“All
Fine-tuning the bedding process
Thompson transitions from sand to pressed manure solids
By Amy Kyllo amy.k@star-pub.com
LEWISTON, Minn. —
When drought in the summer of 2023 revealed an almost 30year build-up of sand in Mitch Thompson’s elds, he decided to change the bedding protocol at Thompson Dairy.
“Trying to better everything, that’s why we were like, ‘OK, this is a decision we need to look at further,’” Thompson said.
“I was so tired of seeing sand in the eld and just hauling out sand and your manure tank is full of sand,” Thompson said.
In April, Thompson Dairy started using a manure press system to bed with manure solids rather than sand.
Thompson Dairy, located near Lewiston, milks 680 cows at two locations. Thompson farms alongside his dad, Cliff, and 18 fulltime employees as well as his wife, Hilary, who helps with the bookwork, and his three children aged 14, 11 and 8.
Turn to THOMPSON
The manure press pushes out solids Oct. 30 at Thompson
Mitch Thompson said adjustments to the press must be made slowly
for changes to show.
Milking cows, serving his na on
Dairy farmer Vande Weerd
has almost 25 years in military
By Emily Breth emily.b@star-pub.com
WILLOW LAKE, S.D.
Major Nick Vande Weerd has followed in his dad, John’s, footsteps in more ways than one. John is former Navy Seabee. Vande Weerd serves his country and has a passion for dairy farming.
“My dad was always building something,” Vande Weerd said. “He was in a construction battalion in the military. (Because of this) we did a lot of our own building projects. I remember distinctly when we transitioned from the stanchions to a parlor.”
Vande Weerd and his parents, John and Linda, and brothers, Alan and Mike, milk approximately 2,200 cows in a double-32 parallel parlor on their
farm, Pleasant Dutch Dairy, near Willow Lake.
“This farm serves as a testament to a generation of hard work and commitment,” Vande Weerd said.
Alongside running the dairy, Vande Weerd balances between spending time with his wife, Nicole, and two daughters, and the South Dakota Air National Guard in Sioux Falls where he now serves as director of personnel and training.
Military service began when Vande Weerd was a senior in high school and joined the South Dakota Air National Guard. Initially, he was trained in radio maintenance before moving to force support.
“We installed and repaired every radio not attached to an aircraft,” Vande Weerd said. See pages 24 and 25 of
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
Dairy near Lewiston, Minnesota.
because it takes a while
Mitch Thompson Dairy farmer
EMILY BRETH/DAIRY STAR
Nick Vande Weerd stands Oct. 15 in one of the freestall barns at Pleasant Dutch Dairy near Willow Lake, South Dakota. He is a major in the South Dakota Air Na onal Guard and will reach 25 years of service in January.
DAIRY ST R
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Vande Weerd’s rst deployment was in 2006 to Iraq. It was one of his shorter deployments, but he said he had some great experiences.
One experience that stands out to Vande Weerd was a time he was in a helicopter and fell asleep. He woke up to being told to jump and watched other soldiers jump without parachutes.
“I had no idea what was going on,” he said. “When I nally got to the spot to jump, I realized we were on the ground to fuel.”
In 2010 Vande Weerd was commissioned as an ofcer, and in 2017 he was again deployed, this time to Dover’s Port Mortuary in Delaware.
“I had to work with not only the personal items of individuals who had fallen, but I also interacted with their families,” Vande Weerd said. “Working with the families and ensuring their loved ones’ belongings were returned to them was deeply moving.”
A task Vande Weerd performed was transporting families from the airport to Dover, Delaware, to meet their loved one who had passed and assist them through the dignied transfer process.
“That was quite impactful,” Vande Weerd said. “That experience stayed with me.”
Vande Weerd will reach the 25-year service mark in January. Throughout his years with the National Guard, he said it was his time training and deployments that stuck with him the most.
“I spent nine months (for training) in Biloxi, Mississippi,” Vande Weerd said.
“I had a great time living down there being in a different culture.”
Vande Weerd also made time for higher education through South Dakota State University. He earned four bachelor’s degrees, all related to business, plus a master’s degree in economics.
After graduation he applied his expertise in nancial analysis through consulting work, providing nancial analysis and projections for various agricultural projects and helping on the home farm.
“We were very diverse in agriculture,” Vande Weerd said. “We always had crops, dairy cows, hogs, sheep, horses, goats, some chickens and I’m sure a rabbit or two when I was young.”
The family had sold their dairy herd in 1998 while Vande Weerd was in high school due to a re in their freestall barn. A couple years after a re, the parlor was converted into a hog barn. When they decided to dairy again, they again converted the facility.
“We gutted the whole (hog) barn out, pressure washed, poured concrete and got it turned back into a parlor,” Vande Weerd said. “Then 2009 was a rough year for dairy. We decided we needed to get out or get bigger.”
The decision led to Pleasant Dutch Dairy, which is spread over three different locations — one for milking and dry cows, one for youngstock and one for heifers.
“Having multiple locations brings logistical challenges, especially in managing employees across sites,” Vande Weerd said. “It’s also an opportunity to
improve our efciency.”
In the future, Vande Weerd said he and his family want to work on the efciency of the farm. They hope to do this through further expansions.
