Seniors! CELEBRATING OUR
See pages 12 & 13 of the Second Section for our High School Senior Feature!
DAIRY ST R
June 27, 2020
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 22, No. 9
Nunes chosen as 73rd Alice in Dairyland
Downsizing in favor of efciency
Chippewa Falls woman with dairy background takes on new role July 6 By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
DELAVAN, Wis. – Growing up on her family’s dairy farm, Julia Nunes has always been mindful of teaching the public about the impact the dairy industry, and all of agriculture, has on Wisconsin. Now she is taking center stage working to promote all that is wonderful about Wisconsin’s agricultural industry. Nunes, of Chippewa Falls, was named the 73rd Alice in Dairyland in Walworth County June 20. Nunes will take over for the current Alice in Dairyland Abigail Martin, assuming her ofcial duties as a communications professional for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection July 6. Nunes attended the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities where she earned a degree in animal science, agricultural communications and marketing, along with a minor in horticulture. She was an active member of the Gopher Club and participated in the Dairy Challenge program. She also served as the Fairest of the Fair for the Northern Wisconsin State Fair in 2017. She has interned at Redhead Creamery and accepted a position with Kinni Hemp Company in River Falls after college graduation. Nunes grew up on her family’s farm, Scientic Holsteins, near Chippewa Falls. Throughout her youth, she was involved Turn to ALICE | Page 5
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Julia Nunes is selected as the 73rd Alice in Dairyland June 20 in Delevan, Wisconsin. Nunes grew up on her family’s dairy farm, ScienƟc Holsteins, in Chippewa County near Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
The Olson brothers – (from leŌ) Eric and Rich – are the Ōh generaƟon to operate Olson Family Farm in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. The Olsons milk 60 cows with a robot and farm 1,200 acres.
Olsons cut herd in half, switch to robotic milking By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
STURGEON BAY, Wis. – When considering how to make their farm more attractive to future generations, the Olsons decided fewer cows was the answer. Embarking on a journey that would make farming easier and provide a more balanced lifestyle, brothers Rich and Eric Olson and Eric’s wife, Julaine, downsized their registered Holstein herd from 100 cows to 60 and put in a robot at the end of 2013. “We had to nd an easier way to do the work,” Rich said. “The robot was my idea. I had to talk Eric and Julaine into it.” Rich and Eric are the fth generation on the Olson Family Farm, a Sturgeon Bay dairy that was started in 1872 by the Olsons’ Norwegian immigrant ancestors. Rich returned to the farm in 1990 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a bachelor’s degree in dairy science. He and Eric, who attended the
UW-Madison Farm and Industry Short Course, formed an LLC in 1994. They were milking 100 cows twice a day in a 100-stall tiestall barn. When the physical exertion of milking began taking its toll, the family knew a change was necessary.
“Our rst thought was to put in two robots and increase to 120 cows,” Rich said. “But then feed storage, manure storage and calf housing were going to be a problem and would’ve required modicaTurn to OLSON | Page 6
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Rich Olson points out average daily producƟon per cow, which hovers between 94-96 pounds a day on his family’s dairy near Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.
Page 2 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020
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 Julie Barnes (SE WI and Northern IL) julie.b@dairystar.com Megan Stuessel (Western Wisconsin) 608-387-1202 • megan.s@dairystar.com Ashley Curry (Northeast WI and Upper MI) 920-539-7268 • ashley.c@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.
Our view
Dairy producers help national promotion month continue
This year has looked different in many regards with events either canceled or hosted virtually with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the dairy community, farmers and county dairy princesses have used social media platforms to connect with consumers, reaching both their traditional audience and those far beyond that. Amidst all the challenges of the past few months, the pandemic did not squash all dairy farmers’ plans for this year’s in-person June Dairy Month celebrations. While many events were canceled due to the restrictions of large gatherings, dairy farmers have used their ingenuity to promote in a different way. One example is the idea of the drive through dairy breakfast. There have been many such events that have popped up all across our coverage area. In working with other area businesses, these dairy promotion boards have put together great events in short periods of time. In this issue, both in our print and online editions, we feature two events that took on a unique spin to the traditional breakfast on the farm celebration. In Pepin County, Wisconsin, the promotion board members still wanted people to enjoy food typically found at an on-farm breakfast. Instead of eating at a farm, they gathered volunteers to create bags lled with breakfast food to make at home. And, almost all of the food was locally sourced. In Goodhue County, Minnesota, the county American Dairy Association organized and planned a drivethrough dairy tour at the Huneke family’s dairy farm in less than a month. Participants of the tour drove through the barns and saw the farm from the comfort and safety of their vehicle. Plus, there were volunteers throughout the tour route to answer questions, and participants received a goodie bag of dairy products at the end. Whether nding a way to safely host in-person events or inviting people to learn more about the dairy community through an online platform, the opportunities for dairy promotion are vast. So, as we near the end of June Dairy Month, it is important to remember – while it may look different than years past – there is still promotion. There is still celebration. There is still a thankfulness for dairy farmers. This time has made us realize challenges, including a pandemic, cannot keep dairy farmers down. They nd new or different ways to share their story. Because of this, dairy month has continued on and will be one to recall for the ages.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 3
It’s all inside... Columnists Omro
Knigges celebrate 20 years with automated system
First Section: Pages 37 - 38
Buffalo
Dairy Good Life Page 33 First Section
La Crosse
The “Mielke” Market Weekly
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Juneau
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Green Lake Fond Du Lac
Columbia Dodge
Sauk
Jo Daviess
son
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Carroll
Walworth go
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Second Section: Pages 16, 18-19
Rock
on
Lafayette Green
Jefferson Waukesha
Bo
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Dane
Iowa
A day in the life of the Nobles family
Zone 1
go ba Calumet
Waushara
for
Richland
e mi Brown
a tag
Adams
Monroe
Grant
Lancaster
Oconto
Shawano
Wood
Vernon
Pages 8 - 9 Second Section
Menominee
Portage Waupaca Jackson
Whiteside
Racine Kenosha
McHenry
Ogle DeKalb
Zone 2
te
Langlade
Marathon
Clark
Eau Claire
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Do or
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Pierce
Chippewa
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Blexy joins another elite group
Taylor
Forest
Menominee
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Lomira
Dunn
Lincoln
M
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Wa sh
St. Croix
Rusk
Barron
ren
Oneida
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Page 31 First Section
Price
Delta
Dickinson
Vilas
Flo
Sawyer
Trempealeau
Polk
Iron
aun ee
n ur
Something to Ruminate On
Page 32 First Section
First Section: Pages 1, 6 - 7
Ashland
Wa s
Burnett
Page 30 First Section
Just Thinking Out Loud
First Section: Page 36
Olsons cut herd in half, switch to robotic milking
Bayeld
Douglas
Page 27 First Section
Ramblings from the Ridge
Sturgeon Bay
Women in Dairy: Laura Rantz
Third Section: Pages 2 - 3
Let’s make plans
Oconto Falls
qu
Pages 8-9 First Section
Ma r
Ag Insider
Delavan
Nunes chosen as 73rd Alice in Dairyland First Section: Pages 1, 5
Kane
Lee
Rock Island Mercer
Hen ders
on
For additional stories from our other zone, log on to www.dairystar.com
n
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FROM OUR SIDE OF THE FENCE:
How does this year’s rst crop compare to previous years? First Section: Pages 15 - 16
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Page 4 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020
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Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 5
ConƟnued from ALICE | Page 1 in 4-H and the Wisconsin Junior Holstein Association, growing her passion for not only the dairy industry but everything Wisconsin agriculture has to offer. “I have always loved sharing about my animals and how my family takes terric care of them with consumers while exhibiting at county and state fairs,” Nunes said. “Sharing that story of the whys and the hows of farming and agriculture is so important.” In her newly acquired role as Alice, Nunes will educate the public about the importance of agriculture to the Wisconsin economy and fabric of life, a task she is looking forward to. “Consumers want to hear from farmers, and with my background and personal experience of growing up on a dairy farm, I am looking forward to being able to be that voice,” Nunes said. “I know how hard farmers work every single day. I know the lifestyle. I am looking forward to being able to help
“Consumers want to hear from farmers, and with my background and personal experience of growing up on a dairy farm, I am looking forward to being able to be that voice.” JULIA NUNES, ALICE IN DAIRYLAND
make that connection very real.” The idea of serving as the state’s top agricultural ambassador has been on Nunes’ radar for a while, sparked by the experience of watching her mother serve on the host committee for the 60th Alice in Dairyland nals 13 years ago. “Along with my sisters, I was able to attend all the events and meet all of the top candidates,” Nunes said. “It really stayed with me, and I found myself looking for and watching Jill Makovec, the 60th Alice, and for the new Alice each year. From that time, Alice has always been an important gure in my
life.” Nunes plans to take on her role with the same gusto she approaches everything in life, despite the fact that her year as Alice will continue to look different from that of her predecessors. “It is hard to know exactly what to expect with the current state of the pandemic,” she said. “With so many events being canceled in the near future, there will be a lot more virtual interaction with people. I am really looking forward to getting into the fourth grade classrooms throughout the state to promote Wisconsin agriculture to those young learners. I have a whole new year of adventures ahead of me, and I am excited to watch it unfold.” Nunes was one of six candidates selected to participate in the public job interviews, and she said she was proud to be part of such a talented group of young women with passion for Wisconsin agriculture. Other top candidates included Rachel Gerbitz, Milton; Erica Helmer, Plymouth; Stephanie Hoff, Thorp; Kaitlin Konder, Glenwood City and Grace Schroeder, Cashton. A new addition to the format of the Alice program, one that Nunes said she enjoyed, was the creation of an agricultural marketing and communications certication given to the top six candidates upon their completion of a an extensive learning module that included presentations and lectures on a variety of topics. “It was really great to be able to hear rst-hand from so many industry resources during the process,” Nunes said. “It gave us the opportunity to ask questions directly to people involved in the various parts of Wisconsin agriculture and gave us a much clearer understanding of many of the topics.” Another change to the Alice in Dairyland program format is the timeline of Alice’s term. While the nals each year will continue to be held in mid-May, the new Alice will wait until early July to begin her new role, instead of the traditional early-June start. “The new Alice will begin her duties in early July, rather than on the cusp of the all-important June Dairy Month,” said Jayne Krull, Wisconsin Farm Center director. “That will allow the current, more seasoned Alice to end her year on the high note of celebrating June Dairy Month.”
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Page 6 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020
ConƟnued from OLSON | Page 1
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The Olson family milks 60 cows with a robot they installed in 2013. Previously, the family was milking 100 cows in a Ɵestall barn on their Door County farm. tions. Adding 20 cows is not a big deal for most farms – here it changes everything.” For nearly seven years, the Olson trio has relied on one Lely A-4 robot to do the milking, resulting in positives for both cows and people. After putting in the robot, production went up 10 pounds per cow. Cows were milking 85 pounds per day in the tiestall barn and now average 94 to 96 pounds per cow per day. Herd average climbed from 28,000 to nearly 30,000.
Cell count is better, too, and the farm is seeing less mastitis. The switch to robotic milking allowed for more frequent milking of cows without added labor as cows average 2.8 trips through the robot daily. Rich said labor savings are tremendous. By putting in a robot, the Olsons eliminated their full-time employee and drastically reduced work hours. Turn to OLSON | Page 7
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Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 7
ConƟnued from OLSON | Page 6 “It took 22.5 manhours per day milking 100 cows in a tiestall barn,” Rich said. “With a robot, it takes only 6-6.5 manhours. The robot saved wear and tear on my body, but the best benet is the exibility robots provide.” Flexible schedules have allowed the farm’s owners to attend every one of their kids’ sporting events. It also helps with cropping as they no longer have to shut down eld work at 4 p.m. to start evening chores. Now, only one person is needed back at the barn. Rather than building a new robotic barn, the Olsons adapted current facilities, installing the robot in an existing freestall barn that cows were already familiar with. Cow comfort improved with the switch to freestall housing. When adding the robot, the Olsons tore out stalls while modifying others and incorporated a holding area for cows when waiting to use the robot. They also installed headlocks for breeding and herd health checks, along with sprinklers and different waterers and upgraded mattresses while also adding a robotic alley scraper. A viewing window of the robot allows for observation of the machine without disrupting animals. In addition, the Olsons applied for a grant to install timed LED lighting in the freestall barn. “We had long-day lighting
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Eric Olson and his wife, Julaine (middle), farm with Eric’s brother, Rich (not pictured). The couple is pictured with their children – (leŌ to right) Anna, 16, Luke, 16, and Zach, 18. in the tiestall barn and would like to go back to that,” Rich said. Cows wear RFID collars for heat detection and health monitoring – features the Olsons use heavily. “This information is very important to us,” Rich said. “It helps us focus on the cows that need our attention most and informs us of any problems.” The tiestall barn is not obsolete and is used for transitioning fresh and dry cows. “It’s convenient for us to milk these animals manually instead of sending them through the robot,” Rich said. “It gives us a chance to get
2-year-olds accustomed to being milked before learning the robot. This setup also works well for fresh cows. We don’t have to pasteurize the colostrum and can feed it fresh.” Cows preparing to go dry spend the last few days of their lactation in the tiestall barn. Here, cows are taken off TMR and fed dry hay to reduce energy in the diet. When it comes to the elds, the Olsons have their hands in many crops. From corn, alfalfa and winter wheat to green bean and beet, the Olsons farm 1,200 acres and do a lot of cash cropping. “We sell a lot of our corn to big farms for silage,” Rich
said. “It’s additional income. If we have extra standing hay, we’ll sell that too. Last year, we had lots of winter kill, but that’s why you diversify. If one area falls short, another area can compensate.” The Olsons contract with two canning companies to grow a set number of acres of green bean and fancy red beet each year. Growing green bean has been a lifelong endeavor for the family while beet came on the scene for the farm 20 years ago. “We plant the beans, and the canning company harvests them,” Eric said. “For the beets, they do both the planting and harvesting; we just
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prepare the eld.” Forty acres are devoted to beet. Planted at the end of May and harvested in October, the beets are harvested when they measure ¾ of an inch to 2 inches in size. “They have to t in little jars; therefore, the beets are not very big,” Eric said. There are 220 acres dedicated to green bean. Green bean is a 60-day crop planted July 1 and harvested Sept. 1. The eld is then no-till planted with winter wheat. The Olsons have been selling small squares of straw to the specialty market for 10 years with horse owners being one of their biggest clients. Focused on cows and cash crops, the Olsons have realized success through diversication. By expanding their product offerings, this family does not have to rely solely on its milk check to make a living. “Farms that only milk cows have struggled,” Rich said. “If you’re involved with a few different things, something’s going to work.” Cutting back on cows and installing a robot has lightened the Olsons’ workload while helping the farm remain relevant for years to come. “We’re very happy with our decision,” Rich said. “It would be hard to go back to where we were.”
