Looking for a Deal? Check out our Last Chance Deals on pages 16 & 17 of the Second Section
Deals!
DAIRY ST R
December 24, 2022
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 24, No. 21
The perfect pair Blum wins Dairy Star’s calf giveaway By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com
MONTICELLO, Wis. – When Johnna Blum learned she had won a heifer in Dairy Star’s Great Christmas Giveaway, she had only one question. How soon could she retrieve the calf? Johnna and her parents, John and Angie Blum, farm on their 60-cow dairy near Monticello. Their farm is home to mostly Holsteins, but two Brown Swiss cows stand out in the herd. They happen to be Johnna’s favorites. “I just think they’re cute,” Johnna said.
Pedersons welcome fourth generation
The heifer calf, V B First Choice Zorah-TW, came from Voegeli Farms near Monticello. Bryan Voegeli and his son, Chris, and his brother, Jim, milk 135 registered Brown Swiss cows. A former World Dairy Expo grand champion, several All-Americans and a Total Performance Award winner for the Brown Swiss breed are some of the cows that can be found within the pedigree of Zorah, who was born Sept. 6 and is sired by Brown Heaven C First Choice-ET. Zorah’s dam is V B Tequila Zah VG-87. Winning the calf was a surprise because the New Glarus High School freshman had no idea her name was entered. John saw the ad in Dairy Star, and after reviewing the list of participating businesses, realized he did business at a few of those places.
ABBY WIEDMEYER/DAIRY STAR
Johnna Blum shows off her new heifer calf Dec. 17 at her family’s farm near Mon�cello, Wisconsin. Blum is the winner of a Brown Swiss heifer calf from Dairy Star’s Great Christmas Giveaway.
“I had errands to run win.” a member of FFA, she has anyway, so I thought I’d Johnna is most excited Turn to GIVEAWAY put her name down,” John about taking her new calf said. “We were surprised to to the fair this summer. As | Page 7
A work in progress
By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com
WHITEHALL, Wis. – The workload at the Pederson farm has been somewhat lightened since the fourth generation has joined the team. Brothers Mark and Thane Pederson have been farming together since 1987 when Thane returned to the farm. Now, Mark’s youngest son, Austin, has joined his family as a full-time employee on the farm near Whitehall. The manpower he offers allows for progress to be made
ABBY WIEDMEYER/DAIRY STAR
Aus�n Pederson stands in the remodeled parlor Dec. 7 at his family’s farm near Whitehall, Wisconsin. Aus�n is the fourth genera�on to join the opera�on.
on the continuous updates to facilities. “I’ve worked a few other
jobs,” Austin said. “But I’d rather be here.” Austin, 22, spent time af-
down, he decided to help his dad and uncle at home. The family milks 200 cows in a retrotted parlor. Cows are housed in a sand-bedded freestall barn. The family updated its parlor and built a new milkhouse two years ago. They now milk in a swing-12 parlor, and Mark said there are opportunities to upgrade even further. “We are set up to add activity collars if we want to,” Mark said. “We’ve got the sort gate and everything. We haven’t gured out exactly how we’re going to put it in.” The upgraded parlor also offers potential for storing milk weights. For now, the guys rely on the digital read out in the parlor. They agreed it offers a point of reference while milking. “Now you know when
ter high school working jobs off the farm. When his grandfather, Kermit, began to slow Turn to PEDERSONS | Page 6