Seniors! CELEBRATING OUR
If you would like to recognize a high school senior in our upcoming senior feature email us at krista.k@dairystar.com or call 507-259-8159.
DAIRY ST R “All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 23, No. 5
Lawmakers address farmers during Dairy Day at the Capitol
April 24, 2021
“I was like a stone. I couldn’t stop staring at what was happening.” – MaryBeth Seykora
Thrown a curveball
Exports, research, truth-in-labeling emerge as priorities By Stacey Snart
krista.k@dairystar.com
MADISON, Wis. – Support for agriculture, and the dairy industry in particular,appeared strong during Dairy Day at the Capitol April 14. Hosted by the Dairy Business Association, the virtual conference included appearances from U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, members of the budget-writing Joint Committee on Finance, and the secretary and CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Gov. Tony Evers’ biennial budget includes a historic $43 million investment to support agriculture in Wisconsin. Key policies cited in the budget include plans to bolster international trade for Wisconsin products, investments in dairy processor grants to support innovation and expansion, land and water funding, regional farmer support programs, and investments in the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection which include the hiring of additional meat inspectors and permanent staff in the hemp program. Baldwin, chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies, supports the Dairy Innovation Hub and preserving Wisconsin as a leader in the global dairy industry. “Taking an innovative idea and putting it into action is what this program is all about,” Baldwin said. Turn to CAPITOL | Page 5
Six factors that drive PPDs
Bozic demysties values in federal marketing orders By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
Negative producer price differentials are not a new occurrence in the dairy industry, but with the inuence of formula changes on federal milk marketing orders and industry trends, PPDs have recently caused chaos on the milk check. “Until last year, negative PPDs were always a short-term phenomenon,” Dr. Marin Bozic said. “The markets would have steep rallies but then with the intricacy of milk pricing, it would smooth out from one month to the next. Never did we have nine of the 10 consecutive months of negative PPDs. We’re here to have a frank discussion on what is driving this.” Bozic is an assistant professor of applied economics at the University of Minnesota. In an educational webinar co-hosted by Minnesota Milk Producers Association and Wisconsin Dairy Business
Turn to PPDS | Page 11
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Brian and MaryBeth Seykora stand in front of all that is leŌ of their dairy barn that was destroyed by a re April 8 on their farm near Owatonna, Minnesota. Twenty-nine of their 57 cows perished due to the re.
Seykoras lose 29 cows in barn re
“I got a call from my brother at 6:54 p.m. while I was watching the game, and I got here (to the farm) by 7:15 p.m.,” Brian said. “By that time, you couldn’t get By Krista Kuzma in the barn anymore.” krista.k@dairystar.com The Seykoras could only watch as their 45-stall hip OWATONNA, Minn. – While Brian and MaryBeth roof tiestall barn went up in ames on their farm near Seykora were watching their sons, Matt and Mitchell, Owatonna. play baseball the evening of April 8, their own lives “I was just numb,” Brian said of that moment. “I were thrown a curveball. was trying to think of what to do like nding a home for the cows that got out. There wasn’t any emotion really until about Sunday.” MaryBeth felt the pain that night. “I was like a stone,” she said with tears. “I couldn’t stop staring at what was happening. I just thought of how much work he (Brian) had done and all the memories.” Earlier in the evening, two employees had done chores for the Seykoras so they could watch their sons play baseball. Brian and MaryBeth split up so each son would have a parent at their game. The employees nished chores PHOTO SUBMITTED and left the barn about A re engulfs the Seykora family’s dairy barn April 8 on their farm near Owa- 6:30 p.m. Turn to SEYKORA | tonna, Minnesota. Page 7
Page 2 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021
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 (ofce) 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 Ofce: 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 Bob Leukam (Northern MN, East Central MN) 320-260-1248 (cell) bob.l@star-pub.com Mark Klaphake (Western MN) 320-352-6303 (ofce) 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 Hoeer (Eastern Iowa) 320-250-2884 • amanda.h@dairystar.com Megan Stuessel (Western Wisconsin) 608-387-1202 • megan.s@dairystar.com Kati Kindschuh (Northeast WI and Upper MI) 920-979-5284 • kati.k@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 nal 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 ofces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246.
A glance at what’s inside
A day in the life is back
As grass starts to green up and trees bud with leaves, farmers start to prepare equipment to get back in the eld. Spring is in the air. For Dairy Star, spring also means the return of one of our favorite features: A day in the life. For the past 11 years, it has been a staple in the paper, giving readers a glimpse into the daily routine of a farm family in our coverage area. The story is accompanied by action photos that depict the day’s work. For this year’s rst feature, we visited the Leerhoff family from Clarksville, Iowa. The sun shining with a warm breeze in the air made April 16 the perfect day for the family to let their 70-cow herd out to the pasture for the rst time this year. The cows kicked up their heels and put their tails in the air as they ran for the green grass. Dairy Star staff love this feature, being able to visit the farms twice in one day to accurately capture the daily tasks needed to be accomplished. We like asking a few questions while walking alongside farmers going about their business and quickly snapping photos as work gets done. We are always looking for more families to share their story in this fan-favorite feature. If your family would like to share its daily routine and see it portrayed in our paper, please let us know. We would love to be able to share what you do and have to say!
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It’s all inside... Columnists
d
Iowa
Grant
Pages 10 - 11 Second Section
Lafayette Green
Platteville
Dairy Prole: Mike and Sarah Weigel
Jo Daviess
First Section: Page 39
Zone 1
Dane
Carroll
Zone 2
First Section: Pages 15 - 16
Whiteside
Rock Island Mercer
Hen ders
on
For additional stories from our other zone, log on to www.dairystar.com
on
Walworth go
eba
n Win
n
re War
Do or
aun ee
Spring safety tune-up
First Section: Pages 34 - 35, 37
Ogle Lee
Allenton
Dairy’s Working Youth: Adam Wolf Third Section: Page 34
Racine Kenosha
McHenry
DeKalb
FROM OUR SIDE OF THE FENCE:
What do you look forward to most about spring planting?
Rock
ens
ph Ste
Jefferson Waukesha
Bo o
Cr
aw
The “Mielke” Market Weekly
Brown
Green Lake Fond Du Lac
Columbia Dodge
Sauk
Madison
go ba Calumet
e nn Wi
for
Richland
a
O Waushara
e mi
ton S he bo Milwaukee Ozauk M yg ee an anito wo c
Juneau
Vernon
Page 38 First Section
Oconto
g uta
Adams
te
Shawano
Wood
Monroe
et
ing
La Crosse
Calf Chronicles
Menominee
Portage Waupaca Jackson
in
Wa sh
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ar
Menominee
Langlade
Marathon
Clark
ce
M
Forest
Lincoln
Taylor
Eau Claire
Buffalo
Stone-Front Leader Hilda tops 460,000 pounds of milk
Oneida
Rusk
Chippewa
ren
ne
Lancaster
Price
Delta
Dickinson
Vilas
ett e
Pepin
Iron
qu
Pierce
Page 32 First Section
Dunn
First Section: Pages 18, 20
Flo
Sawyer
Barron
St. Croix
Just Thinking Out Loud
Page 33 First Section
n Polk
Page 31 First Section
Dairy Good Life
Burnett
Trempealeau
Something to Ruminate On
Ashland
ur
Second Section: Pages 6 - 7
Soap maker nds calling on family dairy
Ke w
La Farge
Moving grazing forward with satellite technology
Appleton
First Section: Pages 28 - 29
Bayeld
Douglas
hb
Page 30 First Section
First Section: Pages 22 - 23
Wa s
Ramblings from the Ridge
McCarthy tness studio delivers well-rounded approach to wellness
Thome encourages local government involvement
Farmer and Columnist Page 27 First Section
Appleton
Wisconsin Dells
Pages 8-9 First Section
Ma r
Ag Insider
Kane
Walworth
Women in dairy: Jennifer Ehlen First Section: Page 36
Winslow
Lang resurrected family farm after 40-year absence of cows
Third Section: Pages 3 - 4
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ConƟnued from CAPITOL | Page 1 Baldwin also showed her support for Standards of Identity for dairy and promised to make sure this issue remains high on the agenda. “I will be reintroducing the DAIRY PRIDE Act very soon,” Baldwin said. “Dairy was one of the rst industries to have nutritional standards written into federal law. Terms like milk, cream, ice cream and yogurt are being hijacked by products that don’t meet the standards of identity for these dairy products. These fake products are using dairy’s good name in the dairy case, and this violates the law. Dairy has taken a hit from this, and there’s a concern that consumers are unaware these products don’t have Senator Tammy to meet the standards Baldwin dairy does. We want the FDA to do its job and enforce the standards of identity.” A rise in plant-based products that imitate meat and lab-cultured meat products are just around the corner, according to the DBA, which feels the same labeling protections should be offered to meat products. A legislative panel including Sen. Kathy Bernier and Reps. Mark Born, Amy Loudenbeck and Greta Neubauer – all members of the Joint Committee on Finance – shared their thoughts on dairy-related items within the proposed state budget. All committee members support the continuation of the Dairy Innovation Hub, which operates on the University of Wisconsin River Falls, Platteville and Madison campuses. The committee also showed support for the Wisconsin Initiative on Dairy Exports. “Both the Dairy Innovation Hub and the dairy exports initiative have support in our caucus,” said Born, co-chairman of the committee. “I don’t view either as one-time things. We need to do better in the area of exports and get more Wisconsin products out in the world.” Neubauer agreed. “I absolutely support these initiatives,” she said. “I’m an advocate for the Hub. It’s an important driver for economic growth in Wisconsin.” Committee vicechair Loudenbeck would like to see the Hub show its value, however. “We took a big leap of faith in supporting the Dairy Innovation Hub, and
we need to highlight what it means long term,” Loudenbeck said. “We just started it, and I don’t want to see it go away. Yet at the same time, how do we pivot and use the center to respond to consumer needs and feed the world?” Loudenbeck said the producer-led watershed grant program has shown success, and county conservation and extension agents are being well-leveraged. “Those specialists are important, and keeping and growing things that work is a priority,” Loudenbeck said. “Exports are important too. We want to do a little bit of everything, but we won’t be able to afford it all. We’d like to retain the things we have and also work on some new items.” Transportation remains a hot-button issue in Wisconsin, and xing the state’s transportation funding problem continues to be a policy priority for the DBA. The association is asking for a long-term, sustainable x for the state’s transportation funding needs. “We packed a lot of money into roads in the last budget,” Bernier said. “We worked on a bill utilizing sales tax and dividing that out among county and local governments. I still think that is an answer to funding our county and local roads. We overutilize income tax and property tax and underutilize sales taxes. A balance to state tax/income tax would be a good option for road improvement.” Loudenbeck said with the inux of signicant federal funds, she does not see the committee looking at new resources for transportation at this time. “We voted on two bills in the assembly on April 13,” Loudenbeck said. “One is to send $308 million to counties, cities and towns to utilize immediately for local roads and bridges. There is also a proposal to use some of the federal dollars coming in to pay down transportation bonding. We need to have the right mix of how much we borrow and how much we pay for with cash.” When the capitol shut down last year because of COVID-19, it left behind a lot of unnished business. Neubauer wants to see bills that were left on the table put into law. “I’m feeling ambitious with this budget and hoping we can accomplish a lot,” Neubauer said. Missy Hughes, secretary and CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, is a believer in expanding the state’s agricultural exports and helping Wisconsin’s rural businesses and dairy farms thrive. The WEDC was involved in deploying
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Page 6 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021
ConƟnued from CAPITOL | Page 5
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over $240 million of CARES act funding to 65,000 Wisconsin small businesses during the pandemic. “Exports can help grow Wisconsin’s economy,” Hughes said. “We’re looking at the dairy export bill and working closely with DATCP to understand how our expertise in trade missions can lend support to DATCP’s work in supporting dairy and all ag exports.” Missy Hughes Hughes is also CEO Wisconsin working on the Ofce Economic of Rural Prosperity Development which is designed to Corporation create a one-stop shop for communities, businesses, farms and processors to get help with projects and access needed resources. The WEDC also approved an industrial revenue bond in northeast Wisconsin for $34 million – the goal of which is to assist in the production of natural gas from manure digesters. “This is groundbreaking technology,” Hughes said. “It would move natural gas from anerobic digesters through a pipeline and get gas into the marketplace. This is something we’ve seen happening on California dairies and something we need to be thinking about in Wisconsin. This project has real value-add potential and addresses environmental challenges.” The legislators want to hear from their
constituents on policy issues and urged farmers to attend hearing sessions, call or write. “We’ve held hearings and are actively seeking input,” Loudenbeck said. “As the legislature, we are accessible. If a farmer wants to give me his comments about budget input, he can call, or the nance committee also has a website where people can upload comments. We want to know the details of how to solve a problem. As a farmer, where do you need help? Is it with exports? Branding? The supply chain? How can we x it?” Realizing the challenge of virtual hearings for some, Neubauer encourages people to call and write letters. “Writing a couple letters really can make a difference in what rises to the top for us as a priority,” Neubauer said. Bernier would like to see more farmers show up at listening sessions. “Constituent input is important,” she said. “Farmers generally don’t come to listening sessions, but conservation groups do. We would like to get farmers there to delve into the details. For example, Chippewa County has nitrate issues with its wells, and we’re trying to work with farmers to address this. We want people there who generally don’t come, and we perk up when farmers enter the room.” Born agreed. “It’s important to tell your story so we can see how that ties in with the direct request,” he said. “We want to know how an issue impacts your family, your farm, your business.”
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021 • Page 7
ConƟnued from SEYKORA | Page 1 About 15 minutes later, a person driving by the farm spotted smoke coming out of the roof and called the re department and then others in the community in order to reach the Seykoras. In the meantime, four neighbors who passed by or heard about the re jumped into action. They went into the burning barn untying cows as fast as they could. “It was just a gut reaction for them to do it,” Brian said. They were able to untie 30 of the 45 cows in the stalls before the smoke and ames become too much for them to handle and retreated from the building. “The cows were untied, but they weren’t coming out the door because they were scared,” Brian said. “Siding and debris was dropping down.” In a last-ditch effort to save more of the herd, the neighbors hooked a chain on to a truck and the water line through an east door. “They tried ripping part of the side of the barn out so the cows would come out,” Brian said. “We thought all the cows that were going to come out were out, but there were cows still coming out an hour and a half later. Those didn’t make it.” Out of the 57 cows that make up the Seykoras’ herd, they are left with 28 after the re. Although more lived, they were lost to smoke inhalation. The re marshal told the Seykoras the cause of the re was most likely from broken electrical wire from a light in the hay loft. “It’s nobody’s fault,” Brian said. “Nobody smokes or anything like that. It’s just one of those things that happens. It’s an unfortunate circumstance.” With a small herd, Brian said all the cows were his favorite. “They were all good cows,” he said. Brian developed the herd through his 24-year dairying career. When he bought
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
A pile of debris is all that is leŌ of the Seykora family’s dairy barn aŌer a re April 8 on their farm near Owatonna, Minnesota. The silos are also damaged. the herd, the cows had a 16,000-pound rolling herd average. Right before the re, the cows were milking 94 pounds of milk each day. “We started from scratch basically,” Brian said. “I think about how far we came.” He also thinks about the memories made in the barn. “You spend more time there in the barn than in your house a lot of times,” Brian said. “I watched calves being born and develop later into cows. Sure, there were times of hardship, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s our lifestyle out here.” The Seykoras are thankful to have support from the community to rally around them. It started as soon as people noticed the re and tried to save the cows.
