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DAIRY ST R
Volume 18, No. 15
“All dairy, all the time”™
September 24, 2016
Harvesting on a gentleman’s agreement
Three Schmitt farms team up to get eldwork done By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
FORT ATKINSON, Iowa – When it comes time to harvest, the Schmitts don’t worry about who will show up to help. Between the three separate farms, it all gets done in the same manner it has for nearly 50 years. “We have nothing on paper between us that says we own thousands of dollars of equipment between us. There’s nothing written anywhere. It’s a gentleman’s agreement. It’s never been a problem and I hope it never is,” Steve Schmitt said. Three farms of Schmitts – Steve and his son, Jeff, who Turn to SCHMITTS | Page 5
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Three farms of Schmi�s - (from le�) Al and Randy, who milk 150 cows; Steve and Jeff, who milk 120 cows; and Jim and Joe, who milk 150 cows – work together to chop corn and do other eldwork on their dairies near Fort Atkinson, Iowa.
Robotic milkers save Brickl’s dairying career
Freestall barn easily altered to accept new technology By Ron Johnson
ron.j@dairystar.com
HILLSBORO, Wis. – Robots saved Scott Brickl’s dairying career. They saved his cows from being sold, too. “I was actually thinking of getting rid of the cows,” Brickl said. “I always said that when I turned 50, the cows were going to go down the road. But the closer I got to that, I realized I couldn’t do that. I like my twice-a-month income.” Two years ago, Brickl began seriously considering robotic milkers for his 308-acre dairy, Staley Q Holsteins, near Hillsboro, Wis. The name derives from the farm’s location at Staley School Road and County RON JOHNSON/DAIRY STAR Highway Q. Sco� Brickl checks data on a cow that just nished Today, two Lely A-4 Astronaut machines faithfulin one of the two robots Brickl recently installed on ly milk the farm’s 92 Holsteins. Brickl has more time his 92-cow dairy near Hillsboro, Wis. for eldwork, while his wife, Teresa, manages a brew pub in nearby Hillsboro, Wis. Daughter, Tiffany works
there, too. Taylor, the younger daughter is a senior in high school. Herdswoman Taylor Vesbach handles many of the barn chores, keeps an eye on the robots, and interprets the cow and milk information the computer collects. At rst, Brickl didn’t think he could get robotic milkers to function well in his 100-stall freestall barn. “I always thought the robots had to be in the middle – the cows laid on one side and ate on the other, and went back and forth to use the robots,” Brickl said. But an article in Dairy Star convinced him otherwise. “I read that and thought, ‘Wow. That sounds like my farm,’” Brickl said. “I made a few phone calls and went and looked at some[robotic milkers].” By visiting robotic farms, he learned that barns can be congured many ways to let the machines work. “I went to a dozen farms and saw that no two were alike,” Brickl said. From these tours he was able to form a plan for his own farm. Alterations to the freestall barn began in July 2015, and the robots went to work Oct. 6 of that year. Before that, Brickl milked in a swing-six parlor, and Turn to BRICKL | Page 7
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 the Editor “From our side of the fenceâ€? feature on page 15 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 barn 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:
farms lost in Wisconsin 201: dairy since Jan. 1 (First Section, Pg. 16)
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Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 3
It’s all inside... How is your corn silage harvest? Page 15
Pepin
Children Museum of Eau Claire hosts June Richard EnloeDairy Rewey, MonthWis. activities
Pages 16 - 18 Some Udder Stuff Pages 19 - 26 Classieds
Iron
n
Polk
Barron
First Section: Pages 1, 5
Sawyer
Price Alma Center
Rusk
Pfaff transforms barn Third Section: Pages 2 - 3
Taylor Chippewa
Dunn
Pierce Jared Bradt
Black River Falls, Wis.
Clark
Eau Claire
Pepin Buffalo
Galesville, Wis.
Dairy Prole: Rudy Kamrowski
Trempealeau
St. Croix
Page 39
Vernon
Robotic milkers save Brickl’s dairying career First Section: Pages 1, 5
Jackson
La Crosse Monroe
West Union
Lansings helping 4-H members learn by doing
Vernon
Worth
Mitchell
Cerro Hancock Gordo
Floyd
Howard
a
ick
Ch
w sa
Bremer
Zone 2
Black Hawk
Bu
For additional stories from our other zone, log on to www.dairystar.com
wford
Cra
Dane
Iowa Grant
Fayette
Clayton
n
are
na
a ch
First Section: Pages 35, 37
Richland
Allamakee
Winnebago
Fort Atkinson
Three Schmitt farms team up to get eldwork done
ur hb
Burnett Jim Erickson
Neillsville, Wis.
Pages 10, 12
Expansions enable the Schultz brothers to carry on farming tradition Page 11 Dairy Calendar
Bayeld
Ashland
Pages 14 - 15 Dairying Around the World Pages 16, 18
A day in the life of the Wallerman family Pages 22 - 24 Massmann returns to the barn after open-heart surgery 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 THIRD SECTION Pages 5 - 6 Renewable energy sources discussed at forum
First Section: Page 16
First Section: Pages 10 - 11
Douglas
Pages 14 - 15 Second Section
Wisconsin Farmers Union members lobby on Capitol Hill
Brenner brings dairy cows back to home farm after building new barn
Third Section: Pages 14 - 15
Eau Claire
Chippewa Falls
Durand
Kids Corner: The Bocksells
W as
Letters to the Editor
Pages 12 - 13 Consultants aid in setting, meeting farm goals Pages 18, 20 Lone Oak Farms uses ovsynch program to get cows pregnant Pages 22 - 23 Marschall devoted life to helping dairy producers farm better Page 23 AMPI cheesemakers win three-peat Page 25 FSA News & Notes Page 27 Dairy in the Suburbs Page 28 Got ideas for your dairy? There’s a grant for that Rural Roots Page 29 Creating a bond within our community Page 30 Ramblings from the Ridge Page 32 Just Thinking Out Loud Page 33 Dairy Good Life Page 34 What we feed and why Page 36 Women in Jeans SECOND SECTION Pages 3 - 4 Indiana natives nd Minnesota dairy Pages 6 - 7 Hinsches host eld day on their Goodhue dairy 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
FROM OUR SIDE OF THE FENCE:
Winneshiek
FIRST SECTION Pages 8 - 9 Ag Insider Page 11
w ela
D
Linn
Lafayette Dubuque
Jones
Jackson
Green Waterloo
National Cattle Congress brings industry together Third Section: Pages 8 - 9
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Page 4 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
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Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 5
Con�nued from SCHMITTS | Page 1
Make every meal count Herd Builder Calf Starters and Milk Replacers KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Jim Schmi� chops corn on his farm, Schmi� Acres, using a chopper he and his brother, Joe, own jointly with two other dairy farms – Windy Hill Dairy, owned by their brother and nephew, Steve and Jeff Schmi�, and Rand-Al Farms, owned by their cousins, Randy and Al Schmi�. milk 120 cows at Windy Hill Dairy; Jim and Joe, brothers to Steve, who milk 150 cows at Schmitt Acres; and Randy and Al, cousins to Steve, Jim and Joe, who milk 150 cows on their dairy, Rand-Al Farms – work together to chop and combine their alfalfa and corn throughout the summer and into the fall on their farms near Fort Atkinson, Iowa. Together, the three farms harvest crops on over 600 acres of land. “It goes back to our dads’ days,” Steve said. “The families worked together – we baled together, chopped together and combined together. When we were 10 or 12 years old we were doing this, going from farm to farm.” The ve cousins and brothers look back fondly on the harvesting memories of their youth. “In between loads [while baling hay] sometimes we’d go to the house and shoot pool or play ball outside to kill time,” Al said. Jim agreed that although it was work, they enjoyed themselves. “We had a lot of fun in the hay mow even if it didn’t seem fun all the time,” he said. Steve remembers what they received for payment as kids. “We would get a pop at the end of the day and we felt we were rewarded. We felt happy about that. We were just kids at the time. That was about the only exchange of any kind of money …,” he said. As their dads each retired and the next generation took over, the team effort of harvesting continued despite forming separate farms. “We didn’t think about not continuing it,” Jim said. “We just kept it going. And once you’re in it you would need
money to buy another out. Plus we’re all fairly laid back. Nobody’s going to jump out because they don’t want to leave the other ones hanging.” The three farms share a combine, chopper, merger, mower, chopper boxes, a discbine, a bagger and a stock trailer. In addition to this, Schmitt Acres and Rand-Al Farms share manure equipment while Windy Hill Dairy and Schmitt Acres share tillage and planting equipment. “We all own our own tractors. We switch off which ones are used where. Nobody counts hours or gets worried about how many hours their tractor gets used compared to another. When it comes down to it, it’s like they’re community owned,” Steve said. Each farm owns a percentage of the machinery based on the size of the dairy. “I used to be a smaller operation so my percentage was smaller, but since we’ve grown [by building a parlor and freestall barn in December] we’ve changed those percentages around. Everybody seems to agree and nobody seems to argue,” Steve said. Jim said part of the reason it works this way is because of the Schmitt personality. “A lot of times we’re pretty passive,” Jim said, also referring to his family personality as laid back. “It works out for the most part. If there are ever disputes they’re not terrible and we let it go.” Al agreed. “Basically what it boils down to is that we’re used to each other. We’ve done business before, and it wasn’t all that hard. You just have to get along and Turn to
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Page 6 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
Con�nued from SCHMITTS | Page 5
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Joe Schmi� (le�) talks to his nephew, Jeff Schmi�, while unloading corn silage into a bag at Joe’s dairy. Although the two have separate dairy farms, they work together with another dairy for eldwork.
