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DAIRY ST R
November 27, 2021
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 23, No. 19
Planning for the future Bednars expand herd, update facilities for son’s return By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
WILLOW RIVER, Minn. – In doubling the family’s herd and renovating housing facilities to accommodate the growth, Matt Bednar and his dad, Doug, are in the midst of planning for the future; a future that has Matt taking over the dairy operation. “It feels good to have Matt back home,” Doug said. “He’s always had an interest, and now this is taking more work off of me and setting him up for when he can work on the farm full time.” The Bednars milk 90 cows in Pine County near Willow River. Doug grew up on the farm and maintained a herd of 35 before Matt returned in June 2020. Today, the father-son duo shares responsibilities on the farm while Matt also juggles a full-time job as a mechanic for the county. The days begin around 4:30 a.m.
with Matt starting milking and completing other chores before leaving the farm. Doug then steps in and completes what is left unnished. Doug’s wife, Brenda, and daughters, Jessi and Sami, and Matt’s girlfriend, Anna Westerlund, also help on the dairy. On the weekends, Matt is available for the entirety of milking and chores. “I always knew I wanted to farm,” Matt said. “The balance between farming and being a mechanic is tough but can be nice. This way, I don’t need to pull off the farm’s income to survive.” Growing up, Matt always had a small handful of cattle a part of the family’s herd. He maintained that small number while attending Central Lakes College in Staples and following college graduation when he moved to southern Minnesota. During that time, Doug would manage the farm and Matt would assist on the weekends. “Matt and Jessie always had cattle here growing up,” Doug said. “Matt’s been right here with me for as long as I can remember. So, if he wants to dairy farm and make this work, this farm is here for him.”
JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
MaƩ Bednar and his dad, Doug, review breeding records at their dairy Nov. 11 near Willow River, Minnesota. In June 2020, MaƩ returned to the farm full Ɵme where he and his family milk 90 cows.
Turn to BEDNARS | Page 6
Fiƫng exibility into new faciliƟes Sonnek Farms upgrades to double-10 parlor By Sherry Newell Contributing writer
SHERRY NEWELL/DAIRY STAR
Eric Sonnek and his partner, Jon HackeƩ, stand in a new double-10 rapid-exit parlor on their farm near Foreston, Minnesota. Sonnek and HackeƩ work together caring for the 100-cow milking herd, heifers, crops and addiƟonal acƟviƟes such as geneƟcs and social media.
FORESTON, Minn. – In the 12 years since Eric Sonnek returned to the family dairy farm near Foreston, a lot has changed. There is a new calf and heifer barn with automatic feeders. Forage is no longer made into small bales but is bagged after custom harvesting. Cows are fed a total mixed ration in a new compostbedded barn. While adding one more thing this year – a new milking parlor – reects Sonnek’s optimism about dairying, the 43-year-old also knows the entire dairy industry has changed and is sure to change even more in the future. “ We h a v e j u s t r e a l l y concentrated on keeping things exible,” said Sonnek, who took over managing Sonnek Farms from his parents, Norb (Junior) and Judy Sonnek. The couple are
still part of the ownership; Judy does the farm’s bookwork with Junior serving in a role his son calls grounds crew. “The compost barn could easily become a beef barn. Even our parlor is built so garage doors could be installed on one end,” Sonnek said, noting how dairy has been disappearing from the Mille Lacs County landscape surrounding the farm. But it would be a mistake to think Sonnek is not passionate about dairying. Since moving into the parlor six months ago, he has expanded from 70 to 100 cows and earned his rst Progressive Breeders Registry designation from Holstein Association USA. His partnership in Pit Crew Genetics with the Foss and Trapp families, focused on Brown Swiss cattle, has had multiple successes in show and sale rings across the country. Most of the Pit Crew milking cows are housed at the Sonnek farm. Sonnek, with partner Jon Hackett, also owns cows under the Uffda prex. The two have a small Hereford enterprise with Hackett’s father and brother, named SHHH Herefords. It was born from a desire to provide
docile 4-H animals for Hackett’s nieces. Still, milking productive cows is what pays the bills, Sonnek said, and replacing the tie stall barn with a compost pack and parlor is helping move the herd in the right direction. Prioritizing cow comfort was one of the reasons he chose a bedded pack rather than free stalls. “We’ve always done what’s right for the cows,” Sonnek said. “Now they are more comfortable. They get more exercise; they are able to move. We also have a young person milking, and he can manage everything better now. Foot health is better with the foot baths we added and CowManager is helping us with reproduction.” In addition, milking takes half the time. Decisions about how to create the new facilities came more easily to Sonnek because of his 10 years as an extension educator after graduation from the University of Minnesota in dairy science and having his parents serving as supportive sounding boards.
Turn to SONNEK | Page 7
Page 2 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021
DAIRY ST R www.dairystar.com
ISSN 020355 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave. Sauk Centre, MN 56378 Phone: (320) 352-6303 Fax: (320) 352-5647 Published by Dairy Star LLC General Manager/Editor Mark Klaphake - mark.k@dairystar.com 320-352-6303 (ofce) 320-248-3196 (cell) 320-352-0062 (home) Ad Composition Nancy Powell 320-352-6303 nancy.p@dairystar.com Editorial Staff Jennifer Coyne - Assistant Editor (320) 352-6303 • jenn@dairystar.com Danielle Nauman - Staff Writer (608) 487-1101 • danielle.n@dairystar.com Stacey Smart - Staff Writer (262) 442-6666 • stacey.s@dairystar.com Abby Wiedmeyer - Staff Writer 608-487-4812 • abby.w@dairystar.com Kate Rechtzigel - Staff Writer kate.r@dairystar.com Maria Bichler - Copy Editor 320-352-6303 Consultant Jerry Jennissen 320-346-2292 Advertising Sales Main 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 Bob Leukam (Northern MN, East Central MN) 320-260-1248 (cell) bob.l@star-pub.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) 320-250-2884 • amanda.h@dairystar.com Megan Stuessel (Western Wisconsin) 608-387-1202 • megan.s@dairystar.com Kati Kindschuh (Northeast WI and Upper MI) 920-979-5284 • kati.k@dairystar.com Deadlines The deadline for news and advertising in the Dairy Star is 5 p.m. Friday the week before publication. Subscriptions One year subscription $35.00, outside the U.S. $110.00. 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 LLC.
The Dairy Star is published semi-monthly by Dairy Star, 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.
North America dealers. Dairy supply chain challenges heard in White House roundtable
Dairy Prole brought to you by your
The National Milk Producers Federation and United States Dairy Export Council met with the Biden Administration’s Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force in a virtual meeting to discuss the impact on exports. “These issues warrant the focus of the entire federal government in order to address the negative economic effects on both businesses and consumers,” said Jaime Castaneda, executive vice president of policy for NMPF and USDEC. A meeting is being sought for food and ag industry CEOs to discuss ways the federal government can take immediate action to resolve the supply chain crisis.
International shenanigans hurt trade Former USDA Undersecretary of Trade Ted McKinney says international trade for U.S. agriculture is alive and well. The pandemic disrupted export activity. McKinney said trade is inuenced by what he calls international shenanigans. An example is the empty containers leaving U.S. ports. “It’s almost a crime against humanity,” said McKinney. McKinney was the rst undersecretary that focused exclusively on trade. The Biden Administration has not yet lled that position. “They’ve got to get going because it is a role that is critically important. If you’re not present (in international markets), you’re forgotten,” McKinney said. He currently serves as the CEO for the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. Competition issues to garner more attention The White House has announced its intention to nominate Jonathan Kanter as the assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division at the Justice Department. Kanter
is a partner in a law rm that focuses on antitrust issues. Kanter has promised to enforce antitrust provisions within many sectors, including agriculture.
Ag Insider
Ag banker survey shows protable year Compared to one year ago, 70% of ag bankers said overall farm protability was higher in 2021. This is the rst time since the survey began in 2016 that it found a majority of ag lenders By Don Wick reported in increase in overall Columnist protability. The annual survey conducted by the American Bankers Association and Farmer Mac found 38% of net farm income came from government support. There was less demand for farm loans this past year, but lenders expect that to change in 2022. Milk production declines in November Report In the November World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, USDA forecast 2021 milk production at 226.4 billion pounds. That’s down 600 million pounds from last month due to a reduction in the projections for cow numbers and slower growth in milk per cow volumes. The 2022 milk production outlook is for 228.1 billion pounds, down 1.6 billion from the last report. Turn to AG INSIDER | Page 5
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021 • Page 3
It’s all inside... Columnists Ag Insider
Pages 2, 8 First Section
Dear County Agent Guy
Vergas
Sauk Centre
Foreston
First Section: Pages3 7 - 38
First Section: Pages 34 - 35
First Section: Pages 1, 7
Schlauderaffs tag bucks after hiatus from stands
Page 30 First Section
Klaphake claims high school state title
Willow River
Sonnek Farms upgrades to double-10 parlor
Bednars expand herd, update facilities for son’s return First Section: Pages 1, 6
Beltrami
Douglas
Tripp Todd
Gregory
Charles Mix
on
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Lake
Moody
McCook Minnehaha
Hutchinson
Turner
Clay
Jackson
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Bon Yankton Homme
Nobles
FROM OUR SIDE OF THE FENCE:
Lyon
Osceola
Plymouth
Palo Alto
e Buena Vista
Ida
Monona
First Section: Pages 15 - 16
Clay
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Ch
Woodbury
What are you thankful for this year?
n inso Emmet
Dick
O’Brien
Sioux
Crawford Carroll
Harrison Shelby
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Mitchell Howard
o
Floyd
Guthrie
Dallas
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Story
Black Hawk
Polk
Tama
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Fayette an
Benton
Mills
Zone 1
Goodwin
Zone 2
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Mo
Page
Taylor
Modak Dairy has built new facility for raising calves
Union ld
Rin
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Clarke
Dela
Jones
Linn
Jackson Clinton
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Jasper
Iowa
Lucas
Decatur Wayne
Monroe Wapello se
Ap
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Davis
on Cedar
s
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Jo
Madison Warren Marion Mahaska Keokuk
Adair
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Bu
Muscatine Louisa
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Henry Des
Wa
Pottawattamie Cass
Clayton
Bremer
Wright Franklin Butler
Boone
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Ch
Webster Hamilton Hardin Grundy
Greene
First Section: Pages 10 - 11
Houston
Po
Au d
Worth
Winona
Fillimore
Mower
Hancock Cerro Gordo
ldt
mb
Hu
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Sac
ago
neb
Win
Kossuth
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ca
Po
Freeborn
Faribault
Martin
Voth family has been farming since 1877
Wabasha
Cottonwood Watonwan Blue Earth Waseca Steele Dodge Olmsted
Murray
Rock
Goodhue
Goodhue
Rice
e
Mellette
Bennett
Miner
Nicollet Brown
iek
Shannon
Aurora
Redwood
ake
Brule
Jackson
Sanborn
Lyman Da vi so n
Custer
Jones
Jerauld
Lyon
sh
Buffalo
Brookings
Dakota
Scott
Sibley
ne
Kingsbury
Carver
am
Beadle
Hughes
Hennepin McLeod
Renville
Yellow Medicine
All
Hand
Haakon Pennington
Deuel
Hamlin
in
Clark
Wright
Meeker
ton
Hyde Stanley
Anoka Kandiyohi
Chippewa
Lac Qui Parle
Codington
Spink
Ziebach
Isanti
ing
Faulk
Potter
n
Lawrence
Sherburne
Swift
W
Day
Stearns
Pope
Grant
Dewey
Meade
Benton
Stevens
Big Stone
sh
Edmunds
Morrison
Douglas
go
Walworth
Grant
First Section: Pages 23
Pine
Mille Lacs
sh iek
Brown
Carlton
Todd
Lincoln
Corson
Roberts
Marshall
McPherson
Otter Tail
University of Minnesota wins judging contest at NAILE
Aitkin Crow Wing
we
Campbell
Sargent
Tra ver se
McIntosh
Sioux
The “Mielke” Market Perkins Weekly
Richland Dickey
St. Paul Cass
ms ey
Emmons
Pipestone
Grant
Ransom
LaMoure
Logan
Becker
Clay
Ra
Cass
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Bames
Wilkin
Stutsman
Morton
Dairy Good Hettinger Life Page 33 First Section Adams
Kidder
Lake
Itasca
Washington
Mah
Oliver
Cook
Kanabec
en nom
Norman
Sully
Fall River
Polk
Trail
Steele
Su
Griggs
Le
Foster
Hubbard
Sheridan Mercer
St. Louis
Red Lake
Wadena
Wells
Koochiching
Pennington
Grand Forks
Eddy
McLean
Pages 10 - 11 Second Section
Butte
Lake of the Woods
Marshall
isa Ch
Harding
Roseau
Walsh
Nelson
Stark
Bowman
Kittson
Benson
Burleigh
Slope
Pembina
Ramsey
McHenry
Ward
Billings Golden Valley
Cavalier
Towner
Pierce
Just Thinking McKenzie Out Loud Page 32 Dunn First Section
Rolette
on
Page 31 Williams First Section Mountrail
Bottineau
ub
Renville
io
Divide
Clearwater
Something to Ruminate Burke On
f
Jef
Van Buren
Scott
Goodhue
Kids Corner: The Betcher family
Third Section: Pages 8 - 9
Moines
Lee
Second Section: Pages 3- 4
Ridgeway
For additional stories from our other zone, log on to www.dairystar.com
New Munich
Massmanns reflect on help following hip replacement First Section: Pages 8 - 9
Ridgeway
Bohrs reclaim sand on growing Iowa dairy
Working Youth: Addison Wemark Third Section: Page 7
Third Section: Pages 3 - 4
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021 • Page 5
ConƟnued from AG INSIDER | Page 2 Dairy consumption data released Compared to the previous year, U.S. per capita dairy consumption increased 3 pounds to 655 pounds per person. Per capita dairy production consumption is up 27 pounds over the past ve years. After record high cheese consumption in 2019, a total of 38.5 pounds of cheese was enjoyed in 2020. That’s a decline of four ounces. American cheese consumption was up slightly, but less Swiss, blue, brick and Muenster cheeses were eaten this past year. For the fourth straight year, U.S. butter consumption is up with per capita usage at 6.3 pounds. There was a small increase in yogurt consumption in 2020, totaling 13.8 pounds per person. U.S. uid milk consumption totaled 141 pounds on a per capita basis. That’s unchanged from 2019 and the rst time per capita milk consumption did not decline since 2008. The pandemic is credited with stopping the trend downward in milk consumption.
Kevin Paap did not seek reelection. During his time as president, Paap nurtured agriculture’s next generation and brought many young farmers into leadership. “In agriculture, sustainability is always our goal,” Paap said. “On the family farm or farm organizations, it is that generational sustainability and that’s why when you’re in the Minnesota Farm Bureau ofce you see that 4-H and FFA ag. Not only are they our next leaders in Farm Bureau, but our next leaders in our community.” Paap also credits Farm Bureau for giving him an opportunity to work with a lot of great people.
Dairy innovation grants awarded USDA is investing over $20 million in grants for Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives. These grants provide technical assistance and sub-grants to dairy farmers and businesses to assist them with business planning, marketing and branding. A total of $18.4 million will go to current efforts at the University of Wisconsin, University of Tennessee and the Vermont Agency for Food and Marketing. California State UniversityFresno received $1.8 million. The Wisconsin project is a partnership between the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Dairy Research and the Wisconsin Cheesemakers Association, and works with regional collaborators in ve Midwestern states: Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois.
Leahy will not seek reelection Former Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy has announced he will not seek reelection next year. The Vermont lawmaker was elected in 1974 and is the longest serving member in the Senate. Leahy, 81, has been a leading advocate for nutrition programs, dairy policy and organic agriculture. South Dakotan to lead RMA The Biden Administration has named a South Dakotan to lead USDA’s Risk Management Agency. Marcia Bunger served as a county executive director for the Farm Service Agency, working closely with Pine Ridge tribal leaders on farm programs. Bunger also spent time as a crop insurance specialist with Farm Credit Services of America and is the treasurer of the South Dakota Democratic Party. USDA said Bunger is the rst woman and the rst member of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community to serve as RMA administrator.
Ways sought for reducing cattle methane emissions Elanco Animal Health is a founding member of a research consortium called the Greener Cattle Initiative. This group plans to award $5 million over ve years to support research to potentially reduce methane emissions from cattle. The initiative said the dairy and beef industries represent 2.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions and the goal is to move the cattle sector to net zero emissions. Elanco joins the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, ADM, the Council on Dairy Breeding, Genus PLC and the Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre in this effort.
