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25
2 DAIRY ST 5R C E L E B R A T I N G
2 5
Y E A R S
October 28, 2023
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 25, No. 17
The next generation of automation Bremers build new barn with multiple robotic technologies By Amy Kyllo
amy.k@star-pub.com
LAKE CITY, Minn. — For many dairy farmers, putting in robotic systems is a step into a new world, but for the Bremers, this the second time they have put in a robotic milking system. Jeff Bremer, alongside his sons Jordan, Travis and Easton, and business partner Keith Bremer, built a 417-stall robotic dairy barn and feed bunkers, moving into their new facility in June 2022. What makes the Bremers’ setup unique is the sheer level of robotic integration. Their 400 cows are milked with six Lely Astronaut A5
Lund chooses tiestall design for new barn By Jan Lefebvre jan.l@star-pub.com
BRANDON, Minn. — The new barn constructed on Nathan Lund’s 10-acre farm near Brandon is not like most barns being built today. It is not a parlor, and there are no robotic milking systems. Instead, Lund went the traditional route, choosing a tiestall design. On Sept. 27, Lund began milking his herd of 40 cows in his 58- by 160-foot tiestall barn that has room for 60 milking cows plus dry cows. Lund designed the barn to allow him
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
Easton (from le�), Jordan, Travis and Jeff Bremer stand together Oct. 13 at their farm near Lake City, Minnesota. The Bremers milk 400 cows with six robo�c milking systems. Not pictured is Keith Bremer. robots. A Lely Vector system mixes, dispenses and pushes up the feed. Manure is vacu-
umed by three Lely Discovery 120 robots and deposited into the manure pit.
If necessary, one person can run the entire barn. The Bremers rst installed
robotic milking systems in 2010 in a retrotted freestall barn. Around late 2018, their freestall barn was at a point where they needed to build a new barn or exit the dairy industry. Bremer’s sons wanted to continue farming full time, so they decided to build. They received their inspiration from various farms. “We went and toured quite a few dairies,” Bremer said. “(We) took little pieces from every place.” When they built the barn, the Bremers doubled their cow numbers as well. They ramped up their numbers in the old barn, bought heifers and also purchased two milking herds of about 50 and 100 cows, respectively. The herd of 100 cows had been milked on DeLaval robots. The former owner agreed to continue to milk them up until the Bremers’ barn was Turn to BREMERS | Page 6
Honoring tradi�on to do all necessary chores on his own. “It’s as simple as you get for one person,” he said. “That’s why I built it like this.” Lund grew up on the dairy farm owned by his parents, Larry and Mary Lund, which is a mile and a half from his farm. The old barn there consists of 36 tie stalls that were bedded with straw. Lund selected upgrades for his barn to improve cow comfort. Lund installed 12 fans and switched to sand bedding. Lund uses about a dump truck load of sand each month. He said he has seen a decrease in lameness and an increase in cleanliness in his herd. Lund lets the cows walk around the barn freely between milkings. Turn to LUND | Page 8
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Nathan Lund stands in his recently built �estall barn Oct. 16 at his farm near Brandon, Minnesota. Lund has been milking 40 cows in his barn since Sept. 27.
Page 2 • Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023
DAIRY ST R www.dairystar.com
ISSN Print: 2834-619X • Online: 2834-6203
522 Sinclair Lewis Ave. Sauk Centre, MN 56378 Phone: 320-352-6303 Fax: 320-352-5647 Published by Star Publications LLC General Manager/Editor Mark Klaphake - mark.k@dairystar.com 320-352-6303 (ofce) 320-248-3196 (cell) 320-352-0062 (home) Ad Composition - 320-352-6303 Nancy Powell • nancy.p@dairystar.com Karen Knoblach • karen.k@star-pub.com Annika Gunderson • annika@star-pub.com Editorial Staff Jan Lefebvre - Assistant Editor 320-290-5980 • jan.l@star-pub.com Maria Bichler - Assistant Editor maria.b@dairystar.com • 320-352-6303 Stacey Smart - Assistant Editor 262-442-6666 • stacey.s@dairystar.com Danielle Nauman - Staff Writer 608-487-1101 • danielle.n@dairystar.com Abby Wiedmeyer - Staff Writer 608-487-4812 • abby.w@dairystar.com Tiffany Klaphake - Staff Writer 320-352-6303 • tiffany.k@dairystar.com Amy Kyllo - Staff Writer amy.k@star-pub.com Consultant Jerry Jennissen 320-346-2292 Advertising Sales Main Ofce: 320-352-6303 Fax: 320-352-5647 Deadline is 5 p.m. of the Friday the week before publication Sales Manager - Joyce Frericks 320-352-6303 • joyce@dairystar.com Mark Klaphake (Western MN) 320-352-6303 (ofce) 320-248-3196 (cell) Laura Seljan (National Advertising, SE MN) 507-250-2217 • fax: 507-634-4413 laura.s@dairystar.com Jerry Nelson (SW MN, NW Iowa, South Dakota) 605-690-6260 • jerry.n@dairystar.com Mike Schafer (Central, South Central MN) 320-894-7825 • mike.s@dairystar.com Amanda Hoeer (Eastern Iowa, Southwest Wisconsin) 320-250-2884 • amanda.h@dairystar.com Megan Stuessel (Western Wisconsin) 608-387-1202 • megan.s@dairystar.com Kati Kindschuh (Northeast WI and Upper MI) 920-979-5284 • kati.k@dairystar.com Julia Mullenbach (Southeast MN and Northeast IA) 507-438-7739 • julia.m@star-pub.com Bob Leukam (Northern MN, East Central MN) 320-260-1248 (cell) bob.l@star-pub.com Deadlines The deadline for news and advertising in the Dairy Star is 5 p.m. Friday the week before publication. Subscriptions One year subscription $40.00, outside the U.S. $200.00. Send check along with mailing address to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378. Advertising Our ad takers have no authority to bind this newspaper and only publication of an advertisement shall constitute nal acceptance of the advertiser's order. Letters Letters and articles of opinion are welcomed. Letters must be signed and include address and phone number. We reserve the right to edit lengthy letters. The views and opinions expressed by Dairy Star columnists and writers are not necessarily those of the Dairy Star / Star Publications LLC.
The Dairy Star is published semi-monthly by Star Publications LLC, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246. Periodicals Postage Paid at Sauk Centre, MN and additional mailing ofces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246. © 2023 Star Publications LLC
FMMO hearing in recess
Dairy Prole brought to you by your The National Federal Milk Marketing Order Pricing Formula Hearing is in recess until Nov. 27. Once the process begins again, the hearing is expected to last for a couple more weeks. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will compile and analyze the information presented at the hearing and publish a proposed decision, likely in 2024.
A tedious, giant undertaking Former U.S. trade ambassador Gregg Doud will succeed the current CEO for the National Milk Producers Federation, Jim Mulhern, at the end of the year. Doud said he has a lot to learn, including the work being done on Federal Milk Marketing Orders. “Not many people have gone through this,” Doud said. “It’s been 23 years since the last time they did this. This is a very tedious and gigantic undertaking.” Doud credits Mulhern for building consensus among NMPF members. Back to the drawing board As Dairy Star went to print, the House of Representatives was still without a speaker. James Callan Associates CEO James Callan said whoever is selected as the next speaker will have a full plate. “There’s the continuing resolution to be dealt with, funding for Israel and Ukraine, and the next farm bill, which are all tall orders for the next House speaker,” Callan said. A pause in interest rate increases Speaking at a New York event Thursday, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell indicated shortterm interest rates would remain unchanged at their next meeting Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. With a tighter nancial situation, Powell suggested an extended pause in interest rate hikes.
North America dealers.
Milk Loss Program deadline extended USDA is extending the application deadline for its Milk Loss Program to Oct. 30. This program compensates farmers who were forced to dump milk due to weather-related events, such as power outages and impassable roads.
Ag Insider
Dairy numbers defy cull cow prices By Don Wick Despite high beef prices, Columnist dairy herds seem to be maintaining numbers. AgDairy broker Robin Schmahl said this is unexpected. “We’re not seeing the strong interest in culling even though we had been looking at record beef prices,” Schmahl said. At this point, there’s more interest in producing milk for cash ow purposes. “You get rid of that cow, you have the money there, but that’s it,” Schmahl said. “You take her out of the herd.” Supply, demand estimates updated The October USDA supply-demand report increased its milk production forecast slightly for 2023 and left 2024 unchanged. The milk production estimate for this year is 227.6 billion pounds, up 100 million pounds from the September report. Next year’s milk production reTurn to AG INSIDER | Page 5
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Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023 • Page 3
Lake City, MN
Brandon, MN
Bremers build new barn with multiple robotic technologies First Section: Pages 1, 6 - 7
Lund chooses tiestall design for new barn First Section: Pages 1, 8 - 9
Lake City, MN
Sherrill, IA
Dairy farm hosts annual tractor event Frist Section: Page 32
Wiebusches operate grass-fed, organic dairy Second Section: Pages 8 - 9
Bismarck, ND
Mantorville, MN
Naatzes do herd check, bedding, manure hauling Oct. 19 Second Section: Pages 15 - 17
Mindemans establish BittyBean on Bismarck’s Main Street Third Section: Pages 3 - 5
FROM OUR SIDE OF THE FENCE: What is the dairy community like in your area? First Section: Pages 15 -16
Luverne, MN
Mosses named Rock County Farm Family of the Year First Section: Page 23
Fulton, MO
BP Dairy perseveres as industry declines Second Section: Pages 12 - 13
Forest City, MN
Kids Corner Third Section: Pages 12 - 13
For additional stories from our other zone, log on to www.dairystar.com
Zone 1
Zone 2
Columnists Ag Insider Pages 2, 5 F Section First
Something S to Ruminate On Page 34 Fi First Section
Dea County Dear Ag Agent Guy P Page 36 First Firs Section
Ju Thinking Just Out Loud Page 38 F First Section
Dairy Good D Life Page 39 First Fir Section
The “Mielke” Market Weekly Pages 6 - 7 Second Section
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Page 4 • Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023
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Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023 • Page 5
ConƟnued from AG INSIDER | Page 2 mained at 230.4 billion pounds. That forecast for next year continues even with milk cow numbers expected to drop further in the rst six months of 2024. The USDA report lowered the cheese price forecast for 2023 and 2024 due to large stocks. Butter and nonfat dry milk prices are expected to increase this year and next while the whey price outlook was left unchanged. The Class III milk price forecast was lowered. USDA releases milk production totals U.S. milk production in September totaled 17.5 billion pounds, a small increase from September of last year. In South Dakota, milk production rose nearly 6% with an additional 9,000 cows being added to the state’s dairy herd. Minnesota milk output declined 0.6%. Over the past year, milk cow numbers declined 3,000 head in the Gopher State. Co-op 100 report released CHS Inc. remains the largest cooperative in the United States with 2022 revenues of $47.8 billion. Dairy Farmers of America is a distant second with annual revenue of $24.5 billion. The National Cooperative Bank lists the top 100 cooperative businesses in its annual co-op 100 report, and the Midwestern dairy industry is well represented. Land O’Lakes is the third largest cooperative nationwide. The list also includes Foremost Farms USA at No. 26, Associated Milk Producers Inc. at No. 30, Organic Valley at No. 63, First District Association at No. 68, Bongards at No. 79 and National Farmers at No. 84. A win for PETA, activist groups The U.S. Supreme Court has delivered a victory for animal rights groups and other activists by refusing to hear a case dealing with the so-called “aggag” laws. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals challenged North Carolina’s law that prevented companies from suing employees who made undercover video and audio recordings. “That law actually was enacted back in 2015 in response to a long-standing dispute between ABC News and the Food Lion grocery chain dating back into the 1990s,” said Roger McEowen, agricul-
tural law professor, Washburn University. “At that time, PETA and other animal welfare groups challenged the law saying it violated the First Amendment, and it eventually went to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals; they agreed with PETA that the law was unconstitutional when it was applied to their efforts to gather news.” North Dakota is one of many states that have similar laws. “They can expect to be challenged if they haven’t been challenged already,” McEowen said. “They’re basically back to the drawing board on these as to how to get around that First Amendment/free speech issue.” PETA emboldened by Supreme Court decision PETA released a statement celebrating the Supreme Court decision not to hear a lower court ruling on North Carolina’s “ag-gag” law. The activist group said it “will continue to use every legal means at its disposal, including whistleblower reports and undercover investigations” as it targets large-scale farms and meat processors. Mulhern honored for service to agriculture, dairy industry During the World Dairy Summit in Chicago, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack presented an award to National Milk Producers Federation President and CEO Mulhern. Mulhern will retire at the end of the year after a 40-year career in agriculture policy. Vilsack praised Mulhern for the development of the Dairy Margin Coverage Program.
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Page 6 • Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023
Con�nued from BREMERS | Page 1
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The Vector robo�c feed system sits in the kitchen Oct. 13 at the Bremer family’s farm near Lake City, Minnesota. The system works to keep fresh feed in front of the cows 24/7. ready. “We couldn’t ask for a better scenario,” Bremer said. “We had instant milk, and even though they weren’t used to Lely robots, they were used to robots.” Besides installing robotic systems for milking, feeding and manure cleaning, the Bremers also installed the Lely Cosmix, which dispenses pellets to cows in a similar fashion as the robotic milking systems. “That’s the best Lely product out there,” Bremer said. “I’ve told everybody who’s toured this barn (that) for the dollar, that’s the best.” The pellet dispenser is in their close-up dry cow pen. Bremer said heifers do not have to be trained to go in; instead, their curiosity is peaked when they see older cows use it. Because the heifers are used to entering a robotic system to get pellets, transitioning to the robotic milking units is much easier than in their old setup. Bremer said new heifers used to step around and move in the robotic
system, and it would take a couple of weeks to transition. Now, with heifers used to the pellet system, they are trained in two to three days. The Bremers’ barn is setup so that heifers enter the barn at 60 days from calving and do not leave the barn until they leave the farm. In the front of the barn, there is a milkhouse, utility room/storage area, ofce and a breakroom complete with couches, a table and chairs, and television. The front portion of the barn also has a dedicated hoof-trimming room. In the animal area, the front part houses the far-off dry cows, close-up dry cows and the maternity pen as well as the newborn calves. Behind the dry cows are the milking herd with the robot rooms. To the right, a pen is available for animals to be sorted near the robots if they need Turn to BREMERS | Page 7
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The grabber hand on the Vector system drops feed into the mixer Oct. 13 at the Bremer family’s farm near Lake City, Minnesota. Jeff Bremer said that having feed consistently in front of the cows allows the cows to be on their own schedule.
Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023 • Page 7
ConƟnued from BREMERS | Page 6 individual attention. These cows can still access a robot via swing gates while remaining separated. The back of the barn has a foot bath. Beyond the footbath, a rollup door reveals a bedding storage room. This storage area can be backed into with a semi and holds three to four semi loads of sawdust at once. The Bremers use waterbeds and water brisket boards. Bremer said, with the waterlled brisket boards, they have not been seeing injuries since installation. The Bremers have a Bobman to groom the stalls and put down powder and saw dust. The Bobman, which they acquired after building the new barn, cuts down their grooming time from three people taking two hours to groom by hand, to one person having all the stalls groomed in under an hour. “The mindset with me when we were doing this was if it’s not easy, it’s not going to get done (in) a timely manner,” Bremer said. Running down the length of the barn are the feed alleys which stay supplied with fresh TMR pushed up to the cows 24/7, thanks to the robotic mixers. “The Vector system is the cat’s meow,” Bremer said. “Cows are on their own schedule. They can eat whenever they want. They can sleep whenever they want. They can milk whenever they want.”
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
Cows relax in the freestall barn Oct. 13 at the Bremer family’s farm near Lake City, Minnesota. The barn has 417 stalls, and the aisles are kept clean by three Lely Discovery 120 Collectors which vacuum the manure and spray water on the oor. Before the system, Bremer was mixing feed ve hours a day. Now, Bremer just needs to keep the kitchen lled with the ingredients for the TMR and keep the robot programmed. The kitchen is a large, cement-oored room with a moveable grabber hand in-
stalled above. The robot is programmed to know where different feedstuffs are in the room. Because the grabber hand was having trouble keeping up with feed demands, the Bremers have a retrotted chopper box for corn silage which automatically dispenses
the proper amount of feed into a conveyer. Dry items are delivered through tubing. Before having the system, Bremer said that when he fed the cows, they would all go to eat at the same time then go to rest at the same time, which strained the three robots to get
the cows milked. In the new barn, visits to the robot have increased, with an average of 2.9 milkings per day. Looking toward the future, the Bremers’ next project will be to update their calf facilities.
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ConƟnued from LUND | Page 1 “The best part about (my) barn is I can do everything myself,” Lund said. “I can let cows out, and I can walk them around. Here, I basically let them out when I’m done feeding them and let them run around for eight hours.” The cows go in the stall of their choice for milkings. “There are only two or three cows that have stayed in a single spot,” Lund said. “The cows are super comfortable. There’s been no alley rats or anything. I’ve always been told that if none lie in the alley, that means they’re really comfortable. So, we did something right.” Lund’s journey after graduation took some side roads before leading back to dairy farming. “When I was in high school, I didn’t want anything to do with milking,” Lund said. After considering college, Lund instead chose to work on a grain farm in Oakes, North Dakota. “I was kind of homesick the whole time,” Lund said. “I came home most weekends and helped Mom and Dad.” When Lund left that job, he moved home and earned his commercial driver’s license. He continued to help on his parents’ farm while also hauling gravel for a local business. Then he began hauling milk. With money he made from truck driving, Lund bought his
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Cows relax on sand bedding Oct. 16 in Nathan Lund’s newly built barn near Brandon, Minnesota. Lund uses about a dump truck load of sand each month for the bedding and said he has seen a decrease in lameness and an increase in cleanliness since switching to sand. current 10 acres in 2016 and moved into the house there. The site had no barn and was lled with a grove of trees. “I was never planning on building a dairy barn there,” Lund said. “In 2017, what kind of started the idea was my brother William built a barn
with a (robotic milking system).” Lund kept milking his parents’ cows and hauling milk, but he started planning. “In August 2020, I asked my dad if I could buy the cows,” Lund said. His parents were ready
to have him do so. Lund also began buying William’s cows that did not work well in his system. He bought similar cows from other farmers as well. In May of 2022, Lund secured a loan to build a barn. With his own herd lling his
parents’ tiestall barn and all milking duties being done by him alone, Lund quit driving milk truck Sept. 4, 2022. He was now a full-time dairy farmer, but he still had to wait for his barn to be built on his own property. Turn to LUND | Page 9
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Cows eat in stalls Oct. 16 in Nathan Lund’s new barn near Brandon, Minnesota. Lund chose a Ɵestall design for his barn and plans to have the barn full by winter. Lund’s reason for why he chose a tiestall plan is simple. “A robot is ne, but for me, if I’m here, I might as well do it myself because you still have to show up twice a day to milk or fetch cows,” he said. The poles for the barn were set in November 2022, followed by installation of the ceiling and insulation earlier this year. Concrete was poured in May and the pipeline placed soon after. Finally, on Sept. 27, the cows were moved to the nished barn. “The day we brought them (to the new site and barn) was really exciting, but then it was really sad because we were taking them from Mom and Dad’s barn,” Lund said. “That barn milked cows for 57 years, and it went through 41,000 milkings, we gured.” The new barn has stirred interest in the area. Lund said people have asked to tour it. The barn’s conguration allows Lund to milk his herd of 40 in one hour. Lund plans to have a full barn by winter. He buys feed from his parents and helps with eldwork on their farm. He plans to buy some of their land and has planted crops on his own acre-age. For now, Lund’s calves are housed at his parents’ farm, and his heifers are raised by his brother. Lund said the system works since feeding calves and heifers is not his favorite chore. “I give (newborn calves) colostrum
the rst two days,” Lund said. “Then I put them in the front seat of my pickup and haul them to a hutch at Mom and Dad’s, and Mom feeds them.” Lund would like to have all of his cattle at his property, but he said having his own barn is gratifying enough for now. He credits family for making his barn possible. “My dad let me build a tiestall, so he must be pretty awesome,” Lund said. He also appreciates his brother being a role model. “If it wasn’t for William building a barn rst, I never would have,” Lund said. “Family is the most important part of all this.” Lund said following in the steps of his grandfather, Eldred “Bill” Lund, who built the tiestall barn on his parents’ farm in 1966, has special meaning for him. He also nds pride in his family having two young members building barns and choosing dairy farming at a time when dairy farms are disappearing. “It feels awesome because, in this township, my brother and I have two new barns (built) in the last six years,” Lund said. “Instead of dairy farms quitting, (this township) gained two. William and I are here to stay.” Editor’s note: Mark Klaphake and Emily Breth contributed to this article.
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MADISON, Wis. — World Dairy Expo attendees had the opportunity to attend a farm bill panel discussion Oct. 5 in Madison. The panel, moderated by Katie Schmitt, featured Gregg Doud and Pete Kappelman. Doud helped write the 2012 farm bill and was chief agricultural negotiator in the Ofce of the United States Trade Representative from 2018 until 2021 and is the new Chief Operating Ofcer of the National Milk Producers Federation. Kappelman, a dairy farmer and senior vice president of member and government relations for Land O’Lakes, Inc., has represented farmers on six farm bills, including the current one, and is also on the NMPF board. Schmitt is an outreach specialist with the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding. As of Sept. 30, the deadline for the 2023 farm bill was missed. Doud said the farm bill will not be passed this year. He said the House needs a new speaker before the bill will go through. As of the writing of this article, the House speaker position is vacant. “The rst question U.S. agriculture should ask the new speaker is, ‘Is the farm bill, or will you please make the farm bill, a big priority to get done?” Doud said. Both Doud and Kappelman expect to see Congress pass an extension to the farm bill. Doud said this extension will likely pass sometime between mid-December and the end of January 2024. How long the extension will be is unknown, he said. Kappelman said that he would expect it either will be a short extension of a few months or a long extension to carry it past election season. Currently, most of the items in the farm bill continue to be funded even without a working farm bill through the end of the year. Kappelman said that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding will not be allowed to lapse, crop insurance is permanently funded, the conservation title has contracts, and the commodities are funded through the end of the year. Dairy pricing is protected both by the farm bill and
by permanent law. In the Agricultural Act of 1949, the U.S. permanently protected items of national need, including milk. The law, which each farm bill temporarily supersedes, says that the U.S. government will buy milk products at 75% of parity if the price goes too low. The price parity is based on milk prices, adjusted for ination, from 1910 to 1914. According to this formula, the price per hundredweight on milk today, based on May data, would be about $50.70, according to statistics by the Congressional Research Service. Kappelman said the “dairy cliff,” as it is sometimes called, is something that could happen but will not. Because the prices are more than 2.5 times higher than the current commodity prices, the government must make other decisions before the end of December or be forced to pay these prices. “We seem to be good at getting up to the edge of the cliff without ever really going over it,” Kappelman said. Because paying these prices is not a viable option, this forces Congress to write a farm bill, Doud said. This year, dairy farmers have been seeing payments from the Dairy Margin Coverage program. Kappelman said the program paid out $1.1 billion in payments through the end of July. If an extension to the farm bill is not led by the end of the year and milk prices are still such that payments from DMC would be applicable, Doud said an extension to the farm bill would need to be led before April. Once the program is reinstated, payments would eventually catch up, the panelists said. Doud said a priority from a dairy perspective for the farm bill is foreign market development and market access programs. He said that U.S. spending on this has been at for 16 years. According to a study done by IHS Markit, prepared for the U.S. Grains Council in February 2022, the benet cost ratios made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Export Market Development Program mean that each dollar invested from 1977 to 2019 in market development created an increase of $24.71 in agricultural export value. “The way forward in our dairy industry is to grow and to do that is the export market,” Doud said. “Where else in the world are we going to make more meat or more dairy? The answer is there’s really only one place: here, North America. ... Our better days are ahead of us. We’ve got enormous opportunity here.”
Turn to FARM BILL | Page 11
Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023 • Page 11
ConƟnued from FARM BILL | Page 10 The farm bill runs revenue neutral, which means that no new money is coming into the farm bill. The money that exists must be shufed around. Doud said the farm bill is usually nonpartisan. The panelists said the discussions on the farm bill are generally between regions and commodities versus political parties. Currently, the U.S. farm bill will fund $1.5 trillion over 10 years. Of this money, $1.2 trillion is part of SNAP, for a total of 81.1% of spending, Doud said. Kappelman said that though it can be harder to see in our country, food security is national security. “Growing food and feeding people are related,” Kappelman said. “Given the small percentage, the 1%, that are feeding the 99%, we can’t afford to have (SNAP and the farm bill) be separate.” Of the money in the farm bill, most of it would be politically difcult to move between titles. However, Doud said there is $34.7 billion of Ination Reduction Act money that the Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Sen. Debbie Stabenow has designated to be spent on conservation. Doud said this money only goes through 2026, which is different from the other money in the farm bill which extends to the end of the decade. He said that though this aforementioned money could potentially move around, there are disagreements between Stabenow and Sen. John Boozman on how this money should be spent. Kappelman said moving this money into the farm bill under the conservation title would be an “easier lift.” He said that Natural Resources Conservation Service, manure management, agronomy and crop management and carbon
credits all represent conservation dollars that can benet farmers. Doud said money is sometimes taken from the research title of the farm bill. “I had a boss in Washington who described it this way,” Doud said. “Taking money from the research title of the farm bill is like drinking your rent money.” Kappelman said that the U.S. is being outspent in agriculture research by both China and Brazil. In 2015, the USDA Economic Research Service found that China was spending approximately double compared to the U.S. on research and development. One of the asks that Land O’Lakes is making of Congress this year, Kappelman said, is that research would be done to show how far behind the U.S. is in research. Something that could affect the farm bill, depending on the timing of its completion, is the hearings related to the Federal Milk Marketing Order reform that are in process. Kappelman said he wants legislation to go into place in the farm bill outside the FMMO hearing process to mandate data from creameries to help determine the make allowances that are part of guring milk pricing. Kappelman said the make allowance changes have been neglected for 15 years. “We need that make allowance survey,” Kappelman said. “We need to know what their costs of production are so we can set the make allowance appropriately. We don’t have that complete data. We need mandatory, audited data.” Doud said other items affecting dairy on the farm bill include common food names, which will help U.S. trade negotiators and the bringing of whole milk into schools.