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work together,” he said. The order for chopping alfalfa depends on the year. “Sometimes it has to do with who needs the feed worst – who might be running out of haylage or corn silage. Some of it is who planted rst – whose corn is more mature. That has a lot to do with it. There’s no magic to it,” Steve said. For harvesting corn silage, they try to make it fair for all three farms. “We’ll do a couple bags here, then go to the next place and do a couple bags there so not everybody has all the dry corn silage or the wet corn silage. It’s evened out that way,” Jim said. All silage is stored in bags. “We all want to make quality forages. We all know we won’t all make excellent quality forages, but we’re going to move equipment around so everyone has their best chance of making at least as much as they can of good quality forage. We don’t go for 200 RFV hay. We don’t quite push the window on the alfalfa like we could. We try to do our best without going to the extreme. We’re probably behind some of the neighbors and we don’t let it bother us,” Steve said. Labor is a big reason the Schmitts continue the arrangement. “At the time [when I started farming on my own full time] I didn’t have a boy old enough to help yet, the other guys didn’t either and we really needed each other’s labor,” Steve said. The expense of the equipment is another reason for the team harvesting. “It does allow you to buy more modern and newer equipment because there are three different entities buying into it. The downside is it doesn’t last
as long because you wear it out faster,” Steve said. Al likes the social aspect of it all. “It’s nice because otherwise you don’t usually get to talk to your relatives and neighbors unless it’s something bad. It’s fun to talk to them every once in awhile and see what they’re up to,” he said. Although the weather can make chopping a challenge, they make it work. When the time comes, the Schmitts run their team effort like a well-oiled machine. Over the years, they each have fallen into step and have their own jobs. “I’m getting out there early in the morning compared to others so I’ll be the one to get going early. Al gets out and greases then I get out and start running it. Jim comes so I can go for dinner at noon. Al and Randy milk three times a day so they show up in the evening when the rest of us have to go milk,” Steve said. Without even discussing their plan, all the Schmitts know where they need to be, Jeff said. “Somehow we manage to keep the equipment going. Most of the time we don’t even discuss it. It just happens. It’s natural. We’re used to doing it that way and that’s the beauty about it,” Steve said. Now with another generation in the mix, the Schmitts plan to continue harvesting this way. “We help each other with a lot of projects – even things outside of eldwork,” Steve said. “Nobody keeps track of hours and nobody worries about it. It may not work for everyone, but it works for us.”
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Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 7
Con�nued from BRICKL | Page 1 before that, in the 46-stanchion barn. Adapting the freestall barn for robots was fairly simple. Brickl said he added 84 feet to one end to accommodate 19 more stalls. On the south side, an ofce, utility room and milkhouse were added, along with one room for the robots, which are placed end to end. “It was a lot easier than I thought it would be,” Brickl said. The cows have adjusted well, somewhat to Brickl’s surprise. “I thought the older cows were going to give us problems. But, man it went good. Pretty much every single cow is going into the robots by herself now.” That includes the farm’s matriarch. Brickl said the 14-year-old bovine that is close to reaching the milestone of 400,000 pounds of lifetime milk production has developed a liking for the pelleted feed she gets when she goes to get milked. Brickl has adapted to the robots, too. One of his goals with the machines was to be able to slow down a bit. Has that happened? “Yeah, it’s slowing down,” Brickl said. “I think I still spend as much time outside, working, because I feel like doing it. But I’m not always looking at my watch, knowing I’ve got to get jobs done so I can get back to the barn.” If not for Taylor Vesbach, Brickl said he might not have invested in robotic milkers. She began working for him about a year before Brickl decided to try robots. Like Brickl, the Southwest Technical College graduate had no experience with robotic milking technology. But Vesbach was willing and able to learn about them and their computer system. Before the robots took over the milking, the herd averaged roughly 25,000 pounds per cow, according to Brickl. Production stood at 75 pounds per cow, per day last fall. But Brickl said this past winter it rose to 90 pounds a day. The dashboard on the computer monitor in the barn’s ofce showed the milk averaging 3.8 percent butterfat and 3.1 percent protein. Meanwhile, Brickl said the somatic cell count (SCC) has stubbornly stayed around 500,000. “The robots haven’t really improved our cell count,” he said. “And that’s how it’s been in the past.” As far as milk production, the computer dashboard said, on an afternoon in mid-September, that the cows were choosing to have themselves milked an average of 2.8 times per day. It also showed that the high was 5.1 times a day, and one cow getting milked just 1.1 times a day. The cows at Staley Q Holsteins
RON JOHNSON/DAIRY STAR
Herdsperson Taylor Vesbach gathers a wealth of informa�on from the robotic milkers at Staley Q Holsteins. The numbers are a mere mouse click away on the barn’s computer. wear activity monitors, and that information goes to the computer, too. Brickl said the monitors impress him because they make it easy to pinpoint cows that are in heat. “[The computers] tell you just about anything you want to know,” Brickl said. “A lot of stuff, we don’t even pay any attention to.” Brickl and Vesbach did not mention encountering many problems with the two robots. “Our service guys wonder if we’re still milking cows down here. They never hear from us,” Vesbach said. One thing Brickl did have a bit of trouble with was changing his barn habits. “At night, to go to the house knowing there were milkers on the cows – that took a while to get used to,” he said. Milking in the parlor for 15 years kept him always moving. By contrast, milking in the stanchion barn was quieter. “I kind of miss that hour-and-a-half I had by myself,” he said. “Then I could really think about stuff.” With 92 cows milking, the robots are not near their peak capacity of approximately 120. Brickl said he hopes to be at that number by early winter. What about more cows down the road? Brickl said that’s not totally out of the question. After all, he could build another robot room onto one end of the barn. The robots and building a place for them was a signicant investment, Brickl said. Nevertheless, he said, they should be paid for in seven years. Being freed from the milking routine has made Brickl feel better. “At the end of the day, I want to take my wife out for supper. But she’s too tired, and I feel like a million bucks,” he said. “I wish I could have done this (milk with robots) 30 years ago.”
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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-Monsanto agreement announced Bayer will acquire Monsanto for $66 billion. 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 environmentallyfriendly 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.
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 Ag Insider an association that covers 144 counties in three states. Rod Hebrink, who is now the president and CEO 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 By Don Wick vote by the stockholders. Columnist That vote will likely happen in early 2017. A positive, but cautious report for the farm 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. Wisconsin DATCP deals with budget cuts Due to budget constraints, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture has suspended some well-known programs. The Dairy 30x20 grant program, which has a goal of helping the Wisconsin dairy industry have annual milk production of 30 billion pounds by 2020, has been shutdown. The Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin and Farm-to-School programs have also been cut.
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Clark County leads Wisconsin dairy output According to the Wisconsin Ag Statistics Service, Clark County is the top milk producing county in the state. Clark County dairy farmers produced nearly 1.5 billion pounds of milk in 2015 and had nearly 70,000 cows in production. Fond du Lac County is ranked second and Dane County is third.
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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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New alfalfa available A new biotech alfalfa called HarvXtra will be available to more growers across the United States starting Jan. 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 of those options depending on the need or goals of the operation.â€? Location announced for 2019 Farm Technology Days The 2019 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days will be in Jefferson County. Located between Milwaukee Turn to AG INSIDER | Page 9
Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 9
ConĆ&#x;nued from AG INSIDER | Page 8 Sustainable Farming Association in Minnesota. Faye Jones, who was the founding executive director for MOSES, retired in March. MOSES hosts the country’s largest annual organic farming conference in LaCrosse, Wis.
and Madison, Jefferson County has a mix of dairy production and crop farming. Jefferson County last hosted the show in 1984. Kewaunee County will host next year’s show and Wood County will be home for Farm Technology Days in 2018.
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.
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. New leader for MOSES The Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service has hired a new executive director. At the present time, John Mesko has a similar role for the
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A new beginning on his home farm
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Tom Brenner stands in his newly built Ɵestall barn on his family’s 100-cow dairy near Durand, Wis.
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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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Page 14 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
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Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 15
How is your corn silage harvest?
