“All
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
Glessings attend presidential inauguration
By Amy Kyllo amy.k@star-pub.com
WASHINGTON — This past week Dan Glessing and his wife, Seena, had an experience they will never forget as they attended President Donald Trump’s inauguration Jan. 20 in Washington, D.C.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for both Seena and me,” Glessing said. “(It was) neat to be able to witness that rsthand.”
The Glessings milk 75 cows on their farm near Waverly, Minnesota. The couple were invited to attend the inauguration by Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who was the chair of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. Klobu-
char herself spoke at the beginning of the inauguration.
“The whole ceremonial aspect of (the inauguration) does bring a bipartisanship together,” Glessing said. “I can’t emphasize enough the importance (that) both political parties have certain ideologies, but the American people are the ones who make this country what it is and what we stand for. And so, there’s that sense of patriotism. … Yes, it’s bipartisan, but it also is just the celebration of being in the United States of America.”
Because of the extremely cold temperatures, the inauguration ceremony was held in the Capitol Rotunda instead of its originally planned location on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. With the change of locations, the Glessings were
Factors that affect slaughter market prices
By Sarah Middendorf sarah.m@star-pub.com
LONG PRAIRIE, Minn. —
Cattle prices can impact dairy farmers on a weekly, monthly and even a yearly basis.
Tyrel Lembke, head cattle buyer at Long Prairie Packing Co, shared about how different factors affect market prices and how the beef demand has an inuence throughout.
“I think that beef producers and beef processors have done a great job of making sure beef is safe and the reputation of high quality is in place,” Lembke said. “Beef consumers trust beef and I think that has really supported demand.”
and Dan Glessing
by Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
seated in Emancipation Hall.
There, on a big screen, they watched the inauguration livestream. Following the swearing-in, President Donald Trump came and spoke to attendees in Emancipation Hall for about 15-20 minutes. The Glessings were seated in front of the podium and to the left about three rows back.
“It is a neat opportunity to see someone who typically you only see on the television or in media … in person and know that he is the president,” Glessing said.
He said it was interesting to watch the security measures and the U.S. Secret Service’s efforts to keep the president protected. He said he also enjoyed getting to see Vice President JD Vance, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
Micro dairy, macro impact
Busses gift A2A2 milk
By Amy Kyllo amy.k@star-pub.com
PRIOR LAKE, Minn. — Jim
Busse has dreamed for years of having his own dairy herd again. However, as the owner of Busse Student Transportation, the doors seemed to be always closed to farming. However, in the past three years, the desire of the owner of the bus company has been fullled.
Jim and his wife, Nancy, own two Jersey A2A2 cows, whom they affectionately call Emma and Amy. In addition, they also have three Jersey youngstock and a Jersey bull named Goofy.
“I got to go into the Promised Land,” Jim said. “This is it. … I just always said I would love to have a little progeny herd, a little herd, but it would be impossible (because) I was so busy building the bus company.”
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
Jim Busse milks one of his two cows Jan. 14 at his micro dairy near Prior Lake, Minnesota. Busse had a dairy background and returned to the industry three years ago.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Seena
pause Jan. 20 during the presiden al inaugura on from where they celebrated at Emancipa on Hall in Washington. The Glessings a ended the inaugura on a er being invited
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Con nued from MARKET PRICES | Page 1
Lembke started his cattle-buying career in 2007 and transitioned to his current role in 2018.
Many variables determine the amount of cattle slaughtered and the market prices.
“It’s driven by fundamentals,” Lembke said.
As beef cattle herds are liquidated due to a lack of pastures and feed sources, the market tightens he said. When dairy cattle have a higher value for their ability to produce milk made into products such as cheese and or bottled milk, culling for slaughter slows, Lembke said. This, coupled with availability of dairy heifer replacements, also affects the slaughter rates.
slaughter prices.
“The large majority (of producers) react very thankfully (to high market cow prices),” Lembke said. “We need the farming and ranching community to nancially be successful. I think that in the dairy world, there’s a trend of consolidation and economies of scale. I think these strong cow markets are helping relieve that a little bit.”
Pressure from ination can also play a role in the prices of beef. Beef markets could be in this scenario for another year or more, he said.
“(This) will incentivize the beef cow ranchers and the beef cow herd to hold back more females for breeding purposes. That will make for tight supplies of market cows and that’s supportive of prices.”
-Tyrel Lembke
conditions, better forage conditions and an incentive to expand,” Lembke said.
When there are cattle shortages, the U.S. has to import frozen beef to help offset the market.
In the current market, these factors combined with high demand for beef, particularly ground beef, have made for a good scenario of high market prices, Lembke said.
“(From) 2019 to 2022 there was a lot of drought-forced liquidation (of beef cows) as market price is the mechanism to ration cows through to the beef sector,” Lembke said.
Today, prices favor the seller. Incentives to keep cows on the dairy and ranch have raised the market, Lembke said. This has put pressure on the
“Fundamentals point to higher calf prices,” Lembke said. “(This) will incentivize the beef cow ranchers and the beef cow herd to hold back more females for breeding purposes. That will make for tight supplies of market cows and that’s supportive of prices.”
There can be other factors that affect the market as well, Lembke said. Some of these include unexpected animal diseases, geopolitical issues or short-term weather shocks. Any of these factors can result in short-term price uctuations.
“That really just delays the inevitable, which is eventually better range
“Imports are very much a competitor, and they are being utilized by processors in the U.S.,” Lembke said. “They have lled in some of the displaced beef and beef trimmings that’s been left by the shortage in cow slaughter.”
Despite the constantly uctuating market, the demand for high-quality beef from consumers remains the same.
“We really value good caretakers, good animal husbandry,” Lembke said. “Welfare is very important to the beef industry and is a big factor in that wholesomeness and a trust factor of demand.”
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Before the inauguration, the Glessings were escorted from several blocks away and brought to the Dirksen Senate Ofce Building where they could take off their coats, grab coffee and snacks, and get directions for the rest of the day before being seated for the inauguration.
For Glessing, one of the things he found interesting was seeing the handoff of the White House.
“The peaceful transfer of power is really a neat thing to experience rsthand,” he said.
On the big screen, Glessing was able to watch the Bidens welcome the Trumps and the Trumps seeing off the Bidens.
“Some countries don’t do that,” he said. “(There) is something to be said for han-
dling the wish of the voters with class.”
In the evening following the inauguration, the Glessings attended the Bipartisan Inaugural Ball: Celebrating American Agriculture. Glessing said he heard the attendance of the event was around 1,200 people. He said there were many familiar faces and good conversations. The Glessings were able to connect with Rep. Frank Lucas, Rep. Angie Craig and Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, Glenn “GT” Thompson, among others.
“When you look at what farmers in the U.S. do, we do have a lot to celebrate,” Glessing said. “(We are) producing food that’s wholesome and safe and doing it relatively cheaply
for consumers.”
Glessing is not a stranger to the country’s capitol through his agriculture policy advocacy work as the president of the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation board of directors. In the past two years, he has visited Washington over 10 times.
Glessing nished off the inauguration trip with visits to legislators including eight members of the House and Sen. Klobuchar and Sen. Tina Smith. The Glessing wanted to thank Klobuchar in person for her invitation and to hear her recap of the previous day’s activities.
Glessing said they visited with the legislators about a wide array of farm policy. Some of the pieces of legislation on Glessing’s mind currently include the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which expires this year; the farm bill; the Dairy Margin Coverage Program; delisting the gray wolf; and the need for additional dairy processing.
“When members hear from the farmers that are sitting in their ofces telling the story of why a certain piece of legislation would help or hurt their farm that goes a lot further than any type of lobbyist,” Glessing said.
Glessing has plans for a trip back to Washington in February for a day and a half as well as two trips in March for a total of eight days along with a potential trip in July.
While the Glessings were in Washington, their children, a nephew and one of Dan’s second cousins were caring for their dairy in the cold.
“I have not gotten any
Ball: Celebra ng American Agriculture in Washington, D.C. The Glessings were able to connect with Rep. Craig as well as Rep. Frank Lucas and the chairman of the House Commi ee on Agriculture, Glenn “GT” Thompson. calls with something that the crew back home can’t handle,” Glessing said. “There are cold mornings, and if you can get the barn clean, that’s a good thing. I haven’t heard any troubles yet, so that was kind of refreshing.”
The Glessings returned home to Minnesota Tuesday evening.
“(It was a) once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we were able to take part in,” Glessing said. “I do enjoy the process and the history that is in D.C. and everything that it entails.”
PHOTO SUBMITTED
President Donald Trump speaks Jan. 20 to a endees at Emancipa on Hall in Washington, D.C. The President spoke for about 15-20 minutes.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
(Right) Rep. Angie Craig (from le ) and Dan and Seena Glessing gather Jan. 20 at the Bipar san Inaugural
Their barn, a 20- by 20- foot structure, houses the stalls for the cows, a pen for the bull and a pen for the youngstock. Doors protected by plastic aps give access to outside pens. Also inside the barn is the custom 1-stall, step-up parlor and a small milkhouse with a 15-gallon bulk tank.
“I don’t have the best of best,” Jim said. “I don’t travel. I don’t care. I just love my farm. I just absolutely love to be here.”
The Busses give away the milk that they do not drink themselves. Because they have A2A2 milk, they focus on sharing their milk with families who have had issues consuming milk.
way, it works out great.”
Busse’s company employs 82 people and has 60-70 vehicles. He is in the midst of transitioning the business to his daughter, Nikki Gendron, and an employee, Kyle Klapperick.
During the cows’ dry periods, the milk is missed by their milk drinkers Nancy said. They complain about having to go back to drinking milk out of plastic containers.
Jim said he enjoys the milk cold and, in the afternoons, he has a glassful during chores. Nancy also makes the milk into cheese, butter, yogurt and ker.
“I want them to enjoy dairy milk,” he said. “More people should be drinking it.”
Nancy is in charge of distribution. The Busses estimate 117 people drink their milk.
“Everybody just loves it,” Nancy said. “Of all the people that have drank it, nobody’s ever said they don’t like it.”
The Busses view giving their milk away for free as a way to pay it forward. When payment is offered, it is refused.
“I say, ‘Nope, this is our ministry,’” Jim said. “God put me here and let me have it, (even though) he didn’t let me have a big dairy like I wanted to go back to.”
For Jim, the cows help him get away from the stress of his bus business.
“(I like) just the peace, the calm,” he said. “It’s rejoicing in what the Lord provided. I didn’t look for it. He put it there. And when you do things God’s
“There is nothing better than getting an ice cream headache from cold milk,” Jim said.
For their ration, the Jerseys are fed dry hay consisting of 70% grass and 30% alfalfa. They receive ground oats and corn in the barn during milking and as a treat afterward.
Jim raises his own feed on 45 owned and rented acres scattered across several miles. Most of what he produces is made for cash crops.
“I have pieces that the big guys don’t (want),” Jim said.
The Jerseys each currently average about 35 pounds of milk per day. During early lactation, they will milk up to 50-60 pounds a day. Jim said he intentionally does not push the cows.