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Page 12 • Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023
Creating generations of dairy consumers Heimans provide appealing milk to schools By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
MARSHFIELD, Wis. — Being in the business of producing, processing and marketing dairy products, it is a good business practice for dairy farmers to create consumers of those products while those consumers are young. Ken and Joellen Heiman operate a trio of dairy-related businesses: Heiman’s Holsteins, where they milk X cows and focus on breeding for A2A2 milk; Nasonville Dairy, an awardwinning cheese plant; and Weber’s Farm Store, a retail store location where they also process uid milk and make a variety of other awardwinning dairy products. All three entities are located in Wood County, in or near Marsheld. The Heimans each grew up in their respective family dairy businesses — Ken’s family has a long history with Nasonville Dairy, and Joellen’s family established Weber’s Farm Store when she was a child — so creating each generation of milk
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
Ken and Joellen Heiman display 8-ounce milk pouches Oct. 19 at Weber’s Farm Store in Marsheld, Wisconsin. The Heimans are focused on developing a new generaƟon of milk lovers by providing 16 central Wisconsin schools milk in appealing packaging.
consumers is something near and dear to their hearts, they said. The Heimans are concerned with
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to serving at least 2% milk in the schools,” Ken said. “With the milk schoolchildren get, we have taken all the avor out. There really is no comparison in the taste of 2% milk versus the taste of 1%. … If you compare the difference between that and whole milk, which is just 3%, it is phenomenal.” The Heimans are concerned that the lack of avor, along with unappealing packaging in cartons, has deterred children from becoming not only consumers of milk, but lovers of milk. Setting out to solve what they see as a problem, the Heimans worked to provide appealing milk to local schools. Today they are providing milk to over 11,000 children attending 16 central Wisconsin schools. The milk the Heimans are delivering to the schools — both white and chocolate — is packaged in 8-ounce plastic pouches, into which the children are able to easily insert a small straw. The Heimans have been packaging milk in half-gallon pouches for over 50 years, and they believe the pouches are ideal packaging for school-aged children. “The kids love them; they have no trouble using them,” Joellen said. “They are like the little juice packets parents buy for kids.” Turn to HEIMANS | Page 13
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ConƟnued from HEIMANS | Page 12
From an environmental standpoint, the pouches are a benet as well. “We’ve reduced the amount of garbage produced by 80%,” Ken said, adding that the use of biodegradable plastic, made from corn, is an option, but that would increase the pricepoint of each pouch of milk. The individual pouches are labeled with plant codes and dates, with the traditional packaging labels containing the nutritional information placed on the outside of each crate of milk. The Heimans offer eight-packs of 8-ounce chocolate milk pouches in their store for retail sale. “We produce four different white milks — whole, 2%, 1% and skim — so it’s kind of hard to have that stocked in the 8-ounce sizes,” Joellen said. “But if people want, they can special order 8-ounce white milk pouches from the store.” Packaging milk for schools is not completely uncharted territory for the Heimans. Prior to the Obama administration school lunch initiatives, they packaged milk for several local schools. “When that initiative came down, (schools) needed to switch to 1% milk, and we did not have that labeling at that time,” Joellen said. “We had to discontinue providing that service.” While the Heimans have been processing milk in packaging for school consumption, they continually are looking to streamline the process. “From our side of it, we had some major investments to make,” Ken said. “One thing we needed to do was to purchase another (pouch packaging machine) because we wanted to decrease our processing timeline. Also, we can’t afford any downtime.” Ordering a new pouch packaging machine was not an easy task,
Ken said. When they purchased their rst machine, it was made in Canada. Since that time, the design patent was sold to a European company, requiring them to order the machine from Europe and have it shipped back to Canada before bringing it to their location. As the Heimans continue to make the investments in their businesses, they hope to bring their milk to more area schools. “All the milk we are providing to the schools is A2A2 milk, which has a more easily digested protein,” Ken said. Making milk easily digestible for the youngest consumers is a priority for the Heimans. Ken said they are working at removing half the lactose from milk through ultra-ltration and then converting the remaining lactose to glucose and galactose, keeping the avor prole identical to milk that has not been converted. “That will virtually eliminate any issue with lactose intolerance,” Ken said. “It should be that there is less than one-half of 1% of people who can’t handle lactose. That would be normal. Right now, we are looking at nearly 30% of people who think they are lactose intolerant.” Along with the taste and packaging issues, the Heimans are frustrated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s regulations regarding labeling of milk and the way milk is perceived by the general public. “People don’t understand that whole milk is really 97% fat-free, but we are restricted by the USDA from labeling it that way,” Ken said. “Milk is such a healthy, low-fat product naturally. Why do we need to alter it to such an unappealing state to meet these nutritional guidelines they impose? These are things that should be left up to local school boards to oversee.”
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Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023 • Page 15
from our side OF THE FENCE What is the dairy community like in your area?
Amelia Judge Caledon, Ontario, Canada 120 cows
lage. Crops were later this year due to all the moisture we had. We combined our soybeans just a few days ago as well, yielding around 65 bushels per acre at 15%-16% moisture, which we are happy with. We have corn to harvest, but that won’t be for a while yet.
How long have you been dairy farming? I have always been involved in my family’s farming operation, but I started full time in 2017 after completing an agricultural degree at university.
What is the dairy community like in your area? Nowadays, we are predominantly a housing and cash-crop area, but there are still a few dairy farmers left, with nine dairy farms left in the county.
Tell us about your farm. My family operates a 120cow dairy operation. We have a DeLaval swing-12 parlor with sand-bedded free stalls. We are strictly a family operation, with multiple family members involved. Due to us living in Canada, our milk system is supply-managed, meaning we have a quota system for every kilogram of butterfat (milk) we produce. With that being said, we do not ship to just one processor. Every other day, a milk truck picks up our milk and takes it to a different processor. The farmer doesn’t get to dictate where their milk ends up since the milk processors all have their own quotas to ll as well. We also raise quite a few animals for veal or fats. In addition to our own animals, we purchase calves from a neighboring dairy. Any Holstein bulls that we have will be grown to about 800 pounds and shipped for veal at an auction barn about an hour away. Any crossbred calves we have will be fattened to around 1,300 pounds and shipped to Cargill, also an hour away. The main crops that we grow on our farm (for feed or to be sold) are alfalfa/timothy for hay, red clover for hay and seed, corn for silage and seed, soybeans as a cash crop and barley mainly for straw. What was the growing season like for you in your area and how far along are you with harvest? When we planted in May, it was dry conditions. Following planting, however, we basically had a rain every few days for the entire summer. The rain made it hard to take hay off but sure did make all the crops grow like crazy. We are nishing up corn siMike Burk, pictured with Jaycee Burk Marionville, Missouri 100 cows How long have you been dairy farming? I’m a fth-generation dairy farmer and have been on my own since 1989. The only time my family didn’t milk cows was during World War II, because my grandfather had two sons who were drafted. We’ve always milked Jerseys. Tell us about your farm. My son, Kyle, and I manage the farm alongside part-time help. Kyle is taking on more of the roles on the farm. We’ve had freestall barns since the 1980s and milk in a double-10 parabone parlor. Our milk is shipped to Dairy Farmers of America in Springeld, Missouri. Some of the milk goes to Hiland, which is a milk bottling plant. Some of our milk also goes to a Kraft plant. We bed the free stalls with kiln dried sawdust from a local cabinet shop; they give it to us for free. We’ve been doing that for many years. I use a sawdust shooter to put it down in the stalls. We farm 1,000 acres, all of which is used for feed. We plant corn for silage and grass hay that we make into baleage. We also plant soybeans, sorghum, rye or winter wheat, depending on what we need for feed. What was the growing season like for you in your area and how far along are you with harvest? We have been in a drought for the last two years. Our corn hasn’t had any corn on it. We’ve gotten good heights, but then it’s gotten so dry. It’ll still make 12 to 15 ton, but then doesn’t have any corn in it. We’ve gotten rain this year, but we haven’t had any soaking rains. We chopped our corn in July. We are planting rye now. Neighbors have a few soybeans left to harvest. We will probably get another cutting of hay yet this year.
What do you enjoy about milking cows in your area of the country? I would have to say the sense of community. Since there are so few of us in the area, everyone knows everyone else. It is so easy to just pick up the phone and ask a neighbor a question or see what other farmers are doing. What is a growing trend in the industry in your area? Quite a few farmers have sold their cows in the last ve years and have switched to cash-cropping their land. A few others have sold their land for development and moved north where land is cheaper. What are the two biggest challenges of dairy farming in your region? One of the biggest challenges of farming in general in my region would be land prices. My area is getting to be more of an urban area, with more houses being built. Just across from us is a 200-acre farm that is going into houses. Buying a farm is nearly impossible in my area as the average land price is more than $100,000 CDN an acre. The second biggest challenge would be dealing with people who aren’t used to country living. When driving a tractor on the road, you have to be so aware of your surroundings and double or triple check your mirrors before turning. So often, a car will pass me after I’ve put my turn signal on and I have started my turn. I probably watch behind me more than I do ahead of me because the true dangers of driving on the road in a tractor are generally behind me. What do you do on your farm to stay competitive in the dairy industry? We try to keep everything as simple as possible. What is the dairy community like in your area? We have several milk and cheese plants close by. Our climate is pretty mild. We’ll have sub-zero temperatures that only last for three or four days. It easily warms back up. There’s probably 15 dairy farms left in our county. Two or three years ago, there were 40. What do you enjoy about milking cows in your area of the country? I’ve always liked the cows. With Jerseys, I can do things myself, like sorting cattle. We are only 45 minutes from Branson, Missouri. We can take the kids to Silver Dollar City; that’s a big amusement park. We also live near the Bass Pro Shop museum, Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium. What is a growing trend in the industry in your area? A lot of people are putting in robots, but there is only maybe on person in our area that has one. I see a lot of technology, but that can be hard with the price of milk. Lots of farmers are diversifying with a beef herd. What are the two biggest challenges of dairy farming in your region? The cost of land is prohibitive. We see a lot of 5-acre plots being sold. Everybody wants a nice house and 5 acres. South of us, a guy had a farm for years, and he raised beef cattle. Now, they’ve turned it into 20 homes. The universities and colleges used to push grazing, but that has fallen by the wayside too. They used to hold pasture walks. We still have good infrastructure, but we’ve lost a lot of numbers. What do you do on your farm to stay competitive in the dairy industry? Our Jerseys have been competitive. They take a couple dollars less to feed a day, and their milk maybe makes $1 more per day than other breeds. If a Jersey falls off on milk, she’ll still have higher butterfat than a bigger cow. That bigger cow, you’ll have to work harder to maintain her body weight. We also have a ve-year contract with the stock yards to nish cattle. We built 200-head pens for the feeder cattle to be in. We are paid on per pound of gain, and they are fed a total mixed ration. That has helped to diversity our farm. Turn to OUR SIDE | Page 16
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Page 16 • Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023
ConƟnued from OUR SIDE | Page 15 Siska and Justin Reece pictured with their children Levi (from left), Logan, Silas and Solomon and Siska’s parents, Tina and Bert MooRiah Dairy Melba, Idaho 1,100 cows
How long have you been dairy farming? 20 years. Tell us about your farm. Our farm milks 1,100 purebred Jerseys in a double-20 parallel parlor on 400 acres. We have 3,000 cattle in total. What was the growing season like for you in your area and how far along are you with harvest? We just nished harvest and are currently planting for spring. We double-crop everything. We do alfalfa, triticale, sudan grass and eld corn. They were a little drier this year. What is the dairy community like in your area? We are small in our neck of the woods. There are lots of dairy farms in our valley, most ranging from 5,000-10,000 cows. What do you enjoy about milking cows in your area of the country? Idaho is God’s country with four distinct seasons. We love our cows, and we love our down-home country community. What is a growing trend in the industry in your area? Technology — probably the same here as with most areas. All of the technology: robots, collars, pedometers, computer upgrades, phone apps and even on our farm, ultra sound machines. What are the two biggest challenges of dairy farming in your region? Labor and milk prices. With McDonald’s starting at around $20 per hour here and landscaping at $25-$30 per hour, we have a hard time keeping good employees for what we can afford to pay. We proudly have a great team currently, and they stay because of how we treat them, but it’s just a constant battle here. Last milk check Class III was $18.39; we are paid a few dollars less at $16.66. I am paid on my Jersey components though, so that equated to $22.49. Each creamery has their own formula to gure out pay price. Ours is a few dollars under Class III. What do you do on your farm to stay competitive in the dairy industry? We manage tightly and manage well, and we constantly try to stay ahead of the problems and consistently improve in all areas. Always learn more, and don’t be afraid of change. Adam and Crystal Preston, pictured with sons Aiden (left) and Avery Quincy, Michigan 1,000 cows How long have you been dairy farming? 17 years. Tell us about your farm. We farm with my cousin Brian, father Glenn and uncle Keith. We have 1,000 acres of corn for silage and grain. We also have 700 acres of alfalfa for haylage. We have 13 employees and ship our milk to Michigan Milk Producers Association. What was the growing season like for you in your area and how far along are you with harvest? We were extremely dry in May and June. The corn was in the ground for a couple weeks before germination. Some elds had three different germinations in 20 feet of the row. Then in July, we had above average rainfall. The smoke from Canadian wildres also affected us for several days. We are done with corn silage and half done with dry-corn harvest. What is the dairy community like in your area? We have a few dairy farms in our county. A lot sold out in the past ve years.