Senate to consider more COVID-19 aid Page 8 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020
In May, the House approved their version of a other lawmakers to look at putting emergency things phase four economic stimulus package called the HE- on the shelf and ready to go.” Peterson said there ROES Act. Later this month, the U.S. Senate will be could be a hearing on the subject this summer. putting together their plan. Combest, Sell and AssociFAPRI projects declining farm income ates managing partner Tom Sell said SenAg Insider A new forecast from the University ate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Missouri Food and Agricultural Policy plans to take things slow when crafting Research Institute calls for a 15% decline the legislation. “Farmers are staring down the barrel of another ugly year again. I in net cash farm income this year. That think that question will be answered in is despite record government payments this new COVID-19 relief package,” Sell of $33 billion. Large stocks of corn, said. This bill may also address long term soybeans and wheat will pressure compolicy challenges. “The fact that we’ve modity markets. The coronavirus relathad to do the MFP and the WHIP+ proed foodservice slowdowns and packing gram shows the fact that our current farm plant closures will negatively inuence bill in terms of safety net resources aren’t cattle and hog prices for the year. Restaugetting the job done,” Sell said. rant and school closures have also pushed down milk and dairy demand. FAPRI said By Don Wick New COVID-19 relief negotiations to markets will continue to evolve under the Columnist pick up in July threat of a re-emergence of coronavirus, Agricultural lobbyist Jim Callan supply chain disruptions are resolved and said discussions about a new COVID-19 relief pack- the economy begins to reopen. age will likely pick up in July. “I think many in Congress, particularly Senate Republicans, want to see Milk prices stage a recovery the impacts of the previous COVID-19 related relief In late April, Class III milk prices were down package take effect, because a lot of money was al- 50% to $10 to $11 per hundredweight. AgResource ready put into the U.S. economy,” Callan said. Callan Company President Dan Basse said that market is said there is bipartisan support to have more money now in the low $20 range. Despite this rally, Basse is for agriculture, but “how that manifests itself right concerned about the record spread between the June now is unknown.” and October milk futures. “June-October milk is now at a $7.50 premium. I can’t nd anything like that in Peterson said lawmakers prepping for future ag history. In fact, the biggest premium we can nd is emergencies a little over $1,” Basse said. Foodservice is coming According to House Agriculture Committee back online, but Basse said that is happening very Chairman Collin Peterson, lawmakers are putting to- slowly. Demand is not expected to reach pre-COVgether a plan to use Commodity Credit Corporation ID-19 levels for many months. funding for future challenges in agriculture, not just the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’m not sure if we’ll ever Fed holds interest rates have another COVID-19 situation, but the United After its two-day policy meeting, Fed Chairman States Department of Agriculture needs to be ready Jerome Powell said the central bank plans to keep to face any emergencies that come up,” said Peterson. interest rates near zero through 2022. The decision “I’ll be working with the Trump administration and was made to provide stability for an economy hurt
by COVID-19 and business shutdowns. Fed ofcials projected the U.S. economy will contract between 9% and 10% this year. Dairy Margin Coverage sign-up begins in fall The Dairy Margin Coverage program sign-up for 2021 will begin Oct. 12 and run through Dec. 11. The FSA is encouraging dairy producers to sign up for the program. So far this year, the DMC has already triggered payments for two months for producers who signed up for 2020 coverage. DOJ launches antitrust investigation The Justice Department is investigating the major beef packers for possible antitrust violations. Civil subpoenas have been issued to JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill and National Beef Packing. Earlier this year, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the agriculture department would extend its oversight into price disparities between live cattle and box beef. Marion sales barn closed Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales has permanently closed its Marion sales barn. Due to a decline in livestock volume and buyer support, Equity ofcials said the market was no longer sustainable. The Marion and Barron barns were closed on a temporary basis in March due to COVID-19. Borden Dairy has a new owner New Dairy Opco LLC is the apparent top bidder in the bankruptcy auction of Borden Dairy assets. This company is led by former Dean Foods CEO/ Chairman Gregg Engles. Faced with a heavy debt load, Borden Dairy led for bankruptcy protection in January. Borden Dairy is based in Dallas and has 12 milk processing plants across the country. Wisconsin Holstein farms honored The National Holstein Association has honored 11 Turn to AG INSIDER | Page 9
Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 9
ConƟnued from AG INSIDER | Page 8 dairy farms as the Herds of Excellence award winners. Nine of those dairies are in Wisconsin. Those winning herds are B-Long Holsteins of New London; Doorco Holsteins of Brussels; EverGreen-View Holsteins of Waldo; HillTon Holsteins of Cuba City; Hilrose Holsteins of Sherwood; Spruce Hill Holsteins of Elmwood; Koepke Farms of Oconomowoc; Bomaz Inc. of Hammond and Siemers Holstein Farms of Newton. WFBF hires chief administrative ofcer Kim Pokorny is the new chief administrative ofcer for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau. Pokorny has been the executive director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association since 2008. She previously was a program manager for the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin.
UWRF award goes to Andrews University of Wisconsin-River Falls is presenting its 2020 Wisconsin Distinguished Agriculturalist Award to Kristine Andrews, associate vice president for federal relations for the University of Wisconsin system. This award has been presented since 1970. Trivia challenge White Castle was the rst hamburger fast food chain, launching in 1921. That answers our last trivia question. For this week, what was the rst pizza fast food chain began in the United States? 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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How has using Bovy helped you and your dairy? It has helped us in multiple ways. It has saved us time by being able to look animals up on the go. It has also made it easier and faster to manage, therefore more things get done on time. We use it for keeping track of sire conception rates. How many years have you been testing with DHIA? Testing for 12 years with DHIA.
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Page 10 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020
Dairy breakfast turns into drive-thru dining
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DURAND, Wis. – Thinking outside the box is sometimes what dairy farmers do best. Dairy promotion during the new coronavirus pandemic has made some dairy enthusiasts scratch their heads while searching for ways to engage the public. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE COURIERÍłWEDGE Traditional June Dairy Month promotion in Wis- Jenny Jereczek hands Rick Riggins his breakfast bag at the Eau Galle Cheese Facconsin is centered around tory Site June 20 in Durand, Wisconsin. the many dairy breakfasts served on dairy farms throughout the state. When the pudding cups, four tubes of yogurt, a package of eight pandemic began causing the cancellations of these pre-cooked sausages from a local smokehouse, three breakfasts, many promoters began looking for unique al- 6-ounce packages of pancake mix, packets of local maternatives to connect with consumers of dairy products. ple syrup, packets of Milkman powdered chocolate milk After canceling their breakfast at the Weiss Fam- and a white powdered milk mix manufactured in Durand ily Farms, the Pepin County Dairy Promotion Council by Marron Foods. Along with the foodstuffs, the group looked for ideas. included promotional information, recipes and tips for “When the COVID-19 hit this year, we kind of put cooking with dairy products. the brakes on our county dairy breakfast,â€? said Noah “All of the food products, except for the yogurt, Weiss, one of the owners at Weiss Family Farms and a had a very local connection,â€? Koller said. “The pancake county dairy promotion council board member. “As a mix came from the furthest away, being made at Sturdicommittee, though, we knew we still needed to do some- Wheat in Red Wing, Minnesota.â€? thing to promote dairy. Even though ours is the smallest As they spent time preparing for the breakfast, the county in Wisconsin and very rural, we know how im- group was unsure what kind of response to expect at the portant it is to educate and remind every person we can event. They planned for 200 bags, but as the response how nutritious and great-tasting dairy products are.â€? they saw on social media grew, the number of bags preAfter exploring ideas, the group decided to host a pared grew to 600, with 300 bags available at each locadrive-thru-style dairy breakfast June 20 at two locations tion. – Eau Galle Cheese and Komro Sales – which are 8.5 “It was very difďƒžcult to plan for how many people miles apart and on opposite sides of the Chippewa River would want to attend something new like this,â€? Weiss near Durand. said. “With the pandemic, we didn’t know if people “We felt like it was a great opportunity to showcase would be afraid or if they would be willing to come out agriculture, dairy in particular, in Pepin County,â€? said and participate in the drive-thru breakfast.â€? Randy Koller, Pepin County Dairy Promotion Council To round out the idea of a true dairy breakfast expechairman. rience, the group created a virtual farm tour of the Weiss Bags were packed with ingredients to make a break- Family Farm and a cheesemaking video from Eau Galle fast at home for four people. Each bag contained a gallon Cheese. of milk, a pound of butter, a pound of cheese curds, four As word began to spread about the group’s efforts, community support began to grow and many businesses sponsored the cost of the breakfast despite the economic pressures most have experienced due to the pandemic. Community feedback also indicated a much greater turnout then the council originally expected. Two days before the breakfast, an additional 200 pounds of cheese curds were purchased for back-up, in the event they ran out of breakfast bags. The morning of June 20, breakfast volunteers arrived at their stations to prepare to begin distributing the breakfasts at 7:30 a.m. “At the Eau Galle Cheese location, the ďƒžrst car was in line for the breakfast at 6:09 a.m.,â€? Koller said. “By 6:55 a.m., we already had 26 cars in line.â€? While the line at the Komro Sales location did not grow as quickly, both loPHOTO COURTESY OF THE COURIERÍłWEDGE
KaĆ&#x;e Holden (leĹŒ) and Kyle Danzinger deliver breakfast meal bags to cars during the Pepin County Drive-Thru Dairy Breakfast June 20 in Durand, Wisconsin.
Turn to PEPIN CO | Page 11
Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 11
ConƟnued from PEPIN CO | Page 10
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A line of cars queue up at the Eau Galle Cheese Factory locaƟon of the Pepin County Drive-Thru Dairy Breakfast June 20. cations made the decision to start serving at 7 a.m., a half-hour early. By 8:30 a.m., both locations had distributed all 300 prepacked bags of breakfast materials. “That was an average of 3.3 cars served per minute, for 90 minutes,” Koller said. “At the time we ran out of bags at the Eau Galle location, we sent a gator down the road to check on the trafc, and discovered there were still 190 cars in line at that time and more still coming.” The group turned to their reserve cheese curd supply and began distributing them with $2 coupons for the Eau Galle Cheese Store and the educational information that was included with the bagged breakfasts. The reserve cheese curds did not last long with the line of cars, so the group had to once again do what dairy farmers do best: think quickly. The staff at Eau Galle Cheese started cutting and wrapping 1-pound wedges of cheese to hand out. The group served a total of 1,100 cars throughout the morning; about 725 cars at the Eau Galle Cheese location and 375 at the Komro Sales location. Not hav-
ing the additional resources of Eau Galle Cheese at their disposal, the Komro location closed at 9:30 a.m. when they ran out of cheese curds, and cars were sent to the Eau Galle Cheese location, where trafc remained steady until 10 a.m. “We couldn’t have asked for a better turnout,” Weiss said. “Our expectations were very much exceeded with almost twice as many vehicles attending as we had expected. We thank Eau Galle Cheese and the Ellsworth Creamery for working with us at the last minute, helping us get the extra dairy products to hand out to all the people after we had run out of the full meals.” The Juneau County Dairy Promotion Council is hosting its own version of the drive-thru dairy breakfast from 8-11 a.m. June 27 at Cattail Dairy Farm near Wonewoc, Wisconsin. Visitors will drive throughout the dairy farm on a self-guided tour. At the end of the tour, guests will receive the makings of a breakfast to take home with them. Local dairy farmers will also be on hand to answer any questions visitors might have after the tour.
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Page 12 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020
Rising milk sales bust ‘Death of Dairy’ myth For years, a variation of this sentence has appeared in nearly every news story that touches on uid milk consumption: “Milk sales are down while plant-beverages are rising.” It’s easy shorthand to use because while it has been a factually accurate statement in its own limited scope, it can be used toward fantastical ends, such as overhyping the rise of plant-based drinks or crafting a false narrative about dairy trends when dairy, as a whole, is seeing its highest per-capita consumption levels in decades. The assertion will never require a correction in a newspaper, so it persists. Except … it’s no longer true. The coronavirus crisis appears to be resetting consumer grocery habits, and early signs are that that some of these changes -including increased milk purchases -- are continuing as the country re-opens. If current trends hold, milk’s revival may nally force a revision of one of the few non-fake talking points the “death of dairy” myth ever had. This year’s data tells the story. While milk outsells plant-based imitators by a margin more than 10 to 1, 2020 began as another year of slow decline for milk sales in stores. And indeed, as the shorthand would have it, plant-based volumes were increasing. Then the crisis hit – and behavior changed. As consumers emptied store shelves, both dairy and plant-based beverages saw gains – but the sizes of those gains were drastically different. While consum-
ers bought 7.9 million more gallons of plant-based beverages during the two peak weeks in March than they did during the same period a year earlier, milk demand exploded by more than 45 million gallons, erasing its year-to-date decline in less than two weeks. This dramatic turnaround was important for dairy farmers. Literally, retail consumers helped keep dairies in business as food-service orders disappeared and federal disaster assistance hadn’t yet arrived. But after the shock of lockdowns faded and everyone had already stocked up, something interesting happened: People still bought more milk. That ve-to-one advantage established in March has stayed steady through May. When times got tough, consumers seemed to want to return to the comfort Turn to MILK SALES | Page 13
Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 13
ConƟnued from MILK SALES | Page 12
of natural, wholesome and nutritious foods like milk, eschewing the marketing hype of plant-based imitators whose taste and nutrition prole stack up poorly against the real thing. Future retail trends are tough to predict, especially in this environment. When life becomes more “normal” and as restaurants re-open, do consumers bring home as many bottles of milk from the grocery store? When schools return, do parents buy less milk for their children? These are open questions. What we do know is this: Milk is back in grocery carts, in a big way. Its
gains are much greater than its selfproclaimed competitors, and they’re showing signs of sticking. Consumers are navigating new grocery realities – and they are creating them as well. The return of milk may be one that’s built to last. That makes it time to pause the “milk is struggling” stories. And it means even less support for the “death of dairy” myth. Might be smart to toss that one altogether. Submitted by National Milk Producers Federation
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Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 15
How is your first crop hay?
Chad Bonikowske Ogdensburg, Wisconsin Waupaca County 400 cows Tell us about your ďƒžrst-crop hay harvest. We had 350 acres of alfalfa and 130 acres of oats and peas with alfalfa seeded with it that we harvested June 5. What was the yield? We chopped the hay and got 4.5 tons per acre. How does this year’s ďƒžrst crop compare to previous years? This year was better than last year when we had all but 90 acres left after winterkill. What challenges have you had so far this harvest and how did you manage to work through them? We had a couple minor breakdowns with the chopper, but overall it went pretty smooth. How are you planning to manage your hay ďƒželds through the rest of the season? We cut every 30 days and put 8,000 gallons of manure on it after the second cutting. Tell us about your farm. I farm with my dad and brother. We raise our own replacements and run around 1,000 acres for hay, corn silage and high moisture shell corn which stays on the farm.
Bob Pierce Darlington, Wisconsin Lafayette County 38 cows Tell us about your ďƒžrst crop hay harvest. We have 50 acres of grassalfalfa mix hay ground this year. The grasses consist of orchard, Timothy and brome. We do have some volunteer red clover. We mainly do dry hay, making small squares for in the barn and round bales for heifers and dry cows. We started June 7 and ďƒžnished June 20. What was the yield? This year the yields have been good, in the range of 2 ton to the acre. How does this year’s ďƒžrst crop compare to previous years? This is much better than last year with all the alfalfa in the bud stage. There has not been as much rain this year to slow down harvest compared to constantly raining last year. What challenges have you had so far this harvest, and how did you manage to work through them? We had a late start due to a cool, late spring. How are you planning to manage your hay ďƒželds through the rest of the season? We will look at cutting in a 30- to 45-day window depending on weather conditions to make dry hay. Tell us about your farm. We have a 165-acre dairy that my grandparents bought in 1968. We graze throughout the summer. Our herd consists of a lot of dairy breeds crossed for longevity and durability. We try to keep it small and simple.
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Randy Roecker Loganville, Wisconsin Sauk County 300 cows Tell us about your ďƒžrst crop hay harvest. We did 250 acres. I cut everything and then we had it custom chopped. We got it all done within three days, from June 4-6, with no rain. The ďƒžrst crop had a lot of grasses because of the cool start to the spring, I think. I had some new seeding from last year that did really well. It was nice and thick. The older stuff was thinner, and we had some winterkill but not like the year before. The second crop coming in looks great and will be ready before too long. What was the yield? The overall tonnage was pretty good. How does this year’s ďƒžrst crop compare to previous years? Tonnage was down slightly from last year, again I think because of the cool spring. What challenges have you had so far this harvest and how did you manage to work through them? The biggest challenge so far has been the cool spring and the bit of winterkill we suffered. We are also dealing with a feed shortage stemming from the past two years. We are purchasing corn silage and some from neighbors. How are you planning to manage your hay ďƒželds through the rest of the season? I am planning to shorten my cutting interval from around 30 days. I probably won’t go as short as 20, but somewhere in the middle. We haul manure daily onto some of the older ďƒželds. Tell us about your farm. My grandfather started the farm in the 1930s. Today, I farm with my parents and my daughter and son-in-law. We farm about 750 acres and have two fulltime milkers.
