January 15, 2022 Dairy Star - 1st section - Zone 2 by Dairy Star

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DAIRY ST R

January 15, 2022

“All dairy, all the time”™

Volume 23, No. 22

A focus on transi�on cows New barn yields health benets, labor efciency for Bailies By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com

ABBY WIEDMEYER/DAIRY STAR

Ma� Bailie stands in the newly constructed transi�on barn on his family’s farm Dec. 20, 2021, near Livingston, Wisconsin. The barn houses over 200 animals and has helped improve herd health and labor eﬃciency.

LIVINGSTON, Wis. – Two years ago, when the Bailie family found their facilities nearing maximum capacity, they started thinking about the smartest way to accommodate the growing herd. In doing so, the family updated their housing facilities near Livingston where they milk 1,100 cows on two sites. “Pretty much all of this was revamped this summer,” Matt Bailie said. Six months into the setup – a new transition barn, an addition to their freestall barn for the milking herd, and upgrades to heifer housing and milking facilities for fresh cows – the Bailies are already seeing improvements in their herd. “The last two years we have focused on the transition period for the cows,” said Bailie, who farms with his father, George, and brother, James. “The cows

have been coming in stronger, and we’ve had less problems with fresh cows.” The new transition building was completed last summer and houses approximately 235 animals. One side has 114 stalls for dry cows and springing heifers. When designing the building, the Bailies decided to use Torenna free stalls, which are made of heavy-duty polymer piping. “We love the free stalls,” Bailie said. “You can get a few more stalls in because they are 45 inches as opposed to our metal stalls.” The other side of the barn is divided into three pens and a calving area. The rst pen houses cows that are 14-21 days from calving; the second group is seven to 14 days from calving; and the third pen is zero to seven days from calving and located directly next to the calving area. Cows move from pen to pen in the same group for the three weeks prior to calving. Previously, there was only one transition pen consisting of more animals, and there was more sorting and moving. “Before, every week we would move Turn to BAILIES | Page 7

Stepping up to the task Kling manages dairy after husband’s lung transplant By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com

TAYLOR, Wis. – When Patricia Kling’s husband, Steve, had a lung transplant six years ago, she thought they would have to sell the cows. The couple had always farmed as a team, but Steve was not able to go in the barn after the transplant due to a compromised immune system. But rather than ending their dairying career, Kling took over the management of the 40-cow farm near Taylor. “When Steve had his transplant, we were gone for 19 days,” Kling said. “When we got home, I stayed in the house the rst day because this was new territory. He seemed to be ne, so I went out to the barn the next morning, and I’ve been doing it ever since.” Kling milks in a swing-8 parlor and runs 160 acres of owned land and 240 tillable acres of rented land in addition to a pasture for grazing on her family’s dairy in Jackson County. While Kling does a majority of the work in the barn herself, she also works alongside part-time employee Yvonne Weihrouch. For the rst year and a half after Steve’s diagnosis and before the transplant, the Klings’ children, Joel and Sam, and some hired hands helped run the farm. Once Kling was at the helm, however, Steve wanted someone to be in the barn with her on a more consistent schedule.

“I was doing it by myself, and Steve was concerned about me down there (in the barn) by myself,” Kling said. “He put an ad for help on the radio, and (Weihrouch) answered it.” Weihrouch farmed with her husband until her son took over in 2018. Weihrouch said after a month without milking cows, she was bored. “People ask me why I don’t quit, and I say my brain would turn to mush for one thing,” Weihrouch said. “Plus, it gets me out of the house.” Weihrouch had always milked in a tiestall barn with her husband and was excited about the prospect of milking in a parlor. “When I rst showed (Weihrouch) the parlor she said, ‘You mean I don’t have to bend over to milk the cows? This could be kind of fun,’” Kling said. Weihrouch has helped the Klings with the morning milking for over three years and is a reliable employee if Kling needs to attend to Steve. “Having Yvonne here, she is like the Steady Eddie,” Kling said. “She knows the farm, she is here every day, she knows the cows, and we need somebody like that.” With Weihrouch’s help, Kling has made signicant changes to how the farm is managed. The rst thing she noticed when she took over was that Steve did not have any written herd health records. “He kept it all in his head,” Kling said. “He could tell the cows apart by the spots on their back. I needed a tag with a number.” Turn to KLING | Page 6

ABBY WIEDMEYER/DAIRY STAR

Yvonne Weihrouch (le�) and Patricia Kling stand in the parlor at Kling’s farm Dec. 16, 2021, near Taylor, Wisconsin. Weihrouch started helping Kling a�er Kling’s husband could no longer milk following a lung transplant in 2016.

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, 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 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 is 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

By Don Wick Columnist

Build Back Better plan criticized As we move into the new year, Senate Ranking Member John Boozman 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 Senator 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,” Boozman 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 Senate Agriculture

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

Grewes resilient through turbulent year First Section: Pages 8 - 9

Third Section: Page 9

Taylor

Kling manages dairy after husband’s lung transplant

First Section: Page 32

Page 22 Second Section

Wood

Jackson

Adams

Monroe

e nn Wi

for

Dane

Iowa

Grant

Lafayette Green

Carroll

Jefferson Waukesha

Rock

ens

h tep

Walworth go

eba

n Win

Racine Kenosha

Ogle

Whiteside

New barn yields health benets, labor efciency for Bailies First Section: Pages 1, 7

Mercer

Hen

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

Rock Island

ders on

Livingston

re War

Juneau

PDPW Dairy Signal offers insight to healthy choices Third Section: Pages 6 - 7

McHenry

DeKalb

Zone 2

Do or

Green Lake Fond Du Lac

Columbia Dodge

Sauk

Jo Daviess

Zone 1

go ba Calumet

Waushara

ett e Juneau

Richland

e mi Brown

a tag

Demo farms share experiences with low disturbance applications

Country Cooking

Portage Waupaca

Vernon

Wisconsin Dells

Pages 10 - 11 Second Section

Oconto

Shawano

Clark

La Crosse

First Section: Pages 1, 6

The “Mielke” Market Weekly

Menominee

Marathon

Buffalo

Langlade

Chippewa Eau Claire

Ke w

Pepin

ton S he bo Milwaukee Ozauk M yg ee an anito wo c

Pierce

Dunn

Menominee

Wa sh

St. Croix

Page 38 First Section

Page 39 First Section

Lincoln

Taylor

From the Zweber Farm

Come Full Circle

First Section: Page 29

Forest

Rusk

Barron

ing

Women in Dairy: Taliah Danzinger

ren

Oneida

aun ee

n Polk

Delta

Dickinson

Vilas

Price

Page 37 First Section

Durand

Iron

Flo

Sawyer

Trempealeau

Veterinary Wisdom

Burnett

Wa s

Page 36 First Section

Ashland

Ramblings from the Ridge

First Section: Page 25

Bayeld

Douglas

Page 35 First Section

First Section: Page 31

Wisconsin Holstein youth celebrated

Farmer and Columnist

Appleton

Dairy Prole: Sam Ziegler

Bo o

Dairy’s Working Youth: Colton Sluga

Appleton

Page 34 First Section

Barron Whitehall

Ma r

From My Perspective

Kane

Lee

Columbus

Bruner makes magic with the paintbrush First Section: Pages 12 - 13

FROM OUR SIDE OF THE FENCE: What are you looking forward to in 2022? First Section: Pages 15 - 16

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

ConƟnued from AG INSIDER | Page 2 Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow’s staff in the past but now is at odds over Build Back Better. 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.” China imports more dairy products China imported nearly 8.5 billion pounds of dairy products in the rst 11 months of 2021. That is up 1.5 billion pounds from the same time period in 2020. The United States is the largest supplier of whey products to China with 40% market share. New Zealand is the largest supplier of whole milk powder and skim milk powder with 88% and 34% market share, respectively. The U.S. is the third largest supplier of SMP with 11% market share. Chinese cheese imports rose more than 38%. Butter imports were up 15%. Infant formula imports were the only dairy category with a downturn with imports down nearly 24%. 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.” Wisconsin loses 400 herds As of Jan. 1, Wisconsin had 6,533 dairy herds. That is down 400 herds from one year ago. The loss in total farms does not reect fewer cows or less milk production with Wisconsin farmers milking 1.28 million head and producing a record amount of milk. Ten years ago, Wisconsin had 11,761 dairy herds.

