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DAIRY ST R “All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 18, No. 15
A bountiful summer hay harvest
September 24, 2016
Balancing dairy, community service
Kalpins receive Douglas County Farm Family of the Year award By Missy Mussman missy@dairystar.com
MISSY MUSSMAN/DAIRY STAR
BJ Dodds kneels on a stack of big square bales of alfalfa hay on his 100-cow dairy near Parkers Prairie, Minn.
Many dairy farmers able to take an extra crop this year
MILTONA, Minn. – It is not that often Donny Kalpin is called away from milking cows, but when his volunteer reghter pager goes off, everything else takes a back seat. “I’ve had to take the milkers off and go,” Donny said. “I can’t stay to nish because there may be a person that needs help getting out of a burning building.” His service to the community as a volunteer reman for the Leaf Valley re department and his dedication to his dairy farm is part of the reason Donny and his family received the 2016 Douglas County Farm Family of the Year Award. Donny, his
PHOTO SUBMITTED
The Kalpins – (from leŌ) Donny, Karla, Mitchell and Michael – are the 2016 Douglas County Farm Family of the Year. The Kalpins milk 29 cows near Miltona, Minn. wife, Karla, and their sons, Michael, 22, and Mitchell, 18, milk 29 cows on their farm in Leaf Valley Township near Miltona, Minn. “We were shocked,” Karla said. “We knew friends who received it in the past, but never thought we would get it. It’s really nice. We’re going to
enjoy it.” Giving back to the community has always been a big part of the Kalpins’ lifestyle. One of the largest ways has been through the re department. Donny has been a Turn to KALPINS | Page 6
By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
GOODHUE, Minn. – David Buck said taking a fth crop off his family’s alfalfa elds has only happened once or twice in the past during his dairy farming career. This year, he was able to add a tally to the list. “It’s pretty rare for us to get a fth,” said Buck, who milks 600 cows and farms 420 acres of alfalfa with his family near Goodhue, Minn. “It was a very good hay year.” Many other dairy farmers were in the same fortunate situation as Buck, taking an extra cutting off this year’s hay ground. Lyle Dicke said this is the third year he has been able to take a fth cutting. “The last three years we have moved it (rst crop) up,” he said. “It was very typical that it used to be done around Memorial Day time.” Now Dicke starts cutting his hay around mid May and nishes by Sept. 1. “The last three years we’ve been able to squeeze in ve [crops]. We used to do David Buck four, but the future is ve,” said Dicke, who Dairy producer chopped his rst four crops and wrapped round bales for the fth crop. Along with his family, the dairyman milks 175 cows and farms 340 acres with 85 acres in an alfalfa and fescue mix near Goodhue, Minn. Farther north in Parkers Prairie, Minn., BJ Dodds was thankful for the circumstances that allowed him to take four crops this Turn to HAY CROP | Page 5
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Alan Oeltjen chops silage corn near the dairy he operates with his brother, Steve, by Villard, Minn. The Oeltjens milk 70 cows.
Page 2 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
DAIRY ST R www.dairystar.com
ISSN 020355 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave. Sauk Centre, MN 56378 Phone: (320) 352-6303 Fax: (320) 352-5647 Published by Dairy Star LLC
General Manager/Editor Mark Klaphake - mark.k@dairystar.com 320-352-6303 (ofďƒžce) 320-248-3196 (cell) 320-352-0062 (home) Ad Composition Nancy Powell 320-352-6303 nancy.p@dairystar.com Amanda Thooft 320-352-6303 amanda.t@dairystar.com Consultant Jerry Jennissen 320-346-2292 Editorial Staff Andrea Borgerding - Managing Editor (320) 352-6303 • andrea.b@dairystar.com Krista Kuzma - Assistant Editor (507) 259-8159 • krista.k@dairystar.com Missy Mussman (320) 429-1084 missy@dairystar.com Ron Johnson (608) 874-4243 ron.j@dairystar.com Ruth Klossner (507) 240-0048 cowlady@centurylink.net Jennifer Coyne (320) 352-6303 jenn@dairystar.com Cassie Olson (715) 245-6848 cassie.o@dairystar.com Brittany Olson (320) 352-6303 brittany.o@dairystar.com Advertising Sales Main Ofďƒžce: 320-352-6303 Fax: 320-352-5647 Deadline is 5 p.m. of the Friday the week before publication
Sales Manager - Jeff Weyer (Northern MN, East Central MN) 320-260-8505 (cell) jeff.w@dairystar.com Mark Klaphake (Western MN) 320-352-6303 (ofďƒžce) 320-248-3196 (cell) Laura Seljan (National Advertising, SE MN) 507-250-2217 fax: 507-634-4413 laura.s@dairystar.com Jerry Nelson (SW MN, NW Iowa, South Dakota) 605-690-6260 jerry.n@dairystar.com Mike Schafer (Central, South Central MN) 320-894-7825 mike.s@dairystar.com Lori Menke (Eastern Iowa, Southern WI) 563-608-6477 • lori.m@dairystar.com Megan Stuessel (Western Wisconsin) 608-387-1202 • megan.s@dairystar.com Deadlines The deadline for news and advertising in the Dairy Star is 5 p.m. Friday the week before publication. Subscriptions One year subscription $35.00, outside the U.S. $110.00. Send check along with mailing address to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378. Advertising Our ad takers have no authority to bind this newspaper and only publication of an advertisement shall constitute ďƒžnal acceptance of the advertiser's order. Letters Letters and articles of opinion are welcomed. Letters must be signed and include address and phone number. We reserve the right to edit lengthy letters. The views and opinions expressed by Dairy Star columnists and writers are not necessarily those of the Dairy Star LLC.
The Dairy Star is published semi-monthly by Dairy Star, LLC, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246. Periodicals Postage Paid at Sauk Centre, MN and additional mailing ofďƒžces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246.
North America dealers. A glance at what’s inside
Dairy Proďƒžle brought to you by your
Most dairy farmers know how to manage their farm. But at the end of the day, sometimes it’s helpful to have an outside perspective. That’s where dairy consultants and Farm Business Management instructors come into play. Read on pages 1213 in ďƒžrst section about how these dairy industry representatives give farmers a helping hand. The last few weeks, dairy farmers have been working long hours to ďƒžt in corn silage harvest in By Mark Klaphake between chores. How did your corn silage turn out? Read about an update on this year’s fall harvest in Editor the “From our side of the fenceâ€? feature on pages 15-16 in ďƒžrst section. First milkings are always memorable. That’s why we followed the Wallerman family in the “Day in the lifeâ€? feature on pages 16, 18-19 in second section. On Sept. 15, the Wallermans milked their herd for the last time in their tiestall and transported the cows less than a mile down the road to a parlor and freestall barn they recently purchased. Read about how the Wallermans faired during their ďƒžrst milking in their new-to-them setup near Norwalk, Wis. At Lone Oak Farms, the Matthees family works hard to get their cows pregnant. In our “Reproduction leadersâ€? feature, the Matthees family talks about how they were able to achieve a 32 percent average pregnancy rate for their milking herd and a 39 percent average for their heifers. Read about how this Goodhue County dairy farm is able to keep pregnancy rate percentages in the 30s, on pages 18 and 20 in ďƒžrst section. The Hinsch family has also been working hard on their farm; however, their story includes a big change. The Hinsches are in the process of transitioning their 90-cow dairy to organic. They recently hosted a ďƒželd day that featured three speakers talking about making the transition from conventional to organic farming. Read about the Hinsches and part of the ďƒželd day on pages 6-7 in second section.
Favorite quotes from this issue:
“Every day, I ask our employees if there’s anything they need to do their jobs. They take pride in their work and it’s important that I give them all the tools they need.� - John Schultz, Third Section Pgs. 10, 12-13
“We have to thank God, our Father, for letting us be stewards of His property.� - Samuel Shaum, Second Section Pgs. 3-4
By the Numbers inches of annual precipitation in Paillaco, Los RĂos Region, Chile (Second Section, Pgs. 14-15)
70-86:
dollars of electricity $46.8: Million used by 460,000-some dairy cows in Minnesota each year (Third Section, Pgs. 4-5)
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Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 3
It’s all inside... FIRST SECTION Pages 8 - 9 Ag Insider Pages 10 - 11
Brenner brings dairy cows back to home farm after building new barn Page 11
Pages 16 - 18 Some Udder Stuff Pages 19 - 26 Classieds
Roseau
Lake of the Woods Beltrami
Koochiching
Pennington
nb or n
Douglas Charles Mix
n nso
Lake
Moody
McCook Minnehaha
ey
Wright Hennepin
McLeod
Carver Scott
Sibley Lyon
Redwood
Nicollet Brown
Murray
Rock
Nobles
Isanti
A bountiful summer hay harvest First Section: Pages 1, 5
Dakota
Rice
Goodhue Wabasha
Cottonwood Watonwan Blue Earth Waseca Steele Dodge Olmsted Jackson
Martin
Faribault
Freeborn
Mower
Plainview
Winona
Fillimore
Houston
Women in Jeans: Tammy Olson First Section: Page 36
Ha
Da
vis
on
Sa
Miner
Brookings
Meeker
Renville
Yellow Medicine Lincoln
Kingsbury
Deuel
Kandiyohi
Chippewa
Pipestone
Hamlin
Goodhue
Anoka
Swift Lac Qui Parle
Codington
Benton
Stearns
Pope
Sherburne
Grant Clark
Morrison
Douglas
Stevens
Mille Lacs
r
Roberts
Day
Big Sto Stone
Grant
First Section: Pages 18, 20
Pine
Todd
eu
Third Section: PagesMarshall 10, 12
Carlton
Crow Wing
Su
rse
Expansions enable the Schultz brothers to carry on farming tradition
Lone Oak Farms uses ovsynch program to get cows pregnant
Aitkin
ms
Wilkin
Ottertail
Goodhue
Cass
Washinton
Becker
Clay
Freeman
en
nom
Mah
Kanabec
Norman
Third Section: Pages 1, 6 - 7
Itasca
Hubbard
Polk
Wadena
Kalpins receive Douglas County Farm Family of the Year award
Clearwater
St. Louis
Red Lake
Miltona
Second Section: Pages 6 - 7
go
Pages 2 - 3 Pfaff opens doors to Garden Valley Gatherings Pages 5 - 6 Renewable energy sources discussed at forum Pages 8 - 9 National Cattle Congress brings industry together Pages 14 - 15 Kids Corner: The Bocksells
First Section: Pages 15 - 16
Hinsches host eld day on their Goodhue dairy
From Our Side of the Fence
isa
THIRD SECTION
Second Section: Pages 3 - 4
Indiana natives nd Minnesota dairy
Marshall
Pages 14 - 15 Dairying Around the World Pages 16, 18
A day in the life of the Wallerman family Page 26 Mid-American Hay Auction results Page 27 Swiss Valley Farms named 2016 Exporter of the Year Page 28 Iowa dairy farm home to Heavenly Horses Pages 32 - 33 Crop & Weather Report Pages 35, 37 UW-Platteville offers new dairy science major Pages 38 - 39 Dairy Recipes
Sturgeon Lake
Ra
Second Section: PagesKittson 22 - 24
Goodhue
Sauk Centre
Ch
Page 9 View BBBK Dreamer selected as 2016 Cow of the Year Pages 10 - 11 The “Mielke” Market Weekly Page 12 Dairy markets Page 13 Area hay auction results
Massmann returns to the barn after openheart surgery
Tra ve
SECOND SECTION
Osakis
Le
Letters to the Editor
Pages 12 - 13 Consultants aid in setting, meeting farm goals Page 22 Livestock safety: Keeping you and your animals safe Page 23 On the Road with Princess Kay/ AMPI cheesemakers win three-peat Page 25 FSA News & Notes Page 27 Dairy in the Suburbs Page 28 Management practices, feed costs in Minnesota dairy farms Page 29 Late season alfalfa management Page 30 Dear County Agent Guy Page 32 Just Thinking Out Loud Page 33 Dairy Good Life Page 34 What we feed and why Pages 35, 37 Fink takes leap into dairying despite limited experience Page 36 Women in Jeans
Hutchinson
Turner
Bon Yankton Homme
Lincoln Clay
Union
Lyon Sioux
Osceola Dickinson Emmet O’Brien
Clay
Kossuth
Palo Alto
St. Cloud, Minn.
Dairy Prole: Dave Regnier Page 39
Plymouth
Zone 1
For additional stories from our other zone, log on to www.dairystar.com
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Page 4 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
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Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 5
ConƟnued from HAY CROP | Page 1
Make every meal count Herd Builder Calf Starters and Milk Replacers KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Lyle Dicke kneels in one of his alfalfa and fescue mix elds on his family’s 175cow dairy near Goodhue, Minn. The Dickes were able to take ve cuƫngs this year. year. “I don’t try for four, but if Mother Nature gives it to me I take it,” said Dodds, who milks 100 cows and bales all 150 acres of his alfalfa, and alfalfa and clover mix. It had been 12 years since the last time he has taken a fourth crop. “Mother Nature really blessed us with timely rains in Ottertail County,” Dodds said about one of the reasons for this year’s bountiful harvest. Dodds was able to take four crops from his irrigated elds. On his nonirrigated hay, and his alfalfa and clo-
“This might have been the best tonnage from rst to fth crop we’ve ever had.” LYLE DICKE, DAIRY PRODUCER
ver mix elds, Dodds baled three times throughout the summer. Usually, he only gets two. Timely rain gave his irrigation system a break for part of the summer. “It cuts the cost of irrigation, which can be anything from drive shafts and tires to the cost of just running the machines,” Dodds said. He mentioned the early heat and baling before the rain as another reason for the great crop. Buck agreed. “We didn’t have very much of it get
rained on – very little of it in fact,” he said. “The key was getting the rst crop up in that window we had because it seemed like if you didn’t get it then you had to wait a week and were behind all summer.” Rain has been a challenge for Buck later this summer, having over 15 inches fall on his elds from the beginning of August until about Sept. 10. All three dairy farmers agreed the quantity of the alfalfa was plentiful during the summer season. “This might have been the best tonnage from rst to fth crop we’ve ever had,” Dicke said. He estimated his piles were as high as 1.8 tons of dry matter per acre. The Dickes’ intervals between chopping ranged from 23 days to 29 days. Buck also said the tonnage was very good, with intervals ranging from 30 days to 24 days. “When you get into the later crops, it can be knee high but it doesn’t pile up like the rst crop does. That’s one reason we usually don’t get too excited about taking [a fth crop] all the time,” Buck said. “I like to leave some for good ground cover and it just helps the plant so much for next year.” Dodds was thankful for the extra feed. “It added to my reserve that I lost to winter kill the previous year,” he said. Overall, Dodds is thankful for this year’s good quality alfalfa. “It’s been a good year. Even though the price [of milk] isn’t there, there have been other things to offset it,” he said. “Mother Nature has been kind.”