In addition to his military and farming careers, Vande Weerd has also sat on the board of AgriBank since 2015.
“I’m incredibly fortunate to wear these three hats, each one teaching me about leadership from a different angle,” Vande Weerd said. “I’m constantly learning and adapting.”
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Nick Vande Weerd stands in his dress blues Nov. 3 at his home in Brookings, South Dakota. Vande Weerd’s rst deployment was in 2006 with the U.S. Air Force in Iraq.
For additional stories from our other zone, log on to www.dairystar.com
Doing what he always wanted
Wright farms as fourth generation on his family’s dairy
By Amy Kyllo amy.k@star-pub.com
LAKE CITY, Minn. — As Josh Wright’s Grandpa Lyle puts it, Josh has been part of the dairy farm from the day he was born. Whether it was young Josh and his twin brother, Tommy, driving the skid loader forward for their dad, Jim, while he bedded free stalls or Josh learning to milk at 8 years old, his story is entwined in his family’s dairy.
Josh, a 22-year-old dairy farmer, is the fourth generation on his family’s farm near Lake City. He farms with Lyle, his grandma, Rose, and Jim. Together they milk 190 cows.
“I’m glad he stayed here to help, or the cows would be gone,” Lyle said. “He wants to milk, and so we’re going to keep going as long as we can, and I’ll keep trying to help as I can.”
Jim agreed.
“It’s been a dream to pass this on,” he said. “I know it’s not going to be easy … with
Josh Wright holds the collar of a cow Oct. 30 at his family’s dairy near Lake City, Minnesota. Wright is farming as the fourth genera on on his family’s farm.
the way things are going. I don’t want to be a big operator, just because of labor issues.”
Josh also said he would like to remain at their current size.
“I want to stay the one true farm that doesn’t need
to grow, that just likes to stay where it’s at,” Josh said. “(I want to) prove that you don’t need to be having 500 cows (worth) of milk to get somewhere in life.”
Josh joined the farm immediately after high school graduation amid the corona-
virus pandemic of 2020, a goal he harbored in his heart for years.
“When I was young … I just wanted to do it because my dad and my grandpa did it,” Josh said. “Then when I got (to be) 10-11, I was like, this is what I love doing.”
Part of Josh’s passion is the cows themselves.
“Everybody has their own pets, but I just … have a weird connection,” Josh said. “Once I get one tamed, I just can’t stop. Then I try taming all of them. … I just wake up in the morning I think about that and about what I want to do with the rest of my life and … being around four-legged cows gets me.”
Josh’s care for the cows is something Lyle has noticed.
“He knows the cows,” Lyle said. “He is concerned about them. He likes taking care of them. … He’s a good dairyman. … That’s why he’ll do good milking.”
Though formal transition plans are not yet in place, the family said they are exploring options.
“Hopefully he can just work in,” Lyle said. “What scares me is he can’t afford to buy it. Nobody can. What I have invested in machinery and cattle and the land and everything. … We’re going to gift what we can.”
The farm started in 1944 with Josh’s great-grandfather, Marlyn. Lyle took over the dairy in the mid-1970s.
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
Josh Wright pushes up
“(My dad) nanced me,” Lyle said. “That’s probably what I’m going to do here too. I’ll nance him and help him get going.”
Jim, who began a partnership with Lyle in 1996, echoed his dad’s sentiments.
“You have to have family backing, or some kind of backing,” he said. “My dad included me, so I want to do the same for Josh. He wants a newer barn, and that’s what I want to give him.”
The facilities at the Wright farm are all over 20 years old.
“I want to pass on an operation that’s going to go forward,” Jim said. “We do need to make some upgrades. Our current facility is getting worn out. I just hope we don’t have to make that 1,000-cow jump. I don’t want to do that.”
Josh said he hopes to have robotic milking units in the future
Josh works in various areas across the farm including milking and assisting with overseeing cow health. Jim said this is a way he is giving Josh authority.
“He enjoys milking cows, and I
wanted him to have that responsibility of taking care of the cows in the parlor,” Jim said. “That means a lot to me by giving him that responsibility of noticing things where I don’t have to be babysitting.”
Josh has also taken over the round baling.
Josh said he has seen his inuence on the farm grow.
“They’re including me more,” Josh said. “I’m getting more choice on what goes on around here, and they’re always asking my opinion on stuff.”
Josh said he appreciates the mentorship from his dad, grandpa and grandma.
“I wouldn’t know what I’m doing if I didn’t have them,” Josh said. “I like being around them because they’re still teaching me. They never make work hard, they always make it fun.”
Lyle also said he enjoys working with his grandson.
“It’s fun working with him,” Lyle said. “He’s side by side. He’s not afraid to help me or do anything with me.”
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
feed Oct. 30 at his family’s dairy near Lake City, Minnesota. Wright said he has always known he wanted to dairy farm.
New RFID rules on horizon
Cornille, Bergum speak about changes for cattle
By Sarah Middendorf sarah.m@star-pub.com
Regulations regarding the movement of cattle and bison are changing. On Nov. 5, new rules regarding ofcial identication for interstate and intrastate movement will take effect.
