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DAIRY ST R “All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 19, No. 13
August 26, 2017
A busy 23-year-old Thompson working hard on, off the farm By Brittany Olson
brittany.o@dairystar.com
ELLSWORTH, Wis. – The sentiment of plugging along and keeping things going has helped dairyman Mitch Thompson achieve success with his herd of cows at just shy of 23 years old. Thompson milks 60 cows in a sand bedded tiestall barn he rents near Ellsworth, Wis. Opportunity came knocking for Thompson four years ago when his grandparents sold him their cows and 320 acres when he was freshly graduated from high school. “They wanted to keep the farm in the family,” Thompson said. Thompson, who grew up in Spring Valley, Wis., now milks 60 cows near Ellsworth, Wis., about seven or eight miles from the home farm where his farming career began. His cows average between 85 to 90 pounds of milk per day with a 3.7 percent fat and 3.3
percent protein. On top of his obligations as a farmer, he also works off the farm as a route driver for dairy supplier IBA and houses cattle for his dairy consultant, Peter Coyne. “It’s tricky some days, but if you have someone else to milk for you [sometimes] it gives you more exibility and more income,” Thompson said. “My boss, Bill Fesenmaier, is pretty understanding if I need to cut hay or anything like that, and his son, Kevin, is a dairy science major at UW-River Falls and milks for me.” His herd consists largely of registered Holsteins with a few Jerseys. With the Holsteins, both homebred and purchased from other breeders, Thompson currently runs a breeding age average (BAA) of 109 and is ushing more of his prominent cows to build his herd’s genetics. He also houses a few cows for others, as well. “My grandpa always registered his cows, and started using A.I. in the 1970s so he was ahead of the curve in that respect,” Thompson said. “I enjoy Turn to THOMPSON | Page 5
BRITTANY OLSON/DAIRY STAR
Mitch Thompson milks 60 cows in a sand bedded Ɵestall barn near Ellsworth, Wis. Since buying his grandparents’ herd four years ago, he has nearly doubled the cows’ rolling herd average from 16,000 pounds of milk per year to 28,000 pounds per year.
Upgrades lessen workload for Middendorfs Parlor efciency, cow comfort focus of retrotted facility By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
LONG PRAIRIE, Minn. – Donnie and Carolyn Middendorf have two passions – dairy farming and their children. With recent upgrades to their animal housing and milking facilities, the Middendorfs are able to make time for both. The Middendorfs and their three children – Rachel, 17, Hannah, 15, and Landon, 11 – hosted a University of Minnesota Extension eld day on their 100-cow dairy farm near Long Prairie, Minn., on Aug. 8. Throughout the morning, fellow dairy farmers toured the Middendorfs’ farm, taking note of the tiestall barn retrotted to a parlor, as well as a recently-built freestall barn and manure pit. “Since the rst time we milked in the tiestall barn, we talked about an expansion and upgrade project,” Carolyn said. The Middendorfs began milking 50 cows at this farm site in 1995, but seriously considered a farm remodel
JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
Donnie Middendorf (leŌ) talks with other dairymen about the benets of retroƫng his Ɵestall barn into a swing-8 parlor. Middendorf and his family hosted a University of Minnesota Extension eld day on their 100-cow dairy near Long Prairie, Minn. ve years ago. They wanted an efcient parlor and housing facility that maximized cow comfort and lessened their workload. “By then, we were really having back problems from working in the tiestall barn and knew something
needed to change,” Carolyn said. Donnie agreed. “Before we could keep on going, we had to really look at our options,” he said. After researching building designs and touring other dairy farms, the
Middendorfs decided to retrot their 52-stall tiestall barn into a swing-8 parlor. “We wanted a milking facility that Turn to MIDDENDORFS | Page 6