for those who were willing to put everything on the line so that every American can live free. And, think of all those memories. 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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Bimodal milk let down: Why it is important?
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019 • Page 31
Bimodal milking is a result of delayed milk ejection (DME). In such cases, milk in the gland cistern empties into the claw. But, since milk has not been released from the alveoli, milk ow diminishes greatly until the effects Veterinary Wisdom of stimulation by the liners causes oxytocin release and then release of alveolar milk. When this happens, milk ow rapidly increases and proceeds as regular and normal. We have known about bimodal milking for many years. Measuring bimodal milking, or DME, have By Jim Bennett been difcult for most of Columnist us. A relatively new tool, the VaDia digital recorder, now makes measurement much easier. Since we can now measure DME, we can manage it. A couple of recent studies from Michigan have helped us better understand what causes DME and how DME affects the cow. In the rst study (Moore-Foster et. al. 2019), milk ow dynamics were recorded for 3,824 milkings on 64 herds. Average SCC was 157,000, and average milk production was 83 pounds. Average stimulation time during the rst pre-milking pass was eight seconds, and the average total stimulation time was 14.2 seconds. The average prep-lag time (rst touch to attachment) was 103 seconds. DME was dened as more than 30 seconds from start of milking until the beginning of ow. DME occurred in an average of 25% of the cows in each herd, with a range of 0% to 75%. Decreasing the stimulation time was the most signicant variable affecting DME. Herd size was the next most signicant variable, with larger herds having greater proportions of cows with DME.
Previous studies have shown stimulation time and prep-lag time to affect DME. Most experts suggest somewhere between 60-120 seconds as appropriate prep-lag times, and total stimulation time of greater than 10 or 12 seconds. Proper stimulation and prep-lag times may not be as critical for cows with greater udder ll, such as early lactation cows. Prep-lag time was not a signicant factor affecting DME in this study, but the authors’ concluded that few cows in the study were observed with very short prep-lag times. Larger herds may have more emphasis on parlor throughput than smaller farms; this was the explanation for the observation of greater proportions of cows with DME in large herds. An interesting nding was that DME did not increase a cow’s total milking time. This is counterintuitive because one would expect milking to take longer if the ow is delayed at the beginning.
W h We have k known about b bimodal milking for many years. Indeed, many consultants have assumed that DME increases milking time based on this reasoning. Thus, this study suggested that perhaps yield was reduced in cows with DME. In the second, follow up study (Erskine, 2019), milk production and milk vacuum dynamics were tracked in one herd for 10 days to determine if DME resulted in reduced milk production. Of the cows in the herd, 46% exhibited bimodal milk ow. In cows where milk let down was delayed for 60 seconds, daily milk production was reduced by seven pounds. This is an important nding because it means delayed milk ejection signicantly decreases milk production and revenue on a farm. If one uses a goal of less than 20% DME, a herd with 75% DME would be losing seven
pounds of production per day on 50% of their cows or would see a total reduction in milk production by 3.5 pounds per cow per day for all cows. Increasing stimulation time would not increase unit on time, though it could decrease parlor throughput if adding stimulation time signicantly extended the time from opening the parlor gate until all units are off. Of course, we also know that DME results in a greater percentage of milking time in low ow which can be harmful to teat ends and ultimately may increase incidence of clinical and subclinical mastitis. So, why is bimodal milk let down important? Because it happens when milk ejection is delayed, and because delayed milk letdown results in signicantly less milk. For herds with a signicant percentage of cows exhibiting DME, a simple way to increase milk production and total revenue is to increase pre-milking stimulation time. Teat end health may also improve by reducing DME. Testing for bimodal letdown and DME is simple and can be done by monitoring one milking with a couple of VaDia testers in most cases. Ask your veterinarian for details. Bennett is one of four dairy veterinarians at Northern Valley Dairy Production Medicine Center in Plainview, Minn. He also consults on dairy farms in other states. He and his wife, Pam, have four children. Jim can be reached at bennettnvac@gmail.com with comments or questions.
