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September 28, 2024
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 26, No. 15
Embracing growth Karpinskis build new barn as phase one of expansion By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
WAUPACA, Wis. — Josh and Amy Karpinski are paving the path for a bright future at Sheridan Flats Dairy. After completing an expansion this year that included building a new freestall barn and adding 125 cows, the couple has entered a new phase of their farming career. “It’s been a big year of changes,” Amy said. “We were at 200 cows for a long time, and now we’ve grown to a number that ts our farm well.” Amy is the fourth generation on her family’s farm near Waupaca where they milk 320 cows and farm 300 acres. She and Josh formed an LLC with
her parents, Mark and Dawn Anderson, two years ago. “My parents are mostly retired now, so it’s Josh and me doing the day-to-day work with help from one part-time and three full-time employees,” Amy said. Growth was inevitable for the family who had come to a crossroads. “We were at the point that we either had to grow in some capacity or get out, and getting out wasn’t an option,” Amy said. “Things were not cash owing with 200 cows. My parents still take a paycheck, and three years ago, Josh quit his full-time job in town.
Turn to KARPINSKIS | Page 6
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Amy and Josh Karpinski take a break Sept. 17 in their new freestall barn at Sheridan Flats Dairy LLC near Waupaca, Wisconsin. Along with Amy’s parents, Mark and Dawn Anderson, the Karpinskis milk 320 cows and farm 300 acres.
Thankful to be spared his life Koop survives chopper becoming electried in power line By Sarah Middendorf sarah.m@star-pub.com
The remains of a burned-out CLAAS chopper sit in the eld Sept. 20 at Lucky 7 Dairy near McBain, Michigan. There were roughly 180,000 waƩs of electricity in the power line in which the chopper became entangled.
MCBAIN, Mich — JP Koop of Lucky 7 Dairy recognizes he is a lucky man to be living past the rst day of corn silage harvest this year. The day started normally enough. But when his chopper spout touched a lowhanging power line, the day went south as both he and the chopper became electried. Koop, his wife, Suzanne, and one of his seven children, Gavin, milk 1,800 cows in a double-25 parlor and freestall barn and farm around 3,400 acres near McBain. Koop is a newcomer to the dairy industry. He purchased his rst dairy farm six years ago.
Ironically, Lucky 7 Dairy kicked off the corn silage harvest Sept. 12 with a meeting to go over safety concerns and pray for a safe harvest. They began by opening some of the elds. “The guy I was loading said, ‘Hey you are getting close to that line. Move over to the right a little bit,’” Koop said. “Before he got the words out of his mouth, the spout on my chopper had touched the powerline. As soon as it touched … it had pretty much welded itself to my spout.” Koop said he tried to move it away but it blew out the hydraulic cylinder that controlled the spout. Turn to LUCKY 7 | Page 2