The cows are milked at 7-8 in the morning and again around 5:30 p.m.
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
Nancy and Jim Busse gather Jan. 14 at their micro dairy near Prior Lake, Minnesota. The couple have been milking two cows for the past three years.
Jim originally bought the cows to produce milk for calves or pigs. However, when the cows came, Nancy felt that using the milk for animals was a waste, so they began using it themselves and giving it away.
Though Jim has spent most of his career working in the bus business and at a sod business, he was a dairy
Industry Leader in AG Curtains
farmer early in his career. Starting in the 1970s, he milked 46 cows in a tie stall barn for eight years. In the early 1980s, after a hailstorm destroyed the majority of his corn in the fall, the bank decided to call his loans the next spring despite the fact he was keeping up on payments. Jim kept considering going back to dairy farming, but it was not until he bought the Jerseys that everything came together.
Looking to the future, Jim would like to put in a pipeline. The production of the cows is outpacing their milk gifting and consumption, so he hopes to
get some Jersey calves. He said nding these calves can be a challenge because he likes to buy direct from the farm and many of the farmers in the area who had Jerseys have retired from dairy farming.
Ultimately, Jim is all about enjoying his farm and enabling families to consume dairy.
“I want those kids to be able to drink milk,” Jim said. “Not this, what they call soy milk, oat milk and all that other garbage. … I just want them to drink real milk.”
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
(Below) Nancy Busse pours milk into the bulk tank Jan. 14 at the Busse family micro dairy near Prior Lake, Minnesota. Busse is in charge of giving out the milk.
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
Jim Busse interacts with his two cows Jan. 14 at his micro dairy near Prior Lake, Minnesota. Busse gives away his milk and sees this as a God-given ministry.
Collecting, growing, grazing
Heins, Florentino
By Emily Breth emily.b@star-pub.com
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — While some may see solar farms as taking up farmland, there are ways for solar farming and traditional farming to peacefully co-exist via agrivoltaics.
Agrivoltaics is a system that combines traditional farming practices, such as grazing livestock or growing row crops and forages, with solar systems to get multiple uses out of the land.
At the Minnesota Organic Conference Dr. Brad Heins, extension specialist, talked about agrivoltaics with cattle grazing, and extension educator Sabrina Florentino discussed how to grow forages in solar elds. The conference was held Jan. 9-10 at the River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud.
The West Central Research and Outreach Center in Morris has been
working with agrivoltaics since 2013. The rst system was installed on the roof of a hog barn. New systems of varying heights and mobile systems have been put in the pastures and elds as well.
“Our goal at our research center is to use solar energy where cows can live under it (while also producing) energy to go in the grid or battery storage,” Heins said. “We also have a (direct current) fast charger so people can charge their electric cars from the solar in our pasture.”
After constructing the rst system, the ground was torn up and when cows were added and it also rained, the ground beecame muddy with no grass. Heins did this to see how long it would take for the grass to return. By spring, it was full of lush, green grass despite no planting.
Heins said before a solar system is installed there are many considerations. How will it affect the farm? Does it need to be raised? How high and far apart should panels be placed? Heins said it is important to talk with the company before installing the system so all these questions are answered.
Turn to AGRIVOLTAICS | Page 9
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Knowing how the system will be managed and the strategies to be utilized are also important in determining what kind of set up will work on the farm he said. A developer needs to know if a tractor has to t between or under the panels, or what kind of livestock will be under it.
“I’m in favor of working with the developers and developing that plan versus somebody just putting up a solar array and then they come to you and go, ‘Oh, can you put some livestock under that?’” Heins said. “That’s a little bit more difcult to do.”
At the research center, Heins and his students have taken measurements to see the effect solar panels have on the cattle and how they react to the panels. They found the greatest change in cow comfort was a reduction in heat stress.
Each panel provides an area of shade for cows to rest in or graze. Not all cows use the shade, but it is helpful to ones that are dealing with heat stress. During the summer they discovered that shade provided by the panels lowered a cow’s body temperature by 1 degree.
“That’s quite signicant from a heat stress standpoint,” Heins said. “(Solar panels) are really a heat structure, so the cows go under there when they’re heat stressed and utilize that. Even with it being cloudy the cows … still try to get underneath.”
Taking the oor after Heins, Florentino discussed growing forages under solar panels and explained how different crops could handle the additional shade. All forages were managed organically.
During their experiment, they planted three areas for comparison: full sun, partial sun from a 30-kilowatt system, and full shade from a 50-kW system. The plant species they planted included alfalfa, eld peas, fescue, orchard grass, red clover, white clover, sorghum sudan grass and three grass mixes.
After the forages had been growing for a while, the research center tested biomass, crude protein and relative forage quality to determine how the forages grew.
“We were interested in the biomass production, the nutrients of those forages and the other variables that were affected,” Florentino said. “We were looking at the years, the site those forages were grown in, the species and the cutting those samples were taken from.”
While some plants can live with little to no direct sunlight, all plants need water to ourish. This is something the solar panels help provide.
“Later on in the season, this shade would prove to be benecial in retaining moisture during our drought season,” Florentino said.
For biomass, the control site with full sun, was normally higher than the 50-kW sections, which in some species did not grow. The control site production was generally close to or overproduced the production of the 30-kW areas. However, in some spaces, the 30-kW site overproduced the control area.
Even though the shaded areas did not produce as much, in the areas it grew it outweighed both other groups in crude protein and averaged higher in RFQ. The partly shaded areas averaged about the same as the control areas.
Row crops can also be planted under or alongside solar panels depending on how tall the plants are and if the panels are vertical versus at.
BEAT THE SPRING RUSH
EMILY BRETH/DAIRY STAR
Brad Heins and Sabrina Floren no gather at the Minnesota Organic Conference before presen ng Jan. 9 at the River’s Edge Conven on Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The pair talked about agrivoltaics and how farmers can u lize solar panels on their farm.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued its nal rule on Federal Milk Marketing Orders. Most of the changes take effect June 1. “The nal rule, which contains the regulatory language, has been published in the Federal Register, and it will become effective June 1, with the exception of the milk composition factors, which will become effective on Dec. 1,” said Dana Coale, administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service. “We’re delighted to have this rule out. It will provide the industry with information going forward as they plan in 2025.”
FMMO reaction
National Milk Producers Federation President and CEO Gregg Doud said, “ this change will provide a rmer footing and fairer milk pricing.” For this region, there is an update for the make allowances for Class III milk. American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said these reforms will not be uniform for dairy farmers across the country. Duvall is calling for a mandatory audited survey of the milk processing costs used to help establish make allowances. Edge Dairy Cooperative CEO Tim Trotter was not surprised with the changes and asks dairy farmers to communicate with their processors. “Ask them what are their longterm aspects, how does this change the business relationship? Those are very, very valid questions because every processor may have a different answer because it’s going to affect their business in a different way.”
Trudeau, the Trump administration’s proposed 25% tariff on Canadian products will put American jobs at risk. Trudeau, who has announced his intention to step down, sent a message south of the border. “If indeed, the incoming administration moves forward with these unfair and unjust tariffs, Canada will respond,” Trudeau said. “We will respond in measured ways but in robust ways, demonstrating, once again, that Canadians know how to stand up for ourselves.” In response, a Trump spokesman said the incoming administration will implement economic and trade policies that will protect Americans.
Milk production forecast lowered In USDA’s January supply and demand report, the 2025 milk production forecast was lowered due to slower growth and output per cow. The 2024 milk production estimate was reduced from the past month due to lower milk cow inventories and lower-than-expected milk per cow. USDA’s semi-annual cattle inventory report at the end of this month will shed light on the intentions to retain dairy heifers in the milk herd. The 2025 Class III milk price estimate was raised with higher cheese and whey prices.
400 ag groups urge swift conrmation for Rollins
More than 400 agriculture groups and businesses have signed a letter of support for Agriculture Secretary-designate Brooke Rollins. The long list of groups signing off on the letter included the NMPF, U.S. Dairy Export Council, Associated Milk Producers Inc., Dairy Farmers of America, Edge Dairy Farmers Cooperative, First District Association, Foremost Farms, Midwest Dairy Coalition and numerous commodity groups and general farm organizations.
Farm bill will happen in ’25
Texas A&M Extension Economist Joe Outlaw believes this is the year that Congress delivers and nally passes a new farm bill. “I do farm bill policy; this is what I do for a living,” Outlaw told the Red River Farm Network. “I’ve been doing meetings for the last two years and in every meeting, I’ve stood up and said it’s not going to happen this year. I’m going to stand up in this meeting and say it’s going to happen this year so that’s completely different.” According to Outlaw, any farm bill must include higher reference prices and a bump in trade promotion funds. “Why do it if we’re not going to have a safety net that’s relevant for producers?”
Bipartisan hopes rise for new farm bill
2025 began with a farm bill that was three years old and farmers’ patience with Congress is wearing thin. Veteran Washington analyst Jim Wiesemeyer said he is optimistic that it will nally get done in this Congress. “Now you have a Republican heading the Senate Ag Committee, (Arkansas Senator) John Boozman and he works very well with (Pennsylvania Representative) Glenn “G.T.” Thompson,” Wiesemeyer said. “You have the new ranking member on the Senate Ag Committee, (Minnesota Senator) Amy Klobuchar; will she offer compromising words that she can work with the Senate and the House to nally get this new farm bill done?”
Canada promises “robust” tariff response
According to Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Dairy deadline approaches Jan. 30 is the deadline for dairy farmers with milk losses due to the H5N1 virus to apply for ELAP assistance. Farm Service Agency Assistant Deputy Administrator Kimberly Graham says this is through the ELAP or Emergency Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program. “In July of 2024, we made policy changes that allowed ELAP to also assist dairy producers who had incurred milk losses resulting from reduced milk production when cattle were removed from their commercial dairy herds that tested positive for H5N1.”
Safety net program enrollment dates scheduled
USDA has announced the enrollment dates for its farm safety net programs. The signup for the Agricultural Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs will be held from Jan. 21 to April 15. If farmers do not submit their election revision by mid-April to their local FSA, their election will remain the same as their 2024 election. For Dairy Margin Coverage, the signup extends from Jan. 29 to March 31. There are different levels of coverage in the voluntary DMC program.
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency announces updated feedlot permits
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has updated its feedlot permits. This follows an extended public comment period from late June to early September. The MPCA has also launched a new online nutrient management tool to help feedlot operators plan manure and fertilizer applications. Farmers who apply for new feedlot permits must use this tool.
Trivia challenge
Former Minnesota Congressman Bob Bergland served as Jimmy Carter’s agriculture secretary. That answers our last trivia question. For this week’s trivia, how much saliva can a dairy cow produce in a day? We’ll have the answer in our next edition of the Dairy Star.
Don Wick is owner/broadcaster for the Red River Farm Network of 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 sons, Tony and Sam, and ve grandchildren, Aiden, Piper, Adrienne, Aurora and Sterling.
