January 15, 2022 Dairy Star - 1st Section - Zone 1 by Dairy Star

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DAIRY ST R

Volume 23, No. 22

January 15, 2022

“All dairy, all the time”™

Farmers reap benets of state grant program Herber, Weyer make improvements to dairy facilities By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com

ALBANY, Minn. – Brian and Krissy Weyer had plans to upgrade their milking facility, and with the assistance of a state grant program, the project became more nancially appealing. “Either way, we were going to go through with the project, but this made life a lot easier,” Brian Weyer said. Weyer and his family are one of the 2020 recipients of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Growth, Research and Innovation Program’s Livestock Investment Grant. With the funding, they put a single milking robot in their existing freestall barn. Now, the Weyers milk about 75 cows with a DeLaval VMS 300 on their farm in Stearns County near Albany.

“We applied for the grant in 2019 for a 2020 project,” Weyer said. “I was really happy that we got it.” The Weyers were one of 25 dairy producers who received state funding in 2020; in total, the grant helped fund $772,000 worth of projects across the livestock sector. This past year, 18 dairy producers and their projects were a part of $756,000 in grant funds. In scal year 2022, MDA anticipates awarding up to $1.3 million, some of which has been claimed in the fall round of the Livestock Investment Grant. In February, the state will reopen applications for the funds remaining. “The grant allows producers to stay competitive in the industry and offset the costs of improvements,” said Courtney VanderMey, livestock investment administrator for the Ag Marketing and Development Division of MDA. “The MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR application process is competitive, but Brian Weyer reviews data on the robot Jan. 8 at his family’s dairy near Albany, the funding is attainable.” Minnesota. The Weyers used state funding to help with the robot project. Turn to GRANT | Page 7

Tragedy strikes a Stearns County dairy Heinens lose entire milking herd in early morning re By Mark Klaphake

mark.k@dairystar.com

MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR

Glenn Heinen’s dairy barn was destroyed in an early morning re Jan. 4 on his farm in Stearns County near St. Rosa, Minnesota. The structure, shown Jan. 6, also housed heifers, many of which were saved.

ST. ROSA, Minn. – An early morning barn re took the dairy facility and all the milking cows housed within on Jan. 4 near St. Rosa, Minnesota. Glenn Heinen and his son, Aron, who dairy together, lost their dairy facility and their 48 milking cows in the blaze. “It didn’t really hit me until that night that they were gone, everything was gone,” said Heinen, a dairy farmer for 30 years. “Those cows were my whole life. I feel so sorry for those poor cows. I loved and cared for them all their lives.” Heinen was alerted of the disaster around 5:30 a.m. when a neighbor passing by saw the re. “He called 6 minutes before my alarm went off,” Glenn said.

“I think your barn is on re. The whole kitchen was glowing. I dialed 911 as fast as I could and out the door we went.” When Glenn got out the door there were ames coming out of the hay barn door and the barn was totally engulfed. “I was freaking out,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do. I stood there in shock and thought ‘I have to get my cows, get my animals out’ but not a chain rattled, nothing.” When the re departments of Freeport, Melrose, Albany and Grey Eagle arrived, they found the re was concentrated more to the middle of the tiestall barn but was spreading quickly. Aron, who lives with his dad, helped move six calves, which were about 20-feet from the barn, to a safer place. “That rst hutch was melting already, there was that much heat,” Glenn said. Aron agreed. “I remember grabbing a calf to make sure they were OK and get them moved out of there,” he said. When Aron’s brothers, Turn to HEINENS | Page 6

Page 2 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022

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 (ofce) 320-248-3196 (cell) 320-352-0062 (home) Ad Composition Nancy Powell 320-352-6303 nancy.p@dairystar.com Editorial Staff Jennifer Coyne - Assistant Editor (320) 352-6303 • jenn@dairystar.com Danielle Nauman - Staff Writer (608) 487-1101 • danielle.n@dairystar.com Stacey Smart - Staff Writer (262) 442-6666 • stacey.s@dairystar.com Abby Wiedmeyer - Staff Writer 608-487-4812 • abby.w@dairystar.com Kate Rechtzigel - Staff Writer kate.r@dairystar.com Maria Bichler - Copy Editor 320-352-6303 Consultant Jerry Jennissen 320-346-2292 Advertising Sales Main Ofce: 320-352-6303 Fax: 320-352-5647 Deadline is 5 p.m. of the Friday the week before publication Sales Manager - Joyce Frericks 320-352-6303 • joyce@dairystar.com Bob Leukam (Northern MN, East Central MN) 320-260-1248 (cell) bob.l@star-pub.com Mark Klaphake (Western MN) 320-352-6303 (ofce) 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 Amanda Hoeer (Eastern Iowa) 320-250-2884 • amanda.h@dairystar.com Megan Stuessel (Western Wisconsin) 608-387-1202 • megan.s@dairystar.com Kati Kindschuh (Northeast WI and Upper MI) 920-979-5284 • kati.k@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 $40.00, outside the U.S. $200.00. 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 nal 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 / Star Publications LLC.

The Dairy Star is published semi-monthly by Star Publications LLC, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246. Periodicals Postage Paid at Sauk Centre, MN and additional mailing ofces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246.

America dealers. Canada increasing dairyNorth market

Dairy Prole brought to you by your The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Dispute Settlement Panel has ruled Canada is unfairly restricting access to its market for U.S. dairy products. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the United States will now be able to sell more dairy products to Canada. “We’re going to focus on enforcing trade agreements, so that people can begin having trust when an agreement is reached, and these agreements will be implemented as negotiated,” Vilsack said. This case is the rst of any kind brought before the USMCA Dispute Settlement Panel.

Formula adjustments in Supplemental DMC The United States Department of Agriculture Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage is new in 2022. It allows dairy farmers that increased production since the 2011-13 lings to update their production history. The formula for alfalfa in the average feed cost calculation has also been adjusted. “It used to be 50% premium alfalfa, and now they’re accounting for 100% premium alfalfa to be more reective of dairy expenses,” said Danny Munch, associate economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation. “That adjustment will really allow farmers to take advantage of higher payment levels if the change in alfalfa price links to a higher a coverage level that they chose.” Signup for the program continues through Feb. 18. Biden offers upbeat supply chain assessment In a meeting with his supply chain task force, President Joe Biden said a historic amount of goods are moving through the ports. “After working with our administration, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have nearly cut in half the number of those great big containers you see sitting on a dock for more than eight days,” Biden said. “The number of containers moving through our ports is higher than ever.” The ports at Los Angeles and Long Beach handle 40% of the imports into America. Since mid-October, the dwell time for containers at the Port of Long Beach dropped from 12 days to ve days. In that same time period, the dwell time for containers in LA has

gone from nine days to four days. Action is being taken to increase the number of truck drivers to move the freight. “We’re cutting the red tape so companies can set up registered apprenticeships with truck drivers in two days instead of two months,” Biden said. Vilsack and his counterparts from Commerce, Labor, Transportation and the National Economic Council also participated in the task force meeting.

Ag Insider

Build Back Better plan criticized By Don Wick As we move into the new year, Senate Ranking Member John BoozColumnist man is offering a hopeful tone. “I’m excited about the new year,” Boozman said. “Hopefully, we can put ‘Build Back Broke’ aside and get back to the normal way of doing things with Democrats and Republicans on the ag committee working together.” West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin shut down negotiations on the $2 trillion budget reconciliation bill more than a week ago, but the White House and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer promise to revisit this plan. In an interview, Boozman described the Build Back Better proposal as “massive” and “very inationary.” Boozman said that bill would have a signicant impact on agriculture. “They’re talking about spending about $90 billion in agriculture that directly changes the farm bill, something we’ve said we’d never do,” he said. “It’s $90 billion worth of spending that had no input from anyone but the White House and a few Democrats in Congress.” Boozman said his ofce has worked closely with Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow’s staff in the past but now is at odds over Build Back Better.

Turn to AG INSIDER | Page 5

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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022 • Page 3

It’s all inside... Columnists Ag Insider

Pages 2, 5 First Section

First Section: Page 29

Clay

Plymouth

Hope Creamery continues tradition for more than a century

Monona

Ida

Crawford Carroll

Pottawattamie Cass

m Fre

lh Ca

Kanabec

Washington

Floyd

Greene

Bremer

Wright Franklin Butler

Guthrie

Boone

Dallas

Story

Polk

all

Black Hawk

Tama

h ars

ick

Jasper

iek

Mitchell Howard

Hancock Cerro Gordo

Fayette

Benton

Iowa

Clayton

e war Dubuque

First Section: Pages 12 - 13

Houston

ake

eu r

ms ey

Worth

Mower

Webster Hamilton Hardin Grundy

Madison Warren Marion Mahaska Keokuk

Adair

ry ome Adams ntg

Union

Page

n Win

ldt

Sac

Harrison Shelby

eba

Kossuth

Palo Alto

e Buena Vista

Mills

Zone 1

Clay

ero

Woodbury

Third Section: Pages 3 - 5

n inso Emmet

Dick

O’Brien

Sioux

Hope

Page 22 Second Section

Osceola

Faribault

Martin

Lyon

Jackson

Winona

Fillimore

Bon Yankton Homme

Lin

Nobles

Freeborn

Turner

Cottonwood Watonwan Blue Earth Waseca Steele Dodge Olmsted

All

McCook Minnehaha

Hutchinson

Murray

Rock

Dela

Jones

Linn

Clinton on Cedar

Jackson

Scott

Muscatine

Moody

W in

Charles Mix

Lake

Schaffers install three robots on fth-generation dairy

Wabasha

Taylor

gto

Country Cooking

Douglas Gregory

Brown

Miesville

Goodhue

Rice

Rin

o gg

Clarke

Lucas

Decatur Wayne

Monroe Wapello se

oo pan

Davis

hin

Tripp Todd

Miner

Nicollet

Wa s

Mellette

Sanborn

Redwood

sh iek

Brule

Aurora

Lyon

Dakota

Scott

Sibley

Lyman

Jerauld

Brookings

Hennepin Carver

Kingsbury

McLeod

Beadle

Anoka

Wright

Meeker

Renville

Yellow Medicine

Isanti

Buffalo

Deuel

Kandiyohi

Chippewa

Lac Qui Parle

Codington Hamlin

Haakon Jones

Wilkin

Grant Clark

Sherburne

Swift

Pine

Mille Lacs

Benton

Stearns

Pope

Lincoln

Hughes

Hand

Stevens

First Section: Page 25

Carlton

Morrison

Douglas

Glessing to represent farmers in MFBF president’s role

Aitkin

Crow Wing

Todd Grant

Big Stone

Day

Sully Section: Pages 3 - 4 Second Hyde

Otter Tail

Tra ver se

Brown

Fieber expands Edmunds Walworth Dairy in order to create Faulk for the Potter opportunities next generation Spink

Stanley

Roberts

Marshall

McPherson

Ziebach

Sargent

Campbell

Goodwin

Corson

Dickey

Richland

Cass

Ransom

LaMoure

McIntosh

Becker

Clay

Waverly

Hubbard

Cass

Mah

Lake

Itasca

Wadena

Bames

Pipestone

Stutsman

Emmons Sioux

Bennett

en nom

Pages 10 - 11 Second Section

Kidder

Grant

Jackson

Polk

Trail

Steele

Cook

isa Ch

The “Mielke” Market Weekly Shannon

Griggs

Koochiching St. Louis

Red Lake

Foster

Logan

Pennington

Beltrami

Pennington

Grand Forks

Norman Burleigh

Lake of the Woods

Wells

Roseau

Marshall

Morton

Adams

Page 39 First Section

Fall River

Walsh

Eddy

Oliver

Hettinger Page 37 First Section

Kittson

Benson

Sheridan

Come Full Dairy Circle Meade

Custer

Pembina

Ramsey

McHenry

Dewey

Lawrence

Cavalier

Towner

Mercer

Page 38 First Section Perkins

Butte

Rolette

Women in Dairy: Vickie Colsrud

Farmers reap benets of state grant program

Bottineau

McLean

From the Zweber Farm Harding

First Section: Pages 1, 7

Nelson

Veterinary Stark Wisdom

Bowman

First Section: Pages 1, 6

Ward

Billings

Slope

First Section: Page 26

Pierce

Mountrail

Page 36 FirstDunn Section

Golden Valley

Finlayson

Page 35 First Section

Dear County Agent Guy

McKenzie

Albany

Heinens lose entire milking herd in early morning re

Da vi so n

Williams

St. Rosa

Zenzen family moves dairy across state lines

On the Road with PrincessRenville Burke Kay

Divide

Elrosa

Au d

Page 34 First Section

Clearwater

From My Perspective

Louisa

on ers

Henry Des

Jef

Van Buren

Welch

Dairy Prole: Brad and Jessica Anderson First Section: Page 31

Moines

Lee

Zone 2

FROM OUR SIDE OF THE FENCE:

What are you looking forward to in 2022? First Section: Pages 15 - 16

For additional stories from our other zone, log on to www.dairystar.com

Cannon Falls

Lewiston

Second Section: Pages 8 - 9

First Section: Pages 8 - 9

Mother, daughter raise caprines, start business

Weather causes damage, power outages for farmers in December

Decorah

Foresight Farms breeds, feeds for success Second Section: Pages 16 - 17

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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022 • Page 5

