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August 24, 2024

“All dairy, all the time”™

Volume 26, No. 13

A cruel twist of fate

11-year-old Jersey breeder awaits heart transplant By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF DAIRY AGENDA TODAY

Lexi Anderson smiles while exhibiƟng a Jersey heifer Nov. 5, 2023, at the All American Jersey Show in Louisville, Kentucky. Anderson enjoys exhibiƟng her family’s dairy caƩle at local, state and naƟonal shows.

CUMBERLAND, Wis. — Imagine that one minute, you are sitting in the stands, cheering on your 11-year-old daughter’s basketball team. The next, you are in a doctor’s ofce hearing the unthinkable — your daughter requires a heart transplant. That is the nightmare that Jamie and Tamala Anderson and their daughter, Lexi, are living. Tamala’s parents, Roger and Darice Riebe, operate Meadow-Ridge Jerseys in Cumberland, where they milk

100 registered Jerseys with their sons, Mike and Mark. Although Tamala and Jamie are not directly involved with the day-to-day operations of the farm, they have raised their daughters as a part of the family farm. Lexi has grown up showing Jerseys alongside her sisters and her cousins. “It started last fall,” Tamala Anderson said. “I honestly thought she didn’t want to play. She would run halfway up the court and stop like she was out of breath. I told her if she didn’t want to play, that was ne — just tell me. She told me that she couldn’t see, which was why she was stopping.” Thinking that what Lexi was experiencing was perhaps dehydration, the Andersons spoke to her coach and devised a plan for Lexi to leave the game if needed. Turn to ANDERSON | Page 2

Big win in stray voltage case Vagts Dairy LLC triumphs with Iowa Supreme Court ruling in their favor By Amy Kyllo

amy.k@star-pub.com

WEST UNION, Iowa — Stacks of thick binders containing myriads of evidence and court documents lay on dairy farmer Mark Vagts’ dining table. Each binder is a visual representation of the Vagts family’s three-year litigation battle. The Vagtses sued Northern Natural Gas after stray voltage affecting their cattle was found on their farm. On June 21, litigation with Northern Natural Gas came to a close with a ruling in the family’s favor from the Iowa Supreme Court. In the court ruling, Vagts Dairy LLC was awarded $4.75 million in damages. “We’re lling in a big economic hole,” Mark said.

“We’re not building a mountain. We’re lling in a hole.” Vagts Dairy is owned by Mark and his son, Andrew. They milk around 500 cows with the assistance of employees. “It was very emotional, very stressful,” Mark said. “Our life has not been a lot of fun because of that. The Vagts family said they went into mediation and felt Northern Natural Gas was not interested nor did the family feel they made effort to acknowledge the problem. “Northern Natural Gas did not take us seriously,” Mark said. “It’s kind of like David versus Goliath or worse, ... we’re throwing stones and they’re fully armored.” Turn to VAGTS | Page 6

AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR

Mark (leŌ) and Andrew Vagts look through court documents July 18 at Mark’s home near West Union, Iowa. The Vagts family was in the liƟgaƟon process for over three years.