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Dairy Day scheduled in Madison The Dairy Business Association will be at the Wisconsin Capitol Jan. 18 for its annual Dairy Day. Forums on redistricting and the Dairy Innovation Hub will be featured. DBA members will also meet with lawmakers. Couple to compete in OYF competition Phillip and Laura Finger of Oconto will compete in the National Outstanding Young Farmer competition next month in South Carolina. The Fingers milk 540 cows and has 1,900 acres in crop production. This couple won the state award in 2020, but the national event was canceled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Arneson retires Wisconsin Ag in the Classroom coordinator Darlene Arneson retired at the end of the year. Arneson served in this role since 2004.

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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.

Correction

In the Dec. 25, 2021, Dairy Star, Kyle Levetzow’s last name was incorrectly spelled in Dairy Prole. Dairy Star regrets the error.

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ConƟnued from KLING | Page 1

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ABBY WIEDMEYER/DAIRY STAR

Patricia Kling stands next to her breeding wheel on her farm Dec. 16, 2021, near Taylor, Wisconsin. Kling started using the breeding wheel aŌer she took over managing the farm in 2016. All the cows were tagged, and Kling dusted off the old breeding wheel. “We always had this breeding wheel hanging up here, but Steve never really used it,” Kling said. “He just kind of knew. So, I got it going and life has been much better ever since. I write everything down.” Kling also started using heat detection stickers on the cows’ backs. Weihrouch breeds the cows if they discover a cow in heat while she is there. Kling said she did not even realize that Weihrouch could breed cows at rst. “I went to call the breeder the one day, and Yvonne said she could do it for me,” Kling said. Weihrouch had taken an articial insemination class over 30 years prior. Perhaps the biggest management change Kling implemented was the transition to organic. She and Steve had rotationally grazed the cows in an organic pasture since 1993. After Kling took over managing the herd and before Weihrouch was on the scene, Kling was at the mercy of inexperienced help, and she had to dump two tanks of milk because treated cows were milked in the tank. “That’s when I said, ‘I’m ready for the switch,’” Kling said. “We had been talking about it anyway, but it didn’t happen until I was at the helm.” She looks to Dr. Detloff in Arcadia for nutrition advice on feeding organically. After reading his books, Kling started adding organic kelp to the cows’ diets as a way to help boost their immune systems. “I mix the kelp in with the mineral and feed in the bunk,” Kling said. “We are getting the cows bred back, and we haven’t had trouble with cleaning. Kelp is a good overall immune booster.”

The herd is comprised of Holstein which are crossbred with Fleckvieh. Kling said the breed ts well with the grazing operation. “They’re so substantial,” Kling said. “They’re pretty mellow, and they like grazing, so it’s the perfect t.” Steve does eldwork and runs the skidloader, and Kling has formed a team to help ll in the other labor gaps that he can no longer do. Kling relies on an A.I. technician when Weihrouch is not around and a veterinarian out of Black River Falls. “With the vets and the A.I. guy and our service people, it’s just a nice team to fall back on,” Kling said. Kling tries to stay prepared by keeping records in case Steve’s health ever does take an unexpected turn for the worse. She has a young man help with heavy lifting on the weekends who is also on call if they ever need him. Their son, Nathan, farms a mile north of the Klings. He and his crew put up the haylage, corn silage and high moisture corn. Another son, Sam, comes over to help with silo repair, and their other son, Joel, milked cows when they were at the hospital for the transplant. Now the grandchildren have started milking. “We are just carrying on the Christmas miracle that we have our husband, father and grandfather,” Kling said. While the Klings are open to the idea of helping a young couple get started in the industry, they are also content with how the farm is managed by Kling and Weihrouch. “I was really nervous at rst,” said Kling about taking over. “I didn’t know if I could do it or not, but I guess it’s still aoat.”

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

ConƟnued from BAILIES | Page 1 some cows in, and they would ght for the rst three or four days just to see who the boss was,” Bailie said. A lane runs along all three pens, which leads to the calving area. From each pen, one cow can be let out, walk down the lane and led into the calving pen by one person. “The idea was that if it’s easy for people to do, it should be easy for the cows as well,” Bailie said. “Any time people get stressed, the cows always seem to get ustered.” All of the pens in the barn were built so there were no dead ends. There are walkways on both ends of the stalls which ended up sacricing stall space, but Bailie said the sacrice is worth it. “We lost 15 to 20 stalls by doing that, but each pen is a complete circle with no dead ends,” Bailie said. “In our former fresh pen there was a dead end, and it was a lot harder moving cows.” As the cows calve in, they are moved to a small fresh cow group for a couple days and then moved to the fresh cow pen where they live for three to four weeks. An upgrade was made to the facility where fresh cows are milked as well. Previously, the fresh cows walked to the original dairy barn and were milked in stanchions. Half of the original dairy barn was torn down, and a used parlor was installed in the remaining half. The fresh cows

go through the parlor and exit through a raceway with a head lock at the end. “Each cow can be given her uids and boluses and any extra attention immediately after milking,” Bailie said. “We can even do surgeries here if we have one.” An addition to the freestall barn that houses the milking herd allows for an additional 90 cows. There are feed lanes on both sides of the freestall pen and four head locks per cow. “The purpose behind that was to never have a fresh cow who wanted food to be deprived of it,” Bailie said. The addition has a hoof trimming area and a small lane with a sort gate as well, which was another space sacrice that Bailie said was worthwhile. “There are 50 feet in this barn that may not seem very protable but to have a sort gate has proved useful,” Bailie said. The sort gate is used for trimming feet because herd health is conducted in the head locks. Bailie said the addition has boosted cow health and productivity. “The cows love the stalls,” Bailie said. “Energy corrected, we are about 102 pounds of milk per cow per day. The fresh cows are milked four times a day.” Heifer replacements on the Bailies’ farm are picked up twice a week and started off at Paramount Calves in Darlington for six months. After that, they

ABBY WIEDMEYER/DAIRY STAR

A group of pre-fresh cows relax in their newly designed transiƟon barn at the Bailies’ farm Dec. 20, 2021, near Livingston, Wisconsin. are moved to Kansas until they are six to eight months pregnant. “The environment in Kansas is better for raising heifers,” Bailie said. “They don’t have the humidity we have here.” When the heifers return to Wisconsin, they are moved into the renovated facility that was previously the dry cow barn. The original 40-year-old concrete was all redone and Torenna free stalls were added. “We gained 20 stalls this

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seem to be easier bred on the rst service with less freshening issues,” Bailie said. “They are healthier animals so they settle easier.” The Bailies plan to continue to grow internally and are optimistic their newly designed setups will help them achieve that. “We should be able to grow internally with less sick cows, a lower cull rate and cows getting bred back quicker,” Bailie said.

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

Grewes resilient through turbulent year Family sees success in showring, daughter overcomes life-altering surgery By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com

CUMBERLAND, Wis. – As the calendar page turned to 2021, Brandon and Kim Grewe were riding an emotional high. Just two months prior, their homebred Guernsey cow reigned supreme over the North American International Livestock Exposition. They were looking forward to celebrating their daughter’s birthday and the promises of the year to come. But, they had no idea the roller coaster that would face them as the year progressed. Brandon and Kim, along with Brandon’s parents, Roy and Gina, milk 175 cows on their Valley Gem Farm in Cumberland. Guernsey breeders and showring enthusiasts, the Grewes have been capturing banners at state and national shows for years. In 2019, they were thrilled when Valley Gem Atlas Malt was selected as the grand champion Guernsey at World Dairy Expo. Despite the absence of WDE in 2020, Malt made her mark, being the rst Guernsey to capture a supreme championship at NAILE. She came back to repeat both feats in 2021, adding the high notes to the Grewes’ year.