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Page 6 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
ConƟnued from KALPINS | Page 1
MISSY MUSSMAN/DAIRY STAR
Michael (leŌ) and Donny Kalpin milk cows during evening chores on Sept. 12.
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volunteer reman since 1982. “My dad was a volunteer reman, too, so that was part of the reason I joined,” Donny said. “For me, it was a way to give back to the community.” Over the last 34 years, Donny has been called to several structure or grass res, car accidents and on occasion, asked to do weather spotting. “It isn’t always a re,” Donny said. There is never a consistent time he is called to duty either. “We’re on call 24 hours a day,” Donny said. “When I get a call, it’s an adrenaline rush. I switch my mind from farmer to reghter.” Although there have been occasions where Donny has left in the middle of chores for as long as it takes to deal with the situation at hand, he has always been able to switch back to being a farmer. “I’ve come back exhausted from different calls, but I always push to get chores done,” Donny said. “It’s part of it. It isn’t convenient, but if I can save a life, it’s worth it.” Karla lends her services to the local re department by being active on the local reman’s auxiliary, which puts on the potato pancake fundraiser each year to raise money for the reghters in the community, and bring food and
water to larger res. “It’s a way for me to help out,” Karla said. That is not the only way the Kalpins have given back to the community. Both Donny and Karla were rst responders with Donny serving 15 years and Karla 17 years. “They only had a couple of men doing it before we started, so we decided to join and lend a hand,” Karla said. However, they have since stepped away from their duties as rst responders to take more time raising their children. “Our kids were becoming more active, and in order to do a proper job as a rst responder, we would have to spend more time doing it,” Donny said. “We just didn’t have that time anymore.” Instead, the Kalpins spent their time becoming active in their church’s youth group, and serving as adult volunteers and leaders in the 4-H program. “It (4-H) was a big thing for us,” Karla said. “The boys had been in it since they were young and showed a lot of different livestock projects.” Donny agreed. Turn to KALPINS | Page 7
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Karla Kalpin feeds a calf a boƩle of milk during evening chores on Sept. 12. Karla helps Donny with chores when she is able. “It was a good program for the kids,” he said. Even with their responsibilities in the community, they always found time to continue their livelihood of milking cows, too. “We were busy, but we made it a priority to do both because it’s what we wanted to do,” Karla said. On the farm, Donny starts chores at 7 a.m. each day in the stanchion barn. “I feed and bed the cows, and clean the barn before I start milking,” he said. The Kalpins feed their cows haylage, corn silage, baled hay, ground up shelled and cob corn, and
“I like the freedom of dairy farming, the steady income and watching the animals we raise grow into the milking herd and produce milk.” DONNY KALPIN, DAIRY PRODUCER
oats, along with a protein mixture. “We don’t have a TMR,” Donny said. “It’s all individual feeding. It’s old school.” With Karla working in town, Mitchell in college and Michael working with AgReliant Genetics as a district salesman, Donny does most of the farm work himself, but it is still a team effort. “It’s a lot like when I was in college or high school,” Michael said. “I help in the evenings and the weekends.” Even Karla feeds cows or calves when she has time, so Donny can stay in the eld. “We do the work together,” Donny said. The Kalpins’ farm has been in the family for over 100 years starting with Donny’s great-grandparents. Donny’s great-uncle, Emil Kalpin,
took over the farm from them and his father, Laverne, bought the farm from Emil in 1954. When Laverne took over, he only started with eight cows. “He had very few to milk in the beginning but gradually built the herd up,” Donny said. Growing up on the farm, Donny learned to milk cows by the time he was 12 years old and has not looked back since. “I never left the farm,” he said about his decision to dairy. “I like the freedom of dairy farming, the steady income and watching the animals we raise grow into the milking herd and produce milk.” Shortly after Donny learned to milk cows in 1975, the Kalpins built a calf barn in 1978, which they still use today. Following the calf barn, the Kalpins also added a manure pit and installed the pipeline and milking units to replace the step savers and buckets in 1980. “That was a big improvement,” Donny said. Although they made a few modications, the herd has stayed at 29 cows. “With Spring Lake literally right along our property, we can’t expand,” Donny said. Looking ahead, the Kalpins want to focus more on beef cattle and eventually bring Michael back to the farm. “I’m looking for the best opportunity to do that,” he said. Even with Michael planning his return, the family has no major projects lined up for the near future. “We’re not going to make a lot of changes,” Donny said. In the meantime, the Kalpins are honored to be dairy farming and serving as the Douglas County Farm Family of the Year. “It’s a good feeling to be recognized for what we do. It makes us feel like we accomplished something,” Donny said. “But, it doesn’t make us better than others. We just go out there and do what we do.”
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Dairy industry’s antitrust lawsuit settled Page 8 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
A class action antitrust lawsuit involving some of the country’s largest dairy companies has been settled. This lawsuit began in 2011 claiming the National Milk Producers Federation, Dairy Farmers of America, Land O’Lakes, Dairylea Cooperative and Agri-Mark conspired to increase the price of milk. The lawsuit originated with an animal rights activist group called Compassion Over Killing. The plaintiffs argued the dairy industry conspired to prop up milk prices with its herd retirement program, Cooperatives Working Together. This case has been settled for $52 million. Consumers in 15 states who purchased dairy products are now eligible to make a claim for payment. South Dakota and Wisconsin are among the states included in the class action settlement.
Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said the acquisition represents a major step forward for agriculture. “We want to develop better solutions that are optimally adjusted to each other with different components to help farmers drive better outcomes, which means higher yields in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way.â€? Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant said the two companies complement each other and there is very little overlap. As a result, Grant believes farmers will see more innovation. “This is the opportunity to bring technology to the market faster, more efďƒžciently and in a more meaningful way.â€? Bayer and Monsanto believe the regulatory reviews can be completed in 2017. If the deal falls apart due to antitrust issues, Bayer has agreed to pay Monsanto $2 billion.
Bayer-Monsanto agreement announced Bayer will acquire Monsanto for $66 billion.
Farm credit merger proposed The boards of three large farm credit groups have
voted for a merger. The merger of AgStar Financial Services of Mankato, Minn., Badgerland Financial of Prairie du Sac, Wis., and 1st Farm Credit Services of Normal, Ill., will create an association that covers 144 counties in three states. Rod Hebrink, who is now the president and CEO Ag Insider of AgStar, is expected to lead the proposed merged group. The headquarters will likely be in Sun Prairie, Wis. After a review and approval by AgriBank, the merger will come up for a vote by the stockholders. That vote will likely happen in early 2017. A positive, but cautious By Don Wick report for the farm Columnist credit system During its monthly meeting Thursday, the Farm Credit Administration board got an update on the key economic conditions affecting agriculture. Cash ďƒ&#x;ows have been stressed by low commodity prices. For the ďƒžrst six months of this year, the farm credit system reports moderate growth, favorable earnings and higher capital levels. The loan portfolio remains strong, but rising credit risk is a concern. Bankers report more challenges in farm country Midwest bankers are reporting more ďƒžnancial challenges in agriculture. According to the Creighton University Rural Mainstreet Index, four out of ďƒžve bank CEOs are restructuring farm loans because of the difďƒžcult farm economy. The monthly survey of bankers in ten Midwestern states includes Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Twenty percent of those surveyed said the number of farm loans that have been rejected has increased.
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More organic farms California leads the nation in the number of certiďƒžed organic farms with over 2,600 operations. Minnesota is ranked tenth in the U.S. with over 430 organic farms. The new report from USDA indicates North Dakota has 100 certiďƒžed organic farms and South Dakota has 97.
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A growing interest in premium ice cream According to new research from Mintel, Americans are eating less ice cream, but will pay more for premium products. The Mintel study found the volume of ice cream sales is declining, but dollar sales are expected to increase nearly 2 percent, due to consumer demand for the premium ice cream products.
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Hometown grants program announced The National Football League, the National Dairy Council and the National Foundation on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition will partner in the Hometown Grants program in the year ahead. This initiative provides ďƒžnancial support to school districts to improve youth health and wellness. This is part of the Fuel Up to Play 60 initiative that was created by the National Dairy Council and NFL in 2007.
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Beef checkoff budget approved The Cattlemen’s Beef Board Operating Committee has approved a 2017 budget of just over $40 million. That’s down $5 million from this past year. Of that total, $9.5 million is targeted for research. Over $8 million will go to promotion programs and $7.6 million for consumer information projects.
New alfalfa available A new biotech alfalfa called HarvXtra will be available to more growers across the United States starting January 1, 2017. Forage Genetics International’s HarvXtra Support Manager Phil Bollman said the low-lignin alfalfa will improve the crop’s quality compared to conventional alfalfa. “It gives the grower an option to harvest at their same schedule and have a higher quality alfalfa or they can choose to delay their harvest by a week to ten days and harvest alfalfa with a similar quality and eliminate a cutting. The third beneďƒžt is the ďƒ&#x;exibility between choosing either Turn to AG INSIDER | Page 9
Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 9
ConĆ&#x;nued from AG INSIDER | Page 8 policy associate director on state issues for the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation. Rupprecht was previously with the Midwest Dairy Association and Minnesota Milk Producers Association as the industry relations program manager. Rupprecht started the role Sept. 8.
of those options depending on the need or goals of the operation.� Veteran ag committee staffer takes job with NFU House Ag Committee Democratic staff director Rob Larew will join the National Farmers Union on November 14 as the new senior vice president of public policy and communications. Prior to serving on the committee, Larew worked as an ag legislative assistant and legislative director for U.S. Representative Collin Peterson and the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone.
Trivia challenge Rennet is the coagulant that is added to curdled milk in the cheesemaking process. That answers our last trivia question. For this week’s trivia, what is the primary protein found in milk? We’ll have the answer in the next edition of Dairy Star. Don Wick is a partner and broadcaster for the Red River Farm Network, based in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Wick has been recognized as the National Farm Broadcaster of the Year and served as president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Don and his wife, Kolleen, have two adult sons, Tony and Sam, and ďƒžve grandchildren, Aiden, Piper, Adrienne, Aurora, and Sterling.
UMN adds animal welfare specialist The University of Minnesota animal science department has added Dr. Beth Ventura to its staff. Ventura will focus on animal behavior and welfare. Ventura studied at Michigan State University, the University of Maryland and the University of British Colombia. Rupprecht joins Minnesota Farm Bureau Cole Rupprecht is the new public
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Tom Brenner stands in his newly built Ɵestall barn on his family’s 100-cow dairy near Durand, Wis.
Brenner brings cows back to family’s dairy after building tiestall barn
Sinz, whose barn I was renting,” Brenner said. But cows were about the only thing he owned. “When I started dairy farming on my own in my DURAND, Wis. – Tom Brenner didn’t always uncle’s barn, I didn’t even own a tractor. My dad, Gary, got into cash cropping after selling the cows and was think he’d come home to farm. “It was in 2000 when my dad sold the cows,” gracious enough to let me borrow his equipment,” he Brenner said. “I was 16 years old, and not ready to be said. During the next ve years, going home to farm a dairy farmer yet. The thought of someday having my still lingered on Brenner’s mind, especially working on own cows on the home farm was still a long shot.” Through the result of a lot of hard work and good both the home farm and the farm in Eau Galle. Howtiming, Brenner was able to take that thought and put ever, one big problem still loomed: a lack of facilities. “I either had to move or build something new,” he it into action. He now milks 100 cows on the farm he said. grew up on near Durand, Wis. “I graduated from UW-River Falls in 2007, and A decade and a half after the cows left the Brenner spent a few years managing herds in Marsheld and farmstead, they returned to mark the dawn of a new Lund, Wis., before going out on my own,” Brenner generation. “If money wasn’t an issue I would have built a said. In 2011, Brenner went out on his own and bought freestall barn and parlor right away, but I couldn’t build cows to ll up a barn he began renting in Eau Galle, it the way I wanted to with the budget I had,” Brenner said. Wis., located about six miles northwest of Durand. During his college days, Brenner toured a few “Cows were cheap back then, and I was able to pick out the top 25 cows I wanted from a herd in Plum farms in Canada while he was a member of the UWRF City, Wis., and I bought the rest from my uncle Charlie Dairy Club. While on those farm tours, he brought home more dairy barn ideas than he realized. “All of the tiestall barns up there are insulated with tunnel ventilation. I thought to myself, either I could milk cows practically outside in a cheap parlor and freeze, or I could comfortably do chores in a sweatshirt when it’s 20 below outside,” Brenner said. Given the equity he had on hand as well as the budget he had to work with, Brenner decided to build a tiestall barn that could easily be modied down the road. “Because I initially wanted to build a freestall barn anyway, the barn BRITTANY OLSON/DAIRY STAR Turn to BRENNER Cows at the Brenner farm are milked twice a day in sand-bedded Ɵestalls. | Page 11 By Brittany Olson
brittany.o@dairystar.com
Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 11
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
ConƟnued from BRENNER | Page 10 was sized so that, if all goes well, it can be turned into a parlor of any size and a holding area in the future,” Brenner said. “You’ve got to leave your options open.” With keeping a possible parlor in mind years from now, Brenner had the barn’s ceiling built 14 feet high. In addition, due to ghting with cramped feed alleys in barns he’d milked in, drive-by feeding was a priority. “I wanted a barn that I could be comfortable working in, as well as any part time help that would do chores in here, too,” Brenner said. “Cow comfort was also top of mind, and I wanted to bed with sand.” The end product was a 100-cow tiestall barn measuring 42 feet wide and 240 feet long with insulation and tunnel ventilation on the east end of the barn, as well as a feed room. “The rst cement was poured in late October,” Brenner said. “It took a lot of connections to make this go.” To Brenner’s benet, his brother, Willie, worked for a local contractor specializing in barn construction. Brenner had also spent summer and winter breaks working with them in college, so when the time for barn construction arrived, they were a huge help to the entire building process. The mild winter of 2015-2016 also proved to be benecial for Brenner, as he was able to do a lot of construction himself with the help of friends and family. “As far as money goes, spend what you can within reason,” he said. The barn was also built at a slope so that, even though the pipeline and ush gutter system look level in the barn, they are better able to efciently carry milk and manure from one end of the barn to the other. In addition, Brenner dug a new well and had new electrical wiring in-
stalled, making the entire project a clean slate in every form. In hindsight, Brenner has been thankful for installing the ush gutter. “I’ve got a oat pump in my manure lagoon that runs on a timer so I never have to worry about running the barn cleaner after every milking,” he said. On April 18, Brenner brought the cows home to Durand for their rst milking in the new barn. Although it took the cows time to adjust, the change has benetted them. They weren’t too keen on deeply bedded sand stalls at rst, Brenner said. “They were kicking out whatever they could,” he said. “I was putting in two feet of sand in each stall, and the cows just kept pawing through it and kicking it out. I nally put in some lime screenings at the front of each stall so that the stall had a better base.” As he looked over his tranquil herd of cows quietly munching on their feed in a bright and cool barn, Brenner couldn’t help but smile. “There were some things I wasn’t willing to give up on for the sake of cow comfort, and it feels good to be doing things the way I want to,” he said. Brenner is also grateful to have his dad and grandpa around to help whenever needed. “My grandpa is 85 years old and still rocking and rolling,” he said. “He is always there to lend good advice.” Even though Brenner returned to the home farm this spring, he’s already thinking about the next generation as he continues to build on what he created. He and his wife, Tana, are expecting their rst child in late October. “Everything just falls into place like it’s supposed to,” Brenner said. “A lot of people trusted me with this, and now it’s my turn to deliver. There’s no excuse for not doing things right.”