ConƟnued from AG INSIDER | Page 2 30×30 progress report issued The White House has released a progress report on the Biden administration’s 30×30 conservation proposal, conserving 30% of U.S. land and water by the year 2030. The report cites the expansion of corn and soybean production in the Upper Midwest and Northern Plains. It says that shift is due to changes in the climate. The report also says soil in the Midwest is eroding and degrading faster because of an increase in humidity and rainfall. Vilsack is a co-chair of the 30×30 interagency working group. House Ag Committee to start farm bill review in 2022 Ranking Member Glenn “GT” Thompson said the House Ag Committee will focus on the farm bill in 2022. In the new year, Vilsack is expected to make an appearance before the committee for an update. “The bulk of our priorities need to be dedicated with what we learn in these farm bill oversight hearings,” Thompson said. “I also hear feedback from agriculture that we need timely disaster relief and support for the farm safety net. Then, reliable broadband and supply chain resiliency.” Court rules on use of common cheese name A federal judicial ruling has concluded gruyere is a generic style of cheese and is not limited to a type of cheese made in France or Switzerland. “Not only is this a landmark victory for American dairy farmers and cheese producers who offer gruyere, this win sets a vital precedent in the much larger, ongoing battle over food names in the United States,” said Jaime Castaneda, executive director for Consortium for Common Food Names. “The European Union has tried for years to monopolize common names such as gruyere, parmesan, bologna or chateau. This verdict validates that we’re on the right path in our ght on behalf of American food and wine producers to preserve their ability to use long-established generic names.” The court said the arguments made by the French and Swiss were “insufcient and unconvincing.” Dairy cow numbers increase in SD, MN Milk production in the 24 major dairy states totaled 17.3 billion pounds in November 2021. That is down a fraction of 1% from one year ago. In Minnesota, milk output increased 2%. The size of Minnesota’s dairy herd grew by 6,000 head over the last year. South Dakota milk production rose nearly 17% and added 22,000 cows to herd. Cass County Farm Bureau recognized for its law enforcement training program Minnesota’s Cass County Farm Bureau was recognized for its work training local law enforcement ofcials about farming. Seth and Rachel Connell said the sheriff’s ofce or highway patrol in rural areas interact with agriculture on a regular basis. It may be as simple as having cattle that are loose on the

highway. “Generally, they didn’t seem to have any idea what to do or even how to identify if it was a cow or a calf or simple things like the breed of the cow,” the Connels said. Cass County organized a daylong training session for law enforcement students from Central Lakes College. “There were roughly 20 students and maybe one or two had any agricultural background,” the Connells said. Cass County Farm Bureau shared the idea at the American Farm Bureau trade show with hopes of replicating it in other areas. UMN seeking nearly $1B from Legislature The University of Minnesota will be asking the Legislature for $935 million in funding for the year. That includes $60 million for an agricultural research and education complex. The budget request also includes scholarship funding for the Twin Cities campus and outstate campuses, including Crookston and Morris. The legislative session begins Jan. 31. Peterson recognized by Pro Farmer Pro Farmer has presented House Agriculture Committee Chairman Emeritus Collin Peterson with its Agriculture Man of the Year Award. The recognition is based, in part, on Peterson’s role in protecting stepped-up basis and other key tax provisions. John Deere introduces autonomous tractor John Deere’s fully autonomous tractor will be available to farmers later this year. The tractor made its debut at a huge consumer technology show in Las Vegas. Deanna Kovar is the vice president of John Deere’s precision agriculture business and said farmers will be able to monitor the autonomous tractor remotely from their phone, tablet or computer. “These machines don’t get tired, and they don’t call in sick; they get the job done when it needs to be done, allowing farmers to get the most out of their equipment and their land,” Kovar said. Kovar emphasized this new technology is ready for large-scale production. “This isn’t a concept machine; this isn’t a demo; this is a working machine that will be available later this year to farmers,” she said. Trivia challenge The dairy cow has four stomach compartments. That answers our last trivia question. For this week’s trivia, what Mexican cheese is white in color, rm in texture and tastes salty? We will have the answer in the next edition of Dairy Star. Don Wick is owner/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 ve grandchildren, Aiden, Piper, Adrienne, Aurora and Sterling.

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Page 6 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022

ConƟnued from HEINENS | Page 1

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Glenn (leŌ) and Aron Heinen stand in their shop Jan. 6, two days aŌer a re destroyed their dairy barn south of St. Rosa, Minnesota. The barn, 48 dairy cows and 3,500 bales of hay were destroyed. Chris, Matt and Jeremy, arrived, they immediately headed to the back of the barn and were able to free all the heifers which were housed in a lean-to on the southside of the dairy barn. They were able to free them by opening a gate and door on the structure. “We had to sell some because of smoke inhalation,” Glenn said. “We salvaged about 36 heifers out of 40. It’s a cold part of the barn. They were ready to get out. We saved a lot of animals, everything we could.” Aron added, “When we got the heifers far enough away, I was standing and watching the re for 10 minutes. I realized it was all gone. I started crying. I was in the shop for about two hours and couldn’t go back outside to deal with it.” The re departments spent nearly six hours battling the re, but unfortunately the barn, which included 3,500 small square bales of hay, was gone. The barn was a 36- by 60-foot structure and the lean-to was 24- by 48-foot. “I can’t thank them enough,” said Glenn of the reghters. “It was unreal the help they gave us; words can’t describe it. They were here in 10 to 15 minutes. They grabbed the trucks and did everything they could.” At the time of this writing, the cause of the blaze is yet unknown according to the re inspector. “We just don’t know,” Glenn said. “We know it didn’t start in the milkhouse. We saw that catch re at daylight. The

rest of the barn was pretty much gone before daylight.” Memories is all the duo have left of their 48 cows that meant so much to them. “It was a lot of work to get the genetics where I had them, the milk and the strength and animals where it was,” Glenn said. “They were happy cows with strong legs. A lot of them you had to pet as you milked them. They were more than cows for us.” The herd consisted of several breeds including Milking Shorthorn, Brown Swiss, Holstein and crossbreds; some were 7-years-old. “I’ve been helping all my life,” Aron said. “I had a really deep connection to them. I loved everything about dairy farming. It was peaceful and calming.” The Heinens are uncertain where their dairy careers are headed now. “It’s too early to tell what we’ll do,” Glenn said. “This is by far the worst day of my life. I always thought maybe the boys would want to take over when I want to retire. Now, with the prices, it’s too hard. The family farm is still the best way of life.” Aron had planned to follow in his father’s footsteps, but the loss of the milking herd and facility has left a big unknown for him. “I ideally planned on making this my life,” Aron said. “Everything else didn’t seem like it t per se. You feel a tug and feel like it’s the right direction.”

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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022 • Page 7

ConƟnued from GRANT | Page 1 The Weyers were working with the state when they rst heard of the Livestock Investment Grant. After applying, the Weyers were awarded $25,000 which would be given as a reimbursement once the project was complete. At the beginning of 2020, Weyer and his family built a 12- by 16-foot addition on the freestall barn as a robot room. The parlor then became a holding pen and ofce area. “So far it’s working really well and a lot easier,” Weyer said. “Dad was getting tired of milking every day, and this allowed us not to have to nd someone to hire.” Previously, the Weyers

were milking in a parlor they built in 2009. The project was completed in March 2020, and by August of that year, the Weyers received their funding from the grant program. “The robot project was just about as expensive as the building project in 2009,” Weyer said. “I hope it lasts the rest of my career; that’s the goal.” This state program, which was developed in 2008, covers a multitude of projects for livestock farmers. Dairy farmers have used the funds to update housing facilities, milking equipment, manure or feed storage and management equipment, among others, VanderMey said.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

A barn oor at ScoƩ Herber’s farm is regrooved to improve animal safety at the 650-cow dairy near Altura, Minnesota. Herber completed the project with funds from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Growth, Research and InnovaƟon Program’s Livestock Investment Grant.

“This grant is applicable to farmers looking to improve their operation by increasing protability and sustainability for themselves and future generations,” she said. When Scott Herber applied for the grant, he did so with intention of Shadycrest Holsteins withstanding many more years in the industry. “We’ve applied for the grant in the past but didn’t receive it,” Herber said. “But with the projects that needed to be done, and my son’s interest in coming back, we could get it this time. We built this barn for profitability and safety, and setting this up for the next generation.” Herber received grant funding for a project he completed October 2020 on his family’s 650-cow dairy in Winona County near Altura. During a heavy snowstorm in February 2019, a section of the roof on one of the Herbers’ freestall barns collapsed. They rebuilt and improved the ooring with new grooving and also converted the barn from a naturally-ventilated building to tunnel ventilation. The following year, the Herbers decided to update the remaining sections of the 250cow barn with funding from the state’s grant program. “We planed and regrooved the alleyways,” Herber said. “We also updated the rafters of the barn, increased the snow load and lowered the ceiling to

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MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR

The Weyer family – (front, from leŌ) Josy, Noah and Liam; (back, from leŌ) Krissy and Brian – stand near their robot Jan. 8. The Weyers milk 75 cows in Stearns County near Albany, Minnesota. get more airow through the barn with less fans.” The ceiling was lowered to about 14-feet at its center with a different style of rafters than previously used, and a cloth material was used to seal it. The grooved ooring and more airow created better cow comfort and safety, and ultimately, more protability for the Herbers. “It worked out better than we could’ve imagined,” Herber said. “The completed barn is

kind of impressive.” Almost two years after the barn collapse, and working through construction, the Herbers are nally seeing their herd’s performance bounce back and are hopeful for the future. “There are a lot of different things I could have done, but I updated what needed to be done,” Herber said. “I built this for now, and I built this for the future so my son has some years of use out of it too.”

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Page 8 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022

The aftermath of strong storms Weather causes damage, power outages for farmers in December By Kate Rechtzigel kate.r@dairystar.com

LEWISTON, Minn. – The National Weather Service issued severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings across Iowa, southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the evening of Dec. 15, 2021. The storm, which was later classied as a serial derecho, moved at speeds of 60-80 mph and caused damage and power outages for area dairy farmers. “It was Luke Miller super warm Dairy farmer that whole day,” Luke Miller said. “I had a feeling that it was going to storm.” Miller milks 700 cows and runs 1,700 acres with his parents, Jack and Pat, and brother Rob and his family – wife Kathi and children Bradley and Ella – at Clear Crest Farm near Lewiston. Miller and his family took shelter from the storm but soon realized the damage on their farm. “The milk hauler had just got here; it must’ve been right after

the storm because I was still in the basement,” Miller said. “He called and said we had a bunch of junk on the road and our cattle were out. I was only in the basement for a couple minutes.” The Millers lost the heifer shed, had a damaged grain bin and grain leg which the heifer shed smashed into, lost a hay shed, had garage doors and curtains blow in on the freestall barns, and lost the plastic on the feed bunkers. Nearby, employee housing was destroyed from a tornado which touched down near Lewiston. “I was still in the basement when one of the milkers called,” Miller said. “He said he was really, really, really nervous because there was a loud thud on the house and the house was moving.” After talking to Miller, the employee went into the basement. Later, Miller learned the detached garage was picked up by the tornado and a large tree branch fell on the home. “There were a lot of people here that night helping move animals and clean stuff off the road after it happened,” Miller said. Thanks to the re department, neighbors, friends and other community volunteers, the Millers were able to clean up

PHOTO SUBMITTED

An EF0 tornado took part of Luke Miller’s heifer shed in the storm Dec. 15 near Altura, Minnesota. Miller is currently housing the heifers at his brother, Rob’s place. The Millers plan to rebuild. most of their damage the night of the storm. “We’re very grateful that nobody got hurt, and we’re thankful for all the neighbors and friends who came out to help us even

though a lot of them had storm damage themselves,” Miller said. The Millers hope to rebuild the heifer shed next summer and plan to be back to normal by this time next year.

“We’re very thankful that there was minimal damage done to the milking parlor and freestall barns,” Miller said. “It’s a lot Turn to STORMS | Page 9

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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022 • Page 9

ConƟnued from STORMS | Page 8

“(The test) made more sense to do that than sort cows again.” What do you like about the DHIA Pregnancy Tests?

I like the DHIA pregnancy test because it allows us to do a late-lactation pregnancy check on cows before we dry them off without needing to sort animals for the vet an additional time.

How long have you been using the test? We have been using it for about

a year and a half.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Luke Miller’s hay shed is collapsed aŌer the Dec. 15 storm. Miller milks 700 cows near Lewiston, Minnesota. easier to function when there isn’t a lot of extensive damage on the home farm. But when you step back, everything’s rebuildable, and nobody got hurt so we’ll come out OK.” Andrew Gathje’s farm was also hit by the storm 39 miles away in Stewartville. “I wasn’t really thinking too heavily about the storms that were expected to come,” Gathje said. “Nine times out of 10 when severe weather is forecasted, the storm that actually rolls in is signicantly weaker than what was predicted. I didn’t take the National Weather Service predictions as seriously as I should have.” Gathje, 23, milks 55 cows with his dad, Andy, and brother, Ben, 21. They also have 70 cow-calf pairs of beef cattle, feed out 85 head of cattle a year and cash crop corn, soybean and oat as well as raise alfalfa for feed. From the storm, the Gathjes lost a calf shed, trees, a calf hutch, had other calf hutches blow around and lost power for nine hours. “This storm exceeded my expectations with the wind,” Gathje said. “When the line of storms was about 30 miles southwest of the farm and still producing 80-plus mph wind gusts, my rst thought was that we were likely going to actually get strong wind gusts for the rst time in 13 years. However, I still did not think Minnesota would see a tornado that night, let alone over a dozen of them. The fact that one of those tornadoes was 4 miles south of our farm is pretty bizarre to think about.” Gathje was in his house with his dad when the storm rolled in; his brother and mom, Nora, were in the other house. “Normally when the wind blows outside, I can tell how fast the wind is blowing by how bad my house shakes

and how the wind sounds,” Gathje said. “When I felt and heard the house shake harder than I can ever recall, I thought, ‘Man they actually weren’t kidding about this one were they.’” Right before the power went out, Gathje walked to his front door and saw their calf shed lying upside down next to the dairy barn. “I knew then I was going to have a mess to clean up after the storm passed,” Gathje said. “I also had to hook the tractorpowered generator up right after the storm so the fans in the barn would be able to give the cows proper ventilation all night.” The Gathjes spent most of that night and the next day searching for calves and hutches, cleaning up after the storm and coping with no power. Their power was back on shortly before 5 a.m. the day after the storm. “Right after the storm, a neighboring dairy called me to see if we were all OK,” Gathje said. “Unfortunately, they had taken a harder hit in the storm, and it bugged me that I couldn’t go help anyone due to the damage I had to deal with at home. Thankfully, everything still worked out in the end, and I was very appreciative someone checked in on me after the storm.” The Gathjes hope to rebuild this spring and summer and be back to fully operational come fall. “One of the biggest lessons to learn in farming at a young age is that there are a lot of variables which are out of your control,” Gathje said. “You can get as angry as you want about the weather, input prices or whatever is causing mental stress, but doing so doesn’t change anything. I hope my best days as a farmer are yet to come and will be more abundant in quantity and quality than I could ever imagine.”

Why did you choose to use it? The reason we began using it was that we had a few cows that were coming up open after their dry period. We started sleeving latelactation animals for pregnancy to prevent this. When the test became available, it made more sense to do that than sort cows again. How long have you been testing with DHIA? My father began testing with DHIA in April 1982.

Why is testing with DHIA valuable to your dairy? Testing with DHIA is valuable

so that we know what our cows are milking and helps us to make herd management decisions.

Tell us about your farm. I farm with my father, Paul, and my brother, Micah, on the farm my grandfather, Fred, bought in 1946. Our herd consists of 270 milking and dry Holsteins. We do a lot of crossbreeding to beef for our non-replacements and fatten out about 200 cattle a year. We run 650 acres of corn, soybeans and hay.