A mere six months later on June 28, 2021, the Grewes found themselves in a pediatric intensive care unit, living the nightmare of watching their daughter Brynn, then 1, ght for her life. “Brynn had a low-grade fever and was throwing up,” Kim said. “ I thought she had a stomach bug. By the next morning, I just knew something was wrong.” That intuition led the Grewes to get their daughter to the emergency room in Rice Lake. Brynn’s fever had risen, and doctors administered uids to ght dehydration. The doctors determined Brynn was suffering from a serious urinary tract infection, and she was sent to the Marsheld Medical Center by ambulance. Within three hours of their arrival in Marsheld, Brynn suffered a seizure and required sedation and intubation. “They kicked us out of the room about 6 p.m., and it was after 11 p.m. when we were allowed back in,” Kim said . “The doctors just told us she was very, very sick. Her blood pressure was low, and her heart rate had DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR skyrocketed.” The waiting was nearly The Grewes – Brandon and Kim holding Brynn – milk 175 cows with Brandon’s parents near Cumberland, Wisconsin. The family rode a roller coaster of highs and lows during 2021 with Turn to GREWES | Page 9 their homebred Guernsey cow taking top honors in the show circuit and Brynn now on the mend following a serious E. coli infecƟon.

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

ConƟnued from GREWES | 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.

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. PHOTO COURTESY OF DAIRY AGENDA TODAY

Kim and Brynn Grewe celebrate Valley Gem Atlas Malt’s second World Dairy Expo championship Oct. 1 in Madison, Wisconsin. unbearable for the Grewes, whose world had been turned upside down in less than a day. “We didn’t eat; we didn’t talk … for the rst three days,” Brandon said. “There was nothing we could say. We just waited.” The rst night in the hospital, Brynn’s hands and feet turned purple from lack of oxygen. The next day, she was placed in a hyperbaric chamber to saturate her body with 10 times the normal amount of oxygen. For the next two weeks, Brynn spent nearly ve hours daily in the hyperbaric chamber before doctors concluded it was not helping her in the way they had hoped. Tests eventually concluded Brynn was suffering from a form of E. coli. “They said it was one of the nastiest forms of E. coli,” Kim said. “At the time, we had no idea how the bacteria got into her bloodstream. Eventually, they discovered she suffered from stage 5 urinary reux, which causes urine to back up into her kidneys, and that is how the bacteria entered her blood steam.” The Grewes learned that urinary reux is not uncommon in children, and typically, they outgrow the condition by the age of 5. However, Brynn’s stage 5 reux was as bad as it could get. Ureters were placed on the bottom of her bladder to alleviate the reux temporarily. “They told us we had two options: wait it out and see if she outgrew it but risk another infection, or do the surgery to correct it, which had an 80% to 90% chance of success,” Kim said. “For us, it wasn’t even a choice, and that surgery was done in early December. It was her ninth surgery.” During the time Brynn was hospitalized, the Grewes relied on their family and close-knit nucleus of friends and business partners who not only offered emotional support but help at the farm and encouraged the Grewes to exhibit at the Wisconsin State Guernsey Show in July. On Aug. 12, 2021, Brynn was discharged from the hospital, but the Grewes’ roller coaster ride was far from over. Brynn’s hands and feet were damaged from the lack of oxygen, and the Grewes faced the fact Brynn would become an amputee before she turned 2. “The plastic surgeon didn’t know what to expect,” Kim said. “Children are resilient, and he wanted to let her heal as much as she could on her own. As some of the purple areas began to turn black, we knew she would lose her thumb and her ngers on her left hand, ngers on her right hand and her left foot. All of her ngers but one actually just fell off at home.” While the Grewes continued to care

for Brynn, Malt calved in mid-September. Brandon worked with Scott Weisensel for two weeks to get Malt ready for WDE. Shortly after they celebrated Malt’s WDE victory, Brynn underwent the amputations Oct. 12, 2021, with mixed results. During the surgery, Brynn’s oxygen levels dropped, and she quit breathing. Chest compressions were performed, and the surgery was halted until the next day. “That was nerve wracking, knowing what had happened the day before,” Brandon said. “Once again there was just nothing to do put pray.” Doctors thought Brynn’s left leg would need to be amputated at the knee but instead were able to leave the leg to mid-shin. The loss of her right foot came as a surprise, as doctors had thought the foot could be saved. Brynn was able to keep her thumb on her right hand. The amputations required a series of four surgeries over the course of 10 days, and then she went back every three weeks to have tissue cleaned and skin grafting done. During the grafting process, Brandon, along with help, took Malt and the rest of their showstring to Louisville, Kentucky, for Malt to defend her titles, which she did easily. Just before Brynn’s bladder correction surgery, the classier made a visit to Valley Gem and indicated a score of EX96 for Malt. Just days after the Grewes returned home from the surgery, the committee approved Malt’s new score. The Grewes nd themselves in a similar place as they were last January as they bask in the glow of Malt’s victories and celebrate Brynn’s birthday. But this year has a much different meaning for the young family. “Brynn is phenomenal, and she is adapting well,” Kim said. “Her hands have healed pretty well, and she can grasp things and feed herself. She gets around amazingly well, and I am so excited for her to get her prosthetics and see what she learns to do with them.” Brynn will soon begin the process of being tted for prosthetics. The Grewes have turned to industry friends who are amputees or have children who are amputees for guidance. The Grewes hope that by telling Brynn’s story, she will provide inspiration for someone else. “We have a sign that we put in our show display that says, ‘You got this,’” Kim said. “One day at the hospital, I unwrapped a Dove chocolate and that was the message inside the wrapper. Brynn is an amazing little girl, so strong and so determined. This has been very traumatic, but I know that Brynn will be great. She will be terric, and we cannot wait to see her show her rst calf.”

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

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Dairy Star’s year in review

Jan. 16, 2021 issue Fire claims Spindlers’ parlor Kobey and Trine Spindler faced disaster December 2020 when their new milking parlor burned to the ground on their farm near Stratford, Wisconsin. The at double-6 swing parlor located in their old tiestall barn had only been in use for eight months. But in the midst of disaster, these dairy farmers also experienced an outpouring of love and support from their community. The Spindlers were overwhelmed with gratitude for the care they received from more than 200 people who helped move cattle, do chores, clean up after the re, provide dinners, and more, as the couple moved forward with plans to rebuild. March 13, 2021 issue Hynek froze to death as 2-year-old Twenty years ago, at the age of 2, Paulie Hynek wandered outside one frigid February night and froze to death before being brought back to life. Today, Hynek is enjoying every bit of life as he helps on his family’s dairy farm near Eleva, Wisconsin, where they milk about 70 cows. Nothing short of a miracle, the only effect Hynek deals with is a smaller left hand, which suffered frostbite, and his left foot is also a bit smaller. His left leg is a tad shorter than his right, but fortunately Hynek suffered no ill health effects or learning issues. 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. May 8, 2021 Faust farms with spina bida, two prosthetic legs Adam Faust has never lived a life without challenges. Born with spina bida, Faust wore braces on his feet as a child and has issues with walking and balance. To complicate matters, he also has two prosthetic legs after losing both limbs from the knee down within seven years. However, Faust lets nothing stand in the way of doing what he loves – dairy farming. To make milking easier on his farm near Chilton, Wisconsin, he installed a carrier rail in which units slide around the barn on a track system. A grant from AgrAbility helped pay for the rail and other user-friendly features on his farm. May 8, 2021 issue Dairy groups unveil Class III Plus proposal Four Midwest dairy farmer organizations

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Fire burns the parlor at the Spindler family’s dairy Dec. 22, 2020, near Straƞord, Wisconsin. The cows were relocated to an empty dairy site nearby.