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Page 32 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019
Do you ever think when you drive by other In early June, I wrote about our corn planting woes and how severely wet our soils were. We were people’s ďƒželds how nice they look from the road able to plant corn on about 1,000 acres from June 4-8. and if only your ďƒželds were that nice? Let me tell We had also previously mudded in 1,000 acres during you a little secret, their ďƒželds have problems too. We very brief planting windows secured some of the lower, throughout May. We also wetter ďƒželds because they Do you ever think hi k when h you reseeded many drowned D could not plant them in a out acres of alfalfa with drive by other people’s fields timely manner. We also perennial ryegrass mixes. found rocks, gullies and tile Then the fun started. We how nice they look from the washouts just like in our own were able to secure another road and if only your fields ďƒželds. 2,000 acres of prevent plant Now it is November, acres from neighbors who were that nice? and I can tell you the good, realized that planting cash bad and the ugly of how it crop corn after June 1 was all turned out. The Japanese not going to be a winner. We ordered 1,600 acres of millet was a winner. It was easy to seed, fertilize and dwarf BMR forage sorghum seed, 150 acres of Teff weed, and control costs were minimal. In 60 days, we seed and 250 acres of Japanese millet seed. had 5-6 tons per acre of 65% moisture grass silage that
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tested 14% protein. This along with a few pounds of ground corn almost makes a perfect heifer ration. We planted it around July 1 and thought we might even get a second crop off it, but it did not regrow much after Sept. 1. If I ever get soybeans hailed off in Making Cents of Dairy early summer, Japanese millet would be my ďƒžrst option to plant on those acres. The Teff grass was slow to germinate and grew slowly at ďƒžrst. The seed was high priced, and a little hard to get. We chopped most of it with the millet, but it only yielded about 2-3 By Dave Vander Kooi tons per acre. We did Columnist round bale some and even made a few small square bales. The dry hay smelled great, and it did test in the high teens in protein. It might have a place for horse or calf hay. My grandsons are thinking about more small square bales next year so they can make some cash. The verdict on the forage sorghum is still out. As of now we have chopped about 1,000 acres with it averaging about 10 tons per acre. We have ďƒžnished two piles of it at two of our heifer grower farms. The feed absolutely smells delicious and is running about 65% moisture even after the many hard freezes we have already had. We are working on our last pile at the dairy, and our nutritionist wants to use it for several purposes. He wants to replace some straw and corn silage in the dry cow ration and thinks it will save 2030 cents per cow per day. He also wants to put some in the milk cow ration to replace some purchased wet gluten, hoping to save 15 cents per cow per day. Supposedly there is high sugar content in the forage sorghum that makes it a special kind of feed. So far the early samples are running 10%-11% protein. We ďƒžgure we have $25 per ton in hard costs in the forage sorghum. This would include seed, fertilizer, weed control, land compensation, chopping, hauling and packing. That would be about $10-$15 less than one ton of corn silage. The feed is not as valuable as corn silage, but we do not know for sure how much less valuable. We do know it is feed. The ugly part of all this is the extra work everyone has done to accomplish all this. I have employees secretly texting me if they can join me on the combine crew instead of getting their trucks drug through the mud all day on the silage crew. Fortunately, Joe bought a Safety Pull setup for all the trucks this year, and it gets used all too frequently. My favorite Peterbilt has a bad starter, a broken hydraulic pump, uses two gallons of engine oil daily and is probably carrying an extra ton of mud on it. Seriously, the employees have been great as have been all the neighbors who worked with us through this challenging year. I hope we never have to do it again. I think all of us would have gone crazy were it not for daughter-in-law Rita bringing out delicious meals to the ďƒželd every noon and night for over a month. Vander Kooi operates a 1,800-cow, 4,500 acre farm with his son, Joe, and daughter-in-law, Rita, near Worthington, Minn. Send him feedback at davevkooi@ icloud.com. Follow him on Instagram, @davevanderkooi.