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Let’s get rid of NMPF
To the Editor, In March, Mr. Chris Galen, spokesperson for National Milk Producer’s Federation, called me. I had left him my name and phone number in January and asked him to call me. I told him I thought NMPF is a corrupt organization, and why I felt that way. I told him I thought the dairy herd buyout NMPF created and implemented was never needed because millions of dairy farmers had already quit dairy farming because of the low milk price. He said he thought that number was too high. I told him there was 3.5 million dairy farmers in the country after World War II. He said he thought that was way too high. I told him I got that number from the NMPF website back in 2006. He was quiet for a bit then proceeded to tell me what constituted a dairy farm years ago was different from today’s dairy farm. He said farms had chickens, pigs and cows, but that some only milked a couple of cows just for their own family and didn’t sell milk. But, NMPF counted them too. I told him he could put whatever spin he wants to on it. Here he goes from not knowing how many dairy farmers NMPF said there were after World War II, to knowing that they counted even the ones that had a couple of cows but didn’t sell milk. What a liar. I know the county in which I live had milk cows on almost every quarter of land years ago. Millions of dairy farmers used to make a good living milking cows. The big red barns and silos – the two biggest investments on the farm –weren’t for the chickens or pigs. I told him twice during the conversation that he could dispute anything or everything I wrote about NMPF and put it in the newspaper. I don’t like that NMPF is telling me how to take care of my cows through the FARM program (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management). I’m not worried about PETA – NMPF is the only one that ever showed up on my farm and told me how to take care of my cows. I can’t dock a cow’s tail – it’s against NMPF law. They’re also advocating the breaking of immigration laws. As spokesperson Chris Galen said, what would happen to the cost effective food supply if dairy farmers didn’t have access to immigrant labor? I guess NMPF makes laws and then decides which laws should be broken. I believe people should pay a fair price for whatever they buy. I’ll bet Galen expects to get a fair wage when he works. I wouldn’t doubt he gets paid between $70,000 to $100,000 a year. I’m sure that I could get all the American workers I need for that wage. NMPF was established in 1916 and maybe back then they were good for the dairy industry, but now they are corrupt and have outlived their usefulness if they ever were useful. Let’s get rid of NMPF. Joseph Schindler Dairy farmer Red Lake Falls, Minn.
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Page 12 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
A closer look
Industry news addressed with help from your neighbors
A farmer’s helping hand
by Jennifer Coyne
Consultants aid in setting, meeting farm goals AUGUSTA, Wis. – Dairy producers have a never-ending job, from sun up to sun down. Aside from completing the daily chores, farmers are faced with the decisions of expanding their herd, creating a succession plan or making on-farm improvements, among many others. These decisions are crucial in a dairy’s success and often come down to simple cash ow of the business. With guidance from consultants, farmers can better understand the numbers of their business and look for opportunities for greater prots. “I’ve been given practical and realistic advice in order for my farm to handle growth from 40 cows to 100 cows and now to its present size,” Mark Kaeding said. “Without assistance, I would not have known the path to take.” Kaeding milks 500 cows near Augusta, Wis. In 1996, he and his wife, Cathy, began working with a private dairy consultant in order to use a 30x20 grant funded through the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and
Consumer Protection (DATCP). “Every farm’s ways of improving are going to be different,” said Dave Becker, a founding member of Dairy Business Consulting who works with Kaeding. “We act as a sounding board. Most farmers are independently driven, but it might take us sitting down and going through the numbers to see how they can get better.” Tom Anderson, a Farm Business Management (FBM) instructor Dave Becker at Riverland ComDairy Business munity College Consulting in Austin, Minn., agreed. “It all comes down to meeting the needs of the farmer. Where are they today? Where do they want to be?” he said. “My mission is to assist producers in identifying, implementing and analyzing business and family goals.” Anderson and other FBM instructors work with dairy producers through Minnesota community colleges to provide an individualized educational experience – maintaining an accurate set of records, creating and reviewing balance sheet trends, and completing a farm analysis using the University of Minnesota Finpack software.
“Producers benchmark production, nance and protability by accessing the world’s largest agricultural production database in the Finbin system,” Anderson said. For eight years, Tim Huhe and his family have been enrolled in the FBM program, working closely with Anderson. “This program has been a great value to realize what I’m doing well and what I can do differently,” said Huhe, who milks 300 cows near Cresco, Iowa. He rst enrolled in the FBM course for assistance in transitioning his parents out of the dairy partnership and into retirement. In the near future, Huhe plans to use the program to bring his daughter into the operation; but in the meantime, is bettering the farm by evaluating the assets and debts, and nding areas for improvement. “I’m in an industry that in order to stay in it I have to be on top of it, Tom Anderson nancially, and if FBM instructor not, that can get me in trouble,” Huhe said. Lately, dairy producers, instructors and consultants, alike, are focusing on the same goal – surviving during the
downturn of the markets by making cash ow a priority. “In times like this, you simply have to make money to get paid,” said Ken Thiesen, FBM instructor at St. Cloud Technical and Community College. Dairy producers are reviewing their nancial benchmarks, comparing that from years past and looking for small ways to improve those values. “I joined for Ken Thiesen two reasons – to FBM instructor transition my parents into retirement, but also to become more protable,” Huhe said. “I look at my benchmarks and compare them to other farms, and then realize what I’m doing well and what I need to work on.” Kaeding meets monthly with Becker and his two employees, herdswoman Deanne Thran and her husband Eric – who will eventually become owners of the dairy – to discuss the future of the farm by reviewing expenses and prots, and comparing those values with other dairies. “My son, Travis, and I put the expenses together since the previous meeting so that we have numbers to go over in order to perform our best,” Turn to CONSULTANTS | Page 13
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ConƟnued from CONSULTANTS | Page 12 Kaeding said. “After we compare farms, it’s easy to realize that there’s hardly any farm making money right now.” Becker agreed. “It’s important not to get over-discouraged,” he said. “Work through where you are at now and look at the big picture. On a 10-year trend, you’re moving in the right direction and possibly gaining.” There are three aspects of a dairy to consider that Becker, Anderson and Thiesen all agree would be benecial towards a farm’s success during the last six month’s market slump – debt management, milk production and breeding strategies while maintaining feed quality. “We’re learning how to make adjustments to be protable during down times,” Thiesen said.
“Sometimes I think we get caught up in the bulk tank averages, but that’s not what you’re getting paid for.” DAVE BECKER, DAIRY BUSINESS CONSULTING
Because of that, dairy producers are tackling similar challenges looking at their loan structure on a price per hundredweight scale and possibly needing to restructure the payments into one. Additionally, with payments based on components in the milk, Becker suggests working closely with the nutritionist to maximize butterfat and protein content. “Sometimes I think we get caught up in the bulk tank averages, but that’s not what you’re getting paid for,” Becker said. Outside of the milking herd, the replacements play an equal role in protability. With heifers, a producer can look at several options – breeding to beef or selling replacements or cull cows. “Farmers need to get cows bred and maintain a pregnancy rate of more than 20 percent. If that aspect
of the herd is not managed well, it could mean a lot of money left on the table,” Anderson said. “It is generally accepted that every point of pregnancy is worth a net return of $25-plus per cow per year.” In the eight years that Huhe has worked with FBM, he has watched his dairy improve, both from a protability and management perspective. “These programs bring the whole group together for a more cohesive look at the dairy. They’re a continuing educational opportunity to stay current with the industry,” Huhe said. “As long as I’m dairying, I’ll be enrolled in the course.” Kaeding agreed. “For my farm, to get where we’re at, I think it would have been a struggle without someone helping us,” he said. “A consultant’s services are as important as your agronomist, nutritionist, veterinarian and banker.” Whether a dairy farm is capable of enrolling in a FBM class or hiring a consultant at this time, there is a common place for all farms to start towards improving their future in the dairy industry. “Begin setting goals, both short term and long term,” Thiesen said. “Maybe it’s lowering feed cost but maintaining milk right now, but on down the road it’s seeing physical improvements on the dairy.” Kaeding agreed. “You have to do something now,” he said. “This is the future – what’s going on now with the farm. If Grandpa doesn’t do it right, it won’t be around for the grandkids.”
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Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 15
How is your corn silage harvest?
Dennis Boyenga Ellsworth, Minn. Nobles County 45 cows When did you begin corn silage harvest? How does that compare to other years? We began chopping our corn silage on Sept. 2. It was probably a little earlier than usual. How has the harvest been? It was very good. We averaged 26 to 27 tons per acre. How do you harvest and store your corn silage? My brother-in-law comes with his self-propelled New Holland chopper and does all of the chopping for us. We bag all of our silage. We feel that bagging gives us the best feed quality for the money. Our operation isn’t big enough to justify building a new bunker or an upright silo. Do you plant a silage specic hybrid? No. I simply plant a later variety so the corn will still be green if the bagger can’t get here exactly when we want him. I generally plant a 102-day variety for use as corn silage. Do you use inoculants? We do use inoculants on our haylage, but not on our corn silage. We don’t feel that it’s necessary to inoculate corn silage when it’s bagged. How many acres do you make into silage? We chop about 20 acres each year. Tell us about your most memorable corn silage harvest. About ten years ago, a bad storm came through in late summer and attened all the corn. Picking up the corn with the chopper was extremely challenging. We tried all kinds of different devices and extensions, but ended up simply cutting the corn in one direction. It was very slow going. Tell us about your farm. My wife, Amy, and I have four grown children, Trista, Kori, Reka and Anthony. Anthony lives just down the road from us and has a 600-head beef farm and a herd of about 100 stock cows. He and I farm 600 acres together and he helps me out whenever it’s needed. A year ago on Aug. 2, Anthony and his wife, Megan, had triplets. The triplets joined two other siblings already at home. Amy and I now have 13 grandchildren. We enjoy each and every one of them.
Brian Meyerhofer Racine, Minn. Mower County 85 cows When did you begin corn silage harvest? How does that compare to other years? We started on Sept. 12. It’s a little earlier than normal because we were able to plant corn a little earlier than normal. We were able to get into the elds to plant this year in late April. How has the harvest been? The silage has been average to a little above average and the grain quality has been excellent. There’s a lot of corn in the silage. I think the frost in the early spring hurt the corn a bit, but it’s doing well now. How do you harvest and store your corn silage? All our silage is chopped conventionally without a processor. All our corn silage for our cows is stored in bags and we have one, 20- by 60-foot silo for corn silage for our youngstock. Do you plant a silage specic hybrid? We don’t plant a BMR or anything. Instead we plant a variety that can be used for silage or grain. That way we can sell it as grain if we need to or use it for dry grain in our ration. Do you use inoculants? Why or why not? No, we don’t use inoculants. In the past we used it, and we didn’t see much of a response. We didn’t want to spend the money on it if we don’t get anything in return from it. How many acres do you make into silage? We have about 40 acres of corn we chop for corn silage. We chop about 850 to 900 tons of corn silage each year. Tell us about your most memorable corn silage harvest. About 25 years ago, my dad and I were chopping corn when we had a breakdown. When I went to x it, a spring hit me in the eye. I had to have 11 stitches and had a black eye for a while, but it turned out ne. I just about lost my eye. I was lucky I didn’t. Tell us about your farm. I farm with my wife, Tammy, and our sons, Adam and Mike, who both joined the farm full-time in 2008. Our cows are milked in a step-up parlor and housed in a freestall barn we built in 1998. In addition to our herd of cows we farm about 1,200 acres. We have a total of 500 acres of corn with the rest being alfalfa and soybeans.
Alan Klejeski Sturgeon Lake, Minn. Pine County 30 cows When did you begin corn silage harvest? How does that compare to other years? We started on Sept. 18, which for us is pretty average time. But it all depends on the year. How has the harvest been? So far it’s been going well. We have 10 acres done so far out of the 30 acres we have for silage. We haven’t checked the yield on the corn silage, but we are guessing it is close to 12 tons per acre. It’s been packing pretty well for us. How do you harvest and store your corn silage? We like to put our corn silage up a little wetter to help improve digestibility. When it is time to chop, we use a pull type chopper to harvest it. We store our corn silage in two upright silos on the farm – one 14- by 25-foot and one 12- by 50-foot silo. We have had to use bags in the past, but I prefer the silos because it seems we get less spoilage that way. Do you plant a silage specic hybrid? We do not. We try to plant corn for dual purpose. We can get early frosts up here, so no matter what, I want the option to make the corn into high moisture corn or decent corn silage. Do you use inoculants? We have in the past, but we typically don’t now because we were not noticing much of a difference. How many acres do you make into silage? We have 30 acres this year. Our original plan was to do 15 to 20 acres in high moisture corn, but it’s been a little on the dry side for that. We don’t usually have a long growing season up here, so getting ripe corn is pretty rare. But, I picked some already and tested the corn and it is already at 26 to 28 percent moisture. We will see how it goes. Tell us about your most memorable corn silage harvest. Fifteen years ago, our corn ground was really wet and it took two tractors hooked together to pull the chopper and the wagon through the low spots because it was so muddy. Tell us about your farm. My wife, Jennifer, and I milk 30 cows in our tiestall barn. We have three children, Jessica, 6, Justin, 3, and Jordan, 1. My dad, Leonard, helps with milking and eld-
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Turn to FROM OUR SIDE OF THE FENCE | Page 16
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Kevin Schafer Lake City, Minn. Goodhue County 30 cows When did you begin corn silage harvest? How does that compare to other years? We started on Sept. 11 and nished on Sept. 12. This is earlier than normal. It’s about 10 days earlier than last year. How has the harvest been? It’s a little less quality than we would have liked. There was a really big storm that came through here in July that knocked the corn down. It came back up, but it took a hit. I would estimate we got about 22 tons per acre. How do you harvest and store your corn silage? We have a neighbor custom harvest our silage. The neighbor uses a self-propelled John Deere chopper with a processor. All the corn silage is stored in bags. Do you plant a silage specic hybrid? We don’t plant any BMR or anything. We try to get a variety that yields quite a bit of grain. Usually it’s about a 102day variety. Do you use inoculants? Why or why not? Yes, it speeds up the fermentation process. There is less heat damage to the feed. We’ve used an inoculant for as long as I can remember. How many acres do you make into silage? We make about 13 acres into silage. I have 22 total acres of corn. Tell us about your most memorable corn silage harvest. They’re all about the same, but last year we had better than average tonnage, which was pretty memorable. And, we haven’t had too many breakdowns. Tell us about your farm. I farm with my wife, Carol. We have two adult children, who now work off the farm. We are a small farm and have been milking 30 cows for 31 years. Our herd is all registered.