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PHOTO SUBMITTED

Andrew Gathje’s calf barn is damaged aŌer the storm on Dec. 15 near Stewartville, Minnesota.

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Page 10 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022

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Jan. 16, 2021 issue Springers lose barn, goats in re In the early morning of Christmas Eve in 2020, the Springer family awoke to their lifelong dream destroyed in a barn re. Stephen and Brittany Springer lost an 80-foot by 240-foot barn, milkhouse, custom 24-stall rotary parlor and their 800-goat herd on their farm in Henning, Minnesota. All that remained were about 60 young females that were not housed in the barn at the time of the re. Jan. 30, 2021 issue Central Plains Dairy Expo slated for March 24-25 After an abrupt cancellation of Central Plains Dairy Expo in 2020, the event organizers committed to a highly-anticipated return in 2021. Following extensive precautions for the coronavirus pandemic, the expo was set to take place March 24-25 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It was slated to kick off with a breakfast and then continue, as tradition, with vast opportunities for dairy farmers to connect with others in the industry, expand their knowledge of the latest topics and see the industry’s newest technology. March 13, 2021 issue AMPI, First District Association form American Dairy Cooperative Associated Milk Producers Inc. and First District Association announced the formation of American Dairy Cooperative, Common Marketing Agency that allows the cooperatives to coordinate value-added services while farmer-members maintain ownership and independence in their own cooperatives. The CMA is intended to optimize operations within each cooperative and create a more efcient way of meeting dairy demand, both domestically and globally. These objectives may include improving onfarm services, better use of manufacturing capacities and creating a larger dairy product selection. April 10, 2021 issue DeRosier survives 45 minutes in under-barn manure pit March 20, 2021, is a day Troy DeRosier will never forget. The farmer deed all odds when he lived to tell about falling into the 2-million-gallon, 12-foot-deep manure pit that sits beneath the freestall barn on his farm in Osceola, Wisconsin. DeRosier was partially submerged in 9 feet of manure for 45 minutes before being rescued by his son and an employee. Lucky to be alive, the horrifying near-death experience left DeRosier with a renewed appreciation for the gift of life. April 10, 2021 issue USDA program expands COVID-19 assistance The United States Department of Agriculture expanded its assistance to dairy producers in light of the ongoing market disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. This initiative was developed with intentions to provide more than $6 billion to farmers through existing and new programs, and comes in four parts. When the announcement was made in late March, it was unclear just how the funds would be distributed. April 24, 2021 issue Seykoras lose 29 cows in barn re While Brian and MaryBeth Seykora were watching their sons, Matt and Mitchell, play baseball the evening of April 8, their own lives were thrown a curveball. They returned home with the news that their barn was engulfed in ames, and they watched numbly as their 45-stall hip roof tiestall barn burned

MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR

Stephen and BriƩany Springer lost their barn, milkhouse and 800 goats in a re Dec. 24, 2020. The Springers built the 80-by-240 barn and 22-by-24 milkhouse in 2017. on their farm near Owatonna, Minnesota. Before the Seykoras could arrive home, neighbors helped remove cattle from the barn. Of the family’s 57 cows, 28 survived. The cause of the re was likely a broken electrical wire from a light in the hay loft, according to the re marshal. May 8, 2021 issue Dairy groups unveil Class III Plus proposal Four Midwest dairy farmer organizations proposed a change to the Federal Milk Marketing Order pricing formula. The Dairy Business Association, Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, Minnesota Milk Producers Association and Nebraska State Dairy Association unveiled the Class III Plus – a reform proposal for FMMO, specically targeting uid milk pricing. In short, the Class I skim milk price would be calculated as the Class III skim milk price plus the Class I skim milk price adjuster. June 26, 2021 issue Feed costs cause strain on producers Commodity prices steadily increased throughout 2021 with highs at $7.32 for corn, and soybeans topping the market at $16.43, according to macrotrends. net in June. For dairy farmers who purchase feed, these market conditions added to the pressure of milking cows. The rise in grain prices were attributed to several factors, including yields in South America, a dry spring in the United States, an increasing export market, a shortened inventory supply, plant shutdowns and a shortage of truck drivers. July 10, 2021 issue First District expansion to accommodate 7.5 million pounds of milk per day At the end of June, First District Association went live with its last of three new plants at the Litcheld, Minnesota, location allowing it to receive 7.5 million pounds of raw milk each day and process 40-pound blocks of cheese in addition to its established 500-pound barrels. The project entailed three plants, including an eight-bay receiving and intake area, a lactose-drying facility and a state-of-the-art cheese plant. The fullyautomated plants allow milk to be processed in its entirety – from the cooperative’s traditional cheesemaking and whey and lactose powder line. July 24, 2021 issue South Dakota’s dairy industry continues to grow In the last year, South Dakota’s dairy industry continued to grow, bucking trends seen in other states. There were a recorded 160,000 dairy cows on about 175 farms. Those animals, and the careers related to the industry, created a $4.1 billion boost to the South Dakota economy, according to the International Dairy Turn to YEAR IN REVIEW | Page 11

Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022 • Page 11

ConƟnued from YEAR IN REVIEW | Page 10

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Mike Roers describes the eld condiƟons to Gov. Tim Walz during a farm tour July 29, 2021 at Roers’ dairy in Douglas County near Brandon, Minnesota. The tour was an opportunity for state leaders to see the drought condiƟons and discuss opƟons for assistance from state and federal governments. Foods Association. Both an increase in cow numbers and production per cow were factors that inuenced the industry outlook in 2021. Aug. 14, 2021 issue Boesl donates kidney to ailing husband Jeff Boesl stole Julie’s heart 35 years ago, and now he has her kidney. The couple’s strength and devotion to each other was reafrmed when Julie became an organ donor for her husband Jan. 19, 2021. Jeff suffers from polycystic kidney disease, where clusters of cysts develop on his kidneys. With the successful transfer, he is back to completing chores better than usual on his family’s 400-cow dairy in Douglas County near Brandon, Minnesota Aug. 14, 2021 issue Drought conditions stretch across Minnesota Across much of the state of Minnesota, rainfall was sparse throughout the growing season. In a July report, the U.S. drought monitor released a map that indicated every part of the state was in some form of a drought. Throughout the summer, lawmakers convened to address the dry conditions and its impact on production agriculture. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz toured Mike Roers’ dairy farm near Brandon, Minnesota. There, they saw the bleak corn elds and unforgiving challenges livestock and crop farmers faced because of lack of rain. Sept. 11, 2021 issue Minnesota, Iowa dairy farmers deal with crop damage in the aftermath of storms A summer storm ravaged through the countryside Aug. 28, 2021, destroying buildings and attening crop elds. From Iowa to Minnesota, the weather affected farms differently. Steve Turnis was about 10 days out from chopping corn, which he guessed would have yielded about 200 bushels per acre, when 80 mph winds knocked down 50 acres on his farm near Sand Springs, Iowa. Tom and Sandra Herdering, of St. Rosa, Minnesota, relied on a generator to power their 75-cow dairy for a day; and David Tauer relied on an abundant feed inventory to make up for the lost crop on his 220-cow dairy near Sleepy Eye, Minnesota.

Oct. 23, 2021 issue A banner year for the dairy industry The International Dairy Foods Association painted a glowing picture for the nation’s dairy industry in 2020 despite the pandemic and challenges that arose with domestic consumption. All told, the U.S. exported nearly 2.4 million metric tons of dairy goods, shattering previous records. And, for the rst time ever, uid milk exports exceeded domestic uid sales on a skim milk solids basis. With months still remaining in 2021, the rst half of the year already proved dairy exports up double digits over the year prior. Nov. 13, 2021 issue Minnesota dairyman back home after deployment in Middle East Serving in our nation’s armed forces can be a life-changing experience. Few people know this better than Matt Raak, who grew up milking cows on his family’s dairy farm near Jasper, Minnesota. Raak returned home last summer after serving in the 114th Fighter Wing’s Vehicle Mechanics unit at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. While overseas, Raak realized how grateful he is for family and his way of life on a dairy farm. Dec. 11, 2021 issue Several honored at National Milk Producers Federation annual meeting Farmers across Dairy Star’s coverage area were recognized for their contributions to the industry in various capacities during this year’s National Milk Producers Federation annual meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. Charles Krause, a fth-generation farmer from Buffalo, Minnesota, was selected as the Farmer Communicator of the Year. Dairyman Kenton Holle, of Mandan, North Dakota, received the prestigious Richard E. Lying Award for his years of dairy promotion. And, Borst Family Dairy LLC, of Rochester, Minnesota, accepted the inaugural National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management program’s Excellence Award for Animal Care and Antibiotic Stewardship.

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Page 12 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022

Set for the future

Schaffers install three robots on fth-generation dairy By Kate Rechtzigel kate.r@dairystar.com

MIESVILLE, Minn. − The Schaffer brothers are set for the future with their recent automated upgrades. “Before we were milking in a double-5 herringbone parlor built in 1971. It took us over ve hours to milk 150 cows,” said Justin Schaffer of their old barn. “We milked pennies out of that parlor we didn’t know we had.” Jeff Schaffer agreed.

“The robots are a huge upgrade,” he said. Brothers Justin, Jeff and Jason milk 210 cows with three DeLaval V300 robots they installed on their dairy near Miesville. With the installation, the Schaffers also put up a 71-by-320 tunnel-ventilated barn with automatic scrapers and an automatic feed pusher. The brothers and their dad, Al, and uncle, George, run about 900 acres of corn, soybean, pea, sweetcorn, green bean, winter rye and alfalfa in both Goodhue and

KATE RECHTZIGEL/DAIRY STAR

The Schaffer brothers – (from le�) – Jeff, Jason and Jus�n – milk 210 cows in Dakota County near Miesville, Minnesota. The Schaffers installed the robots in May 2020.

KATE RECHTZIGEL/DAIRY STAR

Cows are milked in one of the Schaﬀers’ DeLaval V300 robots Jan. 6 on the farm near Miesville, Minnesota. The Schaﬀers installed the new robots in May 2020.

Dakota counties. They raise their youngstock and nish the steers on their fth-generation farm. On a typical day, George will come in the morning and fetch cows. He also does all the bookwork and a lot of the maintenance on the farm. “He’s semi-retired; so, he cut back to 40 hours a week,” Jeff said. “When he did that, he allowed us three to buy into the partnership between him and our dad.” Later in the morning, Justin

comes to the barn and catches the remaining fetch cows and observes the rest of the milking. “I do all the herd health, majority of the breedings, treatment and vaccine decisions,” Justin said. “I’m basically the herdsman for the farm.” While cows are being fetched, Jeff mixes feed for the cows, and Jason mixes feed for the youngstock and steers with their two mixers. Jason and Jeff also help with the majority of the eldwork

and maintenance on the farm. Al helps with feeding the youngstock. “(Al) used to do all the milkings in the old barn, but ever since we moved up here, his main job has been feeding calves,” Jeff said. The Schaffers first started looking at robots in February 2017. “It took us four years to do this, and we found that by adding robots, we could add cows and not

Turn to SCHAFFERS | Page 13

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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022 • Page 13

Con�nued from SCHAFFERS | Page 12

KATE RECHTZIGEL/DAIRY STAR

Cows are housed in a 71- by 320-foot tunnel-ven�lated barn at the Schaﬀers’ dairy near Miesville, Minnesota. In addi�on to the new robots, the Schaﬀers built the barn, put in automa�c scrapers and a feed pusher. labor,” Justin said. “We toured over 20 farms all over the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa looking at three brands of robots.” By June 2019, the Schaffers decided how many robots to put in, and on Sept. 23, 2019, dirt work started. The crew poured the outside walls, footings and the two cow alleys before winter. “We hired an Amish crew to build the barn, who even worked on Christmas Eve,” Jeff said. “We didn’t think they would work, but sure enough they did and they stayed at the structure most of the winter.” The Schaffer brothers were encouraged to attend a three-day training to learn about computer software and work with robots in Kansas City, Missouri. “It was well worth the time to go,” Jeff said. “There were people there from Canada and all over the U.S. It gave me a different perspective on how they do things in regards to feeding and all the different settings involved.” Jason agreed. “I wish there was more time to work on the robots at the training,” he said. “But we made the right choice going with the robots we did.” By May 13, 2020, the building was ready for its rst cows. “We brought the cows into the barn and got them used to it rst on Wednesday, May 13, because they didn’t know what new concrete was,” Justin said. “By Monday morning, May 18, we started milking with the robots, and by Wednesday, May 20, the cows were starting to go through on their own. They adapted really well.” So far, the Schaffers have been happy with their robots and the barn. “What’s surprising is how different the cows are,” Jeff said. “They are like tame pets up here.” Justin agreed. “They are also milking more; I’m going to have a 40,000-pound cow this year,” he said. The robots provide data on herd and reproduction management in addition to milk pounds, a mastitis indicator which is comparable to somatic cell count, all of which can be controlled from either a computer or phone. “It’s incredible,” Justin said. “Before the cows voluntarily culled themselves out,

now we search for problem cows to cull, or we involuntarily cull so we don’t over crowd the barn beyond the robot capabilities of how many cows or milkings they can handle. And, our cull cows are bringing a higher value on the market.” The robots even have data on individual teats and have helped the farm excel in teat health. “They have a smart pulsation with four settings which makes for a better milk speed, and the robot nds the right pulsation for each individual cow,” Justin said. Jeff agreed. “And the individual quarter milking is better than the all-off or all-on method,” he said. “You’d be surprised at how varying some quarters are in cows.” The Schaffers have also seen consistent cow comfort and time management. “The cows went from a two-star to a 10-star hotel,” Jeff said. “You’re not saving on labor with the robots, but it is more exible on who and when the work gets done. If all of us were gone, one guy could handle all of the work. We could never do that in a parlor.” The Schaffers advise others looking at putting in robots to tour farms and ask questions. “Don’t be afraid,” Jeff said. “If you have a barn layout you like, get as many eyes to look at it as possible. The more you look, the more you see, the more you are going to know what you want to do.” Looking back, the Schaffers would have added more robots and changed some gating layouts to allow for better cow ow. “I really wanted four robots, and I had this nice plan drawn up, but that would have added 60 more cows and more feed, feed storage, manure storage, and more calves and heifers to house,” Justin said. “This is more nancially reasonable.” At the end of the day, the Schaffers are proud of their robotic barn and look forward to their future as dairy farmers. “We now have a facility that allows our cows to achieve their genetic potential,” Justin said. Jeff agreed. “It’s fun to see high producing cows peaking higher and holding longer all because the cows are being milked on their schedule now, not on our schedule,” he said.

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What are you looking forward to in 2022?