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Genial labor not a bad option
“I’ve been doing genial labor all of my life.” That statement jumped off of the application for the work of milking cows and scraping manure at our farm. It was written by an 18-year-old we recently hired. I thought about the genial labor description about work experience that would make him a good candidate for the job. Curious, I found the dictionary denition, “ge.ni.al, adjective, friendly and cheerful.” At rst, I thought he meant to write menial labor. When I looked again, I decided he may have meant general labor. But, I like the original descriptor of genial labor. After all, that is what a lot of dairy farming, or any type of farming, is all about day in and day out – doing hard work in an amiable fashion. Come Full Dairy Circle I have been thinking about the labor we do and also what every parent, aunt and uncle before us has done to get us to the place where we are now on our operation. I think about the work handled every day by the people whom we work with side by side, and I wonder sometimes what drives us to do it. The days are long and the work is tough and wearing on bodies and minds. My pondering during November leads me to think of relatives and friends who have served or are serving in the U.S. military. We will soon observe Veterans Day when we honor those who served in every facet of the U.S. military in countless wars By Jean Annexstad and in countless ways. I appreciate all they have Columnist done to insure our freedom. In our families, both my father, Richard, and Rolf’s father, Carl, served in World War II. They were young men from farms, in the middle of college, trained in the Navy and sent off to the Pacic and Atlantic. What must that have been like? What did their days hold? How different would their lives have been from what they were accustomed to growing up on a farm? I have often wondered about those things. Sadly, neither can be asked now, but they did leave some of their thoughts behind. Here is what was published in a book about Norseland’s history taken from an interview with Carl in 2008. “Carl’s experience was joining the Navy and enrolling in the U-12 program (Navy Ofcer Training) in 1943. Carl was sent to Pearl Harbor in November of 1944 and assigned to LST 446, which was part of a otilla assigned to carry the Marines on their initial landing on Iwo Jima in February and Okinawa in April. Heading west from Pearl Harbor in total black-out at night and radio silence by day, Carl pulled watch on the ‘bridge’ and it gave him ample time to think about home.” He recalls, “In the very tense hours prior to the landing, I began to wonder what I was doing here. I volunteered for this. Tasks at home that I had hated seemed very pleasant – vaccinating pigs in a hot, dusty hog pen, cleaning the chicken house on a day when the wind was from the south, splitting wood in below zero weather, cleaning calf pens. But here I was, surrounded by people as frightened as I was, still all alone. And if I could describe the fear as the kamikaze approached (it appeared we were a split second from eternity), I would, but words to describe it were not in my vocabulary.” Those words my father-in-law spoke are memorable. They are especially poignant because my own father’s aircraft carrier, the U.S. Ticonderoga, was hit by kamikaze planes, killing 300 on board when he was out ying missions. His roommate was killed as he slept. My father had enlisted in the Navy Air Corps, trained in Pensacola, Fla., ying OS2U seaplanes patrolling for German submarines, then continued ying in a ghter squadron, ying F4Us and F6Fs in missions in the Philippines. After WWII ended, Richard nished college at the University of Minnesota, worked as a bacteriologist for the Minnesota State Dairy and Food Department, and eventually returned to his home to farm, raising dairy, hogs and chickens and growing crops. Carl returned to his family’s farm and eventually moved to our present farm where he and my mother-in-law began to dairy farm. Our fathers came back from their wartime duty and gladly worked on their farms without complaining. Maybe it was the way they were raised or their personalities, but no doubt part of their dedication and enjoyment was because of their U.S. Navy experiences. They gained perspective and an appreciation for the farm life and work. It is important to reect on their experiences and to express gratitude and appreciation for what all people in military service did for this county and are doing yet today. It is good to pause and think about this as we go about our genial labor. Jean dairy farms with her husband, Rolf, and brother-in-law, Mike, and children Emily, Matthias and Leif. They farm near St. Peter, in Norseland, where she is still trying to t in with the Norwegians and Swedes. They milk 200 cows and farm 650 acres. She can be reached at jeanannexstad@gmail.com.
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Page 34 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019
Huus named general manager at Plainview Milk Products Cooperative
New leader hopes to add patrons, further integrate cooperative’s two locations By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
PLAINVIEW, Minn. – Plainview Milk Products Cooperative has a new general manager. Guy Huus is the new leader for the cooperative that has 184 patrons and two plant locations – one in Plainview, Minn., and one in Hastings, Minn. “I’m looking to solidify the organization and get it on a disciplined path for maintaining its business and growing it,” Huus said. Huus grew up in a small town in North Dakota, spending summers working on relatives’ farms. For the past 17 years, Huus has been managing companies, with 15 of those being in the food industry. Along with being in charge of the information technology department at Cargill for eight years, Huus has also worked for potato and sunower seed businesses, interacting with both growers and customers. “My dairy background is limited,” Huus said. “I believe why the board brought me in was primarily because of my leadership experience. What I’m very good at is the manufacturing business, managing relationships both on the patron side and on the customer side.” This goes hand in hand with the rst of his four objectives for the cooperative – improve customer and patron relations. “As the business leader … a lot of what I do is manage relationships,” Huus
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Guy Huus is the general manager of Plainview Milk Products CooperaƟve effecƟve Oct. 1. The cooperaƟve has two plant locaƟons – Plainview, Minn., and HasƟngs, Minn. said. “A big focus for me is solidifying relationship with customers so I’ll be actively involved in doing that. And, also at the patron level, getting in front of patrons and working with eld service staff to maintain those relationships.” Huus said this will always be part of the plan. “My objectives from year to year will always be to improve relations with patrons and customers,” he said. “I don’t think that ever goes away. It’s a continual maintenance thing. You’re always in front
of customers wanting to get additional business and maintain the business you currently have. That’s a very important activity. You do that with patrons, too.” His second objective for the cooperative is to create a strategic plan to improve the protability of the business. This will be done by setting up a three to ve year plan. “It is something that identies and prioritizes work activity going forward,” Huus said. “The goal would be to improve the sales and protability for the co-op.