Alan Klejeski Sturgeon Lake, Minnesota Pine County 35 cows Tell us about your ďƒžrst crop hay harvest. We cut and baled about 40 acres June 14-15. We have 60-70 acres of hay ground. We seeded in an additional 30 acres of hay for next year. Our ďƒželds are about 50/50 legumes versus grasses – alfalfa, clover, Timothy and Orchard grass mix. Being as it’s so dry, we may also cut 50 acres of oat for hay. What was the yield? It yielded about 850 pounds to the acre. In total, we put up 680 small square bales. We will be feeding this to our milking cows and young heifers. How does this year’s ďƒžrst crop compare to previous years? The acreage harvested is the same as previous years, but the yield was absolutely terrible. What challenges have you had so far this harvest and how did you manage to work through them? We had excellent weather for making hay, as it has been nothing but dry and sunny. We haven’t received a decent amount of rain yet this year. Because of the dry conditions, the hay was short and drought stressed. We are deďƒžnitely praying for rain. How are you planning to manage your hay ďƒželds through the rest of the season? Normally, we would fertilize after cutting, and typically we get two to three cuttings off of our ďƒželds. However, if we don’t get any rain, we probably won’t get another cutting. We are contemplating, instead of fertilizing, to take that money and use it instead to buy hay. Tell us about your farm. Our farm is Trinity Dairy. We share a lot of the farm happenings on our YouTube channel. Our farm is 60 acres with an additional 140 rented acres. I milk 35 cows, just about one of every breed, with my wife, Jennifer, and ďƒžve children.
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Page 16 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020
ConƟnued from OUR SIDE | Page 15
Joe Martin Edgerton, Wisconsin Rock County 175 cows Tell us about your rst-crop hay harvest. This was a very unusual year for us. We harvested 100 acres of rstcrop hay that we normally would chop as haylage, but instead, we harvested it May 29-30 as baleage, doing bales and wrapping them. We wanted to be able to separate it from a bunch of new alfalfa stands we are going to harvest this summer. Because of the weather we had last spring, we kept hay stands longer than we would have liked to. We planted 100 acres of new seeding in April, so we will not be cutting that until at least July. We then no-tilled corn into our old hay ground. What was the yield? The hay was a little lower in protein than a typical year at 16% with a feed value of about 175. We were very happy with that. In regards to quality, it turned out better than we hoped. This hay is being fed to our milking herd as the main alfalfa component for our dairy cows. How does this year’s rst crop compare to previous years? We had a really good harvest window consisting of nice weather and good harvest conditions. When hay is mowed as dry hay or baleage it takes longer than chopping. Given the age of the stand and the fact it needs to be rotated, our yield was 80% of what we normally would have. We are also down a little in acreage from last year. What challenges have you had so far this harvest and how did you manage to work through them? This year was less challenging than previous years because we had better weather windows. We do not usually make that many bales of rst-crop hay which made it a logistical challenge to move, handle and store the hay. How are you planning to manage your hay elds through the rest of the season? We do intense management in the establishment year for newly planted alfalfa. Therefore, our new stands will get closely scouted for pests and weed control, and we will apply fertilizer right after the rst cutting. Tell us about your farm. Martin Farms is a third-generation family dairy. I farm with my brother, Tom, my wife, Bonnie, and our son, Evan. We are the home farm of the 2019 Alice in Dairyland, as my daughter, Abigail Martin, is currently nishing her reign as Alice. She recently hosted a virtual dairy breakfast and virtual dairy tour on our farm that can be viewed on her Facebook page. We have a small amount of hired labor for milking, but we laid them off in the COVID-19 environment, and now it has been strictly family labor for the past three months.
Todd Streif West Union, Iowa Fayette County 350 cows Tell us about your rst crop hay harvest. We made 270 acres of haylage June 8, and we baled 50 acres of grass/ alfalfa mixture into dry hay. What was the yield? We don’t have our quality test back yet, but I think it will test well. The tonnage is all over the board. The new seeding did well, but the other stuff did not do so good. It was probably because of the early frost. I expect about 5 tons for a yield on the old, established elds. We chop all the alfalfa for the milk cows and store in a bunker using a 7750 John Deere and hauling with trucks. We pack with a Case IH 535 quad track and get the family, employees and anyone else I can con into helping cover the pile. Our dry hay is done with a John Deere 450 windrower and a Miller Pro twin merger into big round bales that we net wrap for heifers. How does this year’s rst crop compare to previous years? Where it’s good, it’s really good, and the rest is so-so. Overall, I’d say it’s better. At least we didn’t have to dodge the mud this year. We tore up about 140 acres last fall and seeded about 70 acres more down to pea, triticale and alfalfa that won’t be cut until later. What challenges have you had so far this harvest and how did you manage to work through them? I’m not complaining. Maybe the rst crop drying too fast. How are you planning to manage your hay elds through the rest of the season? As late as rst cutting happened, we’ll probably do four cuttings this year. We put 500 pounds of potash on after rst crop and just do that once. Otherwise, we spray 10 days after each cutting and wait 14 days for residual and then cut on day 28. Tell us about your farm. At Triple M Dairy, we milk 350 cows in a double-12 parlor and farm 2,000 acres. We bought the farm from my father, Mike, in 2014. He still helps, especially with silage and combining. My wife, Heidi, works part time off the farm in addition to her help at the farm. My son, Michael, joined us after graduating college two years ago, and my daughter, Maria, graduated from college this spring with the intention of eventually joining us on the farm. She is here at least temporarily with the current job market. She works a lot with the breeding and genomics and has her own beef herd. Our youngest son, Matthew, will be a high school sophomore this fall. He runs the hay merger. We also do some custom ammonia work. It was great to have Maria and Matthew home this spring to help on the farm.
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Doug Blasberg Tripoli, Iowa Bremer County 100 cows Tell us about your rst crop hay harvest. This year, I have 87 acres of established alfalfa that has 1 pound of orchard grassed mixed in per acre. We cut rst crop the last day of May and nished the harvest over the few days following. What was the yield? The alfalfa had not even budded out completely when we cut so I was anticipating really high feed quality. But according to the forage analysis, it is only 19% protein and 110 RFV. The yield was around 80% of what it normally is. So, I am a bit disappointed. Hopefully the analysis will improve as the fermentation process continues. We put rst crop in the silo to feed to the milking herd. What challenges have you had so far this harvest, and how did you manage to work through them? This year, following my nutritionist’s recommendations, I seeded 2.5 pounds of meadow fescue per acre with alfalfa. Fescue is supposedly high in nutrient availability. So, we’ll see how that turns out. There must not have been enough heat and sunshine this spring in my area to make forage grow like normal. Since making rst cutting, we’ve been having favorable growing conditions. We’ve been getting ample moisture, and we’ve had warmer temperatures. The second crop is coming along nicely and will be due to be cut around June 28. I hope to be able to small square bale second cutting. How does this year’s rst crop compare to previous years? Last year was tough to get hay dry for baling so I had a custom operator come and big square bale and wrap quite a bit of hay. It is a bit of a hassle to feed in a stall barn, but it makes excellent feed. The cows have milked very well off it. I won’t hesitate to do it again if drying conditions are poor. How are you planning to manage your hay elds through the rest of the season? We always put rst cutting in the silo and bale second cutting, weather permitting. Third cutting sometimes has a few broadleaf weeds in it, so I also like to chop that. I bale most of fourth cutting because it is so soft and leafy. We call that the inhaler because when spreading that kind of hay in the barn, by the time we nish spreading the hay to the last cows, the rst ones fed are nished eating it already. Dry fertilizer is applied after rst and third cuttings. Four gallons of Na-churs liquid fertilizer is foliar fed along with insecticide and fungicide after rst, second and third cuttings. We have been using pea and oat as a cover crop for when seeding a new eld of alfalfa for over 30 years. We harvested pea and oat the week of June 15. The yield was low on that too. Tell us about your farm. I bought a farm shortly after completing a dairy herd management course at a local college. Dad and I have been farming together for 30 years. Together we farm almost 500 acres. Four years ago, I took over the dairy herd and started renting some of Dad’s land. He’s not ready to re-
Brian Seykora Owatonna, Minnesota Steele County 50 cows Tell us about your rst crop hay harvest. I have 70 acres of alfalfa. This spring, it got off to a fast start with a warm spring, but the dip in temperatures into the mid 20s over Mother’s Day slowed it up a bit. I intended to cut the alfalfa over Memorial Day weekend, but our area received 3 inches of rain. So, I started cutting May 28 and was done by the evening of May 30. About half of the alfalfa is low lignin. This is my rst year trying it. I seeded it last fall. What was the yield? I do not know exact feed values because I have not received my sample test results back yet; however, it seems to be good quality. All 70 acres were chopped and put into an upright silo to feed to the milking herd. I fed it right away to the cows, and they did not miss a beat. How does this year’s rst crop compare to previous years? This year was better because it was a drier spring. My stands are fairly young so I think they fared better for winter kill. I did not have any damage from it. This year, I cut a few days later than I normally would because it rained when it was ready. Because of this, the elds were a little wetter than I would have liked, but there wasn’t a lot of damage or compaction because of it. As for yield, I think it was better, but will not know for sure until test results return. What challenges have you had so far this harvest and how did you manage to work through them? I was not able to cut the days I would have liked because of rain, but I am hoping that having half of the alfalfa be low lignin will help with that. How are you planning to manage your hay elds through the rest of the season? I hope to cut second crop sometime between June 24-26, but we are supposed to get rain so we will see what happens. I put foliar fertilizer and insecticide down right after cutting rst crop, and I have been scouting the elds accordingly. I am big on fertilizer. I think it helps with winter kill. I have pea aphids and weevils in the elds, but there have not been a lot of leaf hoppers. I usually run a ve-cut system, but I am undecided how many times I will cut this year because of the low lignin alfalfa. Tell us about your farm. My 50cow herd has a rolling herd average of 26,000 pounds of milk with 1,100 pounds of fat and 890 pounds of protein on twice a day milking in a tiestall barn. I have 790 acres where I raise alfalfa, corn and soybeans. My wife, Mary Beth, works off the farm as a teacher. We have two sons, Matthew, 17, and Mitchell, 14. tire so he has some on his own. He helps with tractor driving and feeding calves. I make the decisions for the dairy cattle, but he lets me know whenever he does not agree with what I’m doing. I have one full-time employee and two parttime employees to help with chores.
Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 17
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Page 18 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020
Repro Leaders
Maly Farms focuses on cow comfort, management to reach 38% pregnancy rate Maly Farms Inc. Bryant, Wisconsin Langlade County 440 cows What was your average pregnancy rate last year? Last year, we averaged a 38% pregnancy rate on cows in second lactation or higher and a 42% pregnancy rate on our rst lactation cows. What is your voluntary waiting period for cows? For heifers? Our voluntary waiting period is 78 days for rst lactation cows and 68 days for second lactation and up. This allows our rst lactation animals more time to transition into production before becoming pregnant. Virgin heifers’ VWP is 13 months. What is your rst service conception rate? Our rst service conception rate is 52%. What is your reproduction program? Do you use a synchronization program? We use a presynch, ovsynch program for all rst services on cows. After this, we breed based on heat detection or resynch if found open at vet check.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Alicia Sippl (from leŌ), Juan GuƟerrez Diaz and Gregorio Marquez work together to handle the synchronizaƟon shots and A.I. work at Maly Farms Inc, near Bryant, Wisconsin.
How do you observe for heat? Each pen is walked daily by the herdsperson where they use tail chalk and check for standing heats. All milking shifts will also note any cows they observe in heat.
How do you conrm pregnant or open cows? Cows are checked weekly for pregnancy using ultrasound. What is your breeding philosophy? How do you select bulls? What
traits do you focus on? Does fertility play a role in bull selection? We breed for problem free cows. We use only Concept Plus bulls. We breed for Turn to MALY FARMS | Page 20
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Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 19
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For John Waddell, Marshall, Wis., 1000 cows milk 85 lbs. and earn quality awards. It wasn’t always that way, John reports: “We had been fighting to keep SCC below 300,000. We started the fresh cow routine with Udder Comfort in 2012. We saw less mastitis, and it was big for our milk quality, getting SCC down to 180,000 within a year, then 90 and 150,000 between two farms. We apply it 2x/day for 5 days post-calving; 2-year-olds also get it 1x/day 5 days pre-fresh,� he explains.
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Page 20 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020
ConĆ&#x;nued from MALY FARMS | Page 18
smaller cows, and focus on combined fat and protein percentages and daughter pregnancy rate.
How many times do you try to breed a cow before you sell her? We stop breeding at 222 days in milk.
How are cows and heifers bred? Do you have a different philosophy for breeding both? Heifers are on a CIDR synch for ďƒžrst service, and we run a 73% conception rate on it.
Is there anything you have done or changed that brought about a signiďƒžcant improvement in your reproductive program? Our most signiďƒžcant improvements in our reproductive program came when we made cow comfort a top priority and took more control over our reproductive program. Everyone has a role to play to help us achieve our success.
What do you do to settle hard breeders? After 180 days in milk, we use a CIDR synch program.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Maly Farms Inc., located in Bryant, Wisconsin, is operated by Butch, Ron and Kelly Maly, and Alicia Sippl, and is home to 440 cows, milked three Ć&#x;mes per day. The farm consists of approximately 1,200 acres.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Tail chalk is used daily to help with accurate heat detecĆ&#x;on at Maly Farms Inc.
