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Dairy St r Milk Break
Volume 26, No. 6
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May 11, 2024 M
“All dairy, all the time”™
Continued Growing from the ground up learning Metcalfs double herd size in 7 years on farm leads to built from scratch federal order By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
Testing of lactating dairy cows mandated prior to interstate movement By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
Over six weeks have passed since the illness affecting dairy cattle in the southwestern United States was identied as highly pathogenic avian inuenza H5N1, or bovine inuenza A virus. In the days since, questions about H5N1 have been answered and many more have arisen. To slow the spread of the virus, especially because cow-to-cow transmission is yet to be understood, effective April 29, the U.S. Department of Agriculture mandated that lactating dairy cattle receive a negative test for the inuenza A virus from an approved National Animal Health Laboratory Network laboratory for interstate commerce. As of May 6, lactating dairy cattle have tested positive for H5N1 in 36 herds in Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas. According to a USDA press release April 24, the federal order was spurred because cow-to-cow spread was identied within a herd. As well, the spread of the virus from cows to poultry and from dairy farm to dairy farm coincided with the movement of cattle. The press release also said that cows not showing clinical signs of the virus were testing positive. Dr. Diego Diel, director of the virology laboratory at Cornell University’s Animal Health Diagnostic Center, spoke April 30 during a webinar hosted by the National Milk Producers Federation. Initially, producers dealing with infected cows were asked to submit a broad variety of samples for testing, including nasal swabs and samples of whole blood, serum, urine, feces and raw milk. Samples collected from euthanized cows included tissue from lungs, lymph nodes, small and large intestines, and the mammary gland. According to Diel, a few positive results were detected in samples of whole blood, serum and nasal swabs, but the
Turn to H5N1 | Page 9
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Corey and Kristen Metcalf take a break in the freestall barn April 18 on their farm near Milton, Wisconsin. The Metcalfs, along with Corey’s parents, Terry and Jane Metcalf, milk 750 cows and farm 1,200 acres.
MILTON, Wis. — Corey Metcalf grew up on a grain farm, but in his heart, he knew he was meant to be a dairy farmer. In 2017, on a piece of land void of buildings other than his parents’ house, Corey began to build the farm of his dreams. He and his family constructed a freestall barn, machine shed, milking parlor and manure pit. They bought Jerseys to ll the barn, starting with 300 cows. From the beginning, registered genetics was the focus. “I really like the Jersey cow,” Corey said. “Everyone was focusing more on components at the time, so I decided to go with Jerseys. I bought cows from all over the country, from North Carolina to Ohio to Missouri.” Turn to METCALFS | Page 6
The story behind the sandwich Wisconsin Grilled Cheese Championship honors dairy industry for 11th year By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com
DODGEVILLE, Wis. — The 32-degree weather and snow urries did not stop attendees of the 11th annual Wisconsin Grilled Cheese Championship from warming up with an ooey-gooey sandwich and cup of soup April 20. Held in the Ley Memorial Pavilion at Harris Park in Dodgeville, approximately
1,300 volunteers, contestants, judges and attendees honored the dairy industry with the annual competition. The event is hosted by the Dodgeville Area Chamber of Commerce. It began when the late Loren Topper created the event to promote local dairy farmers. Jenna Vondra, director of Turn to GRILLED CHEESE | Page 2 ABBY WIEDMEYER/DAIRY STAR
Zach Washa puts the nishing touches on his grilled cheese sandwich April 20 at the Wisconsin Grilled Cheese Championship in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. For his eighth year of compeƟƟon, Washa created a recipe with Kwik Trip maple glazed donuts, bacon and cracked pepper cheddar cheese and won second place.