There will be process improvement initiatives that are identied. Those are things we’ll work on as we go forward.” Part of this includes the goal of lling the plants to capacity by bringing on more patrons. His third objective is to integrate the co-ops’ Plainview and Hastings locations. “We merged with Hastings [Cooperative Creamery] less than a year ago so another objective is to nd the synergies for that integration and get that tightly integrated as one entity,” Huus said. The fourth objective is to manage day-to-day business at both locations. While Huus will be primarily focused on the plant in Plainview, he will spend one or two days a week in Hastings to work together with the assistant general manager there. Although the milk price has been rising, Huus is aware of the economic turmoil that has been happening the previous four years in the dairy industry. “When there’s changes, you have to understand where you’re at and where you’re going,” Huus said. “Then you have to review that on an ongoing basis so you can react to it properly. I think the businesses that react to it properly are the ones that actually soften the downturns.” Regardless of milk price, Huus is looking forward to working with the farmers, employees and customers of Plainview Milk Products Cooperative. “I get excited about developing the people and the business itself,” Huus said. “When I see the people grow in their careers, that enriches my job satisfaction. When I do that, that’s when I am successful. What I’m excited about is to continue to make Plainview Milk very successful. The co-op is a very vibrant co-op. It’s very strong. I’m looking to make it stronger. We’re not that far away.”
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019 • Page 35
2020 DMC enrollment open Adjustments to more accurately reect production history By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
With only a few months remaining in the rst year of the Dairy Margin Coverage program, considering how the program will t into the farm’s business model for 2020 should be on the minds of many. Enrollment for the program in 2020 opened Oct. 7 and will close Dec. 13. “We had a high rate of participation in 2019 [in Stearns County], and we’ve been promoting the program for next year,” Ryan Brunn said. Brunn is Stearns County’s executive director for the United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency. While the structure of the program will remain the same, there is a slight change to benet farms that have transitioned ownership. This year, dairy farmers have the option to apply for a one-time retroactive intergenerational transfer provision, which would account for a family member becoming a stakeholder in the dairy business and adjusting production history accordingly. “With this retroactive option, if a lineal family member joined the dairy farm and they purchased cattle for the dairy, production history would be increased proportionate to the number of cattle added,” Brunn said. The provision will include intergenerational transfers from 2014 to present and cattle purchased within 120 days of the family member joining the farm. “A lineal family member means a son, daughter, adopted child or grandchild or a spouse of any of those,” Brunn said. A similar rule was in place in the former Margin Protection Program. To participate in DMC, dairy farmers must enroll by the Decem-
ber deadline, regardless if they are signing up for the rst time or have locked in an elected coverage level for ve years. When enrolling, farmers are responsible for paying a yearly $100 administrative fee and signing a contract. “We need farmers to enroll whether this is a one-time participation or the second year of ve years,” Brunn said. “It’s a way for us to catch if there are any changes to the business.” Such changes would be if the business was restructured and to conrm the dairy has continued selling milk commercially. Or, if the farm has discontinued milking cows, then FSA also needs to be informed. “Our goal is to make sure they still meet the criteria of the program,” Brunn said. “It’s a way for us to have continued communication with everyone; to get together once a year and go over the accuracy of the farm’s information for enrollment.” As of Oct. 28, 85% of licensed dairy operations in the United States were enrolled in DMC and received more than $300 million in indemnity payments in 2019, according to the USDA. At the top of the list was Wisconsin’s dairy industry. To date, 5,884 of the state’s 6,518 dairy operations with established production history have received a total of $68,808,842 in indemnity payments. “While we don’t know how enrollment will ultimately go for this coming year, we are doing a small amount of outreach so farmers are aware,” Brunn said. In the rst month of 2020 enrollment, the nation has seen 2.49% of its dairy operations with established production history opt in for DMC. Wisconsin dairy farms make up nearly half the list with 327 farms enrolled, 5% of the state’s dairy industry. For more information on DMC enrollment, speak with a county FSA agent or visit the USDA’s website at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/programsand-services/dairy-margin-coverage-program/index.