“It was just their reaction,” Brian said. “That’s the kind of people we have around here. The support is amazing. It’s just unbelievable the amount of people who want to help.” As the re went on, more people came to help. The Seykoras estimated there might have been as many as 200 people gathered the night of the blaze. “(The help) was unbelievable,” Brian said. “There were cars 1 mile down the road and a line of people in the yard making a big fence so the cows couldn’t run farther away.” Even as Brian was trying to think of where the remaining milking cows could go to be milked, neighbors and friends took charge. “Someone came up to me and said Casey Nelson from ABS had already
arranged everything and took care of it,” Brian said. Glenn Johnson and his wife, Deb McDermott-Johnson, made room for the Seykoras’ cows on their dairy, Clover Glen Farm, near Claremont. “We are so thankful for the Johnsons,” Brian said. People also offered the use of their cattle trailers. “There were eight trailers offered within three minutes,” Brian said. “We couldn’t move the cows that night because the driveway was full of trucks and hoses until 3:30 a.m.” By 6:15 the next morning, the Seykoras had more people arrive to help load cows. A few days after the re, the Seykoras found out other friends and community members started a GoFundMe page to help them. “They denitely didn’t need to do that but people wanted to help in some way,” Brian said. “There are only so many people who can bring a trailer, bring us food or ask to help clean up. It’s what they could do to help.” While Brian now makes the 25-mile drive to help with chores at Clover Glen Farm, the Seykoras need to decide their future. “We’re 45 years old,” Brian said. “We’re right in that middle spot. Five years ago, we would have immediately said we would rebuild. If we were ve years later, we would have retired. But we aren’t quite ready to be done yet. We don’t know what we’re going to do.” When the Seykoras make their decision, they know they will make the best decision for their family. “Our faith is strong,” Brian said. “I thank God every day for the ability to take care of these cows. Now I’m asking him to guide us on what to do next.”
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Food box program to be eliminated Page 8 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021
The United States Department of Agriculture is ditching its Farmers to Families Food Box Program and replacing it with the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program. During an appearance before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said the TEFAP will be more efcient. National Milk Producers Federation President and CEO Jim Mulhern said he was not surprised by the decision due to the challenges with the program. USDA also indicated it will implement a Dairy Donation Program to facilitate the donation of dairy products to non-prot groups. USDA budget plan considers big issues U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack made a case for the USDA’s Fiscal Year 2022 Discretionary Budget during an appearance on Capitol Hill. Climate change, addressing systemic racism, nutrition and resil-
iency in agriculture are four big ideas expressed within the budget proposal. Vilsack said there is also a plan to address rural broadband. “One of the things we’ll be focusing on is making sure there’s a minimum level of uptick and download speeds to create opportunities for telehealth, for distance learning,” Vilsack said. “We’ve learned the importance of this during the pandemic.” Logistical issues hamper trade In its quarterly report, CoBank said trade has been hampered by logistical problems, including a lack of containers and congestion at the ports. As the industry struggles with those issues, the pace of U.S. dairy exports started weaker this year. Cheese and butter stocks rose, climbing 5.4% and 16.8%, respectively. U.S. milk production rose in January and February. Cow numbers in February reached the highest level in three decades.
COVID-19 a focus for global trade The pandemic and its impact on agricultural trade dominated the recent agenda for the World Trade Organization’s agriculture committee. The United States was asked about its COVID-19 assistance package for farmers to determine if the Ag Insider subsidies would be considered trade-distorting. Canada was questioned about its dairy policy. Milk production strengthens According to USDA’s latest supply/demand report, 2021 milk production totaled 227.7 billion pounds. That is up 400 million pounds from the By Don Wick March forecast. The report Columnist increased the price projections for nonfat dry milk, butter, cheese and whey due to improving domestic and international demand. Be strategic when recovering from tough times With higher commodity prices, RaboBank Senior Grain and Oilseed Analyst Stephen Nicholson said farmers may want to consider strategies to help secure long-term nancial stability. “Working capital has been depleted in the past seven years,” Nicholson said. “Let’s rebuild the working capital rst. One lesson we took from the last uptick in commodity prices was if farmers pay down debt, they are debt free but also cash poor.” Nicholson said balance will be important. Once farmers rebuild working capital, attention can shift to improving the farm business. “Maybe farmers should invest in a new business to help sustain the business longer-term,” he said. “Perhaps it’s investing in new crops and then farmers can be thinking about how to make the farm more efcient.” PPP reduces demand for traditional loans The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City is reporting a drop in the number of farm operating loans during the rst quarter. The total volume of non-real estate loans was down 10% from last year. The report said the Paycheck Protection Program likely displaced a portion of the typical demand for nancing.
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Addressing the veterinarian shortage Wisconsin Congressman Ron Kind has introduced a bill to address the veterinarian shortage in the agriculture sector. The Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program Enhancement Act will provide a federal tax exemption for veterinarians. “This bill will help increase opportunities for veterinarians to practice in communities across Wisconsin,” Kind said. More regulations sought for methane digesters Activist groups are petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the methane produced by large-scale dairy farms under the Clean Air Act. The petition claims these farms have increased pollution, damaged public health and negatively impacted communities of color. The 75-page petition was signed by nearly 25 groups, including Minnesota-based Land Stewardship Project and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. DBA outlines policy priorities The Dairy Business Association’s Dairy Day at the Capitol was a virtual experience this spring. Policy priorities included funding for transportation, support for the Dairy Innovation Hub at three University of Wisconsin campuses and more money for water quality initiatives. The DBA is also advocating for properly trained non-citizens to drive legally. The driver’s permit concept is described as “a public safety and economic development issue.” Meaty message from plant-based food company Impossible Foods has launched its rst national advertising campaign. The television commercials feature images of juicy cheeseburgers, saying the Impossible Burger is meat for meat lovers made from plants. Impossible Foods CEO Patrick O. Brown said the “We Are Meat” ads are intended to show consumers can have the meat protein experience without “animalbased technology.” Turn to AG INSIDER | Page 9
Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021 • Page 9
ConƟnued from AG INSIDER | Page 8 NMPF promotes current staffers The National Milk Producers Federation has promoted ve key employees. Jamie Castaneda will become the executive vice president for policy development and strategy. Previously, Castaneda was the senior vice president for policy strategy and international trade. Vice President for Trade Policy Shawna Morris has been promoted to senior vice president. NMPF Vice President for Sustainability and Scientic Affairs Jamie Jonker is now also the chief science ofcer. Claudia Larson, who has been the government relations director, has been promoted to be the senior director of government relations. Bonnie nominated for USDA job President Joe Biden is nominating Robert Bonnie to be the Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation. Bonnie is USDA’s deputy chief of staff and senior climate advisor. Bonnie was an under secretary at USDA during the Obama administration.
Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association elects new leadership Steve Bechel is the new president of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association. Bechel is a master cheesemaker for Eau Galle Cheese Factory near Durand. Trivia challenge USDA Deputy Agriculture Secretary Jewel Bronaugh served as Virginia’s agriculture commissioner since 2018. That answers our last trivia question. For this week’s trivia, how many glasses of milk does the average cow produce in her lifetime? We will 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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“PCDart has adapted to all our needs.” What are some of the DHIA tests you use? Pregnancy check, MUN test, young stock report. What do you like about the PCDart program? Kate took over all herd record keeping in 2017. This is when we started using the PCDart software program. PCDart has been a great program to assist with keeping track of our herd; from calving dates, breeding dates, and milk records. The program has adapted to all our needs and there is always live support if needed, which is extremely helpful! We love the ease of registering our herd as well. PCDart easily syncs with Easy I.D. through Holstein Association for simple, fast, and convenient registration of our herd. We also love that all our records are stored, saved and protected in the PCDart computer program. With the program we can easily access any cow or heifer in our herd and check anything; including their registration number, date of birth, calving date, breeding date, and much more! We are very pleased with PCDart. Tell us about your farm. We own and operate a registered Holstein herd of cows and breeding bulls. Our dairy herd consists of 90 registered Holstein cows. Our rolling herd average is 25,300 M, 975 F, and 800 P, on two times per day milking. We crop and pasture our herd on 300 acres of land, which supplies the feed to sustain our herd. We actively market breeding bulls, embryos, bred heifers and milk cows. We love to be ‘hands on’ and work with good cows day-in and dayout. By continuing our dedicated work with registered Holsteins on our Glencoe farm and focusing on the areas of young stock management, milk production, embryo and semen marketing and quality John Mohr and his daughter, breeding stock - we hope to market and Kate Keenan sell good seed and breeding stock in the 90 cows • Glencoe, MN dairy industry. 32 years with DHIA
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SHERRY NEWELL/DAIRY STAR
The Putzes – (front, from leŌ) Brad, Janet and Ed; (back, from leŌ) cousin Nick Bagge and Jeremy – use this barn, built in 2018, to raise calves for their dairy herds near New Vienna, Iowa. The family discussed the barn’s features and their calf management during a tour April 14, sponsored by Iowa State University Extension.
Ventilation, milk taxi highlighted in extension technology tour
while Putz and Jeremy use the older step-up parlor. “That was a lot of calves to feed outside, and the help didn’t like it much,” Putz said. “Now, no matter NEW VIENNA, Iowa – Brad Putz claims the calf what we’re doing with the calves, it’s all in here.” The technology in the calf barn includes not only the barn he manages is nothing fancy, but it is clear the structure and its features are appreciated by the crew Milk Taxi but a positive pressure tube ventilation system that does the newborn-to-weaning calf work. Putz, his designed specically for the building and the calves. “The tubes are specic for each calf barn,” said Brian mother, Janet, and his cousin, Nick Bagge, are the primary caretakers in the structure put up in 2018 at the Dougherty, an Extension eld specialist in agricultural engineering, who explained the system and demonstratfarm near New Vienna. ed the air ow by fogging the building during the tour. The ventilation system and use of a Milk Taxi were “For example, there are four rows of holes in the highlighted during an Iowa State University Extension dairy technology tour April 14. Participants also saw bottom of the tubes, and the diameter of the holes deterthe robotic feeding and milking system at Honey Creek mines the air speed coming out of the hole. Fan size also determines the total airow.” Dairy near Strawberry Point. Dougherty said the barn provides four air exchanges Before building the calf facility, the Putz family used hutches and calf condos to house calves. The per hour, and the ow provides fresh air where the calves youngstock from birth to rst freshening are from two are – about 4 feet from the oor – without creating a draft herds – a 148-cow herd owned by Janet and her hus- on the calves. A split curtain sidewall and space between band, Ed, and a 118-cow Jersey herd owned by Putz and the sidewalls and pens helps to circulate the air as well. The curtains stay closed at temperatures below 30 dehis brother, Jeremy. Janet and Ed milk with two robots, grees. In the winter, calves in stalls are not provided water because of freezing temperatures inside. On hot days, circulation fans could be added, Dougherty said. While ventilation helps keep calves healthy, the Milk Taxi makes calf management less labor intensive. The taxi mixes and then dispenses the milk replacer according to amounts Putz posts on each calf stall. Newborn calves are transported to the barn in a calf cart, tagged and given colostrum for their rst two feedings. After that, calves receive milk replacer by bottle then later by bucket twice each day. The Milk Taxi holds SHERRY NEWELL/DAIRY STAR ParƟcipants in an Iowa State University Extension technology look around a calf barn April 14 at Putz Dairy near New Vienna, Iowa. The barn features posiƟve Turn to TOUR | Page pressure tube venƟlaƟon and the use of a Milk Taxi to feed calves from the fam11 ily’s two milking herds.
By Sherry Newell Contributing Writer
ConƟnued from TOUR | Page 10
ConƟnued from PPDS | Page 1
roughly 70 gallons, prepared in an enclosed supply room in a corner of the building. The taxi holds enough to make one trip through the center aisle for the twice-daily feeding, even though there are 100 free-standing plastic stalls. “We built it big enough so we would not be full all the time,” Putz said. The convenience of one building appeals to the family. “No matter what we do, it’s all in here,” Putz said. The barn was constructed with a tile under each line of stalls. Sand is the bottom bedding with straw provided twice a week. At weaning, calves are moved out of stalls 10 at a time, then stalls are power washed and the sand is replaced. Those ready for weaning, at around 60 days, are moved to one of two group pens at the end of the barn. “If I had to change one thing, I’d do more group pens,” Putz said. While the family considered automatic calf feeders, Putz said this was a better t. “I never was a big fan of (automatic feeders),” he said. “My brother wanted it, but he never feeds calves.” Within one year, the family accomplished their goal of zero death loss in their calves; however, this was followed by a challenging outbreak of possible cryptosporidium or clostridium which was quickly brought under control with the help of their vaccination program. Currently, their calves are a result of sexed semen used on heifers and a portion of the cows in their rst lactation. They breed the rest of the herd to Angus bulls. With no plans to grow their dairy, their replacements are also kept in check by offering cows as recipients for an associate’s embryos.
Association April 13, Bozic explained six factors that create PPDs and why that value has been below zero for much of the last year. PPDs were developed as a way to create pricing fairness for each dairy farmer in a FMMO despite what the milk was processed for. “Revenue pooling is a noble concept,” Bozic said. “In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.” Long-term trends in utilization rates When FMMOs were rst developed as a way to protect against abusive power with large milk buyers at the end of World War II, two-thirds of uid milk pooled was processed for beverage. For this reason, the revenue from Class I was redistributed to milk pooled in other classes. In 1998, that value decreased to 45% and the last major FMMO reform took place. Over the years, a larger portion of milk produced in the United States has been used for manufacturing and less for beverage consumption. In 2019, uid milk pooled for beverage was as low as 28%, Bozic said. “Once we’re back to normal, postpandemic and when Class III and IV converge, we believe we will nd Class I to be 1% lower still,” Bozic said. “Simply put, at its core, there is not enough uid milk to make FMMO work as it was designed.” Rising protein test Over the last decade, dairy farmers have increased the amount of solids they sell. In the Upper Midwest, FMMO 30, the average protein test was 3.04% in 2008-09; in 2020, that value rose to 3.14%. While the tests have risen, accounting for that change in PPDs has not. “When Class I processors pay to pool milk, that’s based on skim milk pounds per hundredweight, not protein or other solids. On the other hand, when those same processors take money from the pool, then protein tests are counted,” Bozic said. “The money out rises over time as protein tests grow but the money in doesn’t change.”
Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021 • Page 11
The same scenario is true when reviewing how Class II and Class IV are paid out, because in FMMOs, protein is paid for based on the value of cheese while not all protein is used for cheese. Processors pay in on nonfat solids prices, but they can take money out based on the protein price and test. “How we price protein and draw prices to the pool all matters,” Bozic said. Spreads between Class III, Class IV Last year, the spread between Class III and Class IV reached unprecedented levels. “This is really the same story told,” Bozic said. “Because the spread reects the spread of protein and non-fat solids prices, and the wedge is growing.” Last month, the spread was at $1.97, while the historical average spread is at $0.39. In 2020, the spread was driven by government purchases. For corrective action, dairy organizations testied that the shortlived federal food box program should emphasize butter as a method to quickly address the spread. “In FMMO 30, as Class III rises above Class IV, PPDs go negative and do so in a hurry,” Bozic said. “Long term, we need to look at incentives to move milk.” Advanced pricing for uid milk products In the current pricing system, retailers may know the price of milk before the month begins to provide certainty. However, that introduces discrepancy between advanced prices and the full-month average prices. A decade ago, negative PPDs were shortterm instances and would rebound in a single month or two with advanced pricing. “The idea is that you’ll have a rally but it will stabilize,” Bozic said. “The biggest question we need to be asking is, ‘Do we still need (advanced pricing)?’ Right now, it’s more of an annoyance than a concerning factor.” Class I formula reform introduced in the 2018 farm bill A Class I policy change was implemented in 2019 under the previous year’s farm bill.
Prior to the reform, Class I prices were always calculated as the higher of Class III and Class IV. The change now reects Class I as the average of Class III and Class IV plus $0.74. The new formula does not allow for a boost of PPDs but can depress it signicantly. In a narrow focus, the Class I formula has cost dairy farmers a little more than $1 per cwt, Bozic said. The dairy economist also mentioned that prices were driven in 2020 by the taxpayer-funded massive purchases of cheese. “We cannot escape the possibility to mention that if markets were left to work on their own, the new system would have worked better,” Bozic said. “All prices would be in the basement and farmers would be losing equity, but the new system works better when prices are more closely aligned.” Depooling The FMMOs were designed in a way that all classes except Class I could pool milk in the order. This was because, at the time, manufacturing classes were a signicantly smaller share of milk. “Historically, the FMMO system was for processors to specialize in what they’re good at and participate in Class I sales. It was easy to do because there was so much milk in uid sales,” Bozic said. “We never intended that it would be Class III that would have to pour revenue into other classes.” Classes are now depooling more frequently as Class III and Class IV are being used to subsidize the other class prices. “Depooling doesn’t happen because people are selsh,” Bozic said. “It happens because the legal language of the (FMMO) system was based on the premise that most milk will always be in Class I.” Considering these six factors, the actual PPD for January 2020 in FMMO 30 was -$8.69. Last month, the actual PPD was -$0.51, Bozic reported. “The next 24 months will be consequential for milk pricing for the next decade,” Bozic said.
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Page 12 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021
Prioritize prevention when managing ies Moon, Post share ways to reduce pests on farm By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
The deadline for spring cleanout is quickly approaching for farmers in the Upper Midwest. These dates are critical to combat the presence of ies on the farm as weather and environmental conditions become conducive for breeding. “Depending on where you are and when spring weather arrives, there are certain dates when we know y eggs turn into pupae,” Roger Moon said. “Around here, mud permitting, planting permitting, see if you can get things cleaned up by May 1 or so.” Moon is a professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota’s department of entomology. He discussed tactics to eliminate ies on farms during the webinar, “Fly Control Strategies,” hosted by I-29 Moo University March 26. “Now is the time to be planting the seeds and doing the chores to stay ahead of problematic ies,” said Moon to begin the presentation. On dairy farms, the ies that are the most detrimental are stable ies. These blood-
sucking insects cause animals to bunch together and stomp as a defense to ght the ies which often results in lameness, decreased feed intake and reproduction, among other concerns that ultimately negatively affect productivity. Once the stable ies are done eating, they perch around the animals. Moon said in a cluster of 100 ies, typically only about ve are actually biting. Merri Post and her family have noticed the effects of stomping in their herd. “Not only is it a problem in the summer, but we’ve found all those same problems with cows stomping carry over into the fall,” she said. “There was reproduction down, more incidences of (hoof) abscesses, lost milk.” The Posts dairy farm near Chandler, Minnesota. Post participated in the webinar, sharing her family’s tactics to reduce ies on the farm. “Prevention is the biggest thing we do,” she said. “If I stay ahead of them, it’s keeping everything clean. We’ve learned that ve minutes of prevention saves a lot of time ghting ies.” The other most common y present on farms is the nuisance house y which are often found near feed. “They don’t bite; they can’t,” Moon said. “They spit and poop pathogenic bacteria,
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A y’s lifecycle is depicted in the graph above. It is essenƟal to control larvae and pupa populaƟons to manage y infestaƟons on farms. but they don’t harm cattle like stable ies do.” The best long-term strategy to manage both y species is to reduce the source of active breeding grounds. “You need to be going around and nding where those ies are coming from,” Post said. “Flies spread before you can get on top of it. It’s not like pink eye where you can control it.” Moon urged farmers to rst scout their property for maggots and pupae – the second and third part of a y’s lifecycle, respectively – using a small trowel to dig through brous plant material, such as hay or bedding that is enriched with manure, urine and other
moisture. The maggots and pupae are visible to the naked eye, if on the ground looking for them. “You see adults, but every adult started out as a maggot,” Moon said. “Your job is to prevent them from succeeding as well as they do.” Scouting should be done every couple of weeks to catch growing populations. Environments around calf hutches and youngstock pens are optimal breeding grounds for ies. “My bet is that your calf hutch bedding is producing tons of ies,” Moon said. “If calves are growing in a hutch for six weeks, that’s two generations of ies. Same with
the heifer rearing pens; debris control there is easy and low maintenance, and will quickly turn into maggot heaven if left standing.” To make the environment less conducive for infestation, Moon suggested switching from straw to sand, sawdust or wood shavings for bedding. Fresh manure in a cow barn is often not a common breeding ground as the environment is too wet for the maggots and pupae to survive. Rather, dairy farmers should consider places where the manure is being exported to such as the banks of a manure storage basin. “The more likely source is debris from winter hay feeding sites,” said Moon, emphasizing the importance of spring cleaning. “That landscape is lled with spilled hay. It’s trampled and deep. One remedy is to move the feeder around the property so the animals spread out. If you can accomplish that, do it. Otherwise, the stable ies will nd it.” When farmers have the opportunity to remove manure and used bedding materials, there are two tactics they can use to effectively reduce y breeding grounds. Manure should either be thinly spread on open ground or windrowed and tilled to create a hot compost. Turn to FLY CONTROL | Page 13
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021 • Page 13
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Lines across the states depict when y eggs transform into pupae. To control y populaƟons, it is best to take proacƟve measures before these dates. “Cold stacking breeds more (ies),” Moon said. On Post’s farm, she routinely cleans along the alleyway of the lactating pens where the automatic scraper does not reach. She also religiously uses a feed additive, chickens as predators and traps to control the farm’s y population. Both Post and Moon attested to the effectiveness of maintaining a clean property. “Mow in between the buildings so that you’re getting all that tall grass knocked down,” Post said. “We mow everything – around the buildings, behind the horse pasture and up to the manure pit.” Moon agreed. “Mow the grass to keep the ies down,” he said. “They’re not breeding
there, but that’s where they’re playing pinochle, meaning mate and develop eggs.” While sprays can be used as a tactic to control y populations, Moon warned farmers of letting that strategy becoming too commonplace, resulting in resistance. “Routine barn spraying programs should be a fallback, not a backbone,” he said. “It’s just not sustainable.” The key to effective y management is prevention with early detection through scouting of the breeding grounds and maintaining a clean, dry property. “Think about your debris management program to head off problem spots,” Moon said. “The sooner you start, the better. And, don’t get behind.”
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021 • Page 15
What do you look forward to most about spring planting? Kile Long Sterling, Illinois Whiteside County 40 cows
Dale Elfering Bristol, Wisconsin Kenosha County 160 cows
What are field conditions like in your area? We had about 1.4 inches of rain April 10-11 so our eld conditions are rather muddy right now. The below normal temperatures we are having aren’t helping either.
What are field conditions like in your area? They’re quite good. We’re in great shape for this time of year. We got an inch of rain the week of April 4 over the course of four days, which we needed. We were a little on the dry side. The wheat is all fertilized as well as most of the ground. We’re ready to start as soon as the ground warms up a little bit more. We’re holding off for a few more dry days, and then we’ll start planting corn.
How many acres do you run and what do you plant? We farm 200 acres, 80 of which are in hay and the rest is divided up between corn and soybeans. We put out at least 20 acres of oats annually, which eventually gets seeded with alfalfa. What do you look forward to most about spring planting? I look forward to the reduction in the amount of chores due to the animals being able to go outside. I’m the type of person who enjoys being on the go most of the time, so I don’t mind when the pace of spring eldwork picks up. What are the earliest and latest dates you have started spring eldwork? The latest we have ever planted corn was June 3, 2019. Most people in the Midwest had a rough year that year. The earliest I have ever planted corn was April 23, 2020. Keep in mind, I am only 22 years old. I haven’t had too many years of experience. Who helps with eldwork and what are their roles? Fieldwork is managed by myself with the help of my neighbor, who I help as well off the farm in the spring and fall. What is the most recent change you have made in seeding or eld management practices? This year, I have decided to plant strictly oats and then plant the alfalfa in later summer after we combine the oats. In recent years, I have had issues where if I plant the oats too thick, it chokes out the seeding. And, if I plant too thin, I have weeds. I have done some research and asked around to nd out what works for other people; this will be a trial and error process for me. Tell us about your farm. My grandparents, who are in their 80s, own the farm, and I am in the process of taking over. I milk 40 registered Holsteins. I am fortunate to have some help from my dad, who also has a full-time job, and my neighbor who is a great asset during eldwork.
How many acres do you run and what do you plant? We run just under 1,100 acres. We plant corn, soybeans, wheat and hay. What do you look forward to most about spring planting? I love the smell of the ground. It’s just a good time of year. What are the earliest and latest dates you have started spring eldwork? We planted oat and alfalfa twice in March in the last 10 years, but that’s unusual. Two years ago, we had so much rain that we didn’t do anything until June 7. That was the worst I’ve ever seen. Fieldwork was a nightmare from start to nish that whole year. Who helps with eldwork and what are their roles? I farm with my wife, Janet, and our two adult sons, Daniel and Dustin. Janet does the bookwork and runs us around, and we all pitch in to get eldwork done. What is the most recent change you have made in seeding or eld management practices? What we’re doing now more than ever before is planting seed specic for different elds and uses. For example, corn silage, high moisture corn and grain corn are all different numbers. It’s improved digestibility for the cows. Tell us about your farm. Elfering Farms is a family farm purchased by my grandpa in 1927, and we are the last remaining dairy farm in Bristol. I am the third generation on this farm and took it over from my parents in 1997. My two sons bought in 10 years ago and now own half the operation. We raise our heifers for replacements and sell our bull calves to a neighbor. We also sell grain.
Jeff Erickson Neenah, Wisconsin Outagamie County 60 cows What are field conditions like in your area? Pretty wet. Fields are damp because we haven’t had a lot of sun to get things dried up. How many acres do you run and what do you plant? We run 225 acres and plant corn, barley and alfalfa. We put in 30 acres of rye grass last fall that we are going to take off at the end of May, which we will then plant corn on. What do you look forward to most about spring planting? Just getting out there and getting going. We’ve been waiting for the weather to get a little warmer. What are the earliest and latest dates you have started spring eldwork? The earliest I’ve started is April 10, and the latest is the rst week of June. Who helps with eldwork and what are their roles? My two sons, Tayler and Nathan, and my brother, Ed. We all chip in to get the work done. I do most of the planting, while the others work up the elds and get stuff ready. What is the most recent change you have made in seeding or eld management practices? We bought our own bagger in 2019. Before that, we always rented one. It’s made a big difference. Now we can bag when we want to as we don’t have to wait for somebody. It’s not as handy when you have to rent. We also nally got powered feed carts – that was huge. You don’t see them for sale often, but I saw an ad in the Dairy Star last year, and we picked them up in Minnesota on the rst day of summer. The carts make things a whole lot easier. We don’t have to fork feed anymore. Tell us about your farm. The Erickson family has been milking cows here since 1920. Riverside Dairy is in its 101st year, and I looked forward to our 100-year anniversary. I’m the third generation, and I farm with my boys, who are the fourth. My sisters, Laurie Erickson and Mary Weyland, help on the farm as well. We milk 60 cows and farm 225 acres. I also have a daughter, Michelle, who works off the farm.
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Steve, Doug and Brian Turnis Monticello, Iowa Delaware County 195 cows What are eld conditions like in your area? Ideal as of April 15. And, our alfalfa looks excellent. How many acres do you run and what do you plant? We run about 1,000 acres plus 120 acres of pasture for dry cows and heifers. We have about 600 acres of corn, 200 of soybeans and 200 of hay. What do you look forward to most about spring planting? Good weather, smooth going and no breakdowns. What are the earliest and latest dates you have started spring eldwork? The earliest is April 15, and two years ago, we didn’t start until May 20 and got done June 20. But, we had the best crop ever that year. Who helps with eldwork and what are their roles? The three of us do it all. Brian gets the eld ready, Doug gets the manure out there, and Steve does the seeding. What is the most recent change you have made in seeding or eld management practices? We eliminated Roundup. We’ve gone back to conventional stuff to cut back on seed cost. It’s plain seed with no special traits. We also have cut back on chemicals. Tell us about your farm. We milk in a double-15 parallel parlor and have a freestall barn with waterbeds and auto scrapers. Most cows are Holstein, and we have some Jerseys. We also feed out 70-80 steers each year. My (Steve and Doug’s) grandfather started here in the 1930s. Brian is the fourth generation here.
Turn to OSOF | Page 16
Page 16 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021
ConƟnued from OUR SIDE | Page 15 Matt Winker Belgium, Wisconsin Ozaukee County 100 cows
though.
What are field conditions like in your area? Cold and a little wet. All the winter crops look very good
How many acres do you run and what do you plant? We run 450 acres and plant alfalfa, soybeans, corn and cover crops such as winter rye and winter wheat. We also do a ve-way interseeding mix that includes annual rye grass, hairy vetch, medium red clover, kale and rapeseed planted in between corn rows. On March 15, we frost-seeded red clover into our winter crops with the intent of terminating cover crops, but not the red clover, to feed our corn nitrogen throughout the year. What do you look forward to most about spring planting? My favorite is planting green. We plant 100% green on our farm. What are the earliest and latest dates you have started spring eldwork? The soonest I have started spring eldwork was April 20, and the latest was July 10, 2004. That was a really wet year. Who helps with eldwork and what are their roles? We do all no-till and planting green, so all I have to do is get in the planter tractor. My wife, Sarah, runs the chopper all summer, and my uncle, Gary Schneider, lls in where needed and cuts all the hay and does most of the merging. What is the most recent change you have made in seeding or eld management practices? We went to all no-till in 2014 and planting green in 2016. We did it to save money and because it is good for the environment, helping to improve water quality and air quality. When you plant cover crops, it takes a lot of greenhouse gases, like carbon, out of the air and puts them into the soil. Cover cropping also reduces runoff, improves fertility and saves nutrients, time, fuel, and wear and tear. Overall, it saves us money. Tell us about your farm. My wife and I are the fourth generation at Redline Dairy Farm, which has been in Sarah’s family since 1916. We are one of four demo farms in the Ozaukee County Demonstration Farm Network. We demonstrate no-till cover crops and do research on our farm. We strive to maximize yield while also reducing inputs as much as possible. We have one farm less than 3 miles from Lake Michigan, and that can be a challenge. The soil here is a red, heavy clay. It stays cold in the spring. We don’t get the heat the inland guys get, and the clay doesn’t warm up as fast. I’m also a board member of Clean Farm Families for the Milwaukee River Watershed. Clean Farm Families and the Ozaukee Demonstration Network are two separate groups, but they work together. It’s a cool journey we’ve been on. We’ve had both successes and failures and learned a lot.