Richard Enloe Rewey, Wis. Iowa County 185 cows When did you begin corn silage harvest? How does that compare to other years? We started about Sept. 3. It’s fairly comparable to other years. We didn’t get our corn planted until May 8, so we were a little late there. It tasseled July 18, so about Sept. 1 it was ready. How has the harvest been? It’s been real impressive. I’m thinking it’s pushing 28 to 30 tons per acre this year. We’ve never had it stressed. There’s been good moisture and good heat this year. All year long I don’t remember the leaves ever being curled. And this spring, everything that got planted germinated. So it’s a thick crop and well fed. How do you harvest and store your corn silage? We’ve got a two-row, pulltype chopper and we put it all in 10- by 250-foot ag bags. We like the exibility of bag placement. We haven’t invested in a silo or bunker yet. As we get bigger, that’s always a topic of conversation. Do you plant a silage-specic hybrid? Yes, some of them. I don’t pick out the varieties. Either Abe, my son, or Linda, my wife, do. But we do lean toward the silage varieties. We choose those based on the tons per acre and higher-digestible nutrients. There’s probably 15 to 30 acres of what’s called “either one” – grain or silage. But we expect to chop more than 100 acres of corn every year. Do you use inoculants? Yes, we do. Sam works for Reddy Ag, and they recommend it. Last year, he compared some of our corn silage to that of a customer who did not use an inoculant. It was easy to see that the treated feed stayed cooler longer and did not mold near as quickly as the untreated stuff. How many acres do you make into silage? Between 110 to 115 acres. Tell us about your most memorable corn silage harvest. We had one year, many years ago now, when we didn’t have a very good crop starting off. Rather than plowing it up, we replanted right beside the plants we had. Then it rained and everything came up, so we had a tremendous harvest on those two or three strips.
Andrew Christenson Lakecrest Farms Amery, Wis. Polk County 200 cows When did you begin corn silage harvest? How does that compare to other years? On Sept. 12 we started and completed corn silage harvest for the cows. How has the harvest been? We averaged 21 tons per acre this year. How do you harvest and store your corn silage? We had a custom crew come in with two self-propelled choppers and six at trucks. We store our corn silage in 14- by 300-foot bags, which are lled by a self-propelled bagger. Do you plant a silage specic hybrid? We do use a silage specic hybrid for corn silage in order to increase digestibility. Do you use inoculants? Yes, we use inoculants. How many acres do you make into silage? We harvest 150 acres of corn for silage. Tell us about your most memorable corn silage harvest. This year was our most memorable corn silage harvest. It took the custom crew 12 hours to get everything done. They did a fantastic job. Tell us about your farm. We own a family farm. We currently milk 200 registered Holsteins. We raise all of our own youngstock and feed.
Tell us about your farm. I farm with my wife, Linda, and sons, Abe and Sam. Abe is the oldest and is on the farm all the time. Sam works for Reddy Ag and on the farm. We own 360 acres and rent another 100 acres of hay ground. We own 210 tillable acres and milk 185 to 200 cows. Along with our youngstock, we raise all of the steers to fat cattle and market 120 to 130 head of steers each year, and raise all our heifer calves. We’re trying to expand and ll the barn so Sam can come back here and work full time.
Jared Bradt Black River Falls, Wis. Jackson County 40 cows When did you begin corn silage harvest? How does that compare to other years? I hire a neighbor to chop. I’m hoping he will be able to be here in a week’s time. It will be pretty close to when we have started in the last couple years. How has the harvest been? We’ve had plenty of rain this year, so I’m hoping to get 25 to 30 tons per acre. How do you harvest and store your corn silage? My neighbor has a Claas chopper that he uses and I store it in a stave silo and bags. Do you plant a specic silage hybrid? I plant Masters Choice hybrids for the digestible and oury corn. I’ve really had good luck with it and the cows always perform well on it. You can feed it in a week of harvesting and the cows won’t drop in milk production. Do you use inoculants? I do like to use inoculants to help with fermentation. How many acres do you make into silage? I like to chop around 25 acres depending on the yield. Tell us about your most memorable corn silage harvest. Harvest and fall are my favorite times of the year, so I always look forward to corn silage season. I drive silage truck for a friend of mine when I can and I always enjoy the camaraderie that comes with harvest and all of the crews we get to work with. The long hours and late nights are all a part of the fun. Tell us about your farm. I just started milking my own cows 2.5 years ago. We are currently renting the farm we’re on and my wife, Jessa, and I are looking into buying it soon. We are thinking about transitioning to organic in the future and are interested in some of the advantages that come with that transition. We also have thoughts of expanding our herd because we enjoy some of the benets of being conventional, as well. We are looking forward to the ownership of our own land and have many dreams for our future in farming. We have a long way to go, but we are excited to pursue them.
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Jim Erickson Neillsville, Wis. Clark County 950 cows When did you begin corn silage harvest? How does that compare to other years? We started on Sept. 1. That is about 10 days earlier than when we usually start. How has the harvest been? It went really well. We averaged about 23 tons per acre for the year and we nished up in a week. How do you harvest and store your corn silage? We use a self-propelled chopper. Everything is stored in bunkers. We usually have about 10 people helping with harvest: four chopping, four hauling and two packing. Do you plant a specic silage hybrid? Why or why not? We plant a little bit of Mycogen silage hybrid. The rest is dual-purpose corn that is highly digestible. We do this because it is better for the cows and they eat more of it. Do you use inoculants? Yes. We use Siloguard liquid preservative. It seems to really preserve the feed and it cures very well. How many acres do you make into silage? This year we had 675 acres. The last couple years we had harvested 800 to 900 acres of corn silage, but we had good yields and a fair amount of carryover that it wasn’t necessary. Tell us about your most memorable corn silage harvest. This would be it. This is the best harvest we’ve ever had. We had very good weather for harvest, despite 3 to 4 inches of rain during one of the last days of harvest. Tell us about your farm. We milk 950 cows in a double-14 parallel parlor. We are milking three times a day. We raise 3,200 acres – 1,700 acres of corn, 500 of soybeans and 900 acres of hay. All of our youngstock is born and raised on the farm. My wife, Agnes, and I have six children – Adam, Andrew, Anthony, Allissa, Alex and Allison – all of whom work here on the farm.
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Page 16 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
From the barn to Capitol Hill
Wisconsin Farmers Union members lobby in Washington D.C.
cracks,” Endvick said. WFU members and National Farmers Union at large lobbied Congress to make sure the USDA has monetary resources to make timely Title I payments as opposed to the end of the commodity year, and urged their representatives to begin work on the 2018 Farm Bill immediately. Even though much of their trip was dedicated to visiting with legislators, NFU members also attended a briefing with USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, USDA Chief Economist Robert Johansson, NRCS Chief Jason Weller and Risk Management Agency Administrator Brandon Willis. “We learned that the FSA is out of funding for their programs, so immediate work on a farm bill and making sure that the USDA is well funded was a major priority for us as a result of the brieng,” Endvick said. Endvick described the y-in as a positive experience overall with a few interesting conversations peppered throughout the four days the delegation was in Washington. “We use it as an opportunity to put a face to these issues for policymakers, and with a few legislators, it was clear that there’s a disconnect between lawmakers and the countryside,” Endvick said. The dairy farmers in attendance jumped at the opportunity to share their experiences. “It’s really hard for dairy farmers these days, and sometimes we get emotional telling our story,” said Murray, who had to sell his dairy cows himself in 2009 before getting back into dairy farming a few years later. “That emotional approach tugs at people’s heartstrings, but it backred with a couple of legislators while we were speaking with them.” Endvick agreed, echoing Murray’s sentiments. “Because there’s that large disconnect, I think it’s hard for policymakers to grasp,” Endvick said. Even after their ights landed back home, their advocacy work was far from done. Murray, even with days’ worth of work to catch up on from being away from his cows, called a candidate running for ofce in his home congressional district. A two-hour conversation between farmer and congressional candidate followed. “I encourage all to ask questions and bring topics not only to their elected ofcials, but to those running against them as well,” Murray said. “Our voices need to be heard because that’s what democracy is all about.”
By Brittany Olson
brittany.o@dairystar.com
CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. – While the rolling hills and valleys of Wisconsin’s countryside pose a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of Washington, D.C., bridging the gap between farmer and politician was a priority for nearly two dozen Wisconsin Farmers Union (WFU) members earlier this month. They, along with over 200 Farmers Union members from across the United States, participated in the National Farmers Union’s annual Fall Legislative Fly-In Sept. 11-14. “As a farmer-led organization, grassroots advocacy and education are a big part of Farmers Union,” said WFU president and dairy farmer Darin Von Ruden, who is from Westby, Wis. “The y-in is an opportunity for members to meet with their representatives in Congress and put a face to the issues impacting rural America.” Among the Wisconsin delegation were two dairy farmers and one former dairy farmer: Von Ruden, who farms near Westby, along with Nial Murray of Prairie Farm and Kipp Hinz of Ellsworth. “Since Jan. 1 of this year, Wisconsin has lost 201 dairy farms in the rst half of this year, according to data from the National Ag Statistics Service,” said Danielle Endvick, director of communications for WFU. “That’s an average of 33 dairy farms per month, or one per day.”