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What do you enjoy about milking cows in your area of the country? We are blessed to have a great extension team and strong 4-H programs. We have lots of dairy farming friends within an hour or so of us. What is a growing trend in the industry in your area? A growing trend in our area is selling meat off the farm. What are the two biggest challenges of dairy farming in your region? The price of milk and the price of purchased feed. What do you do on your farm to stay competitive in the dairy industry? We are very efcient with our labor, have very productive land and have a high-producing herd of cows. Jacob and Lydia VanEvera, pictured with Owen. Olivia not pictured. Cobleskill, New York 40 cows How long have you been dairy farming? 10 years on our own, several more years than that while working with Lydia’s parents (since 2006). Tell us about your farm. We own and operate a small family farm where we milk around 40-45 registered Holsteins, Jerseys and Milking Shorthorns in a tiestall barn. We are selfemployed with no employees. Our milk is shipped to Agri-Mark Cooperative. We also crop around 275 acres and do mostly baleage and dry hay, along with grain and corn meal. We also enjoy showing our calves and cows with our two children at local, state and national shows, and are continually striving to strengthen our genetics and breed better animals. What was the growing season like for you in your area and how far along are you with harvest? Our most recent growing season was very wet. We are nished with hay harvest and will be doing high-moisture corn soon. What is the dairy community like in your area? We have a fairly strong dairy community with the dairy farms that are still in business. We have lost several farms in recent years for different reasons such as having no family succession, experiencing tough economics and/or facing labor shortages. What do you enjoy about milking cows in your area of the country? We love our cows and have a strong passion for dairy farming. We enjoy the landscape of upstate New York, the close proximity to resources for the farm and daily living in general. What is a growing trend in the industry in your area? Most recently, several dairy farms have started diversifying and growing and raising beef cows to supplement income. Some farms have opened small farmstands on their farm to sell their meat products along with other local products. What are the two biggest challenges of dairy farming in your region? A big challenge facing farms in our area is that small and mid-size dairy farms are having to make the choice to get bigger or sell out due to economics. The price to produce milk continues to rise for smaller farms as we don’t have economies of scale, thus longterm sustainability is lacking with the input costs and the now-decreasing price of milk. A second challenge — not for us really, but for larger farms — is labor shortages. What do you do on your farm to stay competitive in the dairy industry? Our family began raising beef, pork and chicken a few years ago, and this has grown into a side business for our family. We recently built a store on our farm where we can sell our farm-raised meat, along with local milk and ice cream and other local products. We realize that for our small farm to operate and be able to continue to operate, we need to diversify for additional income. This has worked well for us to do alongside our dairy and has opened up additional marketing resources for us. Our hope is to continue to grow the store, once opened, to provide our community with a variety of locally grown and produced products. Scott Smit, pictured with his wife, Megan, and their children Weston (from left), Lincoln and Levi Lynden, Washington 400 cows, including dry cows How long have you been dairy farming? 16 years. Tell us about your farm. Our cows are housed in a freestall barn, and we recently installed six Lely A5 robotic milking systems. Calves through springers are raised on-site. We farm a total of 500 acres. Employees include me, my dad and one full-time employee as well as my wife and three boys. Milk is shipped to Darigold. What was the growing season like for you in your area and how far along are you with harvest? The growing season starts in late April to early May with our rst cutting of grass and ends in late October. Corn is planted in early May and harvested in mid to late September. What is the dairy community like in your area? Around 70 dairies are in Whatcom County. What do you enjoy about milking cows in your area of the country? The climate is very mild with not a lot of extremes, maybe a week or two of 85-90 degrees in the summer and two to three weeks of cold and snow in the winter. What is a growing trend in the industry in your area? Denitely automation and making things more efcient to employ fewer people. What are the two biggest challenges of dairy farming in your region? A main challenge is the price of land at $20,000 to $30,000 per acre. What do you do on your farm to stay competitive in the dairy industry? We use automation whenever possible. We also breed Angus to the lower end of the cow herd and sexed semen on the top end and heifers, and we keep no more replacement heifers than we need for keeping up with our herd-turnover rate.
Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023 • Page 17
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Page 18 • Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023
FORAGE PROFILE Greg Lohr, GT Dairy LLC, of Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin | Sauk County | 235 Describe your farm and facilities. We milk with four DeLaval robotic milking systems that we installed in April 2018. My parents started this farm in 1961, and we milked in a 134-cow tiestall barn for a long time. I manage the cows with the help of a few employees, who are key pieces of the farm’s success. Gary Dobratz, employee of 27 years, manages the daily feeding and eldwork. Juan Luis, employee of two years, manages the calving transition, heifer care and supports Greg’s efforts in the robot barn. We utilize the old facilities for dry cows, calving and 6 months and older heifer care. All heifers under 6 months are being raised by Paramount Farms of Darlington, Wisconsin. We breed selected animals to Angus bulls and market all the bull calves at 1-2 weeks of age. My brother Tom helps when we need it. We ship milk to Scenic Central. What forages do you harvest? Alfalfa haylage, grassy hay, corn silage, canary grass, corn silage and soybeans for a cash crop. Rye is doublecropped on irrigated and heavy sand as forage; this has improved land output and given us a consistent dry-cow forage annually. The wetland along the creek bottoms was put into canary grass years ago and has proven to be good for the
land and helped it to be productive. Most of our corn is planted as multipurpose grain/ silage as our land varies in soil type. Some years, our bottom ground needs to be our source of corn silage, and some years the lighter soil is, depending on moisture, disease stress and growing-season factors. Many years ago, our agronomist Ed Liegel proved the value of raising high-quality alfalfa on our lighter soil. Alfalfa has been a key factor in high performance of our herd since the mid1980s. We feed a lot of corn silage, but if that falls off in quality, our milk production suffers. How many acres of crops do you raise? 750 acres: 220 alfalfa, 390 corn, 80 canary grass/ grass mix and 100 soybeans. What quality and quantity do you harvest of each crop? We grow about 220 acres of haylage, and that gets harvested at 60% moisture to achieve 170 relative feed value on average. We raise 200 acres of corn silage, which is harvested at around 64%-66% moisture. We hope to achieve 3,800-4,000 pounds of milk per ton of corn silage. Our 80 acres of canary grass yields about 80 RFV and is harvested at about 65% moisture. We grow 50 acres of grassy hay that yields about 80 RFV as well.
ABBY WIEDMEYER/DAIRY STAR
Greg Lohr stands in front of a perfectly faced bunker silo of corn silage Oct. 16 at his farm near Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. Lohr milks 235 cows with four roboƟc milking systems and farms approximately 700 acres. Describe the rations for your livestock. We feed our cows a total mixed ration. Our milk cows ration consists of twothirds corn silage, one-third haylage, protein mix, highmoisture corn and a little bit of grassy hay. The dry cows get corn silage, grassy hay, rye grass, a small amount of highmoisture corn and a mineral
mix. The heifers ration consists of haylage, corn silage, grass, a mineral mix and high-moisture corn. Describe your harvesting techniques for alfalfa and corn silage. Most of our forages are custom harvested by New Age custom harvesting crew. The alfalfa is chopped,
cut merged and chopped in 29-day intervals. They use a 30-foot self-propelled triple mower, a merger and a selfpropelled chopper. Our corn silage is harvested with a 10row New Holland self-propelled chopper. They run two Turn to FORAGE | Page 20
Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023 • Page 19
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ConƟnued from FORAGE | Page 18 at a time. We harvest the rye ourselves because we need to utilize 8-foot bags to be able to manage the face of the bag during feedout. We use a pull-type New Holland chopper and H & S silage boxes, and we rent an ag-bagger from Daryl Manthe of Lodi/Dane, Wisconsin. We also chop silage that doesn’t t into New Age’s schedule. What techniques do you use to store, manage and feed your forages? We use bunker silos to store hay and corn silage. The Harvestore silo stores the high-moisture corn, and the rye grass is stored in 8-foot bags. We manage the
bunker silos with a facer and feed with a Knight Reel TMR. Grassy and canary grass hay is baled in large squares by Golden Grains Custom Farming Throughout your career, have you changed the forages you plant, and how has that decision helped your operation? We have added rye grass in the last ve years to help with feed shortage. It is cheap and easy to grow. We plant it on irrigated ground; it performs well on sandy soil. Describe a challenge you overcame in reaching your forage quality goals.
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Tom Lohr chops corn Oct. 16 at his family’s farm near Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. Lohr helps his brother Greg on their 235-cow dairy whenever he can get a break from his full-Ɵme job. Our size of dairy couldn’t justify the xed cost of running the equipment it takes to produce high-quality forage. Hiring custom harvesters helps spread that xed cost over more acres while getting the crop in timely and efciently. They have helped us improve. How do quality forages play a part in the production goals for your herd? It is a top priority because it allows us to buy less protein without sacricing production. Our cows can go in the robots up to ve times per day, so they need quality feed to keep up with that. Improving digestibility of every mouthful is also important. With Holsteins eating such high volume, better feed conversion is better for the bottom line. Feed costs are so critical to control in the tight-margin business of dairy farming.
What are management or harvesting techniques you have changed that have made a notable difference in forage quality? We added a facer to the management system which has helped keep the feed stable and reduced the amount of spoilage. Before then, we were using the bucket to get feed out of the bunkers, which allowed a lot of air to get in the feed pile, causing mold and spoilage. Also, I can’t say enough about the custom harvesters. That’s a better investment per crop than buying the expensive equipment would be. Spending time on the packing tractor while lling is key. Quickly and properly covering the silage after we are nished packing and utilizing a vapor cover and highquality bunker cover has helped reduce mold/oxidization as well. We use cut sidewall tires to secure our covers. We have tried a lot of things, but they seem to be the thing that works.
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JD 9500 1990, 2WD, Singles, 5448 hrs., 3588 Sep. hrs., #571381 .............$21,000 JD 9500 1990, 2WD, Duals, 5323 hrs., 3656 Sep. hrs., #571037................$21,500 JD 9550 2002, PRWD, Singles, 5211 hrs., 3600 Sep. hrs., #570006 ...........$43,500 JD 9600 1991, PRWD, Duals, 5313 hrs., 3614 Sep. hrs., #567724 .............$24,900 JD 9600 1995, 2WD, Singles, 4000 hrs., #568110 .....................................$28,900 JD 9560 STS 2004, 2WD, Duals, 4638 hrs., 2982 Sep. hrs., #567094.........$52,500 JD 9570 STS 2008, PRWD, Duals, 3464 hrs., 2237 Sep. hrs., #568406 ......$99,500 JD 9570 STS 2009, 2WD, Duals, 2367 hrs., 1597 Sep. hrs., #556547.......$104,900 JD 9570 STS 2011, 2WD, Singles, 2019 hrs., 1231 Sep. hrs., #555820 ....$132,500 JD 9650 STS 2001, 2WD, Duals, 4032 hrs., 2531 Sep. hrs., #571361.........$47,900 JD 9650 STS 2003, 2WD, Duals, 3121 hrs., 1973 Sep. hrs., #571360.........$47,900 JD 9650W 2000, 2WD, Duals, 3680 hrs., 2665 Sep. hrs., #568122 ............$45,000 JD 9660 STS 2006, 2WD, Duals, 2902 hrs., 2086 Sep. hrs., #571131.........$57,500 JD 9670 STS 2009, PRWD, Duals, 4102 hrs., 2958 Sep. hrs., #568814 ......$78,400 JD 9750 STS 2003, 2WD, Duals, 5105 hrs., 3367 Sep. hrs., #565004.........$37,500 JD 9750 STS 2001, PRWD, Duals, 5100 hrs., 4800 Sep. hrs., #571375 ......$38,500 JD 9760 STS 2005, 2WD, Singles, 4300 hrs., 2800 Sep. hrs., #571176 ......$79,900 JD 9770 STS 2008, PRWD, Singles, 3480 hrs., 2448 Sep. hrs., #569958 ....$99,900 JD 9770 STS 2011, 2WD, Duals, 3289 hrs., 2111 Sep. hrs., #569747.......$144,000 JD 9870 STS 2010, PRWD, Duals, 3450 hrs., 2425 Sep. hrs., #568308 ......$94,500 JD 9870 STS 2009, PRWD, Duals, 3580 hrs., 2579 Sep. hrs., #563914 ......$94,500 JD 9870 STS 2008, PRWD, Duals, 3261 hrs., 2494 Sep. hrs., #566621 ......$97,500 JD 9870 STS 2011, 2WD, Duals, 3809 hrs., 1747 Sep. hrs., #567383.......$109,900 Gleaner R52 1992, 2WD, Singles, 4387 hrs., 3275 Sep. hrs., #570629 .....$22,900 JD S660 2014, PRWD, Duals, 1732 hrs., 1317 Sep. hrs., #532082............$189,500 JD S670 2012, 2WD, Duals, 3021 hrs., 2019 Sep. hrs., #569358..............$122,500
