LOOK INSIDE FOR OUR WORLD DAIRY EXPO PREVIEW EDITION!
September 14, 2024
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 26, No. 14
Finding the right mix Czech uses rotational crossbreeding to enhance genetics By Sarah Middendorf sarah.m@star-pub.com
RICE, Minn — Sometimes keeping it simple works, but Brent Czech nds quality with an in-depth crossbreeding program. “When I heard Dr. Les Hansen discuss crossbreeding in the early 2000s, it resonated with me, and thought, this makes a lot of sense for commercial dairy production,” Czech said. Czech, his wife, Callie, and his parents, Myron and Debbie Czech, own New Heights Dairy near Rice. Through the past 18 years they have grown their dairy
from 850 cows milked in a parlor and housed in a sandbedded freestall barn to milking across four locations. In 2006, they purchased the dairy upon Brent’s graduation from the University of Minnesota. This also marks the beginning of their crossbreeding. When the Czechs started crossbreeding, they were doing a three-way rotational cross of Holstein, Jersey and Montbéliarde, in that order. “When we were looking at the advancements of the Holstein breed over the last decade, we wanted to gure Turn to CZECH | Page 6
SARAH MIDDENDORF/DAIRY STAR
Brent Czech walks through the barn Sept. 6 on his farm near Rice, Minnesota. New Heights Dairy has been crossbreeding their animals since 2006.
A touchdown for dairy Haags host Wisconsin Badgers football team to provide education about industry By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Drew Braam (leŌ) and Omillio Agard, members of the University of Wisconsin-Madison football team, interact with a cow July 22 at the Haag farm near Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. The Haags set up staƟons around the farm to give the athletes an overview of dairy farming.
MOUNT HOREB, Wis. — When a big, black “On Wisconsin” bus pulled up to their driveway July 22, the Haag family was ready to make a good impression on 25 young men who had never stepped foot on a dairy farm. The men were members of the University of WisconsinMadison football team, and they brought a busload of enthusiasm to the farm. “This was such a unique promotion of our dairy industry,” Dawn Haag said. “We were able to reach a whole different realm of consumers and make an impact that day. I bet every one of those kids went back and told their mom, dad, uncle and brother what they saw.” Dawn and her husband, Virgil, farm with their children, Karsen and Kody, near Mount
Horeb. The Haags milk 260 cows with four Lely A5 robotic milking units in a facility built in 2023. The Badger football fans greeted their guests with a big Wisconsin family farm welcome. “It was a fun farm experience to share something we’re passionate about and proud of with people unfamiliar with the dairy industry, and they were very receptive,” Dawn said. “Just a little snippet of their time is all we had. You can’t explain dairy farming in two hours, but you can give them an overview.” The Haags partnered with Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin in hosting the event that was orchestrated by former NFL player, Travis Beckum. Beckum works for the UW-Madison athletic department and also played football for the Badgers.
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