Pro-Tec building shines, proves useful on Malone’s farm

Greg Malone was hooked on a Pro-Tec building the moment he stepped foot in one. “The light is No. 1,” Malone said. “I looked at one at my nephew’s and one at Mid-Central; just walking through and I was sold on it.”

Malone, who dairy farmed up to 2013, now raises beef cattle and sheep with his daughter, Nicole, and wife, Mary. They also farm 1,000 acres of land.

Currently, their 36- by 100-foot barn serves double duty; there is a calving area on one end and sheep are housed on the other.

“It’s so easy to keep an eye on the animals because of the light coming in,” Malone said. “The barn is easy to clean.”

Malone’s vision for the barn included 7-foot sidewalls and white steel on the front, and those plans came to fruition with the help of Mid-Central Equipment.

“Nathan has been awesome to work with,” Malone said. “He’s been really accommodating.”

The barn was finished in the fall of 2021 and continues to impress Malone.

“To be able to find it for what we did has been nice; for the space, it was a good investment,” Malone said.

MN (218) 583-2931 realized that (organic farming) works, it’s become a way of life for us.”

Early on, though, both had to take a leap of faith when their future in organic farming was just a seed of an idea, and that idea came through an indirect route. The Klaphakes were having issues with mastitis in their herd. Neal began attending classes on the subject where he heard that a low-line parlor could make a difference. The Klaphakes built such a parlor in 1999.

However, Neal was absorbing other information at the meetings as well.

“I remember going to a meeting and hearing that you could actually treat cows and not have to throw the milk away,” Neal said. “That was interesting, because every time a cow had mastitis, you’d give it a shot of penicillin and have to dump the milk.”

In the late 1990s, there were other reasons to consider organic production.

“There was more money in organic,” Neal said. “The price was higher.”

When their son, Nick, began farming near them in 2005, he began transitioning to organic as well.

Soon after, Neal went to one of Nick’s elds and started cultivating it. Neal realized the eld was already a disaster.

“I told Nick, ‘We’re starting over; go get the digger out,’” Neal said. “It was the beginning of June.”

Nick was horried, Neal said, but they worked the eld, making sure every weed was dead. Then they planted corn – again.

“That fall, when we chopped the eld, it was beau- tiful corn,” Neal said. “It was tall and nice.”

Over time, the Klaphakes’ elds improved through a series of trial and error.

“As we’ve been doing this longer and longer, we’ve learned with weed control what to do and what not to do,” Neal said. “Rotation was huge, and liming was huge.

We worked with an agronomist who helped us with balancing soils. That helped a lot.”

After three years, on Oct. 15, 2002, Neal and Karen had their rst organic corn in the harvester. Their milk became certied organic Jan. 15, 2003.

SOUTH DAKOTA

Pfeifer

Midwest Machinery Co. (Full Line) Osceola, WI

Tractor Central Arcadia, WI Cameron, WI

Chippewa Falls, WI Durand, WI Granton, WI

Then, they received what they said was a fortunate break. Organic Valley of Wisconsin came calling in December 2002.

“We were transitioning to organic but didn’t know if we would have a place for our milk,” Karen said. “We just had hope and faith that we would. Then, Organic Valley came to us.”

There was no longer a need to nd a market, and the family could focus all efforts on farming.

The Klaphakes are with the company today. They are also seasoned organic farmers who share what they have learned with other organic farmers who come to them for advice.

Neal said one of the main principles of organic farming is keeping his soil balanced and in harmony with his crops.

“When we had elds that we needed (to turn organic), we rst planted it into hay,” Neal said. “We’d take the hay off and plow it under and then grow corn there. It’s easy to grow corn after hay. The soil is looser. Weeds prefer tight soils.”

Neal adds bacteria to the farm’s manure and makes a compost he stores in a compost barn.

“Once you get the manure and lime right and the soil balanced, the soil turns so soft, almost like potting soil,” Neal said. “It’s like you’ve got more life in the soil.”

The Klaphakes also learned it is better to grow corn one to two years at most before rotating it out. Neal likes to plant barley next, interseeded with hay.

Neal waits until the ground is warmer to plant corn, and once it is about 10 inches tall, cultivates it to bury the weeds. Sometimes, depending on weather, he only has to cultivate it once.

“It’s crucial to plant when it’s not wet and cold,” Neal said.

That requires not paying attention to what other farmers are doing.

“Sometimes that is hard,” Karen said. “Everyone else’s corn is coming up, and we’re just starting to plant.”

Another technique the Klaphakes use is roasting their grain.

“It kills all the weed seeds that are in the grain,” Neal said. “Also, by roasting it, the starch changes to dextrose in the grain itself, so the cows can digest it better. You don’t need to feed as much.”

After he harvests grain, he runs it through the roaster and then puts it in the bin. He has found it works best with a bit of moisture in the grain because it will expand and split open. He even roasts all of his dry corn.

As far as treating illnesses in calves and cows, the Klaphakes have found organic remedies for pneumonia and other illnesses. They use garlic, aloe and an herbal tea. They also use a whey injection under calves’ skin that has colostrum from cows more immune to mastitis. These treatments have worked well for them, Neal said.

“Twenty years ago, the treatments weren’t as accessible, but now there are a lot of companies that make stuff like that,” Karen said. “The vet outlet has a whole area where you can get (such products).”

Neal said he believes in building the immune systems in his animals.