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Members of the Wisconsin Farmers Union – (front row, from leŌ) Kara O’Connor, Cathy Statz, Miriam Valley, BeƩy Anderson, KrisƟ Gorell, Kriss Marion, Danielle Endvick, Vicki Dunnum (back row, from leŌ) Nial Murray, Kipp Hinz, Tommy Enright, Killian Harnish, Nick Levendofsky, Darin Von Ruden, Max Hart, Chris Holman and Craig Dunnum – traveled to Washington, D.C. earlier this month to speak with legislators about issues facing agriculture. Given the dairy industry’s strong presence in the Badger State, WFU members brought with them a laundry list of topics to discuss with legislators in their respective home districts. Among those issues were the organization’s concerns about the Trans Pacic Partnership (TPP). “Wisconsin Farmers Union is concerned about the TPP due to worries over currency manipulation and ooded markets because of New Zealand’s presence in the region,” Endvick said. “New Zealand can produce milk more cheaply than American dairy farms due to lower cost of production.” Given shrinking prot margins on American dairy farms for the past two
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years, WFU members also wanted to bring to light a need for adequate farm and food support as well as corporate consolidation in agriculture. “The market swings farmers face today are much more volatile than in past decades,” Endvick said. “They’re too hard and extreme for most farmers to withstand for extended periods of time.” In addition to markedly more unstable market conditions compared to yesteryear, farm income has declined in tandem with farmgate pricing for commodities across the board. Endvick pointed out that farm income is forecasted to drop 11 percent since 2015 as revenues dwindle and input costs stagnate or continue to rise. “Farm income in the United States will be around $75.1 billion this year as forecasted by agricultural economists, and while that seems like a big number, it’s a big drop from last year. Even worse, it’s a 40 percent decline from 2013,” Endvick said. While farmers in all avenues of production agriculture are hurting right now, dairy in particular received renewed attention due to farmers voicing concerns that the Margin Protection Program (MPP) is not doing its job. Earlier this year, National Farmers Union formed a working dairy committee to craft national policy on protecting American dairy producers from adverse economic conditions, of which Murray is a member. “The MPP isn’t working. It was designed to be a safety net for dairy farmers but they’re still falling through the
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Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 17
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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“We began the use of Udder Comfort™ after the 2015 World Dairy Expo in Madison last year. The heifers receiving Udder Comfort had a 3 to 4 pound production increase. They also reached peak production faster and had softer, more pliable udders,” reports Keith Beer. Comfort matters at Beer Farms and Cattle Co., Berne, Indiana, where quality fresh heifers are top priority. The Century crop and cattle farm is operated by Max and Karen Beer and sons Keith and Craig. They calve-in approximately 175 heifers per month. They implemented the 7-day fresh routine with Udder Comfort. Using the Udder Comfort Spray Gun, one quick pass under the cow in the parlor twice a day, for the first 7 days after calving, focuses the product application front to rear, along the udder cleft.
“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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Over 1200 items with pictures updated daily • Go to www.mmcjd.com ARTICULATED 4WD TRACTORS 2 JD 9620R, 2015, 402 hrs., #125913 .....................................$399,000 3 JD 9560R, 2013, 153 hrs, #123386 .....................................$295,000 3 JD 9560R, 2013, 780 hrs., #127237 ............................... $275,000 3 JD 9560R, 2014, 1355 hrs., #132069 ............................... $275,000 6 JD 9460R, 2014, 529 hrs., #125963 .....................................$265,000 3 JD 9460R, 2012, 869, #130519 .....................................$245,000 2 JD 9460R, 2012, 1123 hrs, #129309 .....................................$239,000 3 JD 9560R, 2013, 2000 hrs., #127913 .....................................$235,000 3 JD 9560R, 2013, 2090 hrs., #127914 .....................................$235,000 3 JD 9560R, 2013, 2188 hrs., #127912 .....................................$235,000 6 JD 9630, 2010, 1746 hrs., #123341 .....................................$235,000 6 JD 9530, 2008, 3260 hrs., #131676 .....................................$165,000 2 JD 9520, 2006, 5016 hrs., #110315 ............................... $141,500 1 JD 9300, 2000, 3045 hrs., #124837 ....................................... $92,500 1 JD 9400, 1998, 3971 hrs., #126204 ....................................... $84,900 10 JD 8770, 1995, 7638 hrs., #119125 ....................................... $64,500 6 JD 8760, 1990, 8737 hrs., #121544...................................... $43,500 5 Versatile 946, 1991, #130975 ..$32,500 4 JD 8560, 1989, 9900 hrs., #127263 ....................................... $26,500 4 JD 8450, 1984, 12344 hrs, #125922 ....................................... $22,900 COMBINE PLATFORMS 8 JD 640FD 2015, #125237 ....... $86,000 2 JD 630FD 2015, #125238 ....... $75,000 1 JD 640FD 2013, #125673 ....... $75,000 7 JD 640FD 2013, #127498 ....... $64,000 3 JD 640FD 2013, #127499 ....... $64,000 4 JD 635F, 2012, #118150 ......... $38,900 2 JD 630F, 2015, #130970 ......... $35,000 9 JD 630F, 2012, #114693 ......... $34,500 5 JD 630F, 2012, #126623 ......... $29,900 1 JD 635F, 2013, #131792 ......... $29,500 4 JD 635F, 2008, #132156 ......... $29,000 7 JD 635F, 2011, #103780 ......... $29,000 4 JD 630F, 2011, #113753 ......... $28,500 11 JD 630F, 2012, #130583 ......... $27,500 5 JD 635F, 2011, #125837 ......... $25,000 5 JD 635F, 2009, #131606 ......... $24,500 10 JD 620F, 2010, #131510 ......... $20,900 8 JD 630F, 2006, #102082 ......... $19,500 7 JD 630F, 2009, #132322 ......... $19,500 3 JD 630F, 2005, #124289 ......... $17,500
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3 JD 635F, 2008, #124215 ......... $15,995 2 JD 635F, 2006, #132043 ......... $15,000 COMBINES 8 JD S670, 2015, 230 hrs., 140 sep., #125750 .....................................$325,000 3 JD S690, 2014, 755 hrs., 550 sep., #127495 .....................................$319,000 2 JD S660, 2015, 197 hrs., 120 sep., #125946 .....................................$315,000 4 JD S660, 2016, 35 hrs., #125540 .....................................$315,000 8 JD S670, 2015, 331 hrs., 200 sep., #124831 .....................................$305,000 1 JD S680, 2012, 548 hrs., 357 sep., #118623 .....................................$305,000 11 JD S660, 2015, 310 hrs., 196 sep., #117457 .....................................$295,000 2 JD S660, 2014, 158 hrs., 89 sep., #116531 .....................................$285,000 7 JD S690, 2013, 970 hrs., 685sep., #119306 .....................................$265,000 4 JD S660, 2014, 253 hrs., #107228 .....................................$260,000 3 JD S690, 2013, 1275 hrs., 1003 sep., #131692 .....................................$240,000 7 JD S680, 2012, 1374 hrs., 918 sep., #120199 .....................................$230,000 6 JD S660, 2012, 421 hrs., 221sep., #96947 .......................................$229,000 2 JD 9570 STS, 2010, 831 hrs., 637 sep., #122037 .....................................$190,000 1 JD 9670 STS, 2010, 1055 hrs., 737 sep., #132428..................$182, 500 2 JD 9770 STS, 2010, 1466 hrs., 1080 sep., #118492 ................$180,000 11 JD 9870 STS, 2009, 1600 hrs., 1230 sep., #106732 ................$170,000 5 JD S670, 2012, 2154 hrs., 1350 sep., #119308 .....................................$165,000 3 JD S670, 2012, 2239 hrs., 1628 sep., #128689 .....................................$165,000 9 JD 9770 STS, 2009, 1799 hrs., 1248 sep., #117362 ................$165,000 6 JD 9770 STS, 2010, 1835 hrs., 1314 sep., #132065 ................$159,000 9 JD 9570 STS, 2008, 1563 hrs., 1084 sep., #115868 ................$145,000 5 JD 9770 STS, 2009, 2345 hrs., #131631 .....................................$139,000 4 JD 9660 STS, 2005, 2011 hrs., #126966 .....................................$135,000 4 JD 9770 STS, 2009, 2388 hrs., 1828 sep., #124372 ................$130,000 3 JD 9560 STS, 2005, 1481 hrs., 907 sep., #130053...................$125,000 2 JD 9560 STS, 2011, 2645 hrs., 1771 sep., #132194 ................$125,000 7 JD 9760 STS, 2007, 2464 hrs., #132321 ....................................$117, 900 10 CIH 8010, 2006, 2117 hrs., 1506 sep., #132086 .....................................$109,900