Jared Taylor Colfax, Wisconsin Dunn County 120 cows
Brad and Tim Meyer Revillo, South Dakota Grant County 375 cows What are eld conditions like in your area? The eld conditions are the best we have seen in several years. We planted our oat crop April 5, and received over 3 inches of rain April 7-8. How many acres do you run and what do you plant? We farm 1,700 acres, and plant corn, soybeans, alfalfa and oats. What do you look forward to most about spring planting? We look forward to good eld conditions and driving past a newly planted eld. What are the earliest and latest dates you have started spring eldwork? The earliest we can remember was in 2012. We planted wheat March 19. The latest was in 2011. Nothing was planted until the last week in May that year. Who helps with eldwork and what are their roles? Tim primarily does eldwork. Brad does most of the manure hauling and helps with spring planting and fall harvest. Our dad, Gary, and grandpa, Ronald, help whenever they can. What is the most recent change you have made in seeding or eld management practices? We have added variable rate seeding and fertilizer along with strip tillage in the fall. We made this switch for a more efcient placement of inputs. Drain tile is another management practice we have added. This has enabled us to make wetter areas in a eld more productive. Tell us about your farm. We farm with our parents, Gary and Holly Meyer, and our grandpa, Ronald Meyer. We are thirdgeneration farmers on this farm. All three generations work on the farm. Everyone has their own main role: Ronald, who will turn 85 this summer, feeds the heifers; Gary feeds the lactating cows and oversees the entire operation; Holly does the bookwork and cares for young calves; Brad manages the livestock enterprise; and Tim manages the cropping enterprise. Brad’s wife, Morgan, who works full time in town, also helps on the farm when she can. Along with the milk cows and crop farming, we raise our youngstock and have a herd of 40 Red Angus cows. We have six employees.
What are field conditions like in your area? It has been raining steady from about April 7-14, so I have not even really gone out and looked at the eld conditions recently. However, before that, we were spreading manure and fertilizer and did not leave a track. How many acres do you run and what do you plant? We plant 330 acres of mostly corn for silage and alfalfa. We have 30 acres of grass hay, and we plant a small grain as a nurse crop for our alfalfa that we typically take as silage. What do you look forward to most about spring planting? I look forward to planting corn. What are the earliest and latest dates you have started spring eldwork? We are mostly no-till on the corn and do most of our tillage for alfalfa in the fall, so we are in no hurry most years. The earliest we have planted has been April 18 and the latest May 22. Who helps with eldwork and what are their roles? My dad plants all the alfalfa, my little brother does most of the disking and corn planting, but my dad and I both get to do some too. I am typically taking care of the cows when those two are in the elds. What is the most recent change you have made in seeding or eld management practices? We are trying rye and wheat as a cover crop on all of our corn ground. We plan on tilling into it. We’re doing this to try and make a mat to save water and to catch the nitrogen from the manure we spread, as it is pretty sandy around us. We are also trying wheat as a nurse crop with our alfalfa instead of oat and pea. We are doing this because the peas are hard to get dry, and the wheat has lower potassium levels in the feed for dry and fresh cows. Last year, we planted non-Roundup Ready corn (on accident) and sprayed everything pre-emerge and had great luck with it. Tell us about your farm. My dad, brother and I milk 120 Holsteins in a freestall and parlor set up, and raise most of our replacements on the farm. We grow almost all of our own forages, but don’t grow any grains. Since my brother graduated from high school a year ago, it has been us three doing most of the work, besides some help during haying.
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How many acres do you run and what do you plant? We run around 250 acres. We plant corn, soybeans, and oats and alfalfa. What do you look forward to most about spring planting? After spending the winter analyzing the previous year, and prepping and planning for the coming year it just feels good to get out in the eld. What are the earliest and latest dates you have started spring eldwork? The earliest we have started is April 8 and the latest start was May 17. Who helps with eldwork and what are their roles? My brother, Ron, does all of the planting and spraying and he also does tillage. I do tillage, pick rocks and keep the planter full of seed and fertilizer. Our brother-in-law, Barry, helps us out a bunch. He will run tillage, pick rocks and help keep the planter rolling while I am milking and doing chores. What is the most recent change you have made in seeding or eld management practices? Why? A number of years ago we started renting some lighter, sandier ground and were struggling with yields. One of our seed reps recommended broadcasting urea after the corn was up, and we saw instant results. Since then, we have gone to a split nitrogen application on most if not all the corn acres. It is denitely money well spent. Tell us about your farm. I farm with my brother, Ron. He also works full time for the local township doing road maintenance. In 2011 we bought the farm from our dad and formed the partnership, Southview Jerseys, LLP. Our dairy herd consists of mostly Jerseys and some crossbreds. We also have a herd of about a dozen Hereford beef cows, and we also fatten all of our steers.
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What are field conditions like in your area? Some people were able to put anhydrous on and get small grain planted in early April. The week after Easter we got around 3 inches of rain and people are just starting to get back in the elds as of April 19. There are still low spots to contend with but with a few good drying days it will be go time for everyone.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021 • Page 17
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Page 18 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021
Soap maker nds calling on family dairy
Fourth generation returns to Plamann Farms By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
APPLETON, Wis. – Larry and Mary Jo Plamann were grateful when their daughter, Abby, decided to return home to the family farm after an 18year career in the credit union industry. Farming alongside her parents and her uncle, Keith, this marketing guru brought a much-needed pair of hardworking hands to the dairy in November 2019. The Plamanns milk 70 registered Holsteins and farm 430 acres of soybeans, corn and alfalfa near Appleton. Abby is the fourth generation at Plamann Farms, which was established by her great-grandfather,
Arthur Plamann, in the 1920s. Her grandfather, Merlin, took over the farm in 1949 when he got out of the army and farmed with his sons, Larry and Keith, for decades. Larry and Keith’s brother, David, is involved with the farm as well, helping with eldwork and odd jobs. “I was ready for a change, and the farm was calling me home,” Abby said. Cows at Plamann Farms are housed in tiestalls but milked in a parlor – a housing/milking setup that is located under the same roof. The farm’s 78-stall tiestall barn has seen an evolution of milking systems – from buckets to a dumping station, to a pipeline and nally to a parlor. In 2009, the family took out the pipeline
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Mary Jo and Larry Plamann (back, right) along with their daughter, Abby Hopfensperger, and her sons, Rennin (leŌ) and Ruxin, milk 70 cows and farm 430 acres near Appleton, Wisconsin. Abby returned to the family farm in 2019 aŌer an 18-year career in the credit union industry. Not pictured is Larry’s brother, Keith Plamann.
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Abby Hopfensperger’s arƟsan soaps are handcraŌed in small batches and available in a variety of signature and seasonal scents. She began making Farmhand’s Finest soaps with milk from her family’s farm three years ago.
and put in a swing-8 milking parlor within the tiestall barn. “This is easier on my body,” said Larry, who had both knees replaced prior to adding the parlor. The milking parlor was previously a calf barn. To make room for the parlor, the Plamanns converted a portion of their heifer barn into a calf barn, and calves were transferred to the new loca-
tion where they are raised from is the farmhand behind Farmbirth through freshening. hand’s Finest – a line of signa“We worked with what we ture and seasonal soaps made had,” said Abby, who milks in with milk from the farm. the mornings and one night per “I like to make things, and week. “We gutted the calf area I was looking for ways to use and put in a parlor and holding the products we have on our pen.” farm,” Abby said. “Making Three years ago, Abby soap is a mix of art and scitook her love for cows and ence. It lets me be creative.” poured it into a new business Abby’s artisan soaps are venture when she began making and marketing soaps. Abby Turn to PLAMANNS | Page 20
Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021 • Page 19
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EIPERS DAIRY, DODGE CENTER, MINNESOTA, The Eipers Family 150 cows, SCC 150,000, Niki Eipers pictured with Ryan Jr. “This is so exciting! I absolutely love Udder Comfort.™ We’ve been using it ever since getting samples in 2013 at World Dairy Expo,” said Niki Eipers of Dodge Center, Minnesota, when notified about winning the free gallon drawing for subscribing to our Comfort Matters E-news. Ryan and Niki operate the 4th generation Eipers Dairy with Ryan’s father Steve, milking 150 cows. “Every fresh cow and all heifers get Udder Comfort 2x/day for the first week, and all springing heifers get sprayed a few days before calving, too. They are much calmer and let their milk down easier. This lowers SCC and prevents mastitis, and their milk is in the line sooner. If we do see mastitis, we use this after each milking for 3 days. Most of the time, that takes care of it,” says Niki, who milks, feeds calves and helps wherever needed. “Udder Comfort is our #1 go-to for happy cows, and we have happy cows after using it. We’ve tried quite a few brands, but nothing works like Udder Comfort to significantly reduce swelling.”
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Page 20 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021
ConƟnued from PLAMANNS | Page 18 handcrafted in small batches. Her best seller is Wildower, a pink soap bursting with aromas of orchid, pear nectar and amber. Milkmaid, Belle of the Barn, Sunday Social, Winter’s Blush and Cocoa & Cream are the names some of her other soaps are known by. Another favorite is Sugar Shack, which resembles a slab of fudge and smells like maple, vanilla and buttered rum. The 4-ounce bars are sold in burlap bags. Abby is also working on rolling out a liquid soap for Mother’s Day. “Farmhand’s Finest is good-smelling soap that makes your skin feel nice,” Abby said. “It works hard and looks pretty, which is what I like.” Abby has a love for the natural and believes in using simple, quality ingredients. Her soaps are free of preservatives and contain between ve and eight ingredients including raw milk and oils. “I try to use milk from fresh cows because it has more milk fat,” Abby said. “All of our cows have names and personalities, and sometimes people ask which cow the milk came from. Once the soap is made, it has to cure for four weeks. It’s a process, but I try to stay ahead of the game. I have some wholesale accounts, so I’ve been making more soap lately.” Abby sells her soaps at local businesses as well as online through her website and Facebook. She provides free doorstep delivery around the Fox
Cities area. “It’s been fun,” Abby said. “The business is taking off; I just wish I had more time to devote to it.” Abby’s husband, Eric Hopfensperger, is a banker by day and a farmer by night, lending a hand at Plamann Farms whenever he has the chance. The couple’s boys – Ruxin, 7, and Rennin, 5 – also love helping on the farm. “When my boys were born, I started paying more attention to ingredients and buying more simply made products,” Abby said. “This fed into my desire to make my own soap.” Abby’s brother, Casey, who works for the United States Department of Agriculture and is also in the military, helps on the farm when he can. He and his wife, Bridget, have two kids – Calen, 13, and Kyler, 9. The Plamanns are trying to cut back on cows and have started breeding to Angus. Mary Jo does the raising of beef calves right now. Abby will market the beef and work with Keith (who manages breeding) to establish a cow/ calf operation. Many people in the community know of Plamann Farms. The family is active in 4-H, and for more than 26 years, the Plamanns hosted Adventures in Dairyland tours, welcoming approximately 10,000 students to their farm. “Some of those kids are 4-H parents now,” said Mary
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Abby, Ruxin and Rennin Hopfensperger and her children look over the cows and push in feed March 30 at Plamann Farms near Appleton, Wisconsin. Jo, who continues to provide tours to interested people. “I’ve been a 4-H leader forever, working with dog, horse and dairy projects, and I’ve seen multiple generations come through here.” Plamann Farms is the host of their county’s 4-H dog project. People bring their dogs to the farm to work on obedience training, agility training and showmanship with Mary Jo and other trainers. “We have 40 kids signed up for the dog project this year,” Mary Jo said. Although she has worked with dogs for 44 years, Mary Jo attends private lessons, classes
and clinics to stay sharp on the best training techniques. “I’m doing a scent class right now with an old dog of mine and trying to get him into a utility class,” Mary Jo said. “Eventually, you could get into search and rescue if a dog kept going down this path of training.” Mary Jo has a gift for communicating with canines and owns three dogs. Hercules and Rio are Belgium Schipperkes, a breed originating from Belgium, which she uses for agility and obedience, and Nala is a 3-month-old black Labrador. The Plamanns also have three horses and a pony, including an
unbroke 2-year-old that Mary Jo and her grandson, Calen, plan to train this year to become a 4-H horse. From making soap to 4-H projects, the interests on Plamann Farms are diverse and keep everyone busy on and off the farm. Having a change of heart when it came to her career, Abby’s return was a decision that helped ensure the continuation of this family farm. This cow lover and soap maker yearns to preserve the farming lifestyle for her children and future generations. Therefore, when the farm called her home, Abby said yes.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021 • Page 21
Financing subject to pre-approval through JD Financial. Some restrictions apply. See dealer for details.