Beyond Meat posts poor third quarter Beyond Meat had a net loss of $54.8 million in the third quarter. U.S. retail sales for the plant-based protein maker were down 16% and foodservices declined 7%. That follows record revenue in the second quarter.
Paap wraps up tenure as MFBF president After 16 years as president of the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation,
Trivia challenge Vitamin D comes from the sun and is available in milk. That answers our last trivia question. For this week’s trivia, what is the most popular item on the Dairy Queen menu? We’ll have the answer in the next edition of Dairy Star. Don Wick is owner/broadcaster for the Red River Farm Network, based in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Wick has been recognized as the National Farm Broadcaster of the Year and served as president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Don and his wife, Kolleen, have two adult sons, Tony and Sam, and ve grandchildren, Aiden, Piper, Adrienne, Aurora and Sterling.
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ConƟnued from BEDNARS | Page 1
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JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
Anna Westerlund (from leŌ), MaƩ Bednar and Doug Bednar milk 90 cows in Pine County near Willow River, Minnesota. The family works together on the dairy while MaƩ Bednar also work full Ɵme as a mechanic for the county. In preparation for Matt’s return, he purchased an additional 35 milking cows and began searching for jobs in the area. He needed a full-time position that could offer benets and good pay but would also allow for exibility to keep up with the demands of farming. Then, Doug and Matt came up with an agreement. The partnership would do an equal share of work on the farm, but Doug would pay for the expenses of feed and breeding. Then, Doug would take in the prots of the milk check while Matt received the earnings from calves sold or mature animals culled. “The biggest advantage is that this is a family farm,” said Matt, who once considered farming options in central Minnesota. Doug agreed. “There’s no one else to farm this,” he said. “When I stop, Matt can step in. And, if we knew he wasn’t coming back, I would’ve quit already.” This year, Doug had his second hip replacement. While he was in recovery, Matt took on the responsibilities of the farm. This was the start of Matt’s heavier involvement in the family dairy. “With Matt home, there’s a little more freedom for me,” Doug said. “I can do other things because there is always one of us around to do chores.” And, Matt has made it a priority to be available during spring planting and fall harvest, putting in long days at his work and longer days at the farm. “It can be hard to balance, especially during the busy times of the year,” said Matt of juggling two jobs. “But nothing beats the satisfaction of raising my own cattle and seeing that calf become a better cow.” Since his return, Matt has supported re-enrolling the herd in Dairy Herd
Improvement Association for better record keeping and to hone in on the herd’s reproduction. The Bednars have also focused on putting up better quality feed. This past spring, they planted Roundup Ready alfalfa instead of conventional seeding to mitigate problems with lambsquarter. “This year, we were able to get a better crop of alfalfa,” Matt said. Making these changes has not always been seamless for the two generations. “Farming together is stressful when you’re working as business partners but also father and son,” Matt said. “We just both bring different perspectives.” Yet, their differences have helped drive collaboration on the farm. The herd is milked twice a day in a 35-stall stanchion barn and housed in a freestall barn. “It’s like we’re milking in a at parlor,” Matt said. The freestall barn has been remodeled to accommodate the full herd. Previously, one half of the barn was free stalls for the milking herd and the other half was housing for dry cows and heifers. Now, the entire barn is stalls, and dry cows and heifers are housed outdoors. In the coming years, the Bednars will evaluate a better housing facility for the heifers and dry cows as well as the possibility of a parlor and expanding the farm’s land base. All of these opportunities would position Matt to take over from his father and carry out his desire to dairy farm. “With anything in life, I think you have to have the right mindset, set goals and drive for those,” Matt said. “For me, this is something I’ve looked forward to, and I look forward to when I can make that commitment to dairy farm full time.”
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JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
The Bednars bed their milking cows with sand in their freestall barn. They recently nished adding free stalls to the other side of the barn, which was previously a bedded pack for dry cows and youngstock.
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021 • Page 7
ConƟnued from SONNEK | Page 1 “I did my research, looking at different aspects of a at barn or step-up parlor, or an Iowa style,” he said. He never considered robots. “Robots are not my style,” Sonnek said. “I like that when the pump shuts off, you have no milking worries for the next eight or 10 hours. Plus, there was a price tag difference, and service was a long way from here.” Hackett watched how things took shape. He has worked with Sonnek full time for 10 years, focused on eld work and calf management. “Eric had a lot of ideas. It was a solid plan going in,” said Hackett, who also came from a dairy, had an off-farm career for 15 years and always hoped to return to the industry. “But there was also a lot of tape measuring,
then stepping back and thinking about things.” Sonnek said one of the hardest decisions was where to locate the parlor so the old tiestall area could remain useful, yet cows could easily reach it from the compost barn. The location also had to allow for equipment movement in the relatively small yard. In the end, the parlor was built so one end of the tiestall barn became part of the holding pen. Twenty cows are housed in the other end’s tie stalls. Cows moving to the parlor from the compost barn travel briefly outside, using a dirt alley on which concrete will eventually be poured. Sonnek found a 5-year-old double-6 parallel parlor with only one year of use, then discovered
SHERRY NEWELL/DAIRY STAR
Eric Sonnek moves gates in the holding area for his new milking parlor at his farm near Foreston, Minnesota. The holding area uses the end of the family’s old Ɵestall barn.
SHERRY NEWELL/DAIRY STAR
Jon HackeƩ feeds youngstock in the calf barn on their farm near Foreston, Minnesota. One side of the barn houses newborn-toweaning animals with an automaƟc feeder.
the cost to upgrade to a double-10 was manageable. He chose a vertical rapid-exit parlor for the open space it provides for handling cows. It also serves as a wash rack for show cows, many of which are leased to a dozen 4-H’ers. The new building has infloor heat and mats for both cows and milkers. An ofce and utility room are also part of the new construction. The existing milkhouse is being used but with a larger bulk tank extending into an existing area of the old barn. Because Sonnek and Hackett
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like to host tours, the parlor has what Sonnek calls some “pretty” features: confetti-covered epoxy on pit walls and decorative front windows. The two men were part of a June Dairy Month Facebook live for Coborn’s grocery stores, originating from the new facility. Hackett is known for his social media efforts from the farm. A recent livestream featured a tour of the calf barn. “ It was overwhelmingly positive,” he said. “It was fun to connect with people from previous lives; (social media) was a silver lining to the pandemic.”
As he looks to the future, Sonnek may add a barn for show cattle and replace a shop destroyed in a re. He hopes to sell more embryos from top genetics, and a hosting spring tag sale of show calves is under consideration. And, other opportunities may appear. “We’re 3 miles from Highway 169 and 3 miles from Highway 23,” he said. “Who knows what that could mean for future on-farm ventures.” Flexibility will continue to be part of the plan.
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Page 8 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021
Nothing but thanks
Massmanns reflect on help following hip replacement By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
NEW MUNICH, Minn. – On a brisk fall morning, Herman Massmann swiftly lifts his son into the calf pen and then quickly follows by climbing over the gate to feed the youngstock. It is a simple task, but one Herman does not take for granted. “I haven’t felt this good since before Frank was born, maybe ve years ago,” Herman said. “After surgery, the pain was gone. It’s amazing.” At 43 years old, Herman had his hip replaced just prior to Thanksgiving in November 2020. As he recovered, it was his family near and far who stepped up to keep the cows milked on his 62-cow dairy farm in Stearns County near New Munich. “I can’t put into words what they did,” Herman said. “It was so great that they could do what they did so that I can feel how I feel now.” While Herman’s wife, Jackie, cared for him and their three children – Casper, 6, Amelia, 5, and Frank, 3 – Herman’s parents, Celestine and Beatrice; brother, Celestine II, and his children, Celestine III and Malea; brother-in-law, Joel Klein, and his son, Sam; his nephew, Matthew Tschida; and his stepsons, Cody and Eli, all juggled morning and evening chores until Christmas Eve last year. “I think the Lord had a hand in it,”
Jackie said. “With COVID-19 and people working from home, kids learning at home, they were available to help us.” After years of pain in Herman’s left hip, so much that it was hindering his ability to do chores and interact with his young family, and days laced with overthe-counter pain medication, the dairy farmer decided to have surgery. “In March 2020, that’s when it started hitting me,” Herman said. “I’d have to have Mom or Dad carry gates to set up for the cattle. I started limping and stutter stepping so bad that the guys at the feed mill thought I’d been kicked by a cow.” It was a decision long in the making and one the Massmanns meticulously planned around the farm. “I knew the time was coming; I could tell by the way Herman moved,” Jackie said. “He was in a lot of pain. He had waited as long as he could.” Herman agreed. “If I waited until after October, then eldwork would be done but I also knew I didn’t want to go another winter without having surgery,” he said. “My brotherin-law would be available because he’d be done with road construction. And, if I could do it during Thanksgiving week, then I knew people would have off Thursday and Friday.” While most of the Massmanns’ family came from nearby, Herman’s brother, Celestine II, and his two children drove from the metropolitan area. Herman worked with his nephew and brother-in-law to do the rst few days of chores. Then, they set up a schedule for Tschida and Klein to help on weekdays and Celestine II to visit on weekends; his Turn to MASSMANN | Page 9
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Herman and Jackie Massmann and their children – (from leŌ) – Casper, Frank and Amelia – milk 62 cows in Stearns County near New Munich, Minnesota. This year, the Massmanns are grateful for their family and friends who helped on the farm while Herman recovered from having his hip replaced.
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021 • Page 9
ConƟnued from MASSMANN | Page 8 parents worked alongside them. Herman’s stepchildren helped when they were available. Together, the crew kept the farm aoat for a continuous four weeks. Chores began at 5 a.m. and took about ve hours to complete. Evening chores were about four hours long. Everyone was responsible for milking in the stanchion barn, running the skidloader, and feeding the heifer and bull calves, along with other chores that came up. “Celestine III and Malea loved trying to run the skidloader,” Herman said. “I had them clean out a steer pen and the heifers.” Tschida was most familiar with the operation, having worked for Herman for two years prior. Because of that experience, Herman asked his nephew to be available immediately following the surgery when several cows were due to calve. And, Herman was always available by phone if needed.
“They would’ve given up Christmas at home so I could have continued recovering from my hip replacement.” HERMAN MASSMANN, DAIRY FARMER
After a quick two weeks of being laid up, Herman was cleared by his doctor to begin moving with the assistance of crutches and later a cane. He could help oversee chores but was not allowed to lift heavy weight until a full six weeks following surgery. “I tried to lay low but went out if they needed me to,” Herman said. “I could start helping them switch milking units and let the cows out.” The day before Christmas Eve, Herman attended a physical therapy appointment and came home with news that would make a perfect gift for the family who stood behind him all month long. He was cleared to resume most daily tasks on the farm, meaning his help could spend the holiday with their families.
JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
Herman Massmann feeds calves with his son, Frank, Nov. 18 at their dairy farm in Stearns County near New Munich. Massmann has fully recovered from a hip replacement last year.
“Christmas isn’t about gifts and money. It’s about the time and giving of yourself, and that’s exactly what it was,” Herman said. “They would’ve given up Christmas at home so I could have continued recovering from my hip replacement. I was so excited when everyone could spend Christmas at home.” Now, Herman feels younger than he has in a long time. He completes routine chores pain free, can rest well and be the active father he always wanted to be. “His spirit is better,” Jackie said. “He was a lot
Thank you for letting us be a part of your dairy operation.
more tired and exhausted. Farming itself is already very intense. I don’t know if Herman would’ve made it much longer.” Even a year later, the Massmanns are quick to remember who has been present in Herman’s journey toward better health. “I tell them all the time,” said Herman of his appreciation. “That’s what you do for others when you care for them.”
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Page 10 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021
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KATE RECHTZIGEL/DAIRY STAR
The Voths – (from leŌ) Arland, Ardie, Brady, Nathan, Denise and Brad – milk 700 cows at Voth Dairy near Goodhue, Minnesota. The dairy has been in the family name since 1877.
Voth family has been farming since 1877 By Kate Rechtzigel
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GOODHUE, Minn. – Driving just east of Goodhue on County Road 9 lies a six-generation farm that has been in the Voth family name since 1877. “Last week, I had a gal come up to me and said if the people from years ago were to drive past your farm today it would be unbelievable,” Arland Voth said. “They wouldn’t know the farm from back then would be the way it is now.” Arland and his wife, Ardie, ran Voth Dairy for many years until they moved off the farm in 1990. Arland continued to help with eld work, and today, he stops in to see what is happening. Now, most of the farm operations are done by his son, Brad, and his wife, Denise, who are passing the farm down to their sons, Brady and Nathan. The family milks 700 cows and runs 730 acres of corn and alfalfa for corn silage and haylage. “I think we are all proud to say that this farm is on its sixth generation,” Ardie said. Voth Dairy was started in 1877 with 160 acres purchased by Arland’s great-grandfather, Peter, who was born in Germany in 1843. Then, Peter passed the farm to Arland’s grandfather, William, in the late 1920s. He later passed the farm to Marvin, Arland’s dad, in 1947. Arland took over the farm in 1961. “It’s always been in the Voth family name,” said Arland, who has been on the farm his whole life. As many farms were structured in years prior, the Voths’ dairy farm also included pigs, chickens, sheep, ponies and rabbits. The only original building from 1877 that is still on the Voths’ farm is the kitchen and upstairs of the
house which have been remodeled.Other buildings which were rebuilt when Arland was farming consist of the tiestall barn built in 1957, the Harvestore built in 1973 and the slatbarn also built in 1973. “We built one of the rst slatbarns in the area, and there, we fed out steers,” Arland said. The tiestall barn was converted into a parallel parlor, the slatbarn is used as a sorting area for the parlor, and the Harvestore is used for high moisture corn. “For me, just to look out the window here, it’s amazing because the buildings were old and you didn’t have any cement or crushed rock. We milked the cows when the barn was over here, and we had to carry the milk to the road because there was too much mud to get the truck into here,” Arland said. “I mean that’s the way it was 70 years ago. How things changed like that is pretty amazing. We dug waterpipes in from the house to the barn. And, we did it by hand, and there’s no thought about doing that now.” Today, Brady does a lot with the crops and machinery, breeds cows and mixes feed. Denise handles all the youngstock and calves. Brad does most of the feeding, mixing, and ordering and inventories for feed. Nathan helps the herdsman, Marlyn; he also handles most of the animal protocols, crops, eldwork, employees and bookwork. In addition to Marlyn, who has been with the farm for more than 20 years, the dairy has 10 more part-time and full-time employees who help with feeding the cows and calves and milking. One of those employees is Vanessa Johnson, Brad and Denise’s daughter. She works with the dry cows, administers vaccinations and cares for the calves. One of Ardie and Denise’s favorite parts of dairying was raising children on the farm. “You knew where they were, and you always had them helping and learning new things,” Ardie said. Brad and Denise are thrilled to be able to share their work ethic and love of farming with their ve grandchildren they now have running around the farm Turn to VOTH | Page 11
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KATE RECHTZIGEL/DAIRY STAR
Brady Voth explains the slatbarn structure Oct. 28 on his family’s farm near Goodhue, Minnesota. The slatbarn was built in 1973 for feeding out steers. Today it is used as a sorƟng area for the parlor.
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021 • Page 11
ConƟnued from VOTH | Page 10 with them. They also have two more grandchildren on the way. “It gives us a chance to visit and connect with the kids one on one,” Brad said. Similar to Arland, Brad grew up on the farm and worked his way into staying on the farm; however, he wanted a different experience for his sons. “As far as my sons here, one thing I wanted them to do was get some further education,” Brad said. “I wanted them
“I wanted them to try different jobs and see what they thought of it out there. The farm will be here when you come back.” BRAD VOTH, DAIRY FARMER
to try different jobs and see what they thought of it out there. The farm will be here when you come back. And I was pretty proud they both came back to the farm.” Brady went to school at Minnesota State College Southeast Technical in Winona and got a job as a small engines mechanic before deciding to come back to the farm. “As a kindergartener, he never wanted to go to school. He just wanted to stay home and farm with his dad,” Denise said. “It was hard to push him to school because he knew what was going on at the farm.” Nathan went to a 16-month course for architectural drafting and design at
Northwest Technical Institute in Eagan and got a job for a general contractor in Lakeville after college. He worked in commercial construction as a project manager for seven years before deciding to come back to the farm. “I came back to the farm because I enjoy the lifestyle,” Nathan said. “I like working with my family, animals and being active outside.” Nathan and Brady are happy everyone kept their role so they could be the sixth generation. “It means a lot that my dad, grandparents and everybody before me kept the farm going so we could take it over,” Brady said. “They made it through all the tough times and were able to keep it aoat and keep farming.” In addition to being full-time dairy farmers, the Voth family has always been involved in their community starting with Arland running a trucking business in addition to farming. “We had three trucks on the road along with milking cows and everything else we did,” Arland said. Arland also operated an insurance agency, was on the Haycreek Board of Directors, was elected mayor of Goodhue and drove school bus with Ardie for the school district. Brady and Nathan have been involved in youth organizations, like 4-H and FFA, and Brad and Denise help with the county breakfast on the farm event each year. Farming has changed over the years, but the Voth family’s commitment to the dairy remains unchanged. All in all, the Voth family is excited to see what changes and improvements the sixth generation will make and looks forward to the years to come.