What do you like about the tags you order from DHIA?
We like the DHIA tags because we can get them custom to what we want on them: birthdate, sire, dam, etc. We also get the RFID and genomic tissue sampler with the tags.
Tell us about the convenience of going through DHIA for your ear tags. The process is very simple because our DHIA milk tester orders the tags every month. It is very easy to go in and add the tag series into the software.
Is a good tag product important for managing data within your farm? Yes, this keeps it easy. The tags are easy to read the entire life of the cows and the tags stay in well.
Why is testing with DHIA important to your dairy? for breeding decisions and deciding on cull cows using energy-corrected milk and cell count.
Tell us about your farm. Mulhern Dairy started in 1970 and is a fourth-generation family run dairy farm.
DHIA: Now MORE than ever
Cory Mulhern, Mulhern Dairy
Learning love, communication
Minnesota Dairy Initiative hosts
couples’ night out
By Amy Kyllo amy.k@star-pub.com
UTICA, Minn. — Couples from across southeast Minnesota learned about love languages, active listening and communication styles and were introduced to the concept of belly button time Dec. 10, 2024, at a fun and educational date night put on by the Minnesota Dairy Initiative.
The event, hosted at Brewskie’s Bar & Grill in Utica, focused on intentional investment in relationships, understanding how different people receive love and connecting with a partner based on communication style.
“Marriages don’t just happen,” said presenter Monica Kramer McConkey. “What if we thought about our marriage and investing in our marriage the same way we look at investing in the farm with our time, our emotions, our sacrice?”
Kramer McConkey, a mental health specialist, and University of Minnesota farm safety and health extension educator Emily Krekelberg were the presenters.
“Communication is how everything in the world happens,” Krekelberg said. “Communication also helps create resilience. … Communication
Farm couples visit during the Minnesota Dairy Ini�a�ve’s couples’ night out Dec. 10, 2024, at Brewskie’s Bar &
U�ca, Minnesota. Through presenta�ons, couples learned about inten�onal investment in rela�onships and ac�ve listening, the different ways people receive love and how to connect with a partner based on communica�on styles.
is also really critical in farming as you work to hopefully strike some sort of balance between family and business.”
Kramer McConkey started off the evening by asking attendees how they invested in their farms, how they know what needs to improve on their farms, and what happens to their farms if they experience a few bad years.
“It’s not hard to come up with
these lists, right?” Kramer McConkey said. “We live it, breathe it every day. It’s what we put our thought and heart and soul into.”
Then, Kramer McConkey replaced the word farm in her questions with the word marriage. Drawing from the answers given in reference to the farm, she illustrated how the same investment, time, resources, sacrice and problem solving used on the farm is also applicable to marriage.
viewed as being unemotional because of their focus on being analytical. However, she said they are usually more patient because they take time in the process.
People communicators Krekelberg said focus on the human aspects of communication, self-development needs, sensitivity, empathy and are often spontaneous. She said they may be viewed as emotional or overly sensitive because they are typically in tune with everybody around them.
“The farm is like the third partner in your marriage, but it’s the one that gets all the attention, all the emotion, all the money, all the time,” Kramer McConkey said. “(But it) doesn’t have to be that way. If you put intentional investment into your marriage, it’s only going to strengthen the operation.”
Kramer McConkey asked attendees to think of examples of emotional investments in their relationships. These ideas included dates, support, respect, fun and laughter, and helping each other, as well as withdrawals from the relationship like stress, overworking, lack of sleep, dishonesty and taking each other for granted.
Finally, Krekelberg said she often nds a large amount of idea communicators in farm audiences. She said idea communicators are conceptual, creative, imaginative and charismatic. These traits can also mean they may be harder to understand or are viewed as unrealistic.
Partners being cognizant of their communication styles is helpful for understanding expectations and what each partner is passionate about, Krekelberg said.
However, Krekelberg said listening is even more important than being able to clearly communicate needs.
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“It takes work, and that work often does not come naturally,” Kramer McConkey said. “It’s got to be intentional investment to keep the relationship moving in a good, solid direction.”
Kramer McConkey taught attendees about the ve love languages: acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time, words of afrmation and physical touch. All attendees completed a ve love languages assessment to understand how they and their partners receive love most meaningfully.
Krekelberg started the second half of the evening with a communication assessment for attendees. She walked through four categories of communicators: action, process, people and idea communicators.
Krekelberg said action communicators are about results, performance, productivity and getting things done. They may be considered impatient because they are focused on keeping things moving.
Process communicators think about facts and procedures, she said. They want details, regimen and a logical, systematic plan and may be
“If we don’t know how to listen to the needs of others, that communication is going to fall at,” Krekelberg said.
She said active listening is what keeps communication moving forward.
“Otherwise, you’re just yelling into the void,” Krekelberg said. “If nobody’s listening, is it actually communication?”
True listening Krekelberg said is focused on understanding the other person.
“We shouldn’t be listening and trying to form our response,” Krekelberg said. “We should be listening and understanding fully what the person is saying, because again, then the response will come naturally.”
Krekelberg introduced an active listening continuum which starts with asking the person a question, probing deeper, attending to the body language, restating what the person said, paraphrasing what the person said, summarizing what the person said, and reframing what the person said.
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
Grill in
Beyond the rst two steps of asking questions, attending to the conversation is looking at the nonverbal cues, including tone of voice, word speed, eye contact and even the position of the belly button.
“If you want to know where a person’s attention is, look at where their belly button is facing,” she said. “Where we face our belly button is actually what’s holding our most attention at that moment.”
The next several communication steps work around various levels of restating, putting it into one’s own words and adding clarifying emotion to the concepts heard.
“These things can be helpful if
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
Monica Kramer McConkey writes during her presentaon Dec. 10, 2024, at Brewskie’s Bar & Grill in U ca, Minnesota. Kramer McConkey focused on inten onal investment in roman c rela onships and the ve love languages.
the person we’re talking to is upset or stressed because it can help them keep the conversation on track,” Krekelberg said. “Maybe you are saying, ‘Well, this is what I’m hearing,’ and they go, ‘Well, no, but I actually mean this.’”
Finally, reframing the conversation can include a summary with possible solutions, Krekelberg said. But it is OK to not have a solution for every situation.
Krekelberg encouraged attendees to try to communicate to their partner’s style and love language. She said to be patient as new skills are learned and to be open about what is difcult.
“Take the time to appreciate how others communicate,” she said. “It’s not always about a compare and contrast. … We all have different ways we do things, and that’s pretty cool.”
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from our side our side OF THE
Nikki Rhoades
Glenvil, Nebraska Clay County 100 cows
What is the biggest challenge you’ve had this winter? It has been pretty mild for us. Right now, we are in a cold snap and it is the coldest it has been all winter. Luckily, we have the facilities that make it easier to work around. For example, rather than ushing the barn in the morning, we are waiting until noon.
What actions do you take to keep animals healthy during the winter? We will lock the milk cows in the barn during the night. We feed the calves a little more milk and make sure all the heaters work in the water tanks so the animals are always able to get water.
What techniques do you abide by during this time of year? Making sure any animals calving soon are locked in the birthing pen overnight. We also make sure everyone has plenty of bedding and everything is airtight in the barns so they are not getting drafts. Rather than ushing the barn, we will use a blade.
What is the most challenging winter you can remember? A couple of years ago, we got a good amount of snow and the temperature stayed in the negatives for 2-3 weeks. After a couple of cold days, we started having issues and it made the ice harder to get out of the barn.
What is your favorite pastime during the winter? The kids like to sled with the 4-wheeler. We have only had one snow this year when they got to go sled for a day. Other than that, we really just keep doing the normal things that we do throughout the year.
Tell us about your farm. I am a fourth-generation farmer. I moved back six years ago to farm with my dad, Jim Murman. I have been learning and working with my dad and working on his transition to retirement. I lived here pretty much my whole life. We moved around a little bit to Pennsylvania and Minnesota but eventually came back home. I started a 4-H program where kids can rent a calf and show it at the fair. There would not really be a dairy cow show if it was not for our cows. We milk in a double-8 parallel parlor and ship our milk through Dairy Farmers of America. The cows are housed in a freestall barn where they can go outside. We raise all of our replacement heifers.
Marc Brinkman Grey Eagle, Minnesota
Todd County 40 cows
What is the biggest challenge you’ve had this winter? So far, this winter hasn’t been too bad, which is fortunate. When it snows not only do I plow out my own yard, but I also push snow for several other people that live on our road. One morning my skid loader had a at tire.
What actions do you take to keep animals healthy during the winter? Keep feeding and make sure they have water. Our calves are in group housing. We also seasonally calve so I do not have to worry about having any fresh cows in the winter.
What techniques do you abide by during this time of year? We give the animals a little extra bedding in the winter and, again, we seasonally calve.
What is the most challenging winter you can remember? It was back in the 1980s, there was one winter we had a ton of snow and it was 30 below for a couple of months straight. I was still farming with my dad and we had to clear a path to the silage bags all the time.
What is your favorite pastime during the winter? I enjoy playing bowling and volleyball. I am on a men's bowling league that is every Monday night in Melrose and a co-ed volleyball league that is every Wednesday night in Sauk Centre during the winter. My wife, Julie, and some of our kids are also on volleyball teams.
Tell us about your farm. I milk 40 cows and farm 320 acres. The cows are milked in a double-4 herringbone parlor that my dad built 55 years ago. I took over the farm from my dad in the late 1980s. I do most of the farming myself, but my six grown children help out when they can. I ship my milk to Dairy Farmers of America.
Richard Laska Winona, Minnesota Winona County 150 cows
What is the biggest challenge you’ve had this winter? The inconsistent temps make it hard for livestock to cope. We make sure they are well bedded and watch closely for respiratory issues. We have had a lot of extremely foggy weather, so much so that, for the rst time, we experienced the intake screen for the ventilation tube in our calf barn was frozen shut.
What actions do you take to keep animals healthy during the winter? Keeping animals well bedded and fed, which gives them extra energy during the colder weather.
What techniques do you abide by during this time of year? Keeping calves dry with more bedding so they can nestle in for warmth. We also increase their milk received.
What is the most challenging winter you can remember? The last half of December 1983 with the extreme, still record-breaking temps and lots of wind. Also, late January 2019.
What is your favorite pastime during the winter? In between chore times being able to spend a little more family downtime.
Tell us about your farm. My wife, Carol, and I farm with our daughter, Jenelle, and her husband, Dan. We milk 150 cows of various breeds: Holstein, Guernsey, Jersey, Ayrshire and Red & White Holstein. We raise all our feed for the livestock and sell a little corn. We farm the ridge tops above the Mississippi River. Our cows are housed in a 3-row sand-bedded freestall barn and milked in a swing-8 parlor.
Alex Schaefers
McGregor, Iowa
Clayton County 100 Cows
What is the biggest challenge you’ve had this winter? Tell us how you've either overcome this or been managing it. So far, this winter has been more mild than in years past. Moisture/dew has been difcult as we have to clean and bed cattle more often due to the warmer temperatures and moisture in the air. The cattle environment is a priority in the moist conditions to maintain herd health.