Dr. Katie Cornille, a senior veterinarian at the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, and Avrey Bergum, a state program administrator for cattle and traceability, spoke about the changes in a webinar entitled “Electronic Identication Requirements” which aimed to help farmers adhere to the new regulations.
“We are always thinking about foreign animal diseases and preparing for those,” Cornille said.
Earlier this year the U.S. Department of Agriculture nalized the rule, “Use of Electronic Identication Eartags as Ofcial Identication in Cattle and Bison,” which changed regulations for cattle and bison movement.
Determination for ofcial
identication depends on the age of the animal, class of the animal, purpose of the movement and where it is going. There are two types of movement that each have their own requirements — intrastate, within Minnesota, and interstate, across state lines.
In intrastate movements of breeding cattle, rodeo cattle and exhibition cattle, all must have an ofcial identication to move from their original farm to another location.
Breeding cattle are dened as sexually intact female dairy cattle, all beef cows over 18 months of age and all bulls over 10 months of age, even if they are maintained for feeding. Any animals under these ages that will be used for breeding purposes will need identication as well, Bergum said.
Any cattle moving to an approved livestock auction market, slaughter establishment or slaughter-only handling facility will not need to be ofcially identied with an RFID tag. This does not include back tag requirements, Bergum said.
Slaughter establishments include butcher shops and packing plants whereas slaughter-only handling facilities house animals prior to slaughter.
There is an exception for some animals — beef heifers under 18 months of age maintained for feeding, bulls under 10 months of age maintained for feeding and steers or spayed heifers. These animals will not need an RFID tag if moving intrastate unless moving for rodeo or exhibition.
Interstate requirements may require identication for sexually intact animals that are over 18 months, female dairy cattle at any age, male dairy cattle born after March 11, 2013, and those used for rodeo, recreational events or exhibitions.
When importing cattle, ofcial identication will be required, unless the cattle are going from the farm of origin directly to market, slaughter or a slaughter-only handling facility.
Each state has its own rules regarding the movement of cattle and bison.
“This is just a friendly reminder, anyone exporting from Minnesota please always check with the receiving state for their import requirements,” Cornille said.
There are some exceptions when moving cattle or bison across state lines, Cornille said. These include all of the following. Having a commuter herd or ofcial agreements. Moving animals through another state back to the original state. Moving animals directly to an approved tagging site and giving ofcial identication back tags prior to comingling. Moving animals directly to slaughter. Finally, moving animals directly to no more than one approved livestock facility market, then directly to slaughter with a back tag.
As animals are getting RFID tags administered, there needs to be a record to trace each animal. Cornille said to record the tag number, animal species, sex, age, type, date applied and name and address where the identication was administered. She said to maintain these records for ve years.
“Really the only time that it is utilized by us is in the
event of disease traces,” Cornille said. “When we do have a trace and we are following the Hansel and Gretel bread crumbs to gure out what animals were exposed, whatever the situation is, we can do that faster.”
The ofcial identication for cattle and bison is an electronic identication tag and a visual tag. The current technology is called RFID.
The rules for general ofcial identication have not changed federally or statewide for Minnesota.
There are many places to nd RFID tags, including approved manufacturers like Allex, Datamars, Destron Fearing, Leader Products, Shearwell, Wuxi and Y-Tex, a veterinarian and the USDA distribution program.
By using the tags during a disease traceback, fewer animals may need to be quarantined because it is easier to determine which animals were potentially exposed, Cornille said.
“My objective is to keep the industry moving as much as possible while still protecting the industry,” Cornille said. “Things that improve traceability help me do that.”
Dr. Katie Cornille
All the free stalls at Thompson’s main milking farm are deep bedded with green manure solids. Thompson uses the manure solids mixed with sawdust for the compost pack for some of his heifers as well. Thompson’s other milking farm, which houses far-out dry cows through post-fresh cows, is still bedded with sand.
Last winter they built a lean-to for the setup, including a press room, an area for the pressed solids and a large grate area to siphon manure into the system. During the project, Thompson also added stalls to the freestall barn to spread out his cows.
Thompson’s manure press is from ALL-INS of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Thompson said having the company nearby has been helpful to problem solve.
The manure press operates by auguring manure through weighted screens and pushing out the brous solids at the end.
“You think, ‘OK, how hard it can it be? It’s an auger and some screens, and it pushes,’” Thompson said. “There’s so much more to it. … The mechanics of it is that simple, but the ne tuning of (it is harder) because everything is variable: speed, drive and control.”
All water and manure at the main farm go through the manure press. Thompson has to manage the effects of excess water when the barn is cleaned,
which change the consistency of the manure and therefore the efcacy of the press.
Thompson said adjustments to the press must be slow.
“Depending on what time of day it is, you go drink a cup of coffee, or you go drink a beer, before you come back and look,” Thompson said. “If you make too many changes too quickly, it’s too hard to see what you did.”
The holding tank for the
press holds 14,000 gallons. Using the press saves Thompson about 30% of his lagoon space. Thompson said he likes the recycling aspect of the manure press and that he no longer has abrasive sand wearing out his equipment.
Thompson considered a sand separator. However, installing a manure press costs 10%-20% of a sand separator.