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Page 36 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019
Women In Dairy Stacy Leiding Fountain, Minn. Fillmore County 65 cows Family: My husband, Todd, and I have two daughters. Kayla is a market analyst for an ATV company and Haely is a high school agricultural teacher. Tell us about your farm. We farm 360 acres of corn, alfalfa and soybean. We milk our cows in a 47-stall tiestall barn twice a day at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. Our farm’s prex is Shir-Man Holsteins. The name is a combination of my parents’ rst names, Shirley and Tillman. This is my family’s farm. Todd and I returned to the farm in 1995. We took over from Mom and Dad in 2008. What is the busiest time of day for you? Morning is busy for me. That is when we are trying to get everything done before needing to get out in the elds or do other projects. During harvest time, I usually stay back to nish barn chores while Todd starts in the eld. We have one part-time employee, and Kayla and Haely help whenever they are home, but otherwise it is the two of us. When you get a spare moment what do you do? I enjoy volunteering, especially for 4-H. I have been coaching 4-H dairy judging for over 20 years. I enjoy working with the kids, and watching them develop and see success over the years. When I am not volunteering, I also like to bake and watch movies on the Hallmark Channel. Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. Having the honor of coming home to work side by side with my parents. I have such respect and admiration for them, especially my dad who has been gone for three years. A specic memorable instance was when we classied and had our rst homebred Excellent cow. She went 91 points as a 3-year-old. It is fun to see the improvement of the cows. Now whenever we classify, the girls come home to help get the cows ready. They take a lot of pride in it. As a mom, that feels good to have passed that on to them. What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? The people. We all have a common interest. We are all in dairy farming because we enjoy it and like what we do (most days). I also enjoy the family unity. It is great to work as a family and see our children grow up while instilling the same values in them my parents instilled in me. The girls always
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knew things on the farm needed to done before anything else. How do you stay connected with others in the industry? We go to producer meetings to talk to other dairy farmers. We also like to participate in and go to shows to see what is new and what is out there for bulls. Of course, World Dairy Expo is a good place to stay connected. I also look at Facebook pages. I am not on it much, but, when I am, I like to see the questions and the feedback. It is amazing the things people try. Todd also keeps me up to date on things in the industry. He is an avid reader and keeps up on current trends. Who is someone in the industry who has inspired you? My parents. My mom was a city girl and learned to become a farmer’s wife. She is the strongest woman I know. She worked hard and is a good example to follow. My dad also instilled in me a strong work ethic and helped me gain responsibility from a young age. Every day I think of something he did, said or taught me. Even though we worked alongside Mom and Dad, they made sure my siblings and I could get to our activities – 4-H, FFA and sports. If you could give a tour of your farm to a prominent woman in today’s society, who would it be? Hoda Kotb from Today. When I get short breaks during morning chores, I like to catch her on our TV in the barn ofce. She is always positive, bubbly and always has a smile. I like how she portrays herself. I think she would come in with a positive attitude. What is the best vacation you have ever taken? We took the kids to Florida to Disney World when they were in elementary school. It was over Christmas so everything was decorated. We were with extended family. Another fun trip was when we traveled with the girls and their dairy judging team to the national contest in Harrisburg, Pa. We went to Boston for a few days. What are some words you like to live by? I try to start my day with optimism and positivity. With the industry the way it is, I try to be positive. I also try to live each day to the fullest because I do not know what is going to happen. A lot of people around us lately have come down with sicknesses, and I have had a lot of health issues myself. It puts life into a different perspective. Also, think before you speak. You cannot take your words back. Finally, we are blessed with family and good friends.
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PHOTO SUBMITTED
Thomas Duden helps kids pet a calf Oct. 28 during a promoĆ&#x;onal event at the Chick-Fil-A in Coon Rapids, Minn. Duden milks 40 cows with his family near Princeton, Minn.