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We have deep-bedded stalls with composted manure solids, which are reďƒžlled three times a week and are cleaned and topped with lime at each milking. Dave Schroepfer, from Alta Genetics, selects bulls to use and helps us pinpoint areas for improvement.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 21
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MOWER CONDITIONERS JD 835, 2012, #164224 ..............................................................................................$18,900 Hesston 3312, 2007, #167802 ................................................................................$15,500 JD 946, 2016, #170664 ..............................................................................................$29,500 JD 1360, 1990, #169705..............................................................................................$8,800 JD F350R, 2019, #166686 .........................................................................................$27,000 JD R990R, 2019, #166685.........................................................................................$65,300 New Holland H7550, 2014, #167351 ...................................................................$20,500 JD 635, 2013, #169331 ..............................................................................................$19,900 ROUND BALERS NH BR7060, 2011, Mega Wide, Surface Wrap Only, 540 pto, 4’ bale, 7300 Bales, #169262 ....................................................................................................$23,900 JD 560M, 2018, Mega Wide, Surface Wrap Only, 1000 pto, 5’ bales, 4500 bales, #170395 ....................................................................................................$45,400 NH 460RB, 2014, Mega Wide, Both Twine and Surface Wrap, 1000 pto, 4’ bales, 7500 bales, #165910 ....................................................................................................$24,900 NH BR7060, 2012, Regular, Twine Only, 540 pto, 4’ bales, 2900 bales, #166079 ..$18,500 JD 569 Premium, 2015, Mega Wide, Both Twine and Surface Wrap, 1000 pto, 5’ bales, 10175 bales, #170738 ...................................................................................$32,900 JD 560M, 2019, Mega Wide, Surface Wrap Only, 1000 pto, 5’ bales, 5500 Bales, #166321 ....................................................................................................$43,900 JD 567, 2004, Mega Wide, Both Twine and Surface Wrap, 540 pto, 5’ bales, 8000 bales, #170581 ....................................................................................................$17,400 JD 460M, 2018, Mega Wide, Both Twine and Surface Wrap, 1000 pto, 4’ bales, 5985 Bales, #164359 ....................................................................................................$49,900 JD 385, 1994, Regular, Twine Only, 540 pto, 4’ bales, #170585 .................................$5,400 NH BR780, 2003, Twine Only, 540 pto, 5’ bales, #169873 ........................................$9,900 NH BR780A, 2007, Mega Wide, Both Twine and Surface Wrap, 1000 pto, 5’ bales, 15900 bales, #167206 ....................................................................................$11,900 Vermeer 605F, Twine Only, 1000 pto, 5’ bales, #168368 .........................................$3,250 SELF-PROPELLED SPRAYERS JD R4038, 2018, 120’ boom, Nozzle Spacing: 20 in, 516 hrs., #150887 ..............$314,900 Ag-Chem 854, 80’ boom, Poly tank, Nozzle Spacing: 20 in., 5700 hrs., #170022 $34,900 JD R4038, 2017, 120’ boom, Stainless tank, Nozzle Spacing: 20 in, 2 18 hrs., #166646 ........................................................................................................$336,900 JD R4038, 2018, 120’ boom, Stainless tank, Nozzle Spacing: 20 in, 414 hrs., #157823 ......................................................................................................$329,500 JD 4940, 2013, 120’ boom, Stainless tank, Nozzle Spacing: 20 in, 1714 hrs., #170040 ....................................................................................................$169,500 JD R4038, 2019, 132’ boom, Stainless tank, Nozzle Spacing: 20 in, 544 hrs., #168957 ......................................................................................................$388,900 Case IH Patriot 3330, 2013, 90’ boom, Stainless tank, Nozzle Spacing: 20 in, 2777 hrs., #167048...............................................................$119,900
(1) = GLENCOE 4561 Hwy. 212
4 4 4 10 10 7 1 15 15 9 16 13 5 11 11 8 8 14 3 4
RoGator RG1300, 2012, 120’, Nozzle Spacing: 20 in, 2740 hrs., #167047 .........$110,000 Melroe 220, 1985, 60’ boom, Nozzle Spacing: 20 in, 1233 hrs., #160062 ...............$8,500 Melroe 218, 1988, 60’ boom,Nozzle Spacing: 20 in, 924 hrs., #160063 ..................$9,900 Patriot Tyler Patriot 150, 1997, 90’ boom, Poly tank, 2090 hrs., #168414 .......$44,500 SKID STEER LOADERS JD 324G, 2018, Cab w/ AC, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, 2 Speed, Self-Leveling, Aux Hydraulics, Beefy Baby Tires, 78” Bucket, Reversing Fan, 291 hrs., #161893 .......$44,500 Bobcat S650, 2017, Cab w/AC, A/C, Hand Controls, Foot Controls,Ride Control, 2 Speed, Aux Hydraulics; 78” Bucket, 427 hrs., #166045 ............................................$42,900 JD 324G, 2018, Cab w/AC, Cab Enclosure, A/C, EH Controls, Air Ride Seat, Ride Control, 2 Spd, Self-Leveling, Aux Hydraulics, 78” Bucket, Reversing Fan, 354 hrs., #162065 $45,900 Bobcat 500, 1978, Foot Controls, General Purpose Bkt, #169690 ............................$3,500 New Holland LX885, 1995, Cab w/o AC, Cab Enclosure, Foot Controls, 2 Speed, Beefy Baby Tires, 72” Bucket, 4300 hrs., #169658 ........................................$13,500 Bobcat S650, 2019, Cab w/AC, Foot Controls, Ride Control, 2 Speed, Self-Leveling, Aux Hydraulics, Beefy Baby Tires, 76” Bucket, 85 hrs., #169639 ..........$45,900 JD 250, 2000, Cab w/o AC, Foot Controls, 3100 hrs., #167442.................................$18,500 JD 320G, 2019, Cab w/ AC, EH Controls, Joystick, 2 Speed, Aux Hydraulics, Less Bucket, 3180 hrs., #170752 ..................................................................................$26,500 JD 320G, 2019, Cab w/ AC, EH Controls, Joystick, 2 Speed, Aux Hydraulics, Less Bucket, 2344 hrs., #170753 ..................................................................................$29,900 JD 326E, 2016, Cab w/AC, Cab w/AC, EH Controls, EH Controls, EH Controls, Air Ride Seat, Joystick, Joystick, Joystick, Ride Control, Ride Control, 2 Speed, Aux Hydraulics, 84” Bucket, Reversing Fan, Reversing Fan, 517 hrs., #168499 ..........$39,990 JD 332G, 2018, Cab w/AC, EH Controls, Air Ride Seat, Joystick, Ride Control, 2 Speed, Self-Leveling; Aux Hyd., Weights, 84” Bucket; Reversing Fan, 150 hrs., #144002 ......$56,900 JD 260, 2002, ROPS, Hand Controls, Foot Controls, 2 Speed, Flotation Tires, Steel Tracks, 72” Bucket, 2103 hrs., #169439 ...............................................................$13,900 Mustang 2041, 2006, ROPS, Foot Controls, Aux Hydraulics, 84” Bucket, 4765 hrs., #170739 .......................................................................................................$10,900 JD 330G, 2018, Cab w/AC, EH Controls, Air Ride Seat, Joystick, Ride Control, 2 Speed, Self-Leveling, Aux Hydraulics, 84” Bucket, Reversing Fan, 575 hrs., #159949............$48,900 JD 320E, 2017, Cab w/AC, EH Controls, Joystick, 2 Speed, Aux Hydraulics, Less Bucket, 2976 hrs., #158327 ..................................................................................$27,900 JD 326E, 2015, Cab w/AC, EH Controls, Air Ride Seat, Joystick, Ride Control, 2 Speed, Aux Hydraulics, 84” Bucket, Reversing Fan, 1600 hrs., #170737 ..................$33,900 JD 324G, 2019, Cab w/AC, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, 2 Speed, Self-Leveling, Aux Hydraulics, Beefy Baby Tires, 78” Bucket, Reversing Fan, 50 hrs., #168623 .........$45,000 Caterpillar 299D, 2015, Cab w/AC, Hand Controls, EH Controls, Hi-Flo, 2 Speed, Aux Hydraulics, Rubber Tracks, 1200 hrs., #170315 ....................................................$54,900 JD 250, 2003, ROPS, Hand Controls, 72” Bucket, 3802 hrs., #168067 ......................$13,900 UTILITY TRACTORS JD 6105E, 2019, Cab, Power Reverser, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, 44 hrs., #151983 ....$71,900
Visit one of our 17 locations in Central Minnesota! (7) = ALEXANDRIA (9) = PRINCETON (4) = ST. CLOUD 1035 35th Ave. NE
(2) = HOWARD LAKE (5) = GLENWOOD 5845 Keats Ave. SW
1710 N. Franklin
(3) = STEWART
(6) = SAUK CENTRE
78412 Co. Rd. 20
8 14 14 14
1140 Centre St.
320-763-4220 5005 Co. Rd. 82 SE
3708 Baptist Church Rd.
(8) = PAYNESVILLE
16069 Hwy. 27 E.
725 Lake Ave. S.
4 JD 6130M, 2019, Cab, Partial Power Shift, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, 150 hrs., #152367 ........................................................................................................................$99,500 4 JD 6110M, 2018, Cab, Partial Power Shift, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, 450 hrs., #149248 ........................................................................................................................$89,500 4 JD 6135E, 2019, Cab, Power Reverser, MFWD, 540 pto, Loader, 154 hrs., #152152$82,900 4 JD 6110M, 2017, Cab, Partial Power Shift, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, Loader, 188 hrs., #145468 .........................................................................................................$97,900 4 JD 5045E, 2018, Syncro, MFWD, 540 pto, 68 hrs., #163844 ....................................$23,900 4 JD 5115M, 2018, Cab, Power Reverser, MFWD, 540 pto, Loader, 1100 hrs., #143690$69,500 10 JD 5090R, 2018, Cab, Partial PS, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, 24 hrs., #147006 .............$71,900 10 JD 5055E, 2018, Syncro, MFWD, 540 pto, 98 hrs., #140787 ....................................$32,900 10 JD 6110M, 2018, Cab, Partial PS MFWD, 540/1000 pto, 221 hrs., #149246 ...........$94,900 10 JD 3020, 1965, 2WD, Syncro, 540 pto, Duals, 7772 hrs., #169574.............................$8,900 10 JD 2840, 1979, Partial Power Shift, 2WD, 540/1000 pto, 5128 hrs., #168454 ..........$9,900 17 JD 3020, Syncro, 2WD, 540/1000 pto, #167795 ........................................................$5,900 7 Farmall Super MTA, 1954, 2WD, 540 pto, #170761 ..............................................$5,000 7 MF 5613 Deluxe, 2014, Cab, Power Reverser, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, Loader, 945 hrs., #167436 .........................................................................................................$75,900 6 JD 6110R, 2017, Cab, Partial Power Shift, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, 210 hrs., #145477 ........................................................................................................................$98,900 6 JD 6120E, 2018, 482 hrs., #143694 ..........................................................................$79,500 6 JD 6130R, 2016, Cab, Partial Power Shift, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, 442 hrs., #142596 ........................................................................................................................$99,500 1 JD 6110R, 2016, Cab, IVT, MFWD, 573 hrs., #144500 ..............................................$95,900 12 JD 5055E, 2018, Syncro, MFWD, 540 pto, 7 hrs., #140896 ......................................$32,900 12 JD 6110M, 2019, Cab, Partial Power Shift, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, 107 hrs., #153313 .....................................................................................................................$109,500 12 JD 5100E, 2014, Cab, Syncro, MFWD, 540 pto, Loader, 652 hrs., #169704..............$56,000 12 JD 6120R, 2019, Cab, Partial Power Shift, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, Loader, 147 hrs., #153295 ......................................................................................................$119,500 15 JD 6105M, 2015, Cab, Partial Power Shift, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, 989 hrs., #168001 ........................................................................................................................$66,900 9 JD 6135E, 2018, 499 hrs., #143698 ..........................................................................$84,900 16 JD 6120E, 2018, Cab, MFWD, 540 pto, Loader, 233 hrs., #143692 ..........................$79,500 13 JD 5075E, 2018, Syncro, MFWD, 540 pto, 9 hrs., #140875 ......................................$36,900 5 JD 5400, 1996, Syncro, MFWD, 540 pto, 6000 hrs., #164957 ..................................$19,900 11 JD 6125M, 2015, Cab, Partial Power Shift, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, Loader, 2904 hrs., #166455 .......................................................................................................$74,400 11 JD 6120M, 2018, Cab, Partial Power Shift, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, 170 hrs., #141903 ........................................................................................................................$92,900 11 JD 6120M, 2017, Cab, Partial Power Shift, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, Loader, 400 hrs., #169250 ......................................................................................................$105,400 WINDROWERS 8 JD W260, 2018, 16’ platform, Rubber/Urethane conditioner, 500 hrs., #163764 $169,500
CALL TODAY! (320)365-1653 (12) = AITKIN 1120 2nd St. NW
(10) = LITTLE FALLS (13) = BAXTER (11) = WADENA 62505 US Hwy. 10
7045 Foley Rd.
(14) = ELBOW LAKE
(16) = BENSON
(15) = MORRIS
(17) = MADISON
110 2nd St. NE
23604 State Hwy. 9
380 Atlantic Ave. 516 1st St. E
SEE OUR COMPLETE INVENTORY WITH PICTURES AND DESCRIPTIONS AT: www.mmcjd.com
Page 22 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020
USDA issues rst CFAP payments
Start planning for tomorrow, today. 0
% FINANCING FOR UP
72 MONTHS*
TO
3 MONTH DEFERRAL ON CONTRACTS UP TO 60 MONTHS*
SCAN ME
www.delaval.com
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-Suckow Dairy Supply West Union, IA 563-422-5355 Postville, IA 563-864-7417 WISCONSIN Advanced Dairy/Bob’s Dairy Supply Spring Valley, WI 715-772-3201 Ederer Dairy Supply Plain, WI 608-546-3713
Joe’s Refrigeration Inc. Withee, WI 715-229-2321 Mlsna Dairy Supply Inc. Cashton, WI 608-654-5106 Mondovi Dairy Systems Inc. Mondovi, WI 715-926-5777
MINNESOTA & SOUTH DAKOTA D&D Ag Supply Pennock, MN 320-599-4466 East Central Dairy Supply Mora, MN 320-679-1029
Professional Dairy Services Arlington, WI 608-635-0267
Farm Systems Melrose, MN 320-256-3276 Watertown, SD 605-886-7401 Sioux Falls, SD 800-284-0015
Redeker Dairy Equipment Brandon, WI 920-346-5579
S&S Dairy System LLC St. Charles, MN 507-932-4288
The Scharine Group Inc. Whitewater, WI 800 472-2880 Mt Horeb, WI 800-872-3470
Professional Dairy Systems Wadena, MN 218-632-5416
West Salem, WI 608-769-2113
*0% interest for up to 72 months, DeLaval equipment only and restrictions may apply, on approved credit and minimum deal amount of $25,000 is required to qualify. Lease option may include a residual to be paid in order to obtain full ownership at the end of the term. Subject to special conditions’ that may cease at any time. is a registered trademark of Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A. and “DeLaval” is a registered trade/servicemark of DeLaval Holding AB © 2020 DeLaval Inc. DeLaval, 11100 North Congress Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri 64153-1296. www.delaval.com
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) has already approved more than $545 million in payments to producers who have applied for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. FSA began taking applications May 26, and the agency has received over 86,000 applications for this important relief program. “The coronavirus has hurt America’s farmers, ranchers, and producers, and these payments directed by President Trump will help this critical industry weather the current pandemic so they can continue to plant and harvest a safe, nutritious, and affordable crop for the American people,” said Secretary Perdue. “We have tools and resources available to help producers understand the program and enable them to work with Farm Service Agency staff to complete applications as smoothly and efciently as possible and get payments into the pockets of our patriotic farmers.” In the rst six days of the application period, FSA has already made payments to more than 35,000 producers. Out of the gate, the top ve states for CFAP payments are Illinois, Kansas, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and South Dakota. USDA has released data on application progress and program payments and will release further updates each Monday at 2:00pm ET. The report can be viewed at farmers.gov/cfap. FSA will accept applications through August 28, 2020. Through CFAP, USDA is making available $16 billion in nancial assistance to producers of agricultural commodities who have suffered a ve-percentor-greater price decline due to COVID-19 and face additional signicant marketing costs as a result of lower demand, surplus production, and disruptions to shipping patterns and the orderly marketing of commodities. In order to do this, producers will receive 80 percent of their maximum total payment upon approval of the application. The remaining portion of the payment, not to exceed the payment limit, will be paid at a later date nationwide, as funds remain available. Getting help from FSA New customers seeking one-on-one support with the CFAP application process can call 877-508-8364 to speak directly with a USDA employee ready to offer general assistance. This is a recommended rst step before a producer engages the team at the FSA county ofce at their local USDA Service Center. Producers can download the CFAP application and other eligibility forms from farmers.gov/cfap. Also, on that webpage, producers can nd a payment calculator to help producers identify sales and inventory records needed to apply and calculate potential payments. Producers self-certify their records when applying for CFAP and that documentation is not submitted with the application. However, producers may be asked for their documentation to support the certication of eligible commodities, so producers should retain the information used to complete their application. Those who use the online calculator tool will be able to print a pre-lled CFAP application, sign it, and submit it to your local FSA ofce either electronically or via hand delivery through an ofce drop box. Please contact your local ofce to determine the preferred delivery method for your local ofce. Team members at FSA county ofces will be able to answer detailed questions and help producers apply quickly and efciently through phone and online tools. Find contact information for your local ofce at farmers. gov/cfap. Policy clarications FSA has been working with stakeholder groups to provide further clarication to producers on the CFAP program. For example, the agency has published a matrix of common marketing contracts that impact eligibility for non-specialty crops and has provided a table that crosswalks common livestock terms to CFAP cattle categories. Updated information can be found in the frequently asked questions section of the CFAP website. To nd the latest information on CFAP, visit farmers.gov/CFAP or call 877-508-8364.
Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 23
Converting manure into renewable natural gas Digester project creates clean vehicle fuel with help from three area farms By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
DANE, Wis. – Chuck Ripp of Ripp’s Dairy Valley is proud to be turning manure from his farm into renewable natural gas. By doing so, he is sending less methane, phosphorous and nitrogen into the environment. “We try to do the right thing, and this is a win for us on the environmental side,” said Ripp, who with his brothers, Gary and Troy, milks 900 cows and farms 2,000 acres in Dane. “We’re a (concentrated animal feeding operation), and we’re doing our part to cut back on greenhouse
gases as well as removing phosphorous from our watershed.” Each day, Ripp’s Dairy Valley sends nearly 30,000 gallons of manure to a community digester located next door to the farm. Adjacent neighbors, Endres Dairy and White Gold Dairy, also pump manure underground to this central digester to produce an environmentally friendly product – renewable natural gas. Located northwest of Waunakee in Vienna, Wisconsin, in the Yahara Lakes Watershed, the digester is run by Clean Fuel Partners and owned by Brightmark – a San Francisco, CaliforSTACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Chuck Ripp sends his farm’s manure to a community digester to produce renewable natural gas, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions and removing phosphorous from the watershed. Ripp and his brothers, Gary and Troy, milk 900 cows and farm 2,000 acres at Ripp’s Dairy Valley near Dane, Wisconsin.