Lindsay and Andy Lorenz Bricelyn, Minnesota Faribault County 90 cows

Moss Jopson Egan, South Dakota Moody County 1,540 cows What are you looking forward to in 2022? I am looking forward to health and prosperity for my family and for our farm. I hope to still be here at the end of the year. What are some changes you are considering for your dairy in the new year? We are planning on laying some more cement. Other than that, we think the new year will simply be a period of consolidation. How did the past year prepare you for this upcoming year? We didn’t learn much other than everyone is tired of COVID-19. We want the pandemic to leave us alone and let us do our jobs. What concerns you most about the year ahead for the dairy industry? The pandemic’s effect on the supply of some of the products that we need is concerning. We’re currently struggling to locate a supply of dry cow tubes. The weather is another worry. Will we have a drought again this summer? Our grain yields were good last fall, but the silage tonnage was down. What goals do you have for your farm within the next ve years, and how do you plan to accomplish them? We would like to expand by a few hundred head in the next two to three years, but there is a shortage of milk processing capacity in this region. We will have to wait until more processing capacity comes online. In the meantime, we will spend as little as possible and concentrate on doing everything we can to make our operation more efcient. Tell us about your farm. I farm with my wife, Ingrid, and our sons, Nick and Mike. Nick and his wife, Megan, took over our calf-rearing. We are already seeing some positive results from that. Last November, we installed a rapid-exit milking parlor. It took some time for the cows and our employees to adapt. We also hired a milking parlor manager last year and installed a FutureCow prep system. Another recent purchase was a new Keenan mixer wagon. This past December, we bought an enclosed feedlot that can hold up to 1,000 head. This will enable us to house all of our dry cows under cover.

What are you looking forward to in 2022? Lindsay and I got married Jan. 3 in Hawaii, so this year is off to an amazing start. We are looking forward to continuing the dairy together and will enjoy showing our cows at shows this summer with the kids. Lindsay is interested in goats so I’m not entirely sure where that will lead us. We are also looking forward to keeping up with all the kids’ activities in school, and now with our new blended family, we are looking forward to Lindsay’s daughter’s wedding this fall. What are some changes you are considering for your dairy in the new year? We don’t have any big changes in the dairy planned at this point, but the year is young, so we’ll see. How did the past year prepare you for this upcoming year? Something I learned this year is that things don’t always look good at times, but keep pressing on, keep your head up and things will come together in a

Kim Clark (from left), Kyle Clark holding Sophia Bouta and Ben Clark Murdock, Minnesota Swift County 130 cows What are you looking forward to in 2022? Our son Aaron, who serves in the Minnesota National Guard and will be returning home from deployment in Kuwait. We look forward to a normal farming year in regards to weather, crops, calving and overall health of the animals. What are some changes you’re considering for your dairy in the new year? We are looking forward to remaining protable with the higher inputs we are facing. We do not have any major plans for changes as things are going pretty well right now, all things considered. How did the past year prepare you for this upcoming year? By diversication of our beef animals, dairy animals and our crops, we found a lot of success and we hope to continue in this manner.

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better way than we could imagine on our own. We also got into showing registered Holsteins so I have learned a lot about that from some of the experts in the show world. What concerns you most about the year ahead for the dairy industry? The dairy industry always has its normal concerns about the market of course, but I hope the smaller farms can stay prosperous. What goals do you have for your farm within the next ve years, and how do you plan to accomplish them? Some of the goals would be improving raising and breeding in some top-end show cows as we’ve enjoyed showing cows with the kids. Moving forward, we hope to continue to improve the farm and make it a thriving dairy farm for the next generation to take over. Tell us about your farm. We are a fth-generation family farm. Together with my dad and brother, we farm 1,100 acres, of which 370 acres are organic and used for feeding our 90-cow dairy. We started transitioning the dairy to organic 15 years ago and have been happy with the protability and sustainability we have had in selling to Organic Valley.

What concerns you most about the year ahead for the dairy industry? The volatility of the markets is a normal concern. We are hoping the futures prices materialize and help move us forward. Repeated talk of increased input costs (fuel, chemical, fertilizer etc.) has everyone sharpening their pencils and preparing where they can to be protable in the upcoming year. What goals do you have for your farm within the next ve years and how do you plan to accomplish them? We want to increase production, cut costs, maintain a 38% pregnancy rate and transition to the fourth-generation farmers. Tell us about your farm. We live on a dairy, beef and crop farm. We run 1,100 acres and milk 130 cows with robots. The family consists of our mother Hazel Clark, who is 89 years old; Kim Clark, and Kyle and Jackie Clark; and Kyle and Jackie’s children, Ali Bouta, Aaron Clark and Ben Clark. Turn to OUR SIDE | Page 16

Page 16 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022

ConƟnued from OUR SIDE | Page 15 Joe and Dianne Staricka Swanville, Minnesota Morrison County 60 cows

Scott Korkowski Parkers Prairie, Minnesota Otter Tail County 80 cows including dry cows What are you looking forward to in 2022? The best thing is watching the cows go out to a pasture for the rst time once the snow is melted and the grass greens up. I am looking forward to a nice, green pasture. Last year it dried up in the middle of June and didn’t green back up until the middle of August. Farming always has unique challenges. I enjoy a challenge, so I look forward to that. If it was easy everybody would do it. I look forward to making hay; I try really hard to put up good quality hay. Family wise, we would love to get down to Florida again. Last year, we went down for ve days. It’s good to get away and clear the mind for a little while. What are some changes you’re considering for your dairy in the new year? I don’t have any major changes planned. How did the past year prepare you for this upcoming year? It was very dry and hot last year and that led to feed shortages. We had to purchase a little hay early so we didn’t run out. We fed quite a bit when it was dry. I also try to keep cows comfortable in the pasture. There were some of the spots in pasture I try to feed them and water them in the shade so we didn’t lose too much milk production. The cows congregated under them quite often. What concerns you most about the year ahead for the dairy industry? The rise of input costs. Everything is so expensive right now.

What goals do you have for your farm within the next ve years and how do you plan to accomplish them? I want to lower my debt load, increase production by 20% with my cows. I’d like to meet my quota this year by adding a half-dozen cows. Tell us about your farm. I have a 100% grassfed organic dairy and sell milk through Organic Valley. The cows are housed on a bedding pack that is bedded with sawdust in the winter and they graze all summer. I have been dairying on my own since 2005. My sister, Amy Suchy, helps me part time. I have a step-son, Bowen, that helps with eldwork. I farm 300 acres; half is pasture full time and the rest is an alfalfa/grass mixture that I will make for hay.

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What are you looking forward to in 2022? As a family, we are looking forward to our daughter moving back to Minnesota after living in New Orleans while going to graduate school for three years. For fun, we look forward to being in a few parades with our oxen this summer. From the perspective of farming, we have to look forward with hope for a good crop year. What are some changes you are considering for your dairy in the new year? We are not making any major changes. We plan to continue making repairs and maintaining buildings and equipment as usual. How did the past year prepare you for this upcoming year? Last year, we had to work through the farm year with way less help from our son as he embarked on his own career. Learning how to work harder, or somehow make it easier, as we get a little older requires adaptation and endurance. The entire coronavirus pandemic gave us renewed appreciation of daily work with our own livestock, buildings and land. What concerns you most about the year ahead for the dairy industry? The high feed costs coming off a drought year concerns us as we buy corn and hay until this next crop season. Also, land prices continue to go up and expenses continue to be high while dairy people cannot set the prices we receive for milk or meat, forcing prot margins to be painfully narrow. However, that concern is the same nearly every year in recent decades. What goals do you have for your farm within the next ve years, and how do you plan to accomplish them? We try to maintain our cash ow, pay off operating and land debt, and stay alive as a small dairy. We have started up a small beef herd and slowly grow it with each heifer born. Maybe we will get more heifers this year. Tell us about your farm. My wife, Dianne, and I own and operate the family farm my grandfather started in 1911. We own 220 acres. We have a 60-cow dairy herd made up of mixed breeds: Brown Swiss because they are pretty; Milking Shorthorn because they are colorful; Holsteins that keep the barn full; and a few Jersey cows to make me appreciate the other breeds. We also have six Herefords because they don’t have to be milked.

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Page 18 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022

Breeding Focus

Youngrens breed for medium-sized cow with high udder, strong legs

Dylan and Scott Youngren Waverly, Minnesota Wright County 130 Cows

Describe your facilities and list your breeding management team. We have a 60-cow tiestall barn and 60-stall freestall barn. Our breeding management is Dad and I and we have breeder. What is your current pregnancy rate? 35% What is your reproduction program? Do you use a synchronization program? How do you get animals pregnant? Everything is bred with ovsynch. Rarely will we have to breed off natural heat. I do normal ovsynch, but give two lutalyse shots 24 hours apart, not just one. Describe your breeding philosophy. My breeding philosophy is healthy cows get pregnant and the way to have healthy cows is to get them off to a good start with a clean uterus. What guidelines do you follow to reach the goals for your breeding program? The guidelines I follow is always be consistent with herd checks and giving shots. Also, milking in a tiestall helps Turn to BREEDING | Page 20

MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR

Dylan Youngren stands in the Ɵestall barn he houses half of his cows in Jan. 11 on his family’s farm near Waverly, Minnesota. Youngren has approximately half his cows in a Ɵestall barn and the other half in a freestall barn.

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Page 20 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022

ConƟnued from BREEDING | Page 18 because I am close to my cows. If a cow bleeds off in the middle of my ovsynch program, I take her off and will restart her the following herd check. What are the top traits you look for in breeding your dairy herd and how has this changed since you started farming? The top traits I look for is a

good set of legs and a medium-sized cow with a high udder. I remember as a kid, our cows had much more sickly legs with low udders. Describe the ideal cow for your herd. My ideal cow is 1,4001,500 pounds with good legs and a high udder. Cows with good legs take care of themselves, especially having them in a tiestall barn. What role does genetics have in reaching the goals of your farm? Our genetic goals we have is to continue improving our herd’s health.

MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR

Dylan Youngren stands with one of their cows in their freestall barn Jan. 11 on the dairy he operWhat percentage of ates with his parents, ScoƩ and Kim, near Waverly, Minnesota. The Youngrens milk 130 cows and your herd is bred to have a 35% pregnancy rate. sexed, conventional and beef semen? The heifers are bred to sexed semen. All cows are bred to con- What is the greatest lesson you have cess heifers now, but it is working for us ventional rst service and depending on learned through your breeding pro- being able to cull non-ideal cows from the cow, either second or third service will gram? The biggest lesson that I have our expansion a few years ago. be bred to beef. We are at 65% of cows learned is to pay attention to your cows. conceived at rst service, so that is why Tell us about your farm. We milk in a I usually will give them two times with What is the age of your heifers at rst 60-stall tiestall and we switch between MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR conventional. 60-75 cows. Our freestall is 60 stalls that service? 14-15 months. Part of the Youngrens breeding proare sandbedded. We are looking to get gram focuses on a medium sized cow What is your conception rate? Our How does your heifer inventory affect the tiestall cows into a new facility with with good legs and high udders. conception rate is 47%. your breeding program? We have ex- the next few years.

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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022 • Page 21

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JD 9870 STS, 2009, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 2721 sep hrs., #88787 ................... $109,900 JD 9570 STS, 2010, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 2330 sep hrs., #191699 ................... $109,000 Case IH 8120, 2009, PRWD, Tracks, 3250 sep hrs., #191978 ...................... $108,000 JD 9670 STS, 2011, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 3669 sep hrs., #188158 ......................$99,900 JD 9670 STS, 2010, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 2920 sep hrs., #002792CF...................$95,900 JD 9670 STS, 2009, Corn/Bean, Duals, 2237 sep hrs., #89155 .......................$94,900 JD 9570 STS, 2008, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 2888 sep hrs., #0007050T ..................$89,900 JD 9770 STS, 2009, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 4550 sep hrs., #190521 ....................$81,000 JD 9670 STS, 2008, Corn/Bean, Duals, 4225 sep hrs., #89162 .......................$79,900 JD 9760 STS, 2005, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 3466 sep hrs., #191809 ......................$64,900 JD 9660 STS, 2003, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 3044 sep hrs., #190643 ......................$64,500 JD 9760 STS, 2004, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 4011 sep hrs., #85256 ................ $49,900 JD 9510, 1999, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 3887 sep hrs., #190861............................$42,500 JD 9650 STS, 2003, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 5240 sep hrs., #190984 ....................$38,500 Case IH 2388, 2003, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 4008 sep hrs., #191439 ....................$35,000 JD 9750 STS, 2002, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 3436 sep hrs., #86966 ........................$34,900 JD 9650 STS, 1999, Corn/Bean, Duals, 5392 sep hrs., #88993 .......................$34,900 JD 9510, 1998, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 5225 sep hrs., #189676..............................$28,500 JD 9510, 1999, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 4167 sep hrs., #0010343N .........................$28,500 JD 9510, 1998, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 4089 sep hrs., #0010314N .........................$28,500 JD 9500SH, 1992, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 6029 sep hrs., #002758CF .....................$26,500 JD 9500, 1991, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 6754 sep hrs., #185458..............................$22,400 JD 9500, 1993, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 5785 sep hrs., #189641..............................$19,900 JD 6620, 1987, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 3903 sep hrs., #177388..............................$12,500 JD 7720, 1984, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 2400 sep hrs., #191197..............................$11,500 JD 4420, 1984, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 1590 sep hrs., #191278..............................$10,500 JD 6620, 1983, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 3800 sep hrs., #188350 ........................ $9,500 Case IH 1680, 1987, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 4125 sep hrs., #89104 ........................$8,950 JD 7720, 1984, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 4408 sep hrs., #0007003T..........................$8,950 JD 7720, 1986, Corn/Bean, 2WD, #188736 ......................................................$8,500 JD 6620, 1979, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 1557 sep hrs., #187694................................$7,900 JD 6620SH, 1982, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 3594 sep hrs., #87277.............................$6,950