“If costs were the same, I probably maybe would have stayed with sand just because
of the fact of the stigmatism with manure press,” Thompson said. “There’s a lot of love hate.”
Each day during rst shift, stalls are bedded with a thin layer of manure solids placed near the cows’ knees. Any solids on hand for bedding are discarded if they are not used within 12 hours.
Stalls are mechanically raked and smoothed during the second and third shifts in addition to hand raking as needed.
Thompson is saving money on labor costs per stall because he does not have the eight hours of labor and skid loader time for weekly adding sand in addition to processing the stalls three times daily.
“I was always very heavy on stall maintenance,” Thompson said. “It was pretty easy for my guys to be able to keep doing the stall maintenance.”
Figuring out how dry to press the solids has been a challenge Thompson said. He has settled at 62%-66% moisture.
“The details matter, as far as how getting the machine set to try to get it to the right moisture,” Thompson said. “That’s kind of been a roller coaster trying to gure out where that is, because there also is a point where we can get it drier, but are we pushing the machine too far and we’re wearing it out prematurely?”
Thompson’s barn has a forced air system which further dries out the manure solids. Thompson said he recommends having this air system if working with pressed solids. The farms test dryness by kneeling in the stalls and checking if their knees become damp.
Thompson said his cows are cleaner since switching.
Turn to THOMPSON | Page 9
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
Mitch Thompson si s pressed manure solids through his hands Oct. 30 at his dairy farm near Lewiston, Minnesota. Thompson aims for the solids to be at 62%-66% moisture.
Lewiston, Minnesota. Thompson wants the stalls to be dry enough for him to kneel without ge ng damp.
“Their legs aren’t splashed because the manure is so much drier,” Thompson said. “You’re kicking that dry bedding in the alleyway that’s soaking up moisture.”
Thompson made multiple other changes to his operation at the time of the transition to pressed solids which together caused his somatic cell count to increase. Thompson said some professionals have a prejudice against pressed solids.
“It has really seemed like there’s certain professionals that are just 100% against it,” Thompson said. “It’s very hard to get them to come in with an open mind.”
Thompson has been able to determine those other changes are part of the issue, not the pressed solids.
“It’s very dry, it’s clean, the cows are clean,” Thompson said. “The more we’ve been digging into this and nding out, we don’t feel that’s where it’s
coming from.”
He said they expect to get their SCC back to normal. Managing pressed manure solids requires attention to detail Thompson said.
“Sand denitely can forgive and cover up a lot of things,” he said.
Traction-wise, Thompson said he has not noticed slime build-up on the oors. Thompson said having the barns regrooved eliminated the traction problems he had seen.
Overall herd health and milk production has remained the same.
“I was expecting to not notice much difference,” Thompson said. “What I was hoping for, for the best success with doing it was noticing no change.”
Thompson said he expects to continue to make changes.
“It’s a learning curve thus far, and it will be continuing through the foreseeable future,” Thompson said. “We’ve done a lot of adjusts.”
CDL TRUCK DRIVERS
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR Mitch Thompson looks at pressed manure solids bedding Oct. 30 in a free stall at his dairy near
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U.S. Department of Agriculture steps up H5N1 surveillance
To prevent the spread of H5N1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is testing raw milk. This surveillance will begin in the 14 states where dairy cattle have tested positive for the virus, including Minnesota and South Dakota. “(We need to get) a clear idea of where (it is) in the states that have the virus, whether it is expanded, or whether there are areas of the state that we need to address as far as biosecurity,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. Testing will eventually expand to all other states in a tiered approach. “We’ll test the silos (at dairy processing plants) and if there is the virus we’ll begin the process of going to more specic testing with bulk tank testing on farms so we can identify exactly where the virus might be.” Vilsack said the decision to expand H5N1 testing was made due to recent developments in California and Colorado dairy herds.
$100 per ton for large rounds. The Grade 2 hay had an average price of $74 per ton for large squares and $55 per ton for large rounds.
Promoting organic dairy products to youth
By Don Wick Columnist Ag Insider
HAY & FORAGE
‘21 Anderson Hybrid X, Custom Operator Elite, 8,000 bales Hesston 565A Round Baler
‘20 MF 3983 Hicap Rake, 12 wheel NH 144 Windrow Inverter
‘17 MF 2250 big square, tandem, applicator, 41,000 bales
JD MX7 3PT Brush Mower
‘21 Rhino 3150-15’ Batwing Mower ‘92 JD 8560, CAH, duals, 5,900 hrs. ‘22 MF 4707, MFWD, MF ldr., ONLY 520 HRS. ‘21 MF 2850, CAH, hydro, loader, ONLY 139 HOURS! Kubota 3710 w/Loader
‘17 JD 1025R, 60” deck, 380 hrs.
Simplicity 2761 Cobalt Zero turn, 61” deck, 425 hrs. NDE 1650 TMR
Brent 640 Gravity Box
Loftness 20’ Stalk Shredder, NICE!!
‘21 Bobcat S76, SJC, 1,500 hrs.
‘20 Bobcat S76,ONLY
233 HRS.
‘22 Bobcat S64, 4,100 hrs.
‘21 Bobcat T76, SJC, 600 hrs.
‘21 Bobcat T76, 689 hrs.