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. May 22, 2021 issue Stapels immerse in world of cover crops, no till, interseeding For the last ve years, Brody and Jory Stapel braved new terrain by experimenting with cover crops, interseeding and no till. They came out on the other side with greener land, healthier soil, better cow health, higher components and greater prots. Having the ground covered year-round, and something alive in the soil at all times, is the goal at their Cedar Grove, Wisconsin, farm where the brothers milk 260 cows and farm 1,000 acres. 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. Sept. 11, 2021 issue Cox family rebuilds with help of family, friends David Cox risked it all last June when the barn housing his family’s goats near Thorp, Wisconsin, caught re. While trying to save the animals, Cox suffered third-degree burns over 30% of his body. He spent 1.5 months in the hospital recovering from his injuries and undergoing several surgeries. Before the re, the Coxes were milking 105 goats and enjoying an active market for their genetics. In the re, the family lost 44 goats – primarily youngstock. The rebuilding process began soon after, with help from family and friends, including a neighbor the Coxes barely knew who offered to oversee the project allowing Cox to focus on recovery. Oct. 9, 2021 issue Zunker, Kaufmann-Luft get married on Conrath Dairy Lexi Zunker’s September wedding was a fairy tale come true. Marrying the love of her life on her family’s 250-cow dairy farm near Conrath, Wisconsin, was something she dreamed about since she was a little girl. Getting married between two oak trees 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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Siblings Ian and Libby Manthe took over the family farm aŌer the death of their father in March 2021. The Manthes milk 450 cows and farm around 850 acres with the help of three full-Ɵme employees near Deforest, Wisconsin.

that stand in the middle of a 50-acre eld across from the main farm was her wish. And that is the exact spot where she said, “I do.” A beautiful place to have a wedding, the special event even included a reworks show in the evening. 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 Lundbergs return to dairy scene after battling stray voltage Allan Lundberg and his daughter, Erica, spent the last 11 years reintroducing elite genetics to their herd after the farm nearly fell apart because of stray voltage issues. A tragedy that persisted for 20 years destroying all the farm’s pedigrees, the Lundbergs had to start from scratch when rebuilding their herd. Now milking 120 cows near Osseo, Wisconsin, the family is

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

The cow artist

Bruner makes magic with the paintbrush By Stacey Smart

stacey.s@dairystar.com

COLUMBUS, Wis. – Janelle Bruner has a passion for painting, and her specialty is cows. She paints beauties from all breeds on milk cans, glass jars, cookie jars, windows, wood pieces and more. All items are made to order, and each project is done by hand from start to nish.

Cows are painted in various poses and become treasured keepsakes and décor for those looking to showcase a special animal from their herd. Devoted to exceptional quality and craftsmanship, Bruner’s detailed work makes cows come to life in every project. “Everything is custom designed and custom made,” Bruner said. “This includes ev-

STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR

Jason SƟemke and Janelle Bruner manage a 120-cow dairy farm near Columbus, Wisconsin. Bruner is also an arƟst who started MilkWagon Whatcha Ma Call It’s in 2018 selling custommade milk cans, mason jars, cookie jars, windows, wood pieces and more featuring her artwork.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Janelle Bruner paints on a variety of objects including wood pieces like this round sign. Devoted to excepƟonal quality and craŌsmanship, Bruner’s detailed work makes cows come to life in every project.

ery digital le, cut of wood, slice of vinyl and pane of glass. I’ve always loved designing, crafting and art, and doing everything from the ground-up incorporates all those aspects.” Bruner started MilkWagon Whatcha Ma Call It’s in 2018, and her growing craft business is attracting customers from all over the U.S. as well as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Germany. Bruner is making a name for herself in the world of bovine art

while also managing a farm near Columbus with her boyfriend, Jason Stiemke, where they milk 120 cows. Working out of her home studio, Bruner was booked solid this past Christmas as her schedule lled up with orders well before the holiday. Bruner works on a variety of mediums – such as wood, metal and glass – transforming each into a masterpiece. Bruner’s artwork can also be found on apparel like T-shirts, sweatshirts and hats as

well as ear tags. Bruner also does glass etching on drinkware and cookie jars. “Ear tags have become a popular save-the-date token for weddings,” she said. Customization and personalization are at the heart of every one of Bruner’s projects, and her one-of-a-kind creations make for unique gifts. She loves bringing joy to her customers and said Turn to BRUNER |Page 13

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

Con�nued from BRUNER | Page 12

STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR

Janelle Bruner paints a heifer on a milk can Jan. 4 in her home studio near Columbus, Wisconsin. Bruner paints the animals based oﬀ of photographs that people provide. thought and care goes into each design. Bruner began with an itch to make tea towels, but the idea did not take off. Then, after seeing glass jars on Pinterest, she decided to make some of her own. Bruner painted famous cows like Apple and Blexi on the jars and took them to the World Dairy Expo where she made her rst sales. Now, milk cans are her most popular item. Farm signs and show awards are also in high demand. “I use acrylic paint because you don’t have to be as precise as you do with oil paint,” Bruner said. “Acrylic is more forgiving.” Bruner’s love for art began as a child. Drawing horses was one of her favorite things to do, and she sketched and painted throughout high school. “I took every art class I could, but after I graduated, I didn’t paint for 10 years,” said Bruner, who grew up with horses. “When I had to sell my horses, I kind of got a little lost in life and didn’t paint or draw or ride.” Bruner did not get into cows until 2012 when she started working at the Emmons Blaine Dairy Cattle Research Center in Arlington. Bruner milked cows on the farm which is part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “I enjoyed working with the cows and started to daydream about owning my own farm someday,” Bruner said. She later took a job working for dairy farmer Tammy Voegeli and milked cows

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Milk cans are one of Janelle Bruner’s most popular items. Customiza�on and personaliza�on is at the heart of every one of Bruner’s projects, and it takes 12-15 hours for Bruner to paint a cow onto a can.

while going to technical school to become a veterinary technician. “After graduation, I got a job at a small animal clinic, but I hated it and went back to milking cows,” Bruner said. “Tammy’s milk hauler was looking for help, so I got my (commercial driver’s license) and drove milk truck for a few years while also working at Tammy’s.” Meanwhile, Bruner bought a herd of 20 cows to help ll Stiemke’s barn. She backed off on the milk hauling before quitting and deciding to farm full time with Stiemke. In March 2018, the couple took a job managing the farm of Bryan Kurth who was moving to Kentucky. It was at this time that Bruner got back into art and equine – two of her biggest passions. She and Stiemke have ve horses, in addition to 36 cows and about 50 heifers. MilkWagon Holsteins is their farm name, and the inspiration for the name of Bruner’s Milk Wagon Whatcha Ma Call It’s business. “Painting and designing is part of who I am,” Bruner said. “It’s a gift I was blessed with, and when people don’t use their gifts, they tend to get lost, which is how I felt in those years after high school when I didn’t paint, draw, design or ride. I really started to feel like myself again when I nally got back into these activities.” Stiemke is Bruner’s business sidekick and helps her track down items and work on projects. Bruner and Stiemke hunt for the pieces for her artwork and nd many of the milk cans at antique malls and on social media. Stiemke’s daughters, Kyla, 12, and Mazie, 9, also help where they can. “Before her business took off, Janelle was thinking about getting a job doing design work,” Stiemke said. “At the start, her art was something to ll the time, but then we realized she can also make money doing this.” Bruner paints cows based off of photographs people provide. Many customers send in professional photos, while some send candid photos, in which case Bruner will nd a cow with a comparable body type and then paint on the spots. “My goal is to improve something in each painting, and I can paint on pretty much anything,” Bruner said. “People sometimes order stuff from Amazon for me to paint on.” It takes Bruner about ve hours to paint a cow on a glass jar and 12 to 15 hours to paint one on a milk can. Using paint to capture the essence of her customers’ favorite cows, this artist plans to start a similar business centered around horses which she is naming Bay Roan & Co. “Horses were my rst love, and I’m hoping to expand my art into that industry as well,” she said. “I love waking up every morning knowing I get to explore my creative outlet in some way, shape or form with the people and animals I love.”

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Dairyy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022 • Page 15

What are you looking forward to in 2022?

Ben Hesselink with his sons, Garret and Wyatt Oostburg, Wisconsin Sheboygan County 1,100 cows

What are you looking forward to in 2022? I am battling cancer, so what I am most looking forward to is my health getting better and being able to help more on the farm again. From a farm perspective, we’d like to continue down the path we’ve been on and stay aoat with the high feed prices.

Shaun and Jaime Haag Reedsburg, Wisconsin Sauk County 200 cows What are you looking forward to in 2022? We are both looking forward to watching our kids play sports and getting to as many games as we can. We also participate in coaching when we can. On the farm, we are excited to make hay with the baler we got last year. Jamie is looking forward to seeing genetics on the dairy and beef side of things come through. We are also hosting an intern over the summer and look forward to sharing the excitement of a young person in the industry. What are some changes you are considering for your dairy in the new year? We are considering adding another employee to help milk. We are also trying to nd new ways to promote our farm-direct beef. How did the past year prepare you for this upcoming year? We learned we can bend really far without breaking. We also came to appreciate our awesome neighbors who also farm and will help us if we ask. What concerns you most about the year ahead for the dairy industry? It is concerning to hear that the price of milk might go up because it may not happen. It would be nice if the price of milk would keep up with the ination of everything else. What goals do you have for your farm within the next ve years, and how do you plan to accomplish them? We plan to spend more time with our family. We are trying to nd ways to be super efcient to accomplish that. We are eyeing up robots as one potential option. Tell us about your farm. We are a family farm. We bought into the operation in 2004 and formed an LLC with our parents. Our dad is semi-retired so we take care of all the chores with our mom and a couple hired hands. We farm 550 acres, of which 60 acres is used for intensive grazing. We promote agriculture to anyone who will listen, and market beef and pork privately. We also market compost when it is available.