FIELD CULTIVATORS

Case IH 255, 2018, 60.5 ft, 5-Section Folding, #88329 .................................$84,900 JD 2210, 2017, 45.5 ft, 3-Section Folding, #190971.......................................$66,000 JD 2210, 2014, 65.5 ft, 5-Section Folding, #88284.........................................$59,900 JD 2210, 2009, 50.5 ft, 5-Section Folding, #88930 ........................................$49,900 JD 2210, 2012, 56 ft, 5-Section Folding, #85917............................................$49,900 JD 2210, 2014, 55.5 ft, 5-Section Folding, #002802CF ..................................$47,500 JD 2210, 2012, 45 ft, #88333 .........................................................................$44,900 Sunflower 5055, 2012, 50.5 ft, 5-Section Folding, #83334 .........................$37,900 Case IH 200, 2009, 50.5 ft, 5-Section Folding, #88331 .................................$37,900 JD 2210, 2010, 65 ft, 5-Section Folding, #86635............................................$32,900 JD 2210, 2005, 55.5 ft, 5-Section Folding, #87290.........................................$29,900 Case IH TIGERMATE II, 2004, 60.5 ft, 5-Section Folding, #186585..............$28,000 Case IH TM14, 2005, 50.5 ft, 5-Section Folding, #187546 ............................$26,900 JD 2210, 2004, 50.5 ft, 5-Section Folding, #85460.........................................$25,900 Case IH TigerMate II, 2003, 55 ft, 5-Section Folding, #84848 ...................$24,900 JD 2210, 2004, 24 ft, 3-Section Folding, #191188..........................................$19,500 Wil-Rich QUAD 5, 1998, 42 ft, 3-Section Folding, #191850 .........................$19,500 JD 2200, 2002, 34 ft, 3-Section Folding, #185898.........................................$19,000 Case IH TIGERMATE II, 2003, 50.5 ft, 5-Section Folding, #186586 .............$19,000 JD 980, 2002, 44 ft, 3-Section Folding, #191670 ............................................$17,500 JD 980, 1998, 44 ft, 3-Section Folding, #88929 ..............................................$14,900 Wil-Rich Excel 42’, 1999, 42 ft, #89004 .......................................................$14,900 JD 980, 2002, 27 ft, 3-Section Folding, #88305 ..............................................$14,900 DMI Tiger Mate II, 2000, 32 ft, 3-Section Folding, #88691 .........................$12,900 Case IH 4300, 2001, 38 ft, 3-Section Folding, #186653 ................................$11,995 DMI Tiger-Mate II, 1998, 60 ft, #88374 ........................................................$8,950 Case IH 4300, 30 ft, 3-Section Folding, #181148 ............................................$8,500 Wil-Rich Quad 5, 1995, 32 ft, 3-Section Folding, #89015 ..............................$7,450 Case IH 4800, 28 ft, 3-Section Folding, #182692 ............................................$5,900 International 4600, 28 ft, 3-Section Folding, #189936................................$5,750 JD 960, 24 ft, 3-Section Folding, #189181........................................................$4,900 JD 1010, 30 ft, 3-Section Folding, #184934 .....................................................$3,900 Wil-Rich 3400, 31 ft, 3-Section Folding, #88800............................................$3,450 Frontier PC1072, 2010, 10 ft, #89111 ...............................................................$750

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Page 22 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022

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USDA funds scientic collaboration to reduce methane emissions in dairy operations The Nature Conservancy, the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, and the Institute for Feed Education and Research are launching a three-year project to explore innovative feed management strategies that can reduce enteric methane emissions in dairy cattle. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced a $537,440 award for this project through its Conservation Innovation Grants On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trial program. With project partner resource contributions, the project will total more than $800,000. Working with up to 10 dairy farms in Michigan and Wisconsin, this project will combine on-farm trials and demonstrations of emerging technologies with strategic engagement of critical stakeholders including farmers, farm advisors, industry, carbon market players, and regulators for scaling the adoption of feed management strategies. The project will provide direct nancial support to participating farmers to cover their costs of participation and as a direct incentive to participate. Each organization will have a key role in the project: The Nature Conservancy will oversee project management and lead producer and stakeholder survey efforts to inform project deliverables and corresponding outreach, education, and engagement. The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy will lead the on-farm trials and demonstrations and oversee outreach and communication of project ndings. The Institute for Feed Education and Research (IFEEDER) will develop and manage the industry and scientic expert panel to provide technical review and insights as well as manage a third party to undertake the on-farm trial economic assessment. Methane emissions – from a variety of sources including oil and gas, coal, agriculture and landlls – comprise one-fth of all man-made greenhouse (GHG) emissions, with enteric methane emissions accounting for 25% of cradle-to-grave GHG emissions by the U.S. dairy sector. Given the ambitious goal of the recent agreement between the United States and the European Union to reduce overall methane emissions by 30% by 2030, this project could help U.S. dairy operations reduce emissions, which in turn, could have a signicant impact across the industry. Feed management, including additives, to reduce emissions is gaining interest as an approach to reduce the dairy industry’s carbon footprint. However, the strategies are not widely used within USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) programs, nor do project currently exist to generate credits within carbon markets, making it difcult to support an economic case for adoption. This project aims to better understand the barriers to adoption and overcome those barriers by sharing on-trial results, economic assessments and scientic insights to better inform NRCS programming and engage a wide spectrum of key stakeholders to scale adoption via private and public sector-supported pathways. The partners are conducting this effort in support of the U.S. Dairy’s Net Zero Initiative (NZI), a veyear, collaborative effort launched in 2020, which includes research, on-farm pilots and partner-based strategies to develop a pathway on-farm to reaching the 2050 environmental stewardship goals set by the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy. NZI seeks to accelerate voluntary action to reduce environmental impacts by making sustainable practices and technologies more accessible and affordable to U.S. dairy farms of all sizes and geographies. Dairy operations exist across the 50 U.S. states and are an integral part of the global food system. By exploring innovative feed management strategies and engaging key stakeholders, this collaborative project seeks to close scientic gaps and inform industrywide practices that will reduce dairy’s environmental footprint, while ensuring operations are sustainable. “The livestock sector is a crucial part of the agriculture system,” said Staggs. “This project will advance innovative techniques that will deliver tangible outcomes for the good of the environment, farmers and, ultimately, consumers.”

Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022 • Page 23

Top 10 articles read online in 2021 Below are the top 10 stories viewed on Dairy Star’s website last year.

10.

Swiss-style yogurt takes off in Wisconsin Four years ago, a new type of yogurt entered the marketplace. It was heralded for 1,101 its smooth, creamy texture and intense fruit views avor. Bearing notes of Switzerland, Yodelay Yogurt pushed its way onto store shelves in southern Wisconsin alongside traditional American yogurts and won awards for its unique taste. This Swiss-style yogurt is made exclusively with milk from the Brown Swiss cows at Voegeli Farms near Monticello.

Couple continues dairy farming through stage 4 cancer diagnoses Dairy farming can be physically, emo1,190 tionally and mentally draining on even the views healthiest person; however, when a stage 4 cancer diagnosis is thrown into the mix, the everyday routine of milking cows can sometimes be comforting relief. At least it has been for Tom and Linda Krueger, who operate a 50-cow dairy on their farm near Eagle Lake, Minnesota.

Lundbergs return to dairy scene after battling stray voltage Allan Lundberg and his daughter, Erica, 2,328 have spent the last 11 years reintroducing elite views genetics to their herd after the farm nearly fell apart because of stray voltage issues. For more than a decade, he worked to rebuild the Bert-Mar Farms herd where he and Erica milk 120 cows near Osseo, Wisconsin.

Michels family expands for next generation Inheriting their parents’ passion for farming, Becky, Kelly and Tyler “Slick” returned 1,633 to the family farm starting in 2011. Their views homecoming brought about big changes on the operation owned by Dan and Brenda Michels near Lomira, Wisconsin. The family launched into growth mode, adding onto the barn and purchasing cows to ll the stalls. Today, the family milks 375 cows and runs 600 acres.

Drumlin Dairy caters to specialty cheese market Fullling a niche in the dairy marketplace 1,170 was the driving factor in the creation of Drumlin views Dairy, said general manager Kevin Wellejus. A demand for more goat milk in the area spurred the development of the lakeside farm near Chilton, Wisconsin. The home of 8,000 milking goats, the majority of the farm’s Grade A milk is shipped to Montchevre to make cheeses like crottin, cabrie and bucheron.

Flannery perseveres through wild journey to keep milking cows After four chaotic moves in ve years, 2,107 Casey Flannery has nally settled. views Flannery milks 76 cows on a 310-acre farm he and his wife, Kary, purchased in November 2019 near Hollandale, Wisconsin. The couple and their children, 6-year-old twins, Jannick and Jase, and Gracie Jo, 3, began milking at the site Jan. 2, 2020.

Venteicher uses social media app to share farm videos The person known as @IowaDairyFarmer 1,316 on the social media app TikTok has amassed views more than 4.2 million likes for his posts. In real life, @IowaDairyFarmer is Dan Venteicher, who farms in northeast Iowa. His posts explain his family’s 180-cow robotic dairy and often debunk misinformation that frustrates dairy farmers everywhere.

High school friendship blossoms into dairy partnership The stars could not have been in any more 1,138 alignment when friends Houston Berscheit and views Nick Pesta decided to dairy farm, and organically, nonetheless. Pesta and Berscheit milk 47 cows in a 50-50 partnership on a rented farm site in Todd County near Long Prairie, Minnesota. The organic dairy farmers celebrated two years milking cows Aug. 22, 2021.

nearly there. The brothers operate Vetsch’s second farm site with long-term plans of purchasing the entire herd and establishing their own dairy in Todd County near Browerville, Minnesota.

Brothers operate dairy as own For twin brothers TJ and John Becker, owning and operating a dairy farm is all they 1,840 ever thought of doing. With the help of veteran views dairy farmer Loren Vetsch, the Beckers are

DeRosier survives 45 minutes in underbarn manure pit Troy DeRosier woke up the morning of 17,703 Saturday, March 20, 2021, thinking about the views nice weather and the farm work he hoped to accomplish that day. He went to bed that evening with a very different outlook and a renewed appreciation for the gift of life. During routine chores, DeRosier fell into a 2-million-gallon manure pit that is positioned underneath his family’s freestall barn near Osceola, Wisconsin. After about 45 minutes in the pit, he was rescued.

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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022 • Page 25

Leading by listening, learning Glessing to represent farmers in MFBF president’s role By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com

WAVERLY, Minn. – As much as Dan Glessing is a farmer, he is also a leader and one who is looking forward to his newfound role in the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation. “It’s important that if you’re going to represent farmers, you better be a farmer and have dirt under your ngers,” Glessing said. Glessing was elected president of the MFBF at their annual meeting Nov. 19, 2021, lling the role of long-time president Kevin Paap. When Glessing is not touring the state representing the federation’s members, he can be found on his family’s dairy farm in Wright County. Glessing and his wife, Seena, and four children – Wyatt, 16, Mason, 14, Tanner, 12, and Cora, 8 – milk 80 cows and nish out 150 dairy steers near Waverly. “I’m running to get parts, but then I have to get on the road to the ofce,” said Glessing in an interview Jan. 4. “I’m in the barn every morning.” Glessing’s days vary while leading MFBF, but his responsibilities remain constant. As president, Glessing represents the grassroots organization and serves as a voice for the members across the state’s 87 counties. “We have some great members, well thought-out members, and that’s something I’m pretty proud of,” Glessing said. “I love listening, and I’ve always learned by listening. I’m fascinated by people and their stories.” Being elected to this position has been

JENNIFER COYNE /DAIRY STAR

Dan Glessing addresses members of the Minnesota Farm Bureau FederaƟon. Glessing was elected to president at Dan Glessing the organizaƟon’s annual meeƟng Nov. 19, 2021. MFBF President a full-circle movement of sorts. Glessing’s father and grandparents were involved in the organization to varying capacities, and it was an organization Glessing naturally became a part of. Throughout the years, Glessing took on different roles within MFBF which led to the opportunity for him to run for president. “It was a long time in the making,” Glessing said. “I think it’s important, though, to know all the steps of farm bureau.” Glessing rst became active in the organization’s Young Farmers and Ranchers program and served as the county chair for that program for many years. Then, he and Seena joined the state committee and were leaders in that regard for three years.

Following Glessing’s involvement at the state level, he and Seena applied for the American Young Farmers and Ranchers committee. They served with 16 appointments for a two-year term. “That was a great opportunity to network with folks across the nation,” Glessing said. “Seena still uses those connections when she’s traveling with her ag students.” Then, the MFBF vice president position became available, and Glessing took the opportunity to serve his state more directly. From 2014-21, Glessing represented MFBF as the vice president and also was a part of the state’s resolution committee. “Our policy process is grassroots and, in my opinion, it’s second to none,” Glessing said. “Everyone has a chance to

bring proposed resolutions to their annual meeting, and then it’s voted on and taken to the state resolution committee.” The resolution committee reviews the recommendations and then, if successful there, it is brought before delegates at the annual meeting for a vote to become a part of the policy book. “Within a year, or less than that, we could have a change in policy all driven by county members,” Glessing said. “That’s something I appreciate. Where we are and where we need to be is a direct reection of what is going on with our members.” As Glessing’s involvement spanned decades, the opportunity to run for president was one he always considered. But, before he could commit to a campaign, he had to conrm with his family that president was a position they could support. And, he needed to nd an employee for the dairy. “The idea of president always intrigued me, but I had to secure more hired help,” Glessing said. “With dairy cows, the work never ends. Fortunately, I was successful in nding someone.” With his term underway, Glessing wants to connect with farmer members across the state and encourage their involvement in, and have a better understanding of, the federation, including the many facets like leadership programs, promotion, education and more. “That’s my goal, to get the word out to broaden people’s scope of what farm bureau does,” Glessing said. “I want to try and do a better job of telling our story.” It is a mission Glessing hopes all farmers can work toward in representing their livelihood in agriculture. “It’s important people show up. If you’re not at the table, you’ll be on the menu,” Glessing said. “I enjoy farming too much to not show up, and I want my kids to enjoy it and have the opportunity to farm if they want to.”