JD S680 2012, PRWD, Duals, 4022 hrs., 2560 Sep. hrs., #570527..............$99,900 JD S680 2012, 2WD, Duals, 2756 hrs., 2032 Sep. hrs., #552659..............$119,900 JD S680 2013, 2WD, Duals, 2185 hrs., 1720 Sep. hrs., #571079..............$146,500 JD S680 2013, PRWD, Duals, 2592 hrs., 1906 Sep. hrs., #563909............$160,000 JD S680 2014, PRWD, Duals, 2332 hrs., 1575 Sep. hrs., #555096............$169,900 JD S680 2014, PRWD, Duals, 2349 hrs., 1668 Sep. hrs., #531966............$195,000 JD S680 2017, PRWD, Duals, 1516 hrs., 1053 Sep. hrs., #273646............$219,900 JD S690 2014, PRWD, Duals, 2285 hrs., 1440 Sep. hrs., #568112............$139,000 JD S690 2015, PRWD, Tracks, 2400 hrs., 1615 Sep. hrs., #550872 ...........$232,900 JD S690 2017, PRWD, Duals, 2513 hrs., 1605 Sep. hrs., #568113............$239,000 JD S690 2017, PRWD, Duals, 1433 hrs., 1187 Sep. hrs., #549457............$280,700 JD S770 2018, PRWD, Duals, 2261 hrs., 1652 Sep. hrs., #549678............$259,900 JD S770 2021, PRWD, Duals, 577 hrs., 486 Sep. hrs., #554050................$405,000 JD S770 2022, PRWD, Duals, 305 hrs., 148 Sep. hrs., #567222................$564,900 JD S770 2022, PRWD, Duals, 228 hrs., 91 Sep. hrs., #567225..................$574,900 JD S780 2018, PRWD, Duals, 2766 hrs., 1901 Sep. hrs., #567178............$234,900 JD S780 2019, PRWD, Duals, 1980 hrs., 1550 Sep. hrs., #571078............$297,500 JD S780 2019, PRWD, Singles, 1733 hrs., 1311 Sep. hrs., #570830 .........$309,000 JD S780 2018, 2WD, Duals, 1223 hrs., 826 Sep. hrs., #555412................$319,000 JD S780 2020, PRWD, Singles, 1551 hrs., 1204 Sep. hrs., #531610 .......$349,000 JD S780 2020, PRWD, Duals, 1496 hrs., 1145 Sep. hrs., #191082............$349,000 JD S780 2021, PRWD, Duals, 650 hrs., 550 Sep. hrs., #571168................$460,000 JD S780 2021, PRWD, Duals, 620 hrs., #569341 .....................................$515,000 JD S780 2021, PRWD, Duals, 500 hrs., 300 Sep. hrs., #567515................$519,900 JD S780 2022, PRWD, Duals, 688 hrs., 420 Sep. hrs., #569414................$529,000 JD S780 2022, PRWD, Duals, 430 hrs., 307 Sep. hrs., #563710................$549,000 JD S780 2022, PRWD, Duals, 461 hrs., 353 Sep. hrs., #552362................$549,000
JD S780 2022, PRWD, Floaters, 476 hrs., 323 Sep. hrs., #553546 ............$549,900 JD S780 2022, PRWD, Duals, 242 hrs., 183 Sep. hrs., #554094................$565,000 JD S780 2022, PRWD, Floaters, 319 hrs., 170 Sep. hrs., #554623 ............$569,000 JD S780 2022, PRWD, Duals, 432 hrs., 262 Sep. hrs., #568072................$569,900 JD S780 2022, PRWD, Duals, 123 hrs., 73 Sep. hrs., #557141..................$574,900 JD S780 2022, PRWD, Duals, 263 hrs., 165 Sep. hrs., #567271................$585,000 JD S780 2022, PRWD, Tracks, 320 hrs., 238 Sep. hrs., #554013 ...............$619,000 JD S780 2023, PRWD, Duals, 144 hrs., #545327 .....................................$619,000 JD S780 2022, PRWD, Tracks, 300 hrs., 280 Sep. hrs., #561020 ...............$623,000 JD S780 2022, PRWD, Floaters, 13 hrs., #565897....................................$629,900 JD S790 2019, PRWD, Duals, 1937 hrs., 1426 Sep. hrs., #532032............$299,000 JD S790 2018, PRWD, Duals, 1657 hrs., 1218 Sep. hrs., #549845............$309,000 JD S790 2018, PRWD, Duals, 1576 hrs., 1135 Sep. hrs., #552352............$329,000 JD S790 2018, PRWD, Duals, 1522 hrs., 1055 Sep. hrs., #549846............$329,000 JD S790 2021, PRWD, Singles, 978 hrs., 770 Sep. hrs., #557277 .............$479,000 JD S790 2020, PRWD, Floaters, 733 hrs., 485 Sep. hrs., #568213 ............$497,000 JD S790 2021, PRWD, Duals, 924 hrs., 551 Sep. hrs., #565421................$499,900 JD S790 2020, PRWD, Singles, 714 hrs., 425 Sep. hrs., #568212 .............$501,000 JD S790 2021, PRWD, Tracks, 923 hrs., 530 Sep. hrs., #191075 ...............$549,500 JD S790 2022, PRWD, Singles, 628 hrs., 314 Sep. hrs., #563815 .............$579,500 JD S790 2022, PRWD, Duals, 519 hrs., 316 Sep. hrs., #566694................$579,900 JD S790 2022, PRWD, Duals, 282 hrs., 155 Sep. hrs., #563325................$599,900 JD S790 2022, PRWD, Duals, 494 hrs., 368 Sep. hrs., #566460................$624,900 JD S790 2022, PRWD, Singles, 185 hrs., 90 Sep. hrs., #557140 ...............$629,900 JD S790 2022, PRWD, Tracks, 70 hrs., 21 Sep. hrs., #553771 ...................$695,000 JD X9 1100 2021, PRWD, Tracks, 1027 hrs., 735 Sep. hrs., #552917........$749,000 JD X9 1100 2021, PRWD, Tracks, 913 hrs., 715 Sep. hrs., #552921..........$769,000
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Page 22 • Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023 Visit Your Local Dealer For Great Deals On
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Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023 • Page 23
Ambassadors for the dairy industry Mosses named Rock County Farm Family of the Year By Jerry Nelson
jerry.n@dairystar.com
LUVERNE, Minn. — Family has always been a cornerstone for the Moss family. This year, their family was named the Rock County Farm Family of the Year. “I was kind of surprised when I learned that we had been nominated for farm family of the year,” Justin Moss said. “We were humbled and honored.” The Moss family’s dairy operation includes Jacob and his wife, Cheryl; Jacob’s son, Justin, and his wife, Daci, and their four children: Brooklynn, Makenna, Zachary and Tage; and Jacob’s brother Neal and his wife, Char. The Mosses were honored during a ceremony Aug. 3 at Farmfest in Morgan. The Moss family milks 630 cows in a double-12 parallel parlor. Their free stalls are bedded with sand, and their dry cows and closeup animals are kept on a bedded pack. The Mosses grow 500 acres of corn and 130 acres of alfalfa. They also have about 200 acres of pasture that are located on the Blue Mound Ridge. Lactating animals are milked three times a day by their crew of seven fulltime employees. Jacob is in charge of feeding while Neal plants the crops and helps wherever he is needed. “My kids pitch in on the farm when they aren’t in school,” Justin said. “My sister, Cayla Hamm, works for an accounting rm in Luverne, so she handles all of our bookkeeping. Cayla and her husband, Derek, have three sons. Their boys also like to come out to the farm and help.” The Mosses view being named farm family of the year as an opportunity to serve as ambassadors for the dairy industry. “We see this as a great way to promote dairy farming and to tell folks what we are all about,” Justin said. “There are a lot of people who don’t know how we produce the dairy products that they enjoy.” The Moss family has hosted several youth tours that were sponsored by local church groups. A special youth tour was recently conducted at their farm. “A group of 14 high school seniors and their chaperones from Costa Rica toured our dairy farm as part of a missionary exchange program,” Justin said. “The students had no previous exposure to dairy farming. They were amazed at all the moving parts that have to work every day on a dairy farm. They had a lot of fun while they were here. I hope that we made a good impression on them.” Life on a dairy farm can be hectic, but the Mosses continue to put family rst. “While we don’t have afternoon lunches like Grandma did, we still try to get in as much family time as possible,” Justin said. Family involvement is a deep tradition that is being carried forward on the
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Mason (from leŌ), Keegan, Derek, Aiden and Cayla Hamm, and Cheryl, Jacob, Tage, Makenna, Daci, Brooklynn, JusƟn and Zach Moss gather at their farm near Luverne, Minnesota. The Moss family was named Rock County Farm Family of the Year for 2023. Moss dairy farm. “Zach especially likes dairy farming,” Justin said. “He is already talking about joining the operation after he graduates from high school.” That involvement in the farm began with Jacob’s father, Albert, who grew up in the Carmel, Iowa, area. “When Dad was 15, he and one of his brothers took over their farm when their father died of pneumonia,” Jacob said. By the time he was 17, Albert had started a trucking and feed grinding business. He then served as a tank gunner in World War II and was awarded numerous decorations. After his discharge from the Army, Albert returned home and married his sweet-heart, Henrietta. “Grandpa and Grandma moved here from Carmel in the early 1950s,” Justin said. “Their farm operation was typical for that time with a few pigs, some chickens and a small dairy herd. They always grew a couple of acres of potatoes. Their goal was to be as selfsufcient as possible.” In the 1970s, Albert and Henrietta repurposed used utility poles to construct a 150-cow freestall barn and a double-4 parlor. Jacob and Neal joined the growing family operation in the 1980s. “When I was a kid, we chopped corn silage with ve of our neighbors,” Jacob said. “Every day at noon, we would shut down, and Mom would serve the crew a huge dinner. We would shut down again at 3 in the afternoon, and she would serve us a big lunch.” Justin has many fond memories of his grandparents. “One thing I remember about Grandma was the way she insisted that the entire family stop everything and have afternoon lunch together,” Justin said. “It was a good way to take a break from our work and catch up with each other and talk about what was going on.” After Henrietta passed away in 2000, Albert continued to live at home
and help his family with their farming operation. Albert suffered a debilitating stroke at age 82. He then moved in with Neal and Char. Albert passed away in 2009. “Running the silage chopper was Dad’s favorite thing to do,” Jacob said. “He was working on the farm right up
until the day before he had that stroke.” Justin graduated from Ridgewater College in 2001 and joined his family’s operation. By 2007, the Moss family had begun to explore the idea of building a new dairy facility. They completed the facility in 2009.
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The hazards of agri-driving My daily drive from home to the Dairy At the last second, just before what Star ofce in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, and seemed like a certain plummet down to back should be about 30 minutes one way. the bottom of the ditch, he’d jerk the car However, commute time stretched to 45 back into place. If the shoulder of the road minutes for much of summer and into fall wasn’t paved, sometimes the tires hitting due to road construction. The rough win- the gravel was enough to knock him back ter had turned that stretch of freeway into a into focus. Otherwise, it was sheer luck series of potholes and coughed-up chunks that he always noticed in time and I am still of wrecked road. Repairs had been sorely here today to write this column. needed. Mark tended to scan the agriculture That does not mean that I didn’t resent taking place to his right, so I don’t recall the inconvenience. Patience crossing into lanes of onis not one of my strong suits. coming trafc. I’ve heard My husband, Mark — that can be a symptom demas an ex-dairy farmer and onstrated by left-side-favorcurrent conservation maning agri-drivers, creating ager through Stearns County even more stress for their Soil and Water Conservapassengers. Luckily for me, tion District — is a slower Mark favored his right side. driver than I am. Yes, there About a year after we is a clear cause-and-effect met — when I was certain relationship between level Mark was wildly, madly in of agricultural involvement love with me — I started By Jan Lefebvre and speed of driving. If the speaking up. Staff Writer former is higher, the latter “Watch out, Mark,” I’d is lower. However, there are say. Or, if more agitated, I’d other traits exhibited by people who drive shout, “The road! The road!” under the inuence of agriculture. Often, he denied he had been drifting When Mark and I started dating over off course, but the thundering of my frantic 30 years ago, he and his brother were work- heartbeats said otherwise. ing toward taking over their family’s dairy When we had been married awhile, I farm. During times that Mark was driving began intensifying my comments, someme through anyplace rural, I noticed his times using an understandably harsh tone. tendency toward watching scenes of agri- Afterall, should we slip into the ditch, the culture taking place in equal measure to ac- side of the car to hit the tree, the mailbox, tually watching the road. I came to realize the fence post or the unsuspecting cow he was one of a large group of agri-drivers would be mine. I also began ercely debatwith a similar problem. ing him when he claimed I was being a bit While we were in the dating phase paranoid. and I didn’t want to show the true nature Then came the best idea since the of my impatience, I would remain silent dawn of mankind — the rumble strip. As while gripping the passenger door handle tires passed over the strips, both audible and holding my breath as the car would and tactile jolts threw distracted motorists inch closer and closer to the side of the back into alert. Across rural America, those road. Mark would be looking at the elds married to agri-drivers wept tears of relief. beyond and saying things like, “That guy’s The middle-of-the-road rumble strips growing erosion over there,” or “Those are came rst, stopping agri-drivers from some beautiful soybeans.” coasting over center lines. After that came
Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023 • Page 25
the shoulder rumble strip, which was even better for my situation. Today, lesser-traveled roads do not always have shoulder rumble strips, but most roads do, so driving with Mark has become argument-free — at least as far as driving habits go. In years to come, when the history of road paving is written — which is sure to happen as people everywhere will demand it — the dawn of the rumble strip will be credited with rekindling the romance of Sunday drives and possibly saving a number of marriages. I must admit, though, due to my slower speed of travel that road construction demanded of me the last few months, I observed more thoroughly the sights of farms and elds I passed to and from work. For instance, as Dairy Star reported on the drought in our readership area, I noticed farmers doing more corn chopping than usual because their crop had failed to thrive and was past any hope for improve-
ment. I saw cattle on sparse pasture whose features were obscured by the smoke of Canadian wildres, and I wondered if their health was being affected. One day, as I drove in the newly paved right lane in a slow convoy because the left lane was closed, I saw in a eld to my right that a large bird was sitting on the back of a steer, who didn’t seem to mind giving his visitor a ride. The bird was there for a few seconds and then hopped off to the far side of the steer and out of sight. It was then that my car slipped off the edge of the road and my right tires thumped down to the unnished shoulder. I sidebrushed an orange and white construction barrel that was sitting there unused, but the thing managed to stay upright. I was relieved that I had been driving at the posted reduced speed and was able to jerk the car back in line before it was too late. I was even more relieved that Mark was not in the passenger seat.
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Page 26 • Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023
Central Minnesota harvest in full swing
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Dennis Tembreull chisel plows a corneld near the 70-cow dairy he operates with his brother, Paul, near Pierz, Minnesota. The Tembreulls had to chop twice as many acres this year because of the dry condiƟons.
Turn to FALL PHOTOS | Page 27 TIFFANY KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Daniel Middendorf combines soybeans Oct. 21 near Long Prairie, Minnesota. Middendorf milks 120 cows with his family.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023 • Page 27
ConƟnued from FALL PHOTOS | Page 26
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Patrick Plante greases his combine on his 50-cow dairy near LiƩle Falls, Minnesota. Plante, who has been dairying since 1989, was drying corn as well. He farms 230 acres.
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Jason Schlangen unloads a load of corn Oct. 16 at his family’s farm near Richmond, Minnesota. Schlangen farms with his dad, John.