‘21 Bobcat S76, CAH, SJC, 1,800 hrs.
Bobcat T76, 882 hrs.
‘22 Bobcat T666, 30 hrs.!
‘21 Bobcat T64, 577 hrs.
‘22 Bobcat S64, SJC, 4,100 hrs.
‘21 Bobcat S64, foot, 2,900 hrs.
‘20 Bobcat S64, SJC, 2,600 hrs.
‘15 Bobcat T870, SJC, highflow, 1,700 hrs.
‘19 Bobcat T770, SJC, 500 hrs.
‘23 Bobcat S64, CAH, high flow 250 hrs.
‘20 Kinze 3660, 16R30, bulk fill
‘23 Kinze 3605, 12R30, bulk fill, 410 acres ‘10 Kinze 3600, 12R30, LOADED! ‘12 CIH 1250, 16R30, bulk fill ‘97 Kinze 2600, 31R15” CIH 5100-15’ Grain Drill, DD, grass CIH MRX690, 5 shank disc ripper disc JD 980 Field Cult., 44’ w/harrow
‘20 Bobcat T770, CAH, highflow, SJC, 765 hrs.
‘20 Bobcat T770, SJC, 300 hrs.
‘18 Bobcat T770, A91, highflow, SJC, 2,000 hrs.
‘14 Bobcat S770, 3,200 hrs.
‘18 Bobcat S650, 3,600 hrs.
‘14 Bobcat S650, CH, highflow, 2,100 hrs.
‘20 Bobcat S570, 2,900 hrs.
‘13 Bobcat S570, CAH, 3,400 hrs.
‘15 Bobcat T550, ACS, Open Station, 1,855 hrs.
Bobcat S450, CAH, SJC
‘02 Bobcat S300, 4,200 hrs.
‘04 Bobcat T300, CAH, 4,300 hrs.
‘07 Bobcat T250, CH, 4,100 hrs.
‘15 Gehl R190, 1,900 hrs.
‘13 Mustang RT2100 track ldr., 3,000 hrs
‘97 Mustang 2040, OS, 1,200 hrs. ‘23 NH
‘22 Deere 324G, hi flow/ loaded, ONLY 57 hrs.
Telehandler
, 1,486 hrs. ‘23 NH L318, 1,400 hrs. ‘17 Deere 324E, CAH, 5,200 hrs. ‘20 Kubota SSV75, 279 hrs. ‘97 Gehl 3825, 2,300 hrs.
H5N1 leads to lasting milk production decline H5N1’s impact on milk production is noteworthy. “With individual herds, there’s a pretty big dip actually,”said Jim Salfer, dairy specialist, University of Minnesota Extension. The recovery period for affected dairy cows is longer than initially thought. “It seems like even after a couple of months, cows never quite come back to original production levels, so we never quite get that level of milk production back.”
Board of Animal Health downplays RFID privacy concerns Electronic identication is now the law of the land for cattle and bison farms. Minnesota Board of Animal Health Senior Veterinarian Dr. Katie Cornille said the BOAH will only use the tags in the surveillance of cattle for possible disease. “These tags can’t be read remotely so there’s no way I can remotely collect any information from the tags,” said Cornille. “There’s no way for us to get any private or any kind of information from those tags.”
Running out of
time
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is sounding the alarm over the farm bill. “We’re quickly running out of time this fall for this Congress to come together to address the farm bill in a bipartisan way,” Vilsack said in a call with the American Farmland Trust. “Either we have a real bipartisan deal on a new farm bill or at a minimum an extension of the existing farm bill.” The 2018 farm bill expired a year ago but was extended until the end of last month. Most of the farm programs have funding through the end of this calendar year but would be reverted to permanent law in January. That would send price supports back to the parity levels from the 1938 and 1949 farm bills. “Frankly, the longer we wait, the harder it is to get this done.”
A dairy renaissance
Dairy Management Inc. President and CEO Barbara O’Brien believes the dairy industry is experiencing a renaissance. Speaking at a national dairy meeting in Phoenix, O’Brien cited increased consumer retail spending and volume sales for dairy products. The millennial generation is driving the growth. In the year ahead, O’Brien said the dairy checkoff is rening its reputation strategy to target thought leaders and consumers.
Making every drop count
The dairy industry is standing tall against the threat of H5N1 and farm bill delays. National Milk Producers Federation Chairman Randy Mooney made that point at the joint annual meeting for NMPF, National Dairy Board and the United Dairy Industry Association. Changes to the Federal Milk Marketing Order and strong dairy margins were also discussed. Attendance totaled 750 people for the Phoenix event.
Hay prices steady to slightly lower
According to the latest Hay Market Demand and Price Report for the Upper Midwest, hay prices were steady to slightly lower in October. Prime alfalfa hay with greater than a relative feed value of 151 averaged $172 per ton for large squares, $278 per ton for small squares and $114 per ton for large rounds. Grade 1 hay was priced at $120 per ton for large squares and
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has launched the Organic Dairy Production Promotion program investing $15 million to expand access to organic dairy products in schools and youth programs. International Dairy Foods Association President and CEO Michael Dykes praised the news. “The Dietary Guidelines for Americans highlights that between 68% and 76.2% of school-age males and between 77.4% and 94.3% of school-age females are not consuming enough dairy.” Dykes encouraged USDA to continue to focus on creative ways to increase the consumption of dairy foods.