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Page 12 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021
Krause selected as NMPF Farmer Communicator of the Year
By Sarah Colburn Contributing writer
BUFFALO, Minn. – Charles Krause is a fifthgeneration dairy farmer from Buffalo. And, he is just as comfortable working with the 300 cows he milks as he is speaking and advocating for farmers at the Minnesota Capitol. “I take every interaction as an opportunity to talk about dairy cattle or farming,” Krause said. “If the opportunity presents itself, I’ll share.” Krause has shared his love for the dairy community in a multitude of places, including with 11 jurors while on jury duty. When their time together was complete, each juror wanted to come to the county’s breakfast on the farm. He also wrote a column about the importance of dairy dialogue for the United Nations Food Systems Summit. This year, Krause’s work has earned him the Farmer Communicator of the Year award from the National Milk Producers Federation. For Krause, communicating is a normal course of business. His father spent a lot of his time sharing his story and talking about his work through local cooperatives. Krause said his
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Charles Krause visits with high school students on his 300-cow dairy near Buffalo, Minnesota. Krause was named this year’s Na�onal Milk Producers Federa�on Communicator of the Year. mom, Carol, would talk to just about anyone about farming, and his parents made him practically genetically predisposed to being a talker. Krause polished his public speaking skills through FFA in high school and college. He became a state FFA ofcer as a college freshman. After
those experiences, Krause said talking about what he did and the importance of the dairy industry became second nature. “It’s so vital you put a face behind the product people are getting in a restaurant or store,” Krause said. “(Food) doesn’t just show up. There are humans there. People, if you’re
transparent, will have much more trust in that.” In a day and age where so many people are generations removed from having family on the farm, talking about the intricacies of farm life, animal care and food production are important. As Krause invites legislators
and the public to his farm for tours, he said he tries to speak for people beyond the walls of his farm. “I try to speak for all farmers,” he said. Krause points out commonalities of how farmers do things and why, explaining how this product or method is best for the animal or the land. Krause gives tours to children, government ofcials and influencers as well as representatives of corporations across the United States and internationally. He encourages others to talk about what they do as well, starting conversations about farming and food production across the country. Krause said farmers can have one-on-one conversations and tell stories about their work, talk to a group of people or share thoughts on social media or with groups wwho have broad inuence. Krause, who farms with his son, Andrew, also advocates for farmers and farming practices. His family members have been on the current farm site since 1959. Three generations have occupied the same land in Wright County, though Krause is the fth-generation to dairy. OFour generations of Krause Turn to KRAUSE | Page 13
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Con�nued from KRAUSE | Page 12
Keeping Families on the Farm™
E Y E 7 / 4 2 A P E E ! K S L A M I N A R U O Y ON PHOTO SUBMITTED
Charles Krause (from le�), Congressman Tom Emmer, and Krause’s son, Andrew, pose for a photo on the Krauses’ farm near Buffalo, Minnesota. Krause o�en invites people to visit his family’s farm. family members have received animal science degrees from the University of Minnesota. “When it comes down to it, people and companies are all interested in the same thing,” Krause said. “How does my food get produced? Is it done in a sustainable way? Is it done with the animals’ care in mind? Is the work being done by people who are responsible and care about what they’re doing?” Through the years, Krause has
“A lot of regulations come down from the state so it’s important to do these credentialing visits with urban and metro-area legislators.” CHARLES KRAUSE, DAIRY FARMER
talked with many individuals, from county and township commissioners to state representatives and leaders in Washington, D.C. He has met with Sen. Tina Smith, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Congressman Tom Emmer, who visits the farm each time he has a new staff member, to see rst-hand the workings of a farm. Krause also participates in Dairy Day at the Capitol.
“A lot of regulations come down from the state so it’s important to do these credentialing visits with urban and metro-area legislators,” Krause said. What those visits look like depend on what hat Krause is wearing. Sometimes Krause is representing Midwest Dairy or Dairy Management Inc. and other times he is talking as a farmer representing only himself. Sometimes, Krause is talking about policy or building trust in the dairy industry, and sometimes he speaks about dairy export markets. The turmoil in the shipping of imports and exports, Krause said, is affecting every aspect of the supply chain including agriculture and dairy, as roughly 17% of U.S. dairy products are is exported. Overall, Krause said the voice of the farmer is important. “Farmers are good stewards; we are making positive improvements and impacts to the environment,” Krause said. “We are doing things right, and it’s important that they don’t regulate us more than we already are.” The love for spreading the word, Krause said, was something he was destined to do. “I feel comfortable speaking to people and some people don’t,” he said. “Most farmers just want to farm, and I completely get it. They didn’t get into farming so they’d have to deal with people. It is important that we have farmers that can advocate for the dairy community, speak to consumers and represent each of the hardworking dairy farmers across the nation.”
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Dairy y Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021 • Page 15
What are you thankful for this year?
Lori Calkins Blue Earth, Minnesota Martin County 250 cows
What are you thankful for farm-wise and family-wise this year? I am thankful for our employees who care for our cows and do a great job, and also for every drop of rain that gave a us a wonderful crop of alfalfa and corn silage during a summer of very little rain. Family-wise, I am thankful we had a healthy year after having COVID-19 twice. I am thankful our collegeage daughter survived online college last year and has found the direction she wants to pursue. Our son has good friends (at football and school) and got his driver’s license so I don’t have to drive him everywhere.
Kathy Harren Eagle Bend, Minnesota County Todd County 120 cows What are you thankful for farm-wise and family-wise this year? Farm-wise, I am thankful that we had a crop to harvest. In May and June, we had just 2 inches of rain for the two months. Family-wise, I am thankful we are all healthy. Describe a moment this year that made you extremely grateful. When we were blessed with beautiful rains after the long dry spell. We had 2.7 inches of rain in July and almost 4 inches in August. Who is someone in your life who you are thankful for? My husband, Dave, because he is always positive, happy and helpful. How do you show appreciation for the people you work with every day? I tell them, “Thank you!” and do little things for them to make their life easier or a little better. How do you celebrate Thanksgiving and what is your favorite Thanksgiving Day tradition? I go to mass and then meet an older friend for a Thanksgiving meal at the community center. My family is usually busy with elk hunting, working or spending time with their extended family. Tell us about your farm. My husband, Dave, and I moved to Eagle Bend in 1988. We farm 1,700 acres with our son, Nicholas, and his family (our daughters and grandchildren help, too). We raise beef feeders, do custom harvesting and have a trucking business.
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Describe a moment this year that made you extremely grateful. Picking a moment is difcult as I am trying to nd grateful moments daily. A highlight is an early morning horseback ride on the alfalfa eld after it has been cut on our farm. Hay, horse and the sound of cows: what gets better than that? The peace of the moment reminds me I am blessed to live in a great nation under God. And, rural southern Minnesota is a great place. Who is someone in your life who you are thankful for? I am thankful for my husband of 35 years. Even though it is difcult to leave, he made sure we left for a few days to celebrate. He makes the little spare time
special by popping down to a restaurant for supper, xing a meal when I am doing calf chores or going on a vet call, going for a walk or just hanging out watching TV. How do you show appreciation for the people you work with every day? I try to thank them every time I nish chores or when we are done working for the day. Leaving garden produce on the employee table or some of their favorite snacks or cookies I made that day are some of the other things I try to do. How do you celebrate Thanksgiving, and what is your favorite Thanksgiving Day tradition? Our family, my brothers and their families all go to my dad’s and bring the food for dinner. My favorite tradition is when we sing the table grace. All of us together, again. Tell us about your farm. Our farm was homesteaded in 1863 and is a fth-generation farm with 250 cows and seven employees. We have a 4-row barn with a double-8 herringbone parlor. We have a maternity dry cow pen off the backside of the parlor. We raise calves in hutches either outside or in a hoop barn depending on the season. Bred heifers are sent to the neighbors until they are ready to calve. We grow alfalfa, corn for silage and some triticale. We are blessed with neighbors we can buy corn, corn silage and hay from, and others who we can trade cornstalk bales for manure.
Randy and Jennifer Gross Lake Benton, Minnesota Lincoln County 1,275 cows
How do you show appreciation for the people you work with every day? We try to live out the golden rule.
What are you thankful for farmwise and family-wise this year? Farm-wise, we are thankful we received enough rain that silage ended up yielding better than anticipated. Family-wise, we are thankful our kids are growing, and we have all enjoyed good health.
How do you celebrate Thanksgiving, and what is your favorite Thanksgiving Day tradition? We get together with family, and due to food allergies, our tradition is not having any turkey but instead having either prime rib, tri-tip or a ham.
Describe a moment this year that made you extremely grateful. There’s something to be grateful for every day if we take the time to realize it, but we’re thankful our sons, Emerson, 13, and Nolan, 8, were able to participate, compete and do well at the South Dakota State Fair with their heifers. Who is someone in your life who you are thankful for? We are thankful for our partners in Ash Grove Dairy, Randy’s parents, Randy and Susan, and the Crinion family. We are also blessed with a great team of employees at the farm.
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Tell us about your farm. We milk 1,275 registered Holsteins three times a day and raise our calves at the dairy until 4 months of age. Heifers are custom raised before returning at 6 months bred. We don’t farm any ground, but rather we work with really good neighbors to purchase our corn silage and alfalfa. The dairy’s manure goes onto their crop ground. Turn to OUR SIDE | Page 16
Page 16 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021
ConƟnued from OUR SIDE | Page 15 Julie Klatt Norwood Young America, Minnesota Carver County 40 cows
legacy they allow me to carry on. They were some of the hardestworking people I know and set the bar for what true love for each other and family looks like. They say an inheritance is something What are you thankful for farmyou leave behind for someone, but wise and family-wise this year? a legacy is what you leave inside Farm-wise, I am thankful I can escape someone. The legacy these three from all the noise of the world into a have left in me is their hard work beautiful barn lled with nice cows. ethic, their eye for good cattle, They are always happy to see me and the value of a dollar and doing are oblivious to the pandemic, politics all the little things that add up and craziness that exists in the world today. Family- to be big things. But the best life lesson they left wise, I am thankful for my two nephews, Parker, with me is never being afraid to go down a road 8, and Taylor, 15, who show a huge interest in the untraveled, as you never know where it might lead. cattle and farm. They both have done a great job with their show animals all season. Also, for my How do you show appreciation for the people sister, Katie, and her husband, Nate, who I can you work with every day? A thank you goes a call in a pinch whenever something needs to get long way. I do my best to show appreciation for done. And for my dad, Butch, the x-it man, who everyone I work with on the farm and off the helps whenever he is not busy driving truck. With farm. I probably do not show it or say it enough, everyone’s help, we all make a pretty good hay- but I truly do appreciate everyone in my life: making crew despite all of our crazy work schedules. co-workers, family and friends. So, to all of you, thank you for your commitment to the farm, Describe a moment this year that made you for your hard work and for putting up with me. extremely grateful. I am extremely grateful to have a wonderful working relationship with my How do you celebrate Thanksgiving, and what banker. The decision was made to put in a new is your favorite Thanksgiving Day tradition? manure pump this summer, as we were tired of Celebrating the holidays has looked a little different xing on the old one and knew it was a matter of in the last couple of years, as I am sure it has for time before it would completely fail. Without the many families. It used to be celebrated right here help of Jason at Citizens in Norwood and the great at the farm with my mom’s parents, Grandma guys at Hartung, we would still be messing with Bernice cooking a huge meal and everyone getting it. I have never been so grateful and thankful for together – all the aunts, uncles and cousins. a new piece of equipment. The guys putting it in But in recent years as the older generation has even said they had never seen a woman so excited passed away, it has been at my sister’s house over getting a new manure pump. with immediate family. About the only tradition we have at every holiday is my mom’s dinner Who is someone in your life who you are thankful rolls, Grandma buns, as my nephews call them. for? Even though they have passed away, I am thankful for my mom, Pam, and my grandparents, Tell us about your farm. Evergreen Farm has Gordon and Bernice Barlau. Those three had such been in our family for 140 years; it is my mom’s an impact on my life and helped make me who I home farm. I am the sixth generation to own and am today. My mom was my cohort in crime, taking operate. We milk 40 cows and have about 30 bred my sister and me to dairy shows and road tripping and open heifers representing all seven dairy breeds. to cattle sales. She taught me about the care and We also run 40 acres of small grain and alfalfa, and development of good, sound cattle. I now farm buy most of our feed. on my grandparents’ farm and am thankful for the
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Ellie Dahl Eyota, Minnesota Olmsted County 120 cows What are you thankful for farm-wise and family-wise this year? I am thankful for the ability to wake up each morning in good health and milk the cows, watch the sun rise and then do it all over again in the evening. I am incredibly grateful to be part of something so rewarding. Working beside family is also a blessing in itself. I am thankful for my side of the family (non-farming) and their support, even though we do not see them as often as we would like to. Describe a moment this year that made you extremely grateful. We sold our small farm to move home to the family dairy. I am grateful for a quick sale, supportive family and friends, endless hours of moving help and being welcomed home with open arms. Who is someone in your life who you are thankful for? I am thankful for my better half, Tim. He has been my rock during all the transitions we have made this past year, especially in our move back to the home farm. I am thankful we have the same goals and ambition to be the best farmers we can be together in order to fulll our dreams. How do you show appreciation for the people you work with every day? Life on the farm gets incredibly busy, and I try to help ease the workload for others by doing small tasks that are slowing down projects, in order to keep things progressing. Also, a smile; complimenting and saying thank you goes a long way. How do you celebrate Thanksgiving, and what is your favorite Thanksgiving Day tradition? Thanksgiving has changed for me over the years, as I did not grow up in farming. I try my best to spend Thanksgiving with both sides of the family and am thankful they can be exible in their schedule to work around the farm needs. My favorite tradition is postmeal mingling and playing games and cards. Tell us about your farm. We are third-generation dairy farmers and work beside my future in-laws, brother-in-law and his wife. We milk 120 Holsteins, with a few Brown Swiss and Jersey mixed in, in a double-8 parallel parlor that was retrotted last year in the original tiestall barn. We also have a small beef herd on the property. All our crops are harvested for feed
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Page 18 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021
Harvesting Quality Forages
Dry hay key component in ration for Swartz
Tristan Swartz Gilman, Wisconsin Taylor County 50 cows
How many acres of crops do you raise? We cover about 600 acres for ourselves and custom run around 800 to 1,000 more.
Describe your farm and facilities. We farm in a swamp west of Gilman, Wisconsin, where we walk on water nine months a year. We milk cows and raise Berkshire hogs. The cows are milked in a tiestall barn. During the summer, we rotational graze a rye grass, meadow fescue, festolium, timothy, ladino clover and red clover pasture. We are able to raise 100% of our feed for both the cows and hogs.
Describe the rations for your livestock. Our dairy cows get pasture, rst crop balage, rst crop dry hay, corn silage and high-moisture cob corn in the summers. In the winter, they get third, fourth and fth crop balage; the soybean mix haylage; corn silage; highmoisture cob corn; and second, third and fourth crop dry bales. All corn and protein is top dressed according to the cow’s individual needs. We are big fans of feeding copious amounts of unprocessed dry hay for cow health. The dry cows get rst and second crop balage; rst and second crop dry hay; with corn silage. The youngstock get second crop balage; second crop dry hay; corn silage and ground cob corn. Fresh cows get all the high-quality dry hay they will eat and are gently brought in to the milk cow ration. If a cow is off in anyway, dry hay seems to be the cure all.
What forages do you harvest? We harvest a wide variety of crops so we can do what is best suited for each eld. Our hay consists of timothy, red clover and minimal alfalfa for dry baling; timothy, perennial rye grass, ladino and red clover and meadow fescue for balage and some dry hay; straight timothy for dry hay; open pollinated corn for silage; oat and clover for balage; and we make a mix of soybean, corn, oat, pea, timothy, Sudan and rape that we plant after the oats and chop for the silo.
