LOOK INSIDE FOR OUR CENTRAL PLAINS DAIRY EXPO PREVIEW EDITION!
2 DAIRY ST 5R C E L E B R A T I N G
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Y E A R S
March 11, 2023
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 25, No. 2
Locking Reaching out to their community in a price for milk Mirons inducted into Minnesota Livestock Breeders’ Association Hall of Fame By Amy Kyllo
amy.k@star-pub.com
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Brady (le�) and Bre� Weiland milk 1,150 cows near Columbus, Wisconsin. The Weilands use forward contrac�ng to ensure protability and have 75% of their milk contracted for 2023.
Weilands ensure protability through forward contracting By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
COLUMBUS, Wis. – Fifthgeneration dairy farmers, Brady and Brett Weiland, have plans to purchase the family farm from their parents someday. To ensure this dream becomes a reality, the brothers do not leave their prots to chance. Locking in milk prices through forward contracting is a strategy they use to help guarantee the farm’s protability from one year to the next. “Protecting the balance sheet is the No. 1 reason why we contract our milk,” Brady said. “It’s a good feeling to know that next year at this time we’re going to be able to pay the bank, ourselves and our employees, and we’re still going to be in operation. A couple guys in their 20s who are trying to buy the business from Mom and Dad can’t afford to go backward.” The Weilands milk 1,150 cows between two dairies near Columbus with their parents, Roger and Tammy, and Brett’s wife, Emiley. The family farms 500 acres and buys the rest of their feed from neighbors. Unwilling to be at the mercy of the market for 100% of their milk check, the Weilands have prices
Turn to MILK | Page 10
HUGO, Minn. – Fran and Mary Ann Miron have opened their farm to others. The couple has hosted international delegations, welcomed U.S. and state legislators, opened their space for the lming of an episode of “The Bachelorette,” welcomed school children four to six times a year, and have served in city and county government positions. “We’ve taken upon ourselves the need to reach out to the non-ag public to make sure that they know our story and that they understand what we do,” Fran Miron
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Fran and Mary Ann Miron were inducted into the Minnesota Livestock Breeders’ Associa�on Hall of Fame March 9 at the associa�on’s annual mee�ng in St. Paul. The Mirons, along with sons, Andrew and Paul, milk 200 cows on their farm near Hugo, Minnesota.
said. “And, we have always munity.” felt the support of the comThe Mirons, who have a
Safe landing Ley survives 16-foot fall through roof of machine shed By Tiffany Klaphake tiffany.k@dairystar.com
LAKE HENRY, Minn. – Kenny Ley had a problem. Signicant snowfall was accumulating on the roof of every building on his farm. So, Ley climbed a ladder to resolve the problem, but he did not come down the same way. With no broken bones or lasting injuries from the fall, Ley is grateful to say he fell 16 feet through the skylight on his machine shed but was able to stand up and walk away. As Ley landed on the only patch of ground not covered by machinery, he looked around and saw his skid loader less than a foot away and, on his other side, an original 4020 John Deere tractor. “That 4020 was my rst tractor,”
Ley said. “That’s how I got started. As I was falling, I thought, ‘Is that how it’s going to end?’” Ley walked away from the fall Feb. 7, which occurred while he was shoveling heavy snow off the sagging roof of the 40- by 80-foot shed on his farm near Lake Henry. “I told a buddy of mine, ‘I’m pretty lucky,’ and he said, ‘No, luck is when you win bingo; when you free fall 16 feet and walk away with no broken bones and no internal injuries, you move into the category of a miracle,’” Ley said. “There’s a lot of truth to that.” Turn to LEY | Page 7
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Kenny Ley looks at the hole in the roof of his machine shed March 4 at his farm near Lake Henry, Minnesota. Ley was shoveling snow off the roof when he fell through the skylight of his machine shed.
200-cow dairy farm in Hugo, were inducted into the Minnesota Livestock Breeders’ Association Hall of Fame March 9 at the association’s annual meeting in St. Paul. Their nomination came from the mayor of Scandia, Christine Maefsky, who, with her husband, was also an inductee in 2016. The scope of the Mirons’ involvement has ranged from international inuence all the way to their local communities. Internationally, the Mirons have hosted delegations from Ukraine, Norway, Sweden, Australia, Switzerland, Canada and France. The Mirons have also opened their farm to members of the U.S. Congress and state legislators. Miron said he believes these visits have been benecial for agriculture. Turn to MIRONS | Page 6