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Equipment and pictures added daily • Go to www.mmcjd.com BOX DRILLS
17 JD 455 1993, Folding, 30’, 10” Spacing, #181747...................... $19,000
DISKS
4 Case IH RMX340 2009, 35’, 3-Section Folding, 9”Spacing, #181151 ................................................................................... $29,400 7 JD 637 2011, 45’, 5-Section Folding, 9” Spacing, #166177........ $34,900 6 JD 220 18’, #181622 ................................................................... $4,900
FIELD CULTIVATORS
4 JD 1010 24’, 3-Section Folding, C-Shank, #181016 .................... $3,950 2 JD 210 2012, 32’, 3-Section Folding, C-Shank, #173629 ........... $35,900 2 Case IH Tigermate 255 2018, 55’, 5-Section Folding, C-Shank, #181416 .................................................................... $94,900 10 Sunflower 5035 2016, 24’, 3-Section Folding, C-Shank, #177191 ................................................................................... $28,900 17 Case IH 4300 30’, 3-Section Folding, C-Shank, #181148............ $8,500 1 JD 2210 2006, 57’, 5-Section Folding, C-Shank, #181942......... $32,500 9 JD 960 1989, 38’, 3-Section Folding, C-Shank, #180045 ............. $4,000 16 JD 2210 2009, 50’, 5-Section Folding, #182258........................ $42,500 14 JD 960 1989, 42’, 5-Section Folding, C-Shank, #165959 ............. $5,900 14 Elmers 6400 1991, 41’, 3-Section Folding, S-Tine, #178092 .... $10,900
LARGE SQUARE BALERS
2 JD L330 2016, 7000 Bales, #179376 ........................................ $89,900 1 Case IH LBX331 2002, 53000 Bales, #181560 ......................... $20,900 10 10 17 7 6 6 8
MOWER CONDITIONERS
NH H7230 2015, #176984 ....................................................... $22,400 JD 946 2012, #182272 ............................................................. $17,900 Hesston 1372 2010, #178648................................................. $17,400 JD 635 2009, #173285 ............................................................. $14,900 JD 946 2010, #179286 ............................................................. $18,500 JD 956 2015, #180948 ............................................................. $35,900 NH H7550 2014, #167351 ....................................................... $19,900
MULCH FINISHERS
4 JD 2310 2009, 25’, 3-Section Folding, #182063........................ $38,900 15 Kuhn Krause 6200-45 2014, 45’, 9” Spacing, #180001........... $45,900
DRAWN PLANTERS
4 JD 1770NT CCS 2006, 16 Row, 30”, Flex Fold, Vacuum, Central Fill System, #181880 .................................................... $55,900 17 JD 1790 2003, 16/32 Row, 15/30”, Flex Fold, Vacuum, Central Fill System, #181335 ...................................................................... $62,900 6 White 6100 1995, 6 Row, 30”, Rigid, Plate, #181144 ................ $7,900 9 JD 1770 1997, 16 Row, 30”, Flex Fold, Vacuum, 3.0 Bu. Hopper, #180078 ................................................................................... $19,500
9 JD 1750 1996, 8 Row, 30”, Rigid, Vacuum, 1.6 Bu. Hopper, #181939 ................................................................................... $14,900 9 JD 1760NT 2014, 8 Row, 30”, Wing Fold, Vacuum, 3.0 Bu. Hopper, #181228 ................................................................................... $37,500 16 JD DB66 2017, 36 Row, 22”, Wing Fold, Exact Emerge, Central Fill System, Row Command, Electric Drive, #175194 .................... $349,500 16 JD 1760 2011, 12 Row, 30”, Wing Fold, Vacuum, 3.0 Bu. Hopper, #182209 ................................................................................... $42,500 5 JD 1775NT 2021, 16 Row, 30”, Flex Fold, Exact Emerge, Central Fill System, Row Command, Electric Drive, #174940 .................... $199,500 5 JD DB44 2013, 24 Row, 22”, Flex Fold, Vacuum, Central Fill System, Row Command, #179347 ....................................................... $159,900 11 JD 1770 1997, 16 Row, 30”, Flex Fold, Vacuum, 1.6 Bu. Hopper, #181280 .......................................................... $22,400
INTEGRAL PLANTERS
6 JD 7300 24 Row, 22”, Wing Fold, Vacuum, 1.6 Bu. Hopper, #182009 ................................................................................... $17,500 6 JD 1720 2006, 16 Row, 30”, Wing Fold, Vacuum, 3.0 Bu. Hopper, #181587 ................................................................................... $24,400 5 JD 7300 1989, 12 Row, 30”, Wing Fold, Vacuum, 1.6 Bu. Hopper, #180958 ............................................................ $9,000 3 JD 7300 1992, 12 Row, 30”, Wing Fold, Vacuum, 1.6 Bu. Hopper, #175563 ............................................................ $9,900 4 10 17 1 16 5 14 3 3 3
PULL-TYPE SPRAYERS
Hardi NP1100 2003, #180960 .................................................. $8,500 Hardi NAVIGATOR 1000 2007, #169543 ................................ $11,900 Top Air TA1200 2005, #180618............................................... $12,500 Hardi NAV550 2005, #179504 .................................................. $9,500 Hardi Navigator 4000 #180889 ............................................ $15,000 Hardi Commander Plus 1200 2002, #181150 ...................... $17,500 Redball 132’ walking tandems, #176938 ................................ $12,900 Top Air TA2400 2011, #179435............................................... $44,900 Top Air TA 1200 2006, #179991 .............................................. $10,900 Hardi Navigator 4000 2013, #179001................................... $24,000
RAKES
10 Frontier WR1212C #175595 .................................................... $7,500
ROUND BALERS
4 JD 560M 2019, Mega Wide, Both Twine and Surface Wrap, 1000 PTO, 5’ Wide Bale, 2100 Bales, #179000............................................ $45,500 2 NH BR7060 2011, Mega Wide, Surface Wrap Only, 540 PTO, 4’ Wide Bale, Precut Knives, 7300 Bales, #169262 ..................... $23,900 2 JD 569 2012, Mega Wide, Both Twine and Surface Wrap, 1000 PTO, 5’ Wide Bale, 3300 Bales, #173254............................................ $38,400
2 NH 664 1998, Regular Pickup, Twine Only, 540 PTO, 5’ Wide Bale, #171161 ..................................................................................... $3,950 10 JD 569 Silage Special 2015, Mega Wide, Both Twine and Surface Wrap, 540 PTO, 5’ Wide Bale, 3300 Bales, #178210 .................. $41,500 10 JD 569 2016, Mega Wide, Both Twine and Surface Wrap, 1000 PTO, 5’ Wide Bale, 9800 Bales, #181002............................................ $31,400 10 JD 854 Silage Special 2013, Mega Wide, Both Twine and Surface Wrap, 1000 PTO, 5’ Wide Bale, Precut Knives, 6000 Bales, #181465 ................................................................................... $27,900 10 JD 560M 2018, Mega Wide, Surface Wrap Only, 1000 PTO, 5’ Wide Bale, 7600 Bales, #181057............................................ $41,500 17 JD 569 2014, Mega Wide, Both Twine and Surface Wrap, 1000 PTO, 5’ Wide Bale, 15560 Bales, #179194 ........................ $25,900 6 JD 460M 2018, Mega Wide, Both Twine and Surface Wrap, 1000 PTO, 4’ Wide Bale, Precut Knives, 6400 Bales, #164359.... $43,900 6 JD 459 Silage Special 2017, Mega Wide, Surface Wrap Only, 4’ Wide Bale, 3800 Bales, #177855........................................... $35,900 6 JD 569 Silage Special 2013, Mega Wide, Surface Wrap Only, 1000 PTO, 5’ Wide Bale, 9540 Bales, #177861 .......................... $29,400 6 NH Rollbelt 460 2015, Mega Wide, Both Twine and Surface Wrap, 540 PTO, 4’ Wide Bale, 9000 Bales, #178946 ............................ $20,900 6 JD 560M 2019, Mega Wide, Surface Wrap Only, 1000 PTO, 5’ Wide Bale, 7200 Bales, #179188............................................ $42,400 6 Claas 480RC 2017, Mega Wide, Surface Wrap Only, 540 PTO, 4’ Wide Bale, Precut Knives, 5165 Bales, #179187 ..................... $31,500 6 JD 567 2002, Mega Wide, Twine Only, 540 PTO, 5’ Wide Bale, 8312 Bales, #179041 ................................................................ $11,900 6 JD 568 2010, Mega Wide, Both Twine and Surface Wrap, 1000 PTO, 5’ Wide Bale, 12200 Bales, #181866 ........................ $25,400 6 JD 569 2016, Mega Wide, Surface Wrap Only, 1000 PTO, 5’ Wide Bale, 5085 Bales, #180947........................................... $42,400 6 JD 566 1998, Regular Pickup, 540 PTO, 5’ Wide Bale, 14000 Bales, #181621 ................................................................ $9,400 5 JD 568 2008, Mega Wide, Both Twine and Surface Wrap, 1000 PTO, 5’ Wide Bale, 13500 Bales, #176786 ........................ $21,900 5 JD 569 2013, Mega Wide, Both Twine and Surface Wrap, 1000 PTO, 5’ Wide Bale, 18000 Bales, #172972 ........................ $30,900 11 NH BR780 2003, Regular Pickup, Twine Only, 540 PTO, 5’ Wide Bale, #169873 ................................................................ $6,900 3 Vermeer 605F 1980, Regular Pickup, Twine Only, 1000 PTO, 5’ Wide Bale, #168368 ................................................................ $2,400
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Page 22 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021
Make your voice heard
Thome encourages local government involvement
Give your milking system a ReCharge
DeLaval Clover™ Liners
DeLaval DelPro™
By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
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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 Dairy Systems, Inc. West Union, IA 563-422-5355 WISCONSIN Advanced Dairy/Bob’s Dairy Supply Spring Valley, WI 715-772-3201 Ederer Dairy Supply Plain, WI 608-546-3713
DeLaval Dairy Service Kaukauna, WI 866-335-2825 Joe’s Refrigeration Inc. Withee, WI 715-229-2321 Mlsna Dairy Supply Inc. Cashton, WI 608-654-5106 Professional Dairy Services Arlington, WI 608-635-0267 Redeker Dairy Equipment Brandon, WI 920-346-5579 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, SD 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 © 2021 DeLaval Inc. DeLaval, 11100 North Congress Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri 64153-1296. Nothing in this document shall constitute a warranty or guaranty of performance. www.delaval.com
WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. – As the percentage of the U.S. population involved in production agriculture shrinks, the need for producers to become involved in advocating a pro-agricultural stance in government, at all levels, becomes increasingly important. Joe Thome, a dairy producer from Malone, has spent the past 20 years being involved in his local government, working to ensure that agriculture has a seat at the table for representation in discussion regarding local ordinances. He shared his experiences and perspectives on the importance of being involved during a Learning Lounge presentation at the Professional Dairy Producers’ annual business conference March 17-18 in Wisconsin Dells. Since 1998, Thome has served on both the planning commission and the comprehensive plan committee for the Town of Taycheedah in Fond du Lac County and was recently re-elected for his third twoyear term as chairman of the township. Thome operates Redtail Ridge Dairy along with his wife, Diane, their son, Tyler, and his brother, John. They milk 1,400 cows and crop 2,500 acres. Thome said the Town of Taycheedah is a diverse community with over 4,600 residents. The western side of the township is highly residential and the eastern side is largely agricultural. The township is also home to over 6 miles of lakeshore. “I got involved in town government because I wanted to be a voice for agriculture in our community,” Thome said. “I want to give back to the community in which I live. I like to be involved as a volunteer.” Thome said getting to know elected ofcials at all levels of government is important. “Get to know your elected ofcials, and make sure they know you,” Thome said. “There are some residents that might not even know there is a town government or where the town hall is let alone who the elected representatives are.” Thome said in many cases, with various local ordinances and policies, town governments wield more power over the day-to-day workings of life and business than what state and federal governments do. Township governments typically oversee zoning and building codes, and determine things like setbacks and other parameters that might affect building or expansion on the farm. “Roads are the biggest expense that a township has,” Thome said. “Make sure your town knows how their decisions might impact or affect your business.” The local town governments are the bodies that typically set the rules that govern things that impact agriculture such as Implements of Animal Husbandry and other ordinances that dictate how agricultural implements may be used on roadways. “Your township will deal with things like weights, Turn to INVOLVEMENT | Page 23
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021 • Page 23
ConƟnued from INVOLVEMENT | Page 22 lengths and widths of farm equipment on the roads,” Thome said. “Manure hauling is a big thing; some of these tankers are getting too large to even drive down the road. They deal with things like weight limits on the roads and right-of-ways.” Running for an elected ofce is not the only way to become active in government on the local level. Thome encourages agricultural producers to attend town board meetings and familiarize themselves with both the workings of their individual township and
“The value of farmers involved is that it is a voice and representation for agriculture. Agriculture can get lost in the decisions if farmers are not represented.” JOE THOME, DAIRY FARMER
the people who are holding the elected positions. “Listen and be involved in the discussion,” Thome said. “Don’t be afraid to speak up. … Being involved like that is equally as important as being on the town board. After the meeting, introduce yourself to the town board members, get to know them personally. Let them know you are interested in being on an appointed committee.”
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
Joe Thome shares his experiences of being involved in local government during a Learning Lounge presentaƟon during Professional Dairy Producers’ annual business conference March 17-18 in Wisconsin Dells. Thome was recently reelected for a third term as the Town of Taycheedah chairman. Thome advises anyone who has an interest in seeking an elected position on a governmental body, such as a town board, to spend the time educating themselves about the workings of the township and the board. “Learn your town ordinances and zoning codes, where to nd them and who to ask for information,” Thome said. “You don’t have to know them all; you just need to know where to look for
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the information.” Once elected, it is important to be an active part of the discussion at each meeting. When working with constituents, taking care of business promptly is important, Thome said. “Everyone wants an answer today, especially today with cell phones,” Thome said. “If you say you are going to call a resident back, make sure to do it.” Above all, Thome emphasized the
need to be fair and respectful when serving in an elected position. “Stay calm and maintain control of the situation, whether on a phone call, a conversation or at a meeting,” Thome said. “Use common sense, that is what we all need.” Grooming the younger generation to become future leaders is an important piece of the puzzle, according to Thome. “Search out qualied individuals and get them involved,” Thome said. “The past town chairman was 83 years old when he left. I’m already working to seek out the people who might take my place. I want to get the younger generation in to develop them.” Networking with neighbors and others in the community is paramount, and Thome encourages people in agriculture to attend community events and share the story of agriculture and one’s individual farm. Thome does not limit his own community involvement to political and governmental endeavors. He is also a member of the Lions Club, serves on the board of directors for his church, has been on the Fond du Lac County Holstein board as the organization’s treasurer and has held positions on the boards for PDPW and AGRILAND. He also serves as the chair of the Fond du Lac County Farm Service Agency committee. “The value of farmers involved is that it is a voice and representation for agriculture,” Thome said. “Agriculture can get lost in the decisions if farmers are not represented. Be aware of what your town ofcials are considering. Attend the meetings, get involved and make your thoughts known.”
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Page 24 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021 • Page 25
A new lifetime production record holder
Stone-Front Leader Hilda tops 460,000 pounds of milk By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
LANCASTER, Wis. – Ask any dairyman who his favorite cow in the herd is and chances are good it is the cow that is older than the barn boards and has lled more than one tanker of milk over her lifetime. Andy and Lyn Buttles are no different from the rest, and Stone-Front Leader Hilda EX-90 4E was a long-time favorite in the herd. Hilda was recognized by Holstein Association USA LLC as the new record holder for the most lifetime milk produced by a Holstein cow with a lifetime production total of 460,720 pounds of milk. “It is a combination of genetics and her personality; Hilda had that tough cow mentality,” Andy Buttles said. “It does take some luck. Every time she calved in, she never had a problem. She was just a low-maintenance, trouble-free cow.” The Buttles operate Stone-Front Farm in Lancaster, which is home to 1,250 milking cows that carry a rolling herd average of 30,058 pounds of milk with 1,291 pounds of fat and 914 pounds of protein on three-times-a-day milking. The Buttles family has been dairy farming since the 1840s; for the past 24 years, they have been at their current Grant County location, having moved from Racine County. The family began focusing on registered Holsteins in 1913. “Hilda was a really good, moderatesized cow with a great udder,” said Buttles of the 15-year-old cow that died following the completion of her last record. “She just
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
The team at Stone-Front Farm – (front, from leŌ) Kylie Jo HewiƩ, Sam Chipahua, Moises Chipahua, Lucio Rodriguez, Eli Rodriquez and Lindsey Coddington; (middle, from leŌ) Jhordi CasƟllo, Josue Rodriguez and Miguel Rodriguez; (back, from leŌ) Rafael Lopez, Lyn BuƩles, Alfredo Rodriguez, Josh Holthaus, Andy BuƩles and Levi MarƟn – milks 1,250 cows near Lancaster, Wisconsin. The Buttles credit their employees for the care they give the herd, making it possible for cows like Stone-Front Leader Hilda to obtain high levels of lifeƟme producƟon. did her own thing, and she was always at the feed bunk.” A cow that calved on a regular basis, Hilda has daughters, granddaughters and great granddaughters in the Stone-Front herd. “She was just so consistent,” Buttles said. “She calved regularly. You could always nd her in the same stall or at the same place in the headlock. Every year, she did just a little better. She always made nice records.” Hilda’s best record came at 9 years of age. She completed a three-times-a-day record of 48,200 pounds of milk, and according to Buttles, the will to milk runs deep in
Hilda’s pedigree. “Everything from that cow family makes big records consistently,” Buttles said. “They aren’t ashy or showy cows, but they are sound cows with good functional type.” Buttles pointed to the sire-stack behind Hilda, which he called unique. Hilda herself was a daughter of Comestar Leader and had bulls like Iv-Ann Mark Tesk, Stardell Valiant Winken, To-Mar Blackstar, Walkway Chief Mark and Carlin-M Ivanhoe Bell behind her. “For a cow to do well, she has to have the genetics, a balance of type and production,” Buttles said. “They need to be du-
rable with functional type.” Old cows are not uncommon at StoneFront, and that is the result of paying attention to the small details that make up the big picture. “We really like our old cows,” Buttles said. “We have had a lot pass the 300,000-pound lifetime mark, but Hilda is the only one to have surpassed 400,000 pounds lifetime.” Buttles said when he is considering mating decisions, he strives to create the balanced cow with persistent longevity. He factors in genomic information on health traits such as somatic cell count and daughter pregnancy rate, and works to nd a balance of functional type with udder traits and dairy strength all while looking at pounds of milk and combined fat and protein. “We try to be very intentional on our matings,” Buttles said. “We like to try and make good ones. If you are going to make a heifer, you might as well make a darn good one.” With the genetic foundation, Buttles said the next piece of the puzzle lies in cow comfort. “We do everything we can to give them the best,” Buttles said. “We have big sand-bedded stalls that t the size of the cows. We let the cow do what she can, but we try to give her a great environment to do it in.” The nal piece of the puzzle and the one Buttles considers to be the most important is the team of people he has working to care for the Stone-Front herd. “We have great people,” Buttles said. “They really like cows, and they really do a great job taking care of the cows. The commitment of our staff really shows, and that makes me proud. Good people are just as important as good cows.”