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Page 26 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022

PEOPLE MOVING PRODUCT

Zenzen family moves dairy across state lines Harry’s Pizza has become a staple in food industry By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com

ELROSA, Minn. – In any given week, the Zenzen family moves thousands of pounds of cheese. They are not dairy farmers. They are not processors. They are pizza makers. “It truthfully seems like one big circle,” Mike Zenzen said. “So many of our pizzas go to family farms. We support them by buying their products, and they’re also buying our end products.” Mike and his family – sister Kayla and parents Harry and Carol – are the core of Harry’s Pizza in Stearns County’s Elrosa. Harry started the food business in the late 1980s. The Zenzen family makes 14 varieties of frozen pizzas that are mostly distributed to bars and restaurants throughout west central Minnesota and into North Dakota and South Dakota. They also are the supplier

JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR

Harry Zenzen applies labels to nished pizzas Jan. 11 at Harry’s Pizza in Elrosa, Minnesota. Zenzen started the business in the late ‘80s.

distributor that processes billions of pounds of cheese a day, Mike said. After the cheese is applied, the pizza goes through the second part of the assembly line where workers further apply toppings before it goes through a conveyor belt for proper packaging and labeling. “(Pizza making) has always been a part of our lives,” he said. “From a young age, we’d get off the bus from school and meet Mom and Dad at the shop. They were there making pizza.” Harry agreed. “We made this work with hard, continuous work. It’s our German style of not giving up,” he said. “The family worked together, and we were persistent.” The business is known for its four-meat variety other pizza JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR alongside The Zenzen family – (from leŌ) Kayla, Mike, Emersyn, Carol and Harry – oper- classics, such as cheese, ate Harry’s Pizza in Elrosa, Minnesota. The Zenzen family sells frozen pizza in pepperoni and sausage. Most recently, the Zenzens the tri-state area. have dabbled in chicken for many local events, such as high school concession pizzas and now offer three sought-after varieties. “We sell a ton of chicken pizzas,” Harry said. “It’s stands and activity fundraisers. become such a popular pizza for us and a great addition “Our product prole has been steady since day one,” Mike said. “There’s a demand for pizzas, and to our lines.” Like many businesses in 2020, the Zenzens were what we’ve been doing has been working for us.” affected by the dining industry temporarily shutting Harry agreed. “I never knew if it was really going to work,” he down during the start of the coronavirus pandemic. said of the startup. “But, I was a rm believer in a good While their product supplier could continue to provide what they needed, the Zenzens were left with few sauce and a good crust and real cheese.” The Zenzens create their specialty pizzas in a two- outlets to sell their pizzas. “On my routes, all but four are bars,” Mike said. part assembly line. A few workers apply sauce and toppings that are positioned on the crust before the “We never really pushed selling our product elsewhere pizza goes through an automated cheese applicator. The until COVID-19.” With one Facebook post showcasing the number applicator continually releases cheese in a waterfallof pizzas available for purchase, the Zenzens opened like method with a reclaim system underneath to retain up their doors and Harry’s Pizza became a place where cheese that does not land on the pizzas. “That’s been an unbelievable machine,” Mike said. people could order and pick up pizzas. Long after bars “It was a major change in the last year, and it’s been have reopened, customers continue to call or arrive at the business with orders. good.” The family also created gift baskets for people to In a week, the business uses about 2,000 pounds of a mozzarella and cheddar blend. They work with a purchase during the holiday season. “Our business totally changed last year,” he said. “It changed so much, it’s unbelievable.” Harry agreed. “We hurt for quite a while, but overall, it was a good year,” he said. Harry grew up on a dairy farm nearby where he helped milk about 45 cows. The farm remains in the family although the cows left a long time ago. While he never pursued a career in milking cows, he is appreciative of his upbringing and the way his business is able to support those at the heart of the dairy industry. “I’ve been off the farm for so many years, but I’ve always been a rural Minnesota person,” Harry said. “We’re doing something to support our local area people, and I’m happy about that. We can’t all be farmers and we can’t all be town people, so I’m happy we’re all working together.”

JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR

Cheese is applied to pizzas at Harry’s Pizza Jan. 11 in Elrosa, Minnesota. The business uses about 2,000 pounds of cheese a week.

A winter to remember

Dec. 27 marked eight years that my family and I have lived on our farm. While the new year inspires most people to look forward to resolutions, I inevitably think back to the winter we made our move to Norwalk, Wisconsin. This was our fourth move in three years. We were determined to dairy farm, even though the industry and the odds told us it was impossible to start on our own. This time would be different because there was language in the rental agreement that allowed us to purchase the farm within the rst year of renting. We made plans to leave our rented farm in Muscoda, Wisconsin, and plant some roots in Monroe County. We had all four kids by this time. Alice was 7, Sam was 5, Emma was 2 and Lily was 10 months old. Since we had 80 cows, around 30 youngstock and a small line of equipment to move 70 miles, we decided it was in everyone’s best interest to have the kids spend Christmas with my parents in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, while we packed up the farm. The night before the cows were scheduled to move, the pickup truck and atbed trailer were loaded with a bale of straw, the bedding chopper and the feed cart. We had a friend plan to leave with that load around 4 a.m. the next We had no way to haul our tractor and mixer to the By Abby Wiedmeyer day. new place, so my husband Jason mixed a batch of feed Columnist and left at 1 a.m. to drive it there. A 986 can make it from Muscoda to Norwalk in about 4.5 hours, and the pickup truck made it to the farm shortly after Jason arrived with the feed. I stayed behind in Muscoda to milk the cows in the morning. The semitruck was scheduled to come to the farm to load the cows at 7 a.m., so I planned to start milking by 4 a.m. (We were milking 80 cows in a 40-stall barn at the time.) The trailer would be dropped at the new place, and Jason and the friend would drive back to Muscoda to help load cows. I went to bed around 11 p.m. while Jason was still mixing feed and loading things (Yes, he pulled an all-nighter, like many of you reading can probably relate to.) and set my alarm for 3:45 a.m. I am naturally a morning person and had no concerns that I would be up on time. I did not realize, however, that going to bed knowing there were no children to potentially wake in the night (for the rst time in seven years) would cause me to fall into such a deep slumber that I would miss the alarm the next day. I woke up at 6 a.m. and ran out to start chores. A few minutes later, a couple high school kids showed up to help, thinking I would be done with the rst round and ready to switch cows. I had to guiltily inform them that I had not even started yet. Luckily, the semitruck was slightly behind schedule as well, and everyone showed up just as we were nishing. Jason and our friend arrived back with the pickup truck. My dad and his sister came to start packing the house, and the cows were loaded. The driver of the truck asked me about our plans. I told him we were moving to our own farm. His wife was riding with that day, and he was glad to be able to inform her that we were not selling out. I will always remember how optimistic and condent I felt when I assured him we were just moving and not selling. The cows were all loaded into the semitruck and a few trucks and trailers. Jason went on with the cows, and I stayed behind again to take care of the heifers and calves and continue packing. The rst milking in the new barn was done by those helpful high school kids, and Jason went to get a load of hay from Richland Center, Wisconsin, where we purchased it from another farmer. I got the house packed with the help of my dad and aunt. My uncle and cousin came the next day to help drive loads and haul furniture. Our new house was supposed to have new ooring in when we got there, but it did not. We ended up unloading all of our belongings into the garage, except the kitchen items. The rst month at our new residence was spent sleeping on the oor around the construction. The following weeks were spent driving back and forth to Muscoda between chores and after chores for load after load of equipment. There was also a silo and a bag of feed to haul to the new place as well. The new barn was an 88-cow tiestall barn of 240 feet in length. The rst 10 days straight of us being at that farm, Jason came to the barn only to nd the whole thing ooded every morning. It had been empty for about six months before we arrived, and when the water was turned back on, there was something that caused a drinking cup or 10 to malfunction, causing a ood. The barn cleaner would go round and round for hours trying to get the barn clean again. Jason has a hard time remembering that winter without developing a nervous tick for all the hours he spent in the truck and all the nights of sleep he missed. I try to remember the highlights – all the people who showed up to help us move, taking our kids to school the rst day after Christmas break, reassuring our oldest this was her last new school and waking up every day to the sight of that big, red barn. That is a sight I had only ever dreamed of. Eight years later, I’m glad to call this place home.

Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022 • Page 27

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Women In Dairy Vickie Colsrud Finlayson, Minnesota Pine County 60 cows Family: My husband, Troy, and I have ve children, John, Jacob, Justin, Laura and Joe. Tell us about your farm. We have a herd of Holsteins, Black and White and Red and White. We milk 60 cows in a step-up parlor. Our kids take turns milking with us. If they don’t milk, they feed hay to the cows and help their grandma, Carol Colsrud, feed and bed the calves. Troy mixes all the feed for the cows and does all the eldwork. Our three older boys are learning. What is a typical day like for you on the dairy? We are up at 5:30 and milking at 6 a.m. I usually milk with one of the oldest boys and Troy mixes the feed. We usually are done by 7:30 a.m., and then I milk at another farm and my husband works at the post ofce. I usually get done at the other farm at 11 a.m., and then I push up feed in the manger and check for heats and breed cows, if needed. Then, I make dinner and supper. We eat supper at 5:45 p.m. and then we milk at 6 p.m. I milk again and then help with homework, or sometimes we just play cards. Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. Getting up at 3 a.m. in pajamas to chase the cows in. What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? Seeing the cute calves when they are born. What decision have you made in the last year that has beneted your farm? We put in an eight-cow step-up parlor. I like it much better than the stanchions. It’s much easier; you don’t have to bend so much.

What is your biggest accomplishment in your dairy career? Being able to do What advice would you give another woman in the dairy industry? Raise your it for 10 years and survive. kids on the farm and teach them how to work and how to get dirty. They will be able to get a job so much easier when they get older and they will know how to What are things you do to promote your farm or the dairy industry? I am work more than eight hours. on the Pine County dairy board and we go into the schools and show them the difference between cows, heifers and calves, where their milk comes from and When you get a spare moment what do you do? I love to can. During the year, I how to make cheese. will can salsa, pickles, applesauce, a lot of jams and jelly, venison, pickled carrots, apple and pumpkin butter.

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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022 • Page 31

Jessica and Brad Anderson (pictured with grandchildren Parker and Ames) Welch, Minnesota Goodhue County 100 cows How did you get into farming? This is the farm I was born and raised on so we’ve always been a part of it. I worked at the John Deere dealer in Wanamingo for 20 years, and when the opportunity came to take over here in 2008, we decided to do that. But the farm has been around since 1896.

What do you enjoy most about dairy farming? The freedom and the variety. I like being my own boss, and we do have a special set of bovines. The cows are fun, and they are all like pets. It’s just something I’ve always done since I was little.

What are your thoughts and concerns about the dairy industry for the next year? Just being able to remain sustainable and still make a decent living. I am a little concerned about helping the future generation of farmers whether it’s me, my kids or grandkids. What is a recent change you made on your farm and the reason for it? We redid the parlor in 2012, and that’s probably been our biggest change. But we’re more than just a dairy farm, so we do custom harvesting, trucking and repair work in the shop to help the cash ow. A lot of what we do, we’ve done for years. Tell us about a skill you possess that makes dairy farming easier for you. From working at the John Deere dealer and growing up on the farm, I learned how to work mechanics and do basically all the maintenance on the farm from the tractors to the barn. So, we hire very little outside help which

them time off. They are invited to family functions, such as Christmas or Thanksgiving, and I don’t expect them to do anything that I couldn’t or don’t do myself. I like working alongside them. That’s what makes it fun because they seem to enjoy farming as much as I do.

What advice would you give other dairy farmers? Be patient with everything, whether it be milking the cows or waiting on milk price. It also pays to have good help who can help you accomplish your goals during the day. doesn’t make it easier, but it helps nancially, because we are not paying someone to do a lot of extra work if we don’t have to. We try to do as much work as we can. What is the best decision you have made on your farm? Hiring good help. They make all the difference in the world. What are three things on the farm that you cannot live without? My help, milking parlor and shop. I wouldn’t be able to farm without my help. The milking parlor helps take care of getting the cows through the barn. Our shop is

nice to work in which helps me keep our machinery maintained and running. What strategies do you use to withstand the volatile milk prices? We do some contracting of feed, try to watch our input costs on the crops, raise our own crops so we don’t have to buy feed other than protein or mineral, and we raise our own animals and replacements so we don’t have to buy any replacement cattle. How do you retain a good working relationship with your employees? I treat them like family. When they need time off for something, we give

What are your plans for your dairy in the next year and ve years? We need to do some future planning and gure out how to transition to the next generation, whether that’s one year, ve years or a continuous plan. How do you or your family like to spend time when you are not doing chores? We like spending time with the grandbabies and taking a vacation if time allows. We’ve taken a couple short vacations to Florida. But, I spend all of my time here basically, which is where I enjoy being.

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www.extension.umn.edu/dairy

Using data to evaluate performance of cows in RMS The number of dairy farms using robotic milking systems in the U.S. is growing relatively rapidly. These systems can automatically complete all necessary milking-related tasks performed by human labor in conventional milking systems, including cow preparation, milking machine attachment and post-milk teat disinfection, in a consistent manner. One advantage of RMS is the information collected on each cow by the robot software each By Marcia Endres time a cow enters the robot box. This allows dairy producers and U of M researchers to have individual cow information for cows housed together in pens of usually more than 100 animals. As an example, using individual cow data from RMS farms in Minnesota and Wisconsin, we have recently investigated the relationship between the variation in milking interval and early lactation milk production of dairy cows. This study was a chapter of graduate student Brandi Gednalske’s thesis.

How cows move around the pen on RMS farms The RMS pen is usually designed for one of two cow trafc ow systems: free ow, where the cows have unrestricted access to all areas of the pen, including the RMS; or guided ow, in which the cows need to go through pre-selection gates to access different areas of the pen. There are two main types of guided ow systems, referred to as milk rst and feed rst. In the milk-rst system, which is the preferred option in the U.S., cows leaving the resting area must pass through a pre-selection gate that determines if they are eligible for milking. If a cow meets the requirement to be milked, she is guided to a commitment pen that contains the robot box. The commitment pen is a gated area next to the robot box that cows eligible for milking cannot leave until they enter the robot and are milked. If the cow is not eligible for milking, she is allowed to enter the feed bunk area and can only re-enter the resting area through a one-way gate. Pre-selection gates can also be installed in crossovers away from the robot box and open only for cows not eligible for milking. The choice of trafc ow type is generally driven by management preferences of the producer. Milking interval study We call the amount of time between two consecutive milking events a milking interval. Milking interval is xed in conventional milking

systems where human labor is used to milk cows at the same time every day (usually milkings are eight or 12 hours apart), whereas in RMS farms, MI are variable for each cow due to the voluntary nature of the system. Determining the optimal MI for each cow could potentially increase herd milk yield and improve udder health. It is also possible that cows with longer MI, but also high daily milk yield, would be cows that are more efcient in RMS as this would allow more cows to be milked per robot. We wanted to know whether the variation in milking interval would be a factor inuencing milk production per cow. For this study, we used retrospective daily cow data from 5,728 cows housed in 52 RMS farms using either Lely Astronaut or DeLaval VMS robots. Data included parity, days in milk, milk production, MI, number of milkings and number of failures/ incomplete milkings (as covariate). We calculated the milking interval coefcient of variation (MI CV) by using the mathematical equation for coefcient of variation. We analyzed the data for the rst 90 days in milk when cows had a more generous milking permission to visit the robot. The nal dataset included 74,464 observations. Average MI was 8.30 ± 2.22 hours, average MI CV was 0.24 ± 0.10, and average milk per cow per day was 96.8 ± 26.2 pounds. Zero weekly average milking failures per cow comprised 69.9% of the dataset, one average weekly milking failure comprised 27.3%, and more than one failure per week was only 2.8% of the observations. Parity 1 cows were 28.7% of the dataset, parity 2 cows were 36.8%, and parity 3+ cows were 34.5%. Our preliminary results indicate that milk production per cow per day and MI CV were negatively associated with each other (Figure 1). For

every unit increase in the MI CV, milk production per cow decreased 9.94 pounds per day, independent of cow trafc ow. However, parity inuenced this negative association, and we did not observe the decrease in milk production for rst-lactation cows. In addition, the greatest reduction in milk production with increasing MI CV occurred within the rst six weeks in milk. Are cows that develop a more consistent daily MI pattern in early lactation the most productive cows in the herd? We suggest that additional research on variation in MI be conducted to help us better understand the implications of these ndings and how important it would be to manage MI variability on RMS herds in order to improve efciency of milk production.