Duden, princesses promote at Chick-Fil-A in metro By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
COON RAPIDS, Minn. – Thomas Duden has come to a realization after setting up a recent dairy promotion event. “Go to where the people are,� he said. On Oct. 28, Duden brought two calves – one Holstein and one Jersey– from his family’s farm to the Chick-Fil-A fast food restaurant in the Twin Cities suburb of Coon Rapids, Minn. He farms together with his wife, Kristin, and her parents, Richard and Margaret Reiman, on their 40-cow dairy near Princeton, Minn. The idea to promote at the restaurant came from Duden’s 6-year-old daughter, Madelynn, when the family was there for dinner one night. “They handed my (1-year-old) son, Cordell, a toy cow that said, ‘Eat more chicken.’ Madelynn said
we should bring a cow here and I said, ‘You’re right,’â€? Duden said. After contacting the restaurant, Duden scheduled the promotion in conjunction with kids night, a twohour event held every Monday evening. To help him, he recruited Mille Lacs County dairy princesses, Abby Grimm and Summer Schepper, along with Stearns County Dairy Princess, Donna Honer. “I didn’t know what to expect, ‌ but it ended up being a really cool and fun event,â€? said Honer, who was one of the 10 Princess Kay of the Milky Way ďƒžnalists this year. Many of the kids and parents in attendance did not have connections to dairy farms. Because of this, Honer answered basic questions about the calves and the Molitor family’s farm where she worked four years in St. Cloud, Minn. However, she also had the opportunity to answer a few more indepth questions, including from a mom who said she had been serving milk alternatives to her family after reading an article online claiming its beneďƒžts over cows’ milk.
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Summer Schepper, Mille Lacs County dairy princess, Donna Honer, Stearns County dairy princess and Abby Grimm, Mille Lacs County dairy princess, pose with the two calves at a promoĆ&#x;onal event Oct. 28 in Coon Rapids, Minn.
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ConƟnued from DUDEN | Page 37
“I went on to explain to her the nine essential nutrients found in milk and how good they are for her kids, especially since both of her kids are in soccer,” Honer said. “I explained it’s important and milk is a super easy and natural way to incorporate vitamins and nutrients in kids’ diets. It was cool to see that spark that she didn’t know all these nutrients were in milk. … I had a very productive conversation with her that I never anticipated having.” Duden also had a good time sharing his family’s dairy story. “We’re real people, and we care for our animals,” Duden said. “It
“In this day and age, we have to think outside the box. The dairy industry is changing and marketing it the same way doesn’t work. We have to hit the metro.” THOMAS DUDEN, DAIRY FARMER
was interesting because a couple people asked me how all these trade tariffs were hurting us. That was my chance to say they’re doing nothing for me. I’ve been losing money in the last four years. It gave me the opportunity to say here’s what’s really going on. Not what’s going on CNN.” Honer said the evening gave her a sense of purpose after answering
many questions and making connections. “You’re wearing the sash, speaking directly with consumers and helping them better understand why we do what we do, and why it’s good you eat dairy and enjoy it, and have your family enjoy it, too,” she said. Since the evening was a success, Duden has his sights set on more promoting in the future. “But I’m not doing it in my hometown,” Duden said. “I can sit in the bank and hand out milk and cheese, but I’m going to hit 20 people who already know what it is.” Instead, he is going to try to set up an event at the Costco in Maple Grove, Minn. Although Duden’s farm is not in a county within the metropolitan area, he said he’s willing to drive to reach more people with his promotions. “It’s not like it is the next town over. I had to drive 45 minutes to get there,” Duden said about driving from his home county of Mille Lacs to the Chick-Fil-A event in Anoka County. “In this day and age, we have to think outside the box. The dairy industry is changing and marketing it the same way doesn’t work. We have to hit the metro.” Honer agreed. “I think one of the biggest impacts we made was putting ourselves out there and starting a conversation in a spot people wouldn’t normally anticipate us being,” she said. “Being at a Chick-Fil-A on the edge of the (Twin) Cities is a perfect example of how we’re moving forward as dairy advocates. We’re going out and putting ourselves in places for the general public to come in on their own and experience these calves.”
MINNESOTA • A&C Farm Service Inc. - Paynesville, MN • Aldrich Tractor - Verndale, MN • Caledonia Implement Company - Caledonia, MN • Mid-Central Equipment - Henning, MN • Northland Farm Systems Inc. - Owatonna, MN SOUTH DAKOTA • Lake County International - Madison, SD
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Thomas Duden holds a Jersey calf for kids to pet Oct. 28 during a promoƟonal event at the Chick-Fil-A in Coon Rapids, Minn.
They are bringing the farm to more people. “Parents were grateful for the opportunity,” Honer said. “Putting their kids in a car and driving an hour to
go to a farm can be challenging for them so being right there where they can just bump into us is really empowering.”