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
Tristan Swartz feeds dry hay to his milking cows at his dairy near Gilman, Wisconsin. The hay consists of Ɵmothy, red clover and minimal alfalfa.
What quality and quantity do you harvest of each crop? We put up, on average, around 1,800 large rounds of both dry
hay and balage, and more small square bales than anyone cares to admit and my back can take. We ll a 20-by-70 silo with corn silage and a large bunker. We are hoping to do away with the bunker and add two more silos next year.
Describe your harvesting techniques for alfalfa and corn silage. We cut our hay at 18- to 25-day schedules, depending on the weather, with a discbine in the evenings and at night when the dew is on to minimize ash from the mower lifting dust. We rake in the morning, right after the dew and bale in the late afternoon and evenings, and wrap in the middle of the night so the bales stay cool before they are wrapped. We run a set of rolabar double rakes for the dry hay and balage and, at times, a merger for the balage. For round bales, we use a silage special and crop cutter baler with net wrap and a small square baler with bale baskets. On our corn, we chop and kernel process the silage at around 65% and have made a cob saver sieve for the combine so we are able to retain around 75% to 85% of the cob Turn to FORAGES | Page 20
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in Dairy the Upper Midwest! Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021 • Page 19
70.3% vs 55% milk in 2 minutes!! Cornell University large NYS herd data comparison: 5 large commercial dairies working with Cornell QMPS participated in a study1 to assess milk flow. The data from each of the 5 herds shows an average machine on time of 4.5 minutes with a first twominute milk yield around 55% with an average yield of 32.3 lbs. Large commercial herd data for cows milked with TridentPulsation™ shows a first two-minute yield of 70.3% with an average machine on time of 3.6 minutes with an average yield of 31.02 lbs.
What you milk with matters! 1 Animals Journal, June 2021, Vacuum Dynamics as an Alternative Method for Detection of Bimodal Milk Ejection in Dairy Cows
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“We believe in Udder Comfort.” — Ysabel Jacobs
“We believe in Udder Comfort™ and are using it over 10 years for our show cows and our fresh cows to bring the quality and texture to the udder,” says Ysabel Jacobs of Ferme Jacobs, Cap-Santé, Quebec. They apply Udder Comfort lotion daily at shows and to all fresh udders after each milking for 3 days after calving. Ysabel’s husband Tyler Doiron led Erbacres Snapple Shakira EX-97-CAN to 2021 World Dairy Expo Supreme Champion in October. Shakira is owned by Ferme Jacobs, Ty-D Holsteins, Killian Theraulaz, Ferme Antelimarck and Jacobs family members. Ferme Jacobs was premier breeder for the 9th time! https://wp.me/pb1wH7-gb
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Page 20 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021
ConƟnued from FORAGES | Page 18
at 35% moisture for the dairy cows and 18%-20% for the calves and hogs, all of which is either grinder-bagged or ground and blown up a silo. What techniques do you use to store, manage and feed your forages? We use wrapped wet and dry rounds; hay lofts for small squares; tarped stacks and lines for dry rounds; silos and bunkers for silage; and bags or silos for the high-moisture corn. We don’t have a TMR or mixer so we do not weigh our feed, but we are on the “feed more until they leave some” program. The silage, haylage and dry hay is fed in the barn, and we hand-ll H bunks in the lot for balage if weather allows in the winter. If it is bad weather, we hand feed the baleage in the barn.
Describe a challenge you overcame in reaching your forage quality goals. Our main challenge we overcame was input costs. By deciding to raise what our land raises best instead of trying to make it raise something else, like straight alfalfa, we are able to keep costs low while raising a more digestible crop. We also had quality issues with inclement weather so we keep up on our maintenance on our 40-year-old equipment so when it is t we can run 24 hours a day until it is done. It is amazing how cost-efcient and productive a person can be with simple, easy-to-work-on machines, parts machinery and no sleep until it rains. How does quality forages play a part in the production goals for your herd? Quality forages keep my concentrate and PHOTO SUBMITTED
Tristan Swartz cuts a eld near his dairy in Gilman, Wisconsin. Swartz raises 100% of his feed for the dairy’s needs.
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
Tristan Swartz feeds dry hay to his 50-cow herd near Gilman, Wisconsin. The dry hay helps maintain animal health.
vet bills low, but high milk production does not always mean more prot. By putting up high-quality feed, the cows enjoy eating. We keep intakes high while retaining excellent cow heath and breeding. We feed a 2:1 mineral, selenium salt, bicarb, small amount of urea and around 4 pounds of a protein mix. The rest of the cows’ needs comes from highquality dry hay. Our cows are our family so we do not push them but instead, let them do their thing. Cows love highquality, young, dry hay so after they ll up with their other forages, we toss them as much of that square baled candy as they want. By feeding less processed feeds and additives, our cattle thrive. We do our own nutrition work simply by watching the manure and cows’ mannerisms and adjust what they consume by stage of lactation. By component feeding, we
are able to maximize a cow’s potential without sacricing health and breeding, or wasting feed. What are management or harvesting techniques you have changed that have made a notable difference in forage quality? We have found by mowing in the evening and nights, the hay cures instead of being sun cooked. We also round bale with dew or cool night air to save leaves. Mowing the grasses and clovers at earlier intervals causes it to tiller more and to come back thicker and ner stemmed. We only use commercial fertilizer on rst-year seeding. After that, we use liquid manure spread after second cutting. We put bedding pack on land the fall before new seeding to increase organic material.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021 • Page 21
LOW-RATE FINANCING AVAILABLE
Financing subject to pre-approval through JD Financial. Some restrictions apply. See dealer for details.
JD S670, 2289 hrs.,1453 $ sep, #176660
JD 9200 2001, 5150 hrs., $ #189748
JD S680, 2014 2973 hrs., 2063 $ sep hrs., #182070
JD, S770, 2018, 2203 hrs., 1587 $ sep, #181147
Case IH 330, 2015, 34’ #178991
Kuhn Krause 6200-45, 2014, $ 45’, #180001
JD S670, 2016, 2295 hrs., 1453 $ sep hrs., #176660
JD S790, 2018, 1535 hrs., 1058 $ sep hrs., # 179097
199,500
42,900
$
82,900
45,900
144,900
199,500
245,000
315,400
Equipment and pictures added daily • Go to www.mmcjd.com 16 7 3 10 10 14 10 3 4 5 16 7 5 4 16 4 14 7 10 4 15 15 14
COMBINES
JD 6620, 1979, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Singles, 1557 hrs., #187694.................$7,900 JD 7720, 1986, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Singles, #188736 .................................$8,500 JD 6620, 1983, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Singles, 3800 hrs., #188350 .................$9,500 JD 6620, 1987, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Singles, 3903 hrs., #177388 ...............$12,500 JD 9500, 1993, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 5785 hrs., 3893 Sep hrs., #189641 .....$19,900 JD 9500, 1991, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 6754 hrs., 5000 Sep hrs., #185458 .....$22,400 JD 9500, 1991, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 6266 hrs., 3872 Sep hrs., #189946 .....$25,500 JD 9610, 1998, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 4300 hrs., 2873 Sep hrs., #189672 ...................................................................................................$28,000 JD 9510, 1998, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 5225 hrs., 3475 Sep hrs.,#189676 ......$28,500 JD 9550, 2001, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 5054 hrs., 3424 Sep hrs., #189036 ............................................................................$42,500 JD 9660 STS, 2003, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 3044 hrs., 2063 Sep hrs., #190643 ............................................................................$64,500 JD 9770 STS, 2009, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 4548 hrs., 3172 Sep hrs., #190521 ............................................................................$81,000 JD 9670 STS, 2011, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 3669 hrs., 2503 Sep hrs., #188158 ............................................................................$99,900 JD 9670 STS, 2008, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 2246 hrs., 1488 Sep hrs., #189622 ......................................................................... $103,500 JD 9770 STS, 2010, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 2705 hrs., 1956 Sep hrs., #189933 ......................................................................... $109,900 JD 9670 STS, 2009, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 2210 hrs., 1263 Sep hrs., #185612 ......................................................................... $110,400 JD S680, 2014, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 2973 hrs., 2063 Sep hrs., #182070 ......................................................................... $144,900 JD S680, 2014, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 2081 hrs., 1658 Sep hrs., #172017 ......................................................................... $145,900 JD S680, 2014, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 2372 hrs., 1703 Sep hrs., #178114 .. $147,900 JD S680, 2013, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 2006 hrs., 1350 Sep hrs., #174756 ......................................................................... $159,900 JD S680, 2013, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 2016 hrs., 1446 Sep hrs., #190055 ......................................................................... $161,000 JD S690, 2012, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1983 hrs., 1530 Sep hrs., #171923 ......................................................................... $179,000 JD S680, 2015, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 2424 hrs., 1762 Sep hrs., #190078 $191,000
3 JD S670, 2016, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 2429 hrs., 1453 Sep hrs., #176660 ......................................................................... $199,500 14 JD S680, 2014, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1980 hrs., 1183 Sep hrs., #189953 ......................................................................... $202,000 15 JD S670, 2016, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1614 hrs., 963 Sep hrs., #181669 ........................................................................... $237,500 16 JD S770, 2018, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 2241 hrs., 1587 Sep hrs., #181147 ......................................................................... $245,000 10 JD S790, 2018, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1365 hrs., 1058 Sep hrs., #179097 ......................................................................... $315,400 16 JD S780, 2018, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1375 hrs., 800 Sep hrs., #175318 ........................................................................... $319,500 1 JD S780, 2018, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1331 hrs., 916 Sep hrs., #183533 ........................................................................... $355,000 17 JD S780, 2018, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1077 hrs., 690 Sep hrs., #177549 ........................................................................... $364,400 11 JD S780, 2019, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 1066 hrs., 653 Sep hrs., #171103 .. $385,000 14 JD S790, 2019, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1180 hrs., 683 Sep hrs., #171378 ........................................................................... $389,500 2 JD S780, 2019, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 571 hrs., 376 Sep hrs., #169509 ........................................................................... $409,500 8 JD S780, 2019, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 744 hrs., 508 Sep hrs., #169507 ........................................................................... $409,500 16 JD S780, 2020, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 996 hrs., 556 Sep hrs., #187111 ........................................................................... $435,900 16 JD S780, 2020, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 759 hrs., 235 Sep hrs., #188459 ................................................................................................ $454,900 16 JD S780, 2020, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 790 hrs., 281 Sep hrs. , #188309 .............................................................................................. $454,900 16 JD S780, 2020, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 833 hrs., 247 Sep hrs., #188458 ................................................................................................ $454,900 2 3 4 14
TILLAGE
JD 630, 16 ft, #183751..............................................................................$9,900 JD 650, 1997, 32 ft, 3-Section Folding, #185256 ....................................$18,000 Case IH RMX340, 2009, 35 ft, 3-Section Folding, Spacing: 9”, #181151..$29,400 Wishek 862NT, 2014, 22 ft, #190651 ...................................................$33,000
7 2 2 15 15 1 2 8 1 6 16
JD 510, 1997, #185840 ............................................................................$9,750 JD 512, 2004, #190077 ..........................................................................$13,900 JD 512, 2008, #187681 ..........................................................................$22,900 Case IH 870, #190103 ..........................................................................$32,900 Case IH 870, 2013, #189644.................................................................$42,900 Case IH 875, 2014, #185837 .................................................................$49,900 Kuhn Krause 4855 Dominator, 2016, #181415 ..............................$54,900 JD 2730, 2014, #190066........................................................................$59,900 JD 2730, 2019, #190235 ........................................................................$71,900 JD 2730, 2020, #190207...................................................................... $111,500 JD 2730, 2019, #189743 ..................................................................... $113,500
10 13 5 14 6 10 9 12 9 4 4 10 10 10 10 4 4 1 8 4 4 4
IH Harvester Super M, 1953, Syncro, 2WD, 540 pto, Loader, #185983 .......$4,200 Belarus 800, Syncro, 2WD, 540 pto, Loader, #189359 ..................................$6,500 JD 4010, 1963, Syncro, 2WD, 540 pto, Loader, #190084 ................................$9,500 JD 5103, 2004, Syncro, 2WD, 540 pto, 500 hrs., #189624 ............................$16,900 JD 5065E, 2011, Syncro, 2WD, 540 pto, 1825 hrs., #190085 ........................$22,000 JD 5055E, 2020, Cab, MFWD, 540 pto, 113 hrs., #163199............................$41,000 JD 5055E, 2018, Cab, , MFWD, 540 pto, Loader, 1230 hrs., #188967 ...........$41,500 JD 5055E, 2014, Cab, MFWD, 540 pto, Loader, 429 hrs., #188734 ...............$46,000 JD 6320, 2003, Cab, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, Loader, 4406 hrs., #190056 ......$49,000 JD 5100E, 2020, Cab,, MFWD, 540 pto, Loader, 200 hrs., #171435 ..............$68,000 JD 5100E, 2020, Cab, MFWD, 540 pto, Loader, 200 hrs., #165335 ...............$68,500 JD 6120E, 2020, Cab, 540/1000 pto, Loader, 90 hrs., #167015 ....................$84,000 JD 6135E, 2020, Cab, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, Loader, 241 hrs., #166735 .....$89,000 JD 6135E, 2020, Cab, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, Loader, 20 hrs., #166973 ........$90,500 JD 6135E, 2020, Cab, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, Loader, 89 hrs., #166971 ......... $90500 JD 6135E, 2021, Cab, MFWD, 540 pto, Loader, 308 hrs., #174302 ...............$93,000 JD 6135E, 2021, Cab, MFWD, 540 pto, Loader, 200 hrs., #173850 ...............$93,000 JD 6135E, 2021, Cab, MFWD, 540 pto, Loader, 300 hrs., #174303 ...............$93,000 JD 6135E, 2021, Cab,, MFWD, 540 pto, Loader, 200 hrs., #173467 ..............$93,000 JD 6110M, 2021, Cab, MFWD, 540 pto, Loader, 300 hrs., #174297 ............$115,000 JD 6110M, 2021, Cab, MFWD, 540 pto, Loader, 250 hrs., #174296 ............$115,000 JD 6130M, 2021, Cab, MFWD, 540/1000 pto, 200 hrs., #173465 ...............$120,000
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Page 22 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021
OVER 700 COWS PER HOUR*
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Contact one of the following dealers to learn more: IOWA Kramer Bros. Monticello, IA 319-465-5931 Prairie Land Ag Supply Inc. Rock Valley, IA 712-476-9290 United Dairy Systems, Inc. West Union, IA 563-422-5355 WISCONSIN Advanced Dairy/Bob’s Dairy Supply Spring Valley, WI 715-772-3201 Ederer Dairy Supply Plain, WI 608-546-3713
DeLaval Dairy Service Kaukauna, WI 866-335-2825 Joe’s Refrigeration Inc. Withee, WI 715-229-2321 Mlsna Dairy Supply Inc. Cashton, WI 608-654-5106 Professional Dairy Services Arlington, WI 608-635-0267 Redeker Dairy Equipment Brandon, WI 920-346-5579 The Scharine Group Inc. Whitewater, WI 800 472-2880 Mt Horeb, WI 800-872-3470
MINNESOTA & SOUTH DAKOTA Advanced Dairy of Mora Mora, MN 320-679-1029 Farm Systems Melrose, MN 320-256-3276 Brookings, SD 800-636-5581 S&S Dairy System LLC St. Charles, MN 507-932-4288 Professional Dairy Systems Wadena, MN 218-632-5416
is a registered trademark of Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A. and “DeLaval” is a registered trade/servicemark of DeLaval Holding AB © 2021 DeLaval Inc. DeLaval, 11100 North Congress Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri 64153-1296. All facts and figures are the result of data collected on test farms. Results may vary and are not guaranteed. Nothing in this document shall constitute a warranty or guaranty of performance. www.delaval.com
Thankful in this season of life
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. The turkey, the pies, the stufng are just a few things that cannot be beat. It’s also the beginning of the holiday season that has me consumed with gratitude as we spend more time with family, reect on the year and our wishes for the time ahead. In the thick of motherhood, I am also reminded of our village who are helping raise our two rambunctious Coyne boys, including those who have exposed them to the core of the dairy industry. Like many of Bentley, 3, and Declan’s, 1, peers, by happenstance their daily exposure to farming is limited, yet the need to understand who produces their food and how is ever more important. We’ve been blessed with family, friends, neighbors and simply good farmers who have helped make this understanding fun and By Jennifer Coyne memorable. Assistant Editor Over the past 18 months, visiting my in-laws in Wisconsin has come with the usual goodness of spending time with family paired with the added importance of caring for animals. At some point during the spring of 2020, my father-in-law began milking cows. They have always raised a few heifers but typically nd more permanent housing for them once they come into milk. Two years ago, that was not the case and hasn’t been since. Now, every visit over the border has involved packing barn clothes and waking early so Bentley can milk cows with Grandpa Peter. Even the few sleepovers Bentley has had with them are consumed with prepping the cows, feeding the calves and making sure the animals are well bedded and fed using Grandpa Peter’s tractor. It’s fun to return home and have Bentley spot a dairy farm on our travels to and from daycare, only to ask if Grandpa Peter is up milking cows too. We attended a family wedding this past summer that allowed us a few minutes to catch up with good friends in western Wisconsin. As we visited at their home, Willie and the farmer took Bentley to see their dairy barn, equipped with robotic milking systems and other automation. While our then-2-year-old was silently in awe of the operation, he was quick to take note. To this day, if an advertisement of an automated feed pusher or milking robot is displayed in any print publication nearby Bentley’s potty-training chair, he is quick to point out that, “Those robots are on Matt’s farm.” More locally, we have had both neighbors and complete strangers offer to expose our little ones to farming. There was the Saturday morning when the boys and I brought farmers market donuts to a nearby dairy where Willie was trimming. For a few minutes, we watched the cows go through the chute. It was not long before a family member invited Bentley on a tractor ride around the farm. And still today, he will bring up that experience as we watch their cows on pasture when passing by. Early on in the fall, I wrote an article on the drought conditions in Minnesota and interviewed a farm family in the central part of the state. They live nearby, so when it came time to schedule photos to accompany the article, it was convenient to bring the kids with me prior to starting our day at daycare and the ofce. While I took photos of the elds, Bentley tagged along with Suzanne as she showed him their milking robots and the cows eating their morning helping of TMR. The farm stop concluded with Richard checking in on Declan who was waiting patiently in his car seat. And, I’d be failing myself not to mention the numerous neighbors who have offered the boys tractor rides as we watched them complete fall harvest while on our own stroller rides down the country roads. The interactions have been both brief and detailed, and planned and in passing, but nonetheless appreciated. While the boys might not let on to how these interactions inuence them, Willie and I know it is making a difference in how they understand the importance of agriculture and a dairy farmer’s purpose in our busy, busy world. Case in point, we took steers to the butcher shop and told Bentley the cows were giving us hamburger. He stoutly corrected us, “No, cows give milk.” We’ll tackle that conversation another day. There is nothing Bentley and Declan enjoy more than playing tractors and feeding their small herd of plastic Red and White cows a square bale of hay (Legos) or carpet farming white kidney beans with a combine. They nd amusement in driving through the countryside and pointing out who is in the eld with what tractor or whose cows are grazing the fence line. The boys are young and their interests may change as they grow older, but I hope their appreciation for the American dairy farmer never fades. And as for us parents, we are especially grateful for you amidst this season of life.
