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2 DAIRY ST 5R C E L E B R A T I N G
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Y E A R S
September 23, 2023
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 25, No. 15
Drought pressures farmers to adapt Haase, Schyma report on SD, MN conditions By Jerry Nelson
jerry.n@dairystar.com
JERRY NELSON/DAIRY STAR
Lance Haase stands in a eld of drought-stressed corn Sept. 14 on his family’s farm near Parker, South Dakota. Haase said this eld of corn will yield 40 bushels per acre.
PARKER, S.D. — This summer’s drought has affected producers all across the region, leaving many with inadequate feed supplies and forcing dairy farmers to make adaptations to meet inventory needs moving into winter. One producer who has experienced the ill effects of a lack of moisture rsthand is Lance Haase. Haase and his father, Bruce, and uncle Dustin milk 680 head on their farm near Parker. The Haases farm 7,000 acres, 780 of which are irrigated. “We had good soil moisture going into spring, but
rain became scarce after our crops were planted,” Haase said. “The last substantial rain that we received fell on Aug. 12.” The Haases report that corn yields on their non-irrigated land ranges anywhere from 40 bushels per acre to 100 bushels per acre. Their irrigated corn is yielding 260 bushels per acre. Haase said the irrigated corn that was chopped for silage yielded 22 tons per acre while the non-irrigated corn yielded about 11 tons per acre. Corn was not the only crop that suffered due to the lack of moisture this summer. “We received just enough small showers to grow four cuttings of alfalfa,” Haase said. “The rst and fourth cuttings were pretty good, but the second and third cuttings were very short. We had to buy some dry alfalfa to round out our forage supply.” The drought is also forc-
ing the Haases to purchase straw for calf bedding. “None of our wheat made it through the winter due to the dry conditions, so we ripped up our wheat acres and planted them to silage corn,” Haase said. “Hardly anyone raises small grain anymore, and a lot of the wheat in our area didn’t make it. It’s been a challenge to nd straw to buy.” Bob Schyma and his family operate a 110-cow dairy near Rice, Minnesota. The Schyma family farms 300 acres that are planted to corn and alfalfa. Their area also endured drought conditions this summer. Schyma said they have received 3.5 inches of rain since April 16. They planted 40 acres of peas and barley May 5. That eld was chopped June 26 and yielded 20 loads. Turn to DROUGHT | Page 6
Decision takes farm into the future Clark attains ownership, expands family’s dairy By Amy Kyllo
amy.k@star-pub.com
ROLLINGSTONE, Minn. — Life is all about choices. For Becky Clark, these choices have not only equipped her to take over her family’s farm, but they also have equipped her to begin taking her farm into the future. Clark is the owner of Clark Farms LLC, a dairy farm located near Rollingstone. Clark returned to her family farm in 2014 when she left a career as a radiation specialist in Iowa.
“It’s different when you come back and you’re the one in charge of leading the future of the farm,” Clark said. “You are managing people, the crops, the animals, the nances, risk management — just everything that goes into taking good care of a farm.” Clark said that she had always enjoyed the rural lifestyle and even took a week of vacation in the fall from her job to help with corn silage in the years before returning to the farm. “Even though you work a million more hours than you ever would in the healthcare eld, you still get to be your own boss,” Clark said. “When you see something that needs to be xed or changed to improve it, you can just go do it.” AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
Turn to CLARK | Page 8
Becky Clark smiles Sept. 13 in her freestall barn at Clark Farms LLC near Rollingstone, Minnesota. Clark returned to her family’s farm in 2014 and bought out her parents’ share of the LLC in 2022.