LOOK INSIDE FOR OUR MINNESOTA DAIRY PRINCESS SPECIAL EDITION!
May 11, 2024 M
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 26, No. 6
Technology on full display Bob and Mike Sawatzke, Wayzata High owners of Creekside Dairy Waverly, were one of School students near the two locations the students visited. Merryville Farm, also tour farms near Waverly, was the second
By Sarah Middendorf sarah.m@star-pub.com
GRACE JEURISSEN/DAIRY STAR
Bob Sawatzke (right) and high school juniors and seniors from Wayzata High School watch a cow being milked with a roboƟc milking system May 6 at Creekside Dairy near Waverly, Minnesota. The students learned about technology used on a dairy farm.
Continued learning leads to federal order Testing of lactating dairy cows mandated prior to interstate movement
for the inuenza A virus from an approved National Animal Health Laboratory Network laboratory for interstate comOver six weeks have merce. passed since the illness afAs of May 6, lactating fecting dairy cattle in the dairy cattle have tested posisouthwestern United States tive for H5N1 in 36 herds was identied as highly in Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, pathogenic avian inuenza Michigan, New Mexico, H5N1, or bovine inuenza A North Carolina, Ohio, South virus. In the days since, ques- Dakota and Texas. tions about H5N1 have been According to a USDA answered and many more press release April 24, the have arisen. federal order was spurred To slow the spread of because cow-to-cow spread the virus, especially because was identied within a herd. cow-to-cow transmission As well, the spread of the is yet to be understood, ef- virus from cows to poultry fective April 29, the U.S. and from dairy farm to dairy Department of Agriculture mandated that lactating dairy Turn to H5N1 | Page 7 cattle receive a negative test By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
WAVERLY, Minn. — A group of Wayzata High School juniors and seniors saw something not every student their age sees. The cybersecurity and applied mathematics students from the school toured two dairy farms that use a robotic milking system May 6. “It’s a way for these kids to see computer science in a different format, so they are seeing this in a whole different industry and in a practical application,” said Tika Kude, a teacher at Wayzata High School.
farm visited. The Sawatzke brothers have been dairy farming since 2014. In 2021, they installed three Lely A5 robots and are now milking 190 cows. “It’s nice to let the kids, or anybody who doesn’t have a background or know what we are all about, know what’s going on here,” Bob said. “We like to let them know why we do it and how we do it.” Mike and Bob said their favorite part of farm tours is showing others the robots. Mike said he enjoys showing the automatic calf feeder. Turn to FARM TOURS | Page 2
Leveraging fresh perspecƟve Midwest Dairy CEO Scott shares her background, goals By Amy Kyllo
amy.k@star-pub.com
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Midwest Dairy has a new CEO, Corey Scott, who joined Midwest Dairy March 13. Scott is taking over the reins from Molly Pelzer, who retired after a long career serving dairy farmers. “I don’t think there’s any other profession that I could have found the absolutely incredible people to serve and represent as I did here,” Scott said. Turn to SCOTT | Page 6
PHOTO COURTESY OF MIDWEST DAIRY
Corey ScoƩ is the new CEO of Midwest Dairy. Previously, she was the vice president of sales and markeƟng for Athian Inc. and has also worked for Land O’Lakes Inc. in their sustainability division, Truterra LLC.