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021 • Page 23
University of Minnesota wins judging contest at NAILE Team reflects on culmination of hard work By Kate Rechtzigel kate.r@dairystar.com
ST. PAUL, Minn. – When the University of Minnesota was announced as the winning dairy cattle judging team at the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky, Nov. 7, all four team members were excited and proud. “There was excitement built up throughout the breeds,” Leif Annexstad said. “At that point, we kind of already knew how we would place.” Leif was part of the winning team that also placed rst in Brown Swiss, third in Ayrshire, Guernsey and Jersey judging, and fth in Holsteins. They won the contest by 28 points over Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg, Virginia. The team also included Ashley Hagenow, Kjersten Veiseth and Leif’s brother, Matthias. Hagenow was high individual in reasons by an 8-point margin, and Veiseth and Matthias placed rst and seventh overall. The team is coached by Dr. Les Hansen and alumni Alicia (Thurk) Hiebert, and Eric and Gabriella (Sorg) Houdek. “This contest was our last contest as the culmination of our judging careers, between 4-H and FFA growing up, and then as collegiate judges as well,” said Hagenow, a junior studying agricultural communications and marketing from Poynette, Wisconsin. “So, we really were proud of ourselves and proud to represent the University, because to end on a high note was something we were all hoping to achieve.” Veiseth agreed. “We all wanted to go out having a really good last contest and last experience, and represent the University and ourselves well,” she said. “I think we were all just really happy and excited that we were able to do that.” Veiseth is a senior from Zumbrota studying animal science with a dairy production emphasis and agronomy. The four team members practiced every weekend since Labor Day and took part in other contests in anticipation of their chance to judge in Louisville. They traveled to three farms a day, judged three classes at each farm and gave reasons on one of those classes. During the second week of school, they attended the Vernon County Collegiate Contest in Viroqua,
PHOTO SUBMITTED
The University of Minnesota dairy caƩle judging team – (front from leŌ) Matthias Annexstad, Kjersten Veiseth, Ashley Hagenow and Leif Annexstad; (back) coach Dr. Les Hansen – are named the rst-place collegiate team in the dairy caƩle judging contest Nov. 7 at the North American InternaƟonal Livestock ExposiƟon in Louisville, Kentucky. Wisconsin, placing fourth. Later, they placed fth at the Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest at World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. There, athe Annexstad brothers and Veiseth placed within the top 25 individuals, with Hagenow just missing the cut. Five more farm stops were made in Iowa on their way to Louisville. “This is kind of a fun trip,” said Matthias, who is a senior studying animal science with a dairy production emphasis. “It’s more laid back and the pressure is off from (World Dairy) Expo, and we’ve historically done well at Louisville.” The team members said they are thankful for their support system – parents, 4-H and FFA coaches and advisors, collegiate coaches and mentors, and the farmers who hosted practices. “To see the pride that producers have for their operations on their farms and their cattle just boosts you up,” Hagenow said. “They are all so excited to welcome us and wish us well on the next contest or the next farm stop.” Veiseth agreed. “We get to see some of the top herds in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin,” she said. “It’s really cool to go and see those top herds and make connections with those dairy producers.” The team’s favorite travel stop, they said, was at Kunde Jersey Farm in Manchester, Iowa, where they enjoyed breakfast with the family. “All their kids were out with us eating breakfast and then they were watching us judge the cattle. They just wanted to be a
part of it,” Hagenow said. “That was the way at a lot of different farms and it is just really sweet to have that and think we can hopefully serve as role models too.” Leif, who is pusuing degrees in animal science with a dairy production emphasis, agriculture and food business management, and agronom, agreed. “There was denitely a lot of excited kids at the farm,” he said. “All of us were probably that way at one point, so it was just cool to see kids being excited for that stuff.” Among the lessons the four team
members learned over the years were making quick decisions, defending their opinions and improving their public speaking ability. “You probably don’t realize it when you’re young, but these are skills that you will use for the rest of your life,” Leif said. “It’s denitely worth doing.” After graduating next spring, Veiseth and Matthias are pursuing careers in animal nutrition, and Leif is planning to work in the industry for a few years before returning home to his family’s farm near St. Peter, where they milk about 180 cows. . Hagenow plans to work in marketing and communications in the dairy industry. “I think it’s pretty true to say that the dairy industry been our main focus for our entire lives so (the dairy industry) is something that we all care most about and it is a community that we all want to be a part of for the rest of our lives,” Matthias said. As the team reflects on their nal feat, Hagenow, Veiseth and the Annexstads are thankful to have been a part of dairy cattle judging at the University of Minnesota, treasuring the memories made, and looking forward to supporting future dairy cattle judges. “You feel a lot of pride for the organization that you are a part of and for the university, but also you feel accomplished because we’ve been judging since we were in third, fth and seventh grades,” Matthias said. “To judge collegiately is a cumulation of a lot of years of learning and hard work. It is rewarding to see it through all the way to the end and see how far we’ve come.”
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Page 24 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021
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DAIRY ST R
The Great Christmas “GRAND” PRIZE
GIVEAWAY 2021
Grand Prize Drawing Will Be Held Tuesday, December 14, 2021 THE WINNERS WILL BE POSTED ON WWW.DAIRYSTAR.COM, MILK BREAK NEWSLETTER AND ON FACEBOOK.
ADULT “GRAND” PRIZE
2) $1,000 CASH GIFTS! 17 & UNDER “GRAND” PRIZE
“Grand” Prize Heifer Calf: FOREST LAWN SELECT 3777 Born: September 6, 2021 Dam: Forest Lawn Undenied 3362 Sire: Avant-Garde Unix Select ET Granddam Granddam: Forest Lawn Domain 2590 Grand P Calf come rize sF Forest-Lawrom n Holsteins, o w n e d by The Swens on family in Nicollet , Minn.
A Ashley and Paul Swenson are pictured with F Forest Lawn Select 3777, the heifer calf that will b be given away in the Great Christmas G Giveaway drawing.
REGISTER FREE AT ANY OF THE PARTICIPATING BUSINESSES FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021 • Page 25
REGISTER AT THESE PARTICIPATING BUSINESSES:
IOWA
ALLAMAKEE COUNTY • Innovative Ag Services Waukon • 563-568-3455 • Waukon Veterinary Services Waukon • 563-568-2487 BREMER COUNTY • ViaÀeld Sumner • 563-578-3214 BUCHANAN COUNTY • ViaÀeld Winthrop • 319-935-3336 CLAYTON COUNTY • Innovative Ag Services Elkader • 563-245-1230 Monona • 563-539-2001 DELAWARE COUNTY • Del-Clay Farm Equipment Edgewood • 563-928-6445 • Edgewood Feed Mill Edgewood • 563-928-6405
BROWN COUNTY • New Ulm Regional Vet Clinic New Ulm • 507-233-2500 CARVER COUNTY • Bongards’ Bongards • 952-466-5521 • Lano Equipment of Norwood Norwood/Young America 952-467-2181 • Storms Welding Cologne • 952-466-3343 DAKOTA COUNTY • Werner Implement Vermillion • 651-437-4435 DOUGLAS COUNTY • Midwest Machinery Alexandria • 320-763-4220 • Nelson Creamery Nelson • 320-762-0115 • Osakis Creamery Assn. 320-859-2146 • Pro Ag Farmers Co-op GarÀeld • 320-834-2271
DUBUQUE COUNTY • Brunkan Equipment Worthington • 563-855-2434 • CJ Beeps Equipment Farley • 563-744-5010 • Eastern Iowa Dairy Epworth • 563-876-3087 • Helle Farm Equipment Dyersville • 563-875-7154 • Innovative Ag Services Cascade • 563-852-7245 Farley • 563-744-3337 • New Vienna Ag Automation New Vienna • 563-921-2896 • Skip Breitbach Feeds Balltown • 563-552-2393 • Scherrmann’s Implement Dyersville • 563-875-2426 • Ungs Shopping Center (IAS) Luxemburg • 563-853-2455
FILLMORE COUNTY • Farmers Win Coop Rushford • 507-864-2161 • Hammell Equipment Harmony • 507-886-2255 Rushford • 507-864-2845
FAYETTE COUNTY • ViaÀeld Arlington • 563-633-3415 Elgin • 563-426-5566 Maynard • 563-637-2285
HOUSTON COUNTY • Farmers Win Coop Caledonia • 507-725-3306 Houston • 507-896-3147 Spring Grove • 507-498-5321 • Hammell Equipment Eitzen • 507-495-3326
FLOYD COUNTY • Livestock Systems Charles City• 641-220-5257 HOWARD COUNTY • Farmers Win Coop Cresco West • 563-547-3660 JACKSON COUNTY • Innovative Ag Services Andrew • 563-672-3228 SIOUX COUNTY • Sioux Dairy Equipment, Inc. Rock Valley • 712-476-5608 • Tri-State Livestock Auction Sioux Center • 712-722-0681 WINNESHIEK COUNTY • Brynsaas Sales & Service Decorah • 563-382-4484 • Farmers Win Coop Ridgeway • 563-737-2244 • Fort Atkinson Hay Fort Atkinson • 563-534-7513 • Franzen Sales & Service Fort Atkinson • 563-534-2724 • Lang’s Dairy Service Decorah • 563-382-8722
MINNESOTA
BECKER COUNTY • Adkins Equipment Inc. Detroit Lakes • 218-847-3131 BENTON COUNTY • Arnold’s of St. Cloud Sauk Rapids • 320-251-2585 • Farm-Rite Equipment St. Cloud • 320 240 2085 • First National Bank of MilacaGilman OfÀce • 320-387-2233 • Gilman Co-op Creamery Gilman • 320-387-2770
GOODHUE COUNTY • Ag Partners - Grain Site Bellchester • 651-923-4453 Wanamingo-Grain Site • 507-824-2231 Wanamingo-Agronomy Location 507-824-2215 • Ag Partners Farm Store Cannon Falls • 507-263-4651 Goodhue • 800-732-1439 Pine Island • 507-356-8313 • GB Feed and Supply Bellchester • 651-923-4425 • Midwest Livestock Systems Zumbrota • 507-732-4673
KANABEC COUNTY • Fluegge’s Ag Mora • 320-679-2981 KANDIYOHI COUNTY • D&D Ag Supply & Construction Pennock • 320-599-4466 • Farm-Rite Equipment Willmar • 817-484-3211 LE SUEUR COUNTY • Ag Partners - Agronomy Le Center • 507-357-6868 MCLEOD COUNTY • Arnold’s of Glencoe Glencoe • 320-864-5531 • Leedstone Glencoe • 877-864-5575 • Midwest Machinery Glencoe • 320-864-5571 • Mueller Sales & Service Dairy Equipment Glencoe • 888-205-0974 MEEKER COUNTY • Farm-Rite Equipment Dassel • 320-275-2737 • Schlauderaff Implement Co. LitchÀeld • 320-693-7277 MILLE LACS COUNTY • First National Bank of Milaca Milaca • 320-983-3101 MORRISON COUNTY • Central MN Credit Union Little Falls • 888-330-8482 • Lash’s Auto Pierz • 320-232-0537 • Litke’s Veterinary Service Pierz • 320-468-6666
• Midwest Machinery Little Falls • 320-632-5469 • Modern Farm Equipment Pierz • 320-468-2161 • Pierz Co-op Pierz • 320-468-6655 • Sunrise Ag Cooperative Buckman • 320-468-6433 Lastrup • 320-468-2543 Little Rock • 320-584-5147 OLMSTED COUNTY • Ag Partners Stewartville • 507-533-4222 • Hammell Equipment ChatÀeld • 507-867-4910 OTTER TAIL COUNTY • Bongards’ Perham • 218-346-4680 • Farmers Elevator of Fergus Falls & Henning 218-736-3301 • PCCA-Country Store Perham • 218-346-7075 • Perham Stockyards Perham • 218-346-3415 • Pro Ag Farmers Co-op in Henning 218-583-2947 • Pro Ag Farmers Co-op in Urbank 218-267-2401 PIPESTONE COUNTY • Gorter’s Clay & Dairy Equipment Pipestone • 507-825-3271 POPE COUNTY • Midwest Machinery Glenwood • 320-634-5151 RICE COUNTY • Ag Partners - Agronomy Morristown • 507-685-2700 SCOTT COUNTY • Ag Partners - Farm Store Belle Plaine • 952-873-3224 • Ag Partners - Coop Tire & Auto Belle Plaine • 952-873-3001 SHERBURNE COUNTY • Midwest Machinery Princeton • 763-389-3453 SIBLEY COUNTY • Gibbon Lumber Gibbon • 507-834-6366 STEARNS COUNTY • A&C Farm Service Paynesville • 320-243-3736 • Albany Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Albany • 320-845-2801 • Arnold’s of Kimball Kimball • 320-398-3800 • Arnold’s of St. Martin St. Martin • 320-548-3285 • Arnzen Construction/St. Rosa Lumber Freeport, In St. Rosa 320-836-2284 or 1-888-276-1751 • Central MN Credit Union Albany • 888-330-8482 Avon • 888-330-8482 Belgrade • 888-330-8482 Cold Spring • 888-330-8482 Freeport • 888-330-8482 Holdingford • 888-330-8482 Melrose • 888-330-8482 Paynesville • 888-330-8482 Sauk Centre • 888-330-8482 • Centre Dairy Equipment & Supply Inc. Sauk Centre • 320-352-5762 or 1-800-342-2697 • Cold Spring Co-op & Country Store Cold Spring • 320-685-8651 • Dairyland Supply Sauk Centre 320-352-3987 or 1-800-338-6455 • Ecker Feed Service, LLC New Munich • 320-837-5800 • Elrosa Grain & Feed Elrosa • 320-697-5515 • Elrosa Lumber Elrosa • 320-697-5591 • Farm Systems Melrose 1-800-636-5581 • 1-800-247-0012
• Feed Co. Paynesville • 320-243-3938 • Freeport State Bank Freeport • 1-800-252-9856 320-836-2126 Greenwald • 320-987-2265 New Munich • 320-837-5297 Melrose • 320-256-7208 • Hartung Sales & Service, Inc. Freeport • 320-836-2697 • Lake Henry Implement Lake Henry • 320-243-7411 • Leedstone Melrose • 800-996-3303 • Melrose Implement Inc. Melrose • 320-256-4253 • Midwest Machinery Paynesville • 320-243-7474 Sauk Centre • 320-352-6511 Sauk Rapids • 320-252-2010 • Modern Farm Equipment Sauk Centre • 320-352-6543 • Nutrien Ag Solutions 320-352-6564 STEELE COUNTY • Northland Farm Systems Owatonna • 800-385-3911 TODD COUNTY • Central MN Credit Union Grey Eagle • 888-330-8482 Long Prairie • 888-330-8482 • Farm-Rite Long Prairie • 320-732-3715 • Olson’s Custom Farm Service Staples • 800-477-7059 • Pro-Ag Farmers Co-op in Browerville Browerville • 320-594-2415 • Pro-Ag Farmers Co-op in Clarissa Clarissa • 218-756-2112 • Pro-Ag Farmers Co-op in Eagle Bend Eagle Bend • 218-738-2552 WABASHA COUNTY • Ag Partners Farm Store Lake City • 651-345-3328 Plainview • 507-534-2531 • Beck Implement Elgin • 507-876-2122 • Leedstone Plainview • 800-548-2540 • Wingert Sales & Service Plainview • 507-534-2285 WADENA COUNTY • Dairyland Equipment of Menahga Menahga • 218-564-4958 • Midwest Machinery Wadena • 218-631-2311 • Olson’s Custom Farm Service Verndale • 218-445-5500 Sebeka • 218-837-5749 WINONA COUNTY • Ag Partners Lewiston • 507-523-2188 • Elba Coop Elba • 507-796-6571 • S&S Dairy Systems St. Charles • 507-932-4288 WRIGHT COUNTY • Hobert Sales Inc. Cokato • 320-286-6284, 1-800-820-6455 • The Country Store/Munson Lakes Nutrition Howard Lake • 320-543-3517, 800-663-9177
SOUTH DAKOTA BROOKINGS COUNTY • W.W. Tire Brookings • 605-696-7400 CODINGTON COUNTY • Glacial Lakes Livestock Watertown • 605-886-5052 MINNEHAHA COUNTY • Central Valley Dairy Supply Brandon • 605-467-0812 • Midwest Livestock Systems Renner • 605-274-3656 ROBERTS COUNTY • Valley Dairy Supply Corona • 605-432-5224
To view a complete list of participating businesses, log on to www.dairystar.com
*Enter as often as you like. One entry per store visit, please. Winners must be 18 years or older and a Grade A or B dairy farmer for adult prize, or 17 years or younger and a son or daughter of a Grade A or B dairy farmer for heifer calf. Winners must also live in the Dairy Star circulation area to be eligible and are responsible for transport of animal.