Farmers Assuring Responsible Management updates environmental stewardship tool
The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management Program has updated its latest environmental stewardship version. The goal is to achieve greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050. Version 3 incorporates a whole-farm model called the Ruminant Farm System that includes estimates of carbon sequestration and the ability to analyze productivity.
Environmental Protection Agency OKs NovaGraz for pasture weed control
Corteva Agriscience has announced the Environmental Protection Agency has approved NovaGraz herbicide. “Most producers rely on white clover and annual lespedeza in their pastures,” said Morgan Bohlander, range and pasture portfolio lead. “These legumes can provide forage quality for grazing and haying and offer nitrogen-xing capability that enhances soil fertility and health. Without effective broadleaf weed control, the harm that weeds cause to forage production and quality can outweigh the benets that these legumes provide.” NovaGraz will be available for the 2025 application season, pending state registrations.
Krause continues service to the dairy industry
During the National Milk Producers Federation/ National Dairy Board/United Dairy Industry Association meetings in Phoenix, a Minnesota farmer was elected rst vice chair for UDIA. Charles Krause is part of a sixth-generation dairy farm family at Buffalo.
Minnesotan honored with FFA Alumni Award
The National FFA Alumni and Supporters presented its Outstanding Achievement Award to Fred Troendle of the St. Charles, Minnesota, FFA alumni chapter. Troendle was instrumental in co-founding the President’s Circle Leadership Program.
Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation announces 2024 award winners
The Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation will be presenting its Distinguished Service Award to three individuals during its annual meeting Nov. 23. The honorees are former Minnesota State Fair CEO Jerry Hammer, former USDA Wildlife Services Supervisor John Hart and former University of Minnesota Extension Outreach Director and farm broadcaster Tom Rothman
Trivia challenge
Gorgonzola is the blue cheese named after the Italian village where it was rst produced. That answers our last trivia question. For this week’s trivia, what president made Thanksgiving an ofcial holiday? We’ll have the answer in our next edition of the Dairy Star.
Don Wick is owner/broadcaster for the Red River Farm Network of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Wick has been recognized as the National Farm Broadcaster of the Year and served as president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Don and his wife, Kolleen, have two sons, Tony and Sam, and ve grandchildren, Aiden, Piper, Adrienne, Aurora and Sterling.
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Cows are his service animal
Infantry veteran nds solace in farming
By Stacey Smart stacey.s@dairystar.com
MILLEDGEVILLE,
Ill.
After 17 years of service in the U.S. Army, including four tours to Iraq and Afghanistan, Corey Trobaugh enjoys being with his cows. Trobaugh’s military career took him to the front lines of combat where he met the enemy face to face. The scars of war continued to haunt him long after returning home, but his cows have helped him through dark times.
“If I hadn’t started milking cows, I probably wouldn’t be here,” Trobaugh said. “The cows saved me.”
Trobaugh milks 55 cows and farms 200 acres near Milledgeville. He rents the same farm where he got his rst job when he was 15 years old milking cows for Art Wolf in an 18-stall stanchion barn.
Trobaugh grew up on a farm with stock cows and bucket calves. In addition to working for Wolf, he also worked for other dairy farmers in the area.
Trobaugh joined the National Guard when he was 17. In January 1999, he went on active duty. His rst duty station was in Alaska, his location when 9/11 occurred.
“I re-enlisted and went to airborne school at Fort Benning,
Georgia,” Trobaugh said. “I was an 82nd Airborne (Division) infantryman stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It was 2002, and I had just gotten married. My daughter was 13 days old when my department was sent to Afghanistan in June.”
Trobaugh served a ninemonth rotation in Afghanistan. He was back home for about six months when he was deployed to Iraq in the summer of 2003. During this tour, he fought in Fallujah.
“I got wounded really bad and was sent home,” Trobaugh said. “When I left Iraq on a stretcher for Germany, they told me there was a 50/50 chance I would live.”
Trobaugh was hit by an improvised explosive device, and was also red upon by the enemy.
“I was hit with bullets and shrapnel in the throat, left forearm, right shoulder, face, neck and the right side of my head, but my helmet stopped that one,” Trobaugh said.
Doctors put plates and screws in his left arm and told Trobaugh it was the only way they could save it.
linois. Trobaugh milks 55 cows and farms 200 acres a er
included four tours to Iraq and Afghanistan.
“My bones grew around it and fused all the way around the metal, which causes numbness in the top of my hand,” he said. “It’s like a headache in my arm.”
After his brush with death, Trobaugh was sent home for a while where he did extensive physical therapy to regain the use of his arm and shoulder.
“I technically should have never jumped out of a plane
again, but I became a jumpmaster and went back to Afghanistan,” Trobaugh said. “I was there during their rst (Afghan) election, and that was probably the coolest thing I was a part of.”
His unit deployed again to
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STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Corey Trobaugh pets one of his favorite cows Oct. 29 on the farm he rents near Milledgeville, Il-
serving 17 years in the U.S. Army, which
Baiji, Iraq in August 2006, but Trobaugh stayed behind at Fort Bragg because he was slated to go to drill sergeant school.