What are some changes you are considering for your dairy in the new year? Last year, we had to rebuild the original dairy barn, putting on a new roof and new sides. It serves as our hospital barn and special needs parlor. We’re almost done with this project, and it was a big undertaking. Therefore, we probably won’t be changing too much this year, other than maybe upgrading some equipment, if money allows. How did the past year prepare you for this upcoming year? It was no different than other years for us. Finding places where you can improve is never-ending, and sometimes it’s just the little areas that might be lacking. We work to improve those. Amanda Killian Blair, Wisconsin Trempealeau County 75 cows What are you looking forward to in 2022? For the farm, we are in the planning stages of building a heated shop and are looking forward to how that will change things. We are also continuing to adjust things on the farm so we can have more time to enjoy our family. What are some changes you are considering for your dairy in the new year? Nothing major, but we do plan to continue to expand cover crops. With the cost of fertilizer this year, we are considering not harvesting the whole crop and maybe leaving some for fertilizer. How did the past year prepare you for this upcoming year? Seeing so many people sell out who did not want to makes me grateful to be in the dairy industry. It also makes me feel even more determined to make sure we are running as efciently and responsibly as possible. What concerns you most about the year ahead for the dairy industry? I am concerned that milk price is rising because people are going to go crazy trying

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What concerns you most about the year ahead for the dairy industry? Milk prices. I would like to see prices get to a point where we can make a little bit of money, and then stay there. But prices are always so inconsistent. What goals do you have for your farm within the next ve years, and how do you plan to accomplish them? Every year, our goal is to improve where we can and also where we need to, especially when it comes to putting up the best forages possible. We keep an eye on everything and try to make high-quality feed for our cows to keep milk production steady. Tell us about your farm. Quonset Farms is run by me and my brother, Scott. The farm was started in 1847, and we are the sixth generation to farm here. My dad, Mark, is a member of the LLC, but he is no longer a managing member. We farm between 1,600-1,700 acres and milk three times a day in a double-15 parallel parlor. We have about 24 full-time employees and some seasonal help.

to milk more cows, which will inevitably bring the price back down. Also, with the high cost of inputs this year, it makes the concern for a crop failure even greater if we have a bad year for weather. What goals do you have for your farm within the next ve years, and how do you plan to accomplish them? Our son, Bo, will be 18 in ve years, and he already talks about when he takes over the farm. We plan to continue to teach him things to prepare him for that. We will also need to keep ourselves in a good position nancially for the next generation to be involved. Tell us about your farm. We have been here since 2000 when we bought the farm from my mom. We milk Jerseys and Holsteins in a tiestall barn and raise our own heifers. Our cows are rotationally grazed in summer and fed a TMR year-round. We crop around 385 acres which allows us to grow all of our own feed except for the protein mix. We have ve children: Samuel, Christian, Olivia, Bo and Jack. Turn to OUR SIDE | Page 16

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

ConƟnued from OUR SIDE | Page 15 Jon Detert Marshall, Wisconsin Dane County 25 cows What are you looking forward to in 2022? I’m looking forward to a better year than 2021. Last year was disappointing for me, and I couldn’t wait to say goodbye to it. I had more cows last spring than I do now, but I broke my leg two years ago in a bull attack and didn’t get any crops in the ground the following year, so I had to downsize. I had to buy feed last year, but it was not always the best quality. I received a shipment of brown hay that caused a drop in milk and the death of four cows within 16 days. I’m hoping to keep expenses under control this year and keep paying the bills. I’m also hoping for better service from vendors and people we do business with. Sometimes they say they’re too busy to come, making it difcult for me to get things done. From a family perspective, my mom is 89 and lives on the farm with me, and I hope we both stay healthy in 2022. What are some changes you are considering for your dairy in the new year? Better feed and more milk are the main goals for this year. I want to take the cows I do have and get a decent feed supply to get them back up on milk. I try to make quality hay and plan to work grain back into their diet. I also need to nd a new home for my milk. How did the past year prepare you for this upcoming year? The importance of getting crops in on time was emphasized this past year. My corn was planted late, and we had dry weather and not enough moisture so I lost a stand, which pulled yield down. We had a rain spell during the summer and the corn responded well, but the population was down overall. After I broke my leg, things were not coming together like they should have. I have some decent hay but need quality feed and want to improve that this year. What concerns you most about the year ahead for the dairy industry? Prices and availability of inputs. I’m questioning if it would be better for me to rent the land and let someone else plant the crop instead of me taking a chance on crops. It doesn’t look very promising this year. The prices of fertilizer and other inputs

Joe and Dianne Staricka Swanville, Minnesota Morrison County 60 cows

are getting out of hand. It’s also been dry here, so it’s a gamble where crops are concerned. What goals do you have for your farm within the next ve years, and how do you plan to accomplish them? I would like to increase cow numbers and increase productivity, getting my cows back up to the level they once were at for milk production. Filling the silo back up with hay and getting quality forages in the cows will help accomplish this goal. I have to consider how much I grow and only do what I can handle because I have issues with my leg, and I don’t want to reinjure myself. In addition, I don’t have a lot of help. Within the next ve years, I am also hoping to nd a young individual who would be interested in milking here and potentially taking over the farm. I would like to see the farm continue, but currently, there is no one to step in behind me. Tell us about your farm. I am the third generation to run the farm my grandfather bought in 1910. I milk registered Holsteins and farm about 140 acres. We’ve had all registered Holsteins here since 1930. Cows are milked in a double-4 parlor that allows them to enter and exit individually. I like this feature as it makes it easy to sort cows to certain areas. Cows are housed in a freestall barn, but I also have special pens for animals that need extra attention. Our cows are known for their longevity, and I enjoy watching cow families. I’ve had the pleasure of working with many great cows. I have some Red and White Holsteins and am proud of a beautiful Red and White bull named Elvis I once owned. He was bred here and sired by Triple Threat. Everyone loved him. We collected semen from him that we still use today.

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

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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

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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.

e t a D e h t e Sav

FOR REGIONAL TINGS: E E M N O S R E P IN Join Midwest Dairy staff and Minnesota Division board members at one of six meetings across the state. 1

The Cactus, Perham Wednesday, February 9 Crow River Winery, Hutchinson Thursday, February 10

Zumbrota VFW, Zumbrota Wednesday, February 16 The Falls Ballroom, Little Falls Thursday, February 17

Greenwald Pub, Greenwald Wednesday, February 23 Goodtimes, Caledonia Thursday, February 24

1 4

Tentative Schedule: 10:00 a.m. 11:30 a.m. 1:00 p.m. 2:00 p.m.

5 2

Minnesota Milk Speaker Midwest Dairy Update and Lunch Midwest Dairy Speaker Optional County ADA meetings

3 6

Speciﬁc agendas vary by location. Watch for more information via mail, email, and social media.