Page 26 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021
Elections for the 2021 county committee By Steve Frericks Farm Service Agency
Voting is now open for the United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency Local County Committee. It is important every eligible producer participate in these elections because FSA county committees are a link between the agricultural community and the USDA. The 2021 election in your local county will be conducted for the representative for Local Administrative Area that is up for election this year. County committee members are a critical component of FSA operations. Committees should be comprised of members who reect the diversity of producers involved in production agriculture in the county. This means that producers representing underserved groups or communities should be on the committee to speak on behalf of their constituency. Underserved producers are beginning, women and other minority farmers and ranchers and landowners and/or operators who have limited resources. Other minority groups including Native American and Alaska Natives; persons under the poverty level and persons that have disabilities are also considered underserved. County committee election ballots were mailed to eligible voters Nov. 1. The last day to return completed ballots to your USDA Service Center is Dec. 6. For more information on eligibility to serve on FSA county committees, visit fsa.usda.gov/elections. 2022 ARC-PLC elections, enrollment Producers can elect coverage and enroll in ARC-CO or PLC, which are both crop-by-crop, or ARC-IC, which is for the entire farm. Although election changes for 2022 are optional, producers must enroll through a signed contract each year. Also, if a producer has a multi-year contract on the farm and makes an election change for 2022, it will be necessary to sign a new contract. The deadline to apply is March 15, 2022. Farm owners cannot enroll in either program unless they have a share interest in the crop. Signing up now assists the county ofce staff with expected heavy workloads closer to the deadline date. Producers are reminded they can change their election choice right up to the signup deadline without penalty. Call your local service center for details. Use this opportunity for the staff to explain all the other program choices you might be eligible for right now. USDA expands assistance to cover feed transportation costs for drought-impacted ranchers In response to the severe drought conditions in the West and Great Plains, the USDA announced its plans to help cover the cost of transporting feed for livestock that rely on grazing. USDA is updating the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program to immediately cover feed transportation costs for drought-impacted ranchers. FSA will provide more details and tools to help ranchers get ready to apply at their local USDA Service Center later this month at fsa.usda.gov/elap. ELAP provides nancial assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honeybees and farm-raised sh for losses due to disease, certain adverse weather events or loss conditions as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture. ELAP already covers the cost of hauling water during drought, and this change will expand the program beginning in 2021 to cover feed transportation costs where grazing and hay resources have been depleted. This includes places where: – Drought intensity is D2 for eight consecutive weeks as indicated by the U.S. Drought Monitor. – Drought intensity is D3 or greater. – USDA has determined a shortage of local or regional feed availability. Cost share assistance will also be made available to cover eligible cost of treating hay or feed to prevent the spread of invasive pests like re ants. Under the revised policy for feed transportation cost assistance, eligible ranchers will be reimbursed 60% of feed transportation costs above what would have been incurred in a normal year. Producers qualifying as underserved (socially disadvantaged, limited resource, beginning or military veteran) will be reimbursed for 90% of the feed transportation cost above what would have been incurred in a normal year. A national cost formula, as established by USDA, will be used to determine reimbursement costs which will not include the rst 25 miles and distances exceeding 1,000 transportation miles. The calculation will also exclude the normal cost to transport hay or feed if the producer normally purchases some feed. For 2021, the initial cost formula of $6.60 per mile will be used (before the percentage is applied), but may be adjusted on a state or regional basis. To be eligible for ELAP assistance, livestock must be intended for grazing and producers must have incurred feed transportation costs on or after Jan. 1, 2021. Although producers will self-certify losses and expenses to FSA, producers are encouraged to maintain good records and retain receipts and related documentation in the event these documents are requested for review by the local FSA County Committee. The deadline to le an application for payment for the 2021 program year is Jan. 31, 2022. Farm Service Agency is an Equal Opportunity Lender. Complaints about discrimination should be sent to: Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250. Visit the Farm Service Agency Web site at: www.fsa.usda.gov/ for necessary application forms and updates on USDA programs.
Building future demand by connecting on shared values Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021 • Page 27
In the dairy community, we know that if we are going to maintain and expand market share in the coming years and decades, our focus needs to be on connecting with the next generation of consumers. Right now, that means building more trust and preference with members of Generation Z, those born between 1997-2012, who are now more than 20% of the population with spending power of over $100 billion and growing. Recent studies show 90% of Gen Z believes companies must act to help social and environmental issues, and 78% of them agree it is up to their generation to stop climate change from By Jennifer Voegele getting worse. How do Midwest Dairy we connect with Gen Z to help them see that dairy is something they can feel good about putting in their carts now and well into the future? We show them our commitment and passion for sustainability, and positive environmental, social and economic outcomes. With the goal of connecting with Gen Z consumers to build trust and drive demand, Midwest Dairy created a marketing campaign – “What You Do, Dairy Does Too” – to help young consumers see that dairy farmers are just like them: people who care about the environment, their neighbors and their communities. Although we have shared dairy’s local, health and net zero messages before, this is the rst campaign to focus exclusively on sustainability. In addition to the importance of sustainability, research shows Gen Z consumers prefer getting information from videos, and they appreciate colorful, engaging images and infographic-like materials. To ensure we are reaching Gen Z in a way that will resonate, a “What You Do, Dairy Does Too” toolkit was developed with these insights in mind. The toolkit is available for partners and farmers to download on MidwestDairy.com and includes things such as bright, fun banner artwork that can be displayed in-store or on the farm, shareable videos, social media images and copy, infographics, a scavenger hunt and more, making it easier than ever to help spread sustainability messages that resonate with consumers. We encourage farmers to access this toolkit and see how the resources can help connect with Gen Z. Whether it is adding a poster to a popular resting spot on a farm tour or posting an infographic on social media, no effort is too small when it comes to helping build authentic connections with our next generation of consumers. To bring this campaign to life, Midwest Dairy is working with many partners. Recently, we teamed up
with three social media inuencers (@sustainablyxi, @andhattiemakesthree and @bigdeliciouslife) to reach key audiences by using short- and long-form video content to showcase how dairy is sustainable in several ways. The videos highlight the parallels between small changes we all make in our homes to live more sustainable lives, and things dairy farmers have been doing for years – including composting, recycling and conserving energy. This effort resulted in more than 2,500,000 impressions, extending our messages to those who might not otherwise see them. We plan to continue using inuencer partnerships to connect with Gen Z. Another successful campaign partnership was with Downtown Sioux Falls for its annual Riverfest event earlier this fall. Currently, we are working to build more partnerships, from retailers
to schools, that will help bring the “What You Do, Dairy Does Too” theme to life across the region, allowing consumers to see the modern, engaging messaging in action. After interacting with this campaign, we want consumers to view dairy farmers and dairy foods as far more progressive than they originally thought, understanding that dairy is produced with the utmost care for the planet. We want them to feel good about choosing dairy and truly believe what we do is good for the Earth, our neighbors and our communities. And, we know that if we work together as a united dairy community to build trust where our values align – in our commitment to sustainability – we can reach Gen Z now to ensure a strong future and demand for dairy.
ALMOST A DECADE WITH A3 NEXT ROBOTS
& STILL GOING STRONG! Here’s a Groetsch Family Update!
Steve and Lisa Groetsch are in their 10th year with Lely milking robots.
Goals in January 2012: • Milk 3x a day • Ease labor • Improve milk production That year, they installed four A3-Next milking robots and were better able to manage their herd’s production.
Heading into 2022 with Great Results: • Increased tank average • Improved cow health
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U Ƃ Ã>Ì ÃvÞ } > ` yiÝ L i Ü À « >Vi v À ÕÀ VÀiÜ • Lifestyle and a career for children’s future (all currently working in >} Ài >Ìi` wi `Ãt® In recent years, the Groetsch family earned one of the Top 200 robot-producing `> ÀÞ iÀ`Ã Ì i Ü À `t ,> } Ì i Ì « Óää « >ViÃ Ì i Ì i Ì « £¯ v the Lely robotic milking farms. It’s a wonderful testament to all the hard work and dedication this family offers to the agricultural community. “Getting to our 10-year mark has reinforced the idea that we made the right choice by going robotic, and by going Lely & Leedstone. We continue to watch IOFC (income over feed costs) and SCC (somatic cell count); and by cross-breeding, we are keeping our barn at the optimal capacity.” - Lisa Groetsch
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Page 28 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021 Dana Adams, adam1744@umn.edu 320-204-2968 Joe Armstrong armst225@umn.edu 612.624.3610 Luciano Caixeta lcaixeta@umn.edu 612-625-3130 Gerard Cramer gcramer@umn.edu 612-625-8184 Marcia Endres miendres@umn.edu 612-624-5391 Joleen Hadrich jhadrich@umn.edu 612-626-5620 Les Hansen hanse009@umn.edu 612-624-2277 Brad Heins hein0106@umn.edu 320-589-1711 Nathan Hulinsky huli0013@umn.edu 320-203-6104 Kevin Janni kjanni@umn.edu 612-625-3108 Karen Johnson ande9495@umn.edu 320-484-4334 Emily Krekelberg krek0033@umn.edu 507-280-2863 Claire LaCanne lacanne@umn.edu 507-332-6109 Brenda Miller nels4220@umn.edu 320-732-4435 Erin Royster royster@umn.edu Isaac Salfer ijsalfer@umn.edu 320-296-1357 Jim Salfer salfe001@umn.edu 320-203-6093 Mike Schutz mschutz@umn.edu 612-624-1205 Emma Severns sever575@umn.edu 507-934-7828 Melissa Wison mlw@umn.edu 612-625-4276
www.extension.umn.edu/dairy
Can dairy cattle spend their winter outside? By Joe Armstrong, DVM Midwest Dairy
Dairy cattle are hardy animals. Dairy cattle are maybe not as hardy as beef cattle but certainly tough enough to spend their winter outside if given the correct resources. Dairy farmers looking to grow, or dairy farmers starting out, can take advantage of this toughness and cut the cost of a building if necessary. Stocking density is the most important factor for out wintering success. When cattle are stocked appropriately in their living space, they are more comfortable and more productive. Appropriate stocking density reduces stress; improves health and decreases illness; creates uniform body condition allowing for better nutritional decisions and control; decreases competition for resources among cattle; and increases productivity, including average daily gain, milk yield, reproduction efciency and feed efciency. What factors inuence cattle stocking density in an outdoor area? Especially in the winter, a windbreak is one of the most important things you can provide cattle to help them stay comfortable. Windbreaks can be naturally occurring (trees) or man-made (buildings, rows of stacked bales or other structures). The windbreak should ideally cover the bedded pack, feeding area and watering area. A bedded pack provides a comfortable place for cattle to relax and ruminate. A bedded pack also keeps cattle warm and dry, and should provide 100 square feet per cow. Adequate bunk space limits competition for resources, especially when there are mixed age groups in an area. Having sufcient bunk space will
also produce a group of cattle that have a similar body condition. Having uniform body condition within a group makes nutrition decisions more applicable and makes maintaining body condition goals more achievable. Correct body condition management can result in improved performance in all aspects of a cattle operation. Provide 2 linear feet of bunk space per cow for the best results. Water is often the forgotten nutrient despite it being the most important. Proper hydration is essential for proper immune function and overall health, and water drives dry matter intake, meaning it is also the most crucial nutrient for performance. One to 2 linear inches of water space per cow is the recommended water space. Appropriate stocking density is determined by three main factors: physical space, bunk space and water space. To provide the most comfortable and productive environment for cattle, producers have two options: build facilities to match their desired cattle numbers, or match the number of cattle to their most limiting factor. If you know how many cattle you have or want to have, you can use that number to determine what specications your facilities need to have for comfortable and productive cattle. E x a m p l e : I want to have 100 cows in my outdoor pen over winter. The bedded pack space should be 100 square feet per cow for 10,000 square feet of a bedded pack. You can congure the 10,000 square feet in whatever way best ts the space you have to work with. The area can be a 100-by-100 square or two 100-by-50 rectangles, whatever works best. The bunk space should be 2 linear feet per cow for 200 linear feet of bunk space. Like the bedded pack space, this bunk can be congured however works best for your space – one long bunk, two shorter bunks, four short bunks, etc. You can count both sides of the bunk if cows can access both sides.
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The water space should be 1 to 2 linear inches per cow for 100 to 200 linear inches of water. Like the bunks, you can count all sides of the waterer if the cows can access all the sides. Sometimes multiple water locations are preferred to prevent a boss cow from monopolizing the only water access. If you already have an area you would like to use for cattle, you can use the specications of the facility to determine how many comfortable, productive cattle the area can support. Producers should use the most limited resource to determine the appropriate cow numbers. Example: My facility has the following specications: – An area behind a windbreak where I can build a bedded pack that is 100-by-100. – One fence line bunk providing 150 linear feet of bunk space. – Two waterers, each with 80 linear inches of water space. Each of these specications, when considered alone, could provide for the following cow numbers: – 100-by-100 bedded pack is 10,000 square feet. If you allow 100 square feet per cow, you can have 100 cows. – 150 linear feet of bunk space. If you allow 2 linear feet per cow, you can have 75 cows – Two waterers providing 160 linear inches of water. If you allow 1 to 2 linear inches per cow, you can have 80 to 160 cows. In this example, my facility’s bedded pack space and water space can support 100 cows, but my bunk space can only accommodate 75 cows. To have comfortable, productive cows in this facility, we have to use the most limiting factor to determine our cow numbers, meaning the ideal number of cows for this area is 75 cows. If I wanted to have 100 cows in this area, I would need to add 50 feet of bunk space somehow.