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Page 16 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
ConƟnued from FROM OUR SIDE OF THE FENCE | Page 15 Steve and Tim Scapanski Sauk Rapids, Minn. Benton County 110 cows
Mike Waytashek Little Falls, Minn. Morrison County 47 cows
When did you begin corn silage harvest? How does that compare to other years? We started on Sept. 13 this year. That is earlier than other years. The eld conditions and weather conditions with timely rains we had during the summer were the reason we were able start earlier this year.
When did you begin corn silage harvest? How does that compare to other years? I started chopping on Sept. 14 this year. Compared to other years, I started earlier this year.
How has the harvest been? It’s been going well. The corn silage is where it should be at – 60 percent moisture. We don’t know the exact tons per acre, but our crop adjuster told us that our corn is yielding 180 to 220 bushels per acre. It’s always been 150 to 175 bushels an acre. This year is better. It’s some of the best corn we’ve seen. How do you harvest and store your corn silage? We use our Gehl chopper with a processor to harvest the corn and we store the silage in two 20- by 70-foot silos and one 16- by 70-foot silo. Do you plant a silage specic hybrid? We do not because we never know which eld we are going to be able to harvest and eld conditions vary from eld to eld. Sometimes, we deal more with hills or low ground. This year we are chopping 91day corn, which is pretty average. Do you use inoculants? We do use inoculants. We think it preserves the silage better. We’ve been using inoculants for nearly 20 years. How many acres do you make into silage? It depends on the year. Usually, we harvest about 70 acres of corn silage. We are using less acres of corn for corn silage this year because it’s yielding better. There’s more corn on the plant and the stalks are uniform across the eld and are good size. Tell us about your most memorable corn silage harvest. Back in the 1980s, we had a wet year. We had to drag half of the loads with a chain to the silo. But in 1988, we had a really dry year. We had 500 acres in corn that year and we chopped almost all the corn except 10 acres to ll the silos for about 200 cows. Tell us about your farm. We milk our 110 cows in a double-5 parabone parlor twice a day. The cows are housed in a bedded pack barn, where we mainly use wheat and rye straw to bed. We also have 12 acres of pasture for the cows to rotationally graze. We run 350 acres of corn and soybeans. We raise all of our replacements on the farm, and we nish out steers, too.
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How has the harvest been? The silage is running pretty well. I’ve gotten roughly 16 acres of corn silage done so far, and I am putting up the last load of silage today, Sept. 19. I don’t know how many tons per acre I am getting yet, but the corn has been yielding higher than normal. How do you harvest and store your corn silage? I use my 900 New Holland chopper. I usually like to have it chopped at about 60 percent moisture. Once it is harvested, I take it and put it in a 20- by 16-foot silo. Do you plant a silage specic hybrid? I do not plant a silage specic hybrid. I used to though. I quit using it because it was too difcult to get the corn silage up at the moisture it needs to be because I am usually doing high moisture corn at the same time. I also had issues of putting it up too wet that we rotted the bottom of the silo out twice. That’s why we quit using them. Do you use inoculants? I do not use inoculants because if I can get the corn silage up at the proper moisture and at the right time, it is an unnecessary expense. How many acres do you make into silage? It ranges from year to year, but usually, I harvest about 20 acres of corn silage. This year, with the higher yields of the corn, I didn’t have to chop as much tonnage. Tell us about your most memorable corn silage harvest. About 10 years ago, we had a really wet fall. The eld here right next to the farm has a high water table, so that fall, I had to hook up my tractor, chopper and chopper box up to a four wheel drive tractor to pull the equipment through the dips and valleys in the eld to nish chopping because it was that wet. Even this year, I have gotten stuck three different times. Tell us about your farm. My wife, Catherine, and I milk 47 cows twice a day in our tiestall barn that holds 60 cows. We have been cutting back the herd a little bit more for the last couple of years, as we get older. We raise all of our replacements here on the farm. We also run about 200 acres of corn and alfalfa, but I have considered adding another crop. We enjoy what we do or we wouldn’t be doing it.
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Page 18 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
Repro Leaders
Lone Oak Farms uses ovsynch program to get cows pregnant Lone Oak Farms, LLC Goodhue, Minn. Goodhue County 250 cows
service conception rate? First service conception rate was 51 percent for the cows and 70 percent for our heifers.
What is your herd’s pregnancy rate average for last year? Our cows had a pregnancy rate of 32 percent while our heifers had a pregnancy rate of 39 percent. Our pregnancy rates have helped us grow our herd from within.
What is your herd’s reproduction program? How do you get cows pregnant? We run an ovsynch with walk and chalk program. Our voluntary waiting period is 58 days. If a cow has a good standing heat between 58 to 60 days we will breed her. Our A.I. technician uses tail chalk to check heats. Open cows are marked with
What was the herd’s rst
PHOTO SUBMITTED
The team at Lone Oak Dairy – (from leŌ) Molly MaƩhees, ScoƩ MaƩhees, Peter Bartholome, Thomas RagoƩ, FausƟno Parra, Daniel Coelho, Fabrício Morais, Mary MaƩhees and Steve Matthees – work together to milk the dairy’s 250-cow herd near Goodhue, Minn. Their 2015 average pregnancy rate for heifers was 32 percent and for cows was 39 percent. blue tail paint and pregnant cows are marked with red. He walks the barn while he’s here, but we also walk through the barn throughout the day to watch the cows for heat. The bred cows are marked on our DHIA sheet and then are entered into Dairy Comp 305. Do you use seasonal breeding or avoid certain months? No
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Molly MaƩhees looks at the breeding sheet before entering the informaƟon into Dairy Comp 305 on her family’s dairy near Goodhue, Minn.
How often do you do pregnancy checks? Dr. Curt Nelson, with Goodhue
Veterinary Clinic, comes out every other week. He, along with our breeder, has helped us set up our ovsynch program.
What percentage of your herd is bred through A.I. or a bull? Our herd is 100 percent A.I. Although we breed our heifers using A.I., we have one Angus bull that is with our pregnant heifers as a clean up bull in case one of them aborts.
What is your breeding philosophy? How do you select bulls? What traits do you focus on? Does fertility play a role in bull selection? We use a mapping service If you use A.I., who breeds through Genex that helps us your cattle? Lee Stockman, determine what bulls to use. with Genex, does our breeding. We factor in a couple different He comes right away in the traits such as calving ease, milk morning to breed the cows and production and fertility. then is here in the afternoon to Turn to LONE OAK FARMS | Page 20
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Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 19
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BEER FARMS AND CATTLE CO, BERNE, INDIANA Beer family: Max and Karen and sons Keith (right) and Craig Calving 175 heifers monthly; SCC under 200,000
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“When we use Udder Comfort on the entire group, their collaborative SCC stays below 200,000. “We love cows,” Keith relates. “And we love how easy it is to use the automatic Udder Comfort Spray Gun in the parlor. We will continue to use Udder Comfort in the future.”
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Page 20 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
ConƟnued from LONE OAK FARMS | Page 18
breed the heifers. Do you have a different philosophy when breeding heifers vs. cows? Yes, we use sexed semen on our heifers on their rst breeding. We do not use sexed semen on the cows. This allows us to grow our herd numbers. Breeding heifers to sexed semen has also helped
decrease the number of calving problems in the heifers. What do you do to settle hard breeders? How many times do you try to breed a cow before you sell her? This depends on the cow. If the cow is one of our best animals, we will try more than we would with another animal. If there
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Chalk on the tailheads of the cows is used to help with heat detecƟon. Open cows are marked with blue while pregnant cows are marked with red.
ScoƩ and Molly MaƩhees walk through one of their freestall barn groups while looking for cows in heat. In addiƟon to taking a few strolls through the barns during the day, the MaƩhees family has their breeder, Lee Stockman, also check for heat when he’s there in the morning and aŌernoon. is a cow that is getting far out Lutalyse shot on Tuesdays of America’s corporate board. in days in milk, we will talk on our ovsynch program with Scott and Molly run the to the breeder and tell him to our cows. We also will give day-to-day operation, daily use a high conception bull. We Lutalyse shots to the heifers chores, eldwork, animal have also used Angus semen that are not showing heats record keeping and employee to get some our hard breeders around breeding age. That way management. Along with our pregnant. Our heifers that are they don’t get lost in the shufe milking herd, we also raise our hard breeders we will stick in and are getting bred. own youngstock and run 800 with the bull. For some reason acres of land made up of corn, it seems to stick really well. Tell us about your farm. Our soybeans and alfalfa. With our dairy, Lone Oak Farms, LLC, inux of heifer numbers, we What is your target age for has been in the family since are in the process of building breeding heifers? We usually 1887. Today, the fourth and another freestall barn that will strive for 12.5 to 13 months. fth generations – Steve and have three groups of 80 cows Mary Matthees, along with and a fourth pen that will have Is there anything you their son and daughter-in-law, a bedded pack for pre-fresh have done or changed that Scott and Molly Matthees – run cows. We take pride in running brought about a signicant the operation. Steve and Mary a well-rounded, efcient and improvement in your take care of the bookkeeping. sustainable operation. reproductive program? Steve also helps with eldwork We have gone to a double and serves on Dairy Farmer’s
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Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 21
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Page 22 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
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An often overlooked area of farm safety is livestock safety. Whenever I talk about livestock safety, I like to highlight two goals: Keeping ourselves safe from the animals, and keeping the animals safe from us. An important thing to remember with livestock animals is thousands of years ago, before they were domesticated, they were prey animals, hunted by predators. Most livestock still have those innate instincts of prey animals, the most prominent one being the ďƒžght By Emily Wilmes or ďƒ&#x;ight response. You probably remember learning about ďƒžght U of M Extension or ďƒ&#x;ight in biology class. You may also remember that humans also exhibit ďƒžght or ďƒ&#x;ight response. Fight or ďƒ&#x;ight indicates an animal’s response to a threat--they will choose to confront the threat or ďƒ&#x;ee from it. The goal of livestock farmers is to reduce those threats and avoid initiating a ďƒžght or ďƒ&#x;ight response. There are some key steps we can take to avoid spooking our animals. First is avoid the blindspot. The blindspot is the area directly behind the animal, between the ears. If you are standing here while the animal is facing forward, they cannot see you. Approaching them from the back will likely startle them and cause a ďƒžght or ďƒ&#x;ight response. This puts people in danger, as the animal may choose to attack. It also puts the animals in danger, as they could injure themselves while running away. Always approach an animal from the front or side. Second, be aware of the animal’s pressure and ďƒ&#x;ight zones. Picture two circles around your animal, one close around it and the other a little farther out. The outer circle is known as the pressure zone. This is where the animal will notice and begin to react to your presence. They may move their head or take a step away from you. The inner circle is known as the ďƒ&#x;ight zone. This is where the animal will intentionally move away from you to relieve the pressure. Pressure and ďƒ&#x;ight zones are different on every animal, but understanding what they are is important in keeping yourself and them safe. Lastly, think about how you like to be approached. How would you respond if someone came at you, running and yelling loudly? How would you react if someone approached you slowly and calmly, with an arm outstretched for a handshake? Livestock are no different. We need to remember to be quiet and calm, yet deliberate with our movements. Animals want to anticipate what your next move is going to be, they like predictability. Acting in a loud in threatening manner may cause ďƒžght or ďƒ&#x;ight, and as dairy farmers know, may inhibit oxytocin release for milk letdown. Behaving in a safe, calm manner, being aware of ďƒ&#x;ight and pressure zones, and approaching animals from the front or side will ensure not only your safety, but their safety as well.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 23
The Great Minnesota Get Together. It’s one of my favorite times of the year. It always has been. In the past, I have shown cattle with my family and fellow friends from Goodhue County at both the 4-H and FFA shows. In the past, I have dragged my father along to nd the greatest foods On the Road with that the fair has to offer. Princess Kay In the past, I would stand on the outside of the butter booth in complete awe of the beautiful girls sitting in front of me getting their own likeness sculpted out of butter. But this year was different. This year, I started out the 12 greatest days of the year as the newly-crowned 63rd Princess Kay of the By Haley Hinrichs Milky Way. When the 63rd Princess Kay of the crown was placed on my Milky Way head, all the attention and excitement focused on me. It was me that dozens of reporters wanted to interview. It was me people were talking about as I walked down the streets of the fair. It was me that was going to have all of these great experiences for not only the next 12 days, but also the additional 353 days. However, by the end of the rst day, I already had (and needed) a new mindset of being Princess Kay. This experience and this opportunity isn’t about me
at all. It’s about you. You, a dairy farmer in the great state of Minnesota. Little did I know, that night before the fair started, that this experience is actually about the wonderful dairy community that I get to represent. Little did I know, our state doesn’t just have one top princess, we have over 50 young women in every corner of the state who represent the dairy community year round. Little did I know, I had 11 other nalists standing next to me who are just as passionate about the dairy community as I am. Little did I know, I am actually here to serve. I am here to serve the wonderful dairy community of Minnesota. See, the way I look at Princess Kay is she is an opportunity. She is an opportunity for you too, as a person who eats three times a day, to ask questions about the food you eat. She is an opportunity for you as a farmer, to share your unique story. She is an opportunity for you to learn something new about the dairy community and dairy foods. I am Haley Hinrichs. I am the newly-crowned 63rd Princess Kay of the Milky Way. I am a normal human being and I’m just like you in many ways. I have grown up on a dairy farm just outside of Goodhue, Minn. where I daily milk around 100 cows with my dad, Tim, and older brother, Justin. I am currently attending Iowa State University for agriculture education and communications. At a young age, I realized that my purpose in life is to serve others. This is the main reason I applied to be Princess Kay, because of the opportunity to serve Minnesota dairy farmers. The most important thing you must know about me is that I love to ask questions. I love to ask questions to attain a better understanding of the dairy community and the agriculture industry as a whole. I ask questions to learn more about you. I ask questions because I am genuinely interested in your story as a dairy farmer and agriculturist. With that being said, if you have any questions for me or you simply want to talk, don’t ever be afraid to reach out to me. My goal is to learn more from the very heart of our industry, the farmers. I hope to take what I learn from you and share it with anyone and everyone who will listen. I want to learn more from you, hear your PHOTO SUBMITTED story, and be the best repThe 2016 Princess Kay Finalists – (from le�) Haley Hinrichs, Kalley Berg, Kelly resentative for MinneSchouviller, Meghan Skiba, Anne�e Kyllo, Emily Stocker, Stephanie Sukalski, sota Dairy farmers for the Morgan Krause, Kayla Leiding, Kiersten Sabolik, Sabrina Portner and Makaila coming year. Klejeski – show off their matching bracelets before corona�on on Aug. 24 at the Minnesota State Fair Band Shell in Falcon Heights, Minn.