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6 JD 9760 STS, 2004, 2642 hrs., 1763 sep., #107702 .................. $98,900 5 Case 2388, 2001, 3975 hrs., 3240 sep., #125799 .................. $75,000 10 JD 9650 STS, 2001, 1894 hrs., 1894 sep., #128888 .................. $74,900 3 JD 9650 STS, 2000, 3293 hrs., 2189 sep., #126187 .................. $69,500 1 JD 9550, 2003, 3007 hrs., #132427 ....................................... $69,000 9 JD 9610, 1998, 3505 hrs., 2125 sep., #129116 ....................................... $61,000 1 JD 9600, 1995, 4981 hrs., 3371 sep., #131022 ....................................... $42,900 9 JD 9500, 1990, 4239 hrs., #126219 ....................................... $39,500 4 JD 9500, 1989, 4400 hrs., 3300 sep., #132034 ....................................... $32,500 CORN AND ROW CROP HEADERS 5 JD 618C, 2013, #107764 ......$139,000 8 JD 612C, 2015, #126164 ......$105,000 3 JD 612C, 2014, #126845 ......$102,000 5 JD 612C, 2014, #125927 ........ $98,500 8 JD 612C, 2014, #116928 ........ $98,000 8 JD 612C, 2014, #126047 ........ $98,000 1 JD 612C, 2013, #125221 ........ $95,000 3 JD 612C, 2014, #125736 ........ $95,000 4 JD 612C, 2012, #125992 ........ $84,000 7 JD 612C, 2012, #106737 ........ $83,000 6 JD 608C, 2014, #118946 ........ $76,000 2 JD 608C, 2012, #118668 ........ $71,000 5 JD 608C, 2012, #125833 ........ $68,000 1 JD 608C, 2012, #131793 ........ $68,000 4 JD 608C, 2013, #126457 ........ $68,000 6 JD 608C, 2012, #125869 ........ $67,500 10 JD 608C, 2013, #125707 ........ $67,500 2 JD 606C, 2014, #116529 ........ $65,500 2 JD 606C, 2014, #126181 ........ $65,500 6 JD 612C, 2013, #122102 ........ $65,000 8 JD 606C, 2014, #125557 ........ $64,900 4 JD 606C, 2013, #116470 ........ $63,500 5 JD 606C, 2013, #105888 ........ $61,500 6 JD 606C, 2013, #115136 ........ $61,500 2 JD 606C, 2014, #132193 ........ $59,900 7 JD 612C, 2009, #103694 ........ $58,000 2 JD 606C, 2013, #132413 ........ $57,500 6 JD 608C, 2011, #125836 ........ $57,500 4 JD 612C, 2009, #126839 ........ $57,000 4 JD 608C, 2014, #125126 ........ $55,000 6 JD 612C, 2008, #127007 ........ $55,000 3 JD 612C, 2009, #128688 ........ $55,000 5 Geringhoff ROTA-DISC 1222, 2007, #118082 ....................................... $48,900 8 Harvestec 4112C, 2009, #127253 ....................................... $35,000 2 Geringhoff ROTA-DISC 830B, 2009, #108516 ....................................... $34,000 6 Geringhoff ROTA-DISC 830B, 2006, #107701 ....................................... $27,500 6 JD 1293, 2005, #116503......... $26,500 4 JD 893, 2003, #131470 ........... $25,000
JD S670, 2015, 230 hrs., 140 sep., $ #125750
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Page 22 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
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PHOTO SUBMITTED
Dennis Marschall and his wife, Marilyn, share a joyful moment in 2012. Marschall, a longtime field representative for Burnett Dairy Cooperative, passed away on Sept. 2 after inhaling chlorine gas.
Marschall devoted life to helping dairy producers farm better By Brittany Olson
brittany.o@dairystar.com
AMERY, Wis. – If someone was a dairy farmer in northwestern Wisconsin, especially if they shipped milk to Burnett Dairy, chances are they knew Dennis Marschall. “My dad probably knew everyone within a fivecounty area,� said Marschall’s son, Travis. Marschall, who had been working as a field technician for Burnett Dairy going on 12 years, was mixing pipeline chemicals in a milkhouse on Sept. 1. While it was something he had done hundreds of times before, the fumes created from chlorine gas became too much for Marschall to handle. He passed away the next day at the age of 68. “It was hard to find a guy with a bigger heart than my Uncle Dennis,� said his great-niece, Sara Mathison. Mathison, who milks 100 cows with her husband, Kyle, near Cumberland, Wis., is a Burnett Dairy member. “We were going to have a party the next day to celebrate our new barn, and the only time he regained consciousness he said, ‘Make sure someone brings the Mathisons [some] cheese trays,’� she said. Marschall grew up spending most of his childhood on his grandparents’ dairy farm in Indian Creek, Wis., a small village in northeastern Polk County. In his teens, he moved back in with his parents and graduated from Amery High School, eventually calling Amery his hometown for good. “Being the strong young lad that he was, his grandparents needed some extra muscle on the farm, and that’s where he got his dairy roots,� Travis said. After earning a bachelor’s degree in broad-area agriculture from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, Marschall made it his mission to help dairy farmers in any way possible. He worked for a Surge dealership in Baldwin, Wis., for a few years before becoming a field technician for Belle Cheese in Amery, Wis. He stayed with them after they merged with F and A Cheese and moved west to Dresser, Wis. In addition, he married his wife, Marilyn, and raised his son, Travis, and daughter, Alison. “Dad worked for F and A as a field man for 28 or 29 years,� Travis said. Marschall stayed with his role as a field man even after joining Burnett Dairy’s staff in 2004. The multifaceted nature of his job included customer relations, answering questions or issues farmers faced, and helping them over any hurdles in their way. It was an occupation that fit his easygoing and kind nature perfectly. “He was always smiling,� Travis said. “You could meet him for the first time and before you knew it, Turn to MARSCHALL | Page 23
Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 23
ConƟnued from MARSCHALL | Page 22 you’d been talking with him for 45 minutes.” Travis described his father as a man who was always willing to lend a hand to anyone who needed it. The farmers he served, including the Mathisons, said the same thing. “He really cared so much about his farmers,” Mathison said. “The week he died, we spent a lot of time on the phone with him making arrangements for our new bulk tank. I wish I would have had the chance to thank him in person.” Mathison said Marschall was a man of action. “If there was anything that needed to be taken care of, he was on it,” she said. “He never had a bad thing to say about anyone. Whether it was a dose of common sense, an ear for listening or a
“It’s cliché, but do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. And that’s exactly what my father did.” TRAVIS MARSCHALL
shoulder to lean on, he was there.” Chuck Olson, a dairy farmer in Amery, Wis., was doing chores on a Sunday a few years ago when the transfer pump under his receiving jar in the milkhouse quit working. “He was a real nice guy to work with,” Olson said. “You could call him out on a Sunday and he’d be there to help.” Marschall called a former dairy farmer in the area who had a pump that would be compatible with Olson’s jar. He went out to pick up the jar and brought it to Olson’s farm so he was ready to go. “Dennis got me up and going again,” Olson said. Sometimes, when accidents or mishaps occurred on the farm, Marschall was the rst one on the scene to correct any problems before they snowballed out of control. “If someone thought they accidentally milked a treated cow into
the bulk tank, Dad was there to take samples and help them take the steps they needed to take to correct the issue,” Travis said. Marschall sometimes served as a buffer between farmers and state or federal inspectors, acting as a conduit to aid in helping non-compliant dairy producers become more open to following new rules and regulations in order to stay in business. While it was probably the least pleasant aspect of his job, he still enjoyed helping his farmers any way he could. While Marschall was known for being generous with his time, he was also generous with his nances toward the end of his life, often donating his time and money to local organizations such as 4-H and the local re department, among many others. “He bought a lot of market animals from kids at county fairs not only for Burnett Dairy, but for his own freezer,” Travis said. If anything rivaled his love of agriculture, it was his family, who inherited that same passion for animals and the land. “He was so proud of his family,” Mathison said. Travis followed in his father’s footsteps and became a eld man for Jennie-O Turkey Store in Barron, Wis., and Travis’s daughters, Megan and Kelli, show animals at the Barron County Fair. Even though Travis wants his father to be remembered for how much he loved farming and his family, he also wants those working in any facet of agriculture to be aware of what they’re doing on the job. “Just because you’ve done it a thousand times before doesn’t mean it is safe,” Travis said. “Agriculture is a dangerous industry, and I think we forget that sometimes until something tragic happens.” While Dennis Marschall left this world too soon, he left a treasure trove of nothing but fond memories behind for those lucky enough to know him. More than anything, Marschall loved his farmers and his family. “It’s cliché, but do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life,” Travis said. “And that’s exactly what my father did.”