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Manure from Ripp’s Dairy Valley is sent to this 20,000-gallon receiving pit before being pumped through a sand separator and then a smaller pit before reaching the 100,000-gallon pit that pumps manure underground to the digester.
nia, waste solutions company. Known as the Demeter Project, the gas created by the digester is captured and cleaned up to pipeline grade standards before being trucked to the renewable natural gas plant and ofoading station at the Dane County landll where it is injected into an interstate pipeline. “This project is great for farmers and helps support our mission of creating a world without waste,” said Bob Powell, Brightmark CEO and founder. “We’re taking waste that is often
HAY & FORAGE, STALK CHOPPERS
BEST
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VALU
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Case IH MX 270 FWA, 16.9R30 Fr Dls, 20.8R42 R Dls. 5,615 hrs John Deere 5055D 2WD, with 420 hrs, 8x2 trans. front weights JD 4200 Compact Hydro Tractor w/JD 420 ldr., 1,395 hrs. MF 1030 4WD Compact Tractor w/1016 Ldr & Bkt. 1,328 Hrs
COMBINES & HEADS
Gleaner S96 Combine, ‘19, Tires 800R32 single, 214 Sep. hrs Gleaner S67 Combine, ‘11, duals , 1187 sep, 1558 eng, nice Gleaner S77 Combine, 2012, duals, 1,777 sep, 2,325 E. Gleaner R75 Combine, 2004, Duals, 1982 Sep, 2719 E, very nice Gleaner 8000-20 Flex Head Laterak Tilt, 2005 Gleaner 8000 Flex Head 25’ Lateral Tilt, 2004 Gleaner 3000 630R Corn Head, 2008 Gleaner 3000 830R Corn Head, 2004 Case IH 1640 Combine 4,435 hours, 28L-26 singles Harvestec 4306C Cutter Corn Head 6R30” Gl Mounts, Low Acres Harvestec 4308C Cutter Corn Head 8 Row 30” GL Mounts Harvestec 4308C Cutter Corn Head 8 Row 30” JD Mount Harvestec 4308C Cutter Corn Head 8 Row 30” NH/Case IH Mount ‘08
SKID STEERS
Case SR220 Skid Steer, Cab, Heat, A/C, 2 Speed, 3200 hrs. Mustang 2700V, ‘11, 2,000 hrs., pilot ctrls., cab, 2 spd, nice Mustang 2076, ‘12 1200 hrs., H/F ctrls, cab, w/heat, 2 spd. Mustang 2060 ‘96, 6,636 hrs., T-Bar controls, universal mount
TILLAGE/FIELD CULTIVATORS
Case IH 6500 Conser-Till 9-shank chisel plow with frame ext. Glencoe SS7400 5-shank chisel plow (excellent condition) DMI Ecolo-Tiger 730B, 7 shank, Straight Front Coulters, Closing Disc Wilrich 357 5-Shank Ripper With Cart, 2014 Wilrich 657 11 Shank Chisel/ Ripper Combo, 2014 Wilrich 657 11 Shank Chisel/ Ripper Combo, 2012, 2 Bar Coil & Basket
John Deere 582 Silage Special Round Baler 4X5, 19,434 Bales Kuhn VB 2295 Round Baler, 4X6 Var. Chamber Opticut with 5,660 bales, 2018 McHALE V660 ROUND BALER 4X6 CUTTER BALER, 8,600 BALES New Holland BR7070, 2014, round baler, 14,059 bales, Crop Cutter NEW HOLLAND RB560 2017 ROUND BALER 1,176 BALES, LIKE NEW New Holland 330 Big Baler, ‘13, 3X3, manual applicator, 6,200 bales Hesston 8200 SP windrower w/14’ auger head H&S CR8 8WHEEL CART RAKE, GOOD SHAPE New Holland 56 bar rake Art’s way 240C Stalk Chopper, 2015, 20’ Width, Low Acres Anderson SB780 Individual Bale Wrapper Teagle Tomahawk 6060 3-pt Bale Chopper Vermeer CPX9000 Bale Processor, 2017, with Twin Blowers
seen as a nuisance to handle and creating value out of it.” The ofoading station received its rst shipment of dairy biogas from the digester June 11. The station can be used by multiple commercial parties for a fee, making it the rst project of its kind in the United States. It gives biogas producers access to a pipeline, renewable energy markets, and Environmental Protection Agency and stateissued renewable fuel credits. “This is a win-win-win project,” said Joe Parisi, Dane Coun-
ty executive. “It helps farmers, the environment and the economy. Local farms are able to better manage manure nutrients and prevent runoff, ultimately improving their public image. More advanced phosphorus removal also provides a reduction in manure handling costs and results in cleaner lakes.” The project also creates more jobs. “Wisconsin sends $6 billion out of state for gas, natural
Turn to DEMETER | Page 25
Maximize Your Harvest Nutrition
ROW CROP, DRILLS & SPRAYERS
Hardi Navigator 4000, 2013, 90’ Boom, 120” Axle, ISO Hardi Navigator 4000, 2012, 90’ Boom,120” Axle, 5500 rate controler Hardi Navigator 3000, 60’ Boom, adjustable axle Hardi Navigator 550M 45’ hyd. fold boom, foam marker, ñush & rinse CIH 5300 Grain Drill With Small Seeds Box Great Plains 13’ solid stand grain dril
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5 Heights to choose from: 6’ to 16’
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Page 24 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020
0 FOR %
APR
60 MONTHS
*
Plus $1,700 in Bobcat attachment credits
ON SELECT NEW BOBCAT EXCAVATORS, COMPACT TRACK LOADERS AND SKID-STEER LOADERS In lieu of finance, there are several rebate options available with your purchase:
$5,000* with the purchase of a T770 compact track loader. er. $3,000* when you purchase a S740 skid-steer loader. AUTHORIZED BOBCAT DEALERS S
IOWA
JP Scherrman, Inc. Farley • 563-744-3393
Reiser Implement, Inc. Waukon • 563-568-4526
SOUTH DAKOTA
Bobcat of Brookings, Inc. Brookings • 605-697-5544 Bobcat of Watertown Watertown • 605-886-5844
Pfeifer’s Implement Co. Sioux Falls • 605-338-6351
MINNESOTA
Alex Power Equipment Alexandria • 320-763-4994
Bobcat of Otter Tail County Fergus Falls • 218-739-4505 Farm-Rite Equipment, Inc. Dassel • 320-275-2737 Farm-Rite Equipment, Inc. Long Prairie • 320-732-3715 Farm-Rite Equipment, Inc. St. Cloud • 320-240-2085 Farm-Rite Equipment, Inc. Willmar • 320-235-3672
Lano Equipment of Norwood Norwood Young America • 952-467-2181
K&L Bobcat, Bobcat Inc Darlington • 608-776-4044
Tri-State Bobcat Burnsville • 952-894-0894
Komro Sales & Service Whitehall • 715-538-1495
Miller Sellner Slayton, LLC Slayton • 507-836-8571
Tri-State Bobcat Little Canada • 651-407-3727
WISCONSIN
Carter & Gruenewald Co., Inc. Brooklyn • 608-455-2411 Carter & Gruenewald Co., Inc. Juda • 608-934-5201
Visit Bobcat.com/Offers or stop by today for details. *Offer ends 7/31/2020. Available at participating and eligible dealers only. Offer may vary by product type, series, model and select units in dealer’s current inventory. Must take delivery from dealer stock by 7/31/2020. Offers available on new equipment in US and Canada only. Some restrictions apply. Length of contract may vary. Prior purchases not eligible. See dealer for details. Financing provided on approval of credit by authorized Bobcat finance providers to well-qualified buyers. Administrative fees may apply. Offer not available to government accounts, national accounts and municipal/utility bid customers. Non-commercial customers may not be eligible for low rate financing. Bobcat Company reserves the right to extend or discontinue any of these programs at any time without prior notice. Bobcat®, the Bobcat logo and the colors of the Bobcat machine are registered trademarks of Bobcat Company in the United States and various other countries.
Komro Sales & Service Durand • 715-672-4263
Miller Implement Co., Inc. St. Nazianz • 920-773-2800
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Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 25
ConƟnued from DEMETER | Page 23 gas and diesel,” said John Welch, Dane County’s director of waste and renewables. “Now, we’re taking some of those energy dollars and keeping them local.” The digester takes in about 90,000 gallons of manure per day. The clean vehicle fuel it produces is sold to compressed natural gas fueling stations, and the project will produce enough fuel each year to travel from San Francisco to New York and back over 200 times in a compressed natural gas vehicle. “The digester is sending the gas to California,” Welch said. “It’s extremely lucrative for a digester to sell gas into that market.” The Dane County digester was the state’s rst community digester and produced electricity for 10 years prior to producing renewable natural gas. The same three farms have been sending manure to the digester since it was built in 2010 for the purpose of improving the water quality of area lakes. As electricity contracts were set to expire, the county and the digester owners knew it had to explore other options. “Digesters are losing money,” Welch said. “Gas is worth 10 times as much as electricity. In the beginning, the digester owners were paid 8-10 cents for one kilowatt of electricity. That number has dropped to 3-4 cents. That same quantity of gas in a pipeline is worth as much as 80 cents.” The digester is offsetting about 16,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas each year, and the project is estimated to reduce phosphorous runoff alone by 60%. Considering all climate benets, renewable natural gas from dairy manure has been shown to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 400% when used to replace traditional vehicle fuels. One trailer of renewable natural gas is equivalent to not burning 24,000 pounds of coal. “Any time we can use methane from cow manure instead of fossil fuels, why
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Three Dane County farms – Endres Dairy, Ripp’s Dairy Valley and White Gold Dairy – pump their manure to a community digester which converts gases from the manure into renewable natural gas for vehicles. not?” Ripp said. Manure from his farm’s four freestall barns is rst sent to a 20,000-gallon receiving pit, pumped through a sand separator and then pumped to a smaller pit before reaching the 100,000-gallon pit that pumps manure up to the digester. Ripp’s Dairy Valley pumps the furthest at 1,800 feet, while the other two farms pump manure about 600 feet to the digester. Liquids are sent back to the farm 28 days later. “The return manure is very watery, and we pump it back into the system, clean it up and capture the water before sending it to the lagoon,” Ripp said. “We then send that water through our sand separator and use it to help separate our sand. By recycling, we don’t have to use as much clean water for sand separation. This is a closed-loop system.” The Ripps apply the liquid manure to
their land and the land of several farms they buy crops from. “The digester removes a lot of phosphorous which helps our nutrient management plan,” Ripp said. “We’re able to get more manure on the elds.” The ber separation process pulls phosphorus out of the manure, keeping it out of the watershed and reducing the load sent back to farms. The ber can then be used for animal bedding or compost. When producing renewable natural gas, only manure can be brought to the digester – substrates are not allowed. This means less waste is now returned to participating farms. “Before this project, we were getting two semi loads of substrates every day,” Ripp said. “That was 4 million gallons of extra liquid we had to deal with. It’s really nice to eliminate that.” Digesters are experiencing a reawak-
ening with the shift from electricity to renewable natural gas – an opportunity that is proving far more protable. “Three years ago, nobody was talking about building new digesters,” Welch said. “Now, it’s almost like the Wild West and the Gold Rush – lots of people are looking for new projects. The nancial picture for digesters has completely changed, and I think we’re going to see additional digesters being built and existing ones expanding as companies look for more manure.” Welch sees opportunities for out-ofwork digesters. “If you’re a farmer with an idle digester, talk to a couple different companies or someone you trust about using your digester for producing renewable natural gas,” Welch said. “The market has changed in terms of the value of gas. Make sure you’re getting the best deal you can and working with a reputable company.” Plans for new facilities are on the horizon for Brightmark, who is taking this initiative nationwide and has multiple sites in development across the country and expects to build more sites in Wisconsin. The company also hopes to get more manure coming to the Dane County digester in the future. “We’re interested in working with more farmers to continue building out this project and perhaps do other projects,” Powell said. Farming near a metropolitan area like Madison, Ripp said he knows people are watching. “We’re very lucky to be a part of this project,” Ripp said. “In the long run, this is going to help how people feel about farms. It seems to take the heat off when you tell people you use digesters and are removing phosphorous from the manure – people like to hear that story.”
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Page 26 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020
Farm storage facility loans As a reminder, Farm Service Agency ofces are open by phone appointments only at this time. Call your local ofce to make an appointment, or we will work with you to complete your FSA paperwork by mail or email. FSA’s Farm Storage FSA News & Notes Facility Loan program provides low-interest nancing to producers to build or upgrade storage facilities and to purchase portable (new or used) structures, equipment and storage and handling trucks. The low-interest funds can be used to build By Ryan Brunn or upgrade permanent Stearns Co. Exec. Dir. facilities to store commodities. Eligible commodities include corn, grain sorghum, rice, soybeans, oats, peanuts, wheat, barley, minor oilseeds harvested as whole grain, pulse crops (lentil, chickpea and dry pea), hay, honey, renewable biomass, fruits, nuts and vegetables for cold storage facilities, oriculture, hop, maple sap, rye, milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, meat and poultry (unprocessed), eggs and aquaculture (excluding systems that maintain live animals through uptake and discharge of water). Qualied facilities include grain bins, hay barns and cold storage facilities for eligible commodities. Loans up to $50,000 can be secured by a promissory note/security agreement and loans between $50,000 and $100,000 may require additional security. Loans exceeding $100,000 require additional security. Producers do not need to demonstrate the lack of commercial credit availability to apply. The loans are designed to assist a diverse range of farming operations, including small and mid-sized businesses, new farmers, operations supplying local food and farmers markets, non-traditional farm products and underserved producers. To learn more about the FSA Farm Storage Facility Loan, visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov/pricesupport or contact a FSA county ofce.
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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What is in a name? It seems when a family name is on something special and it becomes a common name, it is your own personal brand. A brand of the product or service. It means a lot to the founders to have their name representing it all. For example, J.I. Case. Jerome Increase Case was an early American manufacture of threshing machines and went on through many mergers to become today’s Case Corporation in Racine. This was a great way to label his machines, so everyone By Tina Hinchley Farmer & Columnist knew they were his creations. Another example of a business that has its name made up from two original friends, William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson. They started in Milwaukee, and then grew into the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. McDonalds. Richard and Maurice McDonald founded the restaurant, but they did not have a clue what would follow. It was Ray Kroc who made it famous. He purchased the name with the business and became an icon of the fast food industry. Well, that is not exactly the most positive outcome for those brothers. I bet they wished they never sold their name. There are other local name brands like Blain’s Farm and Fleet. They have the history of the farm supply store on their wall in oor to ceiling photos. I look at it every time after I head out of the store. Jane Blain Gilbertson’s photo is on the wall, and I think about how this business has grown and thrived. I wonder if Jane ever knew how nice it is to see that she kept her last name along with Gilbertson to let everyone know she is a family member. She is the current president and CEO. Keeping your family name is important when you are connected to something special. Our daughter, Anna, is going to be married in August. We have been discussing whether she might want to keep her last name. She will be transitioning into partnership with us at the farm. Her name will be going on the check book and other assets as time goes on. As a young woman getting married, she can choose to take her husband’s last name, keep her maiden name or hyphenate it with
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Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 27
both names. This subject came up again in a conversation with a woman who visited on a sales call. Her family owns the company she was representing. She came out with her husband. We did not even know he was her husband until she introduced him as her husband. We laughed because he often gets called her last name. She kept her last name because it is her professional name. People know her for the family business. Their name is the name of the company. I do know two men who have changed their names to their wife’s last name. One had a very long name that was hard to pronounce. It was easier for everyone. When they had children, it was easy for the kids to write their last name. The other gentleman was always being called his wife’s last name, so he took it, too. No shame from his family.