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Page 28 • Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023
Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023 • Page 29
women
IN DAIRY
Tell us about your family and farm. My husband Dennis and I have two daughters together, Allison Ambrose and Autumn Larsen. Allison has three children — Devon, Layla and Aliana. My oldest son, Dustin, helps me on the farm when he is not working. My other son, Tyler, stays home with me. Dennis’ daughters, Monica Larsen and Michelle Day, are both grown and moved away. Dennis and I bought our farm from my brother in 2011. My grandfather built the barn in 1917, and we have worked hard to maintain it. Our cows go to pasture every day that they can. Our heifers are raised in a shed we built in 2021. What is a typical day like for you on the dairy? I am up before 5 a.m. and start with coffee. I get to the barn by 5:15 or 5:30. Dustin is here by then, and together we get the cows in the barn. Dustin feeds them grain while I start milking. He feeds the calves their milk, and by the time he’s done with that, I’m usually ready to switch cows. Our barn holds 42 cows, and in good weather, we usually switch a few. After switching cows, Dustin leaves for work. Then I feed hay to the calves, scrape and lime the barn, and nish cleaning up the milkhouse. After chores, I do housework and take care of my son Tyler, who is autistic. Dennis takes care of him in the morning while I do chores, and then he works off the farm part time during the day. During the day, I take care of any sick animals we might have and run errands until it’s time to start chores again at 4:30 p.m. When he’s not working, Dennis cleans the barn, feeds round bales to the cattle and takes care of the machinery maintenance. What decision have you made in the last year that has beneted your farm? We planted sorghum-sudangrass on the ridge this year because our rst crop of hay didn’t turn out and by then we were in drought conditions. We were told sorghum-sudangrass grew well, and it worked out OK for us. We have grazed it, and it did not yield quite as well as we had hoped. It was due to lack of rain.
Christy Larsen
Hillsboro, Wisconsin Vernon County 50 cows
Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. Last year, my favorite cow, Mufn, was out to pasture overnight with the rest of the herd. I woke up around 4:30 a.m., and all the cows were running back and forth through the pasture. I thought a neighbor’s dog was chasing them, so I ran out in my bare feet and nightgown to chase them away. Instead, I discovered Mufn had gotten her collar caught on an old peg drag and was running with it. She is a dwarf cow, so her udder hangs really low. She got cut up on her legs and udder and was bleeding everywhere while dragging this old piece of equipment. I had to get my husband to help me untangle her, and we eventually got her loose. The vet was able to get her stitched back up, and she is still OK today. What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? I enjoy the fact that it was my grandpa’s and then my dad’s farm. I grew up in the yellow house that my daughter and grandkids now live in. I am proud that I can still do this and that I got to raise my kids here. It’s created a good work ethic for them. Not a lot of people are able to stay small and keep their kids interested in the farm. It’s not a job; it’s part of me. What is your biggest accomplishment in your dairy career? It’s an accomplishment that every year since Dennis and I have owned the farm, we have been able to make improvements. We built a new heifer shed, we have built a lot of new fence and roadways, and we have made improvements to the barn to keep it sturdy and straight. It’s an accomplishment to be able to keep farming. What are things you do to promote your farm or the dairy industry? I stay positive about what we do and tell anyone who asks to come and see what we do. I also stay informed through publications and am a member of Farm Bureau. What advice would you give another woman in the dairy industry? You
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be more proactive. We have also started hoof trimming this year, which has improved herd health and kept costs down as well.
What is a challenge in the dairy industry you have faced and how did you overcome it? Money has always been a challenge. Sometimes paying bills is like managing a triage in a hospital. We try to do as much vet work ourselves, and we have started doing herd health to
When you get a spare moment, what do you do? I keep a garden, and I enjoy naps when I can. I also really enjoy birds. I have raised turkeys as pets, have geese and always have a ock of chickens.
Page 30 • Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023
www.extension.umn.edu/dairy
AABP research roundup focuses on calf health, performance
The American Association of Bo- that improved recording compliance vine Practitioners had their annual generally included use of a computer meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, software system, if records were loSept. 20-23. Cattle vets, veterinary cated in the calf barn and recording students and researchers from around by non-family employees. Producers the U.S. and Canada met to share the also reported that treatments were not newest research, recommendations recorded because calf health records and best practices to enhance were not commonly analyzed cattle welfare and help proby veterinarians. ducers improve the health of The second study pretheir cows and the protabilsented research performed at ity of their operations. Three Iowa State University where current studies relevant to researchers evaluated the calf health were presented at need for analgesics in day-old the meeting. calves following caustic paste The rst study was predisbudding. This research sented by researchers from was driven by the increase By Whitney the University of Guelph, in use of caustic paste in the Knauer Canada, where they investiU.S. (performed on 33% of University of gated the barriers to recorddairy calves in the U.S.) and Minnesota ing calf health data on dairy that only 5.6% of operations farms. use anesthesia or analgesia for this To do this, they administered a procedure. Researchers enrolled 75 survey to 88 dairy producers in Ontar- newborn Jersey calves into three treatio, which asked a variety of questions ment groups: Control (CON, no paste including demographics, current prac- administered); paste alone (PW, paste tices on record keeping and analysis, with no pain mitigation); and paste and factors that would improve record- with pain mitigation (PA, paste with ing compliance. a lidocaine block and a non-steroidal Overall, researchers found only anti-inammatory at the time of dis19% of respondents recorded all calf budding). Results indicate that corillness events, with 43%, 38% and 13% tisol levels (a measure of stress) are of respondents recording all antimicro- suppressed in the PA group compared bial, anti-inammatory and support- to the PW group, in support of the adive treatments, respectively. Factors ministration of pain control for caustic
paste disbudding even in very young calves. Analysis is continuing to evaluate the behavioral response to caustic paste disbudding in these calves. The third study relevant to calf health was presented by a veterinary student from the University of Wisconsin where they evaluated the association between ambient temperatures during the rst 10 days of life on the development of pneumonia to 28 days in Holstein calves. Records from 2,888 calves from 2020-23 were evaluated. Ultrasonographic pneumonia (a lung ultrasound score ≥ 2 out of 5) was detected in 53% of calves. Results found that the odds of developing ultrasonographic pneumonia were 80% greater in calves exposed to a 10-day average temperature under 68.1 degrees compared to calves exposed to a warmer 10-day average during the rst 10 days of life. This temperature is warmer than the lower critical temperature of young calves (56.1 degrees) that has previously been established to de-
scribe cold stress. The summary results of these three research projects highlight important points for dairy farmers. First, there is room for improvement in calf health record keeping practices on farms, and producers should work with their veterinarians to make sure that calf health records are being analyzed in a useful way. Second, pain mitigation may be needed for caustic paste disbudding in very young calves. Third, ambient temperature is associated with an increased odds of respiratory disease in calves and at a higher temperature than is currently understood. While these three studies are not intuitively linked, they each provide information for farmers who are interested in improving animal welfare in their calf programs. If you have questions about calf health record keeping, pain mitigation for disbudding or the risk of pneumonia on your operation, reach out to your veterinarian or local extension educator for more information.
Dana Adams, adam1744@umn.edu 320-204-2968
Les Hansen hanse009@umn.edu 612-624-2277
Brenda Miller nels4220@umn.edu 320-732-4435
Joe Armstrong armst225@umn.edu 612.624.3610
Brad Heins hein0106@umn.edu 320-589-1711
Erin Royster royster@umn.edu
Luciano Caixeta lcaixeta@umn.edu 612-625-3130
Nathan Hulinsky huli0013@umn.edu 320-203-6104
Gerard Cramer gcramer@umn.edu 612-625-8184
Karen Johnson ande9495@umn.edu 320-484-4334
Marcia Endres miendres@umn.edu 612-624-5391
Emily Krekelberg krek0033@umn.edu 507-280-2863
Joleen Hadrich jhadrich@umn.edu 612-626-5620
Claire LaCanne lacanne@umn.edu 507-332-6109
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
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Jersey colostrum production
Newborn calves arrive in this world and why time of year matters. The lack of colostrum from cows with a largely naive immune system. The dependence of the calf on colostrum to at calving has several economic conseenhance its immune response to various quences. For the herd mentioned above, challenges by viruses and microbes is the percentage of cows producing no colostrum ranged from 0.5% of calvings in well known. Assuring that calves receive adequate May to 22% of calvings in December. colostrum, typically 4 quarts for Hol- With at least 10% of cows producing no colostrum at calving in Septemsteins and a bit less for Jerseys, ber through December, there is immediately after birth is critia clear need to either rely on cal to achieve adequate immustored frozen colostrum or feed noglobulin G levels in calves. expensive colostrum replacers Recently, possibly because of to achieve adequate IgG transthe emphasis of feeding these fer in those months. amounts of colostrum to calves I am aware of Jersey dairy and notably to both female and farms planning walk-in freezers male calves, it has been obin new buildings to store late served that some cows simply do not produce enough, if any, By Mike Schutz spring and summer colostrum University of for feeding in winter. Neverthecolostrum. The word on the less, even these required investstreet and from early research Minnesota ments to overcome a shortage indicates that this is especially a problem with Jerseys and in fall and early of good quality colostrum are justied compared to the results of feeding inadwinter. As an example, Figure 1 has the equate amounts to calves. Work is ongoing at several univermean number of 3-quart bottles of colostrum produced by month in a large Jersey sities looking for ways to prevent rather herd from the northwest U.S. The aver- than work around low colostrum yields. ages are from 4,611 records of calvings The University of New Hampshire has from September 2022 to October 2023. collected data from several Jersey herds Most records are from Jerseys although across the U.S. Washington State Universome crossbred cows are included too. sity researchers have utilized data from a In this dataset, across all calvings and large Jersey herd in Texas and published months, the Jersey cows produced about ndings, and researchers at Virginia 1.9 3-quart bottles. While it would be Tech have recently collected records at a nice to have more specic measures couple of research farms with cows exthan number of bottles, this was easy for posed to different lengths of lighting durworkers to record and provides good data ing their dry periods. This work seeks to on many cows in a similar environment. clarify what may be affecting colostrum Our initial work with data only through production, although at this time, there last summer indicates that the heritabil- are no specic recommendations to reity of bottles of colostrum produced was solve the issue. Among factors known to affect coaround 14% and apparently genetically unrelated to eventual total milk produc- lostrum yields are diet, with protein tion. We hope to use data to understand concentration, biotin and Vitamin D some of the underlying causes of reduced proposed as potentially playing a role in colostrum production, why cows differ colostrum quality as well as quantity. As
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Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023 • Page 31
expected, lactation number or age plays a role. In our data, lowest colostrum yield is with rst calf heifers, and highest yield is for second calvers with cows of later lactation declining with age. UNH research showed that cows with a longer dry period produced more colostrum but stopped short of urging longer dry periods. VT controlled research did not nd an isolated impact of photoperiod alone, which is good news and bad news. The good news is that farms can continue to use short-day lighting to increase subsequent milk production without impacting colostrum production. The bad news is that controlling hours of light exposure during the dry period will not likely improve colostrum yield. But this does not indicate that time of year is out of the question as a driver of colostrum yield.
Temperature and humidity, sun angle, annual biological rhythms, feed changes and dietary requirements are all seasonal and could play a role aside from hours of daylight. WSU research identied dry period length, calf sex, twin births, age at freshening and previous lactation length in addition to month of calving as factors in colostrum yield. That research also found a sire effect on low colostrum yield and identied six genes with modest and one gene with strong association to colostrum production. For now, the best advice to producers is to closely manage close-up rations for Jerseys and make plans to stockpile frozen colostrum for the late fall. Hopefully, we will soon have a better handle on factors involved with Jersey colostrum production.
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Page 32 • Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023
Pulling together for good causes Dairy farm hosts annual tractor event By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com
SHERRILL, Iowa — Once the hum of the vacuum pump was quiet after morning chores, new sounds lled the air at the Smiths’ dairy farm Oct. 1 as the annual tractor pull began. Roaring engines, ying dirt and a cheering crowd could be heard on the ridge while the cows grazed in pastures down the hill. The sun shone over the event as the temperatures reached to the mid-80s. This year, the noise came to a stop as the Hawkeye Vintage Farm Machinery Club held a moment of silence for one of its members, Thomas “Tommy” Schmitt, who died from a tractor rollover accident at last year’s event. “This pull was kind of in memory of him,” Adam Smith said. “His brother pulled the tractor that he had xed up, and we raised quite a bit of money by selling rafes and can koozies.” Adam and his father, Marvin, milk around 100 cows near Sherrill and are hosts for the tractor pull every year. The Hawkeye Vintage Farm Machin-
ery Club offers nine events per year, with the Smiths’ being the last one on the schedule. The event is catered by a local bar. Additionally, another local farmer brings his ice cream machine and accepts donations, which he then gives to a local family in need. “He usually makes several hundred dollars doing that and just donates it back to somebody who’s having a hardship,” Adam said. “It’s pretty neat.” This year, proceeds went to the family of Schmitt. There was also an additional fundraiser with rafe baskets. The Smiths have been hosting a pull every year since 2011. They sacrice a hayeld for the occasion by spraying it off to allow room for the pulling track and spectator parking. Adam said they will plant corn on the eld they are using this year and then move the event to a different eld next year. The club manages a lot of the preparation by obtaining bleachers, portable toilets and garbage containers. This year, there were 178 hooks in competition. Four winners from each weight class are selected. First- through thirdplace winners receive a plaque, and the fourth-place winner gets their money back. Weight classes range from 3,750 to 9,000 pounds. Since the event is offered by an antique tractor club, all of the machines competing have to be at least 51 years old. “There are some antiques
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Alex (from leŌ), Marvin and Adam Smith take a break Oct. 1 during the Hawkeye Vintage Farm Machinery Club’s annual tractor pull at their farm near Sherrill, Iowa. The Smiths milk 100 cows and host the event every year. that are souped up, but most of them are right out of the shed,” Marvin said. Marvin competed in the event this year with a Farmall 400. It is the rst tractor he owned; he paid $400 for it over 30 years ago. He has kept it xed up and had it repainted in recent years. Marvin’s grandfather moved
to the farm in 1929. The previous dairy barn had burned, and when Marvin’s grandfather began milking the barn was only a couple years old. The same barn is still standing today, with 47 stanchions. Marvin and Adam switch out their 100 cows with the help of Adam’s brother, Alex. All the bull calves are fed to nish on neighboring farms.
