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C E L E B R A T I N G
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Y E A R S
DAIRY ST R 25
January 13, 2024
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 25, No. 22
Mutually benecial Middendorf nds value in using two milking systems By Jan Lefebvre jan.l@star-pub.com
FREEPORT, Minn. — When Chris Middendorf added a robotic milking system to his freestall barn a year ago, he intended to use the facility in tandem with his already existing double-8 parallel parlor. “It was either this or build another parlor because we had outgrown our parlor,” Middendorf said. “It was taking too long to milk cows in it.” At rst, he thought about building a rotary parlor, Middendorf said. But after talking with technicians at Leedstone in Melrose, he decided to install robots and then visited a few farms to learn more. On Dec. 1, 2022, six Lely 5 Astronaut robotic milking units were installed in Middendorf’s extended freestall
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Nahum Duran (from leŌ), Chris Middendorf and Adan Duran stand together Jan. 5 in a freestall barn at Middendorf’s farm near Freeport, Minnesota. Middendorf milks in a roboƟc milking system and a double-8 parallel parlor. barn on his farm near Freeport. Currently, 390 cows are milked with the robots and 240
Minnesota says goodbye to 146 dairy farms 2023 saw continuation of trends, challenges By Jan Lefebvre jan.l@star-pub.com
ST. PAUL, Minn. — With milk prices dropping last spring, followed by drought conditions arriving in many areas, 2023 gave Minnesota dairy farmers steep challenges. Added to that were higher costs of production and ination in general, affecting already tight prot margins. In part due to these chal-
lenges, the year also saw the continued decline in the number of dairy farms. Data collected by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture shows how those numbers shifted each month per county during 2023 and veries that the trend contributed to the steady loss of dairies across the state. Nicole Neeser, DVM, MPH, director of MDA’s Department of Dairy and Meat Inspection, said dairy farmers faced several tough surprises in 2023.
Turn to MN INDUSTRY | Page 2
cows are milked in the parlor. Cows are milked by the system of which they are best suited.
Milk is shipped to First District Association in Litcheld. Middendorf farms 1,800 acres
to feed his herd and sells extra corn as a cash crop. The plan to use two milking systems is working well, Middendorf said. However, he and his employees experienced an initial learning curve. “Another guy with robots told me it would take a whole year before you nally get settled in with them, and he wasn’t wrong,” Middendorf said. “I’d say the last three months we’ve been settled in with them.” Cows in the freestall barn now average 2.8 daily visits to the robots. In the parlor, two daily milking shifts take four hours each to complete, shifts that are far shorter than when the entire herd was milked in the parlor. “Each shift was taking eight hours to milk, and it was so hard on labor and keeping people here milking eight hours straight,” Middendorf said. Turn to MIDDENDORFS | Page 6
Carrying tradiƟon forward Seedorfs named farm family of Otter Tail County By Emily Breth
emily.b@star-pub.com
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Carter (from leŌ), Caylee, Paul, Amanda and Clayton Seedorf stand together Jan. 7 at their farm near Perham, Minnesota. The Seedorfs were named the 2023 OƩer Tail County Farm Family of the Year.
PERHAM, Minn. — The work of four generations of the Seedorf family was rewarded when Seedorf Dairy was named the 2023 Otter Tail County Farm Family of the Year. “We didn’t really know we were even considered for it until they told us,” Amanda Seedorf said. Paul, who is the third generation to own the farm which Turn to SEEDORFS | Page 8