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Why calf barns get damp during cold weather By Kevin Jani Midwest Dairy
Have you noticed your calf barn feels damp and humid when temperatures drop below 30 degrees Fahrenheit? Let me see if I can explain why unheated calf barns get so damp. Cold weather ventilation is supposed to provide plenty of fresh, draft-free air at animal level to remove moisture, gases and airborne pathogens. The amount of air exchange needed depends on the number, age and size of calves, and ambient weather dry-bulb temperatures and relative humidity levels. If you don’t exchange enough air, the barn becomes humid, stinky and has more airborne pathogens. Cold weather ventilation is a challenge because calf barns are rarely heated, and cold air cannot hold much moisture. This is important because ventilation air needs to remove the moisture from animal respiration, urine and feces from the barn. If ventilation air does not remove enough moisture, the barn air becomes humid and clammy, the bedding becomes wet, and condensation or frost can form on cold walls. One way to remove more moisture is to increase the ventilating rate through the barn, but as the temperature drops in cold weather, the air’s moisture-holding capacity decreases, which means you need to increase the ventilating rate even more. It is a vicious cycle as temperatures drop. It takes 7,230 ft.3 of air at 30 degrees and 50% relative humidity to hold 1 pound of water (approximately 1.9 cups) but only 1,510 ft.3 of air at 60 degrees and 80% RH to hold that same 1 pound of water. Air increases its water holding capacity as temperature and relative humidity increase. A 100-pound calf gives off roughly 0.07 pounds of water per hour through respiration and evaporation from the skin at about 37 degrees. To remove that moisture, you need to exchange 3,380 ft.3 of air per hour per calf, or 56 ft.3 per minute (CFM), if the outdoor air enters at 0 degrees and 50% RH, absorbs moisture, and leaves the barn at 0 degrees and 80% RH. At 60 degrees, you need 279 ft.3 of air per hour per calf (or 4.6 CFM) when the air goes from 50% to 80% RH to remove 0.07 pounds of water per hour. Figure 1 shows that it takes a lot more ventilation air exchange in cold weather to manage air relative humidity
levels in the barn when not adding heat. Moisture evaporating from urine and feces adds to the total moisture load. The amount of moisture to remove increases as calves grow. Using plenty of dry bedding helps manage the urine and feces moisture, but some will evaporate and need to be removed by ventilation. The commonly recommended cold weather ventilating rate is 15 to 20 CFM per calf (MWPS-7). This recommended ventilating rate is based on having the barn at 30 degrees. Winter in northern regions has temperatures below 30 degrees for many hours. So, if you are providing 15 CFM per calf and the temperature drops below 30 degrees, your barn will become wet and clammy (Figure 1). You probably will have condensation or frost on cold exterior walls, too, as indoor humidity increases and outdoor temperatures drop. Another common cold weather ventilation recommendation is to provide four air changes per hour (ACH). The cold weather ventilating rate in CFM can be found by dividing the room volume (cubic feet) by 15. The ACH method gives different ventilating rates for barns with different ceilings heights. Calves provided with 30 feet of bedded pack area per calf in a barn with an 8-foot ceiling would need to have 16 CFM per calf. If the ceiling height is 12 feet, four ACH corresponds to 24 CFM. These ventilating rates will have trouble removing the moisture from the calves and the bedded pack at temperatures below 20 degrees. What can you do? Remember, the goal of cold weather ventilation is to provide plenty of fresh, draft-free air at animal level to remove moisture, gases and airborne pathogens. Second, have a method to distribute fresh air uniformly in a draft-free way. A positive-pressure tube system works well. Third, try to have a way to increase the ventilating rate when it is cold for an extended period to remove more moisture and better manage the relative humidity level. Fourth, consider removing wet and dirty bedding and/or adding more fresh, dry bedding. Fresh, dry bedding will allow calves to nest and manage the cold temperatures better. Fifth, let conditions become humid temporarily, but remember damp conditions are supposed to be temporary, so increase ventilation to dry out the barn when temperatures rise again. Finally, you could add heat but doing so would be expensive.
Ventilating rate (CFM per calf)
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Air temperature (F)
Figure 1. VenƟlaƟng rate per calf needed to remove 0.07 pounds of water per hour with no temperature rise and increasing the air relaƟve humidity from 50% to 80%.
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Lutesk memories Page 30 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021
The long cold has descended upon us, bringing gray skies that look the way a headache feels. This can only be good, because the advent of cold weather means lutesk season has once again arrived. My mother and I were the only two in our family of 10 who partook of lutesk. We were outcasts, the only true believers in a clan of lutesk indels. I have visited Madison, Minnesota, a small town that bills itself as “Lutesk Capital USA.” With a handle like that, you might assume lutesk is so common that it is available in street-side vending machines. But the only place I’ve been able to nd lutesk is at the town’s modest grocery store. Once, while in Madison, I purchased a generous slab of yellowish, gelatinous, lye-soaked cod. Upon arriving home, I proudly showed my shy prize to my wife.
My wife is of German descent and reacted in a manner similar to that of a woman who had just discovered a skunk in her sock drawer. “Get that icky stuff away from me,” she exclaimed as she scrambled up onto a chair. I’m pretty sure this was merely mock terror. “Just take a whiff of this,” I replied. “This is fresh lutesk. Nothing like it in the whole world!” “I already know how awful it smells. How can you tell if lutesk has gone bad?” There seemed to be no answer to that question, so it must have been rhetorical. I lugged the lutesk to Mom’s house. She boiled it up, and we put away the entire thing. We drenched the codsh with melted butter and salted it to the point where it made us think of the ocean. Eating lutesk can have a powerful effect on us
Norwegians. It causes me to imagine the sweep of the roiling, steel-gray waters of the stormy North Sea. A dragon-headed longboat plows through the foamy swells, a wild-eyed bear of a man – wearing a winged helmet, of course – standing at the prow. Dear County Agent Guy I can clearly see a gathering of manly men in a great smokey hall, guys with names like Beowulf and Hrothgar, muscular males who chug humungous agons of mead. Their wives have names like Thorhild and Skuld, strong, fearless women who never complain By Jerry Nelson about the position of the toilet seat, never poke Columnist fun at their husbands’ scraggly nose hairs. When the Winter Olympics were held in Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994, several Midwesterners of Norwegian descent opted to attend the games. Since they were in the Old Country, they decided to ask the locals where they could nd the best lutesk. “Lutesk?” came the incredulous reply. “We don’t eat that crap. We catch and dry the cod and sell it all to those dopey Americans.” For me, nothing says “It’s the holiday season, so stuff yourself until you lapse into a coma” like the wondrous aroma of a steaming kettle of lutesk. It brings back memories of holiday gatherings at my grandparents’ house, where lutesk was seen as a vital part of the meal, no less essential than the atware. Sadly, no one else in my family feels the same way about lutesk as I do. This is a cross I must bear. It’s difcult to be the only lutesk disciple in a roomful of jellied sh atheists. I recently spoke with an elderly guy who told me his parents would purchase lutesk in small wooden casks back when he was a kid. “You had to soak the lutesk and change the water several times to remove the lye,” said the ancient codger. “If you didn’t get all the lye out, your mouth would spark.” I didn’t have to ask what he meant by spark. One Norwegian holiday tradition that has survived is lefse. For those who don’t know, lefse is essentially a potato-based tortilla. My mother taught all of her daughters and granddaughters how to make lefse. On the evening before a holiday gathering, my sisters and our nieces will get together and crank out a pile of lefse that’s large enough to qualify as a geographical feature. The next morning, they’ll butter the lefse and roll it up. Few things put me in the holiday feasting mood like seeing a stack of rolled lefse that could ll a logging truck. As I tuck into the yummies, I’ll use a roll of lefse to mop up gravy or herd stray peas. And while it won’t be quite the same without lutesk, I am deeply grateful for family and the opportunity to stuff myself until I feel like a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon. Jerry is a recovering dairy farmer from Volga, South Dakota. He and his wife, Julie, have two grown sons and live on the farm where Jerry’s great-grandfather homesteaded over 110 years ago. Jerry currently works full time for the Dairy Star as a staff writer/ad salesman. Feel free to E-mail him at: jerry.n@dairystar.com.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021 • Page 31
I’ll never forget milking cows structure dictates smaller pens, it may in a tiestall barn, feeding cows with reduce the capacity of the barn. You wheelbarrows and feed will likely need to clean carts on my family’s Something to Ruminate On pens more frequently to dairy farm in northwest reduce ammonia at the calf Minnesota. Many level. Some farms have producers have moved chosen to gut the internal out of these older barns components in these barns, and into freestall barns providing more exibility to expand the herd or for the layout. move to a new milking For calf health, system while enhancing ventilation and the factors cow comfort and labor that impact it should efciency. be carefully considered Abandoned tiestall before placing young dairy barns can look calves in an old dairy barn. very attractive for calves, These barns tend to have By Barry Visser especially this time of very little opportunity for Nutritionist year. They are warmer natural ventilation and than hutches and protect rely on tunnel ventilation calves and caretakers from the elements. or a similar negative-pressure system. Before you renovate, consider these key You may be able to use portions of factors to provide a good environment existing mechanical ventilation systems for your calves. as a savings, yet still effectively ventilate Stocking density in old dairy barns retrotted barns. is often the biggest challenge. Calves Positive-pressure tubes often work require a minimum of 28 square feet in retrotted barns but may present per animal in the rst 60 days. Evaluate some challenges. We try to make use the ebb and ow of past and projected of windows or old exhaust fan holes to calvings and determine how often the avoid cutting through outside walls. In monthly calvings vary from the average. barns with low ceilings, it can be difcult This will determine if the building space to install fans or tubes so they can’t be is adequate to accommodate the heavier reached by calves or skidloaders. calving pressures. Recommendations by the University Consider sloping your pens so of Wisconsin School of Veterinary leachate can drain into a removal system. Medicine and others include a minimum If the barn cleaner is functional, this of 600 to 1,000 cubic feet of air space or can be a good way to remove wet or four air exchanges per hour during winter, soiled bedding. When sloping is not 15 to 20 air exchanges per hour during an option, you may cut grooves in the transitional periods like spring and fall, concrete to move uid. More uid means and 40 or more air exchanges per hour in more ammonia accumulation in the the summer. When air space is limited, it bedding and a greater risk for respiratory reduces the number of animals you can challenges. house or requires increased ventilation For some tiestall or stanchion without drafting calves. Work with barns, the structure can be a challenge someone trained in air specications to getting 28 square feet per calf. If the before construction takes place. These
early discussions can potentially save you time and expense. A comprehensive cleaning and sanitation program is key to preventing disease in any calf facility. Pens should be designed for cleaning ease. It is generally not recommended to pressure wash or aerosolize water in an enclosed calf barn. Consider removable panels to sanitize between calves or have a system for cleaning in place. Foamers can be good options for disinfecting clean surfaces. With any age of calves or heifers, think about how you will feed and water animals in a retrotted barn. This is often one of the biggest pitfalls. Baby calves must reach the bottom of the pail, which may require adjusting pail heights as the calves grow. Weaned calves and older heifers need to easily reach through the bunk to access feed. Design the feeding space so you can push up feed and keep
it fresh. Adequate hot water availability can be a challenge in barns where an older water heater cannot keep up with demands of the feeding and cleaning processes. From a consumption standpoint, water pressure, access and quality are all additional considerations. Retrotting a tiestall barn for calves can be an efcient way to reallocate existing space and resources on a farm. Start with a checklist of needs and determine if that old facility can functionally ll those needs. If so, work with industry representatives who can advise you on making updates. The goal is a facility that allows your calf team to comfortably care for calves while achieving optimum health and performance. Barry Visser is a nutritionist for Vita Plus.
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An extra hour Page 32 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021
As November rolled in, we started to become giddy with excitement. What would we do with our extra hour on Sunday when the clocks fell back? Would we take a nap before church or even make it to an earlier service? Would we nd a quiet place to reconnect with a book neglected during the busy harvest season? Would we take the extra hour to celebrate, just because? Or, would we work an extra hour longer? I do not know what Mark was planning to do with his extra hour, but what happened denitely wasn’t on our radar. We have been slowly building up the milking herd. Right now, it is quicker to count the number of empty stalls than the number of cows standing in the barn. We’re knocking on the door of milking 70 head. On Sunday morning, as we switched back to Central Standard Time, we lled in a few more stalls. Once it became light enough to see outside, I
started to feed the calves in the domes. That is when we discovered a heifer had calved during the morning milking. No problem. We would get her milked, the calf fed and still make it to early church service. Or at least we could be early to the later service. But as Mark and I were bringing the new fresh heifer back from the milking barn, we noticed all the springers and youngstock were standing in the northwest corner of their lot back behind the shed. Something had their attention and it piqued our curiosity. Grabbing a pitchfork, we started walking across the lot. I was scanning the crowd trying to nd my favorite heifer: B-568. For some reason, she absolutely does not like me and is not afraid to show me how much. She has been head butting me since she was a baby calf. At rst, I could just push her away. Then I had to start climbing a fence to get out of her reach. Now she follows me up and down the fence line as I feed milk to the calves in
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the domes. She tries to nudge me between the cables if I stand too close, and it is not a love tap. I can only imagine how we will get her across the yard between the switch cow shed and the milking barn after she calves this spring. I hope it does not include using me Just Thinking Out Loud as bait to get her moving. As we walk across the lot, we start to hear something. It sounds like a bawling calf. As we work our way through the crowd of curious heifers, the sound gets louder. Just as Mark reaches the end of the shed and the outer edge of the concrete, he catches a glimpse of something black moving behind some By Natalie Schmitt brush trees on the other Columnist side of the fence. We have another calf? With the recent fall rains, the mud lot is like quicksand wrapping around your boots if you dare to venture from the concrete lot. Mark bounces from pile to pile to reach the calf. The calf sprints northward toward open elds. I high tail it out of the heifer lot to nd Austin to help wrangle this very agile calf. I grab Austin off the feed cart, and we jump on the four-wheeler. I am afraid we will have to bull dog from the bike, considering how quickly this calf scooted through the underbrush. Just as we round the edge of the machine shed, we see Mark. He has the calf wrapped in his arms as he brings her to the yard. Out of breath, he hands her off to Austin to nish the journey to the barn. I don’t know how Mark caught her, but he does have a way with the ladies. She was already dry and steady on her legs, so we gured she must have been born overnight and wandered out of the switch cow shed to mingle with the bred heifers. Regardless, we had to nd another fresh heifer to milk. Walking through the switch cow lot, we found a springer who had just a trace remnant of cleanings on her tail. Well at least she cleaned. Now to chase her across the yard to the milking barn. After the last fresh heifer was milked and her calf fed, we scrambled to get ready for late church service. We slid into a pew just as they started to sing the opening hymn. So much for an extra hour to do something fun, lazy or just be early. It turned out our extra hour was not much different than any other hour of the day. As we adjust to less daylight this month, I’m discovering I can never nd a working ashlight when I need one to help feed calves or to help repair silo unloaders in the dark. The ashlights haven’t been used since last winter, and the power in the batteries seems to have faded. I am constantly looking for new batteries. Which reminds me of something I saw on Grace and Mercy’s Facebook page: “When a ashlight grows dim or quits working, do you just throw it away? Of course not. You change the batteries. When a person messes up or nds themselves in a dark place, do you cast them aside? Of course not. You help them change their batteries. Some need: AA – attention and affection; AAA – attention, affection and acceptance; Some need C – compassion; Some need D – direction. And if they still don’t seem to shine, simply sit with them quietly and share your light.” 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.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021 • Page 33
As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. We have reached the end of a very good chapter in the story of our farm. This chapter started 15-some years ago when we met Ron while working as herdsmen at the Salzls’ farm. Ron did relief milking for them. After we bought our farm, we asked Ron if he would consider doing some relief milking for us. He agreed and began milking for us occasionally. I don’t think it was hard for Ron to say yes to Dairy Good Life milking. Ron grew up on a dairy farm and dairy farmed himself for several years before taking a job in town. Ron is one of those men who truly loves cows. He would tell us stories about the cow families in his herd. And he remembered the cow families in our herd – sometimes even better than us. Sometime around when Monika was born, we asked Ron to consider milking for us one night a week. We needed some time off on a regular basis, and Ron really seemed to enjoy milking. Again, Ron agreed. By Sadie Frericks And, so, began the Ron years – at least that’s how Columnist I will remember them. Every Wednesday night, Ron came to milk. Some of those nights we did things like family movie night or simply sat down to a non-rushed supper. Some of those nights we chopped corn or caught up on other chores. And if we needed a different night off for a Christmas program or a fatherdaughter ball or a softball game, Ron was always happy to switch unless he was refereeing a high school volleyball game. Ron also continued to milk for us when we went away for the weekend or took a business trip. Every dairy farmer knows it can be hard to leave the farm, but we never worried when we left the cows with Ron. Ron was so good with our cows and knew them so well. If Luna came in looking a little off, Ron noticed. If Athena was in heat, Ron caught it. And, because he also worked as a relief A.I. technician, he took care of that, too, when we were away. If the cows or heifers got out, Ron put them back in. But even better than being a great milker, Ron became a great friend. Just as Ron was one of the rst to know when our kids were born, because he was milking for us, we were some of the rst to know when he had a new grandchild arrive. We got to know Ron’s family through his stories, almost as well as he knows ours. He occasionally brought his family to see the cows. His wife, Jane, sent Easter baskets for the kids, and their house was a must-stop for trick-or-treating. And it wasn’t uncommon for Ron to show up on Wednesday night with a fresh
batch of the best monster cookies for us. This chapter came to an end last month for a reason many dairy farmers (and retired dairy farmers) will relate to: Ron’s knees have been bothering him, and his doctor recommended retiring from milking. When I told the kids Ron was retiring, there were sad, but understanding, faces and questions about what we were going to do without him. I told them we’d look for a new relief milker. Daphne immediately responded, “We’re never going to nd another Ron.” Daphne might be right. Ron leaves us with some very big shoes to ll, but I’m hoping there’s someone else out there who enjoys milking as much as Ron did. Ron, if you’re reading this, thank you for loving us and loving our cows as if they were your own. We are so grateful for all your help for all these years. Enjoy your retirement. Sadie and her husband, Glen, milk 100 cows near Melrose, Minnesota. They have three children – Dan, 13, Monika, 11, and Daphne, 7. Sadie also writes a blog at www.dairygoodlife.com. She can be reached at sadiefrericks@gmail.com.