IOWA • Baumler Implement - West Union, IA • Reiser Implement - Waukon, IA WISCONSIN • Lindstrom Equipment - Mondovi & Menomonie,WI
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019 • Page 39
Dairy prole
with Joel Hauder, of Frazee, Minn.
Joel Hauder Frazee, Minn. Becker County 48 cows How did you get into farming? This is the home farm. Dad passed away when Jason and I were 19 and 20, respectively, so we took over for him. Jason and I farm in a partnership. What are your thoughts and concerns about the dairy industry for the next year? I hope the price of milk holds on. It is nice to see it come up. It helped a lot when we got $18-$19. What is the latest technology you implemented on your farm and the purpose for it? We have a bale wrapper. It is a three-point single bale wrapper. It has helped us put up high-quality feed. What is a management practice you changed in the past year that has beneted you? We’ve been breeding more dairy cows to Angus. We didn’t need the extra heifers, and the bull calf market for Angus is much better than Holsteins. We switched to Jerseys six years ago and that helped with protein and butterfat. We have a lot of crossbreeds. What cost-saving steps have you implemented during the low milk price? We just went about our business and didn’t purchase a lot. How do you retain a good working relationship with your employees? I work with my brother, and it will be
30 years in January that we have been farming together. We both have things that we are better at on the farm. He is better at working with the machinery, and I like the cattle more. Tell us about a skill you possess that makes dairy farming easier for you. I do my own A.I. I also try to pay attention to the cows, to determine milk fevers or other health issues. What do you enjoy most about dairy farming? I like milking the cows with Jason. It is our time to visit about the day and what we are going to do.
What advice would you give other dairy farmers? Work with your neighbors and family if you get the chance. What has been the best purchase you have ever made on your farm? The skidsteer. We can do everything from feeding, cleaning manure, doing rewood and other things. What has been your biggest accomplishment while dairy farming? Surviving the dairy industry for 30 years. At rst, we thought doing it until we were 40 would be good. Now we are 50, and we keep going.
What are your plans for your dairy in the next year and ve years? We are hoping to get a better calf raising facility for the weaned calves. Now we put them in any available building. How do you or your family like to spend time when you are not doing chores? I like to spend time with family and deer hunt. There are 12 of us kids and six live around Frazee. We see one brother and sister weekly.
Hauling Expenses Impacting Your Bottom Line? CIH 8920, FWA, 3,631 hrs. $72,500
Brent 544 w/roll tarp, like new - $11,500
USED TRACTORS
CIH 8910, FWA, 1600 hrs. ..............Coming In CIH 8930, FWA, low hours ..............Coming In CIH 7220, 2WD, 2300 hrs, 18.4x42 ... $71,000 CIH 7230, 3500 hrs., new rubber, nice$71,000 CIH 7130, FWA................................... $48,000 CIH 7120, 2WD .................................. $42,000 JD 7200R, FWA, 280 hrs.................. $139,500
TILLAGE
CIH RMX 370, 25’ disc....................... $24,000 CIH Tigermate II, 28’ .......................... $18,000 CIH Tigermate II, 30’ .......................... $21,000 CIH 7500, 6-bottom plow..................... $7,500 CIH 7500, 4-bottom plow..................... $5,500 CIH 7500, 4-bottom plow..................... $5,000 CIH 4800, 28’ & 26’ ............................. $8,500 CIH 4800, 28’ w/IH mulcher................. $8,500 CIH 3950 cushion gang disc .............. $14,000 CIH 3900 disc, 25’ ............................. $15,000 CIH 496, 21’, non cusion ................... $11,500 CIH 530B w/lead shank ...................... $13,000 DMI 530B........................................... $13,000 DMI 530 ripper................................... $11,000 White 445 11-shank ............................. $8,500 White 445 9-shank ............................... $6,000 JD 2810 6-bottom plow ....................... $5,500
We have a large selection of snowblowers in stock!
HAYING & FORAGE EQUIP.
Sitrex QR12 rake ...................................... New Many sizes of rakes available
SAVE MONEY in the long run with a bigger bulk tank!
GRAVITY BOXES
VARIOUS SIZES OF GRAVITY BOXES ON HAND Brent 544 w/roll tarp, like new ........... $11,500 Demco 450 .......................................... $7,000 Unverferth 430 ..................................... $7,000 Parker 310 ........................................... $3,500 All sizes of used Demco gravity boxes avail.