Just as a woman leaving her family name to take on her husband’s, he embraced the family business. This has been an almost painful decision for Anna. She wants to please everyone. She still has time to gure it out. She does not want to leave our family name since she has been known by it for 22 years. Only she can make the decision. If she thinks she should be Anna Hinchley-Skadahl, it will be a new signature. It will be long to put on forms and applications. It may be a way to let people know she is a Hinchley but married to Kevin Skadahl. We will be happy with whatever she chooses. Tina Hinchley, her husband, Duane, and their daughters, Anna and Catherine, milk 240 registered Holsteins with robots. They also farm 2,300 acres of crops near Cambridge, Wisconsin. They have been hosting farm tours for over 20 years.
WHERE WOULD 9 YEARS OF AUTOMATION BRING YOU? Here’s a Groetsch Family Update!
Steve and Lisa Groetsch are in their 9th year with Lely milking robots.
Goals in January 2012: • Milk 3x a day • Ease labor • Improve milk production That year, they installed four A3-Next milking robots and were better able to manage their herd’s production.
Continuing Great Results in 2020: • Increased tank average • Improved cow health U Ƃ Ã>Ì ÃvÞ } > ` yiÝ L i Ü À « >Vi v À ÕÀ VÀiÜ • Lifestyle and a career for children’s future (all currently working in >} Ài >Ìi` wi `Ãt® In 2019, the Groetsch family earned one of the Top 200 robot-producing `> ÀÞ iÀ`Ã Ì i Ü À `t ,> } Ì i Ì « Óää « >ViÃ Ì i Ì i Ì « £¯ v Ì i i Þ v>À ð }À>ÌÕ >Ì Ã Ì iÃi «ÀiÃà Ûi Õ LiÀÃt “People ask us what we do with all our time now. Our herd manager said it well, ‘Even with robots there is plenty to do.’ And this is so true! Now we use that time to keep up on general herd health and other areas of our dairy.” - Lisa Groetsch
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Page 28 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 Joe Armstrong armst225@umn.edu 612.624.3610 Luciano Caixeta lcaixeta@umn.edu 612-625-3130 Hugh Chester-Jones chest001@umn.edu 507-835-3622 Gerard Cramer gcramer@umn.edu 612-625-8184 Marcia Endres miendres@umn.edu 612-624-5391 Sandra Godden godde002@umn.edu 612-625-8177 Joleen Hadrich jhadrich@umn.edu 612-626-5620 Les Hansen hanse009@umn.edu 612-624-2277 Brad Heins hein0106@umn.edu 320-589-1711 Nathan Hulinsky huli0013@umn.edu 320-203-6104 Kevin Janni kjanni@umn.edu 612-625-3108 Karen Johnson ande9495@umn.edu 320-484-4334 Emily Krekelberg krek0033@umn.edu 507-280-2863 Claire LaCanne lacanne@umn.edu 507-332-6109 Brenda Miller nels4220@umn.edu 320-732-4435 Erin Royster royster@umn.edu Jim Salfer salfe001@umn.edu 320-203-6093 Mike Schutz mschutz@umn.edu 612-624-1205 M. Scott Wells mswells@umn.edu 612-625-3747
www.extension.umn.edu/dairy
Holsteins continue to get taller each year: What can you do to reduce the trend in your herd?
If you believe Holsteins are becoming taller as the years go by, you are correct. However, the vast majority of dairy producers prefer cows that are more medium size and will t more easily than taller cows into stalls. We hear much in Holstein circles about current breeding goals moving to a modern Holstein cow that is more moderate in tallness and carries somewhat more body condition. This sort of thinking and marketing suggests the trend toward taller and thinner Holsteins has been turned around. Unfortunately, that is not the case. At ve-year intervals, the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding and the Holstein Association USA both change the geBy Les Hansen, Ph.D. netic base to serve as the center point University of MN (plus/minus) for reporting transmitting abilities (PTA) for each trait within each breed. A change of genetic base recently took place with the April 2020 genetic evaluations. For each trait of cows, the new 2020 genetic base will be xed for the next ve years and is the average of cows born ve years earlier, in 2015. For most traits, genetic improvement is favorable during the previous ve years, and this results in a xed subtraction to the PTA of every animal in a breed to reect the change of genetic base. For example, the 2020 change of genetic base for PTA for stature (tallness) of Holsteins was 0.47. This documents Holsteins became taller since the previous change of genetic base ve years ago. Therefore, the PTA for stature (tallness) of every Holstein (male and female) was lowered by a xed 0.47 from the December 2019 genetic evaluation to the April 2020 genetic evaluation. The consequence of the subtraction of 0.47 is the average PTA for stature of available Holstein A.I. bulls went from +1.11 in December 2015 to +0.61 in April 2020. Therefore, a bull with a PTA for stature of +0.30 in December 2019 should have a PTA for stature of about -.17 in April 2020, despite no difference in the genes transmitted by the bull to his daughters. Yes, the march toward taller Holsteins continues. Why? There are two major reasons for the ongoing genetic trend for taller Holsteins. Some people believe taller cows will automatically result from selection for more production because bigger (taller) cows produce more milk. However, that is not the case. Genetically, zero relationship exists between tallness of cows and production. On the other hand, taller Holsteins tend to have reduced fertility, higher health treatment cost and shorter herd life compared with shorter cows for stature. The
classiers employed by the Holstein Association USA score Holsteins for individual type traits as well as for overall score that is called nal score type. On average, Holstein classiers assign higher nal score type to taller cows than to somewhat shorter cows for stature. On average, all other breeds of dairy cows have less stature than Holsteins, and the desire for cows with less stature is one of the reasons for the movement away from Holsteins and toward crossbreds and Jerseys over the past decade. The other reason for the trend for taller Holsteins is selection for udder composite, which is a common selection priority for dairy producers. However, most dairy producers are unaware selection for udder composite results in indirect selection for taller Holsteins. The trait udder depth contributes to udder composite, and udder depth is scored as the distance from the lowest point of the udder to the hock of rear legs. As an example, let us assume two Holsteins have identical udders including depth of udder measured downward from the body, but one of the two cows is taller (has longer legs) than the other cow (has shorter legs). The longer-legged cow receives a higher score for udder depth than the shorter-legged cow despite the udders themselves being identical in appearance. The outcome is a higher udder composite for the taller of the two cows. Because of this situation, the Holstein Association USA made a bold move in August 2017 to partially adjust for the relationship between higher udder composite and taller cows. The association placed a negative 20% weight on stature (tallness) when calculating udder composite. This change reduced the relationship between higher udder composite and taller stature of cows by about 35%. However, 65% of the problem continues to persist. Therefore, selection for udder composite even when ignoring stature (tallness) will result in indirect selection for taller Holsteins. This is a pesky problem. So, what should dairy producers do if they would like their Holsteins to become somewhat shorter for stature over time? They should be aware that emphasis on PTA for udder composite when choosing A.I. bulls will result in cows becoming taller if they do not place a corresponding negative weight on PTA for stature. Actually, a PTA for udder composite that is near zero (or even slightly negative) will not result in deep udders that lack function because of all the selection for better udders that has taken place for 40 years. Likewise, choosing A.I. bulls that are negative for stature will not result in small Holsteins because of selection for taller cows that has taken place for many years and is reected in the changes of genetic base every ve years.
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Highlights from dairy nutrition, management conference By Marcia Endres & Jim Salfer University of Minnesota
The new coronavirus has changed all of our lives in one way or another. Our Four-State Dairy Nutrition and Management Conference (organized by extension specialists from Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin) was hosted in a virtual format June 10. This conference is geared toward nutritionists’ interests, but some veterinarians and farmers also attend. There were various topics covered during the event, starting with the pre-conference symposium on amino acids in dairy diets sponsored by Adisseo, followed by two main sessions at the conference, one focusing on improving herd health and the other focusing on maximizing prot from bull calves. There were also 10 pre-recorded breakout sessions on various topics related to nutrition, management and housing. For program details, visit http://www.fourstatedairy.org. How do circadian rhythms affect milk production, components and feeding behavior? Kevin Harvatine, Penn State University, discussed his research on how circadian rhythms impact cows. A circadian rhythm is a natural, internal process that regulates our biological processes. All dairy farms know that components drop in the summer. Using DHI records back to 2000, Kevin observed a predictable seasonality of milk production and fat and protein percent. Key ndings and take-home messages were: – Milk yield peaks in April, averaging about 5 pounds more than the fall. – Components follow a different rhythm with lower milk fat (-0.34%) and milk protein (-0.20%) in the summer than the winter. – Anticipate and expect a swing in components with a peak around the rst of the year and a bottom around July 1. – If milk fat and protein percentages are not increasing in late fall to early winter, investigate and try and determine the reason. If your annual fat test is 3.9%, you should expect a 4.1% fat in January and 3.7% in July to be normal. In another experiment, they wanted to examine if feeding regimes affected cow feeding behavior and performance. Cows’ natural feeding behavior is crepuscular, meaning their natural pattern is to spend the most time eating shortly after dawn and shortly before dusk. Cows will naturally eat some during day, while most of the night is spent resting and ruminating. – In connement systems, delivery of fresh feed is the biggest factor inuencing periods of peak feed intake. – When they compared once-a-day feeding in the morning, once-a-day feeding in the evening and twice-a-day feeding with half the feed in the morning and half in the evening, peak feed intake corresponded with feeding times for all groups. – Cows fed once daily in the evening had more of a slug feeding pattern, eating 50% more after evening feeding compared to cows fed once in the morning. The feeding pattern throughout the rest of the day was similar between the three groups. – They concluded there is potentially an increased risk of acidosis if a highly fermentable diet is fed once in the evening. – Think not only about the diet presented, but how the eating pattern may affect the rumen and risk of acidosis and milk fat depression. – It is likely not benecial in the summer to feed once in the evening, believing cows will have eaten more of the fresh feed overnight. This may increase the risk of acidosis on some diets. How does feeding of colostrum and milk, and weaning strategies affect gut health and development? Mike Steele, University of Guelph,
presented a main session talk on nutritional regulation of gut health and development with a focus on colostrum and milk, and also a breakout session with a focus on weaning and beyond. Colostrum provides not only immunoglobulins, which are key for calf immune function, but also various bioactive molecules and cells necessary for good health. – Delaying the rst feeding of colostrum beyond six hours after birth will not only impact passive immune transfer but also negatively inuence the colonization of benecial bacteria in the calf intestine. – The best innovation in calf feeding in recent years are the 3-L and 4-L bottles, which allow for feeding greater amounts of milk to our calves. – Feeding transition milk from days two and three fresh cow milkings (or a combination of colostrum and whole milk on a 1:1 ratio) resulted in improved gut health and development compared to going straight from the rst feeding of colostrum to whole milk or milk replacer. – Feeding transition milk was similar to feeding colostrum for those three days. Both have positive immunological and nutritional effects. – Weaning calves results in large transformations of the gut. – If feeding high levels of milk (8 or more quarts per day) wean at 8 weeks of age with a two-week stepdown to reduce impact of weaning on calf performance and health. – Heifers offered a high plane of nutrition (85% concentrate) for two months post weaning had improved reproductive development compared to heifers fed 70% concentrate.
What are keys to prevent lameness in our dairy herds? What aspects of barn design help improve performance and health in automated milking systems? Nigel Cook, University of WisconsinMadison, presented a talk on steps to prevent lameness in dairy cattle. Steps include hoof care, disinfection and cow comfort. He also presented a breakout session on barn design in automated milking systems. – Trim hooves twice per lactation unless wear is an issue; restore a more upright claw angle; balance weight between the inner and outer claw. – Use well designed footbaths (10 to 12 feet long); footbath four milkings per week; use effective antibacterial solution; no more than 300 cow passes; all life stages (includes heifers). – Standing up for too long is a main factor in the development of sole ulcers. – Deep bedded stalls with sand reduce chronicity of lameness. – Mattress herds must have excellent stall design; treat lameness cases promptly; allow lame cows to recover on soft surface; and use effective footbathing. These will help reduce lameness in mattress herds. – Heat stress negatively inuences resting behavior contributing to lameness. Heat abatement is key. – Aim for lying times of 11.5 to 12.5 hours per day. – Rubber transfer lanes reduce hoof wear to and from the parlor. Rubber is not recommended in freestall barn alleys. Focus on stall comfort. – Heifers can develop corkscrew claw syndrome. To prevent this, a bedded pack rather than freestalls is recommended up to at least breeding age; or use organic bedding rather than sand in freestalls; reduce headlock exposure; provide outdoor access. – AMS general design priorities: 55 cows per robot maximum, minimum of two AMS units per pen, deep loose bedding, sufcient feed bunk space per cow (24 inches), 24/7 fresh cow access to the robot for 10-21 days post calving, and expert gating and ow modeling.
Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 29
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Peace and pride Page 30 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020
It hits me mostly in the summertime. This overwhelming feeling of peace and pride when I look out over our farm, it always makes me stop and take a deep breath. It came up on me when I delivered Ira his “man meal” and water jug in the packing tractor as he was getting back in the groove of packing rst crop. There are few things that compare to the excitement of chopping on our farm. Especially this year when everything is in such uproar, it is nice to have this activity carry on as normal. I handed Ira his meal and had to chuckle, I remember feeding Keith and Peter 20 years ago – boxed tuna helper on a Styrofoam plate, with magic marker notes written on top of the plate used as a cover to get it to the eld. They told me years later how the marker taste seeped into the food. Yikes. Full circle, I am now feeding my own child as he
joins the ranks of the chopping force. Ira’s learning responsibility, and that lls me with pride. I glanced up at the piercing blue sky with not a cloud to be found and tried my best to take it all in. All was well in my world in that moment. It comes over me in waves when I stand out on the porch on a warm summer evening and just listen. Kids are calm after a day of running, fans are whirring their melody on the old barn for the calves’ comfort inside, the cling-clang of the headlocks as the cows partake in their nighttime meals echoes from the barns, the lone bellow of a heifer on pasture searching for her friends. The smell of irises and the owering locus tree nearby makes me think of my mom and how much work she put into all the amazing owers at the farm, and how so many of them are still thriving today. Then, the breeze shifts and the smell of fresh cut hay overpowers the owers and I’m lled with peace, knowing that will
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feed the cows during the bleak winter months. The sight of a cow that we struggled to get back on her feet, and after many debates about her destiny, and more patience than we thought we could muster up, nally appears to be making milk and walking strong again. The everyday sight of watching an animal come into the world, healthy and perfect, evokes a Ramblings from the Ridge feeling that never grows old; only to be topped by the pride of seeing your children intuitively grab the longest, cleanest piece of straw to clean out its nose. The pride I feel as I see the fresh cow that struggled to get a good start after having twins nally deciding to make By Jacqui Davison milk after numerous Columnist interventions reminds me that sometimes we have to try everything to nd the one thing that works. When I peek out the window as I milk the mists, I see the scattered hutches on the pad, and see the threeweek early Peanut sprint across my line of sight. She’s thriving thanks to the calf crew’s attention and love. I’m in awe of the success of their routine; knowing that every little thing makes a huge impact on the health of the calves and they will go to the greatest extent to do what’s best for them. I’m often impressed by Peter and how his patience and calm demeanor shine through even the worst and most frustrating of circumstances on our farm, and so proud he’s my brother. My dad is thriving as a grandpa, with even more time for it now because of having the kids there all day. It is rare to have a day when he isn’t spotted observing and commenting on the littlest ones’ latest farming escapades in the owerbed. It’s incredible watching the boys learn and ask questions, try to x things on their own, and assert their opinions on how to best do things. I love listening to even the littlest boys’ ideas on how to solve problems creatively with the cows or calves. I’d imagine that these things – similar sights, smells, sounds – are found on most farms. These are the things I focus on when the days aren’t so rosy and sweet. These are the things that remind me this is right where I need to be, that this is what I’m meant to be doing at this point in my life. Now, there are denitely days that make it very hard to nd the silver lining to being a farmer. The day that comes when, after weeks of trying to solve an unknown malady with a cow, we have to admit defeat and let her go. The frustration of being told you need to limit your milk production or having years of low prices. There will always be people out there who don’t support what we do, and worse yet – try to make it even harder than it already is to help feed the world and quench their thirst for good, pure milk. They can be down the road, in your community or at a political level. And still we do it. Through all of that, still we do it. Why? No doubt this is a question you have asked yourself before, as all of us do. Well, somehow our alfalfa-colored glasses work to help us see beyond all the current chaos and look at the less-tangible things. The work ethic, the innovative problem-solving skills and compassion my children are learning daily to help mold them into functional members of society couldn’t be taught better anywhere else, in my opinion. My siblings and dad are there to help with the child-rearing process daily; it takes a farm to raise my kids. Our core team of employees is wonderful to work with, more like family than employees at this point. So, we keep chopping hay until 2:30 a.m. to get it off before the rain comes, carrying feed to the down cow for the third day in a row, and then pausing to look around us – nding the good things that remind us to be proud of what we do, and take a deep breath of peace. Jacqui and her family milk 800 cows and run 1,200 acres of crops in the northeastern corner of Vernon County, Wis. Her children, Ira (12), Dane (10), Henry (5) and Cora (3), 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.
