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2 DAIRY ST 5R C E L E B R A T I N G
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Y E A R S
April 8, 2023
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 25, No. 4
AND THEN THERE WAS ONE Your Surrounded by community checkoff dollars at Berg owns last work dairy in Aitkin
County, stands among friends By Jan Lefebvre jan.l@star-pub.com
JERRY NELSON/DAIRY STAR
MOO’V is a new whole milk beverage for kids that was developed by DARI LLC. The boƩles include a QR code that will generate a dancing cartoon cow named Morgan.
New products showcased at CPDE By Jerry Nelson
MCGRATH, Minn. – Marty Berg has lived and dairy farmed mostly solo for the past 10 years in Aitkin County, but events on and since September 8, 2022, have proven what he said he already knew – he is not alone. That day, Berg, 62, was nearly killed by a bull named Jack on his farm, Solana Dairy, near McGrath. For many weeks to follow, Berg needed help, and neighbors,
friends and even strangers surrounded him with support. “It is a community; there’s a community of faith, not just my church but all the little churches around here,” Berg said. “It’s my neighbors, the farming community in the area. We all work together.” With seasonal calving just underway, Berg milks 10 cows in a double-10 parlor that has a holding pen and work area with swing gates. “Normally we milk around 40,” Berg said. After his run-in with Jack, the herd needed to be dried off while Berg recovered. Berg’s herd consists of mainly New Zealand Holstein-Friesians with some Montbéliarde and Ayrshire genetics crossing in. “This year, I would have been milking 50, but Marty proposes and God disposes,” Berg said. Turn to BERG | Page 8
JAN LEFEBVRE/DAIRY STAR
Marty Berg holds a New Zealand Holstein-Friesian calf that had been born April 3 on his farm near McGrath, Minnesota. Berg and his wife, Debbie, own the last dairy in Aitkin County, where they raise crossbred cows that adapt well to the county’s terrain.
Flooding impacts dairies in California
Record rainfall, SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – snow packs Dairy farmers were given an opportunity to see their check- inundate Tulare off dollars at work during the Dairy Checkoff Taste and County jerry.n@dairystar.com
Learn Experience March 29 at the Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls. Several new products were offered for taste testing. The products included two new yogurts that were developed by General Mills; a new iced coffee that is being sold at Taco Bell restaurants; Cheesy Ranch Stix from Pizza Ranch; and MOO’V, a new ultra-ltered kid-focused milk beverage that was developed by Coloradobased DARI LLC. Dairy Management Inc. and Midwest Dairy used checkoff money to help with the development and the marketing of these new dairy products. Turn to MIDWEST DAIRY | Page 7
By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
PIXLEY, Calif. – After being ravaged by drought for nearly ve years, in California’s Central Valley, Tulare County has been inundated with rainfall and snow melt for over three months. “They are calling this a 50to 100-year event,” Joey Airoso said. “The last time we have experienced ooding like this was 1969. This year, we have had record rainfall combined with a record snow pack in the Sierra Nevada mountains.” Airoso, along with his wife, Laurie, his parents, Joe and Diane, and his son and
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Tulare Lake near Tulare, California, is normally very low due to drought but has overowed its banks this spring and conƟnues to cover farmland and force evacuaƟons. Joey Airoso, who farms in Tulare County, said those in the region are growing concerned about how much farther the lake will conƟnue to spread. daughter-in-law, Joseph and Kelci, operate Air-Osa Dairy near Pixley in the state’s top dairy area of Tulare County.
The Airosos milk 2,900 head of primarily Holstein cows with a few Jerseys added to the mix. They farm 1,500 acres of
cropland where they raise corn, wheat, alfalfa and pistachios. Turn to FLOODING | Page 6