What actions do you take to keep animals healthy during the winter? Cattle are cleaned more often. Calf jackets are applied to younger calves, and on really cold days, calves may get extra milk or feed.
What techniques do you abide by during this time of year? My son and I work together getting pens cleaned. He loads wet bedding with a skid loader and I take it out to fertilize elds. It works really well as we have two manure spreaders so one is always going. Our daughter scrapes the lots for milk cows every day and puts lime down if icy.
What is the most challenging winter you can remember? 2019 was a challenge in January and February due to the polar vortex. Between cold temperatures and snowfall, it was difcult to get family here from the other farm. Trac-
Craig Moulton (pictured with wife, Tiffany, and son, Gavin)
Rush City, Minnesota Pine County 475 cows
What is the biggest challenge you’ve had this winter? Our biggest challenge is with cow health and pneumonia with the uctuating temperatures. We try to prevent it by giving a vaccine to all fresh animals and calves. The growing cattle kept outside we keep as dry and bedded as possible.
What actions do you take to keep animals healthy during the winter? We aim to keep the cows clean and dry and have plenty of feed so their body condition stays good. We change their ration so they have more energy-dense feed.
tors and equipment would not run and just gelled up, vehicles were stuck and it was difcult to get feed to animals on the farm. Also, we used calf warmers for some calves that got too cold. It made for some later days and a great appreciation for things when they ran.
What is your favorite pastime during the winter? I enjoy deer hunting with getting together with neighbors and family, having good food, enjoying nature and the thrill of the hunt. It is also great to see the younger generations get their rst deer and learn from the old timers. So many stories are shared, some true and some not so true. I also enjoy the warmth of my heated Garo and going on rides through the woods. It is amazing what can be seen when the foliage has fallen from the trees and it is always fun to see what we nd.
Tell us about your farm. We are a small family farm with 100 dairy cows mainly Holsteins with a few Guernseys and Milking Shorthorns and 150 beef stock cows. We raise all our own replacement heifers for our milking operation. We feed out all our calves to fat cattle and grow corn, alfalfa and oats. Our milk is sold to Wapsie Valley Creamery and mainly made into cheese. Our beef is sold to the kosher market and dairy beef fattened and sold as market animals. Family is crucial to our success. My wife handles the books, makes sure we are fed and is our runner. Our son, Tyler, who has bought into the farming operation, is responsible for mixing the feed, herd health/calving with the beef herd, and makes sure all our fences are maintained. Our daughter, Megan, maintains our dairy herd. She is always milking, caring for calves, running our breeding program and caring for our dairy herd health. Our son, Logan, who also works full time off the farm, helps when able by either milking or running a tractor. Plus, our other children who live off the farms will pitch in if needed. I am the manager, milk cows still twice a day, plan day-to-day operations and plant/ forage the crops with help. The small family farm is still thriving here, and we hope it continues for generations to come.
What techniques do you abide during this time of year? One thing we do is start feeding electrolytes at noon to the calves. As for the robotic milkers, we just keeping them thawed out. They are in heated rooms but sometimes on cold days we have to add some additional heaters to keep them going.
What is the most challenging winter you can remember? The winter of 2013 into 2014. We had cold temperatures, a lot of snow and never had a break from December to March. I remember plowing a lot and was cold for long periods of times. We had to haul our manure daily which we normally do not do.
What is your favorite pastime during the winter? I like to work in the shop and work on equipment getting it ready for the next year. I used to go snowmobiling but I quit doing that six years ago.
Tell us about your farm. I farm with my dad, John, and my wife, Tiffany, who served on the dairy board for Burnett Dairy Cooperative out of Grantsburg, Wisconsin. That is where we ship our milk to. We raise all of our own replacement heifers and forages. We milk with eight robotic milkers and farm 1,500 acres between corn, alfalfa, grass hay, soybeans and rye. Our son, Gavin, is 9 and likes to help on the farm at times. He has 29 chickens and likes tractors and equipment.
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How many times a day do you milk, and what is your current herd average, butterfat and protein? Our herd is milked by three robotic milking units: two Lely A3s and one Lely A3 Next. Our herd averages 2.9 visits to the robots per day. Our herd average is 37,571 pounds of milk with 1,498 pounds of fat and 1,156 pounds of protein.
Describe your housing and milking facility. The freeow milking robots are located in a 114-stall, sandedbedded freestall barn. A year ago, we changed the ventilation with the addition of three VES-Artex fans and relocated the 15 panel fans we already had according to the VESArtex recommendations. We created the environment of a tunnel-vented barn but it is still a hybrid barn because we still have the open side walls. It cost about 10% of what we were quoted for tunnel ventilation. Dry cows and close-up heifers are in our old tiestall barn that we converted so we could have 56 sand-bedded free stalls. Two years ago, we added tunnel ventilation to the dry cow barn and covered their feed lane. The rest
TOP PERFORMERS
near Caledonia, Minnesota. The Heintz family has a rolling herd average of 37,571 pounds of milk.
of our heifer housing is open sheds with a bedding pack. Calves under a month of age are housed in calf huts.
Who is part of your farm team, and what are their roles? Doug and Dayne are both full time. Dayne works
with the calves, hauls a majority of the manure and does herd health. We each have a part in the eldwork. Doug mixes feed. We also have a part-time herdsman, Matt Feldmeier, who comes in ve mornings a week and has been here for 25 years.
All three of us take turns doing fetch groups. Matt does fetch groups the ve mornings he is here and Doug and Dayne do the other nine milkings throughout the week. Doug’s wife, Julie does all the books. Dayne’s wife, Katie, is a nurse at the Gunder-
sen Health System location in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and on her days off helps with the farm’s lawn, decorating and other similar upkeep. We also have some neighbor girls who come on weekends or evenings when we are too busy to help feed calves.
We also have a Minnesota Dairy Initiative team we meet with quarterly. We originally set the team up when we were building the freestall barn for the robots. After we moved in, our rst meeting was, “OK, now let’s switch this from the builders to management.”
What is your herd health program? Our veterinarian comes once a month. They check all open cows that have not been bred, do checks for pregnancy and then recheck everything that is pregnant the following month.
For our vaccination program, calves receive Once PMH at a month of age. At 4-5 months, they are vaccinated for Bang’s, bovine viral diarrhea, blackleg and more. At dry off, cows receive Virus Shield 6+ VL5 HB,
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AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
Dayne (le ) and Doug Heintz walk through their freestall barn Jan. 13 at Heintz Badger Valley Farm LLC
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ELKHORN, WISCONSIN
Luke Kastenson, herdsman 7th generation dairyman 450 cows, milking 85 lbs/cow/day
SCC average 140,000
“We’ve used Udder Comfort™ 13 years, ever since we got a free sample at the Oshkosh Farm Show. We tried it on fresh cows and for any early or minor mastitis. We saw how quickly it works. It also helps heifers with letdown of colostrum for their calves. Even some of our relatives in beef got samples and liked it. They use it religiously during calving season,” says 7th generation dairyman Luke Kastenson of Elkhorn, Wisconsin. He manages a 450-cow milking herd with another 170 at the home farm.
“We tried other products but always came right back to Udder Comfort because it works. I like the blue spray as an indicator also. Milkers see something, use the spray, and it’s a good visual for me to check her out. The biggest benefit is cow comfort and being proactive.
“We try to limit the need for antibiotics. That’s where the industry is heading. Udder Comfort helps us do that by supporting the cow. When we’re not pulling cows out of the line, the savings add up real fast,” he adds.
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Scour Boss 9 and JVAC. Heifers on pasture in the summer are vaccinated for pink eye. In November and February, every cow in the barn receives a nasal vaccination for pneumonia.
What does your dry cow and transition program consist of? A lot of our herd is milking more than 100 pounds when it is time to dry off. So, we typically kick them out into the dry cow pen for 24 hours, then bring them back in and milk them, and then dry them off. We dry them off with Quartermaster and a teat sealant. Our dry period is 5060 days. We have one group of dry cows. Their ration consists of corn silage, an ionic salt and a lower potassium alfalfa mixed with wheat straw to dilute out the energy. We recently added a 20- by 40foot calving pen converted from a lean to off the dry cow barn that used to house heifers. Once they freshen, cows receive a liquid glucose feed in the robotic milking units for 22 days after calving.
What is the composition of your ration, and how has that changed in recent years? Our partial mixed ration is high forage. We have a year’s worth of corn silage layered from eld to eld in the bunker, so it is very consistent. Our baleage is divided into three categories: lactat-
ing, dry cow and heifer. We’re trying to feed a balanced/average diet on the baleage. We use our own ground corn. We use canola meal for our protein source and we also have a mineral mix.
In the robotic milking units, we have two types of pellets: our base of corn gluten pellets for the whole herd and our custom robot pellet. Because the corn gluten is separate, we can put a lot more goodies in the custom pellet. We’re targeting cows based on fat and protein-corrected milk, and feeding accordingly.
Tell us about the forages you plant and detail your harvest strategies. On our seed down year for alfalfa, we use oats for a nurse crop. Weather permitting, we spray it and leave it for erosion control. If we’re not able to do that, we bale it. We plant HarvXtra Roundup Ready alfalfa. We use a four-cut system. We aim to harvest the baleage at 35%-45% moisture. The round bales are inline wrapped. One thing that has helped us a lot is adding a used triple mower four years ago. Dayne can cut all the hay in two days, which used to take two of us a week.
Turn to TOP PERFORMERS | Page 23
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR (Le ) Fans create a comfortable environment in the freestall Jan. 13 at Heintz Badger Valley Farm LLC near Caledonia, Minnesota. The Heintz family recently changed their ven la on system, achieving an environment like tunnel ven la on for 10% of the cost of tunnel ven la on.
(Below) Dayne and Doug Heintz look at informa on on their robo c milking unit Jan. 13 at Heintz Badger Valley Farm LLC near Caledonia, Minnesota. The Heintz family has been using robo c milking units since 2008.
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My VMS™ Lets Me Retrofit My Way
Jared Feltz Feltz Family Farms, Stevens Point, Wisconsin 700 cows on 6 VMS V300 and 4 VMS Classic
Jan. 13 at
We plant a 109-day up to 113-day, high grain corn for silage. In August, we hire the corn sprayed with fungicide using a drone. About 130 acres are custom chopped using a kernel processor. We aim for 65% moisture.
What is your average somatic cell count and how does that affect your production? Our average last year was about 110,000. We use the SCC on the Dairy Herd Improvement Association reports to nd our high cows so we can either treat them or sell them. The robots also measure conductivity, which is another way of sensing SCC.
What change has created the biggest improvement in your herd average? When we switched to having two types of pellets in fed in the robotic milking unit. Last year, our herd average was 34,511 and this year, we are at 37,571 pounds. The butterfat went up 150 pounds, protein went up 80 pounds and milk production went up 3,000 pounds. Paul McCormick, who is Doug and Julie’s son-in-law, does our nutrition
work. He suggested the change. In the original plan, we did this for cost savings, but then with the addition of a lot of extra goodies in the second robot pellet, the production responded in an unreal way.