Figure 1. Associa�on between daily milk yield per cow (Milk_AvgDay, kg) and milking interval coeﬃcient of varia�on (IntervalCV).

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Genetic diversity of the Jersey breed

There has been a lot of chatter lately about inbreeding within the Holstein breed. Early estimates of average inbreeding for Holstein females born in 2021 is 9.1% with an average yearly increase of 0.3% to 0.4% per year. The average inbreeding has surpassed the recommended inbreeding coefcient of 6.25% that minimizes the negative consequences on fertility, health and mortality. Inbreeding occurs when closely related sires and dams are mated, and there is an increase in the probability that the two genes at the same locus on the chromosome are identical by descent. An increase of homozygous genotypes and a decrease of heterozygous genotypes may lead to higher frequency of harmful recessive alleles, and animals are subjected to inbreeding depression. Jersey represents the second largest breed within the United States and sees tremendous growth for commercial milk production. Recent research indicated that all North American Jersey bulls can be traced back to two Jersey bulls: By Brad Heins Secret Signal Observer (born 1953) and Advancer Sleeping U of M Jester (born 1951). Two of Observer’s sons, Observer Chocolate Soldier and S.S. Quicksilver of Fallneva (both born in the 1960s) have a relationship of 14.4% and 12.8%, respectively. Quicksilver is found in lineage of Highland Magic Duncan and Chocolate Soldier is found in Mason Boomer Sooner Berretta and his sire Soldierboy Boomer Sooner of CJF, to name a few great Jersey bulls. Jester is found in Q Impuls (born 1989) and Meadow Lawn J Imperial and Vaucluse Sleeping Surville. Enough of the reminiscing about popular Jersey bulls of yesteryear. There is not much talk about inbreeding in the Jersey breed and what the solution may be to minimize the increase in inbreeding within Jerseys. The gure below shows the average pedigree inbreeding and expected future inbreeding for Jersey females by birth year. From 2000 to 2003, the average yearly increase in inbreeding was 0.25%. Inbreeding plateaued from 2003 to 2014, and this could be due to a few factors. This could partly be due to the Gratitude cow that was found to have 20% red carrier Holstein genes in her pedigree. Some of her sons (Gannon and Garden) were used heavily in the Jersey breed. This leveling-off of average inbreeding could also be due to the Danish Jersey inuence of Lemvig and Impuls; although, Lemvig is sired by Highland Duncan Lester who has a high relationship to the Jersey breed despite being born in 1985. However, from 2014 to 2021, there was an accelerated increase in average inbreeding. The average increase is 0.23% per year, and estimates from 2021 have the average inbreeding level of Jersey females at 8.64%. This is well above the 6.25% threshold to minimize the effects of inbreeding depression that include loss of fertility and increased genetic defects. The average increase in inbreeding is currently slower than that of Holsteins (0.4%); however, pedigree inbreeding level of females is very close to Holstein (9.1%). At the continued rate of increase, inbreeding level of Jerseys would be 10% within ve years. A new genetic defect has been discovered in the Jersey breed (neuropathy with splayed forelimbs, JNS) which carries a frequency of 8.2%, and currently Chrome and Listowel-P are carriers of JNS and have probably increased its frequency with heavy use. When I was in graduate school, I had a Jersey calf born in July 2008 that displayed this condition; however, we thought it might have been Limber Legs. I worked with the American Jersey Cattle Association to get the calf genomically tested, and recently, I discovered this calf was one of 16 calves that helped discover this new genetic defect. Highland Magic Duncan has enormous inuence on the Jersey breed. His current relationship to Jerseys is 20.4%. Many of the top Jersey bulls that we all know have had great inuence on the Jersey breed, and highly related to Jersey cows include the likes of Berretta, Lester, Action, Paramount and Valentino. Some might say there has to be outcross genetics in the Jersey breed. Well, maybe, maybe not. The Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding publishes a list of high genetic merit Jersey bulls with low relationship to the breed. Of the top 20 bulls, seven are Danish Jersey bulls and 13 are JX bulls. We can debate the merit of Danish Jersey and JX bulls another time. However, the Danish Jerseys are great commercial cows that are moderate-sized with high milk fat and protein and excellent fertility. I have seen them in their homeland, and they would t well for commercial milk production in the U.S. How do we stop this increase in inbreeding and potential loss of genetic diversity in the Jersey breed? There is not an easy answer. However, we need to have a concerted effort on increasing genetic diversity in breeding programs, in sire selection on farms and continue to make genetic diversity a top goal to improve the Jersey breed.

Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022 • Page 33

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Page 34 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022

Getting better

Welcome to January. We made it through 2021. What a year, and what a host of challenges for dairy operations. If it wasn’t the weather, too wet or too dry, it was extraordinarily high feed cost with historically moderate to low milk prices. We saw razor thin margins with this level of feed cost and increased machinery and/or repair cost. From My Perspective As I begin to complete the 2021 dairy farm analysis, I am seeing a huge range of milk prices, hauling costs, components and protability. In fact, the numbers scare me just a bit. Yes, we are seeing higher prices going forward throughout 2022, but will the dairy producer receive these prices in the mailbox, and can they stay long enough to recapture some By Tom Anderson of the rising cost from 2021? Columnist Have you considered protecting some of the milk price using the variety of tools available, such as Dairy Revenue Protection, Livestock Gross Margin Insurance Plan for Dairy Cattle or forwarding contracts with your processor? My recommendation is to protect a percentage of your expected production that is over your Dairy Margin Coverage-approved pounds. A few of things to think about as we begin 2022: – If you have employees and had a reduction in revenue in quarters 1-3 of 2021, compared to the same quarters of 2019, make sure you talk to your accountant about applying for the Employee Retention credit. This can be nancially lucrative. – Make sure all W-2 and 1099 forms are completed prior to the end of January. Veterinarians and lawyer rms get a 1099 if they paid out $600 or more. Of course, land rent and custom-hire individuals also get a 1099 if they paid out $600 or more. – Make sure you’re enrolled in the DMC program by Feb. 15. Are you eligible to increase your base APH? Contact the Farm Service Agency ofce. – Learn about, and enroll in, the Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs for 2022. – Finalize your 2022 books and le income tax. Make sure you review the best tax planning strategies. It is not the best scenario to always avoid paying tax. The tax man (IRS) will get you sometime, so maybe pay some today to avoid larger amounts later. I doubt the tax rates will be lower in the future. Use the 179 deduction cautiously. My rule of thumb is to use the amount that is paid for, and not under loan. Depreciation should come close to offsetting your principle payments in years ahead; otherwise, you have no offset to the taxable principle payments. Hopefully you have taken Jan. 1 inventories of crops, livestock and equipment. Creating your balance sheet reecting asset values, payables and loan balances is the best tool to reect business growth for the past year and a trendline over numerous years. My recommendation is to not get carried away with the per unit values, despite the market price. For example, if your corn isn’t contracted for sale, use a value something close to your cost of production and claim the real prot when it is sold. This may be best to reect continual growth on the balance sheet. Using a $6 per bushel price and then eventually selling for $4.50 or $5 per bushel will only give you a false impression of equity and create a yo-yo effect on the balance sheet. In my opinion, crops to be fed need to be evaluated at the price you’re comfortable with as a feed cost for cows or other livestock. Market livestock facilities can be shut down and the crop sold if you determine it is more protable to leave the industry for a period of time. Dairy, however, is not as exible, as it takes many years to obtain the quality genetics required for a top-producing herd. The goal for the balance sheet is to continually see nancial growth over many years, as opposed to many ups and downs based on a projected market price. In addition, using unrealistic high forage and grain prices (above your crop cost of production) will give you a false impression of the dairy protability. Work with either your farm management person or your banker to nalize those balance sheet values and view a multiyear trendline for equity growth and ratios. Have discussions about strong areas and those needing improvement. Inquire with your lender about your bank credit score number and have discussions on what it means and how to improve your score. A better score means better interest rates. Lastly, ask yourself and your farm team, “How do we become better?” Be a bit self-critical and inquire about your nancial, production and benchmark gures. Don’t be offended about areas you may need to improve upon, but instead seek ways to become better. Tom Anderson is a Farm Business Management faculty member at Riverland Community College.

A busy holiday season, looking forward

Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022 • Page 35

Now that the presents have been opened, the snow has been moved, and all those Christmas cookies have been devoured, it’s time to look ahead to the new year. But rst, I’d like to share an overview of my December activities. This is a busy season, full of celebration, On the Road with and I was able to tack on Princess Kay some unique events to my schedule this past month. I began December speaking with Minnesota Milk early in the month at their annual meeting and getting to know some of the members present that day. It was wonderful speaking with some of the dairy farmers I represent. One thing I love By Anna Euerle about the holidays is 68th Princess Kay of the all the beautiful lights. Milky Way My family and I drive around and look at them in our county each winter. Naturally, I was delighted when I got to spend an evening at a Christmas light show on a dairy farm. Bremer Farms hosted a great drive-thru light show, complete with farm facts, videos on combining corn, a pair of Holstein calves for all to see, and Santa and Mrs. Claus. It was a chilly night, but we bundled up to enjoy all of it, and I enjoyed hearing the squeals of excitement from those of all ages as they approached the two calves which were named Dasher and Dancer. My next event was my rst virtual classroom visit. I visited with a classroom of fourth grade students from Albert Lea and shared what my role as Princess Kay of the Milky Way looks like. One of their questions pertained to the popular reality dating television show, “The Bachelorette,” and if I had been on the show. I promise you this didn’t come out of left eld; the students were certainly on to something. For those of you who don’t follow this series as much as I do, this year’s bachelorette is from Minnesota. As part of one of her dates, she and the men toured one of Minnesota’s dairy farms to milk cows, feed calves, scoop manure and sculpt butter. This meant that Brenna Connelly, the 67th Princess Kay of the Milky Way, was on the show and helped the group with butter sculpting. So, I did have to break the news to the students that I wasn’t the Princess Kay who was on the show, but they still thought it was so cool that Brenna was. Though most of us don’t have the opportunity to guest star on national television, we can set goals, or resolutions, to achieve greatness over the course of the next year. Maybe you want to spend more time

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with family, see more of the beautiful landmarks across Minnesota or perhaps continue to better your herd. Whatever your resolution may be, there are lots of ways you can nd success in working toward your goal over the course of 2022 and beyond. For starters, write it down. I nd myself much more driven to complete things if I see it in writing. That leads me to my second tip. Share your resolution with someone close to you. This helps hold yourself accountable for the goal you are working toward accomplishing and keeps you motivated to complete it. Third, evaluate your progress frequently. This can be done in specic intervals you can set monthly or weekly. Ask yourself if you are content with how far you’ve come with your resolution thus far. If resolutions in the new year aren’t for you, that’s OK too. The holiday season and new year is all about celebrating and reecting on the past year and all that

we have been able to witness, experience and how we have grown as individuals. In my opinion, looking back on this past year, we should all be incredibly proud to ring in 2022. As we move forward into this new year, I would like to extend a greeting from me to all of you. May you all have a safe and enjoyable year. Princess Kay of the Milky Way Anna Euerle serves as the Minnesota dairy community’s goodwill ambassador. Princess Kay is very active doing school visits, representing dairy farmers at the Fuel Up To Play 60 activities in conjunction with the Minnesota Vikings, and sharing the importance of dairy farming and dairy foods at appearances across Minnesota. Euerle grew up in Litcheld, Minnesota, working on her family’s dairy farm. She will soon graduate from Ridgewater College in Agribusiness with a dairy emphasis. In her free time she enjoys cooking, baking and being outdoors.

The gambler

Page 36 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022

I don’t know why, but gambling has never appealed to me. Oh sure, I enjoyed a few games of penny-ante euchre during my daily commute on the school bus. But growing up out here on our prairie dairy farm, we remained insulated from large-scale, industrial gambling, the kind of wagering one would associate with a casino. As a kid, I learned from television that casinos were palaces of glitz and glamor that only existed in Las Vegas. Casinos were dazzling and posh and had cabarets where guys like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra hung out, sipping brandy from glass snifters as an endless parade of comely showgirls strutted across the stage. Things have changed over the decades. Vegas is there, its casinos are bigger and gaudier than ever, and the showgirls strut their stuff in their feathery getups.

