A day in the life of dairy farmers Turn to Second Section, pages 13 - 18!
DAIRY ST R
August 13, 2022
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 24, No. 12
Automation as a management tool Ihrkes explain calf barn, feeder By Kate Rechtzigel kate.r@dairystar.com
ST. CHARLES, Minn. − The Ihrke family has used an automatic calf feeder for 15 years, and have no regrets for updating the way their calves are fed and managed. “We started up at my mom and dad’s,” Jackie Ihrke said. “The barn was kind of a makeshift barn as it went from a tiestall, a parlor and then to a calf feeding facility. In 2007, we had a ood and decided to build this new barn.” Jackie and her husband, Pat, and their children − Hailey Schultz, Jenna and Braeden − milk 350 cows near St. Charles. Pat’s brother, Kevin, and Jackie’s parents, Fran and Roger Henry, are also involved. The Ihrke family began
KATE RECHTZIGEL/DAIRY STAR
The Ihrke family (front, from leŌ) – Jenna and Jackie Ihrke and Hailey Schultz; (back, from leŌ): Kevin, Braeden and Pat Ihrke and Roger Henry – milks 350 cows near St. Charles, Minnesota. Not pictured is Fran Henry. using the new calf barn in January 2012. On July 19, the family hosted a forage eld day put
on by the Midwest Forage Association. Attendees toured the calf barn, saw the DeLaval calf feeder and learned about the
Ihrkes’ calf management. “It is nice,” Jackie said of the calf feeder. “The biggest thing about automated calf feeders
is that it is a management tool. You still have to go out, look at your calves and take their temperatures if needed. This is just whisking and feeding them for you.” The calves are fed milk replacer. “We just don’t have enough whole milk to feed the calves,” Jackie said. Minnie Ward agreed. “If you are going to feed whole milk, you need a cooling tank there to maintain that milk,” she said. “The feeder has a boiler that warms the milk up on demand so when a calf comes in, it reads their ID and doses them on whatever ration you have them on.” Ward represents Calf-Star and was present during the eld day. The feeder holds around a bag and a half of milk replacer. It runs through a cleaning cycle
Turn to IHRKES | Page 7
Reiman-Duden honored as Farmfest Woman Farmer of the Year Award welcomed as a bright spot for family By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
PRINCETON, Minn. – Kristin Reiman-Duden stood among ve distinguished women in Minnesota’s agriculture scene, and her family watched from the audience waiting for the selection of the 2022 Farmfest Woman Farmer of the Year. The family experienced many lows in their lives this year, and an honor recognizing ReimanDuden’s efforts was the bright spot they were seeking. “I was up there with four other women who I admire, and all I thought was there was no way I could compete against them,” Reiman-Duden said. “I was just lucky to be a nalist with them. All these ladies are phenomenal, and they all do a tremendous job.” Reiman-Duden was bestowed the honor during Farmfest Aug. 4 in Morgan; she was notied of her nomination for the recognition earlier in the year. Turn to REIMAN-DUDEN | Page 6
PHOTO COURTESY OF PHILIP GERLACH OF MINNESOTA FARMFEST
KrisƟn Reiman-Duden celebrates with her family – (from leŌ) Cordell and Thomas Duden holding Marilyn – aŌer being named the 2022 Woman Farmer of the Year at Farmfest Aug. 4 in Morgan, Minnesota. Reiman-Duden dairy farms near Princeton, Minnesota.