Also, the changes in ventilation have helped our cows maintain their milk levels on hot days, and the dry cows are staying cool.
What technology do you use to monitor your herd? Our cows wear activity and rumination collars that pair with our robotic milking units. We just put in cameras. We’re watching them mostly for calving, and then we’re also monitoring the barn just in case anything goes wrong there, or to observe if there are too many cows waiting to get milked.
What is your breeding program, and what role does genetics play in your production level? Every animal is genetically mated. We use the mating results on every animal for the rst two breedings. On the third breeding we
start using Angus. We only use proven bulls, not genomic bulls. The udder is probably the most important to us because of the robotic milking units. For the genomic bulls, that is one of their least predicted traits. So, to keep the udders, the teat placement and everything correct, we have maintained using proven bulls.
We have been a closed herd since the beginning. When we moved into the robots, we only culled two cows in the rst 10 months. We had really good udders. We have sold a lot of cows for dairy over the years. Every year we sell a group of 20-30 cows or more.
List three management strategies that have helped you attain your production and component level
The importance of having an MDI team. We meet every three months, and having everybody that we deal with in one room is just so efcient. We don’t have people stopping daily or weekly. They help us nd our weak links and achieve our goals.
Consistency with our feed. Our
YOUR VENTILATION EXPERTS
RIDGE FANS
feed doesn’t change. We always have a month or so of old corn silage left before going into the new so there’s consistency on the corn silage, and we also have consistency on the hay. Being open-minded. You have to be willing to try new things like when we did the robots or started using HarvXtra alfalfa.
Tell us about your farm and your plans for the dairy in the next year. Doug started dairy farming in 1983 as a junior in high school after his dad and grandpa died as a result of a re. At that time there were 16 cows milked in a stanchion barn. He kept expanding over the years. In 2008, the cows moved to the freestall barn and we switched to robotic milking. Dayne joined the farm full time in 2015 after working with robotic startups. We are in the process of transferring the farm to him. This year we will probably make small changes around the farm but nothing major. We want to nd more efciencies as opportunities arise.
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
Sunshine lights the building site
Heintz Badger Valley Farm LLC near Caledonia, Minnesota. Doug Heintz has been dairy farming since his dad and grandpa passed in 1983 when he was a high school junior.
Peake progress
Waukon dairy farmer builds his own parlor
By Dan Wacker dan.w@dairystar.com
WAUKON, Iowa — Jeremy Peake has taken boosting cow comfort into his own hands. Peake transitioned from milking cows in a stanchion barn to a swing parlor, pouring concrete and using his stick welder to build the facility himself with the help of friends and family.
Peake operates a grass-fed organic dairy near Waukon. Peake’s herd of 40 Jerseys and Jersey crossbreds are pastured on 80 acres. His transition project started in May 2022 and was operational by March 2023.
“I had thought about making the switch for a long time,” Peake said. “When our buyer decided to stop purchasing from cows housed in stanchion barns , we knew we had to make a change.”
The transition presented two options: remodel the barn to tie stalls or build a parlor.
“I thought the parlor would make more sense,” Peake said. “I thought it would work well right outside the milkhouse.
We didn’t have to change much with the pipeline either, and that’s partly why it worked so well.”
Everything in the milkhouse stayed the same including the milking units. For now, Peake continues to take units back to the milk house for washing.
Peake milks with six units, so his setup is like a double swing, with units moved twice on each side to get all the cows milked.
The parlor has the potential to be 10 units. If Peake upgrades, there are plans to add a wash in place for the units and automatic takeoffs.
“I wanted it simple to start out,” Peake said. “There’s a blueprint in place to milk cows faster as the herd grows.”
Peake, in conjunction with Larry Tranel, an extension specialist with Iowa State University, came up with the plan for the parlor. Peake toured several parlors, taking ideas from each to congure his model.
“I knew what I wanted to make,” Peake said. “Knowing that from the beginning was important.”
Peake gathered the materi-
als he needed and went to work to bring a new milking style to the farm he had been working on for the past 24 years. He used scrap steel he had on the farm already and made trips to the local scrapyard and TJ’s Fencing Company Inc. in Harpers Ferry to gather the rest of the materials.
Using a stick welder, Peake went to work to make his parlor a reality. He also needed to pour concrete, so he recruited friends to help him.
“I did most of the forming myself, with help from our summer intern, Shaundra, and my kids,” Peake said. “My dad helped me with some of
it too. I helped other people pour concrete before, so I had a good background in it. It’s not perfect, but I’m happy with it and we learned more along the way.”
Lang’s Dairy Equipment in Decorah assisted with the pipeline transformation.
DAN WACKER/DAIRY STAR
Jeremy Peake stands Jan. 7 in the parlor he built on his farm near Waukon, Iowa. Peake used scrap steel from the farm and gathered other materials from a local scrapyard.
Turn to PEAKE | Page 26
With the change in the milking barn, came a change in cow housing. Peake used Tranel’s Cow Tell design to create an open-air free stall area outside the milking barn, with a sandpack bedding and straw cover during the winter.
This was not Peake’s rst time taking on a renovation. He has a background in home remodeling from helping his dad at his dad’s oor covering and decorating business in Decorah.
“I helped Dad with somewhere around 10 different house projects, anything from light cosmetic changes to gutting and renovating the majority of the house,” Peake said. “Helping with these projects as a kid really gave me an eye for seeing what is possible in a space.”
As a child, Peake made trips to his grandpa’s farm to help with the dairy and orchard there. Peake Orchards is now owned by Peake’s father.
Working with his grandpa on the farm ultimately led Peake to a life in dairy and bringing cows back to the farm.
“Grandpa had to sell the cows in 1995,” Peake said. “I was 15 at the time, so when we’d come over here, I’d miss the animals.”
A neighbor began renting the land, but the barns stood empty. In 2001, Peake decided to quit his job as a herdsman and start milking on his own. As part of his dairy science program at Northeast Iowa Community College in Calmar, he had completed a 3-month internship with Dan and Bonnie Beard on their grazing dairy near Decorah, which turned into two and a half years of employment.
“My internship really helped me learn more about grazing and grass management,” Peake said. “Learning
Jeremy Peake opens the gate to feed his herd of 40 Jerseys and Jersey
of his parlor, Peake worked with Iowa State University Extension to transi on his herd to an open-air freestall area.
from Dan and Bonnie and my uncle, who also had a grazing herd, was really helpful.”
With the barn sitting empty for six years, Peake needed to make changes before bringing back a milking herd.
“I made some upgrades,” Peake said. “We got rid of the older 1.5-inch pipeline and changed to a 2-inch line. We wanted to be set up to produce
A milk.”
Using what he learned at NICC, along with family advice, Peake transitioned from a conventional herd to organic.
After a few years of buying grain for the herd’s ration, Peake decided to become grass-fed. This allowed him to produce organic milk without having to invest in as much equipment and labor.
“I’m not a crop farmer,” Peake said. “I like making hay, but I don’t like to grow crops. That’s why it worked out so well for us to be a grass-fed dairy.”
Experience with change has helped Peake continue to build up his dairy.
“My end goal is to put up a greenhouse barn,” Peake said. “That way we can get the cows inside during the winter too.”
DAN WACKER/DAIRY STAR
crosses Jan. 7 near Waukon, Iowa. With the building
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2024 checkoff drives sales, trust, innovation for dairy
Dairy checkoff initiatives for 2024 successfully increased dairy access in schools, expanded market share for U.S. dairy products domestically and internationally, and supported the industry’s longstanding commitment to sustainability on behalf of U.S. dairy farmers and importers.
Dairy Management Inc. President and CEO Barbara O’Brien pointed to a collective effort of national and local teams that delivered results this year. She outlined “now, next and future” checkoff strategies at this year’s joint annual meeting.
“The checkoff is working, and we have achieved a lot in building the next chapter of our history,” O’Brien said. “This success was made possible by the dedication and hard work of everyone across the checkoff federation. This was a strong year of results as we continue to work with and through others to catalyze action against our trust- and sales-building priorities.”
Checkoff-led highlights from 2024 include:
Increasing dairy access in schools: A partnership provided hot chocolate milk to students during a pilot with Chartwells K12, which serves more than 2 million meals daily at 700 school districts. National Dairy Council and Chartwells launched the hot chocolate milk program in 58 schools, which features hot chocolate milk — with toppings such as cinnamon and peppermint — served during break-
fast and lunch.
Another school pilot offered lactose-free chocolate milk and increased consumption and reached students who were not drinking milk because of real or perceived lactose intolerance.
NDC and American Dairy Association Mideast worked with Cincinnati Public Schools to offer the country’s rst single-serve lactose-free chocolate milk program. When compared to the rest of the district, the pilot schools experienced a 16% increase in milk consumption. The pilot was so successful that CPS is offering lactosefree chocolate milk in all schools.
Partnerships growing sales: The checkoff’s longstanding strategy of working with and through powerful partners continues to deliver results. For example, the checkoff supported Domino’s with its launch of cheesecentric items, including the New York Style Pizza and ve-cheese mac and cheese.
This strategy of working with pizza partners also continues to nd success internationally, a key tactic to reach the 95% of the world’s population that lives outside of the U.S. DMI’s partnership with Pizza Hut Japan led to the chain announcing a permanent 30% increase of cheese use on all pizzas.
Other partnership innovations included working with General Mills to create YoBark, a yogurt- based snack designed to give families a tasty op-
tion and expand yogurt’s presence in the snacking category.
Sharing the science of dairy: One emerging research area is dairy’s impact on the rst 1,000 days of life — encompassing pregnancy through a child’s second birthday. This is a critical period for brain development, which is impacted by nutrition and dairy can signicantly support cognitive development, thanks to nutrients including iodine and choline. Checkoff organizations nationally and locally teamed with MilkPEP to elevate awareness and understanding of dairy’s contributions with expecting mothers and parents seeking nutrition guidance.
NDC also showed its ability to convene thought leaders when it hosted more than 100 national and international health and wellness experts for a 2-day scientic conference addressing the dairy matrix, the concept of exploring the unique nutrient, nonnutrient and molecular compositions of dairy foods. Among the meeting attendees were representatives and speakers from major health professional organizations, leading universities and organizations.
Supporting dairy’s sustainability legacy: The checkoff is focused on deepening its knowledge and attracting the investment in research on practices and technologies that work from a mitigation standpoint, and tools and resources to support adop-
tion. DMI is tracking more than $29 million in additional investment from partners for pilot projects and research that empower sustainability action. One example is the Greener Cattle Initiative, a collaboration which announced a second round of $5 million funding for enteric methane mitigation research.
The checkoff launched the Dairy Conservation Navigator, a resource hub designed to provide farm advisors, stakeholders and conservation professionals with science-based information on sustainable practices and technologies. Checkoff scientists and others developed a list of 80-plus practices that have a positive environmental benet.