MidwestDairy.com

RSVP’s are encouraged. Scan the QR Code to RSVP

Page 24 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022

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

Wisconsin Holstein youth celebrated McCullough, Hockerman named association’s outstanding boy, girl By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com

APPLETON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Junior Holstein Association celebrated the achievements of its members at the annual Wisconsin Junior Holstein Convention Dec. 28-30, 2021, in Appleton. The association’s top junior awards, the Wisconsin Outstanding Holstein Boy and Wisconsin Outstanding Holstein Girl, were presented to Brian “Mac” McCullough of Juda and Hannah Hockerman of Westeld. McCullough, 20, is the son of Chris and Kathie McCullough. He is attending Madison Area Technical College and works as an electrician and on his family’s Rock-N-Hill-II dairy farm where they milk 55 registered Holsteins. “It was pretty cool to be honored like that,” McCullough said of hearing his name announced at the awards banquet. “It was one of those things you don’t necessarily expect to happen.” McCullough has spent his youth growing up and working on his family’s Green County dairy farm and has developed a passion for breeding topquality registered Holsteins. “I started out showing in the 10-andunder classes, and then I moved on to showing older heifers,” McCullough said. “I really enjoy the hands-on work with the cattle.” That enjoyment has led McCullough to begin to hone his clipping abilities. “When I got my driver’s license, I started doing more clipping and working for people at shows,” McCullough said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WISCONSIN HOLSTEIN ASSOCIATION

Brian “Mac” McCullough (leŌ) and Hannah Hockerman are selected as the Wisconsin Outstanding Holstein Boy and Wisconsin Outstanding Holstein Girl at the Wisconsin Junior Holstein ConvenƟon Dec. 29, 2021, in Appleton, Wisconsin. “I have met so many different people and have learned so much about that aspect of the industry. The people make it fun to do.” McCullough encourages other youth to put their all into whatever path they chose to follow. “You get out of life what you put into it,” he said. “The only thing that can hold you back from being successful is you. People are always looking for help, and if you apply yourself, you can gain traction.

Our industry is reputation-based. Hard work gets recognized and is appreciated.” Hockerman, 19, is the daughter of Greg and Dawn Hockerman. Hockerman is in her sophomore year studying agriculture education and dairy science at Rock Valley College in Rockford, Illinois, where she also plays on the school’s softball team. “I was in shock when I realized they were talking about me; it was a feeling of disbelief,” Hockerman said of the

award presentation. “It is something every Wisconsin Junior Holstein member dreams of. It is so rewarding to have all my hard work and dedication pay off like that.” Hockerman was raised on her family’s 700-cow Marquette County dairy farm and began her junior career showing at the district show and participating in dairy bowl. She became active in the District 5 Junior Holstein Breeders and served as an ofcer in the group for several years before being elected to the state’s Junior Activities Committee. “Being a JAC was a great opportunity for me to grow my leadership skills,” Hockerman said. “For me, it was about encouraging young people to be more active in our industry and to really think about the impact they can create.” Hockerman’s plans include entering the eld of agriculture education and continuing to mentor youth toward impacting the dairy industry. “I was lucky to have some great role models within this industry, and I want to be able to be that person for someone else,” Hockerman said. “I credit Marci Walker with encouraging me to move beyond my comfort zone; rst with dairy bowl, then with award forms and nally with running for JAC.” Hockerman said she would advise other junior members to decide what they are passionate about and pursue that love. “Life gets busy, but there is always time for your passion,” Hockerman said. “For me, it is agriculture and softball. Never be afraid to push your boundaries and your comfort zone. Do what you love even if it makes you busy.” McCullough, Hockerman, Elise Bleck of Glenbeulah and Marissa Vosberg of Monroe were selected to represent Wisconsin in the National Distinguished Junior Member contest.

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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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Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022 • Page 29

Women In Dairy Taliah Danzinger Durand, Wisconsin Pepin County 285 cows Family: My husband Kyle and a lot of four-legged family. We are also licensed foster parents, so sometimes we have kids too. Tell us about your farm. On the dairy, I am the part-time herdsman and barn manager. They have 285 cows which are milked in ve robots. All heifers and some steers are raised on the dairy. My job in the dairy industry is as an education specialist with VAS. I work with anyone who touches dairy data, from the farm itself to consultants and universities. I work to educate on the practical applications of data and utilizing dairy data to drive decision making to benet the dairy. What is a typical day like for you on the dairy? I get to the farm around 5:15 a.m. and do some maintenance things like push up feed, change the milk lter and x any robots that are not functioning correctly. I then fetch any cows that need to be milked and pen them up by the robot before I start milking and processing fresh cows to collect colostrum and feed calves. I also do a lot of the dry offs, vaccinations and calf processing like dehorning and tagging. I’m on the farm on the weekends and odd mornings here and there before my VAS job. For my role with VAS, my days vary. I might be teaching a university class how to analyze data and walking through case studies, facilitating a team meeting, or walking a herd to help tie together what is happening in the barn to what is happening in the data to help the farm assess performance and set goals for the future. What decision have you made in the last year that has beneted your farm? I often help farms in their goalsetting and decision-making process. I like to examine the data and nd least-

cost solutions to try. Oftentimes this boils down to examining the outcome of different reproduction protocols to maximize efciency or looking at the timing of udder health infection to pinpoint the source of infection. There is always a story in the data. I love helping farms uncover that story and use it to provide direction for their future. This could be changing voluntary waiting periods or dry-off protocols, or something else entirely. Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. I have a spark of excitement every time we have a rough calving go well. The adrenaline rush that comes from a hard pull and working to get the rst breath from that calf to know that everything turned out OK is huge. I enjoy working with maternity cows the most. What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? In dairy farming, I love the cows. I get such enjoyment out of watching a calf turn into a cow, and then watching her calves grow and perform. In my job with VAS, one of the most special things I get to experience is not only helping and watching farms improve over time but watching them transition to the next generation. When I start getting phone calls with questions from the children returning to the farm to take over from their parents as they grow into their management roles, I get an extra sense of pride. What is your biggest accomplishment in your dairy career? My biggest accomplishment is obtaining a career in the dairy industry and growing in it. I wasn’t raised on a dairy, but I like to say that I got there as soon as I could. My background helps me be a better farmer and a better consultant. In order to be part of the dairy industry, I worked with different dairy facilities and management styles. I learned so much along my journey that I apply to the farms I work with and in my role as a herd manager.

What are things you do to promote your farm or the dairy industry? I am active in our Pepin County Dairy Promotion Committee planning our June dairy breakfast and additional dairy outreach activities throughout the year. I also am a board member for the Buffalo County Farm Bureau and serve as the administrator for our Dairy Calf Grant program, which gives a scholarship for a 4-H or FFA member to purchase a dairy heifer to start their own herd.

What advice would you give another woman in the dairy industry? Sometimes I think women question their capabilities as we grow into equality in the industry. My advice would be to be strong and condent in your convictions and ght for your voice to have equal space at the table. When you get a spare moment, what do you do? Spare time is tough between my roles, but I do enjoy riding and spending time with my horses. I am also in graduate school pursuing a degree in adult education and training.

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

Sam Ziegler Appleton, Wisconsin Outagamie County 80 cows How did you get into farming? I was riding in the tractor when I was 1, started driving skidloader when I was 8 and started doing eldwork when I was 12. In 2019, I took over the crop side and rented land. There is a partnership in place between Grandma, my aunt and Mom; and now this year, I came into that as well. Dad works off the farm but helps, and my sister is in high school. We are milking 80 cows, mostly Holsteins with a few Brown Swiss and Jersey cows. My grandpa died in 1980 at the age of 37. Grandma has run the farm mostly by herself and raised three kids. Now it’s my turn to pick up where Grandpa left off and do the very best I can while working alongside family. What are your thoughts and concerns about the dairy industry for the next year? Volatility of price. Right now, futures look good, but we know how fast that can change. Interest rates will start to catch up at some point too; it depends whether that will be in the next year or not. Inputs on the cropping side will make for an interesting year. Manure usage will be even more critical to help offset some of those costs. What is a recent change you made on your farm and the reason for it? Our biggest and most successful change has been implementing a better dry cow and pre-fresh ration. We have signicantly cut down on calving and health issues. It needs some tweaking yet, but we are

the value in doing some of that myself. There are good decisions we have made as a family that have helped put us where we are today. It takes all of us working together to implement all of this.

on the right track. Another change that has been well worth it has been buying a merger for doing hay. It allows me to keep the chopper full and keep the moisture across the eld consistent. Tell us about a skill you possess that make dairy farming easier for you. I like to problem solve, and I think things through and look for the best solution. I have been doing more on the mechanical side in our shop which is where that skill comes into play. What is the best decision you have made on your farm? On the cow side, putting up better feed, getting cows bred back on time, paying closer attention to using the right bulls on the right cows, adjusting rations to what they need to be to meet the cows’ needs and trying to provide better cow comfort. And then on the crop side, I have been trying to do as much as I can. I bought a planter and manure equipment and have seen

