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2 DAIRY ST 5R C E L E B R A T I N G
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Y E A R S
February 25, 2023
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 25, No. 1
Carrying Unexpected invitation attends on the Molitor State of the Union blue and gold By Jan Lefebvre jan.l@star-pub.com
Woitalla family involved in FFA for generations By Tiffany Klaphake tiffany.k@dairystar.com
HOLDINGFORD, Minn. – Wearing the blue corduroy jacket means more than just being an FFA member to Grace Woitalla. It means she is a second-generation Holdingford FFA Chapter member. Both her parents, Keith and Patty Woitalla, and uncle Grace Woitalla and aunt, Kurt and Kristi Woitalla, wore the iconic blue and gold jacket when they were attending high school in Holdingford. “We didn’t force (our children) to join, but we encouraged them to try it,” Keith said. Brothers Kurt and Keith farm together, milking 125 cows in two conjoined tiestall barns. They raise 750 acres of corn, alfalfa and oats. Grace and her sister, Abby, help daily after school and on weekends. Patty helps as needed when she is not at her full-time job in St. Could. “I knew about the organization from my parents talking about it, and … one of my friends encouraged me to join her team,” Grace said. “I did well and got to go to the state convention, and after that, I just fell in love with FFA. It’s the community behind it; everyone is so supportive and
ROCKVILLE, Minn. – Before Hannah Molitor could accept an invitation to attend the State of the Union Feb. 7 in Washington, D.C., she needed to reschedule with area farmers. “I had to do some checking around,” Molitor said. “I had some herds that I was already scheduled to test. I had to call all those guys.” Molitor is a eld representative for Dairy Herd Improvement Association. She also helps at her family’s dairy farm, owned by her dad, Joe Molitor, and uncle, Tom Molitor. They milk 300 Holsteins near Rockville. On the morning of Feb. 2, Molitor was in her coveralls and barn boots, doing some milk testing in a tiestall barn, when her cell phone rang.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Hannah Molitor stands with U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer Feb. 7 at Emmer’s office in Washington, D.C. Molitor was there as one of Emmer’s guests for the State of the Union. “I received a call from U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer’s ofce, inviting me to the State of the Union,” Molitor said. Molitor was expected to
depart at 7 a.m. the following Tuesday. She said all of her clients were willing to reschedule their milk tests when they heard about Molitor’s unex-
pected invitation. Emmer sponsored the Agriculture Skills Preparation for Industry Recruitment Efforts Act with Sen. Tina Smith, which was introduced this summer. The act would support workforce development in the agricultural sector by establishing a work-based agricultural training program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program to fund apprenticeship and internship programs with local farms and agricultural businesses. Molitor said the bill may be one of the reasons Emmer invited a young person in agriculture to attend the president’s speech. In a press release introducing his State of the Union guests, Emmer mentioned the bill. He also gave high praise to Molitor and his other guest, Blair Anderson, who retired as police chief of St. Cloud. “Hannah and Blair have both dedicated their lives to Turn to MOLITOR | Page 6
Ushering in efficiency
New parlor keeps Woodards dairying By Amy Kyllo
amy.k@star-pub.com
WINONA, Minn. – Jimmy and Michelle Woodard are working to ensure their future. The Woodards built a milkhouse and parlor and milked their herd in the new setup Jan. 25. The Woodards milk around 100 cows and own two farms for a combined 435 acres near Winona. The new parlor is important to continuing the Woodards’ farm. Jimmy said without the parlor, they likely would not have been dairying for much longer. The Woodards installed a double-8 parallel pit parlor with a BouMatic Xpressway indexing system. The Woodards bought the milking equipment from Lester and Donna Banse who were retiring. They transiTurn to WOITALLAS | Page 8 tioned out of a 21-inch, double-8
step-up parlor. Michelle said increased efciency and consistency is one of the most important advantages of the parlor, leading to high milk production. The faster milking setup allows their cows more opportunities to rest and eat and less time spent in the holding pen. The Woodards’ old milking system had begun to take up to four to ve hours per milking by the time they transitioned out of it. In their new parlor, milking and clean up takes around 2.5 hours. The goal of the parlor was that one person could easily take care of milking. “Ideally, we were looking for it to be a one-person operation,” Michelle said. “To position ourselves that if something happened to me, or something happened to him, one of us could easily ll in that void.” The Woodards also hope that less time spent in the parlor will allow Jimmy to get into the eld more. “Last year, … I didn’t plant
GRACE JEURISSEN/DAIRY STAR
Jimmy and Michelle Woodard stand outside their new double-8 parallel pit parlor Feb. 17 on their farm near Winona, Minnesota. The Woodards transi�oned out of a double-8 stepup parlor. any corn,” Jimmy said. “I baled time should yield better crops. maybe 100 bales of hay. I didn’t “Maybe we get a little better have time to get out there. We quality or the crop in on time to were grateful to have other get better yield,” Jimmy said. family members to assist with our crops.” Jimmy said the additional Turn to WOODARDS | Page 7