Marvin and Adam raise their replacements. Most of the cattle are grazed due to the hilly structure of the land. Together, they farm around 180 acres. Eventually they would like to construct a freestall barn and add a parlor to the existing barn. There is already a manure pit that does not get utilized because of where it sits. Marvin has seen changes in the farm since he took over. They have grown internally from about 40 cows in 1989 to their current size. Marvin has continued to milk Holsteins after his dad switched the herd from Guernsey to Holstein when he took over from his father. Adam is the fourth generation to farm full time. His parents own the farm, and he farms on a percentage with them. He said he enjoys the work. “The schedule is not the same every day, and if you want to go do something, you don’t have to take off work,” Adam said. “It’s also a good reason to get up in the morning.” Marvin said that hosting the tractor pull offers a nice variation to the demands of dairying. As a member of the club, he does his share of helping to pull the sled and running the blade tractors with the rest of them. While some of the members are relatively serious about pulling, it is mostly a social event for the community. “We work together to get it done,” Marvin said. “Ours is always the grand nale.”
Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023 • Page 33
Maximizing milk Program looks at production opportunities By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
MADISON, Wis. — Helping herds maximize their milk production through evaluation of cow comfort indicators, facility design and management measures is the focus of the C.O.W.S. Program from Novus Internatonal Inc. “The purpose of our program is to help unlock bottlenecks, identify opportunities for cow comfort and provide tips to help improve the production of your herd,” said Karen Luchterhand, Ph.D., C.O.W.S. Program lead. Luchterhand shared data collected from on-farm assessments during a Knowledge Nook presentation titled “What are our top producing herds doing?” Oct. 4 at World Dairy Expo in Madison. “We’ve done over 1,600 assessments in the U.S. inuencing over 1.6 million cows,” Luchterhand said. Cow-based measures assessed include lying time, hock and knee injuries, and lameness. Management and facility measures look at things like stall design, time budget, stocking density, bedding quality and quantity, and water space. “What is the cow telling us?” Luchterhand said. “What can we learn from her environment?” Luchterhand shared results from 476 assessments done on dairy farms in the Midwest and Northeast analyzing mature, high-production Holsteins housed in freestall barns. She said milking frequency dictated milk output signicantly with three-times-a-day milking at a 9-pound advantage over twice-a-day milking. Cows milked twice daily averaged 91.2 pounds of milk whereas cows milked three times a day produced 100.8 pounds. Cows milked four times a day averaged 106.3 pounds. Ventilation options had a notable
effect on milk yield. Cows averaged the estrus of 10 days and were pregnant 45 most milk in cross-ventilated barns at days sooner. In a commercial dairy study done in 104 pounds. In tunnel-ventilated barns, they averaged 92 pounds, and in natu- Minnesota in 2020, Luchterhand comrally ventilated buildings, cows aver- pared stocking density to milk yield and gross feed efciency. In pens with aged 88 pounds. Fresh cow management was an- a 100% stocking density, cows averaged 73.6 pounds of milk other area examined. and 1.62% feed efciency. There was a signicant In pens with 130% stockdifference in milk yield ing density, cows averaged when fresh cows were 72.7 pounds, and feed eflocated in a separate pen ciency was the same as in compared to fresh cows pens with 100% density. sharing a pen with sick The bigger difference cows. On farms where was seen at a stocking denseparate pens were prosity of 153% which had vided, cows averaged more than 900 cows in one 96.7 pounds of milk verpen averaging 70.4 pounds sus 92.3 pounds for fresh and 1.59% feed efciency. cows housed with sick Karen Luchterhand “There was a very cows. Fresh cows housed Ph.D., C.O.W.S. Program small difference in milk in a lactating pen averyield between pens with 100% and aged 94.3 pounds. Feed barrier design in high-lactat- 130% stocking density and no differing pens favored headlocks over a post ence in feed efciency,” Luchterhand and rail system. Cows in a headlock said. “There is a threshold for every system averaged 96.2 pounds of milk farm, and for this dairy, it looks like it’s while cows in a post and rail system av- 130%.” When Luchterhand and her team eraged 92.7 pounds. “We’re not talking about lockup conduct stall cleanliness evaluations times as obviously that would be detri- on farms, they rank up to 20 stalls on mental if you’re excessively locking up a scale of 1 to 3 where 1 equals dry, 2 cows,” Luchterhand said. “Headlocks equals wet and 3 equals manure/soil. “For each unit of increase, we nd are protective. If you have a boss cow, it takes a lot more work for her to pick that you expect to lose 5 pounds of out cows in a headlock versus a post milk,” Luchterhand said. Luchterhand also shared data on and rail where she can just bulldoze what the C.O.W.S. Program’s top 10 down the row.” Luchterhand said in higher stock- component herds look like. The top ing densities, there may be a benet of herd came from Michigan and had a using headlocks, but she and her team combined fat and protein of 8.13%. are still going through the data to con- Cows at this farm are deep bedded with rm that thought. Luchterhand also shared data from a case study done on a commercial dairy farm in Texas, examining the effects of lock-up time in early-lactation animals. “In this study, we wanted to know if we were making our healthy cows sick,” Luchterhand said. There were 200 cows per treatment — either a two-hour lockup for the rst 21 days in milk or zero hours of lockup. Cows that did not get locked up had greater milk yield, lower somatic cell count, 20% fewer cases of mastitis, a lower incidence of lameness, and a rst
reclaimed sand in a barn featuring tunnel ventilation and fans for pen cooling. Cows are fed twice a day and milked three times a day and spend 3.6 hours daily away from their pen that has a stocking density of 144%. The No. 2 herd is located in Utah and had a combined fat and protein of 8.10%. Cows at this farm are deep bedded with dried manure solids in a barn featuring natural ventilation and sprinklers. Cows are fed twice a day and milked three times per day and spend 3.8 hours daily away from their pen that has a stocking density of 127%. “All top 10 herds are either deep- or shallow-bedded, primarily with sand,” Luchterhand said. “Only one mattress herd made it into the top 13.” The top 10 herds had a combined fat and protein range from 7.28% to 8.13%. Six farms use natural ventilation, three use tunnel ventilation and one is cross-ventilated. Six of the farms use sprinklers, and all farms milk three times per day. Time away from the pen ranged from 2.9 to 4.85 hours per day, and stocking density ranged from 98% to 144%. Most of the farms feed two to three times a day. In closing, Luchterhand said feed availability and feed delivery are two items farmers should review on their dairy. “Consider more frequent pushups,” she said. “Also, what are lockup times? I’ve been to dairies where I’ve seen the high pen locked up for ve hours. Nobody was in the pen, and cows were done eating. We need to avoid doing this.”
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Page 34 • Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023
Internal parasites can eat prots
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External parasites, like ies, mites and lice, are often easy to detect when observing dairy cattle behavior and appearance. Severe inltrations of internal parasites can result in roughness of hair coat, anemia, edema and diarrhea. However, the subclinical impact of internal parasites is largely hidden, yet costly. According to a study at Iowa State University about ve years ago, undetected subclinical disease caused by internal parasites can cost $190 per animal. The greatest impact Something to Ruminate On internal parasites have is generally reduced feed intake, which means reduced intake of essential nutrients, including protein, energy, minerals and vitamins. The damage done by internal parasites to the gastrointestinal tract can also reduce absorption of these nutrients critical to cattle health and wellbeing. By Barry Visser Parasite control in heifNutritionist ers Strategic deworming in growing heifers improves weight gain and overall performance. Calves under 1 year of age are more susceptible than older cattle. Older cattle have been frequently exposed to the parasites and develop a degree of resistance. The lifecycle of internal parasites in young heifers is three to four weeks. The general recommendation is to deworm at least once during the summer and in late fall. Assuming this fall treatment occurs after a hard frost, heifers do not need to be treated at spring turnout. Latefall deworming kills the internal parasites and heifers should not be at risk for re-exposure in the barn during the winter. What about the milk cows? In the lactating dairy cow, the presence of internal parasites results in reduced milk production. Changes in how cows are housed and managed have generally reduced the need to deworm lactating cattle at the same intensity as heifers on pasture. The rst step in a deworming program for lactating dairy cows is determining the parasite contamination potential. Dairy cattle on rotationally grazed pasture during lactation present the highest risk for internal parasitism. Alternatively, lactating cows on low-density dry lots or in connement have an extremely low potential for internal parasite infestation. Many herds house their dry cows on dirt lots or pasture where parasite exposure is the highest. Even though the lactating cows are in connement, they could carry worm loads from the dry period. Since dairy cows are most likely to show a positive response during early lactation, the rst choice for a deworming program is to treat soon after calving. If prefresh dry cows are housed in connement, this may be a logical time to treat as well. By removing all the internal parasites during the prefresh period, the cow will be better able to handle stress associated with transition and early lactation. Transition group deworming also provides a safety net for heifers entering the herd and ensures that parasites will not affect milk production, growth or reproduction. Deworm according to your herd’s needs A variety of products are available for control of internal parasites. Pour-on and feed-grade additives are the most common deworming products for dairy cattle. Note that certain products are approved for dairy heifers but not for adult cattle. Work with your veterinarian and herd health advisors to determine which products t the needs of your dairy. Implementing an effective parasite control program will allow your herd to maintain optimal health status and maximize performance. Barry Visser is a nutritionist for Vita Plus.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023 • Page 35
Undeniably Dairy grant making a difference in Minnesota Undeniably Dairy grants provide Midwest dairy farmers the opportunity to connect with their communities and share their story. These grants are used for local promotion efforts to showcase that dairy is good for people, the planet and families. Farmers can use the grants to bring dairy to unexpected places, host on-farm events, engage with Generation Z and so much more. No activity is the same, but one thing is for certain — allowing farmers to showcase what they do to those around them is always a win. This year has blown me away as I have seen Undeniably Dairy grants used for amazing dairy promotion. I love the ability to brainstorm and work with Minnesota farmers as we create local activations across the state that truly impact their communities. I appreciate the dairy farmers’ commitment to this grant program and am happy to see many repeat applicants each year. I am proud to have helped By Shannon Watrin award 72 grants of 76 Midwest Dairy applicants to Minnesota dairy farmers in 2023. I have enjoyed seeing the diverse project ideas farmers submit for grants and am very proud to have been working on the grant program since its creation. I have seen dairy promoted in impactful ways, from funding equipment for school milk programs, bringing chocolate milk to high school athletes, on-farm events and even local promotions by county farmer groups. Some past grants that have stood out to me include a farmer who purchased and supplied Undeniably Dairy branded sippy cups to county youth through the Women Infants and Children program and local day cares. This effort made milk consumption easier for these groups and promoted milk for growing kids. Another more recent project included funding Undeniably Dairy branded popcorn bags used in a high school concession stand to distribute the snack to attendees. The variety and scale of these projects always impress me as Minnesota dairy farmers rise to the challenge of reaching Gen Z with new and inventive ways. I have also seen Undeniably Dairy grants used to share dairy’s story in the classroom. Another featured project connected a farmer with a middle school science teacher hosting a career day on the farm. This allowed them to share the various partners working on a dairy farm (employees, veteri-
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narians, nutritionists, A.I. industry representatives, welders, mechanics, etc.). Each partner was featured at stations around the farm. This event showcased the career opportunities involved and their connection back to science in the classroom. It is no secret how impactful the Gen Z audience is and how important it is we reach them with dairy messaging. Throughout the past few years, this group has become a massive target for checkoff, and Undeniably Dairy grants are a great way to reach them. Midwest Dairy is focused on Gen Z because we have an opportunity to make sizeable changes to grow sales and trust for dairy with this age
group, making them high-impact consumers. Gen Z is on track to be the best-educated generation yet and to have approximately $360 billion in disposable income. This doesn’t include the inuence they also have on their parents. Research also shows that trust in dairy nutrition and sustainability drops from young adolescents to young adults. If we don’t reach Gen Z where they are, they’ll turn to other foods and beverages that align with their wants, needs and values. Undeniably Dairy grants are available to Midwest Dairy farmers, dairy groups and agricultural organizations to help turn great ideas for promoting the dairy community to consumers into reality.
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.