What are three things on the farm that you cannot live without? A skidloader, a manure pit and cordless tools. Family makes it right to the top of this list, too, because I couldn’t do it alone. Even though all of the feed mixing is done with silos and conveyors, we deliver a decent amount of it with the skidloader. We also handle over half our manure with one. We also handle all our big square bales and plow snow with them and currently run two. I love having our Slurrystore for manure. Our barn cleaners dump into a reception pit, and there is a hole so we can push manure from our freestall barn. Cordless tools turn a job of dragging extension cords around into something easier and just doing what you need to and moving on to the next thing. What strategies do you use to withstand the volatile milk prices? I try to know my numbers on everything so I am able to make the best decisions to maximize our input costs. Good homegrown forages have been one of the biggest things that has helped us through low prices along with doing more work ourselves. How do you maintain family relationships while also working together? Working with family isn’t easy, and it takes communication. We know we can talk about any issue and work things through. We try to give each other enough separation as well because

everyone has their own tasks and areas they focus on. If you don’t have good communication or space to work, it is even tougher to work with family. What do you enjoy most about dairy farming? I enjoy that there is a new challenge every day. I am always learning new things and nding better or more efcient ways to do things. What advice would you give other dairy farmers? Things aren’t always going to go the way you want them to. Do your best to put on a positive attitude and put on a smile. Some days will drag you down, and it might be better to start fresh the next morning. Focus on how you can adapt to the situation and change what’s in your control. Call someone to get off your chest what’s bottled up inside. What are your plans for your dairy in the next year and ve years? In the next year, put up even better haylage and dry hay than we did last year, and use manure the best we can to cut fertilizer costs. Hold production where it’s at, if not increase it. The plans for the next ve years involve building a new milking facility. How do you or your family like to spend time when you are not doing chores? When we are all together, it is enjoyable to play games or talk about how we can shape the future of the farm by how we operate today. We also get chores done on Sunday mornings and make it to early church together. It’s fun to go to cow shows together as well. We have fun while we work most of the time.

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Page 32 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 15, 2022

Making every drop of manure count

Demo farms share experiences with low disturbance applications By Stacey Smart

stacey.s@dairystar.com

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. – When Aaron Augustian changed how and when he applied manure to his elds, planting 100 percent green became a reality. Low disturbance manure applications opened up the opportunity to plant more cover crops while improving soil health and protecting water quality. “In the past, we applied the majority of our manure in the fall, but we knew that wasn’t the right thing to do,” said Augustian, who farms in partnership with his brother near Kewaunee where they move about 13-15 million gallons of manure per year. “We wanted to try different things.” Augustian shared his story during a panel entitled “Management trade-offs from low disturbance manure applications” at the Discovery Farms Conference Dec. 15, 2021, in Wisconsin Dells. Featuring members of the Demonstration Farms Network in northeast Wisconsin – Augustian of Augustian Farms and Jacob Brey of Brey Cycle Farms – the panel also included Jesse Dvorachek of Dvorachek Farm and Industry and was moderated by Barry Bubolz, Natural Resources Conservation Service Great Lakes Restoration Initiative eld coordinator. “In 2017, we were asked to be part of the Demo Farms Network,” said Augustian, who milks 1,000 cows and farms 1,500 acres. “That’s when we moved to cover crops and low disturbance manure application.” Demonstration farms are dedicated to testing new and standard conservation systems in their watershed and sharing lessons learned with other farmers. An example would be low disturbance manure application which aims to limit soil disturbance. With no more than 30% row width disturbance, application is made into a living crop or cover crop and can ideally be followed up with no-till planting. For the past two years, the Augustians have done low disturbance manure injection and had cover on all their ground. “It’s been working great,” Augustian said. “We establish cover crops in the fall with rye after corn silage and do 15% of our corn in interseeding. We’re going to increase to 40%-45% this year so it will alleviate trying to get rye in at the same time as chopping corn silage in the fall. Some of our farmland is 50 yards off Lake Michigan, and I think the cooler weather helps establish those grasses and clovers.”

The Augustians run about 100 acres of wheat and follow with a multi-species cover crop. LDMI is done on wheat elds in August after the wheat is harvested and cover crops planted at a rate of about 6,000 to 8,000 gallons per acre or what the soils can take at that time, up to 10,000 gallons. “In the past, we put all of our nutrients out in one pass,” Augustian said. “It wasn’t good for soil health. We wanted to put on less but still get the correct amount of nutrients, and LDMI t into that equation very well. Now we’re doing multiple passes, fall and spring.” When Augustians take off fourth-crop hay, they put in a multi-species cover crop after that as well. “I just feel after four years of heavy truck trafc on our heavy, red clay soils, we want to get some deep-rooted plants in there like turnips, radishes, rye grasses and clovers,” Augustian said. “The soil here needs diversity and a deeper root zone, and this seems to be working good for us. Come spring, the soil seems mellower planting into it versus regular alfalfa.” The Augustians also apply manure on interseeded elds when corn silage comes off. Augustian injects manure into standing rye and has found success doing so at any stage. Rye may be just popping out of the ground or it might be 3 to 4 inches tall when the applicators arrive. They then come back in spring and repeat the process. “Rye is a pretty resilient plant, and we haven’t had a whole lot of issues with burning or running it down – it just snaps back,” Augustian said. “It seems we can be out there planting rye then put manure on ve days later with no issues.” Brey farms in Sturgeon Bay with his brother, Tony, and their families. The Breys milk about 700 cows and farm 1,200 acres while also raising beef cattle and custom raising heifers. “We’re in the business of growing forages on our land; we don’t grow any grain,” Brey said. “The last three years, we moved to a double crop system on all acres. After corn silage or sorghum sudangrass comes off in the fall, we’re immediately going with the no-till drill and seeding down either winter rye or winter triticale. We plant triticale in September because it needs to be in the ground sooner, around the time wheat is established. After we get that seeded down, we move into rye.” Brey uses a bazooka toolbar to apply 9,000 gallons of manure per acre in the fall to a growing cover crop. “When you see this LDMI toolbar going over a freshly planted rye eld, you think it’s going to rip up all the seed, but

STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR

Manure hauler Jesse Dvorachek (from le�), Jacob Brey of Brey Cycle Farms, Aaron Augus�an of Augus�an Farms and Barry Bubolz from the Natural Resources Conserva�on Service discuss management trade-oﬀs from low disturbance manure applica�ons during a panel at the Discovery Farms Conference Dec. 15 in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Brey and Augus�an are part of the Demonstra�on Farms Network in northeast Wisconsin. rye is a really incredible crop,” Brey said. “You could probably throw it on concrete and it would germinate.” Cover crops soak up the nutrients over winter and spring before the Breys take off the crop for forage. “Triticale is a little higher quality so we feed it to dairy cows as a replacement for alfalfa,” Brey said. “We take winter rye off at the end of May before the rst cutting of alfalfa and feed it to heifers.” The Breys then do another pass of LDMI, putting on about 10,000 gallons per acre before no- tilling corn into the ground a few days later. “We try to have a living cover crop on the ground every day of the year if possible,” Brey said. Brey also has a Dietrich toolbar for the back of a manure tanker to haul to elds that are farther away. The toolbar has a wavy coulter and two discs that act as closing wheels behind it, which Brey has seen success with. “We don’t want to have any runoff at all, and I see these toolbars as the future,” Brey said. “I think the days of shooting manure out the back of a tanker and broadcasting it probably need to go behind us. It’s not only visually unappealing, but you also lose nutrients to the atmosphere. We want to get them into the ground to reduce runoff and get nutrients where plants need them. This is especially important now with high fertilizer prices. We need to maximize every gallon of manure we have.” Dvorachek is a manure hauler and applicator and owner of Dvorachek Farm and Industry in Brillion. Dvorachek said he

works with progressive farmers, pumping about 250 million gallons of dairy manure per year through drag line and direct drag and pushing 15,000 to 18,000 gallons per acre. “I think LDMI is great, but it is more cost to the grower,” Dvorachek said. “Making multiple applications and multiple setups means I’m less efcient. I can’t just show up once. I’m constantly moving back and forth from farm to farm.” Dvorachek said there are a lot of windows in Wisconsin for spreading manure as well as a lot of tools. “We use the app on our phone which tells us the best time to spread,” he said. “If we see high risk for rain, we won’t spread. When it comes to toolbars, I’ve used them all, and there is no perfect tool. I’d say it’s easiest to own a dribble bar. They’re less expensive, and there’s a lot of opportunity for coverage.” Augustian and Brey have embraced LDMI with open arms and are enjoying the benets. “Last spring, we were lucky enough Mother Nature cooperated with us, and we were able to plant 100 percent of our farm green,” Augustian said. “We didn’t use any tillage tools last year. That’s our ultimate goal with LDMI.” Brey encourages other farmers to give methods like LDMI a try. “You can start at any time,” Brey said. “You don’t need to wait. But you need to be able to accept that your elds might not look as perfect or neat as you like them to at rst, but that’s just part of the transition.”