“I was an E6 about to be sergeant rst class, and I was going stir crazy,” he said. “I still had my bags packed and talked to my command sergeant major about letting me join the unit since I didn’t have orders yet for drill sergeant school.”
When Trobaugh’s buddy, Sgt. 1st Class Tony Knier, was killed by an IED, they sent Trobaugh to take over his platoon in Delta Company 1st Battalion of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, which was a heavy weapons platoon.
“It got nasty on our last tour,” Trobaugh said. “We lost about nine guys, and 20-30 more were wounded. We had a problem with a sniper in the area too.”
Trobaugh and his men found out who was responsible for some of the IED attacks and uncovered military intelligence that they turned over to investigators. Trobaugh returned home in February 2008 after a 15-month rotation. His next job would be as an Army recruiter.
“I got orders to go to recruiting school, and by June, I was going to high schools to recruit kids,” Trobaugh said. “I had no time to decompress. After three years of recruiting, it was getting to me. I had issues, and the Army decided to medically retire me Feb. 13, 2013.”
Trobaugh was on terminal leave when he received a phone call that November that would lead him back to Wolf’s farm. Wolf had fallen from the silo and sustained major injuries. He was still milking cows, and Trobaugh stepped in to help. Wolf sold his cows a few months later, but that would not be the end of farming for Trobaugh or Wolf.
“We both still had heifers, and I did chores and put feed up for Art,” Trobaugh said. “In mid-summer, a heifer freshened, so I started milking her. All the milking equipment was still here because I kind of had intentions to milk again.”
Corey Trobaugh walks his cows home from pasture Oct. 29 on the farm he rents near Milledgeville, Illinois. Trobaugh was a U.S. Army 82nd Airborne infantryman and credits the cows with saving his life a er he returned from war.
Trobaugh said Wolf could not believe he was coming twice a day to milk one cow and told him, “We might as well get some cows and go back to milking.”
Trobaugh bought 12 cows through a buyer and picked up more cows here and there as his heifers came into milk. On Nov. 14, 2015, Trobaugh started shipping milk again — less than a year after Wolf sold his cows.
When Wolf retired ve years ago, Trobaugh began renting the farm and bought Wolf’s share of the herd.
“I also rent my dad’s farm and other ground wherever I can,” Trobaugh said. “I have minimal acres, so I have to maximize what I can. I do a lot of double cropping.”
Wolf and his wife, Joretta, passed away this spring, and the land is going up for auction this fall.
“I’m going to try and buy it back,” Trobaugh said. “I want to buy the buildings and keep Wolf Dairy Farm going. I’m trying to keep his name alive. Art and Joretta were like grandparents to me.”
His cows are milked in a double-6 herringbone parlor and average 75 pounds of milk per day.
“It’s nothing to write home about, but it’s good for our place,” Trobaugh said. “I also have cows hitting 135-140 pounds of milk. My theory is if she has four legs and four teats, I’ll run her through the parlor, but she has to earn her keep.”
Trobaugh’s herd includes Holsteins, Brown Swiss and Jerseys. He also has a herd of 30 beef cows and sells feeder cattle.
“Farming is a dying profession, but I love it,” Trobaugh said. “My biggest fear is what I’m going to do if I quit milking. These are my ‘service cows’ — like how vets get service dogs. When I came back here, I was in a really bad spot. My wife divorced me. I was so lost. I missed being overseas. There were points in my life before I started milking that I was looking at the long sleep. I didn’t want to keep going.”
Amid these struggles, Trobaugh de-
veloped a drinking problem.
“The cows saved me, and now, I’m trying to save my cows,” he said. “I like watching them grow and develop. I can go out and talk to them.”
Trobaugh’s girlfriend, DeeDee, helps him on the farm along with two part-time employees. In addition to his daughter, Trobaugh has a son and two grandsons and is hoping to pass the farm down to his grandsons someday.
Trobaugh said sometimes he still misses being overseas.
“There is a brotherhood in the Army and the infantry,” he said. “I miss the guys and that brotherhood and camaraderie.”
Nonetheless, Trobaugh said there is no place he would rather be than at home with his cows.
“My cows are my life,” he said. “I was used to taking care of soldiers, but I don’t have soldiers anymore. My cows are that now, I guess. They need someone to look over them. That’s why I keep doing it. I love my cows.”
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
from our side our side OF THE FENCE THE
How many acres of crops do you have and what did you plant on those acres?
Dale Gaul Peosta, Iowa Dubuque County 400 cows
How many acres of crops do you have and what did you plant on those acres? I farm a total of 300 acres of corn, 75 acres of alfalfa and 170 acres split up between pastures for heifers. I normally try to do some kind of cover crop. This year I put in about 250 acres of rye in the corn silage areas. We took 45 acres of ground ear corn this year.