Checkoff sparking innovation: The checkoff showcased dairy innovation and its nutrition package to 70,000 people attending Natural Products Expo West, the leading trade show in the natural, organic and healthy products industry. DMI unveiled its www.InnovateWithDairy. com tool, which serves as a one-stop shop for anyone seeking information about dairy innovation.
DMI also kept its focus on future innovators with its new product competition. A University of Minnesota team took rst with a creamy Norwegian-style, whey-based cheese spread. More checkoff results, including nancial reports, can be found at www. dairycheckoff.com.
Data path for genetic evaluations
There is a tremendous amount of data used to generate genetic evaluations for dairy cattle in the U.S. Much of this data is generated on-farm by dairy producers before it eventually makes its way to the National Cooperator Database. The NCD is managed by the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding and functions as the repository for phenotypic and genetic data. It is also the source of data used by the CDCB to calculate ofcial genetic evaluations in the U.S.
In addition, cow performance data are often collected at this stage. This cow performance data may include pedigree information, reproductive records, health records and calving data.
By Isaac Haagen University of Minnesota
The information that ows into the NCD comes from diverse sources such as Dairy Herd Improvement Association testing, breed associations and genomic testing labs. When a producer participates in a milk recording program through their local DHIA, those data are processed at a Dairy Record Processing Center. Common DHI providers in the upper Midwest include Minnesota DHIA, AgSource and CentralStar. During routine DHI milk recording, information is gathered related to milk production such as milk yield, fat and protein yield, milk and fat percentages, and somatic cell scores.
Test-day production data and cow performance data collected by DHI providers are processed at a DRPC. There are four in the United States: AgriTech, Dairy Records Management Systems, Amelicor, and AgSource. Several of these processing centers are associated with common herd management software as well. For instance, Dart or PCDart is a product of DRMS, DHI-Plus is a product of Amelicor, and AgSource is owned by the same parent company of DairyComp. Once these processing centers have processed and standardized the data, producers decide whether data enters the NCD. Finally, data that enter the NCD are used by the CDCB to calculate genetic evaluation for production, reproduction, health and calving traits.
There are other data sources that feed into the NCD and are
used for genetic evaluations. These data are generated by breed associations, genomic laboratories, and the National Association of Animal Breeders. For example, breed associations provide pedigree information for animals within their herdbooks and provide data related to conformation which come from their type appraisal programs. Genomic laboratories provide the genotype data that are needed for genomic evaluations. These two sources still clearly rely on the animals located on commercial operations. Data from NAAB mainly relates to bulls and therefore is less connected to animals and data generated on commercial operations.
There is some cow data used for genetic evaluations that does not originate from commercial dairy herds. For example, feed efciency genetic evaluations are calculated from data originating from research herds. This is because individual cow feed intakes are needed and this is not easily or routinely collected on commercial operations.
Dana Adams adam1744@umn.edu 320-204-2968
Luciano Caixeta lcaixeta@umn.edu 612-625-3130
Gerard Cramer gcramer@umn.edu 612-625-8184
Marcia Endres miendres@umn.edu 612-624-5391
Brad Heins hein0106@umn.edu 320-589-1711
Nathan Hulinsky huli0013@umn.edu 320-203-6104
Karen Johnson ande9495@umn.edu 320-484-4334
Emily Krekelberg krek0033@umn.edu 507-280-2863
Claire LaCanne lacanne@umn.edu 507-332-6109
Brenda Miller nels4220@umn.edu 320-732-4435
Clearly the system relies heavily on dairy producers, especially producers participating in milk recording. However, less than 50% of U.S. dairy cows are enrolled in DHI milk recording. In 2023, only about 10,000 dairy herds and 4 million cows were participating in DHI milk recording. Does this mean there is a substantial amount of information missing from the national database used for genetic evaluations? While there is clearly a large group of producers not participating, this does not necessarily mean there is substantial information missing from the system, as data are generated across most states and herd characteristics. However, as we move forward, it will be important to continue to ensure the collection of high-quality data and collection of data from a diverse set of operations. Therefore, it will be important for DHI providers to demonstrate the value of their services directly to producers. Finally, it will be imperative that the NCD captures new sources of information.
Isaac Salfer ijsalfer@umn.edu 320-296-1357
Jim Salfer salfe001@umn.edu 320-203-6093
Mike Schutz mschutz@umn.edu 612-624-1205
Melissa Wilson mlw@umn.edu 612-625-4276
Isaac Haagen hagge041@umn.edu 612-624-7455
Michael Boland boland@umn.edu 612-625-3013
Sabrina Florentino slpore@umn.edu 507-441-1765
Scott Wells wells023@umn.edu 612-625-8166
Erin Cortus ecortus@umn.edu 612-625-8288
Melissa Runck mkrunck@umn.edu 507-836-1143
Developments in geographic indications for cheese
The Mercosur agreement has been more than 20 years in the making, but negotiations reached a critical stage in late 2024 and an agreement was signed in December 2024 subject to ratication by European Union member states. The text of the agreement reads much like a bilateral or multilateral trade agreement that the U.S. has signed with a lowering of tariffs, adoption of common animal health and food safety standards used in the EU, labor and sustainability issues, and addressing deforestation and climate change issues in supply chains. Mercosur is the Southern Common Market; Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay are the member countries in the agreement.
Bologna in Italy. The EU continues to advance the protection of certain GIs in its trade agreements. Twenty-two GIs have been commonly protected in its major agreements with 12 of those being French (Camembert de Normandie, Comté, Emmental de Savoie, Reblochon de Savoie, Roquefort), Italian (Gorgonzola, Grana Padano, Parmigiano Reggiano, Provolone Valpadana, Taleggio), and Greek (Feta) cheeses.
By Michael Boland University of Minnesota
The text of the agreement for dairy producers includes a reduction to zero subject to a quota (listed in parentheses) for cheese (30,000 metric tons), milk powder (10,000 metric tons), and infant formula (5,000 tons). The issue of geographic indications includes more than 350 products that GIs “ensure authenticity, enable premium pricing and prohibit imitation products.” The U.S. does not make wide use of GIs as trademarks are the norm, but examples include Washington State apples, Vidalia onions and Idaho potatoes.
The agreement bans imitations and misleading terms, symbols, ags or images on certain food products. For example, a Roquefort cheese must be made in Roquefort, France. Some of the cheeses that are protected as a GI are well known to many consumers such as Danablu (Denmark), Brie de Meaux (France) and Gouda Holland (Netherlands) but some are not, such as Fromage de Herve (Belgium), Brillat-Savarin (France), Canastra or Serro (Brazil), and Tiroler Almkäse (Austria). Some dairy products such as Feta are authorized for seven more years in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay if they are labeled as being from those countries.
What is interesting are the nine “particular cases” of GIs that some may consider generic. Six of these are cheeses, including Parmigiano Reggiano, Fontina, Gruyere, Queso Manchego, Gorgonzola and Grana Padano. There are some slight differences since Queso Manchego is recognized as a cheese made from the Manchega sheep’s milk in the La Mancha region of Spain but in Uruguay, it can be made from cow’s milk. Parmesão can be used in Brazil and Parmigiano in the Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena and certain parts of
Certain U.S. organizations such as the Consortium for Common Food Names and U.S. Dairy Export Council have lobbied against the use of certain cheese names that have become commonly used such as asiago, feta, gorgonzola and parmesan, except when they are considered clearly distinctive in the geographic region where they are produced. It is interesting that the EU Mercosur agreement is an attempt to nd a compromise among the nine “particular cases” that would appear to be widely used in certain cheeses in the three countries.
In the EU agreement with Canada, ve “particular” or perhaps generic cheese names (Asiago, Feta, Fontina, Gorgonzola, and Muenster) were allowed to be used in Canada provided that they were labeled as “kind”, “type”, “style”, “imitation” or something similar and requires a legible and visible indication of the product’s geographical origin. Negotiations for the proposed trade agreement between the U.S. and EU (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership or TTIP) was stopped in 2016. One point of difference was the U.S. desire to regulate GIs under trademark law while the EU wanted to continue the use of their process for establishing GIs. Any future negotiation between the U.S. and EU, which is not under consideration in 2025, is likely going to have to nd compromise since the U.S. and EU have embedded their policies in their trade agreements such as has been discussed here and demonstrates why nding global consensus is so hard on some issues in food.
Geographic indications are not the only issue where nding global consensus is difcult since certain food safety processes, nancial standards, privacy laws, farm-of-origin versus animal-of-origin, and an accounting standard are examples where the U.S. differs with the EU.
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Building their future for 140 years
Goedens
transition farm to next generation
By Tiffany Klaphake tiffany.k@dairystar.com
WADENA, Minn. — As of Jan. 1, Jack Goeden is in charge of cows at his family’s farm, fullling his goal of taking over the farm.
“That was always my plan growing up,” Jack Goeden said. “I never had anything else that I liked better; this is what I enjoy doing.”
Goeden’s dad, Kevin, continues to be part of the farm and is in charge of crops, most of the feeding and is around to help milk as needed.
Kevin and his wife, Gail, help Jack out as needed and Jack’s wife, Angela, also helps when she can. Jack and Angela had their rst child, Henry, in December. The Goedens milk 130 cows in a swing-10 parallel parlor and farm 400 acres at their farm near Wadena. The milk cows are housed in a compost barn and are rotationally grazed in the summer. The heifers spend most of their time on pasture.
“We rarely have respiratory problems because the animals are primarily outside,” Goeden said.
Jack oversees the breeding program. He does all the A.I. and selects
the bulls. He has used genotyping and sire selection to convert the herd to A2A2 cows. “I’d rather have cows with high
components and not high producing cows because the high producing (cows) burn out quicker,” Goeden said.
Jack breeds the top 30% of the herd with sexed semen and the remaining 70% to Angus-cross sires.
Turn to GOEDENS | Page 33
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TIFFANY KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Kevin (from le ), Gail and Jack Goeden stand Jan. 16 at their farm near Wadena, Minnesota. The Goedens were named the 2024 Wadena County Farm Family of the Year.
Cattle are bred to sexed Holstein bulls seasonally, with the rst group calving from March to April and the second freshening in September. Anything that calves between these windows are bred to beef bulls, and the calves are sold when they are about 1 week old.
“This way, I only have to feed calves a few months out of the year,” Goeden said.
The Goedens have been 100% no-till since 2020 and utilize cover crops to help preserve the soil and graze the cows.
“The cows will mow the tops right off the radishes but leave the tubers behind,” Goeden said. “(When) we get a hard freeze and (then it) warms back up, they become softened, and they go right after them. There is always something new to
learn with cover crops.”
The Goedens have sandy soil and installed three irrigation systems in 2008 to get better crops. The Goedens no-till corn into standing rye in the spring and then a cover crop is planted as soon as corn silage is harvested in the fall.
“Our no-till drill was a good investment,” Goeden said. “We also use it to ll in thin spots in the pasture that get torn up from the cattle.”