AMPI cheesemakers win three-peat Cheddar championship is unprecedented
For the third time in as many years, a Mild Cheddar made by Associated Milk Producers Inc. (AMPI) cheesemakers at the co-op’s Sanborn, Iowa, plant topped its class. The three-peat is unprecedented in the highly competitive class that is part of the World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest. An entry in the same class from AMPI’s Blair, Wis., plant placed second. “Earning this award again, and receiving the top two spots in the class from two different locations, speaks volumes about the consistent quality of AMPI cheese,” said Mike Wolkow, vice president of operations for the Midwest dairy cooperative. “We are proud to say that we never make cheese especially for a contest. These entries are truly representative of all the dairy products made in Sanborn and Blair – and in every AMPI plant – every day.” Dairy products made in AMPI’s dairy farmerowned plants captured nine of the top awards presented at the prestigious competition that names North America’s best in dairy product categories. The 2016 contest attracted a record 1,130 entries. AMPI-made unavored pasteurized process cheese entries swept their category with a 1-2-3 nish. For a second consecutive year, judges also presented a rst-place honor to AMPI’s avored pasteurized process blend of Monterey Jack and American cheese with red bell and jalapeno peppers. All of these award-winning process cheeses were made at AMPI’s Portage, Wis., plant. An AMPI entry also won the rst-place award in the Colby and Monterey Jack category for a Colby Jack cheese made at the cooperative’s Jim Falls, Wis., facility. Whey protein concentrate manufactured at the cooperative’s Paynesville, Minn., plant captured rst place in the 34 percent class and second place in the 80 percent competition. Dried sweet whey made at Jim Falls was awarded third place in the whey category. “The not-so-secret ingredient in all of these award-winning dairy products is superior-quality milk produced on AMPI member farms,” said Wolkow. AMPI is owned by 2,200 dairy farm families in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota. AMPI’s rst-place dairy products will be auctioned off Oct. 4 at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis. A portion of the auction proceeds fund scholarships for students pursuing careers in the dairy industry.
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Page 24 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
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Marketing assistance available for 2016 crops
With low prices and harvest already completed for small grains, and beginning for corn and soybeans, I wanted to remind producers of marketing assistance available for 2016 crops. Marketing Assistance Loans (MALs) and Loan Deciency Payments (LDPs) have been authorized in the 2014 Farm Bill, as they have in the past, and can be a great tool FSA News & Notes for farmers to utilize in their marketing plans. MALs and LDPs provide nancing and marketing assistance for winter wheat, as well as other commodities such as oats, corn, barley, soybeans and other oilseeds, wool and honey. MALs provide producers interim nancing after harvest to help them meet cash ow needs without having to sell their commodities when market prices are typically at harvest-time lows. A producer who is eligible to obtain an MAL, but agrees to forgo the loan, may obtain an LDP if such a payment is available. Winter wheat prices are at a range By Ryan Brunn where LDPs may be applicable, so producers should beStearns Co. Exec. Dir. come familiar with the process to access this assistance. To be eligible for an MAL or an LDP, producers must have a benecial interest in the commodity, in addition to other requirements. A producer retains benecial interest when control of and title to the commodity is maintained. For an LDP, the producer must retain benecial interest in the commodity from the time of planting through the date the producer led Form CCC633EZ (page 1) in the FSA county ofce. MALs are nine-month loans where the stored grain is used as collateral. The interest rate changes each month and currently the September interest rate is 1.5 percent. LDP rates change daily. The producer must lock in the LDP rate by signing the CCC-633 on the day they want that rate, but prior to losing benecial interest in the crop. If a producer sells grain directly from the eld, they will receive the payment rate on the day they sell the grain. However, they must already have a CCC-633EZ (page 1) on le with the county ofce prior to selling. For more information, producers should contact their local FSA county ofce or visit www.fsa.usda.gov to view the fact sheet. We hope everyone has a safe and bountiful harvest season. Farm Service Agency is an Equal Opportunity Lender. Complaints about discrimination should be sent to: Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250. Visit the Farm Service Agency Web site at: www.fsa.usda.gov/ for necessary application forms and updates on USDA programs.
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Page 26 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
Part of our vows
I was tucking Lily into bed her rst night home hair, Kurt was in from chores and heading out the door for a guy’s night out to celebrate my after time at the cabin with her grandma, uncle, and cousin. She listened as I told Dairy in the Suburbs brother’s upcoming wedding. I was on my own. her about a friend whose vacation with Tate’s short hair and Gemma’s ne her family ended when they realized that hair were easy to comb through with the her young nephew had lice. I shuddered lice comb. Lily was a different story. It as I described the multiple trips the family took me three grueling hours to comb made to the laundromat to wash all the all of the nits out of her hair. She was linen in the cabin they were borrowing. in tears by the time she nally went to What a disaster. bed at midnight. When Kurt came home “Maybe I have lice,” said Lily. “My a short time later, I was just starting to head’s itchy.” treat my own hair. Combing through my “Oh, no, honey,” I said, “we ran out hair in small sections with the lice comb of salt in the water softener. Your scalp is was impossible for me to do myself, so probably dried out from the hard water. By Susan Steinke I handed the comb to Kurt. I told him It’ll be better soon.” Columnist brushing nits out of your wife’s hair I thought nothing more of it. Fast forward a week. I was lying on the couch late at night, reading. I reached up to scratch my head and pulled something hard out of my hair. It was a tiny opaque thing with a dark spot in the center. It rolled off my nger and landed on my shirt, where it started to crawl. How did this bug get in my hair? A slight uneasy feeling pricked the back of my mind as I felt around in my hair. Finding nothing, I went back to my book. The next day, we all went to a toy show in New Ulm. The kids and I were taking a popcorn break while Kurt shopped in peace. I noticed brown spots on Gemma’s scalp through her baby-ne hair. “What is this? Dirt in your hair?” I examined the spots more closely, alarm bells starting to ring in my mind. I turned to Lily, looking closely at her head. She had the same brown spots close to her scalp. And then I spotted it: the same type of bug that had been in my
C bi through Combing h h my h hair i iin small sections with the lice comb was impossible for me to do myself, so I handed the comb to Kurt. hair. As I stared at her with a growing sense of dread, I could see another bug crawling in her hair. The alarm bells changed to a full-blown siren. Lice. I thought back to Lily’s itchy comment after the cabin. “Lily, did you and Colbie share a hairbrush at the cabin?” “Yeah. She left hers in the car and so she used mine.” Oh dear. I texted my brother-in-law. Who else should I notify? The friend who’d invited Lily to a sleepover. The friend with the newborn baby we’d visited. The friend who had taken Lily to a Twins game a few days ago. I hoped we hadn’t infested anyone else. We stopped at Walgreen’s to buy lice elimination kits and repellent spray. Once home, Kurt went to the barn while I went to work on the house. I gathered all potentially contaminated items into the laundry room. The kids dragged their bedding downstairs while I put hairbrushes, headbands, and my purse in the freezer. I declared the porch off-limits; without a human head to live on, lice die after two days. I sprayed down our couches and mattresses with a lice-killing product. I vacuumed the oors. I made the kids stay in the bathroom so they couldn’t re-contaminate anything. By the time I was nally ready to treat the kids’
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Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 27
fell under the “in sickness and in health” part of his marriage vows. By the time we nished at 2 a.m., I was in tears, too. Kurt escaped the bugs, and sprayed his hair with lice repellent to keep it that way. It took many high-heat dryer cycles, three more nights of comb-throughs and another treatment with lice shampoo before I was ready to declare that we were lice-free. Kurt never once complained about having to comb through my hair. If it would have been his head that was infested, I’d have done the same for him. After all, I took a vow. Susan and her husband, Kurt, milk 40 cows in Greeneld, Minn. They have three little farmhands: Lily, 8, Tate, 4, and Gemma, 2. Just two miles east of their farm, on a clear day you can see the Minneapolis skyline. Susan can be reached at kurt.susan@hotmail. com.
Page 28 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
Karen Johnson ande9495@umn.edu (507) 444-7686 Betty Berning bberning@umn.edu (320) 203-6104 Hugh Chester-Jones chest001@umn.edu (507) 835-3622 Gerard Cramer gcramer@umn.edu (612) 625-8184 Marcia Endres miendres@umn.edu (612) 624-5391 Sandra Godden godde002@umn.edu (612) 625-8177 Leslie Hansen hanse009@umn.edu (612) 624-2277 Brad Heins hein0106@umn.edu (320) 589-1711 Kevin Janni kjanni@umn.edu (612) 625-3108 Brenda Miller nels4220@umn.edu (320) 732-4435 Kota Minegishi kota@umn.edu (612) 624-7455 Jim Paulson jcp@umn.edu (320) 234-0438 Randy Pepin pepin019@umn.edu (320) 333-1369 Erin Royster royster@umn.edu Jim Salfer salfe001@umn.edu (320) 203-6093 Riki Sorge sorge@umn.edu (612) 624-3428 M. Scott Wells mswells@umn.edu (612) 625-3747 Emily Wilmes krek0033@umn.edu (320) 255-6169
www.extension.umn.edu/dairy
Management practices, feed costs on Minnesota dairy farms
It was about time for another survey of randomly selected 37.1 percent of larger farms vs. 5 percent of smaller farms housed dairy farms in Minnesota. Random sampling is a more accurate them in 2-row freestall pens. technique we can use to describe practices most commonly • Majority of high production groups were housed in freestall adopted in our state, as this type of sampling will better represent pens (93.3 percent for larger farms, 89.2 percent for smaller the true population of farms. We also wanted to learn about milk farms); 8.1 percent of smaller farms housed the high production production, feed costs and feed costs per group in bedded packs vs. 0 percent for larger farms. Stall base hundredweight (cwt) as a measure of milk was deep beds for 72.7 percent of larger farms and 58.8 percent of smaller farms; sand was used in 56.8 percent of larger farms production economic efciency. My graduate student, Lee Kloeckner, and 52.9 percent of smaller farms, whereas recycled manure visited 82 farms in 2015 to collect on-farm solids was used in 25 percent of larger farms and 8.8 percent observations and also summarized a year of of smaller farms. About 27 percent of farms had cow brushes cow records from each farm. Herds ranging in the high production pen. There were more cross-alleys (3.0) in size from 150 to 2,100 cows were included and fewer dead ends (6.7 percent) in larger farms than in smaller in the study. In addition, we performed a farms (2.4 and 18.9 percent, respectively). Headlocks were the By Marcia Endres comparison of various management practices most common type of feed barrier (61.2 percent of farms). • Majority of farms (63.7 percent) milked three times a day between two herd sizes: 150 to 400 cows and U of M Extension greater than 400 cows. What are some key compared to two times a day (31.3 percent). Bovine somatotropin was used by 76 percent of larger herds and 43 percent of smaller things we learned? • Milk production per cow was 80.9 pounds per day for herds. Fewer farms separated close-up dry cows (17.9 percent) herds less than 400 cows (referred herein as ‘smaller’) and 88.2 and post-fresh cows (11.3 percent) by lactation than high pounds per day for herds greater than 400 cows (referred to as production group cows (80.6 percent), but 77.6 percent of farms ‘larger’). Components were similar between the two herd sizes had a separate pen for post-fresh cows. We observed that 41.8 and averaged 3.77 percent milk fat and 3.1 percent milk protein. percent of farms had inadequate heat abatement. Preliminary analysis of management factors associated with Somatic cell score was also similar between herd sizes and milk production showed that production of energy-corrected milk averaged 2.46. • Feed cost averaged $5.92 per cow per day (range of $3.79 per cow was inuenced by milking frequency, use of rBST, type to $7.70) and $7.18 per cwt of energy-corrected milk (range of of stall base/bedding, stocking density (cows/freestall), TMR particle size, and type of TMR mixer. Feed cost per hundredweight $5.41 to $9.34). • Most farms fed once a day (89.6 percent of farms); 31.3 of energy-corrected milk was associated with corn silage hybrid percent of farms fed only one ration to lactating cows and only type, hoof trimming schedule, stocking density, type of stall base/ 1.5 percent of farms fed six different rations; 53.7 percent of bedding, and brisket board height. There was a lot of variability farms fed two lactating rations to dry cows and 63.9 percent of among farms on feed cost per cwt (Figure 1). We will conduct additional analysis to better describe what top dairy farms are farms used anionic salts. • Silage-specic hybrids were used by 65.7 percent of farms; doing to improve cow productivity and feed cost efciency. Stay 75.4 percent of farms used a kernel processor and 24.6 percent tuned. of farms used shredlage; 28.4 percent of farms pre-processed alfalfa hay; forage was 52 percent, corn silage was 30.1 percent, and legume forage was 21 percent of ration dry matter; 69 percent of larger farms and 46 percent of smaller farms used a defacer. • Most commonly used storage structure for forages were piles and bunkers. A greater percentage of smaller farms used ag bags (29.7 percent) than larger farms (8.9 percent), and a greater percentage of larger farms (88.9 percent) had a paved base for storage of corn silage than smaller farms (67.6 percent). Only 2.4 percent of farms used upright silos. • Most farms (86.7 percent) used a vertical TMR mixer. • Eighty percent of smaller farms vs. 42.9 percent of larger farms housed close-up dry cows in bedded packs; Figure 1. Feed cost per hundredweight of energy-corrected milk yield
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Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 29
In the Upper Midwest, many producers have been able to dodge the rain drops to successfully harvest three, if not four, cuts on their alfalfa elds this year. Which begs the question, if the stand is matured enough should we be considering another cutting of alfalfa? If so, what kind of implications will that have on next By Karen Johnson year’s crop? There are U of M Extension several factors that contribute to alfalfa stand survival through the winter. The nature of the plant, how it is managed, and weather combine to determine the overall stand survival rate.