Jury duty
Page 36 • Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023
It was quite unsettling some years back when I received that letter from the clerk of courts. My rst reaction was, “What now? Am I being sued? Do I have a pile of unpaid parking tickets? Will I have to go to jail? Should I turn myself in? Should I run off to Rio where I might be forced to endure sunny beaches and cold mojitos?” Heart in my mouth, I opened the letter. My relief was instant. I had been selected at random (using a Ouija board, I suspect) to potentially serve as a juror. All the clerk of courts wanted from me was to ll out and return a juror-related form. I did so and then promptly forgot about it. The clerk of courts wrote to me again about a month later. The second missive wasn’t nearly as benign as the rst one. I was commanded, under penalty of
law, to report for jury duty on a particular day. I checked my calendar. No problem. Then I saw what time they wanted me to be there: 8:45 in the morning. Were they crazy over there at the courthouse? Who is free at that time of the day? Who on earth would have their cows milked and their chores nished by then? I decided to dash off a disdainful dispatch to the judge outlining my outrage. I opted against it when I realized that it’s probably not prudent to provoke a person who possesses the power to put you in prison. For the next several days, I ruminated about jury duty and began to think better of it. After all, serving on a jury is a chance for regular citizens to participate in our system of justice. Think of the
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sense of duty. Think of the responsibility. Think of the power. I could imagine a tense scene in the jury room. The jury is hopelessly deadlocked; the air crackles with emotion. A critical decision has to be made. I whip out my Magic 8 Ball, shake it and read its oracular message (signs point to yes). The impasse is thus resolved, Dear County Agent Guy and the word goes out: We’ll have the superlarge deluxe combo pizza with extra cheese. I began to think that I might actually enjoy jury duty. I brushed up on my courtroom lingo. Objection! Sustained! If the glove don’t t, you must acquit! I beBy Jerry Nelson gan to binge old reruns Columnist of “Ally McBeal” and “Night Court.” On the appointed morning, I rushed through chores and, by skipping a few things, was able to get to the courthouse in the nick of time. About 40 prospective jurors milled around in the hallway. A bailiff soon instructed us to take seats in the courtroom. The clerk of courts appeared and said that our rst order of business was to watch a video about jury duty. In the video, a perky young woman told us — in a serious yet perky fashion — that jury duty is a serious matter and one of the highest callings for ordinary citizens. The ner points of jury duty were highlighted via scenes acted out by ordinary folks pretending to be jurors. The video also featured a guy who was obviously a magistrate in real life. Nobody can attain that level of stone-faced seriousness without years of practice. After the video ended, the judge, the defendant and his attorney, and various ofcials entered the courtroom and took their places. A laptop was used to randomly whittle the number of prospective jurors down to 18. I made the cut and was instructed to sit in the jury box. Oh, boy. The attorneys for each side questioned us. Did any of us know the defendant or his attorney? Did any of us watch the low-speed Bronco chase? Is there any reason why you can’t serve on this jury today? I briey considered asking if I could have a special recess so that I could go home and clean the barn. I decided against it and instead concentrated on appearing as serious and stone-faced as possible. The attorneys from each side sat at a table and passed a legal pad back and forth. They took turns scribbling on it and reduced the number of jurors to 12. I couldn’t believe it when my name wasn’t included on the nal list. No one had been more seriously stone-faced than me. I felt the sting of being unselected. Oh well, maybe I will be called up again. Next time, I will show what a good juror I am by bringing my Magic 8 Ball with me instead of leaving it in the pickup. Guilty or not? Umm ... concentrate and ask again. Jerry is a recovering dairy farmer from Volga, South Dakota. He and his wife, Julie, have two grown sons and live on the farm where Jerry’s great-grandfather homesteaded over 110 years ago. Jerry works full time for Dairy Star as a staff writer and ad salesman. Feel free to email him at jerry.n@dairystar. com.
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Autumn reminders from the FSA ofce
Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023 • Page 37
By Steve Frericks
Stearns County FSA executive director
Central Minnesota agriculture is simply amazing. We often become complacent in our little world and tend to forget just how impressive our ag community really is every day. The efciency in getting crops harvested when the time is right, the production per dairy cow or even the quality of forages being harvested is impressive without question. We have seen this rst-hand with how crop genetics have impacted our world during a drought year. Crop reports are coming in much better than expected, which hopefully is taking away some of the stress being felt by many. As you race to the nish line to get this crop in, take the time to enjoy why you have chosen this occupation. Be proud of your hard work and the fruits of your labor. The staff at FSA certainly is proud of you. Eligibility for elections for the 2024 county committee The Farm Service Agency county committee elections will begin Nov. 6 when ballots are mailed to eligible voters. The deadline to return ballots to local FSA ofces, or to be postmarked, is Dec. 4. County committee members are an important component of the operations of FSA and provide a link between the agricultural community and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers and ranchers elected to county committees help deliver FSA programs at the local level, applying their knowledge and judgment to make decisions on commodity price support programs; conservation programs; incentive, indemnity and disaster programs for some commodities; emergency programs and eligibility. FSA committees operate within ofcial regulations designed to carry out federal laws. Newly elected committee members will take ofce Jan. 1, 2024.
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Foreign buyers notication The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act requires all foreign owners of U.S. agricultural land to report their holdings to the secretary of agriculture. Foreign persons who have purchased or sold agricultural land in the county are required to report the transaction to FSA within 90 days of the closing. Failure to submit the AFIDA form could result in civil penalties of up to 25% of the fair market value of the property. County government ofces, realtors, attorneys and others involved in real estate transactions are reminded to notify foreign investors of these reporting requirements. The data gained from these disclosures is used in the preparation of periodic reports to the president and Congress concerning the effect of such holdings upon family farms and rural communities. Update your records FSA is cleaning up our producer record database and needs your help. Please report to our ofce any changes of address, zip code, phone number, email address or an incorrect name or business name on le. You should also report changes in your farm operation, like the addition of a farm by lease or purchase. You should also report any changes to your operation in which you reorganize to form a trust, LLC or other legal entity. FSA and National Resources Conservation Service program participants are required to promptly report changes in their farming operation to the county committee in writing and to update their Farm Operating Plan on form CCC-902. To update your records, contact your local county USDA Service Center. Protect your USDA benets As you consider tiling activities, removing trees or bringing land into production, be sure your proposed activity is in compliance with Highly Erodible Land Conservation and Wetland Conservation provisions and, therefore, not jeopardizing your
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All is well
Page 38 • Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023
At choir practice last week, the director asked us to share the highlight of our day. Many said a long walk through a tree park as colorful leaves danced to the ground. Another member said an extra long nap. My highlight was making it to choir practice. One of the tenors said his highlight hadn’t happened yet. He was waiting to see how his day would end, maybe anticipating a special moment before the day was done? His answer intrigued me and caused me to ponder. Could the best part of the day be at the end of day as you crawl in bed giving thanks that all is well? Reecting on divine intervention in the large moments is easy. Sometimes it takes a while to spot the small, quiet moments which are overshadowed by the pace of a busy day. I was never so thankful to crawl in bed a few nights ago, giving thanks that everyone was safe and sound. It had been one of those days where it was a struggle but could have been so much worse. I was thankful for helpful neighbors, understanding state patrol ofcers
and snowplows. Yup … it is one of those stories you’ll never forget and never want to do again. Harvest had been going smoothly. The high-moisture corn was a bit on the dry side, but the yields had been phenomenal. Yes, we had been in a severe drought situation all summer, but we were thankful for the irrigation system to supplement our feed supply. Recently, the custom combine started chewing through the dry corn. It was bouncing around 18% moisture, so we needed to ll the drying bin before hauling it to the elevator. A few days later, it was ready to be moved south to be ground into chicken feed. We are not large grain operators, so we don’t have the big equipment to haul large amounts of corn. We hook the large tractor up to two large gravity boxes and start the slow trip south. The only way to reach the elevator is to drive along the edge of U.S. Highway 10 with ashers and slow-moving vehicle signs in plain sight. The speed limit on this stretch of road is 65 mph, with most people cruising at 70. We have less than 10
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miles to travel on this road. We have been fortunate to only have one at tire on this run over the last 20 years, but that all changed with this load. Mark was almost halfway there when he felt a shimmy and a shake. His rst thought was, “This isn’t good.” The next thing he saw was a tire and rim Just Thinking Out Loud passing him by as the tractor lurched with the sudden impact of a wagon wheel spindle burying itself into the pavement. Cars and semi-trucks whizzed past as Mark tried to assess the situation. The rst wagon had lost its right rear wheel. The left front end was up in the air. The hitch to the tractor By Natalie Schmitt was the only thing keeping Columnist it from ipping over into the ditch. Luckily, Mark had come to a sudden stop in a turn lane, the widest part of the highway. He gured we were going to need more than family help to get things back on the road again. His rst call was to Austin. They came up with a plan of how to unload the wagon, but they were going to need special help. The next call was to the Benton County Sheriff’s Ofce. Austin explained what had happened and that we were going to need to close a lane of trafc on the highway. I jumped in our farm truck and popped in over at the neighbors’ house to borrow one of their gravity boxes. Austin grabbed a tractor and headed up to Al’s to hitch up the grain auger. Al was driving south to St. Cloud and came upon Mark with the tilted wagons. He turned around and headed back home to hitch up to the trailer to bring a skid loader, pallet fork and chains to help move the wagon off the road. As I reached the top of the hill leading down to Little Rock Lake’s entrance into the Mississippi River, I spotted the cavalry. Two snowplow trucks were there with ashing arrows directing trafc into a single lane. At the bottom of the hill were red and blue ashing lights slowing the trafc down even more. Two state patrol ofcers were on the scene to help. While we waited for the rest of the rescue team to arrive, Mark and I secured a large drive-way just off the highway to park and repair our damaged wagon. We then unhitched the rear gravity box and moved it to the front of the turn lane, waiting to continue its journey. I was never so thankful to have a swing auger as we lined the elevator in the blocked lane of trafc and lled the neighbors’ gravity box. As Austin shoveled the grain from the back of the tilted box, Mark and I helped to pull the corn into the hopper. I could feel the levitated wheel crawl up the back of my leg as the weight of the corn shifted in the box. I was grateful for not being able to unhitch the tractor and the wagon. The angle of the hitch prevented us from pulling the pin. That pin was keeping everything upright. With the wagon unloaded, it was now time to move it out of the way. One of the ofcers suggested how to wrap the chain around the axle and pallet fork to create a makeshift wheel. Once secured, it was time to slowly hobble off the road with our wounded box. In a few hours, there was little sign of what had happened or could have happened on this stretch of highway as cars and semis resumed their cruising speeds. We were so lucky the right wheel bearing went out. If it had been on the left side, things could have been tragic. As I crawled into bed that night, all I could do was celebrate that the day was done and all was well. As their four children pursue dairy careers off the family farm, Natalie and Mark are starting a new adventure of milking registered Holsteins just because they like good cows on their farm north of Rice, Minnesota.
Vanilla meatballs Fall has arrived. All of us here – humans and cows – are enjoying the cooler temperatures. We’ve actually been getting rain, so the cows can graze again. On the sunny days when fall is at its best, the cows take their sweet time coming in from pasture, seemingly en-
Dairy Good Life
By Sadie Frericks Columnist
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NEW! NEW! VET JACKET LONG SHOULDER GUARD
Best meatballs yet 1 pound ground beef or pork* 1 egg 1/4 cup cottage cheese or plain Greek yogurt or sour cream 1/4 cup oat bran 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, beat the egg lightly. Stir in the cottage cheese, oat bran, and seasonings until well blended. Add the ground beef and mix completely. Divide mixture into meatballs and place on baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until meatballs are browned. *I usually make a triple batch of these meatballs, using 2 pounds of ground beef and 1 pound of ground pork. Variations: – Garlic and herb meatballs: Increase garlic powder to 1 teaspoon. Replace Italian seasoning with 1/4 teaspoon each sage, rosemary, thyme, and savory or marjoram. – Maple bacon meatballs: Replace salt and seasonings with 1 tablespoon McCormick Grill Mates Smokehouse Maple seasoning. Add 1 cup crumbled bacon. – Stroganoff meatballs: Use sour cream, not cottage cheese or yogurt. Replace Italian seasoning with 1 teaspoon paprika. Add 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce. – Thai meatballs: Use plain Greek yogurt. Replace oat bran with 2 tablespoons coconut our. Omit Italian seasoning. Add 1 teaspoon lemongrass and 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger. – Breakfast meatballs: Use only ground pork. Replace Italian seasoning with 1 teaspoon dried sage. Sadie and her husband, Glen, milk 100 cows near Melrose, Minnesota. They have three children: Dan, Monika, and Daphne. Sadie also writes a blog at www. dairygoodlife.com. She can be reached at sadiefrericks@gmail.com.
CK
20 SERIES
joying every available minute of their favorite season. The cooler temperatures also mean less grilling and more baking. Fewer steaks and burgers, more roasts and meatballs. My go-to meatball recipe is one that was developed in my kitchen over the years. I’ve been recording all of my kitchen creations in a blue notebook since 2014 – recipes developed prior were written on scraps of paper and tucked into a green folder. There are multiple iterations of these meatballs in the pages of my notebook. The rst meatball entry dates back to 2016. The recipes that followed include trials of binders, seasonings, and baking temperatures, etc. Almost three years ago now, I settled on egg, Greek yogurt, and oat bran as the best binders for meatballs. Then, a couple months ago, I went to make meatballs and realized we were out of yogurt. There was cottage cheese in the fridge, so I tried that and we liked the resulting meatballs even more. In the margins around the basic recipe, I’ve inked all of the variations I’ve tried, with “Excellent!” noted next to the ones that turned out well. In one corner of the page, an entry reads: “Made with vanilla Greek yogurt by mistake. Oops.” Chalk it up to distracted cooking. I was probably rushing, and nothing good happens when we rush. I had grabbed the vanilla yogurt out of the fridge instead of the plain. I didn’t notice until I was mixing everything together, smelled vanilla, and realized my mistake. There was no way I was wasting that food and my efforts, so we had vanilla meatballs for supper that night. They actually weren’t that bad, but I wouldn’t recommend them. In my notebook, there’s an inscription next to this meatball recipe that says, “Best meatballs yet!” in extra large handwriting. I used to write “best ever” next to recipes, but “ever” signals
nality. Yet implies that, perhaps, this won’t be the nal version. I’m always tinkering with recipes. In fact, as I’ve been writing this, I’ve been pondering whether heavy cream could be substituted for the cottage cheese. I used cottage cheese in a hotdish the other day when I didn’t have enough heavy cream and the result was delicious. Dairy ingredients are delightfully interchangeable. I believe “yet” is a great maxim to embrace in more than just cooking. All that we endeavor to do is better when we’re open to trying something new, – trying again, and continually striving for the best.
Dairy Star • Saturday, October 28, 2023 • Page 39
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