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Sign, share documents securely online Page 26 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021
By Steve Frericks
County Executive Director Stearns County FSA Office
The Farm Service Agency would like to wish area farmers a safe and productive spring planting season. We are hopeful this spring provides you with a sense of accomplishment for all the work you put in every day to provide us with our food, fuel and ber. Be proud of what you do because we are proud of you. USDA microloans help farmers purchase farmland, improve property Farmers can use the United States Department of Agriculture farm ownership microloans to buy and improve property. These microloans are especially helpful to beginning or underserved farmers, veterans looking for a career in farming, and those who have small and mid-sized farming operations.
Microloans have helped farmers and ranchers with operating costs, such as feed, fertilizer, tools, fencing, equipment and living expenses since 2013. Microloans can also help with farmland and building purchases and soil and water conservation improvements. FSA designed the expanded program to simplify the application process, expand eligibility requirements and expedite smaller real estate loans to help farmers strengthen their operations. Microloans provide up to $50,000 to qualied producers and can be issued to the applicant directly from the FSA. To learn more about the FSA microloan program, contact your local USDA Service Center or visit fsa. usda.gov/microloans. USDA offers secure options for signing, sharing documents online Farmers and ranchers working with FSA or
Natural Resources Conservation Service can now sign and share documents online in just a few clicks. By using Box or OneSpan, producers can digitally complete business transactions without leaving their homes or agricultural operations. Both services are free, secure and available for multiple programs. Box is a secure, cloud-based site where FSA or NRCS documents can be managed and shared. Producers who choose to use this can create a username and password to access their secure account, where documents can be downloaded, printed, manually signed, scanned, uploaded and shared digitally with staff. This service is available to any FSA or NRCS customer with access to a mobile device or computer with printer connectivity. OneSpan is a secure eSignature solution for FSA and NRCS customers. Like Box, no software downloads or eAuthentication is required. Instead, producers interested in eSignature can conrm their identity through two-factor authentication using a verication code sent to their mobile device or a personalized question and answer. Once identity is conrmed, documents can be reviewed and e-signed via the producer’s email address. Signed documents immediately become available to the appropriate staff. Box and OneSpan are both optional services for customers interested in improved efciency in signing and sharing documents with USDA, and they do not replace existing systems using eAuthentication for digital signature. Instead, these tools provide additional digital options for producers to use when conducting business with FSA or NRCS. USDA Service Center staff are available to help producers get started with Box and OneSpan through a few simple steps. Visit farmers.gov/service-locator to nd your local ofce and let staff know you are interested in signing and sharing documents through these new features. In most cases, one quick phone call will be all that is needed to initiate the process. Visit farmers.gov/mydocs to learn more about Box and OneSpan, steps for getting started and additional resources for conducting business with USDA online. To learn more about program exibilities and Service Center status during the coronavirus pandemic, visit farmers.gov/coronavirus. 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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took them off outside and headed to the laundry room. She headed off to the shower as well. I had some good chuckles at Duane and Anna’s bad day but didn’t even think about what could have happened next. I was moving weaned calves to the next group pen. I put a halter on them to try to lead them out of the nursery. The rst four calves went great. They walked out, and then they did a little run. I followed trotting behind. I got them to the gate of their new pen, and all was great. They love to go to a big pen, running, kicking and jumping in the straw bedding. It was the fth calf that was going to ruin my day. She didn’t want to leave. I had the halter on. I tried to push and pull, and leaned on her with my legs to try to get her to move. She wasn’t having anything that I was trying to give her. Before I knew what to do, she took off. The halter was in my hand, and I spun around and landed at on my back in the dirty calf
pen. Now, I wasn’t the one laughing. I was trying to curl up so I didn’t get my hair in the manure. Picture a turtle on its back rocking back and forth. Let me just say, rocking doesn’t work at my age. I had to roll over on my side to get up. Meanwhile, that heifer ran back and forth in the nursery. She was most denitely laughing at me while I was covered in poop. As farmers, we work in and around manure every day. If it wasn’t for the days when we are covered in it, we wouldn’t appreciate the days with just a little poop splatter. Some days are good, and some days are bad. Tina Hinchley, and her husband, Duane, daughter Anna, milk 240 registered Holsteins with robots. They also farm 2300 acres of crops near Cambridge, Wisconsin. The Hinchley’s have been hosting farm tour for over 25 years.
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Most days on our farm are good days. Some can be exceptional. Those days are when we walk to the barn to see a heifer having an easy calving, and then she walks right into the robot and starts eating the pellet treats. No kicking, no stepping up into the feed bowl, just standing and getting milked for the rst time. That is the start of a great day. But, every once in a while, we have a bad day. These bad days typically revolve around heifers too. Sometimes heifers By Tina Hinchley are funny and cute, and Farmer & Columnist other times they all work together to make our job challenging. Heifers seem to have a secret body language and are always working to keep us on our toes. As soon as that one rebel heifer gets it in her mind to race, they all want to race. That is when we all have to stop and wait until they calm down. The heifers in the freestall barn get moved every day from one side of the barn to the other so the manure can be scraped into a tunnel to the pit. Anna, our daughter, is good at driving the skidloader, and she gets the job done in under half an hour. The heifers know her and know the plan. They all get up, they all poop, and then they all walk to the other side. That is, on a good day they do that. Every once in a while, there is one rebel that has to see if she can run fast and get out before the gate closes. Very rarely does this heifer get out. She usually has to stop fast, because the gate has latched before she was successful. Farmers know what happens when a running animal stops fast in manure that is 3 inches deep. The wave of manure comes ying, landing on us in every possible spot. That fast stop can ruin a good day fast. Anna and I can move heifers from pen to pen fairly efciently, calmly and without getting too much manure splattered on us. Add Duane to the mixture, and it can go good or bad. Did I mention Duane hates getting splattered with manure? Well, last week we all had a really bad day. Duane came into the house with his clothes wet. He huffed when he walked in the kitchen on the way to the laundry room. When he was changing the activity monitor collars on the bred heifers and moving them to the new group of heifers, he slipped and fell in the manure. He went to the milkhouse to spray off the manure. He must have landed at on his back because he was wet from head to toe. I do not know why, but I always laugh. I simply cannot help it. My laughing then got him more upset, and because he had hip surgery, he could not get his wet pants off, so he had to ask for my help. He grumbled something on his way to the shower while I was still giggling. Not much longer than an hour, Anna came into the kitchen. She was all splattered too. Well, remember that wave of manure? She described the moment when those rebel heifers started racing while she was trying to move them over in the freestall barn. A couple of them beat her to the gate. The heifers won that round, but eventually she won when they all got back into their pen. Anna was splattered beyond her bibs. She
Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021 • Page 27
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Page 28 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021
Farming, tness go hand in hand
McCarthys’ on-site gym delivers well-rounded approach to wellness By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
APPLETON, Wis. – Finding time to go to a gym is not easy for most farmers. But for Adam McCarthy and his family, squeezing in a workout has become a breeze. When Adam and his wife, Marie, built a tness studio last May next to their home across the eld from the family farm, it provided an opportunity for regular exercise. “Just because you’re a farmer doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work out,” said Adam, a fth-generation dairyman on his family’s Stoney Springs Farm. “Being a t farmer comes in handy – it’s very benecial to you and your job. You can’t afford not to work out.” Adam and his brother, Jesse, farm with their parents, Dave and Roseanne, milking 240 cows and running 600
acres near Appleton. Marie’s brother, Rodney, also works full time on the farm. Adam bought into the partnership in 2000, which was the year the McCarthys expanded and put in a milking parlor and freestall barn. Five years ago, they installed two Boumatic double robots. “There’s not as much physical labor on the farm now that we have robots to milk the cows,” Adam said. “But having a gym this close helps me get my workout in.” The tness studio is used by more than family – it is also the home of Dairyland Fitness, a business run by Marie. A lifestyle coach who takes a holistic approach to health, wellness and tness, Marie’s passion is to share her expertise with others. She previously owned a gym but came to a point where she found it more fullling to work with people individually.
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Adam and Marie McCarthy operate a tness studio next to their home across the eld from the family farm. Adam and his parents, Dave and Roseanne, and his brother, Jesse, milk 240 cows and farm 600 acres near Appleton, Wisconsin.
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
The McCarthys’ gym measures 30 feet by 60 feet and contains a variety of equipment, including rope pulls, sandbags, weights, indoor sleds, a bench press, treadmill, bikes, punching bag, rope climbs, rings, farmers carry handles and more.
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exercise as one size ts all and tailors her program to the individual. “I want to help people improve their lives,” Marie said. “I want my clients to be physically t inside and out. That includes their mental health as well. It’s about getting to know each person and their lifestyle. We can then work through deciencies and prior injuries.” From biking and rowing to sprint work, cardio and weightlifting, clients of Dairyland Fitness receive a comprehensive workout. Turn to MCCARTHY | Page 29
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“I wanted to give people more than a gym could provide,” Marie said. “I wanted to work with people on an individual basis to make more of an impact on their lives versus working in a largescale gym setting. And it’s been great.” Marie specializes in oneon-one instruction, teaching her clients about the human body and how to properly exercise while also caring for small injuries. Marie’s clients range from children to senior citizens and everyone in between. She also works with families. Marie does not view
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021 • Page 29
ConƟnued from MCCARTHY | Page 28
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The McCarthy family uses their onsite tness studio for regular exercise in between farm chores at their farm near Appleton, Wisconsin. The studio is also the home of Dairyland Fitness, where Marie McCarthy provides one-on-one health, wellness and tness instrucƟon to clients of all ages. Clients have access to a variety of Saturday mornings are a special equipment, including rope pulls, time at Dairyland Fitness where clients sandbags, weights, indoor sleds, a can work out together if they wish bench press, treadmill, bikes, punching in a small group class. The studio bag, rope climbs, rings, farmers carry comfortably ts eight to 10 people. handles and more. Clients also work out independently at “Hooking up ropes to a sled and the tness studio once they complete pulling it toward yourself is a great their initial one-on-one sessions with workout,” Adam said. “It offers great Marie. strength with low impact.” “I’m still here if they need me,” she Marie agreed. said. “I also give clients the door code “It’s one of my favorite workouts,” so they can come work out whenever she said. “I also love the farmers carry they like. There are no set hours. People handles. They’re a good way to test if a can reach out to me anytime.” person is getting stronger.” Because of the studio’s proximity Marie teaches her clients how to to the farm, requests for a tour are safely lift weights and also teaches common, and sometimes after working skills like handstands and wall walks to out, Marie takes clients to see the farm. those who are interested. “So many people don’t understand “There isn’t one exercise program what a robot dairy is,” Adam said. that everyone needs to stick with “They’re curious.” forever,” Marie said. “It’s good to mix it up. The body needs something different, which is why I make sure we hit every muscle group with emphasis on a person’s weakness.” Adam swears by Marie’s methods, having benetted from the techniques she uses on her clients to help correct injuries and work through issues. “I had bad body positions from milking in a parlor for many years,” MARIE MCCARTHY, DAIRYLAND FITNESS Adam said. “My leg was crooked from walking against the wall, and I The gym measures 30 feet by 60 also had a lot of back pain. My upper feet and has 15-foot ceilings and two posture was compromised as well large overhead doors, making it easy because I was always reaching out in to transport equipment in and out and front of me. Being in the same position provide air ow on nice days. Elements every day adds up over the years. We’re of the farm were incorporated into working on my internal muscles to pull the design, like the outside of Marie’s everything back into place, and I feel a ofce which is painted white with black lot better now. My foot still turns out spots. The tness studio was built by a little, but I stand straighter and have Fox Structures, who also built all of the better posture.” farm’s agricultural buildings. Much of Marie’s knowledge is self“Everyone in the family works out taught, but she also studies movement, here,” said Marie, who has also taken injury assessment, and anxiety up boxing along with Roseanne and and depression through mentoring Rodney. “It helps us stay healthy.” programs to aid her in providing a wellFrom the comforts of the McCarthys’ rounded tness plan to those who visit tness studio, Dairyland Fitness her studio. provides a personalized experience “All of my clients are working on where workouts are developed for the something – whether it be a hamstring, individual in an exercise space that has glute or back pain,” Marie said. “One been made to feel like home. of my clients had a heart attack and “Having exercise facilities on the multiple surgeries, and I’m helping farm has made things easier and gives him recover. He’s getting stronger and me an opportunity to work out more,” learning how to use his muscles.” Adam said. “I also get to see Marie a lot When it comes to her work with more.” kids, Marie focuses on structure and Marie agreed. compound movements. The goal of her “This gym gives me so much training sessions with youth is to build freedom,” she said. “Plus, I’m close to tendon, bone and muscle strength. the farm and can spend more time with “I help settle out any imbalances Adam. When I run on the treadmill, I from current sports and make kids have a view of the dairy, which I love. bulletproof for future sports,” Marie This is a pretty unique setup.” said.
“This gym gives me so much freedom. Plus, I’m close to the farm and can spend more time with Adam.”