The Goedens use kale, radish and turnips in addition to the rye as cover crops.
The whole Goeden family is involved with their church. They hosted a rural life mass at the farm in 2012. Kevin has been a member of the Leaf River Ag Service board for the past 20 years. Gail was a 4-H leader for the years their four chil-
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dren were in 4-H.
The Goeden farm was settled in 1883 by Peter Goeden Jr., who emigrated from Germany with his family at the age of 8. Peter passed the farm to his son, Joseph Sr. The farm was then transitioned to Joseph Jr. and then his son, Kevin, who is passing his knowledge and history of the farm to Jack.
The family remodeled the barn
from a 50-cow tiestall barn to a swing-10 parlor in 2004. In the years since, they have continued to be active on the farm and in their community doing their part to make a difference.
“It felt nice to be recognized,” Goeden said. “We are just a small farm out of all the farms out there. We are proof that small farms can still make it work and continue.”
TIFFANY KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Kevin Goeden holds up an aerial photograph of his family’s farm Jan. 16 at his home near Wadena, Minnesota. The photograph was taken in 2012 when the Goedens hosted a rural life mass for their diocese.
TIFFANY KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Jack Goeden takes notes on his breeding records Jan. 16 at the Goeden farm near Wadena, Minnesota. As of Jan. 1, Jack has taken over the dairy side of Goeden farm.
New year, updated deadlines
By Steve Frericks Stearns County FSA executive director
Welcome to 2025. I hope everyone has had a great start to the new year. Our programs are starting to roll out. The No. 1 question we are getting regards the farm aid and disaster aid provision approved Dec. 20, 2024. With this note, we do not have any new information to provide. We will relay this important information as soon as we can. Recently, in a U.S. Department of Agriculture news release, we had the announcement of the start of the 2025 Dairy Margin Coverage signup and the 2025 Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage election process. Please note the deadlines below for these program signups.
USDA announces 2025 enrollment periods for crop, dairy safety net programs
The USDA announced the 2025 enrollment periods for key safety net programs — ARC and PLC as well as DMC. Agricultural producers can submit applications to USDA’s Farm Service Agency for ARC and PLC for the 2025 crop year from Jan. 21 to April 15 and for DMC for the 2025 coverage year from Jan. 29 to March 31.
ARC and PLC provide nancial protections to farmers from substantial drops in crop prices or revenues and are vital economic safety nets for most American farms. Meanwhile, DMC provides
producers with price support to help offset milk and feed price differences.
The American Relief Act, 2025 extended many farm bill-authorized programs for another year, including ARC and PLC as well as DMC.
ARC and PLC
Producers can elect coverage and enroll in ARC-County or PLC, which provides crop-by-crop protection, or ARC-Individual, which protects the entire farm. Although election changes for 2025 are optional, producers must enroll through a signed contract each year. Also, if a producer has a multi-year contract on the farm it will continue for 2025 unless an election change is made.
If producers do not submit their election revision by the April 15 deadline, their election remains the same as their 2024 election for commodities on the farm from the prior year. Farm owners cannot enroll in either program unless they have a share interest in the cropland.
Covered commodities include barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, axseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium grain rice, safower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunower seed and wheat.
USDA also reminds producers that ARC and PLC elections and enrollments can impact eligibility for some crop insurance products including Supplemental
Coverage Option, Enhanced Coverage Option and, for cotton producers, the Stacked Income Protection Plan (commonly referred to as STAX). For more information on ARC and PLC, producers can visit the ARC and PLC webpage or contact their local USDA service center.
DMC
DMC is a voluntary risk management program that offers protection to dairy producers when the difference between the all-milk price and the average feed price (the margin) falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producer.
DMC offers different levels of coverage, even an option that is free to producers, minus a $100 administrative fee. The administrative fee is waived for dairy producers who are considered a limited resource, beginning, socially disadvantaged or military veteran.
DMC payments are calculated using updated feed and premium hay costs, making the program more reective of actual dairy producer expenses. These updated feed calculations use 100% premium alfalfa hay. For more information on DMC, visit the DMC webpage.
Farm Service Agency is an equal opportunity lender. Complaints about discrimination should be sent to: Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., 20250. Visit www.fsa.usda.gov for application forms and updates on USDA programs
Midwest Dairy’s leadership program meets in Chicago
Class 3 of Midwest Dairy’s Dairy Experience and Agricultural Leadership Program met in Chicago, Illinois, in November 2024 for phase two of the program. The theme for this phase was “Engaging with Consumers” and aimed to equip DEAL members with skills to connect with consumers in person and online.
By
The meeting started with Maureen Windisch, business insights and data analytics manager at Midwest Dairy, who shared consumer insights, retail dairy trends and how Gen Z views dairy products. Next, Kim Bremmer from Ag Inspirations presented communication strategies designed to help DEAL members share scientic information effectively and engage with consumers. The following day, we focused on engaging with consumers online, led by Don Schindler from Dairy Management Inc., the emphasis was on the importance of maintaining an online presence to share stories and build a digital legacy. Don also provided guidance on creating captivating social media videos and shared best practices for addressing challenging questions online.
The group also had the opportunity to tour The Hatchery. A research partner of Midwest Dairy, the organization has collaborated with us since 2022 to promote dairy innovation. As North America’s largest food and beverage incubator, The Hatchery is a non-prot organization that supports local entrepreneurs in building and growing successful food businesses. The Hatchery cultivates job opportunities for people from all backgrounds and accelerates inclusive economic growth in Chicago’s West Side. Together, we have hosted numerous pitch contests, offering winners access to a commercial kitchen in Chicago’s Gareld Park. These winners then create and share products made with dairy ingredients with consumers. The DEAL group explored its facilities and listened to three entrepreneurs who won the Midwest Dairy pitch contest. They were also thrilled to sample the delicious foods created by these entrepreneurs.
On the nal day of the meeting, participants gained valuable insights into Gen Z and learned how Midwest Dairy engages this audience in meaningful ways. The meeting concluded with an interactive group activity where DEAL members planned a local dairy promotion event based on a provided scenario. With the goal of “Bringing Dairy to Life,” this hands-on workshop allowed them to apply what they had learned throughout the meeting.
DEAL members also had the opportunity to network with one another. Helping these farmers build relationships with other like-minded dairy farmers is a key component of this program, and this class has developed into a close-knit group.
This program is unique as it allows participants to enhance their skill sets to bring back to the farm and to build lifelong friendships with others in the dairy industry. I am looking forward to the third and nal phase of the program, which will take place in the summer of 2025.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Class 3 par cipants of Midwest Dairy’s Dairy Experience and Agricultural Leadership Program gather November 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. The group had the opportunity to tour local businesses, network and listen to speakers.
Editorial disclaimer: The views expressed by our columnists are the opinions and thoughts of the author and do not reect the opinions and views of Dairy Star staff and ownership.
In the post-event survey, one farmer said, “There were a lot of great discussions. I enjoyed the hands-on activities during the sessions. I loved the tour of The Hatchery and meeting the pitch contest winners.” Another farmer noted, “I really enjoyed all the sessions and discussions that took place.”
I have truly appreciated witnessing the development of the DEAL class and the strong industry and personal connections that have formed.
Blue Hilltop, Inc.
Jenna Finch Midwest Dairy, Ag Affairs Manager
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Ice shing
We are constantly exposed to a chemical substance called dihydrogen monoxide, a lethal compound that ought to be banned.
Dihydrogen monoxide has caused innumerable deaths over the course of history. It has been linked to climate change and is a component of acid rain.
Below a certain temperature, dihydrogen monoxide forms a crystalline matrix. These crystals have been the cause of untold suffering. Certain nefarious individuals have been known to gather crystalized dihydrogen monoxide and ball it up into tools of torment.
Yes, the ice and snow season is upon us once again.
the lake. Grandpa didn’t seem the least bit nervous.
Arriving at a likely ice shing spot — a good bit away from the herd — I clambered out of the car and began to hack a hole with the spud bar. The crystalized dihydrogen monoxide retaliated by spitting millions of tiny projectiles back at my face. The iceinduced blemishes soon outnumbered my zits.
By Jerry Nelson Columnist
While the chilly weather invokes gloom and doom for many people, there are those who actually look forward to this time of year. These twisted individuals can be identied by the three small words they utter gleefully when the weather turns cold: “It’s making ice.”
These persons are commonly known as ice shermen (or sherwomen). The words “ice” and “shing” both put me off; together, they spell discomfort and disaster. This is because I’ve never had much luck with shing, and my only ice-shing expedition was a total bust.
I was a teenager, and we were in the depths of a long, cold winter. One day my Grandpa Nelson came over to our farm and mentioned that an ice shing tournament was being held the following weekend at Lake Sinai. Would I like to go? Being young and gullible, I immediately said yes.
The only thing I knew about ice shing is that it involved making a hole in the ice. It seemed to me that the most efcient way to make a hole would be with a spud bar, so I took ours to the bench grinder and put a ne edge on the bar’s business end.
On the day of the tournament, I donned almost every garment I owned and motored over to Grandpa’s farm. “You drive,” said Grandpa, gesturing at his ancient Ford Fairlane. I was happy to oblige.
That is, until we reached the edge of Lake Sinai. I stopped at the shoreline and wondered: if we go through the ice, how could I, an avowed nonswimmer, hope to survive? And even if I did, wouldn’t Dad simply kill me later for being so stupid as to leave our spud bar in the trunk of a submerged car?
I slowly eased the Ford onto the ice, emboldened by the sight of several dozen cars parked out at the center of
Half an hour of herculean effort produced an 8-inch hole that was about two feet deep. I paused to catch my breath and consult with my older and wiser passenger. When Grandpa rolled down the window of his idling car, I noticed that it was toasty warm inside. It also smelled of brandy. Upon hearing my progress report, Grandpa grinned and said, “You’re halfway there. I heard that the ice is four feet thick.”
Muttering some very unholy words, I hurled myself back into my holey task. It then occurred to me that any sh in the vicinity would have been scared off by the racket I was making. All that hammering with the spud bar might have also had an effect. I decided that perhaps those other ice shermen knew a thing or two, so we drove over to where they had herded together. Finding an abandoned hole, I skimmed off the new ice and was soon shing. Grandpa wandered off and began to hobnob with some of his acquaintances.
My shing rig consisted of a bobber, a half-inch square nut for a sinker and a hook baited with side pork. I’d been told that they were biting on side pork, but all the sh in the vicinity of my hole must have been vegetarians.
After an hour of staring glumly at that hole in the ice, I was cold and tired and hungry enough to wonder how frozen side pork might taste. I walked over to Grandpa, who was gabbing with a small knot of men, and suggested that we call it a day.
Grandpa was in a jovial mood as we drove home. He proclaimed our ice shing expedition to be an unqualied success.
But he didn’t have to do hand-tohand combat with solidied dihydrogen monoxide. He also smelled an awful lot like peppermint schnapps.