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 farmer-owned plants captured nine of the top awards presented at the prestigious competition that names North America¹s 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 rstplace 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 cooperative¹s 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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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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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
USDA grant-writing workshop held in Barron on Sept. 14 By Brittany Olson
brittany.o@dairystar.com
BARRON, Wis. – As prot margins continue to stay tight for dairy farmers, many are looking to diversify their farming operations with value-added enterprises, including farmstead creameries and the like. The problem? Starting a new business requires capital, which is hard to come by with today’s markets. Funding for a new venture on a dairy farm can come from a variety of sources, but most of those either require liquidating assets or repayment. Grants, available through the federal government, require neither. On Sept. 14, the Barron County UW-Extension hosted a grant writing and application workshop at Barron Electric Cooperative just north of Barron, Wis. Margaret Krome, director of public policy for the Michael
Funding ideas for your dairy Fields Agriculture Institute, walked attendees through the process of designing a project and applying for a grant. “How do you design a well thought out project, how do you identify grant programs and how do you write a successful grant?” Krome said. Krome identied a sound project as one that lls a well-dened opportunity or need within the community, such as an onfarm artisan cheese factory in an area where cheese stores are not very plentiful. Such projects must also be thoughtful about risk with goals that are achievable and objectives that can be measured easily. “Developing a work plan on a realistic timeline is also crucial, and so is having collaborator and stakeholder support,” Krome said. In regards to having stakeholders or collaborators, Krome recommended that fewer is better as to avoid conict or confrontation. She also reiterated the need to be realistic, particularly with budgets and resources – money, assets and people. Krome also spoke about the integral role passion plays in any
successful endeavor. “Do you have a re in the belly as well as experience? Do you feel condent about being in charge, and are you communicating to others about your project? That’s what will help you win in the end,” Krome said. Next, Krome identied places to nd grants because they do not appear to be as wellknown as other sources of funding. “Workshops, guides and seminars are wonderful places to discover what’s out there in terms of grant money,” she said. In addition to attending workshops and other professional development events, Krome pointed out the importance of networking. “Chances are, you might actually know a past recipient of a grant or know someone that does,” she said. Lastly, Krome pointed attendees toward the federal grants website. Although the site can be daunting for some, she said that the helpline – available 24 hours a day, seven days a week – is staffed by knowledgeable people who are happy to help.
Because of the many grants available to those looking to develop a small business, especially in rural areas, Krome said culling through each grant program until nding one that matches the mission of your project is crucial to nd the correct grant to apply for. “Networking comes into play here, especially when you talk to past recipients. Talk to past recipients any way you can to nd out the hassle factor and how competitive the application is,” Krome said. Also, consider the deadline required for each application and make sure it is realistic for the planning process of the project, as well as how long the grant runs for. Are the funds disbursed all at once or over a period of several years? Reading the ne print and legal jargon can make or break a project, so Krome recommended reading the request for application or request for proposal at least three times. “Most importantly, are you eligible for that grant?” Krome said, as some programs are tailored toward specic demographics, such as women and
minorities. Regarding the actual grant writing process, Krome spoke at length about having a clear mission. While the project itself may change over time, as projects usually do, the mission or purpose statement should remain focused and precise. Again, deadlines are important to follow, especially with many federal grant programs being understaffed. Krome suggested getting applications in early and submitting numerous letters of support or recommendation along with the application itself to show the need for such an enterprise is viable and distinguishable. “While you want as few collaborators as possible with your project, having that show of support from members of the community is vital to succeeding,” Krome said. Finally, if an application is submitted, but not chosen for a grant, Krome said not to be discouraged and keep trying. “The fact that you’re still trying even after being rejected says so much,” Krome said.
Son’s marriage marks passing of time Saturday made me feel older. name on either side of the family. And I No, it wasn’t the arrival or departure liked the fact that part of my name would of another birthday. It was be in his. Rural Roots my only son’s wedding day. We didn’t know we Aaron Carl Johnson would be given a son. We married Katrina Marie could have easily learned Sedey on Sept. 10, 2016. that fact. But we chose to The ceremony took place at be surprised – and content 4 p.m. in a grassy and woodwith the arrival of a second ed park in Barrington, Ill. daughter, or of a son. I’d known about the The days passed quickwedding for more than two ly. And then – there he was years. So I thought I was – a wiggling bundle of pinkprepared, although I must skinned boy that greatly admit to dreading the 470 changed my life and made it miles Van Johnson would innitely better. carry Jessica and me into the One of the relatives gave By Ron Johnson Land of Lincoln and back. Aaron a blue hooded sweatStaff Writer I fretted about road conshirt. On the front were the struction on the interstate. I words: “A-Baby.” That had worried about nding a 40-acre park amid quickly become the lad’s nickname: “Aa maze of highways and streets. I plotted Baby,” with the “A” pronounced the long and planned to get the route right, and the way, as in “Abe.” time. I would never forgive myself if I Shame on me, but I could not help was late for Aaron’s wedding. myself for doing it. You’ve heard the So we left early: 8:36 a.m. It was an joke: How do you drive a baby buggy? uneventful drive, lled with the counting Tickle his feet. of windmills, interesting barns and old That’s what I did to A-Baby on more tractors. That worked until we drew close than one occasion. He made his small to Madison, when windmills, barns and hands into tight sts, scrunched up his face tractors became increasingly fewer. into a smile, and wiggled and squirmed as I did not realize it until a couple of I tickled his tiny, pink feet. days after the wedding. But now I assume Come to think of it, Aaron generally that I busied my mind with such trivial has a sweet disposition to this very day. I matters so it would not turn to the reality can’t recall many times seeing him angry. that my son – now 32, but always my litAs southern Wisconsin slipped into tle boy – would soon begin writing a new northern Illinois, more memories of Achapter in the book of his life and that I Baby came ooding back. Among the would begin writing a new one in mine. best was the year Aaron was 8. I selected his name – Aaron – that I had somehow gotten hornswoggled summer of 1984. We had no one of that into being the Cub Scouts’ den leader in
the small town where we lived in central Wisconsin. The den needed a leader, and so did Aaron, for he was among the boys who proudly wore the cubs’ blue shirt and yellow neckerchief. A primary project of the den those two or three years was building Pinewood Derby cars. Aaron and I bought the blank hunk of wood and plotted and planned how to saw, carve and sand it to our liking. We picked out the paint for the ne machine – red one year, blue the next. The most difcult part was the placement of the steel weight that came with the car. Flat and rectangular, it could be fastened in the location of our choosing. The weight could go up front, toward the rear, or somewhere in between. Weight placement, we learned, had much to do with the vehicle’s success in gaining speed as it rolled down the steep track. It also helped, we learned, to lube the axles with powdered graphite. So we did. I’d be lying if I told you I recall how Aaron’s racers fared. But he said at the wedding reception that he still has and cherishes his Pinewood cars. Several years later, Aaron graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a degree in mechanical engineering. Sometimes I wonder whether our Cub Scout car building had something to do with that. Our van rolled into the western Chicago metropolitan area. Jessica’s attention and mine turned to nding Citizen’s Park and the Jewel Tea Pavilion. We did, and more than two hours early. The day had gone from cloudy and gloomy to a perfect late-summer after-
noon, with puffy, white clouds oating in a high, azure sky. A cooling breeze provided a refreshing touch. Rain was not in the forecast. Still – somehow – moisture pooled in the corners of my eyes. It happened, I suspect, somewhere around the time that Aaron promised to love Kate forever and protect her from each and every bug and spider she might encounter. It happened, I think, when Kate vowed to love Aaron forever and turn off all the lights when she leaves a room. We tossed red rose petals at the feet of the newlyweds as they oated past us. It must have been right about then that I began to realize that the bright-eyed Cub Scout with the Pinewood cars was long gone, never to be seen again. As I told Aaron’s bride, who is nishing up her doctoral degree in psychology (her brothers kept telling everyone how smart she is), she is my rst – and, I hope – only daughter-in-law. I know we do not live in a perfect world. But I still wish Aaron’s grandparents could have been at the wedding. Aaron got his middle name – Carl – from the rst name of my father, who would be 117 now. He did not see this grandson take a wife, but solace comes in the knowing that Carl Johnson lives on through his grandson, Aaron Carl Johnson. Someday, I’m certain, Aaron and Kate will create a new line of Illinois Johnsons. All the previous Johnsons and Jonssons, all the way back to Sweden, would be proud of Kate and Aaron. I know I am.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 29