MISCELLANEOUS
Midsota 5510 & F610 rock trailers.... In Stock Midsota F8216 rock trailer ........................ Call JD 450, 13’ w/grass ........................... $11,500 Badger Roller Mill ..................................... Call New Midsota Rock Wagons .............On Hand All Sizes of Sitrex Rakes.....................On Hand
WE HAVE A LARGE SUPPLY OF NET WRAP ON HAND
NEW MANDAKO LAND ROLLERS IN STOCK
FARM OYL PRODUCTS AVAILABLE
GREENWALD FARM CENTER Greenwald, MN • 320-987-3177
WWW.GREENWALDFARMCENTER.COM
Call Darb today for quotes on bigger bulk tanks.
United-Suckow Dairy Supply 563-422-5355 West Union, IA
563-864-7417 Postville, IA
Derma Sept®
Derma-Kote®
Page 40 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 9, 2019
&QPoV NGV RTQƂVU ETCEM VJKU YKPVGT Protect your cows with Derma Sept® and Derma-Kote® Winter’s cold, dry air can cause teat chapping and cracking. Protect your cows’ teats and your bottom line with a winter teat dip formulated and patented to shield teats from harsh winter weather. Choose Derma Sept® or Derma-Kote® from GEA to heal, protect and condition your cows’ teats while killing mastitis-causing bacteria on contact. Work with your local GEA dealer to develop a complete winter teat health program that includes Derma Sept® or Derma-Kote®.
Your Local GEA Milking Equipment Dealers
Sioux Dairy Equipment, Inc. Fuller’s Milker Center, Inc. Midwest Livestock Systems Rock Valley, IA Lancaster, WI • 800-887-4634 Menomonie, WI • 715-235-5144 Fuller’s Milker Center, Inc. Monroe WestfaliaSurge 712-476-5608 • 800-962-4346 Pine Island, MN • 800-233-8937 Lancaster, WI • 800-887-4634 Monroe, WI • 608-325-2772 Colton, SD J. Gile Dairy Equipment, Inc. Sioux Falls, SD • 800-705-1447 Service 800-944-1217 Cuba City, WILeedstone, • 608-744-2661 Beatrice, NE • 800-742-5748 Inc. Sioux Dairy Equipment, Inc. Edgerton, MN Baraboo, WI • 608-356-8384 Central Ag Supply, Inc. Melrose, MN Rock Valley, Chemical IA Sales 507-920-8626 Juneau, WI WI • 920-386-2611 Leedstone, Inc. Monroe WestfaliaSurge / Baraboo, • 608-356-8384 320-256-3303 • 800-996-3303 712-476-5608 • 800-962-4346 Melrose, MN Glencoe, MN Koehn, Inc. Juneau, WI • 920-386-2611 Colton SDEquipment, Leedstone, Inc. Tri County Dairy Sioux Dairy Inc. Supply, Inc. Eastern Iowa Dairy Systems, Inc. 877-608-3877 • 800-996-3303 Monroe, WI • 608-325-2772 Janesville, WI • 800-822-7662 Melrose, CentralEpworth, Ag Supply, IA • Inc. 563-876-3087 Glencoe, MN MN Rock Valley, IA 320-864-5575 • 877-864-5575 Preston Dairy Equipment 320-256-3303 • 800-996-3303 Baraboo, WI • 608-356-8384 712-476-5608 • 800-962-4346 Fitzgerald, Inc. Plainview, MN Sparta, WI Glencoe, MN Juneau, WI • 920-386-2611 Colton, SD Elkader, IA • 563-245-2560 507-534-3161 • 800-548-2540 608-269-3830 • 1-888-863-0227 320-864-5575 • 877-864-5575 Service 800-944-1217 Centre Dairy Equipment and Supply Inc. Woodville, WI • 866-467-4717 Centre Dairy Equipment Sauk Centre, MN Advanced Dairy Solutions 320-352-5762 • 800-342-2697 Richland Center, WI 608-647-4488 • 800-772-4770 Central Ag Supply, Inc.
Sauk Centre, MN 320-352-5762 • 800-342-2697 Fitzgerald, Inc. Elkader, IA • 563-245-2560
Midwest Livestock Systems, Inc. Menomonie, WI • 715-235-5144 Owen, WI • 715-229-4740 Pine Island, MN • 800-233-8937 Sioux Falls, MN • 800-705-1447 Beatrice, NE • 800-742-5748
Edgerton, MN Chemical Sales 507-920-8626