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Close encounters of the creepy critter kind Page 30 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021
Steph and Stacy both warned me not to let Peanut on the loose in the old barn. They had put rat bait out. Peanut is a curious eater, and has already had an incident with the lovely looking green blocks of bait, which resulted in Lynzie coming out to make him puke. As Stacy and Steph cringed, they recounted watching the bold rat family traipse out of the old feed room entrance and right into the middle of the calf pen. Not minding at all that humans were in the barn. This week found Kayla and me in the old barn to put half of a pen of calves back from their adventure in the alleys. After it was all said and done and the gates were upright, I said that at least we were too busy chasing calves to worry about the rats! It reminded me of all the goosebumps and heart pounding encounters I’ve had over the years. Back in our stall barn, when I milked my special needs cows on one end of the barn, and the step-up parlor and holding area took up the remainder, I was also teaching. Being a teacher meant I had to milk my
cows extra early in the morning in order to make it to school on time. My cows had access to the pasture that swooped below the barn and towards the woods, and having walked it a million times, I rarely took a ashlight with me in the morning. Thinking back, who knows how many creatures I missed because I ventured out there in the dark, calling for my cows. That thought alone makes me shiver. It was the rst light of morning that always made me scared. I would bring my girls in the barn in the dark, shut the door, then a while later when I was almost done milking, I would go and tie the door back open. The morning light brought my attention to a skunk on the manure pile in the cow yard, which sent me ying to the house screaming for someone to come out with a gun. But Dad was right, “By the time someone gets down there it will be gone, just go milk your cows.” That experience made me jumpy bringing cows in for the next week.
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Then there were the weasels that liked to snitch some of the cow feed that fell behind their bunk (along with a fair number of healthy rats, yuck) and lived in the barn cleaner room. It was bad enough that you had to watch the barn cleaner chain so it didn’t get stuck Ramblings from the Ridge and throw straw in to get the water out, but you also had to watch for those creepy weasels out of the corner of your eye. They were fast, but still scary. I also vaguely recall a raccoon in the barn alley one morning, that lucky me discovered right before bringing cows in. I ran so fast to the house and was By Jacqui Davison determined not to go back Columnist out until I had the proper sidekick. Once again, by the time one of my brothers was dressed, the critter evaded a certain death and was nowhere to be found. My screams must have that effect on them. Mice make me quiver, but I have gotten much better at holding my breath and setting those snapping traps so I don’t have to smell a dead mouse coming from an undisclosed location for weeks. Rats still creep me out tremendously; they are pretty high on everyone’s list of creepy things at our farm. This winter I found ve drowned babies in my sheep’s water pail and about lost my mind. Peter is still not a fan of rats and mice – the mere mention of the words makes him visibly uncomfortable. My boys do not have this fear; they will chase the rodent down and end its life with whatever tool they have available. I will admit to being so petried of a dead rat that I once had to call my Aunt Cheryl to calm me down and talk me through picking it up. After we hung up, she slyly called the exterminator and sent them to the farm. There is a Christmas Eve I will never forget: the one that Thomas put on a pair of extra thick gloves, went outside and came back in with the opossum that had been peering in the window. Now let me do my best to paint this picture for you. I am so scared of those hideous creatures I can barely scream. I shake uncontrollably, and run as far as possible until long after my threat of being within feet of it has passed. When you are in a house on a cold December night your options are limited. Needless to say, I was holed up in my dad’s bedroom with a shing pole as my weapon trying not to pee my pants. Oddly enough, though those animals all scare the bejeebers out of me, snakes do not. My brothers aren’t big fans of them at all, but they don’t evoke that level of shaking fear in me. My boys have brought them in, thinking they will scare me, and are so disappointed when I just grab it and examine it. Now Cora, that girl loves to watch worms do their work and exclaim over their trails, but to touch one – no way! It is so bizarre to me, to watch her touch all sorts of gross things, but not a teeny little worm. Beetles are out of the question, as well; she wouldn’t even drive her bike down the cement when she saw one. That girl! Yet, these stories are the ones she loves to hear told again and again, nding them utterly hilarious. Keep your rat bait and ‘possum poking pitch forks handy, and I hope you don’t have too many close encounters of the creepy kind at your farm. Jacqui and her family milk 800 cows and run 1,200 acres of crops in the northeastern corner of Vernon County, Wisconsin. Her children, Ira (14), Dane (12), Henry (7) and Cora (4), help her on the farm while her husband, Keith, works on a grain farm. If she’s not in the barn, she’s probably in the kitchen, trailing after little ones, or sharing her passion of reading with someone. Her life is best described as organized chaos – and if it wasn’t, she’d be bored.
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Dynamics of rst-cut hay
Spring is here, or so we think. Much of the Midwest has experienced a blast or two of temperatures close to 80 degrees in the past few weeks. On the ip side, we’ve had some recent nights below freezing. This roller coaster of weather makes us scratch our heads and wonder how the 2021 alfalfa crop will be affected. Before we go into panic mode with alfalfa stands, Something to Ruminate On let’s step back and assess the situation.
Cold weather effects on plant growth Remember that alfalfa is a frosthardy plant. It takes temperatures below 24 degrees for more than four hours to freeze alfalfa top growth. That means the plant By Barry Visser will most likely be OK if temperatures Nutritionist stay above that mark or only dip for a short period of time. That said, if it is cold enough for long enough, frost can kill the terminal bud at the top of the stem where new growth occurs. This bud is exposed to the elements making it most vulnerable. The plant will try to grow if the terminal bud is killed, developing axillary buds at intersections of lower leaves of the stem, but it will not grow taller. Although the plant may continue to grow and produce some additional forage, yield will be depressed and, at some point, will need to be cut to allow for full regrowth for second cutting. If we experience cold temperatures in the coming weeks, work with your agronomist and forage advisers to assess alfalfa stands before rushing out and cutting immediately. First-cut timing sets the pace for the rest of the growing season When should you start rst cutting? No simple guidelines apply every year or for every farm. Generally, you can wait longer during periods of cooler temperatures and wetter conditions. Warmer springs with adequate moisture lead to faster growth and more rapid decline in ber digestibility. In the Upper Midwest, it is generally recommended by university researchers to plan the rst cut near the accumulation of 700 growing degrees. Plant maturity is the most important factor affecting quality. With increased maturity comes more cell wall constituents, including lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose. Proportionally, there is a drop in the digestible cellular contents such as soluble proteins, sugars, starch, fats and pectins. Not only does neutral detergent ber increase and forage energy content drop with maturity, but also the accumulating NDF becomes less digestible.
Scissor cuttings and PEAQ stick evaluation Scissor cutting is a tool that has been around for many years to estimate preharvest quality. Select a eld in the second or third production year, and sample twice a week until quality falls below desired harvest quality. Work with your nutritionist to determine target quality and implement proper scissor cutting procedures. A second tool, the Predicted Equation for Alfalfa Quality developed by the University of WisconsinMadison, helps make eld estimates. The PEAQ stick involves measuring the tallest stems in a 2-square-foot area of the eld and correlating to the plant maturity reading on the stick to estimate relative forage quality. Scissor cutting and PEAQ stick evaluation are generally more accurate as alfalfa height exceeds 15 inches. Both measurements evaluate the standing
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crop and do not account for the change in quality due to wilting, harvesting and storage. These losses will further lower relative feed value by 15% to 25%. Preharvest quality estimates have their greatest value for rst crop. Calendar date and visual maturity are useful factors in gauging harvest time for later cuttings. The early bud stage is optimal for both yield and quality. Genetic technologies with lower lignin alfalfa may allow us to maintain nutritional quality over a longer window of harvest. This is most often utilized in subsequent cuttings after rst-cutting. The maturity and quality of alfalfa silage at harvest is only one factor affecting the bottom line of your dairy. Harvesting top-quality alfalfa silage should be a priority of your forage team. It’s in the best interest of your cows and your pocketbook. Barry Visser is a nutritionist for Vita Plus.
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A short season Page 32 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021
Many seem worried about global warming and Queen in Illinois. I saw the princess programs as a terested in dairy farms and can explain it in a way climate changes. People need to relax a bit and en- way I could help my dad market the beef we grew. I to satisfy the real question being asked. joy the yo-yo ride we endure every year. Out here was passionate about beef and knew I was going to The opportunities these young ladies have toin the country, we understand there is meet other young ladies who were pas- day are only limited by their imagination. They are a different kind of weather pattern not sionate about helping their fathers. We articulate, passionate and willing to learn. They discussed during the weather report. It Just Thinking Out Loud interviewed 40 young ladies that day can present a positive image of our industry to the is a yo-yo pattern. One day it is over and were able to select a single win- consumer. With all the restrictions this past year, 80 degrees. Twenty-four hours later, ner. It was tough, but the best candi- the two Crow Wing County dairy princesses develwe’re shoveling snow. Up and down. date that day rose to the top like cream. oped a couple of YouTube video series about using Down and Up. We’re spinning round Fast forward 36 years, and I am dairy in recipes and life on their dairy farm. They and round until the yo-yo grabs tracasked back to judge the Morrison couldn’t get to the public, so they invited the public tion on the string and nishes up the County dairy princess contest. We to them. trick. only had seven candidates this year, For the past 67 years, we have crowned a young Some farmers had their corn plantbut it was harder to make our selection lady as Princess Kay of the Milky Way. She has ers in the elds during the 80-degree than when we judged 40 candidates. been the face of our industry at public events, condays. With a forecast of highs for the The program has made great changes ventions and classroom visits with inner city and coming week of 40, we are not jumpover the years to meet the needs of urban students. Her title is instantly recognizable By Natalie Schmitt ing on that bandwagon yet. We did get our industry and the demands of our and allows us access to consumers with instant Columnist started on our rst harvest of the year. customers; however, one thing has not credibility. It is a program that has gone through We started picking rocks up on the 40. change. The passion these young la- many changes to maintain its relevance while preWe made a few rounds when we had to dies feel about the dairy industry. Out serving its history. Some of the rst county and repull out of the eld before we had to be pulled out of the seven candidates this year, three were not gional contests I helped judge included a cooking of the eld. The tractor I was driving started to fall from dairy farms. They choose to work on neigh- demonstration by the girls. The girls in 4-H sure through the crust. Mark and the skidloader made it boring farms. had a big advantage in this area. Sometimes the through a soft spot OK, but I forgot I weighed a bit It must be my year to get back into this short girls even had to develop their own radio commermore with my load of rocks. season. Roseann Caughey cials for June Dairy Month. Spring is just around the corner, though. My asked me to judge the Whatever task was set beWinter weather h iis waning, i and d fore them, they put their rhubarb is starting to leaf out. The peonies are pok- Crow Wing County Dairy Wi ing through the winter mulch. Yellow and purple Princess contest the fol- spring hasn’t quite decided to best efforts in to tell their crocuses are bringing a bit of life to my owerbed. lowing week. Once again, story about our industry. We are kind of in a fth season right now. the numbers were small but stay. While the other commodWinter weather is waning, and spring hasn’t the talent pool was large. ity groups have backed quite decided to stay. While we are in this weather Two sisters, who own and away from pork queens ux, we can call this our shortest season. It is the operate their own dairy herd, will represent their and beef queens, I’m glad we, in the dairy industry, time of year when dairy farmers escort their daugh- county throughout the year. They will be helped by continue to put a bright young face on our industry ters across a stage while mothers snap pictures at three ambassadors with similar backgrounds. They to connect with customers. the county dairy princess banquets. all ride horses in 4-H and choose to work on neighAs their four children pursue dairy careers off the Morrison County was the rst dairy princess boring dairy farms. They are in a unique position family farm, Natalie and Mark are starting a new advencontest I was asked to judge when I moved to Min- to answer questions many growing up on the dairy ture of milking registered Holsteins just because they like nesota. I was excited to be on the other side of the farm take for granted as common knowledge. They good cows on their farm north of Rice, Minnesota. table this time. I had served as the Tri-County Beef had the same questions when they rst became in-
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Seeing green
Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021 • Page 33
We live on a paved county road, but there’s a gravel township road across the road from our driveway. This gravel road is where I do a lot of my walking and running. The road goes past the cropland we rent from Glen’s cousin and then past several other elds and farms. This spring, each run down the gravel road has been enhanced by the most beautiful sight: the color green. The cover crop we planted last fall emerged as Dairy Good Life one of our best covers yet. When the snow melted, a lush green carpet was unveiled. Weeks before either our established alfalfa or our pasture returned to green, the ryegrass seemed to be shouting its greenness from the rooftops. There was something about seeing that rich, emerald green color – when the rest of the landscape was still locked in the drab tans and browns of late winter – that brought me extra joy. Maybe it’s the science of the color, which shows that seeing green can relax our nervous systems and promote calm feelings. Or maybe it’s knowing that our elds are already By Sadie Frericks alive, harvesting sunlight, feeding the soil’s biology, Columnist and generating organic matter that will either enrich our soil or feed our cows. We’ve been planting cover crops for the better part of the last decade. Cover crops help up protect the limited cropland acreage we farm and, depending on the year, allow us to harvest an extra forage crop. Before we started covering our corn ground each fall, we used alfalfa as a cover crop. We left the alfalfa in the eld over winter, let it green up in the spring, harvested a rst cutting, and then no-tilled corn into the stubble. We still manage our alfalfa-corn transitions this way. Not every central Minnesota fall has been cover crop friendly. A couple years ago, the corn silage came off too late and the temperature dropped too early and we didn’t get a cover crop established. But I gure one winter of naked elds is better than always having naked elds. Speaking of naked elds, I made two trips to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, this spring – one for Central Plains Dairy Expo and one to visit my sister over Easter break. There was a lot of windshield time looking at way too many acres of naked cropland. A little way south of Jasper, however, there was an emerald in the rough. From miles away you could see the greenness, shining out of the otherwise drab panorama like a neon sign. Again, it was a sight for sore eyes. The best part about this farmer’s cover crops, though, were the signs staked alongside Highway 23 that read “Cover Crop Enhanced.” Kudos to that farmer for calling attention to the benets of cover crops – all of us that cover our cropland ought to be doing the same. I’m delighted to see that cover crops have been getting more attention recently, not just for their ability to protect soil, but also for their capacity to sequester carbon. I’ve lost count of the number of emails, webinar invitations, etc. we’ve received this spring about companies looking to enter the carbon market – to purchase carbon credits from farmers to offset their carbon use and, thereby, reduce their carbon footprints. I was also delighted to hear that Minnesota may soon begin helping farmers with cover crop establishment. Several agriculture groups worked together this winter on a soil health bill that will use Clean Water Funds to create a soil health cost-share program. Hopefully, this funding will help convince more farmers to give cover crops a try. There’s certainly room for great cover crop adoption. Of Minnesota’s 25.4 million acres of cropland, 2017 data shows only 579,000 acres were planted to a cover crop. Cover crops also made the news this past month for their ability to conserve another farm resource: cash. Data from Minnesota’s Farm Business Management program shows that Minnesota Ag Water Quality Certied farms had 20% higher prots than non-certied farms. I’m guessing that’s without payments from carbon trading. Those prots will only go up as carbon becomes more widely commoditized. With all of these developments in the realm of cover crops, I think it’s time for a cover crop marketing campaign: See green. Save green. Make green. Sounds like a good slogan for the signs I’m going to put up in our elds. If you’re interested in learning more about cover crops, soil health, and carbon sequestration, I highly recommend looking into the work of Ray Archuleta and Frank Mitloehner. Archuleta is a soil scientist, farmer, and founder of the Soil Health Academy. Mitloehner is a professor and air quality specialist in the Department of Animal Science at University of California – Davis; he is also the director of the Clarity and Leadership for Environmental Awareness and Research Center, which studies the relationship between livestock and air quality. Sadie and her husband, Glen, milk 100 cows near Melrose, Minnesota. They have three children – Dan, 13, Monika, 11, and Daphne, 7. Sadie also writes a blog at www.dairygoodlife.com. She can be reached at sadiefrericks@gmail.com.