What a beautiful sun-lled weekend. and run, walk, bike or just hang out with We are done with corn silage, done with their kids – build scarecrows, pet a bunny covering the bunker, and the chopper and get some whiskers painted on their has been power washed and put away. cheeks, or construct Lego masterpieces. With the warm fall weather At the end of the event, ribthis weekend, it felt like we bons and prizes were given had to go and do something out, the calves were put into together as a family, before the trailer, the bouncy house the next harvest starts with was deated and the straw high moisture corn. All was raked up. Another sucaround us there are festivals cessful event to put into our and events to enjoy, and get memories of great times some much needed relaxwith families and friends. ation and good conversaAfter leaving the park, tion. I stopped at the local Piggly I spent part of the day on Wiggly and I ran into the By Tina Hinchley Saturday, with my daughter, lady that runs our local food Anna, and many 4-Her’s Farmer & Columnist shelf. She had recently sent from Cambridge 4-H Club me an email to ask if the hosting a Legopalooza con4-H would be doing another test at the annual Fall Festival in down- milk drive. The pantry had used all of town Cambridge. The population of the the milk coupons and were hoping Camtown is just over 1,000 people, but the bridge 4-H could help them out again. town was full. The cars were parked, and The food shelf in our little town has families lled the streets. over 160 families that are visiting weekThere was a health fair, 5K race and ly to help feed their children. In the three a bike event in one park on the west side schools, over 30 percent of the students of town. The Veteran’s park on the east are on free or reduced lunches. I know side had live music, a farmer’s market, how hard it can be to make ends meet bouncy house, scarecrow making con- with low milk and corn prices, combined test, Lego contest, and the FFA had a with high input costs on the farm. It repetting zoo with face painting. To join quires budgeting, and simply doing withthe parks together, hayrides were shut- out, until we have more dollars to spend. tling people from one park to the other. It I understand that times are hard not only seemed like there were tons of things to in our rural farm communities, but famisee and do for families. lies every where with young children are For many Cambridge families with struggling to make ends meet every day. kids in sports, every weekend there is We cannot have kids simply do without soccer in the morning at the elementary milk. As a dairy farmer, I will do whatevschool and football at the middle school. er I can to ensure that they have as much This weekend after the games, the fami- as we can get donated. lies came to the parks to enjoy the sunSince 4-H clubs are run by the kids, shine and the fall activities. There were it is the kids club, and they have to dealso many families from other towns cide if they would like to do another milk nearby that came to meet up at the parks drive. At the last milk drive, the kids
went above and beyond my expectations. With a little practice and preparation, the kids perform their public speaking on every customer that is walking into the dairy department. The kids must look at the shopper in the face, smile and speak clearly, so they are understood. “Would you be interested in purchasing a coupon for a gallon of milk to be donated to the Cambridge Food Pantry?” Their speech is perfected throughout the day and the results were amazing. The last milk drive, the 4-H kids helped to provide over 350 gallons of milk for local families. It was so heartwarming because the shoppers also went above and beyond, too. Many requested two coupons, and a few offered to buy as many as 10. As it turned out, many shoppers in our little town knew the 4-H kids that were asking them questions, and it was an easy sale because it is the right thing to do. But I also believe the shoppers also know or are even some of the parents who have to go to the food shelf to put a meal on the table. I remember how pumped up the 4-H
kids were when they heard the total gallons donated. I am thinking this will be something the club will do again, without even a discussion. These kids also know they are making a difference in their community. The memories made on these sunny days with our kids, families, friends and neighbors – we will look back on for years to come, possibly as some of the best days of our lives. Our Cambridge community is not so different than many other communities throughout the United States. Working together to help raise healthy, physically active kids by offering sporting activities and events for families to get together. Families helping families through donating milk and other food products to the food shelf, bonds our communities together and makes us all stronger. Tina Hinchley, her husband, Duane, and their daughters, Anna and Catherine, milk 120 registered Holsteins and farm 2,500 acres of crops near Cambridge, Wis. They have been hosting farm tours for over 18 years.
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A Sesame Street kind of day Page 30 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
Some days I wake up and for no seemingly explainable reason, I have the urge to curl up on the couch and watch episodes of “Sesame Street,” circa 1980s. After some intense cow milking, deep thought therapy, I think I’ve gured out why there are days my mind wanders to the land of Big Bird and sing-a-long-songs. I’ve determined it goes back to my days of half-day kindergarten. At 5 years old, I would get off the bus at “Sesame Street” time, and on special days, I would get to watch television while I ate lunch. Now this lunch wasn’t just any lunch; it was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (cut into triangles), ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisins), crinkle cut carrot sticks and chocolate milk (undoubtedly made with Ovaltine). All of this was served on a divided plate on top of a TV tray while I sat on the couch engrossed in Bert and Ernie’s adventures. This was heaven at that point in
my life. I gure it is associated with the feelings of being safe, secure and utterly happy. There are times in all of our adult lives that I think we wish to escape back to a time when we didn’t have to make tough decisions – when we didn’t have to take care of anything, barely ourselves, much less be concerned about the daily needs of others. On every farm, whether you want to admit it or not, there are those kinds of days. Around here as of late, there have been quite a few days that might be better spent on the couch. I spend much of my farming hours in the transition barn on our farm. This has me seeing all the mists that come and go. Like any farm, we have our share of mastitis, bad hips, bad feet and unknown digestive ailments. However, the past month and a half has had me witnessing the demise of a few too many good cows that have come down with mis-
erably bad hard quarters – that vicious killer, toxic mastitis. I’m not lying when I tell you it becomes incredibly depressing and frustrating to walk into the barn in the morning and be greeted by three new mastitis cows. I’ve gotten to the point \ I almost Ramblings from the Ridge jump for joy at the sight of a cow I think I can x, one with a slightly swollen quarter. Last week, we had a bad day that could most likely rival some of our previous bad days. The mixer was in the barn dumping off feed when an employee driving the tractor and manure By Jacqui Davison spreader pulled up beColumnist hind, expecting the mixer to go forward. Needless to say, that was a bad move. Our new mixer is so large and wide, seeing anything behind it is a challenge. And when the person driving the mixer isn’t expecting something like that to be there, you can just about imagine how that worked out. A smashed front end of the tractor, radiator busted and shattered front window were the result of a very rash decision. Meanwhile in the parlor, a rst-calf heifer less than 50 days in milk thought it would be a great idea to put her leg through the loop that separates the cows as they milk. Did I mention it had been pouring all night and into the day yet, and we were all chomping at the bit to start chopping corn? On the early morning run with a load of milk, a deer did some damage to our milk truck, bending a fender in over the tire. While hauling manure that afternoon, Peter got stuck with the tractor and spreader, which should come as no surprise because the elds are sufciently wet around here. So many quick, adult decisions had to be made that day. At long last, we are now in the midst of chopping corn in between rainstorms. For the rst time in years, there are more tractors and wagons hauling than trucks. The elds can’t be trusted with the trucks, they are slick, never having time to dry out. I’m bouncing between the barn and the kitchen, keeping track of little boys that are very excited about Ray Baby being here with the chopper and Peter driving his truck, making sure they have fresh corn silage to pack into their sandbox bunker silo. I managed to escape from adulthood for a bit this afternoon. I jumped in a silage truck with one of the guys and rode for one load of sweet-smelling corn silage on a picture perfect fall day. I’m not exaggerating when I say you could smell the mud on the road as we left the eld. We hope to nish up tonight, and thankfully things have been going well. As you deal with your day-to-day trials, sometimes a break from adulthood does help clear the mind. Jacqui, her dad, sister, and brothers milk 550 cows and run 1,000 acres of crops in the northeastern corner of Vernon County, Wis. Her children – Ira (9), Dane (6) and Henry (2) – farm with her while her husband, Keith, works on a grain farm. She loves to cook, quilt and garden and wishes there were more hours in the day to get it all in. Farming and teaching others about farming are her passions.
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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
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‘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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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
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37 55 58
13
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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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Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 35
Lansings give 4-Hers showing experience Iowa family assisting seven young people in livestock share program By Ron Johnson
ron.j@dairystar.com
WEST UNION, Iowa – The 4-H motto, “Learning by Doing,” is alive and well on Neil and Julie Lansing’s farm near West Union, Iowa. Seven 4-H members who are in the Fayette County 4-H livestock share program recently learned about dairy cattle tting and showing with the help of the Lansings and their son, Nevin, who farms with them. But Neil and Julie’s 4-H involvement goes beyond the share program. He has been a leader of the Eldorado Eagles 38 years. She has served as a leader 28 years. “They always tell me I’ve bled green for many years,” Neil said with a chuckle. The days leading up to the Youth Classic Dairy Show on Sept. 11 in West Union were among the busiest of the year for the Lansings. Besides tending their 59 milking cows and other livestock, the family made time to help a handful of 4-Hers prepare 19 head of the farm’s cattle for the show. It’s
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Members of the 4-H livestock share program – (from leŌ) Allie Sadler, Stryker Long, Victoria Rohde, Olivia Kleppe, Connor McMurray, Thomas Sadler and Jordan Kuhn – smile with their 4-H share calves from Neil and Julie Lansing, who milk 59 cows near West Union, Iowa. something the Lansings have been doing nine years. This year, the Lansings took youths ages 11 to 19 under their wings and helped them learn about dairying. The list includes Jordan Kuhn, Stryker Long, Connor McMurray, Victoria Rohde, and Olivia Kleppe, plus grandchildren Allie and Thomas Sadler. The classic is a big event for dairy farm families in at least four states, Julie and Neil said. This year’s show drew 130 4-H and FFA members
who exhibited more than 325 head, the most in its 20year existence, according to Julie. She added that it’s a
As its name implies, the 4-H share program lets members who do not have dairy cattle, beef cattle, hogs
“They learn where milk really comes from.” JULIE LANSING, DAIRY PRODUCER
nationwide show, but most of the cattle and people are from Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois.