“If you can get the cow to help its own immune system, to x its own problem, then it’s xed instead of just putting a Band-Aid on the problem,” Neal said. “Otherwise, the temperature drops and (the cow) is sick again. We have a lot less repeat (illnesses).”

The Klaphakes rotationally graze their milking herd across four paddocks.

“When the cows are grazing, I can get a lot of feed out of a pasture with the blend, almost more than I can out of a hay eld,” Neal said. “That changed a lot since I started (organic farming). It’s close to 15 different varieties of species that I plant in there.”

When the grazing season is done, Klaphakes feed a ration of 1 pound dry corn, 3 pounds roasted barley, 15 pounds snaplage, 25-30 pounds corn silage and haylage for the rest.

Looking back at 20 years of organic farming, the Klaphakes agreed their enjoyment of learning new things has kept them positive and focused, getting them to where they are today, which both Neal and Karen said is a good life, one that allows their small farm to be self-sufcient.

“With organic, you can make a nice living without farming a lot of land; you don’t need 1,000 acres,” Neal said. “I don’t buy any protein. I had to buy some hay this year, but it was very minimal. I hadn’t bought feed in many years. I can grow enough feed on my own. When the prices of things go up, it doesn’t affect me very much because I don’t sell it and I don’t buy it.”

Karen said organic has afforded them the size and style of farming they want.

“Back when we were going organic, it seemed that a lot of farms were quitting or else were going big,” Karen said. “We were able to keep our family farm this size and operate it ourselves.”

Kristen Metcalf

Milton, Wisconsin

Rock County 350 cows

Family: I farm with my husband, Corey, and his parents, Terry and Jane. My sister-in-law, Lauren, also helps on the farm part time. Additionally, I own a small herd of registered Holsteins with my mom, Phyllis Broege, and my sisters, Jenna and Nicole Broege. We enjoy showing them at local, state and national shows.

Tell us about your farm. Our farm, Glacier Edge Dairy, was established in 2017. We milk 350 Jersey cows and grow 1,200 acres of crops. The milking herd also includes about 15 registered Holsteins and Red and White Holsteins – my pride and joy. Our operation is fairly unique in that our dairy was built from the ground up without any pre-existing buildings or cows. Since building our freestall barn, milking parlor, machine shed and manure storage in 2017, we have added a hay storage shed and youngstock barn, where we raise our calves and heifers. We also raise our beef to nishing age, at which point we sell them to market or privately to consumers. Outside of our family, we have three full-time and two parttime dedicated employees. At Glacier Edge Dairy, we are proud of our highperforming cows and our exceptional team.

What is a typical day like for you on the dairy? My husband and I start our chores in the morning, feeding between 80 to 100 calves on milk, feeding grain to youngstock, taking care of newborn calves and any other immediate tasks. By 8 a.m., I start my full-time job as the events manager for Genex Cooperative. I’m fortunate to be able to work from my home or the desk I have at our farm. Around 5 p.m., we start chores again –watering all the youngstock and feeding calves. Outside of my full-time job and on the weekends, I assist with herd health, moving cattle, eldwork and employee management.

What decision have you made in the last year that has beneted your farm? Most recently, we have converted to feeding our calves 3 quarts of milk twice a day. This is an increase from 2 quarts twice a day. We are seeing a signicant increase in rate of gain through colder temperatures. In addition, we harvested high-moisture corn instead of snaplage for the rst time and added it to the ration. We’ve seen an increase in starch digestibility.

Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. It’s hard to narrow down one single experience. Growing up on my family’s dairy farm, I have special memories of riding in the tractor with my dad and learning the ropes of feeding calves at an early age. Currently, it’s the moments leading up to developing a great cow or bull – a true sense of pride in what we do is shown through those animals. This past summer when we hosted the dairy breakfast, seeing people amazed by our robotic feed pusher and herd monitoring collars will always be fond memories.

What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? The people – hands down. From the other passionate people at dairy cattle shows, to the advisors we work with at our farm, to my co-workers, to the youth I teach, I could go on and on. I can easily say that my great friends, family and network of professional connections pretty much all stem from the dairy industry.

What is your biggest accomplishment in your dairy career? When I was a junior member, awards from 4-H, FFA and the Wisconsin Junior Holstein Association lled space on my resume. To now give back to each of those groups is very fullling. I also feel accomplish- ment in nursing a sick animal back to health or educating a random consumer in the grocery store. Our small Holstein herd has remained on the Holstein USA top ranking lists for BAA for the past few years. And on the Jersey side, we had the opportunity to sell ve bulls to A.I. stud in the last year and a half. I know I’m just scratching the surface of my dairy career and am very excited for the future. www.extension.umn.edu/dairy

What are things you do to promote your farm or the dairy industry? This past summer, our farm hosted the Rock County Dairy Breakfast. It was a great way to educate consumers and showcase our top-notch cow care. In addition, we host tours when requested and the local FFA chapter’s Food for America. We also have a Facebook page. In addition, I serve on the Rock County Dairy Promotion Council.

What advice would you give another woman in the dairy industry? Don’t be afraid to try something new, especially with tasks on the farm. Condence has gone a long way for me when attempting to learn a new skill. And, remember that every role on the farm is important. Whether it be making eld meals, cleaning the farm ofce, mowing the lawn or washing calf coats, you are a part of the team.

When you get a spare moment, what do you do? I enjoy volunteering my time as the Rock County Junior Holstein advisor and dairy quiz bowl coach and am active in FFA alumni chapters. This year, I was fortunate to judge a few dairy cattle shows as well. I like exploring local wineries and boutiques when I’m able to.