Feeding small grain forage to dairy cows
Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 31
Small grain forages, such as spring-planted oats or an oat-and-pea mix, have been a part of our forage feeding strategies for decades. Recently, we have seen more creative uses and applications of small grain forage. It is increasingly common to see oats planted mid-summer and Something to Ruminate On harvested in the fall, or winter triticale or winter rye planted in the fall and harvested the following spring. Most farms relying on winter or spring cereal grain silage as part of their forage inventories have likely harvested these crops over the past few weeks. The quality By Barry Visser of these small grain Nutritionist forages is not so much determined by the species, but rather soil fertility and maturity at harvest. Soil fertility can have a relatively minor inďƒ&#x;uence on the forage quality of corn silage and alfalfa. In contrast, it can have a rather dramatic effect on crude protein, potassium and magnesium content of small grain forages. Plant maturity also plays a huge role in small grain silage quality. When harvested in the vegetative stages, it is common to observe small grain forages with less than 45% neutral detergent ďƒžber. These forages are ideal candidates for lactating dairy cows. In contrast, small grain forages can also be harvested after seed head emergence, and these forages will have NDF content similar to straw. A few nuances and considerations come with feeding cereal silages to lactating dairy cows. While not intrinsically true in all rations, most of the time, we see cereal silage replace legume silage in the diet because corn silage inventories on Upper Midwest dairies are relatively ďƒžxed. Comparing the similarities and differences of cereal silage and alfalfa is a great starting place to consider diet formulation. A primary consideration of any alternative forage in inventory is its protein content. In general, a minimum crude protein content of 14-15% is desired for inclusion in the lactating diet to help minimize purchased protein costs. Cereal forages, such as triticale or rye silages, harvested at the ďƒ&#x;ag leaf or early boot stage of maturity may contain 15-18% CP. In addition to harvest timing, the protein content of grass silage is largely dictated by the soil nitrogen fertility. Cereal forages are much lower in calcium and can be very high in potassium because grasses are luxury consumers of soil potassium. This means dietary calcium and potassium levels need to be doublechecked. Additionally, when grass crops are grown on high-potassium soils, dietary magnesium needs to be monitored closely. High potassium levels in grass
forages and in the cow can interfere with magnesium concentration. This may result in slightly lower dry utilization. Thus, we often supplement a bit more matter intakes in high-producing cows consuming magnesium when grass forages are incorporated into diets with more grass inclusion, even when diets are the diet. formulated on an equivalent NDF basis. Another difference in cereal grass forages is the That means we have to play a bit with diets type of ďƒžber. As compared containing more grass to to alfalfa, cereal forages ďƒžnd a dietary NDF level Recently, l we hhave seen more have less lignin and more R that maintains DMI, rumen hemicellulose. As a result, creative uses and applications health, milk components cereal forages have less and milk yield. Despite indigestible NDF and of small grain forage. nuances between feeding greater NDF digestion legume or grass forage in potential as compared to our diets, we have observed typical alfalfa silage. That all sounds perfect, but excellent milk production potential when high-quality research has shown that legume forages have a greater grasses replace a portion of legume forage in the diet. passage rate compared to grass forages. Alternatively, Work closely with your nutritionist to evaluate the this means legume forages have a lower rumen ďƒžll quality of your forages that work in your cropping effect and grass forages may result in more rumen system and are a best ďƒžt for groups of animals. ďƒžll, even when diets are formulated at the same NDF Barry Visser is a nutritionist for Vita Plus.
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Remind me again Page 32 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020
It had been one of those days, topping off one at what cost. of those long weeks where nothing seems to go your When you invest in sexed semen for your cattle, way. You cannot seem to get a break, and if you did you can generally count on a good return with a heifer not have bad luck, you had no luck at all. That is when from a strong family line. Well you know it is one of Mark asks me the question I have no answer for. those weeks when you end up getting a split pair of Let me set the stage. The weather has been twins using sexed semen. What are the odds? Even throwing curve balls. The rains split or dissipated greater yet, what are the odds the heifer is any good? before they reached our place. We have yet to Not a day to go buy a lottery ticket, that is for sure. receive an inch of rain in a single day. The lack of In the yard, Mark keeps a close eye on how the rains is accentuated by the constant winds this June. springing heifers are coming along. He can spot a We feel like we live in the heifer with a suspicious Dakotas. Day and night the quarter, and we run her in wind blows, taking away Th to check things out. We These past several l d days, I h have any chance of efďƒžciently sort her off from the herd watering the crops. The been mulling his question and run her into a small winds also create a unique around in my mind. pen. Now over the years, problem – a beltway for you think we would have aphids, potato beetles and invested in a head gate other insects to invade our system. But, why, when we ďƒželds. When we can run the irrigation gun on our have an extra gate, an old rope halter and our bodies short ďƒželds, something breaks. The cable snaps, the to secure her for treatment? We squeeze her up against hose end gets ripped off or parts wears out. It feels the cable fence and quickly wrap an old rope halter like Mark is constantly ďƒžxing. around the gate to secure her in place and prevent her At least we were able to get the ďƒžrst crop hay up from backing up. Then Mark proceeds to examine the with very few problems and of course no rain on it. questionable quarter. Now if we are lucky and she is So there have been some rays of good fortune shining, a calm, sedate heifer, it will take just a few minutes to but it is amazing how quickly it dims when we start treat her quarter. If not, which is generally the case, to focus on other issues. Water hemp is becoming a she will throw her head over the fence, stand on the problem. We cannot seem to ďƒžnd the right combination curb, stomp for any exposed toes trying to make an of chemicals to help control the advancement of this escape. obnoxious weed before it takes over sections of the It was during one of these episodes of a thrashing ďƒželds. You start to question how much you can invest heifer, while I was trying to secure the rope wrapped
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around the gate to prevent her from stepping on Mark, when out of the blue he asked me the question. “Remind me again why we are doing this?â€? Woah. Is that a question for an immediate answer or one that needs to be contemplated? Or, is it a question that needs to Just Thinking Out Loud be said out loud, like an exasperated sigh with no answer required? Was he talking about treating our third heifer and the way we were doing this job? Or, was he talking about farming as a whole? I did not know how to answer his question. Do I answer like a business partner or as a spouse? I decided to By Natalie Schmitt let the question hang in Columnist the air. These past several days, I have been mulling his question around in my mind as I pull weeds in the garden or drag hoses around the yard watering the ďƒ&#x;ower beds. What is the answer? Better yet, what was the real question? Was it just a situation or a plateau on life’s journey? Alice, a retired bookkeeper for the local co-op, shares funny and thought-provoking messages with me. I have heard versions of the story she sent me, but it really hit home for me. A professor walks into class and places an empty glass jar, a bucket of golf balls, a box of pebbles, a pail of sand and a couple of bottles of beer on the lecture table. He puts the golf balls in the empty glass jar and asks the class if the jar is full. Some say yes. He then proceeds to add small pebbles to the golf balls in the jar. He asks again and a few more say it is full. He grabs the bag of sand and proceeds to pour it into the full jar. Sand ďƒžlters in the spaces left between the golf balls and pebbles. He shakes and pounds the jar ďƒžlling any open space with extra sand. Now the whole class says the jar is full. Puzzled, the class waits to hear what point the professor is trying to make. He says we all have one life to live. The jar represents our life. The golf balls are the big important things we treasure – family, friends, faith, health. The pebbles are other important things we value. The sand is all the small stuff. If we put the sand in our jar ďƒžrst, the rest will not ďƒžt. We will not have time for the things that really matter. He urged his students to set your priorities to focus on the important things, the things that are most important to your life and let the little things ďƒžll in the extra space. A student, who was paying close attention, raised his hand and asked how the bottles of beer ďƒžt into the lesson. The professor popped a top, took a swig and told his observant student, “No matter how full your life, there is always room for a beer with a friend.â€? I do not know the right answer for Mark’s question, but as long as we focus on the important golf balls in life, we will be able to ďƒžll our jars with everything else and have room for a beer or two. Natalie, Mark and his brother Al, farm together near Rice, Minn. They milk 100 registered Holsteins under the RALMA preďƒžx. Their four children are grown up and all involved in agriculture with hopes of someone returning to the farm. For questions or comments, please e-mail Natalie at mnschmitt@jetup.net.
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A raspberry patch of our own Raspberries have always been my favorite fruit. Popped into my mouth fresh off the cane, simmered into jam, or blended into smoothies; for me, few avors are more delightful. So when I rst began dabbling with gardening back in our pre-farming years, one of my plans was to plant raspberries. But, that spring, we moved to start farming before my carefully planted tulips were even up. Dairy Good Life Lucky for me, though, there was a patch of raspberries at my home farm, so I didn’t go without fresh picked berries. Then, when we moved to Melrose, the enormous raspberry patch at Glen’s folks’ farm kept me supplied. I spent many afternoons picking berries there when the kids were little. Now, 16 years later, I nally have a raspberry patch of my own. But, truthfully, I should call it our raspberry patch, because everyone has contributed to making it happen. We rekindled the idea of our own raspberries last fall and started looking for plants. Over the winter, a friend mentioned they always have extra daughter plants after By Sadie Frericks thinning out their stand in the spring. Columnist So between our friends and my father-in-law’s coworker, who also thinned out his rather large raspberry patch, we ended up with 48 raspberry transplants in our new patch – three varieties of red raspberries and a golden variety. Glen’s dad, Vern, helped us plant them all. Glen and Dan dug the holes; Vern, Monika and I planted the canes; Daphne topped the plants off with barnyard compost, while trying to save all of the earthworms. For the rst couple days, we all took turns watering the raspberries. Then Glen made a drip line for the berries out of a couple old hoses, complete with a castrating band to hold the kinked end closed. You can’t beat farmers’ ingenuity. The drip line literally saved the raspberries. It would have been nearly impossible to maintain moisture during this unseasonably dry June, especially on those blast-furnace days. We were a little late in the season for transplanting, so some of the canes look a little tough. But some of them are blooming. I was overjoyed to see bees buzzing around the delicate blossoms when I checked the drip line last week. Perhaps we’ll have a few berries to pick this summer. Like many things in life, though, our new raspberry patch needs us to be patient. Our transplants have more important things to do right now than make fruit. They need to put down roots and acclimate to their new home. Next summer, they’ll be all settled in, and we should be in raspberry heaven. I can hardly wait for my kids to experience the joys and challenges of raspberry picking which happen to mirror some important life lessons. Raspberries often hide behind the leaves. Oftentimes, you need to look at the canes from a different angle to nd the fruit. Berries also hide beneath the leaves. It’s important to regularly kneel down and look up. The sweetest, tastiest raspberries are always the ones that require a little effort to pull off – ripe but resistant. Raspberries magically taste better when you grow and pick them yourself. For that reason, I’m guessing very few raspberries will actually make it into the refrigerator. I can already see Daphne’s red-stained ngers and cheeks. If there are any berries left for freezing, they might nd themselves whipped up into a decadent dessert. My favorite elaborate recipe is oating raspberry dessert, a classic from Grandma Mae’s cookbook that will forever taste like my youth. My favorite simple treat is a bowl of frozen raspberries topped with whipped cream. Or, we’ll blend them into smoothies. The kids love berry smoothies made with frozen berries, yogurt, milk and a bit of honey. I love my TMR smoothie, which has been my daily breakfast for over 10 years now. If you’re looking for a complete, easy breakfast, this smoothie is it. I used to add sugar or stevia, but now I like it with the natural sweetness from the berries. TMR super smoothie 1 cup viili (Finnish cultured whole milk) or whole-milk yogurt 1 cup frozen raspberries (or other frozen berries) 2 tablespoons unavored whey protein powder 2 tablespoons ground chia seeds 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 1 tablespoon collagen protein powder 1 tablespoon dried greens powder Enough milk or water to ll blender cup (¼ to ½ cup)
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Place all ingredients in an 18-ounce rocket blender cup. Blend until smooth. Enjoy! Sadie and her husband, Glen, milk 100 cows near Melrose, Minn. They have three children – Dan, 11, Monika, 8, and Daphne, 5. Sadie also writes a blog at www.dairygoodlife. com. She can be reached at sadiefrericks@gmail.com.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 33
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Page 34 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020
The magic of the breed’s elegance
Passion for Guernseys burns within Beukema By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
NEW RICHMOND, Wis. – Once upon a time, there was a little red-headed girl who loved Guernsey cows and wanted nothing more than to be a princess. Today that same red-headed girl still loves Guernsey cows and is now indeed royalty: the Wisconsin Guernsey Princess. “As a little girl, at the Guernsey convention, I saw the crown and sash of the Guernsey Princess as magical,” Haley Beukema said. “Growing older, I realized the true magic was held within the Guernsey breed and those who advocate for her fawn elegance.” Beukema, the 17-yearold daughter of Paul and Liz Beukema of New Richmond, will be entering her senior year in high school
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Haley Beukema is serving as the Wisconsin Guernsey Princess aŌer being selected to serve in the role at the Wisconsin Guernsey Breeders ConvenƟon March 13-14. Beukema lives on her family’s hobby farm near New Richmond, Wisconsin.
this fall. She is involved in the New Richmond FFA chapter and has served as the chapter treasurer. She
worked as the student manager at her school’s farm during her junior year and will continue to hold that po-
sition throughout her senior year. Outside of school, she is the president of the Lone Pine 4-H Club.