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or sheep of their own to share with farm folks. The young people train the cattle to lead, and also clip and t them on
participating farms, like Neil and Julie’s Lan-Sing Hills. Neil said the share program, by bringing in nonfarm youth, keeps dairy cattle numbers up and the competition strong at the classic and at the Fayette County Fair. The program also teaches participants about the various livestock industries. “They learn where milk really comes from,” Julie said. Neil also thought the young people gained a greater understanding for livestock. “To me, the biggest value is that it gives the kids experience working with cattle,” Neil said. “Also, the cattle are gentler for us to work with. A lot of them get broke to lead. We can lead them right into the barn or across the gutter [at calving time].” Julie said the benets go beyond knowing how to care for animals. “The share program shows the kids some of the responsibility and work involved in producing dairy products,” she said. Participating 4-H members don’t stop with preparing their cattle to show. Julie said they pitch in with chores, like cleaning calf hutches, feeding calves, washing cows and milking. Along with making their animals show ring spiffy, 4-Hers learn about them as Turn to LANSINGS | Page 37
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Page 36 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
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Neil, Julie and Nevin Lansing parƟcipate in the 4-H share program that lets young people exhibit the farm’s caƩle at various events. The family had seven 4-H members showing 19 head at the Youth Classic Dairy Show on Sept. 11. individuals. Judges inquire as to an animal’s birth date and the name of its sire. Sometimes there’s an added and unexpected outcome from the dairy cattle share program. “One of the 4-Hers who graduated this year works for a dairy farm. He probably wouldn’t be doing that if he hadn’t had the opportunity to learn through the share program,” Julie said. And the share programs give young people something worthwhile to take up their spare time. Nevin said some of them could get involved with the wrong crowd if not for their 4-H connection to farming. An added benet for 4-H members who share cattle with the Lansings is that they can work with more than one breed. The farm is home mainly to registered Milking Shorthorns. But there are also two Brown Swiss in the milking string, along with four Jerseys, two Ayrshires, 10 Holsteins and several crossbreds. “When the girls [Jennifer Everett and Jessica Sadler] were home and in 4-H in the late ‘90s, we had all six major dairy breeds here,” Neil said. Neil’s parents favored Milking Shorthorns, but Julie and Neil focused mostly on Holsteins until 17 years ago. The rst Milking Shorthorn sashayed into the barn in 1998. She arrived as part of Jennifer’s 4-H project. “The girls’ goals in their record books was to learn about the different breeds,” Neil said. “How do you learn about the different breeds? Get some.” Neil said his favorite breed of all those that have set hoof on the 650-acre
farm is the Milking Shorthorn. “They’re so docile and easy to work with,” Neil said. Julie and Neil agreed they do not push the cows for milk production. Neil said the latest DHIA test sheet has the mixed herd with a rolling herd average of 19,575 pounds of milk, a 3.8 percent butterfat test and a 3.2 protein test on twice-a-day milking. He added that the six-month somatic cell count (SCC) average is 187,000. The Lansings milk anywhere from 59 to 85 cows, depending on the time of year. In early September they were at the low point, but with some two dozen due to start calving soon. All four Lansing boys – Niclas, Nilan, Nevin and Nashville – have shown cattle at the youth classic. Nashville, the youngest, is in college. He could have exhibited at the classic this year, but was helping with the state FFA dairy cattle judging contest, the day before the show. The Youth Classic Dairy Show brings more work for the Lansings, what with helping their seven 4-H members prepare cattle and trucking bedding and supplies to the show grounds. But Julie assured that it’s worth the extra time and effort. “We enjoy working with the kids,” she said. Neil agreed. “Watching them grow up is a big thing,” he said. And the icing on the proverbial cake? “The looks on their faces,” Julie said, “if they’re chosen for rst place.”
RON JOHNSON/DAIRY STAR
Thomas Sadler washes a Milking Shorthorn heifer in preparaƟon for the Youth Classic Dairy Show on Sept. 11 in West Union, Iowa.
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M5 Series
The deals are in overdrive on all new Kubota M Series tractors! Offer ends 12/31/16.
See one of these authorized Kubota dealers near you! Iowa DUBUQUE Roeder Implement 2580 Rockdale Road (563) 557-1184 (800) 557-1184 FARLEY J.P. Scherrman, Inc. 1350 1st Avenue NW (563) 744-3393
Minnesota ALEXANDRIA Alex Power Equipment 111 50th Avenue West (320) 763-4994 www.alexpowerequipment.com
ANOKA Lano Equipment, Inc. 6140 Highway 10 NW (763) 323-1720 GLENCOE Arnold’s of Glencoe 655 Lindbergh Trail (320) 864-5531 www.arnoldsinc.com HASTINGS Niebur Tractor and Equipment 14380 East 240th Street (651) 437-3531 (888) 559-9492 www.nieburtractor.com
KIMBALL Arnold’s of Kimball 701 State Highway 55 East (320) 398-3800 www.arnoldsinc.com
NORTH MANKATO Arnold’s of Mankato 1715 Howard Drive (507) 387-5515 www.arnoldsinc.com
ST. MARTIN Arnold’s of St. Martin 374 Industrial Drive (320) 548-3285 www.arnoldsinc.com
LORETTO Lano Equipment, Inc. 23580 State Highway 55 (763) 479-8200 (888) 479-4342 www.lanoequip.com
SHAKOPEE Lano Equipment, Inc. 3021 West 133rd Street (952) 445-6310 (877) 753-6100 www.lanoequip.com
South Dakota
NORTH BRANCH Olson Power & Equipment 38560 14th Avenue (651) 674-4494 (800) 657-5198 www.olsonpower.com
ST. CLOUD Arnold’s of St. Cloud 2995 Quail Road NE (320) 251-2585 www.arnoldsinc.com
SIOUX FALLS Pfeifer Implement 5301 West 12th Street (605) 338-6351
*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
Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016 • Page 39
sponsored by
Rudy Kamrowski Galesville, Wis. Trempealeau County 30 cows How did you get into farming? I started farming with my dad when I was 5 years old and have been here ever since – I am 68 now. My parents purchased the farm in 1944. I started on my own here in 1971. What are your thoughts and concerns for the dairy industry in the coming year? I farm without the help of government programs. I tried getting into a few, but it is very hard for the little guys like me. Our industry continues to get bigger while falling more into debt, so it is important that we remember it’s not the building that makes a quality product; it’s how we farm and what we are putting into our tank.
on bank loans and can avoid accumulating interest. Getting in now means you’re not going to get spoiled. Come in when the price is low so you know how to manage your money and enjoy the benets when the prices get higher.
What do you enjoy most about farming? I love being my own boss. I always say I have three employees to look after: me, myself and I. What has been your biggest accomplishment What advice would you while dairy farming? Sucgive to other farmers? ceeding as my own boss Now is the time to get in. while always having a If you can nd a barn and good herd of quality, procows at a cheap price, go ductive cattle. I always for it. Don’t focus on buy- have pushed them to be ing machinery. Someone their best, but not above will always be willing to what they could handle. lend you something as you start out. Rent a barn, What are your plans for get in now while the heif- your dairy in the next ve ers are cheap. I also rec- years? I am hoping to nd ommend nding some- someone with an interest one to help back you in getting into farming. I nancially (Dad, Grand- am willing to help them pa, or another close fam- get started and willing to ily member), so you don’t work with them until they have to rely so heavily know the ropes.
What is your favorite thing to do on the farm? When I was young, it was everything. Now, if it’s haying season, my favorite is haying. If it’s harvest season, it’s chopping corn or bean harvest. What is your favorite dairy product? Ice cream. What is your favorite tool? A good vice grip that can be used for all sizes of bolts. If you could add one thing to your farm, regardless of price, what would it be and why? A drone. I’d love to be able to y over my corn elds and check out how they are doing as well as to check cows while they are out on pasture.
Star Blends is a full service feed manufacturing facility. We provide custom complete feeds, supplements and minerals. We utilize modern technology to produce your needed products on demand with the highest quality feeds at the best cost. We also offer a wide selection of commodities, ingredients and additives. We are focused on dairy, efficiently delivering to farms in Western Wisconsin. Give us a call, we’d be happy to discuss our commodities or custom products and services with you and your nutritionist.
1919 Riley Road Sparta, WI 54656 | 800.462.4125
Page 40 • Dairy Star • Saturday, September 24, 2016
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Office: (608) 348-9401 or Toll Free: 1(888) BUY-PATZ www.steinhartsfarmservice.com
4116 Hwy. 80 S. Platteville, WI