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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.

The decision to sell

Making the decision to purchase or sell farm equipment is something that takes a lot of thought and planning. Over the past year, due to the coronavirus pandemic and limited dealer inventory, things have changed dramatically. You can no longer go out and nd a used tractor on the lot of your local implement dealer. There is not used equipment available. If equipment happens to become available, it is not a model that reects the technology today’s farmers need. If looking to purchase new equipment, one may have to wait for the machine to be manufactured, which may take well over a year. By Tina Hinchley In December 2020, Farmer & Columnist we needed to seek out a new piece of equipment. Our loader tractor was working great, but it was simply not strong enough. We are now mixing more feed and trying to use the loader to pack the bunker. Duane was looking for a payloader with a bigger bucket that is heavier. Duane called around looking for what was available with our local dealers and found there wasn’t any anything. He began to look into used equipment dealers beyond our regular dealers that we have used in the past, but again with no luck. Duane has always been a follower of Machinery Pete, who has been keeping track of machinery prices since the late 1980s. As we have been watching the tractors and prices this past year, we have noticed that prices have been going crazy, or like Machinery Pete said, “Record high prices.” It was Duane’s next move to look into online auctions, where he found a used John Deere payloader that was recently painted with new tires, low hours and located in Wisconsin. Duane did a search of the dealership and looked over the customer comments before he got a hold of the dealer who told him it was a trade-in with one owner. The dealer put him in touch with the previous owner. After feeling good about the machine, Duane put in a bid and watched the price go up with others bidding on it too. We got the winning bid and bought the payloader. We needed to x the air conditioning, some lights and also a few hydraulic hoses. It’s a nice addition to our farm, and it is an easy tractor for me to use when I am mixing feed. I used it plenty when Duane was recovering from his hip surgery.

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As we nished up harvesting this fall and the tillage was completed for the season, Duane decided he wanted to sell our Case IH RowTrac. He watched the online auctions all season and knew it was a seller’s market. He realized we would be able to make a prot. He knew there would be buyers looking to purchase before the end of the year. Duane contacted some of the online tractor auction companies. They were all over the opportunity to help him sell our tractor. After negotiation on the commission rate, and the advertising approach, Duane chose an auction company. The agent came, cleaned and waxed the tractor, and then took a lot of photos. Once the photos were online, the bright images received attention. Duane took many phone calls from farmers from all over the country. We watched the website as the bids went up and up. The closing date of the bidding process was strategically

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

planned to be sold on he last day of the year. At the conclusion of the sale, we were happy with the decision to sell the RowTrac. The person who purchased it is a part-time farmer in northwest Iowa. His main business is waste disposal. He said he looked us up on Google, checked out our farm and trusted we took good care of our equipment. As the RowTrac left the farm, it was shiny and clean with windows washed and the dashboard and control panel polished. This whole process of selling the tractor has reminded me of one of Machinery Pete’s sayings: It pays to take care of your farm equipment; that won’t ever change. Tina Hinchley, and her husband, Duane, daughter Anna, milk 240 registered Holsteins with robots. They also farm 2300 acres of crops near Cambridge, Wisconsin. The Hinchley’s have been hosting farm tour for over 25 years.

Down and up

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

My most loathed phone call begins with this simple line: Cow down. I can feel my stomach drop. I can sense my body clench in frustration. Down cows test my patience. They challenge my will to farm and the control I have over my tongue. I cannot lift a cow by myself. It is at minimum a three-man job to get a down cow maneuvered safely into the skidloader bucket and transported to the bedding pack. If she still has a fair amount of ght in her, take that number up to four humans to help wrangle her into the bucket safely. As miserable as moving a big cow is, it is just as awful to leave her scrambling about, slipping and sliding like Bambi on ice in the middle of the milking pen. I have pondered why this particular part of farming brings out the worst in me. I can’t always see what the problem is that took her down, the cure to what ails her

is not always instant, and I cannot x her by myself, so I have to bother someone else to help me. We do not have an area that is strictly for down cows. Such cases have to share their straw-laden corner of the world with mothers-to-be. No farm is perfect, and having a down cow is another fact of life, much like the old adage “Where you have livestock, you will have dead stock.” That doesn’t keep my blood from boiling or my tongue from lashing when I get to the barn and nd a gigantic Holstein lying in the middle of the alley sprawled out and covered in manure from all of her ailing about. Sometimes the causes are obvious. Beezus came over with bad mastitis and was trembling something awful two weeks ago. After getting an IV and being stomach fed with all of the good stuff (including a healthy dose of love) to help her ght the infection in her body, she walked out of the hospital parlor. Within

15 minutes, she was down in the splits by the feed alley. The cause? The large and in charge Swiss who we cannot sell because she is Cora’s pet was in heat. When the Swiss is in heat, she is a slobbering powerhouse and as supremely stubborn as they come. I bet all it took Ramblings from the Ridge was one sniff and a polite bump from the Swiss and poor little Beezus was down on the cement. Beezus was rolled, hobbled (with the help of four men) and carefully pushed into the skidloader bucket to be carried to the bedding pack not more than 30 feet away. She wasn’t destined to be By Jacqui Davison lonely long. Carmena was Columnist coming to join her in the straw. Carmena cannot seem to start out a new lactation without some milk fever issues the past couple of years. We were on high alert; she had been given the customary Bovikalc bolus right off the bat and followed up with a second bolus 12 hours later. She was down the night prior in the stall, but with the help of some IV calcium, she got up and was devouring feed in short order. The next morning, the buzz from the calcium wore off, and she crawled into the straw pen. She and Beezus were roommates for one day when I thought Carmena was ready to rock and roll. Wrong. That night she was down in the manure and crawled until she lunged her huge frame upright and walked into the straw once again. This time I kept her in for another two days. When her body’s electrolytes seemed to right themselves, she was off and running. With Carmena in the pen to encourage her, Beezus went from being completely stagnant to standing up smoothly within 48 hours. If you ask Cora, though, it was denitely because she would replace the blanket covering her every time she walked past the pen. We waited another three days before determining she could do life upright without the assistance of the hobbles. She graduated from the warm straw a day later and hasn’t looked back. Just in time because this week Starburst calved. Looking at Starburst you would think she was on her third or fourth lactation; she’s just begun her second. She is gorgeous, well over 6 feet tall, with a perfectly placed udder and is a picturesque milkmaking machine. Three days after freshening, she was down with the kind of diarrhea that makes you wish you were wearing a full body raincoat. After an IV of uids and love, she was up. After one mishap, she made it on her legs into the straw pen. She ate so much and was up and looking perky, with manure back to normal, so she went back into the sand after 24 hours. Six hours later, she was back riding the struggle bus. Off and on for the next two days, she couldn’t get her rear end to cooperate, and she rested and ate in the pen. Now she is back to getting up as she wishes, eating and milking like she should be. While I can’t promise not to be aggravated by the next down cow, the success stories do help. I am trying to be a good farmer and determine why they are down and which remedy will be the one that gets them back on their hooved feet. What works with one cow may not work on the next except for patience, kindness, love and a solid straw bedding pack. Jacqui and her family milk 800 cows and run 1,200 acres of crops in the northeastern corner of Vernon County, Wisconsin. Her children, Ira (14), Dane (12), Henry (7) and Cora (4), help her on the farm while her husband, Keith, works on a grain farm. If she’s not in the barn, she’s probably in the kitchen, trailing after little ones, or sharing her passion of reading with someone. Her life is best described as organized chaos – and if it wasn’t, she’d be bored.

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

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