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Page 34 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021
Spring safety tune-up
Helpful tips for preventing farm injuries, fatalities By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
MADISON, Wis. – Spring is an exciting and busy time of year on the farm. As the air gets warmer and the days become longer, farmers take to the elds, making this the perfect time of year to also revisit procedures that ensure the safety of all employees and family members. Cheryl Skjolaas and Marsha Salzwedel provided a refresher on top safety concerns for the upcoming planting and growing season during a recent Professional Dairy Producers Dairy Signal webinar titled, “Farm safety tips for all ages.” “Safety has to start with you,” said Skjolaas, agricultural Cheryl Skjolaas safety and health specialist for the Center for Agricultural Safety and Health at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Your actions and role modeling are critical. Whether it’s for a younger worker, new employee or family member, the attitude you bring toward your work is a big factor. For example, if your policy is to Marsha Salzwedel wear a seatbelt when operating a tractor but you hop in that tractor and don’t put the seatbelt on, you’re not being a good role model.” Salzwedel, project scientist at the National Farm
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Before going out on the road, check equipment to ensure it has adequate lighƟng and marking. The bright orange and red emblems denoƟng a slow-moving vehicle should be in good condiƟon. Medicine Center, agreed. “One of the most powerful tools in our tool kit is modeling,” Salzwedel said. “Employees are always going to do what they see rather than what you say.” Tractors are a primary cause of fatalities on farms, and overturns are the most common incident involving tractors, Skjolaas said. Tractors should have a rollover protective structure, and operators should always wear a seatbelt. Some states have programs for retrotting a tractor with a ROPS. Make sure the tractor is in good condition and ensure implements used with a
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021 • Page 35
ConƟnued from FARM SAFETY | Page 34 ample, does the hitch pin have the proper safety connection to it? Is the power take-off shield in good condition? Does it have any cracks? Is the whole PTO shield from the tractor to the powered implement in place? “Build some gaps into your schedule so you can handle time pressures,” Skjolaas said. “Have backup plans and a list of phone numbers available and second pieces of parts that may go.” Make sure everyone on the farm is trained on equipment that may not be used on a regular basis. Pull out operator’s manuals and take a look at safety requirements, and discuss these requirements with employees who are going to operate that equipment. Also, go over emergency scenarios. If there are injuries or someone is caught in equipment, how should people respond? “If nothing else, it’s important everybody on the farm knows how to turn that tractor or self-propelled implement on and off,” Skjolaas said. Skjolaas stressed the importance of a communications plan for the individual who is working alone. Make sure someone knows where that person is
going and their expected time of return. “On our farm, there was always a note on the kitchen table so we knew who was where,” Skjolaas said. “For example, if Dad was going up in the silo, somebody knew that. Don’t just rely on a person to call you on your cell phone. Because if something happens to them, they probably won’t be able to give you that call.” In the event of an emergency, a farm map can direct medical personnel to an accident site quickly and efciently. Skjolaas recommends creating a map of the farm that includes: roads and crossroads; buildings and locations; silos, grain storage and manure storage; wells, hydrants, ponds and streams; location of septic/wastewater systems; chemical/fertilizer storage; overhead and buried power lines; and gas and electrical shutoffs. “The National Farm Medicine Center has a great program called Farm Mapper to help you make a map of your farm,” Skjolaas said. “We don’t know
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Page 36 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021
Women In Dairy Jennifer Ehlen Burlington, Wisconsin Walworth County 120 cows Family: John and I have been married for 30 years. We have raised four children on the family farm – Erika, 28, Matthew, 26, Brett and Brittany, 23. All of our children live in Burlington. We have one granddaughter, Brixley, and another grandchild due in August. Tell us about your farm. Our farm is a small family farm owned and operated by John and I and Matthew and his wife, Britte. All of our kids continue to help on the farm. We also are fortunate to have friends and family who will always lend a helping hand. We bought the farm 30 years ago from Eugene and Dorothea Ehlen. When we rst started, we milked about 26 cows. Today, we milk about 120 cows. All of the milking cows were born and raised on this farm. There have been three generations on this small farm.
When you get a spare moment, what do you do? When I get a spare moment, I enjoy relaxing with friends and family.
Who is someone in the industry who has inspired you? My mother-inlaw is someone who inspired me in the dairy industry. Dorothea raised eight children and helped on the farm. She was helping us until she turned 90. I gured if she could raise eight kids on the farm, I could raise four. My mother, Joan, was also a big inspiration. She was always there supporting me and helping with the kids. These two women inspired me to be a good wife and mom.
Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. The most memorable experience I can remember is seeing a calf born for the rst time. I was born and raised in the city and married into farming. So, I never saw a calf being born. Now when one is born, we wonder if it is going to be a milking cow to add to the herd or not.
If you could give a tour of your farm to a prominent woman in today’s society, who would it be? I don’t think there is one prominent woman or man in today’s society I’d want to give a tour of the farm to. All people should visit a farm someday and see the dedication and work that goes into the products they consume. It’s not simply going to the grocery store and picking it up.
What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? I enjoyed being able to raise our family on the dairy farm. It is hard work, but the kids learned responsibility at an early age. It is amazing to see them all willing to help on the farm to this day. Family and friends are what makes our small farm successful.
What is the best vacation you have ever taken? We took the family to Disney World in Florida. It was the rst time we all ever stepped foot on a plane. It was amazing. We all ew together with friends and family for the rst time. It was an amazing week-long trip for the family.
What is the busiest time of day for you? There is no single time of the day that is not busy on the farm. It is always busy whether it is planting time, hay time or harvest time.
How do you stay connected with others in the industry? We stay connected with others in the industry by going out with other farmers and reading farm papers. John informs me the most about the industry by talking with other farmers and by reading the farm papers.
What are some words you like to live by? “You can’t live without family and friends;” “One has to have faith;” and “The little things in life are what really matter.” They have all been the key to our success and our wonderful life.
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when emergencies are going to happen, and time is precious. Giving this information to rst responders will allow for the best rst response opportunity.” Skjolaas said to keep rst aid kits in more than one place and stocked with heavy-duty scissors, so if a piece of clothing is entangled, it can be cut free. Also, keep absorbing materials like towels or a blanket in vehicles and out in the eld so emergency action steps can be taken while waiting for ambulance and rst responders to arrive. “There’s a lot you can do with a roll of paper towel and duct tape as well, like stabilize an injury,” Skjolaas said. Skjolaas said road incidents make up a fair number of fatalities in Wisconsin. Before going on the road, check equipment to ensure it has adequate lighting and marking. The bright orange and red emblems denoting a slowmoving vehicle should be in good condition. “There are a lot of emblems out there getting faded and dull, and they should be replaced,” Skjolaas said. “Go to the Division of Motor Vehicles website and check that you’re meeting lighting and marking requirements.” A driver’s license is not required for agricultural purposes, but youth operators ages 12-15 must have a state certicate of completion for the Wisconsin Safe Operation of Tractor and Machinery Certication Program. “Farms are a great place for kids to grow up, work and live,” Salzwedel said. “But farms also present challenges and risks that can lead to injury or death. Agriculture is one of the most dangerous occupations in the U.S. and the only worksite in our nation where children of any age can be present.” According to the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricul-
tural Health and Safety, a child dies in an ag-related incident in this country about every three days, and each day, approximately 33 children are seriously injured on farms. Of these injuries, 60% happen to children who are not working – oftentimes toddlers. Salzwedel pointed out that long-term disabilities impact the youth plus the entire farm enterprise. “An injury like this can wipe out a farm’s annual income in just seconds,” she said. The top three causes of fatalities involve machinery, motor vehicles and drowning, with tractors being the No. 1 cause of death. Drowning deaths are attributed not only to farm ponds, irrigation ponds, creeks and rivers, but also include things like manure pits and grain bins. The leading causes of injuries come from falls, animals and machinery/vehicles. “While the use of ATVS and skid steers have provided huge benets in getting work done, they’ve also contributed signicantly to injuries both to adults and children,” Salzwedel said. The economic cost of youth farm injuries is substantial, costing society $1.26 billion a year, Salzwedel said. To ensure children’s safety, she recommends the following: keep kids away from tractors; keep young children out of the worksite; build safe, fenced-in play areas; and provide work training to kids old enough to conduct tasks. “The number of injuries go up tremendously during planting and harvesting seasons,” Salzwedel said. “Fatigue is a huge contributor to injuries. Everyone is tired during this busy time of year on the farm. Make sure you get adequate sleep, and make sure you know where your children are.”
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April showers bring calf scours Page 38 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 24, 2021
Spring is in the air. Birds are up for health problems and creating chirping, new babies are being born, a long road ahead for extra care and and Mother Nature is wreaking havoc, costly treatments. which does not make for ideal calving During times of high calving, conditions. Warmer temperatures especially in wet seasons, develop a followed by cold snaps and harsh sanitation plan with your calf team. Talk rain can add stress to a newborn calf. to them about how often to clean and As calves are born and the weather bed the maternity area and make sure uctuates, it is important everyone knows what Calf Chronicles to pay extra attention to ideal calving conditions the future of your herd. look like. Teaching your Let’s start with the employees the knee test maternity pen, often a (30 seconds of kneeling high-trafc area on the on the bedding to make farm and the environment sure knees are not wet or a newborn calf is exposed cold after) is a quick and to rst. As new cows and easy way to judge if the calves come in, people bedding is deep and dry walk through the bedding enough for calves. to help the cow give birth, Additionally, the and then to retrieve calves timing of cleaning and By Ellen Cushing and follow up with any re-bedding is important. medications and day one Plan for how many Columnist protocol necessities. High calvings there should be trafc can translate into in between re-bedding the pathogen overload and greater disease maternity pen. Calvings-per-cleaning risk. is a better approach compared with When a calf is born, it has an setting a weekly or bi-weekly schedule. underdeveloped immune system, which In times of heavy calving, it helps to means it has a slow and weak response to ensure the area is never overwhelmed the pathogens it encounters. The calf’s with pathogens. Also, your bedding immune system grows more robust plan does not have to stay consistent with time, but on day one, hour one, it throughout the year. If you know you is extremely weak. So, if there is a high tend to deal with higher scouring level of pathogens in the maternity pen, incidents in periods of wet weather there is a good chance those pathogens (like springtime), then you may need will overwhelm the underdeveloped to increase bedding frequency during immune system. As I mentioned in my those months. previous article, a calf’s umbilicus is an Once you have protocols in open highway to their body. If a calf is place for the maternity area, it is also born into mud, manure or a puddle, that imperative to create sanitation protocols umbilicus is dragging all that bacteria for moving newborn calves. If you use with it. Those pathogens can travel into a wheelbarrow or other means of calf the calf’s blood stream, setting the calf transportation, sanitize between calves
or as often as possible as this equipment can harbor bacteria. Even if a calf is only going to be in the transport for a few minutes, that is plenty of time for pathogens to enter the nasal, oral or navel pathway and infect a calf. Similar to the maternity pen, plan for cleaning calf PHOTO PROVIDED pens or hutches. When a calf is born, it has an underdeveloped immune Outdoor hutches, system, which means it has a slow and weak response to especially in pathogens it encounters. springtime, tend than-ideal weather. Write down and to get wet and muddy, particularly in front of the share standard operating procedures hutch. As snow melts and rain comes for maintaining clean maternity down, this muddy area becomes a pens, transportation equipment and breeding ground for bacteria. Drainage calf hutches and pens. Be cognizant is key when conguring where to put of how you and others can mitigate hutches on your farm. Ideally, you want the movement of pathogens. These to have hutches sloped so water drains fundamental, occasionally underaway from the hutch. Putting down appreciated protocols will go a long gravel can help keep calves out of way in preventing April showers from standing water and keep bedding drier. turning into calf scours. Ellen is the First Defense regional In any calving environment, having a bit of a slope so water and urine drain sales and marketing manager for Wisaway from the calves will help keep consin and Minnesota. She is a problem them clean and dry. Additionally, talk solver who loves walking calf hutches with your team about when it is time to and diagnosing protocol drift. A great re-bed the calves (the knee test applies day is a day spent helping dairy and beef farmers keep their baby calves here too). The goal is to set up your calves for healthy. Ellen can be reached at ecushsuccess, and it starts in the maternity ing@immucell.com. pen, especially during times of less-
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Mike and Sarah Weigel Platteville, Wisconsin Grant County 140 cows
and keep on enjoying every day. Hopefully the highs will outnumber the lows. What has been the best purchase you have ever made on your farm? Our freestall barn; we built it in 2016 and have seen a constant rise in both our cow comfort and production.
How did you get into farming? I started milking when I was in high school. When I was 19 or 20 years old, I bought 15 cows. A year or two later, I purchased cows from my boss to help settle their family estate and farmed with my aunt and uncle for a few years before purchasing the current farm. Sarah said she quickly learned if she wanted to spend time with her farmer, she had to be on the farm. She began visiting while I milked and slowly began to learn what I was doing and started helping. What are your thoughts and concerns about the dairy industry for the next year? I’m worried about the difference between the cost of feed and the price of milk on the farm. I see expenses going up with milk prices staying the same. What is the latest technology you implemented on your farm and the purpose for it? We purchased Waikato Expresso milkers. We also use AgSource DM, which helps us keep track of our production and reproduction. What is a management practice you changed in the past year that has beneted you?
What has been your biggest accomplishment while dairy farming? Raising our family and being able to work alongside each other and our daughters.
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Mike and Sarah Weigel and their daughters – (from leŌ) Makayla, 17, and Sadie, 15 – milk 140 cows on their farm near PlaƩeville, Wisconsin. Tail chalking; we’ve done this for multiple years, but using this in conjunction with AgSource DM and working with our vet has helped us with our reproduction. What cost-saving steps have you implemented during the low milk price? We watch what we spend and where we spend it. We try to prioritize to make sure we take care of what we need versus spending money on things we want. We decided when we started we
wanted to make dairy farming our lifestyle, so we do things to make that possible. How do you retain a good working relationship with your employees? We treat them like family. They are with us every day. They live our highs and our lows, and we live theirs. Tell us about a skill you possess that makes dairy farming easier for you. We are homebodies. The farm is our
world, and it comes rst with a few exceptions, of course. What do you enjoy most about dairy farming? We enjoy raising our children on the farm, and now that they are teenagers, we get to work alongside them and see the pride they have in the animals and how much they love and respect all animals. What advice would you give other dairy farmers? You must ride the lows and highs,
What are your plans for your dairy in the next year and ve years? In the next year, we hope to keep making good quality feed and milk. In the next ve years, we plan to keep paying off debt and to also see our girls off to college and watch them grow into adults. We would also like to possibly add more heifer facilities due to our growing numbers. How do you or your family like to spend time when you are not doing chores? We like to go for side-by-side rides. We enjoy catching up with family and friends over lunches or bonres with good food, drinks and laughs. A big part of our time is spent with the girls at their 4-H activities.
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