Jerry Nelson is a recovering dairy farmer from Volga, South Dakota. He and his wife, Julie, have two sons and live on the farm where Jerry’s greatgrandfather homesteaded over 110 years ago. Feel free to email him at jerry.n@dairystar.com.
Combining reduced-lignin alfalfa with brown midrib corn silage
Something to Ruminate On
High-quality forages are essential to maximize performance of lactating dairy cows, especially if your goal is to feed high-forage diets. In the 2024 crop harvest year, many farms across the Midwest struggled to achieve high levels of ber digestibility, especially with alfalfa. As next year’s crop plans and seed hybrids are nalized, some producers are considering pairing reduced-lignin alfalfa with brown midrib corn silage. The question arises, can pairing these technologies result in too much digestible ber?
By Barry Visser Nutritionist
While controlled research on feeding both reduced-lignin alfalfa and BMR corn silage is limited, producers are having success with this strategy. The decision and extent to move toward reduced-lignin forages are farm-specic.
Fiber digestibility
A complex organic compound, lignin binds cellulose molecules and hardens and strengthens plant cell walls. Lignin content increases as plants mature and gives structural support to the plants as they become taller. Lignication is most pronounced in older stems of mature plants and least pronounced in young, developing plants. The increase in lignin in mature plants negatively affects forage quality and interferes with animal digestion rates.
In numerous controlled dairy feeding trials from multiple locations and years, BMR corn silage nutrient composition improvements have
translated into greater dry matter intake and milk yield. Agronomic and yield drag concerns remain in certain locations and growing conditions. Even so, BMR corn silages have become the preferred hybrid choice for many high-producing dairy herds.
More recently, reduced-lignin alfalfa varieties have become commercially available. Alfalfa forage with reduced lignin will digest faster in the rumen, allowing for increased intake. This increased rate of digestion can result in greater milk production.
Harvest exibility
Alfalfa forage yield is generally highest at full maturity (full bloom), but forage quality decreases with plant maturity, generally due to the increased lignin content that accumulates as plants mature. The downside to cutting at earlier plant maturities and imposing shorter intervals between cuttings has been reduced alfalfa dry matter yield per acre, more cuttings (and harvest costs) per year, and compromised stand longevity.
One option with reduced-lignin alfalfa is to simply capture higher-quality forage through greater neutral detergent ber digestibility at your current harvest maturity and cutting frequency. Another option might be to widen the cutting interval to capture more yield per acre of alfalfa similar in quality to normal-lignin varieties. The latter approach can eliminate a cutting and save associated harvest costs.
Reduced-lignin alfalfa varieties are showing 5%-15% reductions in lignin content and up to 15% improvement in NDFD compared to normal-lignin varieties in research trials. The greatest differences have been found with transgenic varieties. By contrast, NDFD is typically about 20% greater for BMR corn hybrids relative to non-BMR hybrids.
Ration considerations
Usage rate for reduced-lignin forages depends on several agronomic factors, including land availability, input costs, rental agreements, geographic locations and soil types. Availability and cost of brous byproduct sources — such as beet pulp, soyhulls and corn gluten feed — can also play into this decision. These byproducts can be as much as 60% greater in NDFD compared to normal-lignin forages. Although forages have market value, these byproducts are purchased feeds and can present some handling and logistical concerns. Utilizing BMR and reduce-lignin alfalfa can provide the option to feed higher levels of forages while maintaining desired NDFD levels in your lactating dairy rations.
Signicant attention to detail may be necessary in situations with major lignin reductions and NDFD increases. Changes may include increasing physically effective NDF through greater dietary forage and forage-NDF content, reducing dietary starch content, and/or lengthening silage chop settings.
Cow-side observations of manure consistency, cud chewing and rumination are valuable. Reduced milk fat content or feed efciency (measured as dry matter intake relative to level of milk production) can be good group or herd diagnostic indicators that these types of interventions are necessary.
Determine the best t for your operation
Reduced-lignin alfalfa and BMR corn silage can be combined effectively to feed high-production dairy cows. Work closely with your nutrition and agronomy advisors to determine what is the most strategic and economical combination for your dairy. Barry Visser is a nutritionist for Vita Plus.
How cold is it?
Like age, cold is just a number. It does not matter what the actual temperature is but more of how it feels. Without looking at a thermometer, there are telling signs of just how cold it is outside.
Most mornings I like to stretch before I get moving, but on cold mornings, that can be rather difcult. It feels so snugly warm under a pile of heavy blankets that the only way I am getting out is to just throw the blankets back in one swift motion and jump out of bed. Then there is the scramble to nd warm clothes. I really do not want to move but the calves are calling for breakfast, so I have to get going.
I knew it was cold this morning when the sun didn’t even want to crawl over the frozen horizon. The glow of a purple and red dawn stretching out along the dark horizon is how I have been greeted
most mornings, until today. The rays waited for the sun to burst forth through the silhouette of barren trees be-fore they lit up the skyline. It was so cold, even the sun wanted to stay in bed.
As he wrapped up church services, our priest shared some wise words on how to survive this cold weather snap. He said it is all about putting on enough layers of clothing that you cannot t through the door, so you just have to stay inside. Either I do not have enough layers or else our doors are too wide because I can still cross the threshold.
I feel like the Michelin tire man waddling across the farmyard pulling my wagon of warm milk bottles for a string of hungry calves. I have on enough layers to keep the cold at bay, but then I have to strip when I get in the barn to ll bottles or bed stalls because I am too hot. These temperature
swings are worse than menopause. I actually feel just ne outside as long as there is no wind. That is the deal breaker for dealing with cold temperatures.
Years ago, Mark’s dad did not calve in the winter months. He did not want to try to keep the calves alive during the frigid Minnesota winters. Then someone came up with the clever idea to have a winter calf class at the summer county fairs and voila. Now we calve in December but try to limit January and February calving to only cows that were open too long and needed to get bred back regardless of due dates. We had 21 heifer calves born in the month of December alone. There was only one bull calf, and Mark used very little sexed semen. Just when I thought we should be slowing down, it seems we have ramped up.
At least we only have seven animals to calve in January and February, but I still have over 20 heifer calves to feed outside every day for two months. By the time I empty the domes of December calves, we will start all over with a rush for spring calf class entries March 1. It is a vicious three-month cycle, and I do not seem to get an extended break.
When we were at Expo in October, we talked about how we might need to update our Ritchie water fountains in the heifer shed. We haven’t had a severely cold weather snap in several years, so we have vague memories of dealing with frozen fountains. The waterers we have were originally installed in 1980. In our minds that was not that long ago. However, when someone talks about something happening 30 years ago, we jump to the 1970s and not the 1990s. It is probably time to replace them. You can say we have gotten our money’s worth out of them.
Did we replace them? Well, since it was not an immediate problem to remind us, it kind of slipped to the bottom of the list. That is until the temperatures bottomed out and the heating units could not keep up. Mark has been hauling buckets of hot water to all the fountains trying to keep them open and the cattle hydrated. I think we might need to jump on that replacement project. Heaven knows we have enough calves to raise over the next couple of years to get our money’s worth out of them.
As their four children pursue dairy careers off the family farm, Natalie and Mark Schmitt started an adventure of milking registered Holsteins just because they like good cows on their farm north of Rice, Minnesota.
By Natalie Schmitt Columnist
Out of the darkness
It’s been one month since my shoulder surgery, and it’s been one wildly emotional month.
The rst two weeks were easier than I expected. The initial pain was manageable thanks to the wonders of modern pharmaceuticals and lots of ice. I spent quite a bit of time in the recliner rotating through ice packs with one of our cats purring on my legs. At one point, Daphne said, “Mom, you’re sitting down again? Before your surgery, I never saw you sit down.” I’m not sure that’s a good thing. Sometimes I wonder if it would be more normal to be able to sit and relax for a bit without feeling a pressing need to be “doing something productive.” Perhaps then I wouldn’t have lined up a number of inside projects to tackle during my postsurgical house arrest.
– at my current inability to do some of the most basic tasks and chores. Impatience – at how long it takes to do the things I can. And that perennial scourge: inadequacy. Feeling like I’m not doing enough; I’m not getting enough done; I’m not enough. It’s like once the dark feelings start in on you, even darker feelings emerge from the deepest places.
Dairy Good Life
The kids were home for Christmas vacation, so there was always someone around to help. We were able to gather with my family for Christmas. After cancelling Christmas last year due to work schedules and illnesses, it was extra special to be together for a weekend.
Once the light is gone, you stumble around in the darkness aimlessly, without direction. Getting the bare minimum done each day, the days slip by with seemingly nothing accomplished. The lack of desire to do anything more than the minimum feeds the dark feelings. It starts to feel like you might never emerge from the darkness again.
By Sadie Frericks Columnist
Thankfully, though, there were still embers smoldering and I knew what I needed to do to coax them into ames.*
I had a good talk with Jacqui. My sister called – sometimes I think sisters just know when we need them.
•
Between our kids, our employees, and our friends, Glen has had enough help with the farm chores. We’re keeping the house running, too. The kids have taken over most of the cooking – there’s not much I can do in the kitchen with one arm – and they’ve done a great job keeping us fed. A couple of thoughtful friends brought homemade meals over, which helped us get through some extra busy days. I can do a fair bit of the laundry with one arm, so nobody’s had to wear dirty socks to school.
But then a bucket of water was dumped on my re and all at once, I was surrounded by darkness.
Surgery alone could have doused my re, but I had braced myself for its impact. January itself can put a damper on ames, with its lack of daylight and tendency to keep us indoors.
The bucket of water on my re, though, was the death of my dear friend Jacqui’s husband, Keith. Even though I had known for some time that Keith would be taken from us far too young, my grief was still intense. Grief is like that: there’s no way to truly prepare for it. More than any other emotion, grief can douse even the strongest of ames.
Once the ame is out, the darkness that has been kept at bay moves in. All of the feelings that lurk in the darkness seem to attack at once. Along with grief, the strongest feelings this time have been frustration
Repair vs. Replace
I started walking laps inside the house. Movement has an incredible impact on how I feel. It would be much better to get outside for some fresh air and sunshine, but it’s 25 degrees below zero right now. Before this cold snap, I was taking advantage of the fact that our gravel road is still gravel and not packed ice.
I took a hot bath. I took a sauna. I put on some upbeat music. I did as much yoga as I could with one arm. I said out loud the dark thoughts I had been trying to keep quiet.
I reminded myself of what is going well: how helpful our kids have been; how committed our employees have been; how pleased my physical therapist is with how my shoulder is healing.
I reminded myself of what I can do: I’ve been able to watch more of the kids’ wrestling meets than ever before. I’ve had more time to wrap up our year-end nancial records.
I reminded myself that resting and healing are productive work. The sooner I recover, the sooner I can get back out to the barn and back to everything else that requires two arms.
*Sometimes we need more than friends, family, self-care, and self-talk to rekindle the re. Or to help us process our grief. Sometimes we need someone to teach us how to restart the re. I worked with a counselor during the dark times brought on by post-partum depression, the losses of family members, and other buckets of water. The more you restart the re, the easier it gets.