At home, she and her family have a herd of show heifers and racing pigeons on their Circle-B Farm, a small 20-acre hobby farm. Beukema’s growing show herd consists of ve Guernsey cows and four heifers as well as an Ayrshire cow. In addition to her own animals, she also raises heifers for other juniors to show at local and state shows. Beukema was selected to serve as the Wisconsin Guernsey Princess at the Wisconsin Guernsey Breeders Convention earlier this year, after participating in a lengthy selection process that involved essay questions, interviews, and a prepared speech focused on global milk markets and driving domestic milk consumption. “My family roots run deep within the Guernsey breed,” Beukema said. “When I became eligible to run for princess, I wanted nothing more than to share my passion for the breed with consumers, breeders, youth; anyone and everyone in between.” As many things in her life have been affected by Turn to BEUKEMA | Page 35
Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 35
ConĆ&#x;nued from BEUKEMA | Page 34
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PHOTO SUBMITTED
Haley Beukema ďƒžts one of her Guernsey heifers before a dairy caĆŠle show. Beukema enjoys exhibiĆ&#x;ng her Guernseys at many shows, and takes pride in the fact that she involved in their preparaĆ&#x;on from start to ďƒžnish.
the novel coronavirus pandemic, so has her year as the Wisconsin Guernsey Princess. “Even though it might look a little different because of the pandemic this year, I am still so excited about my role,â€? Beukema said. “In a way, I am the youth spokesperson for Wisconsin Guernsey breeders and enthusiasts.â€? The primary role of the Wisconsin Guernsey Princess is to represent the breed at dairy cattle shows, events and gatherings. However, with the cancellation of many of these events, Beukema is working to ramp up her social media promotion platform. Promoting the dairy industry and the beneďƒžts of the Guernsey cows to consumers is something that is of importance to Beukema. “If producers cannot reach consumers in new ways that appeal to various age groups and preferences,
leadership skills from that involvement. She has also participated in quiz bowl and extemporaneous speaking competitions at both the state and national levels. “The greatest beneďƒžts I’ve had from my experiences in the WJGBA have been the connections I have been able to make with adults in the industry,â€? Beukema said. “Kim Grewe, one of my youth advisors until 2018, encouraged me to get involved in the organization. She taught me how to ďƒžt cattle and lets me work for them and tie in with them at shows. Kim and her husband, Brandon, have welcomed my milking animals to their farm with open arms, and they have taught me so much.â€? After she completes her year serving as the Wisconsin Guernsey Princess, Beukema is making plans to run for the title of National Guernsey Queen at next year’s National Guernsey Convention in Pennsylvania. “Growing older, I The future looms large and bright for young dairy enthusiast, and realized the true magic shethis is working to make decisions was held within the about where that future might take her. Guernsey breed and “I’m not sure where I plan to go to college yet, but I am leaning those who advocate for heavily towards studying internarelations, dairy science or a her fawn elegance.â€? tional mix of marketing and communications,â€? Beukema said. “The one HALEY BEUKEMA, thing I do know about my future is WISCONSIN GUERNSEY PRINCESS that I will continue to raise, show and ďƒžt Guernseys throughout my the generations of milk drinkers will slowly fade into generations of con- adult life. I’d like to someday possumers of milk alternatives,â€? Beuke- sibly have a farm of my own.â€? Beukema has enjoyed exhibitma said. “With the current economic state of the dairy industry, it is ever ing her animals at state and national evident that efďƒžciency and market- shows, and she has taken a shine to ability of milk, as well as genetics, participating in ďƒžtting and showmanshould be at the forefront of farmers’ ship contests. “What started as the 4-H projminds.â€? Promoting membership in the ect of a 9 year old has grown into a Wisconsin Guernsey Breeders As- larger operation that I am proud to sociation is easy for Beukema, who say I work with from start to ďƒžnish,â€? said all she needs to do is share her Beukema said. “I may not always be own story of what membership has on the top of the line-up holding the given her. She has served on the banner or even in the ďƒžrst pull, but I Wisconsin Junior Guernsey Breed- take the most pride in doing everyers Association board of directors thing myself.â€? for the past six years and has gained
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Page 36 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020
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Women In Dairy Laura Raatz Oconto Falls, Wisconsin Shawano County 650 cows
Family: I farm with my parents, Hank and Pam Wagner, my brother, Shawn Wagner, and my husband, Tyler Raatz. Tell us about your farm. Our farm is a ďƒžfth-generation dairy farm and a family-owned business where we set our motto to be, “People. Animals. Environment.â€? We have an amazing team working at Wagner Farms who are like family and help us be successful. We want our employees to know how valuable they are. We have employee parties once a month with meals and activities and celebrate birthdays. We care about our animals, creating a comfortable, safe environment for them to live with an abundance of high-quality foods, fresh water and a comfortable, sandy bed. Our animals are our livelihood. We want to make sure we are giving them the best care and environment to live in. Our calves receive some of the best nutrition, having a zero percent death loss for almost two years. We want to be good stewards of our land and put certain practices in place to make sure we eliminate runoff, soil erosion and closely monitor the use of natural fertilizer. It is important to have a connection with the consumer and help them feel comfortable about how food gets from our farm to their table. We have a farm Facebook page and a YouTube page that allows us to stay connected with the community and showcase what happens on our farm. We are proud to produce enough milk to give 120,000 people one glass of milk every single day. We have about 1,200 acres and 650 cows. We produce about 106 pounds per cow and have around a 90,000 somatic cell count. What is the busiest time of day for you? The busiest time of the day for me is early
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in the morning. I feed the babies and do all of the herd work. When you get a spare moment, what do you do? In my spare time, I love the outdoors and staying active. I hunt and ďƒžsh and enjoy camping. I am also involved in cross-ďƒžt, basketball, volleyball and softball leagues. I also coach basketball at the college level. It’s important to give back to the community, so I enjoy coaching and also doing mission trips in other countries. Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. My brother and I used to milk the night shift with employees. We were into bull riding at that time, so we decided we would bring bull riding right to the farm after our milking shift ended. So, each of us chose a cow that we would like to ride and sorted her out. Then we did just as the bull riders do and placed a cow in a holding pen, wrapped the rope around to hold on to, raised our hand, nodded our head, and the gate was opened, and away we went riding our cow outside. Little did we know that we were being watched. At about 3 a.m., we looked over, and one by one, we noticed a shadow just standing outside the light. It was my dad. We all were terriďƒžed. Later that day, we were punished for riding cows and never did it again. What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? Working with my family every day. Most kids wouldn’t enjoy it, but I enjoy waking up and seeing my family at work, eating lunch together and creating a successful business together. I also love being outside. I love seeing the early morning sunrise and watching the sun set. I love raising the baby calves and watching them grow into happy, healthy, milking cows. Farming is such a rewarding and joyful job for me. How do you stay connected with others in the industry? Staying connected to people in the industry is so important. I try to stay involved with Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin as much as possible by going to their events and meetings. I also stay connected with Dairy Girl Network and attend a number of meetings connected to companies we use throughout the farm. I also connect with people through social media. We have a farm Facebook page and YouTube page that allows us to connect and stay connected with people all over the world. Who is someone in the industry who has inspired you? There are some incredible people in our industry. My parents have been an inspiration for me. They have raised me on our farm – one of the greatest places for a child to be raised, in my opinion. They have given me such a wonderful example to live by. They push me, challenge me and encourage me daily. They have inspired me to be the woman I am today. If you could give a tour of your farm to a prominent woman in today’s society, who would it be? It is important to tell our message to everyone, not just famous people. From the stay-at-home moms, to businessmen and women, or athletes, people are important, and sharing our message with anyone who will listen is important to me. What is the best vacation you have ever taken? Every year, our entire family rents a house together in Florida and have been doing that since I was little. I love taking those trips. The other is when my husband and I went on our honeymoon in the Dominican Republic. Our resort was amazing, and we can’t wait to go back. What are some words you like to live by? Having an attitude of gratitude. I have been in some poor countries doing mission work. After seeing how they live, having an attitude of gratitude doesn’t seem so hard. They have nothing, yet they have such a great attitude. I strive to see the positive each day, no matter how bad my circumstances get. If some of the poorest people can do that, so can I.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 37
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Rosiers Blexy Goldwyn, pictured here aĹŒer being named the Grand Champion of the 2017 InternaĆ&#x;onal Holstein Show, is the newest Wisconsin Holstein to score EX-97. Blexy is owned by the partnership of Blexy is owned and housed by Budjon Farms, the Cull Family of Wisconsin; Tim and Sharyn AbboĆŠ of Vermont; Clark and Lois Woodmansee of ConnecĆ&#x;cut; Peter and Lynn Vail of New York; and Hank and Carolyn Van Exel of California.
Wisconsin Holstein newest 97-point cow By Danielle Nauman WRITER@dairystar.com
LOMIRA, Wis. – If the dairy world had rock stars, Blexy would be one of them as the cow loved by many added another feather to her cap last week. Rosiers Blexy Goldwyn became the newest member of one of the most elite and rare clubs: the 97-point cow club. She is now scored EX-97 3E. Including Blexy, there are 33 registered Holstein cows to reach that pinnacle score in the United States. Blexy is owned and housed by Budjon Farms, the Cull Family of Wisconsin; Tim and Sharyn Abbott, Vermont; Clark and Lois Woodmansee, Connecticut; Peter and Lynn Vail, New York; and Hank and Carolyn Van Exel, California. Blexy has been a well-known ďƒžgure in the Holstein show circuit for several years and was catapulted to rock star status when she was named the World Dairy Expo Supreme Champion in 2017 following her championship win in the International Holstein Show. She won her class at the Royal Winter Fair that year as well and garnered both the all-American aged cow and all-Canadian mature cow titles that year. Many people have been a part of Blexy’s journey to stardom and all have appreciated the sleek black cow from a young age. Blexy was bred by Ferme Des-Rosiers of St. Francois du Lac, Quebec, Canada, and was purchased as a calf by the partnership of Hlavaty, Hoover and Heim, all Pennsylvania Holstein breeders. They calved Blexy in as a young cow, and from there she began to write her own story.
According to Tim Abbott, a longtime owner of Blexy, he received a phone call from well-respected show judge Chris Hill. “Chris said he had just ďƒžnished judging a show in Pennsylvania and had seen the greatest young cow he had seen in a long time,â€? Abbott said. “He told me who she was, and I was particularly interested because I knew and loved her family and pedigree.â€? Blexy is sired by the popular Holstein sire Braedale Goldwyn and is out of an EX-90 Regancrest Dundee daughter, a cross that Abbott calls a magic one. Her second dam is an EX-90 Renaissance Triumphant daughter. “My wife, Sharyn, and I made arrangements to go look at her,â€? Abbott said. “We arrived at the Hoover’s Brook Corner Holstein farm at 10:30 one evening. While Brad was leading her, Sharyn took me to the side and said, ‘No matter what, buy this cow. You can’t let her go.’ I tried haggling a little bit; the price was pretty ďƒžrm, but so was Sharyn when she said, ‘Just buy her. Don’t worry about the price.’ I can assure you that is the only time that has ever happened.â€? Soon after making that purchase, Abbott mentioned the cow to fellow Holstein breeder Clark Woodmansee and a share in the cow was sold. As Blexy was gearing up to hit the showring as a 5-year-old in 2016, the Abbotts and Woodmansees consigned her to the ďƒžrst Deďƒžne Your Destiny Sale hosted by Tom and Kelli Cull at Budjon Farms, and there a new partnership was created with California Holstein breeders Hank and Carolyn Van Exel. The decision was made to house the cow at Budjon Farms. Turn to BLEXY | Page 37
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Page 38 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020
ConƟnued from BLEXY | Page 38
“Blexy did great things that year and continued to develop,” Abbott said. “That fall, after caring for her all summer, Tom and Kelli, along with Peter Vail, decided to buy in to her, rounding out the partnership as it is today.” When she sold in the sale, Blexy was recently fresh with her third calf, and her owners had great hopes for her that fall. Blexy came close, placing fourth in her class at World Dairy Expo and earning an all-American nomination for her efforts. Blexy calved in again the next spring, and Cull said he began to have high expectations for how she could perform in the aged cow class that fall; expectations that Blexy
“Lots of cows have great potential, but Blexy is the kind of cow you don’t see every day.” TOM CULL, DAIRY FARMER
lived up to and crushed, surpassing the hopes they had only dreamed of. “When you do something you’ve never done before, it is something really special,” Cull said of Blexy’s accomplishments. “It has been very rewarding to give our partners that experience, of having the grand champion Holstein and the supreme champion cow at World Dairy Expo. They have all come close. They have all owned great cows, but none of them have ever had the grand cow. For me, the emotion that day came
from the fact that I could do that for them that day. It was very rewarding for all of us.” Blexy took 2018 off and was ushed extensively. She calved back in for the fth time in July 2019, and the Culls were looking forward to her return to the colored shavings that fall. However, mid-week at World Dairy Expo, Blexy got sick and did not make it to the show ring. “We had hopes for her last year, to go back in and compete again,” Cull said. “As high as it was in 2017, it was equally as low in 2019 because we didn’t even get the chance to try. Everything has to go right, and sometimes it doesn’t.” During her time at Budjon Farms, Blexy has turned their respect rst into admiration and then into the love that can only be felt for a great cow. “Blexy is just a neat cow,” Cull said. “She’s very much a gentle giant. If she wants to walk, she walks, but if she doesn’t want to go, she doesn’t go. As big and massive as she is, she is always eating. If you walk by her with some hay, she lets you know you need to be bringing her some as well.” Cull said Blexy is not just another pretty face but knows how to milk as well, and said the cow will nish this lactation with around 48,000 pounds of milk. “Lots of cows have great potential, but Blexy is the kind of cow you don’t see every day,” Cull said. “You think you can maximize the potential of a cow, but the kind that can live up to that and win like Blexy won, you don’t see that all the time.”
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National Dairy Shrine to cancel 2020 awards banquet
The Board of Directors of the National Dairy Shrine announced the cancellation of the 2020 National Dairy Shrine Awards Banquet. The awards program has been held annually in conjunction with World Dairy Expo, and the cancelation of the 2020 World Dairy Expo facilitated the decision. “Our board reviewed several different options and came to the decision that, with regard to the COVID-19 situation and the health and safety of everyone who may gather for the event, to cancel this year’s awards banquet,” says Nate Janssen, president of National Dairy Shrine. “We look forward to hosting the event again in 2021.” The honorees who would have been recognized at the 2020 banquet will be honored in 2021. That includes the Guest of Honor, Distinguished Dairy Cattle Breeder and Pioneer award winners. Students who received scholarships in 2020 will also be formally recognized next year, however the monetary value of the scholarships will be provided this year. National Dairy Shrine will select award and student scholarship winners NATE JANSSEN, PRESIDENT OF NDS again in 2021, and those recipients will be recognized at the 2021 banquet as well. “With this format, the adult award winners as well as the student scholarship winners will receive the accolades due to them,” says Janssen. “The National Dairy Shrine is centered on recognizing dignitaries who have made signicant contributions to the dairy industry and the youth who are the industry’s future. Recognizing this year’s winners in a formal fashion ts that mission.” The annual meeting of the National Dairy Shrine, normally held just prior to the awards banquet, has been moved to a virtual format. The 2020 meeting will be held at noon CST on October 1, 2020. Additional meeting details will be provided at a later date. The 2021 National Dairy Shrine awards banquet will be held Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021. For more information about National Dairy Shrine, the banquet, or the students and dairy industry leaders being recognized this year, contact National Dairy Shrine’s ofce at info@dairyshrine.org or visit www.dairyshrine.org.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, June 27, 2020 • Page 39
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Logan Vieth, Tana Poppe and Annayah PoppeVieth Cashton, Wisconsin Monroe County 42 cows How did you get into farming? I bought the cattle and machinery from my dad in May 2016, and we have been renting the farm ground from him. What are your thoughts and concerns about the dairy industry for the next year? Our biggest concern for the dairy industry over the next year is the roller coaster with prices of feed, milk and cattle. What is the latest technology you implemented on your farm and the purpose for it? We bought a bigger TMR last fall in order to mix larger batches during cool weather to save time, be more efcient and save on wear and tear of equipment. What is a management practice you changed in the past year that has beneted you? My girlfriend, Tana, came to the farm full time, and we have been able to implement small changes to better care for our cattle, family and future. What cost-saving steps have you implemented during the low milk price? During the pandemic where milk prices reached an extreme low, we dried off some of our lower producing cows slightly earlier than normal in order to save on feed costs. How do you retain a good working relationship with your employees? Our farm is family run; however, we hire out for mechanics and custom harvesting. Open lines of communication best helps our relationships with those friends. Tell us about a skill you possess that makes dairy farming easier for you. We are passionate about providing the best possible life for our cattle. Therefore, the ability to pay attention to detail seems to be a strong suit we possess on this farm to help achieve that goal.
What do you enjoy most about dairy farming? We enjoy watching the cattle as they mature from a young heifer to an old cow as well as the relationship you build over time with each of them.
What has been your biggest accomplishment while dairy farming? Last year, I won the Monroe County DHIA somatic cell count award, with an average SCC of 74,000.
What advice would you give other dairy farmers? Stick to what you are good at and ask for advice and help with what you are not.
What are your plans for your dairy in the next year and ve years? Our plan for the next year is to continue to build better genetics with our cattle as well as continue to make smart purchases to provide the ability for land ownership within the next ve years.
What has been the best purchase you have ever made on your farm? As previously implied, buying a bigger TMR has provided for better efciency in our feeding program.
How do you or your family like to spend time when you are not doing chores? We enjoy spending time with our families as well as traveling to show support for our BSTP and PPL “tractor pulling families.”
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