LOOK INSIDE FOR OUR
SPRING CALF & HEIFER
Special Edition!
Volume 26, No. 5
April 27, 2024 A
“All dairy, all the time”™
Enhanced From a covered wagon to 2024 family biosecurity Calkins dairying on farm is the best established in 1864 defense By Amy Kyllo
amy.k@star-pub.com
Continued learning leads to more questions on H5N1 in dairy cattle By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
Since the initial detection and identication of H5N1 in dairy cattle in March, all facets of the dairy industry have been working diligently to learn more about the disease, how it is spreading and the impact it is having on dairy cattle. As of April 22, the bovine inuenza A virus has been identied on 33 dairy premises in eight states: Texas, 12; Michigan, 6; New Mexico, 6; Kansas, 4; Idaho, 2; and one case each in North Carolina, Ohio and South Dakota. “This is rapidly changing and evolving; information is coming in by the day, by the hour,” said Dr. Mark Lyons, director of ruminant health for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services, in a webinar hosted by the National Milk Producers Federation April 17. According to Lyons, the genome sequences show the strain of the virus present in dairy cattle in all affected states is similar to what has been found in wild birds. The initial introduction of the disease from wild migratory birds into dairy cattle likely took place somewhere in the Texas panhandle, Lyons said, adding the virus appears to be transmitting laterally between cattle, but that exact transmission route remains unclear. “This is inuenza,” Lyons said. “It is very unpredictable. It is important for us to keep monitoring it.” Because of those unknowns regarding transmission of the disease, biosecurity is the best defense dairy farmers have, said Dr. Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
Turn to H5N1 | Page 2
BLUE EARTH, Minn. — Pioneering travels and tragedy cloak four 161-year-old trunks resting from their adventures in the attic of the Calkin family. Bob and Lori Calkins own a sesquicentennial dairy farm near Blue Earth. Their 300 acres encompass the family’s original homestead claim from 1864. “It’s a cool thing to know that four, ve generations of my ancestors have been here on this farm and started it,” Bob said. Today, the Calkin family’s dairy farm has its building site a little way from the original home’s foundations, which are still in the woods. Turn to CALKINS | Page 6
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
Lori and Bob Calkins smile in their freestall barn April 2 on their dairy farm near Blue Earth, Minnesota. The Calkins’ dairy farm has been in existence since Bob’s great-great-grandfather came in a covered wagon in November 1863.
Eyes on the future Kampsen, Heinz build parlor, prepare to expand freestall barn By Jan Lefebvre jan.l@star-pub.com
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Becky Heinz and Tom Kampsen milk cows April 13 in the double-7 herringbone parlor they built last fall near New London, Minnesota. The couple is milking 100 cows.
NEW LONDON, Minn. — One year ago, Tom Kampsen and Becky Heinz set a plan to build a parlor on Kampsen’s dairy farm near New London. They decided to utilize the existing structure of their tiestall barn. Milking took four hours each time, turning the barn over twice with 48 cows in each group and using six units. Turn to KAMPSEN/HEINZ | Page 8