WANT TO WIN $100 CASH?
See page 6 of the third section for details!
25
2 DAIRY ST 5R C E L E B R A T I N G
feel no different today Liner donates than“II did before the surgery,” Liner said. “Other than the small scars I have, I wouldn’t know kidney to any different. I have no restricI’m living my life the same save a friend tions. as before. It was a fast recovery, stacey.s@dairystar.com
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Fond du Lac Co. Breakfast on the Farm switches venue due to re By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
MALONE, Wis. – A heartbreaking situation led to a lastminute change in venues for this year’s Fond du Lac County Breakfast on the Farm. Kurt and Sarah Loehr of Forest-Ridge Holsteins near Eden were set to host the breakfast June 25 until a re broke out on their farm exactly one week prior on June 18. The re destroyed the family’s barns, leaving the Loehrs with no place to house their cows.
Turn to BREAKFAST | Page 7
July 8, 2023
Giving his neighbor a second chance at life
By Stacey Smart
The Loehr family – Kurt (from leŌ), Sarah, Adella and Ainsley – pause for a picture October 2022 at World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. The Loehrs were scheduled to host this year’s Fond du Lac County Breakfast on the Farm June 25 unƟl a re broke out on their farm exactly one week prior on June 18.
Y E A R S
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 25, No. 10
Coming together to help a fellow farmer
2 5
VAN DYNE, Wis. – On April 6, Dan Liner gave a piece of himself to someone else. One neighbor saved another when Liner donated his kidney to Troy Stettbacher. “It was no big deal,” Liner said. “I wanted to do it, and I would do it again.” Liner farms with his parents, Tim and Kathy, and his brother, Mike, near Van Dyne where the family milks 250 cows and farms 700 acres. Liner barely skipped a beat at the farm following his procedure. He spent one night in the hospital and went back to work not long after, starting out with lighter chores at rst.
and everything turned out perfect.” Stettbacher was a week or two away from needing dialysis when he received Liner’s kidney. Stettbacher’s health was deteriorating quickly from polycystic kidney disease – a genetic disorder that can cause serious complications, such as kidney failure. His dad and brothers also had kidney transplants. “Within hours, the new kidney turned my life around,” Stettbacher said. “I could see better. Before, things were blurry.” Even Stettbacher’s thinking had been unclear, he said, confusion brought on because of the disease poisoning his body.
Turn to KIDNEY | Page 6
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Troy SteƩbacher (leŌ) and Dan Liner discuss haylage quality June 22 on Liner’s farm near Van Dyne, Wisconsin. Liner donated a kidney to SteƩbacher.
Harms keep enƟre herd under one roof New facility provides cow comfort, labor efciency By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
CADOTT, Wis. – Bob and Ryan Harm tried several ways to accommodate their growing herd of dairy cattle before settling on a plan for building the barn that will carry their family farm into the future. “This is efcient enough that it can be done by one person,” Ryan Harm said. “We typically have three of us doing chores, and it goes pretty fast.”
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
Bob (leŌ) and Ryan Harm stand in their freestall barn and parlor June 20 near CadoƩ, Wisconsin. Before building their facility, the Harms were milking their cows on two farms.
Harm said the barn was built with an eye toward the future, allowing him to con-
tinue to operate on his own when his dad decides to retire.
“We had Lely come in and look at our plans and help us make sure it was set up for an easy conversion to robots in the future,” Harm said. “We have it set up so that we will be able to easily add robot rooms while not losing any stalls and keeping our existing parlor for fresh and treated cows.” The Harms moved into their new 121-stall freestall barn July 28, 2022. Their herd of 130 cows are now milked in a single-13 parlor, and their milk is shipped to Grassland Dairy. Harm said a milking takes about two hours, estimating that each parlor shift takes about 12 minutes.
Turn to HARMS | Page 8