But Vegas has mounted an effort to attract a more diverse clientele by providing family-friendly attractions: You kids enjoy the waterslides while Mommy and Daddy shoot craps with your college fund. When I was a youngster, no one would have dreamed of building a casino here. How could you compete with Vegas? After all, there’s only one Wayne Newton. This explains why, some years ago, I found myself meeting my in-laws at a new local casino. It was my rst foray into the world of commercial gambling. The casino had been constructed on a patch of former prairie on the outskirts of a nearby small town. While it wasn’t nearly as opulent as Caesars Palace or the Venetian, it was nonetheless an impressively large shed. I’m a farmer at heart. As I walked into the casino, I tried to calculate how many head of cattle one could

house in the structure. There was certainly more than enough space to park a combine and couple of tractors in their entertainment venue. Dear County Agent Guy After stretching our bellies at the buffet (It was all you can eat, so I did.), my father-in-law asked if I would like to stroll with him over to the gaming area. As we approached the gaming oor, I picked up on a strange noise that slowly began to grow. It gradually became clear that the racket was the By Jerry Nelson combined mechanical Columnist keening from scores of hardworking slot machines. My father-in-law found an open machine and commenced feeding it quarters. I decided to wander around, get a feel for the place and do some people watching. I spent several minutes observing the action at a blackjack table. I work hard for my money, so it made me squeamish to see people plunk down a week’s wages on a single hand. My banker probably wouldn’t have viewed playing blackjack as being part of a sound nancial strategy. The casino had no windows or clocks to remind gamblers of the passage of time. A set of neon tubes snaked across the ceiling, an articial galaxy cutting a path through a manmade sky. There weren’t any showgirls, but I saw a poster proclaiming that a rock band who had reached peak popularity in the early 1970s would be performing at the casino’s entertainment venue. A lone barmaid served drinks in disposable plastic cups; I didn’t see anyone sipping brandy from a glass snifter. Very little glitz, no glamor, nothing to make me feel like a gambler. I wondered if I’d missed something, so I made further observations. One woman was playing three slot machines at a time. She had a slavish routine: drop quarter, push button, drop quarter, push button, ad innitum. She appeared as bored and apathetic as an assembly line worker. I saw a frail old dude who was feeding a slot machine as he drew air from a tube connected to an oxygen tank. I wanted to shake the old guy and yell, “What are you doing? Don’t fritter away your precious time. Quit this place and embrace life. Kiss a pretty girl. Go bungee jumping. Watch a sunrise. Skydive. Get out and do something, anything!” But then I thought, “Who knows? Maybe he’s already seen enough sunrises. Perhaps bungee jumping and skydiving are old hat to this guy. Maybe kissing a pretty girl would mess up his pacemaker. It could be that the only enjoyment the old geezer gets is coming here so he can make believe – however briey – that he’s Dean Martin.” My father-in-law found me just then. “You going to try your luck before you head back to the cows?” he asked. It nally dawned on me why I have no desire to gamble. “No, thanks.” I replied proudly. “I’m a farmer. I gave at the ofce.” Jerry is a recovering dairy farmer from Volga, South Dakota. He and his wife, Julie, have two grown sons and live on the farm where Jerry’s great-grandfather homesteaded over 110 years ago. Jerry currently works full time for the Dairy Star as a staff writer/ad salesman. Feel free to E-mail him at: jerry.n@dairystar.com.

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That darn bell curve

The bell curve, named for its shape, is a way to represent data that is normally distributed. Even though the whole topic of statistics can incite fear in some people, bell curves are important in a lot of things including dairy heifer reproduction. For example, the age of animals at rst calving will Veterinary Wisdom t y p i c a l l y look like a bell curve in most herds. The heifer pregnancy rate will determine what the bell curve of age at rst calving looks like. A high By Jim Bennett pregnancy Columnist rate will create a taller and more narrow bell than a low rate. Taller and more narrow means more animals calving at or around the same age, and fewer very young or very old heifers. Can we change the bell curve? Absolutely. For one, we can move it. For example, there has been a long-term trend toward calving heifers younger. However, some producers have been trying to calve heifers at heavier weights because of some research showing heifers calving at 85% or more of adult weight give more milk during rst, and every subsequent, lactation. In both cases, farmers may be trying to move the bell curve of age at rst calving to the left or the right by changing the voluntary waiting period. Is this a good idea? Well, maybe.

Take two herds; the rst has a low (14%) heifer pregnancy rate, and the second has a high (44%) rate. The rst herd calves 46% of heifers within a range of two months of age. The second calves 75% within a range of two months of age. The bell curve of the rst herd is really fat, and it has a long tail to the right, with some heifers calving in at well over 2.5 years of age. In fact, 60% calve at 27 months or more of age. The bell curve of the second herd is much narrower, and exactly zero animals calved at or over 27 months of age. The left side of the bell curve of the rst herd looks like the left side of a bell, while the left side of the bell curve for the second herd is much steeper, skewing the shape of the bell. Perhaps both producers read the study suggesting larger rst calving weights, and both decided to just move their bell curves by changing the voluntary waiting period from 390 to 405 days. Is this the right decision? For the rst herd, probably not. The biggest bottleneck in this herd is just a fat bell curve. Moving it to the right will increase the percentage of animals calving in really old. It will reduce the number calving too young, but that is a pretty small group now anyway. For the second herd, moving the bell curve may indeed be the right idea. Their bell curve is already svelte, and moving it to the right will move the vast majority of the animals to an age and weight at calving just where they want them. Their bottleneck may indeed be the position of the bell curve rather than the shape. We can change the shape of a bell curve by interventions. For example, using 100% timed articial insemination at the rst breeding will skew the curve, or change its shape. Assuming good

Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022 • Page 37

conception rates, that bell curve will look more like a ski jump: very steep, or even straight up, on the left and then quickly dropping to the right. A simple change of giving prostaglandin to every heifer at the end of the voluntary waiting period will accomplish something similar, though not quite as dramatic, assuming heat detection is very good. S i m p l y adhering to the voluntary wait period often changes the shape. This is because there are plenty of farms where the voluntary wait period seems to be a range rather than a day. Often this happens because people do not want to waste a natural heat, so they breed some animals too early, or they want to wait for a natural heat for too long of a period beyond the voluntary waiting period, so they breed some animals way too late. Some believe, erroneously, that a heat following a prostaglandin injection is less fertile than a “natural” one. Practices like these create a very long ramp on either or both sides of the bell curve. Why is this important? Because it costs more now to raise a heifer than it ever has. Studies suggest it costs around $2,500 to raise a heifer to calving, or about $3.42 per day. Herd replacement costs can easily be 15%-20% of the total cost of production on a dairy. Getting heifers bred sooner can save a lot of money. A study by Lauber, et. al, in the December 2021 issue of the Journal

of Dairy Science showed a savings of nearly $17 per pregnancy by using a veday CIDR synch program versus giving prostaglandin and using heat detection, for example. They did not compare the cost of the TAI program versus heat detection aalone with no prostaglandin, but the savings most likely would have been much greater had they done so. (One injection of prostaglandin ccosts less than tthe rearing cost for just one day.) Thus, the key is not to breed too early, but when the VWP is reached, breed really aggressively. Doing this will get you a very skinny bell curve that is skewed with a really steep, almost cliff-like ramp on the left and heifers calving almost all exactly at the same age, and hopefully with very similar weights. This means fewer animals calving too young and never reaching their full potential, and fewer animals calving in way too old after eating the herd’s prot for lunch. Remember, too, that old heifers are often fat and have more difculty calving, and a greater prevalence of postpartum disease. So yes, that darn bell curve really matters. Bennett is one of four dairy veterinarians at Northern Valley Dairy Production Medicine Center in Plainview, Minnesota. He also consults on dairy farms in other states. He and his wife, Pam, have four children. Jim can be reached at bennettnvac@gmail.com with comments or questions.

E Even though h h the h whole h l topic i of statistics can incite fear in some people, bell curves are important in a lot of things including dairy heifer reproduction.

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9700, 2020, 581 Hrs, RWA .............................................. $489,000 9600, 2019, 507 Hrs, RWA .............................................. $424,500 8800, 2018, 493 Hrs, RWA .............................................. $395,000 8800, 2016, 1607 Hrs, RWA ............................................ $304,900 8700, 2018, 715 Hrs, RWA .............................................. $373,000 8700, 2017, 1237 Hrs, RWA ............................................ $325,500 8600, 2018, 660 Hrs, RWA .............................................. $342,000 8600, 2016, 785 Hrs, RWA .............................................. $359,000 8600, 2016, 1127 Hrs, RWA ............................................ $289,000 8600, 2016, 928 Hrs, RWA .............................................. $300,000 8500, 2016, 862 Hrs, RWA .............................................. $315,000 8400, 2015, 1158 Hrs, RWA ............................................ $238,750 8300, 2021, 51 Hrs, RWA ................................................ $409,000 7480, 2013, 3695 Hrs, RWA ............................................ $134,000 7780, 2014, 1973 Hrs, RWA ............................................ $190,400 7750, 2011, 3200 Hrs, 2WD ............................................ $129,000 7580, 2014, 1764 Hrs, RWA ............................................ $185,900 7500, 2007, 1921 Hrs, RWA ............................................ $103,000 5830, 1992, 3928 Hrs, RWA .............................................. $34,900 New Holland FR850, 2013, 1500 Hrs, RWA................... $228,000 All hours listed are “cutter hours”.

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Young entrepreneurs Page 38 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022

Growing up, I always assumed I’d run my are made than for the valuable input of a 14-yearown business. I tried to sell people wood projects old boy on what tractor to buy. My answer, of I made and hired myself ccourse, was the fanciest out for farm work on other o one the dealer showed us The world ld could ld use a llot people’s farms. More than Th regardless of price because a few times I demanded more small businesses, and for you can’t put a value on the increases in wages from appeal of a working stereo my parents; sometimes I that to happen there needs and air conditioning. got them if I made a decent to be a lot more young people Our children are getting case, such as the neighbor lessons in what it takes paying me considerably with the skills to make that to run their own business more than they were. They happen. every day working with acted annoyed I wanted E Emily and I, as well as more money but I think ttheir grandparents. I hope they were secretly proud I valued my time and they pick up valuable knowledge, even if some skills. They included me in business decisions months I’m not sure I’m doing that great of a job, although I think more for me to learn how they business-wise. The world could use a lot more

small businesses, and for that to happen there needs to be a lot more young people with the skills to make that happen. I felt growing up that outside of our farm everything I learned in school was preparing me to work for someone else. Even in college, there was a big push to build From the Zweber Farm your resume and other such things that mean nothing if the only person looking at it will be yourself. I’m not all that condent that much has changed in education or society, in general, when it comes to expecting most people By Tim Zweber will be employees versus employers. Farmer & Columnist But, I’m cautiously optimistic things are swinging back toward the entrepreneurial spirit that built this country. “Young people don’t want careers anymore.” “The economy is switching to a short-term gig sort of employment model.” “People want more exibility in their hours and the option to work from home.” Usually, those statements are part of some hand-wringing disappointed news piece either about how lazy the younger generation is or how hard it is to nd workers for jobs that were never very rewarding and pay less now than they did three decades ago. I think those things are a sign more people want to work on their own terms, or in other words, be entrepreneurs. In agriculture, we know a thing or two about running small businesses so it’s no wonder there are so many documentaries about married couples fed up with the corporate world deciding to quit their jobs and start a vegetable farm. When people make a list of entrepreneurial occupations they quickly end up thinking of farming. In addition to working with us on the farm to earn money both for current desired objects as well as their futures, we encourage our kids to start their own ventures. Jonnie has a ock of ducks he cares for and sells eggs and butchered ducks from. Hannah gives farm tours and earns a surprising amount of tips. Erik wants to start a business repairing electronics and building custom computers. We’re proud they are taking steps toward shaping their own lives in a way they see t. It probably won’t look like how Emily and I did it or how our parents did. The world has changed a lot in some ways and very little in others, but I believe as much now as I did as a kid that even if it’s not always awesome there’s no better way to live one’s life than as your own boss. At the whim of a bunch of cows. We don’t call them bossy for no reason. Until next time, keep living the self-employed dream even if it hasn’t come true quite yet. And, remember that just because the cows are really the boss they don’t mind if you use the title. Tim Zweber farms with his wife Emily, their three children and his parents Jon and Lisa by Elko, Minnesota.

Finding a positive spin on 2022

It’s the coldest part of winter, and it’s getting old. Fun holidays are over, bookwork is overwhelming, calves are plentiful and help is scarce. During days like these, I think of one of my Come Full Dairy Circle father’s pieces of advice that I may need to apply to my own psyche. “Don’t be a bawl baby.” In explanation, my dairy farmer dad was referring to calves that were obnoxiously hollering or bawling for their moms, maybe just for the sake of drawing attention to themselves. It was his way of telling me to, “Suck it up and adjust your attitude.” Possibly this might be good advice to other dairy folks this time of year. To that end, here’s my top 10 list to spin negatives into positives for these rst few months of 2022: By Jean Annexstad – Bad weather. True, it is now windy, cold and Columnist dreary. But, the fall was unusually warm and free of excess precipitation. So far this winter, there have not been many frozen waterers or burst pipes, and we were able to go many weeks longer than usual without wiping teat dip off before cows exited our parlor. Besides, the colder the winter is, the better spring feels. – Winter dairy farmer Olympic events. The bundled-up waddle, slide on icy yards, extreme walking through drifts and muscle-aching shoveling will be over in a few short weeks. In July, we won’t even remember all of the suffering from cold noses, toes and ngers. Plus, you can get a little work out in at the same time as getting chores done. – Lots of fresh cows. It is so much work taking care of all of the new babies, cows with twins that need extra attention, and handling the many buckets of fresh milk. On the good side, we only freshen older cows in January and February, so there’s no training-in new heifers right now, and the experienced cows know what to do and where to go. We get to listen to them talking to their babies on their way into the milking barn holding pen when they pass their calves being warmed and dried in the calf warmer. – Milking more cows than other times of the year. Milking takes longer. Keep in mind, though, the older money cows are calving, and they hopefully milk well, stay healthy, breed back quickly and ll the milk tank. These cows offer the highest return on our investment of raising them as replacements. And, what else do we have to do in the winter besides milk cows? – Could use more chore help. After kids were here during the holidays, now it is back to just Mike, Rolf and Jean doing the milking on weekends, and the days get long. Yet, we can remember how fun and special it was to have the extra help during the holidays and work together. The kids did many extra projects on Rolf and Mike’s to-do list. Now during the week, our regular employees are back to help and contribute so much, and we appreciate their efforts. – The holidays and parties are quickly over letdown. We can realize how unique and blessed we are to have had our family gather and to celebrate Christmas and the New Year after or in between chores. – Much to think about for future planning. If any new facilities, renovations or projects will take place in the next year, we need to plan now. We will carve out some time for meetings to go over plans with advisors that could help us decide what to do and how to do it. – Still cold, snowy and miserable. It is wearing after a few months of it. Wait; every day has more light. Spring is not too far around the corner. We can plan for the next growing season. Did I hear some bird songs? Hey, let’s go for a walk in the snowy woods on this gorgeous winter day. – Boring bookwork to grind through to nish up the scal year and all of the tax forms to distribute and deal with. Well, our farm business is still up and running. We have a great family and employees to help us do the work. We are marketing milk for cheesemaking, selling beef and male calves for others to raise, and selling cull cows. We sold some forages and grain in 2021. Maybe we will see a prot when all is tallied up. “You don’t know what is not measured,” as is often stated by smart advisors. – So much to do and think about. That is almost always the case. However, isn’t it great that my brain can still multitask, and I can write a column in my head as I also milk cows. This life is certainly not boring. Remember to keep looking for the light, more opportunities and the good things to come in the days ahead. Winter may not be most dairy farmers’ favorite season, but there is truly beauty in every season if you take a minute to look for it. Jean dairy farms with her husband, Rolf, and brother-in-law, Mike, and children Emily, Matthias and Leif. They farm near St. Peter, Minnesota, in Norseland, where she is still trying to t in with the Norwegians and Swedes. They milk 200 cows and farm 650 acres. She can be reached at jeanannexstad@ gmail.com.

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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022 • Page 39

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Page 40 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022

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