Nature of the alfalfa plant As the days get shorter and night time temperatures drop below 40 degrees Fahrenheit (F), the alfalfa plant begins a process called hardening, to prepare for the cold temperatures. During this time, alfalfa begins to accumulate carbohydrates for food reserves. Additional compounds accumulate in the cell to absorb free water, protecting the water in a state that will not freeze. The alfalfa plant will lose the remaining water, water outside the cell wall, to prevent the water from freezing and causing damage. This leaves the cells extremely dehydrated over the winter season. Other factors that can also affect the alfalfa plant’s ability to survive through winter are: • Age of the stand: Younger plants
are more likely to withstand more winter injury • Variety: Varieties respond differently based on winter-hardiness, disease resistance and winter dehydration tolerance • Soil quality: Stands grown in soils with pH above 6.6, high fertility and well-drained are less likely to experience injury
Managing the plant The ability of the plant to successfully overwinter starts with proper management. Timing of harvest events, especially in the fall, can either maintain or deplete root reserves critical for winter survival. University experts indicate that there is a critical fall harvest period in which the alfalfa should not be harvested. This period, in Minnesota, usually lands between Sept. 1 and Oct. 15 and is associated with a great risk of reduced yield and stand persistence. Regardless of the dates, it is critical that nal harvest occurs four to six weeks before the average date of the rst killing frost. Cutting during this period interferes with accumulation of food reserves. Additionally, the alfalfa plant will utilize reserves to regrow, sacricing reserves meant for winter. In general, it is recommended to maintain a minimum of six inches for stand growth or stubble to aid in snow accumulation for insulation.
According to the Farmers’ Almanac, we could see some snow and cold conditions as early as mid-November, with a mixed bag of winter weather in December and January, and frigid temperatures in February. In terms of the alfalfa plant, temperatures of 15 to 5 degrees F can cause damage at the crown of the plant. Luckily, snow can serve as an excellent insulator. A minimum of four inches of snow is considered adequate to insulate the soil and prevent direct freezing damage to alfalfa. The way in which the freeze and thaw cycles occur and when the alfalfa breaks from dormancy can also have a direct effect on winter survival. Conclusion Much like anything in farming, the weather determines the overall outcome of your particular alfalfa survival scenario. We must keep in mind that we may not be able to control the weather or the current variety of alfalfa in the eld, but we can control how we manage it. It is important to allow your
alfalfa eld four to six weeks before the rst killing frost to accumulate the necessary reserves to survive winter. Six inches of regrowth is also essential to promote the necessary snow insulation for minimal winter injury. Sources: Cosgrove, Dennis, and Dan Undersander. Focus on Forage. Issue brief. Wisconsin Forage Team, 2003. Web. 14 Sept. 2016. (http:// fyi.uwex.edu/forage/files/2014/01/ StandEvaluationFOF.pdf). “2016-17 Winter Weather Forecast - Farmers’ Almanac.” Farmers’ Almanac. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2016. (http://farmersalmanac.com/weatheroutlook/2017-winter-forecast/). Noland, Reagan, Doug Holen, Craig Sheaffer, and M. Scott Wells. “Alfalfa Assessment: Factors Leading to Winter Injury.” : Forage Production: University of Minnesota Extension. N.p., 2015. Web. 14 Sept. 2016. (http:// www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/ forages/growth-and-development/ alfalfa-assessment/).
GROWTH SHOULDN’T STOP WHEN THE TEMPERATURE DROPS.
Weather Over the last couple of months, we have been hearing predictions of strong La Niña conditions across the United States. Here in the Midwest, there are predictions of a freezing cold winter with average snowfall ahead of us.
Fall Specials TILLAGE/FIELD CULTIVATORS CIH 4800 Field Cultivator, 24.5,’ w/3 row coil tine .................$6,800 JD 235 Duracushion 22’ Disc w/Remlinger 3-Row Coil Tine...$4,200 Great Plains 30’ Turbo Till Rolling Basket and Reel, 2010 .....$32,000 Wilrich 657 11 Shank Chisel/ Ripper Combo, 2014 ..............$27,800 Wilrich 657 11 Shank Chisel/ Ripper Combo, 2013, used 1 season .....................................................................$25,000 COMBINES & HEADS Wilrich 657 11 Shank Chisel/ Ripper Combo, 2012, Gleaner S77 combine, 2013, duals, 850 eng, 553 sep ........$235,000 2 Bar Coil & Basket .............................................................$30,700 Gleaner R75 Combine, 2008, duals 2276 eng, 1656 sep ....$155,000 Gleaner R75 Combine, 2003, duals, 1438 sep,1976 E ..........$95,000 ROW CROP, DRILLS & SPRAYERS CIH 2206 6 Row 30” Corn Head, 2002..................................$16,500 Hardi TR 1000 60’ Boom Flush And Rinse, CIH 1020 20’ Flex Head, 2010, very nice shape ....................$18,200 triplet nozzle bodys .............................................................. $7,500 Gleaner 8200 30’ Flex Head 2011 w/Crary Air Reel ...............$36,500 Hardi Navigator 4000 2013 90’ Boom,120” axle,ISO ........... $43,000 Gleaner 8000 Flex Head 30’ ..................................................$16,000 Hardi Navigator 4000 80’ Boom 120” Axle, ‘09, 1200 gal, Cressoni 6R30 Cutter Corn Head, JD Mounts .......................$19,500 foam................................................................................... $29,000 Harvestec 4308C Cutter Corn Head 8R30” Gl mounts, nice ..$39,000 White 8202 12 Row 30” Wing Fold Planter, 2001, Harvestec 4308C Cutter Corn Head 8 Row 30”, JD mount....$31,000 with 4,900 acres ................................................................ $35,500 Harvestec 4308C Cutter Corn Head 8 Row 30”, NH/Case IH mount, ‘08 ...................................................... $39,000 GRAIN CARTS & WAGONS Unverferth 5000 Grain Cart w/24.5-32 tires & lights, green ..$12,800 Harvestec 6312C Cutter Corn Head 12 Row 30” GL Mounts, 2013........................................................................................... 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Call Case IH RB455, 806 bales, 2016, silage baler with cutter .... $37,000 GRAIN EQUIPMENT MF Hesston 2150 Baler, 3X3, tandem, app., scale, roller chute, 2012............................................................... $79,500 Good selection of used augers ..................................................... Call Hesston 4790 Baler, 3X4, 24,300 Bales .............................. $41,000 Hesston 1150 12’ Pull Type Haybine ...................................... $2,200 MISCELLANEOUS Hesston 4600 Small Square Baler............................................... Call Bush Hog Sq84t 7’ Rotary Mower, offset ................................$2,500 John Deere 702 10 Wheel Rake ............................................. $2,500 Bush Hog Hmg8 8’ 3 pt disc mower, Sold New In 2014, Tonutti 10 Wheel Rake ........................................................... $2,000 Consigned .............................................................................$5,200 Ih 600 Blower Nice Shap........................................................ $2,700 1,000 Gal Fuel Tank & Trailer w/gas engine fuel pump ............$2,800 Krone Swadro 881 Rake 2-point Hitch 540 Pto.................... $14,000 Grouser 6-Way 96” Dirt Blade with skid steer mount..............$2,900 Ag Way BF 5000 3Pt Hitch Bale Feeder Like New................... $7,600 Jd 60” Mower Deck for 4200 JD tractor .................................$1,350 Rem 2700 Grain Vac, 160 hrs, 2012 .....................................$15,900 Westendorf TA46 Loader ........................................................$3,000 TRACTORS Allis Chalmers 190, gas, cab, 2WD w/loader & bucket .......... $6,500 Case IH 695 2WD, platform, 2878 hrs w/TA26 ldr & bucket $13,200 Case IH MXU 130 FWA, 3700 hrs, 14.9R46 Rear Tires ........ $48,000 Ford 9N ....................................................................................... 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Prayers for Rick Page 30 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
An unfamiliar number lit up my phone. The young lady on the other end identied herself as Jessica and asked if she could speak to me about my farm accident. I said, “Of course.” Jessica then related her story. Some weeks ago, her uncle Lonnie descended into a manure pit on their Orient, S.D. dairy farm to perform routine repairs. Things were going as planned until it suddenly dawned on Lonnie that he was soaked with manure and was sprawled on the ground beside the manure pit. Lonnie peered into the pit and saw his brother Rick – Jessica’s father – lying unconscious in the manure. Lonnie realized that he must have been knocked out by toxic manure pit gases while doing the repairs. Rick had discovered Lonnie at the bottom of the pit and clambered down into the fetid abyss to save him. After somehow managing to muscle Lonnie out of
the pit, Rick was overcome by the fumes and tumbled back in. Lonnie crawled up into a tractor cab and used its CB radio to summon help. Family members rushed to the scene and, despite the obvious danger, climbed down into the manure pit to give Rick what aid they could. An ambulance crew soon arrived and extracted Rick from the pit. The EMTs told Lonnie that he had to go to the hospital. Lonnie at rst refused, saying that he was OK and that they needed to focus their efforts on Rick. The EMTs convinced Lonnie to ride with them to the hospital in the cab of the ambulance. As the ambulance neared a local hospital, Lonnie began to vomit and to cough uncontrollably. He was rushed into the ER, but died a short time later. Lonnie Martinmaas was 58 years old. Rick was own to a large hospital in Sioux Falls
and has remained in a coma ever since the accident. Jessica and her family were wondering, given my history, if I could lend them some insight as they grapple with this heart-rendering situation. I am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV But I do have a bit of rsthand experience regarding Dear County Agent Guy manure pit gases. In July of 1988, I crawled down into a manure pit on our family’s dairy farm to perform some routine repairs on a pump. Within moments of entering the pit I started to feel woozy and immediately began to By Jerry Nelson scramble back out. I didn’t make it. Columnist Lurking at the bottom of the manure pit was an invisible killer called hydrogen sulde. The noxious gas swiftly rendered me unconscious and caused chemical burns in my lungs. My father found me oating in the manure. First Responders were summoned and my apparently lifeless body was hauled out of the pit. I was rushed to a local hospital before being own to a larger hospital in Sioux Falls. Dozens of dedicated medical professionals – ICU nurses, pulmonologists, infectious disease specialists, surgeons, neurologists – worked around the clock in an effort to save me. My wife never left my side during the entire ordeal. She nursed me through the fevers and the deliriums and did everything in her power to ensure that I received the best care possible. As I languished in the hospital, friends and neighbors came to our farm and helped my family with eld work. I will never be able thank my family, our community and my medical team enough. Nearly six weeks after my accident, I was able to walk out of the hospital. The only lingering effect that followed me home was a marked reduction of my peripheral vision. It was as if I were looking at the world through a drinking straw. My doctors told me that a tiny portion of the vision center of my brain had been lost. At some point during my accident I became so anoxic that the process of brain death had begun. To this day, nobody knows how it was that so many things went right for me. No one can say why I survived when others who have been in similar situations were less fortunate. I explained all of this and more to Jessica. I reiterated that I’m not a doctor nor any kind of an expert. I had no answers, no proven formulas that were gleaned from that gruesome experience. All I know for certain is that my survival was nothing less than a miracle. A few days ago, an unfamiliar number lit up my phone. The young lady on the other end identied herself as Kylee and asked if I would speak about my farm accident for the TV show “On Call with a Prairie Doc.” I said, “Of course.” Jerry is a recovering dairy farmer from Volga, S.D. He and his wife, Julie, have two grown sons and live on the farm where Jerry’s great-grandfather homesteaded over 110 years ago. Jerry currently works full time for the Dairy Star as a staff writer/ad salesman. Feel free to E-mail him at: jerry.n@ dairystar.com.
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How do you like your dairy news?
As an editor – both for print and online – for Dairy Star, I read a lot. I receive daily news blasts from Google News Alert with a keyword setting of “dairy.” I receive numerous emails from all over the world with topics ranging from the latest robotic milking technology to the research results of estrogen levels in milk. Some people get annoyed when they get random emails from businesses and organizations – not me. It seems I found the most interesting information in the most indirect way. I have become an ultimate information seeker for dairy-related news. If there is something dairy-related happening, I want to know about it and how it is going to affect dairy producers managing their dairy operations. With my information gathering, I would like to pass this information along sooner than what the newspaper can do. That is why we are considering starting a Dairy Star e-newsletter. I have several ideas in mind By Andrea Borgerding on how to structure an e-newsletter sent directly to an Online Editor email inbox. We are proposing the newsletter be sent out on the opposite weeks of Dairy Star – so twice a month. The newsletter will include news – including both global and national dairy-related news. We can include human-interest items, updates to markets and maybe even trivia or a cartoon. The newsletter could also include reminders for calendar items for seminars, eld days and even upcoming auctions. Since this newsletter will be compiled for your convenience – I’d like to hear your suggestions. What do you want delivered to your inbox? What information would you like to read? Or perhaps, what do you not want to see? Would you sign up to receive a Dairy Star newsletter? Please send me your feedback – call, or write to me at andrea.b@dairystar. com. As a self-proclaimed, ultimate dairy news buff – I would love to share what I nd with you more often.
Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 31 ‘10 CIH 260 Magnum, 1375 hrs., deluxe cab, 4 rmts, guidance ready - $141,600 FORAGE / HAY
‘13 NH FR600, SPFH, 1220 CH hrs., 2WD, Crop Pro, duals .................$224,000 ‘12 NH FR9090 SPFH, 1455 CH hrs., 2WD, Crop Pro .....................................Call ‘11 NH FR9090 SPFH, 1430 CH hrs., 4WD, Crop Pro .....................................Call ‘10 NH FR9090 SPFH, 1829 CH hrs., 2WD, Crop Pro .....................................Call ‘08 NH FR9060 SPFH, 1810 CH hrs., Crop Pro ...............................................Call ‘08 NH FR9050 SPFH, 1748 C. hrs, HID ................................. .Must Move! ‘05 NH FX60 SPFH, 1476 C. hrs., RWA, Crop Pro ................................$119,000 ‘06 NH FX45 SPFH, 2800 CH hrs., Crop Pro, as is ................................. $39,900 ‘07 CIH LBX332 big sq. baler, 17,890 bales, packer plunger ...............$48,700 ‘13 NH BR7090 baler, 9300 bales, endless belts, Specialty Crop ......... $25,500 ‘13 NH BR7090 baler, 9000 bales, endless belts, specialty crop .......... $22,900 ‘11 NH BR7090 baler, 13,000 bales, specialty crop, endless belts ........$19,800 ‘10 NH BR7090 baler, 3500 bales, endless belts, specialty crop ...........$17,950 ‘14 NH RB560 baler, 9200 bales, field ready, specialty crop .................$26,800
TRACTORS
‘12 CIH 600 QT Stieger, 1350 hrs., luxury cab, guidance, 6 remotes ...$276,500 ‘12 CIH 315, 181 hrs., auto guide, wgts.....................................$173,000 (OC) ‘06 CIH 305 Magnum, 3350 hrs., leather interior, remote mirrors...... $102,900 ‘10 CIH 260 Magnum, 1375 hrs., deluxe cab, 4 rmts, guidance ready $141,600 ‘08 CIH 215 Magnum,3412 hrs., MFD, 3 remotes ....................$87,500 (OC) ‘06 CIH MX305, 2704 hrs., luxury interior, susp. frt. axle, 4 remotes .... $96,500 ‘92 CIH 7120 Magnum, 7390 hrs., new tires, MFD, 3 remotes .............. $34,500 ‘87 CIH 585, 540 PTO, 2 remotes, 8F-4R trans .........................................$8,900 ‘77 IH 1086, 8195 hrs., duals, 2 remotes..................................................$9,400
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SKIDLOADERS
‘13 NH L230, 1705 hrs., C&H, AC, HMP, 2 spd., air seat, perf. pkg. ...... $34,900 ‘12 NH L230, 2350 hrs., C&H, AC, HMP, 2 spd., perf. pkg., susp. seat .. $29,500 ‘11 NH L230, 1825 hrs., C&H, AC, HMP, 2 spd., perf. pkg ..................... $31,500 ‘14 NH L225, 315 hrs., C&H, AC, HMP, 2 spd., turn signals ............... $36,300 ‘14 NH L225, 280 hrs., C&H, AC, HMP, 2 spd ........................................ $36,700 ‘12 NH L225, 615 hrs., C&H, AC, HMP, 2 spd ........................................ $34,400 ‘14 NH L225, 360 hrs., C&H, AC, HMP, 2 spd., perf. pkg., air seat, warr $33,900 ‘12 NH L225, 2185 hrs., C&H, AC, HMP, 2 spd., air susp. seat, perf. pkg........................................................................ $26,900 ‘12 NH L225, 1125 hrs., C&H, AC, 2 spd., HMP, air seat, radio, debris kit .... $31,900 ‘07 NH L185, 1761 hrs., HMP, 2 spd., block heater ............................... $21,700 ‘12 Case SV250, 1047 hrs., C&H, HMP, 2 spd., air susp. seat ..... $30,500 (OC) ‘12 Case SV250, 1039 hrs., C&H, AC, 2 spd., HMP, air seat, radio ........ $31,900
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Is Monday over yet? Page 32 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
By the time I got out to the barn Monday morning, I already knew it was going to be one of those days where you want to crawl back into bed, bury your head under the covers and hit restart. It all started with good intentions and ended with thoughts of gratitude the day was nally over. On Sunday, a fresh 3-year-old was struggling to adjust being back in a stall. We turned her out over night to stretch out in the dirt lot with the switch cows. Good intentions. When Mark went to bring her back to the barn the next morning, she was sprawled out on the concrete lot. We think another cow bumped or pushed her causing her to lose her balance and down she went. She struggled to nd her footing to get up and by morning was exhausted. The guys ended up dragging her 30 feet to the dirt lot to see if there was a chance she would be able to get up again. Then it was time to start milking. When I came out for chores, I couldn’t understand why it was so wet outside the barn door. It didn’t rain overnight. When I walked in the front door, the guys hadn’t reached the cross walk in their milking. I thought they really got a late start this morning. Then I saw the
feed mangers. The leftover baleage was soggy and loose feed was oating. Apparently a cow in the back of the barn had knocked the water hose off of the water cup and water ran all night long. Water had been running out the front door when the guys got there, so before they could start milking, they had to x the water cup. For the next hour, I forked up wet feed and pushed walls of water out of the mangers into the gutter. The ventilation fans could not pull the moist air out of the barn quick enough. It was only 6:30, and I was wringing wet with sweat. By the time the feed mangers were cleaned and the morning feed was mixed, it was time to see what direction our down cow was going to take. When we went out to the switch lot, she was standing up in the soft dirt. She wasn’t moving, but at least she was standing. By the time we nished milking the switch cows, Mark gently moved her over to the milking barn and into a stall. She handled the move well, but was a bit gimpy as her muscles were sore from a long night. At least she didn’t have to stand in a ooded barn overnight. These unexpected and lengthy delays turned the
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pressure up to get out to the elds and start chopping corn silage. The neighbors had been at it for a couple of days and we were falling behind. We sometimes forget that they can chop earlier than us because they ll bags and we ll silos. They can chop with a bit more Just Thinking Out Loud moisture content than us, but we don’t want to be left behind, so off we go. The guys were done with the nal machinery prep work of greasing zerks and oiling chains. Then it was off to start opening up the elds. With a pull-type chopper, it is a slow and tedious job of opening up new elds and clearing off end rows. I By Natalie Schmitt knew it was a two-man job, so I was free for a couple Columnist of hours to run errands and practice music for a wedding. When I got back home, the tractor and chopper were pulled up to the machine shed. This did not look good. On the rst load – as Mark was clearing off the end rows – the right front spindle collapsed. Bouncing across the rows with a full box was too much for the wheel and down she went. A quick call to area machinery dealers proved our theory that parts inventories are very low. The only dealer who usually had one on hand sold his last one a couple of days before and wouldn’t be restocked until later in the week. There the rst full box of the harvest season sat at the end of the eld. Oh well, at least we had two other boxes to keep things moving. Mark hooked up to the second box and went back into the eld. Nothing. The chopper wouldn’t engage. Now I am not mechanical, so I don’t know what really happened with the chopper. All I knew was that it wouldn’t work and tempers were on very short fuses. Mark brought the chopper back to the yard to investigate the problem with better light and better tools. Since the chopper wasn’t working, Mark and Al shifted their attention to getting the downed chopper box unloaded. They pulled the gray elevator up to the downed box and borrowed an opened top box from the neighbors and proceeded to transfer the load. Things were going better, but only for a moment. After the transfer was complete, they discovered the borrowed box needed a new connecting link for the chain. They had ordered the part, but it wasn’t in yet. So, there the feed sat again. I was beginning to think we weren’t suppose to start chopping yet. It was time to start the evening chores when Jonathon stopped by to help. Perfect timing. He is mechanically inclined like his dad and together they buried their heads in the workings of the chopper. Al and I started milking and Brenda helped with the other chores. Things were moving along, but I started to get this nagging feeling of impending doom. Mark surely wouldn’t go work on that chopper box by himself would he? I couldn’t leave the barn during milking to go check on him, so I did all that I could do. I started praying for God to keep him safe. It was my focus between cows. Once we had the cows in the barn milked, it was time to start moving switch cows. Mark arrived just in time to help us with the extra cattle. He seemed to have a sense of relief on his face when I caught up to him. He told me he had a close call with the chopper box. He and Jonathon decided to block up the box and remove the tire and broken spindle. Since the box was at the end of a eld, they needed to use the Bobcat, wooden blocks and heavy oor jacks to lift the box high enough to remove the broken pieces. They thought they had everything secured and turned to the back of the truck for more blocks when something gave way and the box crashed back down into the soft soil. Mark said he was about to crawl under the box to remove the part, but was distracted by something else when the box gave way. I just hugged him and thanked God. We nished the milking and decided we better quit before something else went wrong for the day. We crawled into bed with 10 ngers and 10 toes, pulled the covers over our heads and fell asleep knowing at least this Monday was nally over. Natalie, Mark and his brother, Al, Schmitt farm together near Rice, Minn. They milk 100 registered Holsteins under the RALMA prex. Their four children are great help around the farm and are pushing Natalie out of several jobs. Therefore she is thankful to have something else to do. For questions or comments please email Natalie at mnschmitt@jetup.net.
A moment of hope
To say that the past three weeks have tested my mettle would be an understatement. For the majority of those 21 days, at least one person in our family was unwell. First, Glen hurt his back and spent a considerable amount of time dressing Daphne’s Barbies for her while lying on the living room oor. Then, something I ate left me with a severe case of food poisoning. Following that, each one of our kids battled one back-to-school virus or another. They had more sick days in the rst three weeks of school than we had all of last year. Unwell family members really wear a mom down. More than once I wished I had a do-over for the month of September. Dairy Good Life On top of the physical challenges, it seems like every single news story I heard or read layered on mental and emotional anguish. I didn’t sleep for three nights after the details of Jacob Wetterling’s kidnapping and murder were reported. I’m still uneasy. I was eight years old when Jacob disappeared. His last school picture – on the back of our milk cartons – joined me for lunch more days than I can count. Like every other Minnesotan, the mystery haunted me. Solving the mystery still seems unreal. And now, as a mom, there’s a heightened level of worry for my own children. An entire city block in our town caught re last By Sadie Frericks week, destroying historic buildings constructed by Columnist the town’s founder back in 1887. The re left families without homes and businesses without a place to do business. This was our town’s second major re in six months. Last March, our church burned at the hands of an arsonist. Then came the news of the stabbings at the shopping mall in St. Cloud. This was not like hearing about attacks in other places. I shop at that mall several times a year. As the story of the events unfolded, I could picture the scenes exactly. There was no need for imagination. Intermixed with all this are reports about our presidential candidates. I really don’t think I need to say any more about the despair this causes. It’s hard not to feel at times like the whole country – and maybe world – is going to hell in a handbasket. But when everything looks bleak, the bright spots shine brighter. I think that’s why I was overcome with joy when my sister called to say that her water had broken. When my sister called to share the good news that they were expecting their third child, she asked if it would be possible for me to help with the birth. I said that if the stars aligned I would be there. She understands that a dairy farmer’s life – and a mother’s – can be unpredictable. She had been my helper during Dan’s birth – the rst baby born to us four sisters. Her baby will probably be the last baby. For most of the 11 babies born in between, a sister has been there to help. I held onto the idea of being there, but knew it might not happen. She was 11 days early IIn a world ld that h sometimes i when her water broke, but timing was perfect. It seems so lost, we can still find the was a Saturday afternoon, so hope, love and goodness. our kids didn’t have school. Glen’s parents were able to help and we were ahead of schedule with chores for the day. I showered quickly and hopped in the van for the two-hour drive. Her rst two babies were born after rather short labors, so I crossed my ngers that I would make it in time. And I did. After a quick and uneventful labor, their baby boy was born. In that moment, watching my nephew take his rst breath and let out a bellow of discontent at being suddenly removed from his mother’s cozy womb, I was lled with the awe and wonderment that always comes when watching life begin. But this time, watching a human baby enter the world, the feelings were magnied a hundredfold. In an instant, the pain and anxiety of birthing were erased by the joy of seeing a baby. It was a moment of hope. It was a moment to remember that love abounds and good things still happen. That was even more evident after watching the outpouring of love from my sister and her husband for their new little boy. Love overowed again when his big brother and sister arrived. It was a beautiful experience and I will forever be grateful to have been there. In a world that sometimes seems so lost, we can still nd hope, love and goodness. Sadie and her husband, Glen, milk 75 cows near Melrose, Minn. They have three children – Dan, 9, Monika, 6, and Daphne, 3. Sadie also writes a blog at www. dairygoodlife.com. She can be reached at gsfrericks@meltel.net.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 33
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JIM HEHENBERGER (WI) 608-544-2421 (office) • 608-963-9485 (cell) RICH PEDERSON (MN) 320-995-6403 (office) • 320-905-3725 (cell)
What we feed and why
Page 34 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
“Have you seen anyone chopping silage yet?” This was a frequently asked question this month amongst dairy producers and nutritionists. The question illustrates what guides our decision making process. The rst step in decision making almost always starts with facts or hard data, but underlaying the decision and directing the decision outcome is the personal feeling about the decision/subject matter. Physically seeing someone or no one in the eld chopping was fact, but underlying the question was trying to make the personal decision, or recommendation to clients for nutritionists, to chop. The personal feeling/knowledge of the eld being too wet generally overweighed knowing the corn was ready to chop. At a meeting recently, I heard a presenter on the topic of decision making relate it to an iceberg. With an iceberg, there is a section that is usually above the water, but a much larger section below the surface of the water that supports and controls the iceberg above the water. The section above the water represented facts or perceived to be facts related to the decision. Facts are generally visible and available to all in the decision making process. The larger section below the surface represents our feelings/instincts/knowledge on the subject and is usually only known by the person making the deciBy Jim Linn sion. Facts are what form the decision, but it is feelings, instincts or Nutritionist personal knowledge about the subject matter that render the nal decision. I thought about the decision making process as I read a survey article on dairy products being used in the dairy industry. The report titled “Dairy Priorities” was from Feedstuffs magazine. Tim Lundeen, a staff editor for Feedstuffs, who writes weekly animal agriculture articles in Feedstuffs, wrote the product survey article. The survey results he reported on were from a wide spectrum of people in the dairy industry, but mostly from dairy producers, nutritionists, feed industry people and veterinarians. One of the questions that exemplied how we make decisions was; What factors are considered when purchasing health products and feed ingredients? Responses to the question are in the table below. Not Somewhat Somewhat Important Unimportant Neither Important % of respondents Price 3 8 3 Technical service 3 3 8 Sales service and 5 --3 support Product quality and 5 ----efcacy Adapted from Feedstuffs Dairy Priorities report – Sept. 2016
Very Important
50 32 34
37 55 58
13
67
Responses to this question show dairy producers and others make decisions on products based on product quality, sales support and technical service. I consider price and technical service (likely research data) to be the facts on the products with sales support and product quality and efcacy more in the personal feelings/knowledge about the product. The question responses clearly show price is a secondary factor in deciding to use a product or feed ingredient. Research and good technical data to support the product or feed ingredient along with good service and support are very important in choosing to use a product or feed ingredient. Our personal feeling/knowledge about quality and efcacy are the primary factors in using a product or feed ingredient. The survey also included questions on which products are used in dairy operations. The most commonly used products are listed in the following table. Product Trace minerals Vitamins Antibiotics (therapeutic/treatment) Amino acids Buffers Micro feed ingredients Vaccines Feed fats Probiotics Antibiotics (prophylactic/preventive) Enzymes
% of operations using 89 83 71 69 69 66 66 60 54 51 29
Adapted from Feedstuffs Dairy Priorities report – Sept. 2016
Survey results on product usage are what I think most dairy producers and nutritionist would predict. Trace mineral and vitamin premixes are included in almost every ration from calfhood through lactation. More than two-thirds of the dairy operations include a buffer or buffers in the ration. Rumen protected or a high rumen bypass source of amino acids was fed on over two-thirds of the dairy operations. Over 90 percent of those reported feeding amino acids fed rumen protected amino acids. The survey did not specify which amino acid or acids were being fed, but my guess is methionine is the most fed amino acid as there have been several research reports on its efcacy for milk composition and health in lactating and dry cows, respectively, the last few years. Sixtyfour percent of the respondents feeding amino acids fed blood meal, 46 percent fed oilseeds and 18 percent fed shmeal. Sixty percent of the farms fed fat with over 85 percent of those farms feeding a rumen inert or bypass fat. Use of therapeutic or treatment antibiotics for treating sick animals should be under the recommendation and guidance of a veterinarian. The upcoming Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) will likely affect all of the prophylactic/preventive antibiotic category. Feeding a therapeutic or preventive antibiotic will require a directive (prescription) from a veterinarian for usage starting in January. Milk replacer containing oxytetracycline and neomycin sulfates is a good example of a commonly fed product today that does not require a veterinarian prescription or directive. However, starting in January, a veterinary directive will be required to feed a milk replacer containing an antibiotic. About 50 percent of all milk replacers currently fed in the United States contain oxy/neo. Starting in January, a veterinary feed directive covering the amount and duration of feeding for a specied group of animals will have to accompany orders for the milk replacer. You will no longer be able to go to the feed mill and pick up medicated milk replacer without a valid VFD. The VFD essentially moves all over the counter (OTC) antibiotics to a VFD level. Jan. 1 is coming fast, so be sure to talk to your veterinarian and nutritionist about the new VFD and what medicated feeding programs on your farm will require a VFD for continued feeding.