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Page 34 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021
Sauk Centre dairyman successfully juggles coaching, farming
Klaphake claims high school state title By Bryan Zollman Staff Writer
SAUK CENTRE, Minn. – Jim Klaphake did not get home from celebrating his Sauk Centre High School volleyball team’s state championship until 1:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 12. One might think the team coach would sleep in Sunday and soak in the moment of leading a group of young girls to the very top of their class. But Klaphake was up at 4:30 a.m. ready to milk his 70 cows and do chores on his 640acre farm southwest of Sauk Centre. The farm also includes 200 Holstein steers, 30 beef cows, 250 acres of corn, 150 acres of soybean, 140 acres TOM FENTON/DAIRY STAR of alfalfa and the remainder in Jim Klaphake (middle) encourages his team during a Ɵmeout in their match against Jackson County Central in the Class AA state small grains. championship Nov. 13 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Klaphake milks 70 cows near Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Klaphake is in his 18th year of coaching high school volleyball. A former became available. “The year before, I was hired coach.” But Klaphake had three young standout football player at “I played some co-ed and to coach 16-year-olds (Junior It was a tough decision daughters coming up, and the Sauk Centre High School, mens league volleyball and Olympic) volleyball. That for a dairy farmer to commit program was without a coach. he tossed his hat into the pretty much learned the game was the extent of my coaching the time and effort to run a rink when the volleyball job from that,” said Klaphake, 56. experience before I was a head successful volleyball program. Turn to KLAPHAKE | Page 35
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021 • Page 35
Turn to KLAPHAKE | Page 35
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Jim Klaphake (middle) watches play during the Sauk Centre volleyball team’s championship match against Jackson County Central Nov. 13 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Klaphake has been coaching volleyball for 18 years. “I remember my mom and dad saying there’s no way you can be successful at them both,” he recalled of his consideration of the job. “You can’t be gone that much from farming and still have a successful farm. They were also worried about the volleyball program. They said, ‘What makes you think you can coach? You’re a dairy farmer.’” Both of Klaphake’s parents have since passed away, but they were able to witness their son coach their granddaughters to high levels of success over the years. In 18 years of coaching, his teams have won 447 matches, four section titles and most recently a state title. But, he could not have done it without help. “The biggest thing was to have someone do chores and to do the milking at night,” he said. Practices ran from 3 to 5:30 p.m., and when there were matches, they began at 6 p.m. and lasted until close to 9 p.m. If the match was on the road, it sometimes meant leaving home at 3:15 p.m. and not getting home until close to 11 p.m. “Through the years, I have had some really good people help me do chores at night,” Klaphake said. “But every morning, I do chores, and every weekend and all summer. I kind of bank up the chores until the volleyball season.” It does not just take support in the barn but also in the house. Klaphake’s wife, Carol, has been supportive of his commitment to the volleyball program and coaching their three daughters, all whom are now graduated. Daughters Jena and Jill both helped with the program this season, with Jill serving as junior varsity and assistant varsity coach. Jena was instrumental as well, until she had her rst child this fall. Megan is attending college and plays volleyball there. “From the word go, Carol has always been supportive,” Klaphake
said. “When fall comes, I just am not around much except for breakfast and supper.” Klaphake said there are several similarities between running a dairy farm and coaching a team. “One, in both farming and coaching, if you want to be successful, you have to work really hard,” he said. “Two, you have to decide between the things you want to do and the things you have to do. And three, you need good help. You can’t do it by yourself. And through the years, I have had some great help on the farm and on the court.” Klaphake said having six brothers, four of them who farm and are always willing to lend a hand, has been a major help in allowing him to spend time at the volleyball court. Farmers, he said, never run out of things to do, and the same can be said for coaching. “You just have to prioritize,” he said. Looking back, he said he would not change a thing. “There’s been some sacrice,” he said. “But coaching my three daughters has been great. Coaching all these kids has been a lot of fun.” Klaphake has been able to maintain success on both the farm and on the court while making a positive impact on the youth in his community. It is a testament showing that dairy farmers, with proper prioritization and support, can do things away from the farm to help further fulll their lives. When asked if he is going to retire from coaching now that he has a state title to his credit and his three daughters have graduated, Klaphake said no. “When the feeling of wanting to win subsides, I’ll be done,” he said. “I want to win now every bit as much as I did when my daughters played.” Competing on the court, much like farming, is in his blood. “It’s a heck of a commitment, but I wouldn’t change a thing,” he said. “I enjoy the heck out of both of them.”
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Women In Dairy Katie Pfeiffer New Lisbon, Wisconsin Juneau County 120 cows Family: My mom is a professor at Purdue University in Indiana, and my sister is in medical school in Madison. They come and help me during the holidays. Tell us about the farm. My farm is called Blue B Dairy, and I milk 120 Jerseys and Jersey crosses twice a day. There are 30 acres on the farm that I use for pasture, and I purchase my feed. I also purchase my replacements, so there are no youngstock on the farm. When I dry my cows off, they go to a dry cow farm and freshen there. They come back here a week fresh. It is very efcient by design because I am only one person, and labor can be challenging. I use activity monitors for the cows, and I breed my own cows. What is the busiest time of day for you? Mornings are my busiest time. I start at 4:30 a.m. by pushing up feed and bringing cows in from pasture. Once I set up the parlor, a guy comes with the feed and starts milking. I scrape stalls and bed cows and nish milking. Then I feed cows and feed everyone else on the farm, too. When you get a spare moment, what do you do? I like hiking. I have three dogs, so I try to do outdoor activities with them. In the summer, I like to go to the river. Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. Overall, it’s been an interesting time. I started in 2019. I started milking for the rst time right before Christmas. On Christmas Day, I ended up in the hospital because I threw out my back and left my mom in charge who had never milked a cow before. Everything turned out ne, but it was memorable for my mom as well. What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? I enjoy the cows. I like working with them every day. I get to set my own schedule for the most part and be active. It’s always challenging, which I like. I like being on the farm. How do you stay connected with others in the industry? Just by doing business with the people I work with, like the vet and the nutritionist. I used to be a reproduction consultant and had to be traveling, and now I like to stay home and work with cows.
What is the best vacation you have ever taken? Before farming, when I graduated from college, my family and friends went to Dalton Island off the coast of Alabama. We rented a house and had amazing food and time with friends and family. We didn’t even have to leave the house. I like a good beach vacation. What are some words you like to live by? On the farm, I like to say if you take care of the cows, the cows will take care of you. Focus on what you’re good at and learn what you’re not good at. Try to control what you can, and try not to worry about what you can’t control.
Who is someone in the industry who has inspired you? No one specic, but I admire farmers who are progressive and try to adapt to what we are doing now. It’s hard trying to be competitive as possible to stay relevant. If you could give a tour of your farm to a prominent woman in today’s society, who would it be? People who are not exposed to agriculture and have a platform. I would eventually like to be able to promote dairy on social media more.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021 • Page 37
An unordinary hunt Schlauderaffs tag bucks after hiatus from stands By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
VERGAS, Minn. – Hunting is a sport the Schlauderaff brothers dabbled in many years ago but not something they consider themselves devoted to. That notion may be changing following their prized hunts Nov. 8. “It was a good time,” Casey Schlauderaff said. “I don’t know if I would’ve gone out if the kids didn’t want to go, but now I think we’ll be doing more of that. It was pretty fun.” Casey took his children – Jaston, 9, and Avery, 7 – hunting on the morning of Nov. 8, when they tagged a 10-point buck near the farm site where their heifers are raised. That evening, Casey’s brother, Chad, went hunting with his son, Kiptin, 5, when they bagged another 10-point buck only a mile north of where the rst deer went down. “I haven’t hunted in 15 years but Kiptin wanted to go out, so we did,” Chad said. “That whole hour I hunted, I thought I did alright.” The Schlauderaffs dairy farm in partnership with their brother, Cory, and parents, Gary and Barb. They milk 650 cows in Otter Tail County near Vergas. On that pleasant Monday morning, Casey’s children were home from school and itching to get out in the stand. “Avery pestered me for a week to get
a license,” Casey said. “They were super excited to go hunting.” After a quick stop to grab hot chocolate and snacks, the trio were setup by 7 a.m. They occupied the same stand Casey’s nephew tagged a buck in over the weekend. As the Schlauderaffs waited and watched the woods, they noticed a sher collecting the remains of that earlier-shot buck and carry it away. “That was pretty cool to see,” Casey said. After about an hour in the stand, Avery noticed the prized buck and then quieted down as Jaston saw him too and Casey took aim. It was in the hay eld on the outskirts of the woods; a mere 50 yards from where Casey’s nephew shot his. “As we waited for him to bleed out and walk over there, Avery said her heart was hurting she was so excited,” Casey said. At the shot site, the crew cleaned the deer and got the buck ready to take home. Jaston and Avery helped their dad hold the legs and learned where different organs were located within the cavity of the animal. “They were good troopers,” Casey said. “Then, they couldn’t wait to tell Mom all about it when she got home from work.” After chores that same day, Chad and his son retreated to another part of the woods for their chance at a buck shot. The father-son duo was in the stand for about a half hour when they noticed the buck come into range at 4:30 p.m.
Turn to SCHLAUDERAFFS | Page 38
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Chad Schlauderaff and his son, Kip�n, pose with their 10-point buck they shot Nov. 8. The Schlauderaffs tagged the buck near the farm site where the Schlauderaffs’ heifers are raised near Vergas, Minnesota.
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Page 38 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021
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“Right away we saw something take off in the cattails, and I thought that’d be our only chance,” Chad said. “Then, awhile later, I saw a reection of antlers as sundown started. I told Kiptin to be quiet and don’t move.” To Chad’s surprise, his son was not bothered by the shot but was rather thrilled. Together, they dressed the young buck, and Chad answered all of Kiptin’s questions. That evening was the second time Chad and Kiptin went out for the season. They rst ventured to the stand on opening night. “We were in the stand for 3 minutes and Kiptin was already asking where the bucks were,” Chad said. “After 5 minutes, he told me we needed to move to a different spot.” While it was evident the Schlauderaffs’ children enjoyed the rst weekend of Minnesota’s deer hunting season, the brothers also had a weekend to remember. With the season often falling in line with harvest or winter preparations on the farm, the Schlauderaffs have not taken part in the sport for some time.
“This is by far the biggest deer I’ve gotten,” Casey said. “I was pretty pumped.” Chad agreed. “With the dairy, we just get so busy,” he said. “If the weather’s nice, I should be doing something there, and if the weather is miserable, I don’t want to be in the stand. But Kiptin wanted to go and it was fun.” Chad made tenderloin steaks and breakfast sausages with his buck. “We have a freezer full of beef, so we need a little variety,” Chad said. Casey is going to have his rack mounted. The Schlauderaffs are done hunting for the season but are aware of other large animals in the area; their neighbor has spotted them on a trail camera. For them, the two bucks and the thrill of the hunt through their children’s eyes was more than enough. “I haven’t been a super big hunter in the past, so this was just fun,” Casey said. “This has gone to show you that a little woods is all it takes.”
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 27, 2021 • Page 39
Karl Heldberg Le Sueur, Minnesota Le Sueur County 62 cows How did you get into farming? I was born and raised on this farm, except we didn’t milk cows. I bought the neighbor›s dairy herd when I graduated from college. I took over his 38-cow herd and rented the facility down there for eight years. Then, eight years later, I built the facility we’re in right now, a compost barn and step-up parlor. What are your thoughts and concerns about the dairy industry for the next year? The milk price. It would be nice for the milk price to keep a net income close to the rate of ination right now. When I started out milking for a couple months, it was at $18 per hundredweight and now we’re not even getting that. What is the latest technology you implemented on your farm and the purpose for it? When we went from the tiestall barn to the step-up parlor and the bedding pack barn. It made it easier for milking, cow health and overall life. With this addition, we didn’t have to carry all the feed to the cows. What is a management practice you changed in the past year that has benetted you? We really have not made any major changes, but have always been
staying on top of dry and lactating cow rations for breeding back and calving in easy. We also breed more for more of a beef feeder animal right now to add value to the farm. What cost-saving steps have you implemented during the low milk price? It seems like it’s been hard to control it. I’m always evaluating what I’m spending and trying to get the most out of it what I can. As well as trying to do as much repairs and stuff myself. How do you retain a good working relationship with your employees? I try to stay in touch with them because even if they aren’t working for me full time, maybe they can come help me out sometimes. I had a couple people come on for a couple years and they weren’t full time then, but they were there when we needed them. The pandemic actually helped me more than anything with the colleges and schools closed. My employees could do all of their college work at home and still come out here twice a day. That wasn’t too bad of a deal. Tell us about a skill you possess that makes dairy farming easier for you. Designating certain jobs to people and time management. I am able to get more things done at once, and I found out that you only can do so much yourself. I had to get people to help me or have more little custom jobs done.
What do you enjoy most about dairy farming? Time with my family when they have a chance to help out and all working together. My wife does all the chopping, a lot of the eldwork and combining. The kids also do their part in chores with feeding the calves, setting up milkers, cleaning the parlor out, mixing and putting down some feed, helping dip and wipe cows, and some eldwork too. What advice would you give to other dairy farmers? You have to enjoy your time at your work or else it gets to be pretty long days if you don’t enjoy doing it. Like a friend of mine, he just got out and he encouraged me to keep milking as long as I have everything here to do it. I try to stay positive. What has been the best purchase you have ever made on your farm? There has been a lot of little things; the tractor, skid loader and calf pasteurizer have been a great help. There’s also the kernel processor on our chopper. It’s not just one little thing that makes everything click. What has been your biggest accomplishment while dairy farming? I feel like if I raise my kids with a good work ethic and balance family life and working that would be my biggest accomplishment. The eld representative from Bongard’s Creamery also told me 15 years ago, when he started me out, that
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doing chores? When we get a chance, we try and go on some trips. We are actually going to try to go for Thanksgiving up to Nancy’s brother’s place near Bemidji. We also usually do one family summer trip shing at a cabin or a house. We have been able to accomplish that once a year. We have also been over to the Black Hills twice and my wife and I went on three cruises so far in the past 14 years. We just have to try and designate some time. This year, we had to do like a stayat-home vacation, so we went shing locally and it helps that Lake Washington and some of the best shing in southern Minnesota is only 10 minutes away.
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