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“Let’s milk cows”
Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 35
Fink takes leap into dairying despite limited experience By Cassie Olson
cassie.o@dairystar.com
TOMAH, Wis. – When Samantha Fink initially purchased her farm in 2012 with her father, Dale, and brother, Cody, her plan was never to milk cows. Despite her limited experience in dairy, Fink took a leap of faith in September 2015 when she began lling her Tomah, Wis., farm with the 100 dairy cows she milks today. Having grown up on her family’s beef and crop farm in Trempealeau, Wis., Fink and her family purchased the Tomah farm primarily for the land. With 250 acres, nearly all of which are tillable, the purchase allowed them to expand as Fink approached college graduation. “I was going to school for animal science for the rst two years that we owned the farm. We bought it in 2012, when land prices had skyrocketed; both my brother and I knew we wanted to farm, and this farm was more affordable than the land near Trempealeau. It was the only option,” Fink said. Following her graduation in May 2014, Fink moved 70 miles from her home farm to begin farming in Tomah. She began by raising a fraction of her family’s beef steers and heifers for the rst year. The farm’s previous owners, however, had milked cows until the farm was sold. As she put more time
CASSIE OLSON/DAIRY STAR
Samantha Fink milks 100 cows on her dairy farm in Tomah, Wis. Fink purchased the farm with her father and brother in 2012 before she began milking cows in 2015. and effort into the farm, Fink realized she was putting the existing equipment and facilities to waste. “The parlor and equipment was here, all in good condition,” Fink said. “So, one day I just said to my dad, ‘Let’s milk cows.’” Fink’s father milked cows until
she was 5 years old. With his help and guidance, they welcomed the farm’s rst 30 fresh cows on the morning of Sept. 1, 2015. There was a lot for Fink to learn before getting the farm up and running. Having sat empty for nearly three years, a transformer wire had gone bad
and needed repair. Before milking in the parlor, the wiring had to be xed in order to get the equipment working properly. Fink recalled the rst milking in the parlor once the electrical wiring had been repaired. “The lights all came on, and it was Turn to FINK | Page 37
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Page 36 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
Women In Jeans Tammy Olson Plainview, Minn. Wabasha County 350 cows Family: My husband, Derrek, and I have been married seven years. We have three children: Emelyn, 5, Henry, 4, and Grace, 2. Tell us about your farm. Derrek began milking on a rented farm in 2002. In 2003, he bought his dad’s cows and moved his original herd home. We met in 2003 while I was nishing my elementary education degree. After nishing my schooling, I decided I liked farming along side Derrek and chose to continue that full-time. We were married in 2009. In addition to milking 350 cows and raising our own heifers, we run 625 acres of land. What’s the busiest time of day for you? Mornings are busy for me. This year starts a new routine for us as Emelyn is now in kindergarten. So we get up, have breakfast and get Emelyn on the bus before I go out to the barn with the younger two kids. I feed all the calves and the heifers that aren’t on TMR. I also set the employees up for the day and explain what needs to be done. I have to translate this to Spanish. All this needs to be done before the attention spans of our 2 and 4-year-olds are gone. Also, if we are selling cows, I haul them to the salesbarn. When you get a spare moment what do you do? I like to take day trips with the kids – to the zoo, an apple orchard or a pumpkin patch. We also like to get together with family and friends. When I have a moment to sit, I like to catch up on my giant stack of magazines to read. Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. In general, I like watching the kids, especially the rst time they do something such as feeding the calves or hauling manure with Derrek. It’s fun watching their new experiences. It’s amazing how much they absorb. What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? I like being able to work from home with my family. I get to spend
time with Derrek and I can be here for my family. I can be here to put Emelyn on the bus and be here when she gets home from school. Working on the farm allows me to be exible with my work day – either doing chores or a project on the farm or helping with something at school during the day. How do you stay connected with others in the industry? We see people at different agriculture events in the area – at local farm shows, breakfast on the farm or family night on the farm. Many of our friends are dairy farmers, and we enjoy getting together over dinner to catch up on what is happening with them and their farm. We also visit with vendors when we’re out running errands. Do you have any ideas that could make farming easier for you and all farming women? One of the big challenges we face is nding reliable and competent labor. So, it would make farming easier to have people here to do the job and do it well. We currently have four employees. What is the best vacation you’ve ever taken? Our honeymoon – we were married in August 2009, so we postponed our honeymoon until January when it wasn’t so busy on the farm. We took two weeks and drove out to the East Coast. We went to the pro football hall of fame, spent ve days in New York City and went down to an Amish farming area in Pennsylvania. We stopped by a salesbarn to watch calves sell. The people we met there told us if we wanted to see a big salesbarn to go to New Holland, Pa. So we drove there and found somewhere to stay for the night. The next day we saw the dairy sale. We talked to a lot of the older dairy farmers there. On our way back home, we stopped in Green Bay and took a tour of Lambeau Field. It was a fun trip. Plus, it was a lot warmer on the East Coast than it was at home.
FARM INFORMATION STATION Joe Gill • Farm Director
SERVING CENTRAL MINNESOTA FOR OVER 50 YEARS Catch the Dairy Star’s Mark Klaphake with Joe Gill at 6:45 a.m. the 2nd & 4th Fridays of the month on KASM!
PO Box 160, Albany, MN • (320) 845-2184 • Fax (320) 845-2187
What are some words you like to live by? Around our farm, I like to say, “You don’t just show up in life.” You need to roll up your sleeves and get involved. If you want to get anywhere in life or accomplish anything you better get busy because it isn’t going to happen by itself. We also try to teach our kids the importance of being a good worker, being kind to others and being a good neighbor.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 37
ConƟnued from FINK | Page 35
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CASSIE OLSON/DAIRY STAR
Samantha Fink boƩle feeds a calf during morning chores. Calves are raised unƟl weaning on the dairy before they are transferred to her family’s beef farm in Trempealeau, Wis. awesome,” she said. Since moving in a year ago, Fink has grown internally to 100 milking cows. Calves are kept on the farm until they are weaned. At that time, they are transported to her family’s home farm in Trempealeau where they stay until two months prior to calving. Fink said running the farm this way allows her to handle the herd on her own. “I like focusing on the calves and cows,” Fink said. “Since I’m here on my own, it’s what I am able to handle.” Fink said despite the distance between farms, her family is very actively involved with the dairy’s operation. In addition to running the family’s farm back home, Dale and Cody are also responsible for all the crop work between both farms. “Sharing equipment between the farms with the distance can be a pain,” Fink said. “But either my brother or dad are down here at least once or twice a week on average.” In the last year, a lot of updates have been made to the farm. Built in the late 1960s, much of the farm was outdated and in need of repairs. Two silos were torn down and headlocks were replaced with a feed rail in the heifer shed. Inside the 200-stall freestall barn, an outdated conveyor system was removed and a cement pad with a feed rail is currently being added outside for feeding. Making changes to the farm was challenging upfront, but Fink said she
hopes it makes her a better dairy farmer in the long run. “With the milk price where it has been, we had a lot of overhead costs upfront, and scraping to get by was hard,” she said. “But, going in with milk price at a low, I quickly learned to understand the importance of money management.” Eventually, Fink and her family hope to update the rest of the buildings to make things easier and more efcient. She said her goal is to soon build an up-close maternity pen and to make updates to the freestall barn as they are able. With a very limited knowledge of dairy jumping into her farming venture, Fink admits the last year has been nothing short of challenging. Despite these challenges, however, she said it is just as rewarding as she had imagined. “I really wanted to farm and the undertaking was a bit overwhelming,” Fink said. “I have had so much support from my dad and brother as well as my neighbors who help me every day.” One year in, Fink is still learning. Seeing things go right and cows continuing to be productive, however, has made it all worth it. “When it all goes well, the cow are milking out good and I’m raising healthy calves – I love doing that,” Fink said. “I am learning something totally new, and I am still learning something every day.”
CASSIE OLSON/DAIRY STAR
Fink milks in a double-8 parallel parlor. Fink was raised on a beef farm where she learned to use and maintain equipment.
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Page 38 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
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*20% down, 0% A.P.R. financing for 84 months on new Kubota M (excluding M59/M62) Series Equipment is available to qualified purchasers from participating dealers’ in-stock inventory through 12/31/2016. Example: An 84-month monthly installment repayment term at 0% A.P.R. requires 84 payments of $11.90 per $1,000 financed. 0% A.P.R. interest is available to customers if no dealer documentation preparation fee is charged. Dealer charge for document preparation fee shall be in accordance with state laws. Inclusion of ineligible equipment may result in a higher blended A.P.R. 0% A.P.R. and low-rate financing may not be available with customer instant rebate offers. Financing is available through Kubota Credit Corporation, U.S.A., 3401 Del Amo Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503; subject to credit approval. Some exceptions apply. Offer expires 12/31/2016. See us for details on these and other low-rate options or go to www.kubota.com for more information. Kubota Tractor Corporation Markets a Complete Line of Tractors, Performance-Matched Implements, Construction Equipment, Lawn and Garden Equipment, Hay Tools and Spreaders, Commercial Turf Products and Utility Vehicles Through a Nationwide Network of Over 1,000 Authorized Dealers. Optional equipment may be shown.
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Dairy prole Dave Regnier St. Cloud, Minn. Stearns County 70 cows How did you get into farming? I never grew up on a farm, but I had worked on one for a couple summers during my freshman and sophomore years in high school. After I got married to my wife, Shelly, in 1977, I married into her family’s dairy farm. What are your thoughts and concerns about the dairy industry for the next year? No. 1 is prices. Something has to change in the pricing structure to improve our longevity. Lately, it takes several years to get out of our low ones and as soon as we’re out of
Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 39
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it, we’re back into another low. I wish we could just stay in the middle. What do you enjoy most about dairy farming? I like the independence I have with it. I’ve never been good at taking orders from other people. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received? It actually came from my father-in-law, Ed Hunstiger. He told me that the rst loss you have is the smallest loss. What has been the best purchase you’ve ever made on your farm and why? Purchasing the farmland next door to us when it came up for sale. It helped us diversify and increase
our longevity in the dairy industry. We were able to be more self-sufcient because we were able to have enough feed for the cows and still be able to sell some crops. What has been your biggest accomplishment while dairy farming and why? Being able to raise three kids on the farm where they learned responsibility and gained a strong work ethic. They were able to take those things and achieve successful careers. What are your plans for your dairy in the next ve years? We are planning on downsizing the dairy and putting more focus on a small beef herd. What is your favorite dairy product? Cheese. What is your favorite tool and why? My woodcarving tools are my favorite because it’s my favorite
pastime. How do you or your family like to spend time when you’re not doing chores? Since our kids are grown up now, we have several grandchildren we enjoy spending time with. My wife enjoys working with her horses she has here on the farm, and I enjoy doing woodcarving and using my indoor gun range here on the farm. What is your favorite technology and why? I know it’s not new, but it would be my cell phone. I am able to get instant reports for our milk, including milk components, right at our ngertips. If you could have a celebrity help you with chores for a day, who would it be and why? I would have Bobby Flay, the celebrity chef who has done several cooking shows on the Food Network, because once we would get
done with chores, we’d be cooking food. Tell us about your farm. My wife, Shelly, and I milk 70 cows with her parents, Ed and Carol Hunstiger, her sisters, Sue Schulte and Joyce Hjelmberg, and our hired help, Dan Welle. We are milking those 70 cows in a single-9 parlor twice a day. The cows are housed in a compost barn that we bed with cornstalks. We also raise all of our own replacements here on the farm. Our rolling herd average is 25,000 pounds of milk. We also farm 450 acres of land where we grow corn, alfalfa and soybeans. We also have a horse stable with a few of our own horses on our farm along with chickens. Currently, we feed our steers to 500 pounds and sell them as feeders.
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Page 40 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
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