What was the growing season like in your area and what was the biggest challenge you faced? Early on we had a lot of rain so it was kind of difcult getting the corn and new seeding alfalfa in. By July, the rain stopped and the corn looked really good due to all of the moisture it had. We made a lot of hay this year. It got really dry once the rain stopped and it didn’t rain for about two months. During harvest we didn’t have to worry about any mud and we had everything done before the rain. It is very enjoyable to harvest without rain. Another challenge we ran into this spring was spreading manure, and the elds getting wet. We just had to wait it out and we probably went a little too soon, but at that rate we are better just getting it in a little too soon than too late.
How did each crop yield this year? The corn yielded between 240-270 bushels, we got 5-6 tons of dry matter alfalfa to an acre. The corn was a little better this year because we had more moisture. The yield was maybe 20-40 bushels better on corn. Hay didn’t really seem to matter between last year’s drought and this year’s rain. The pastures kind of petered out in the dry spell but that is expected.
What do you enjoy most about the fall harvest season? I enjoy just seeing how well the crops did because you just never know what it will look like in the end. In the spring we are just hoping for a good crop. The satisfaction is seeing all your work come out to a wellproduced crop.
What have you done in the past years to improve your soil health on your dairy? We hose the dairy manure onto the corn ground and we soil sample so we know what we need for fertilizer. We also use a cover crop to try and hold the nutrient in the soil where it needs to stay. I have been doing cover crops for the last 3-4 years. It also helps stop the soil from eroding.
Tell us about your farm. My wife, Dee, and I are in a partnership with my daughter and son-in-law, Elizabeth and Andrew Elsinger. We milk 400 cows in a double-16 swing parlor. The cows are housed in two freestall barns with sand bedding. We raise mostly all of our own heifers. Then we also do some AI breeding to Angus to sell the bulls on the lower third of the cows. We ship our milk to Wapsie Valley Creamery.
Jeff Rinde Rinde Farms Long Prairie, Minnesota Todd County 300 cows
How many acres of crops do you have and what did you plant on those acres? We have 600 acres, growing corn, soybeans, alfalfa, and oats.
What was the growing season like in your area and what was the biggest challenge you faced? We thought it started early, but then it got really wet in May and June and stretched out our planting window. In June, we noticed most of the corn looked nitrogen decient from the excessive rainfall. We put extra nitrogen on midseason to try to help the corn crop. August got very dry and we had a hail storm that took off some bushels. Overall, the crops turned out to be average to slightly below average.
How did each crop yield this year? Corn didn’t seem to have its high end spots this year, so the average was down. Soybeans also were weaker than in previous years. Alfalfa yields were very good and the quality was higher this year than previous years.
What do you enjoy most about the fall harvest season? Getting to see what everything yields. I enjoy the fall colors and getting to see the occasional bear run out. I also enjoy watching the grandkids play football and volleyball.
What have you done in the past years to improve your soil health on your dairy? We have reduced the amount of tillage we do. Typically we make one shallow pass in the spring and plant. We have incorporated cover crops on our silage acres and have been playing with interseeding covers into the standing corn with mixed results. This year we got a good stand with radish and turnips growing on an 80-acre eld.
Tell us about your farm. We are a family farm. I farm here with my parents, Roger and Bonnie, brother, Justin and sister, Kayla Asmus. My wife, Bonnie, and I farm, and all three of our kids come back to farm with us as well. We milk 300 cows with four robots and farm 2,600 acres. My parents enjoy that all nine of their grandchildren live within one mile of the farm.
Keith Welgraven Ruthton, Minnesota
Pipestone County 90 cows
How many acres of crops do you have and what did you plant on those acres? We have about 420 acres of corn, alfalfa, soybeans, oats and rye. We are trying oats as a cover crop this year in addition to the cash crop we harvested already. We use rye as a cash crop and cover crop as well.
What was the growing season like in your area and what was the biggest challenge you faced? To start with, things were perfect, then it got too wet, then it got too dry. All we can do is let Mother Nature take its course. We have clay soil, so we don’t dry out too easily. All we could do was wait it out.
How did each crop yield this year? Corn was excellent but soybeans were terrible. We needed more rain in August to help the beans reach their full potential. Alfalfa did really well. We chopped rst crop, then were able to bale the rest dry. We got four cuttings.
What do you enjoy most about the fall harvest season? Just getting the crops in and seeing everything get harvested. It is always fun when you do not have enough room to store everything on-site. This means we had a good crop.
What have you done in the past years to improve your soil health on your dairy? We always try to do something to help it not wash away or blow away. We have smaller, narrow elds so it helps the corn and bean elds from washing or blowing away. We experiment with cover crops and always try something new with that practice each year.
Tell us about your farm. I’m the second generation on this farm. We milk 90 cows in a double-9 herringbone parlor. We have a lot of Milking Shorthorns along with our Holsteins. My wife and daughter help out when they can, and we have some part-time helpers. Our milk goes to AgroPur.
Dennis Hateld
Hateld Dairy
Viola, Wisconsin
200 cows
How many acres of crops do you have and what did you plant on those acres? We have 116 acres of corn, 65 acres of oats and 180 acres of alfalfa for hay. We also have 80 acres of cropland pasture.
What was the growing season like in your area and what was the biggest challenge you faced? The growing season was good. We had plenty of moisture, maybe a little too much during the spring and corn was planted later than we liked in June. Our challenge with organic was getting into the eld to cultivate and rotary hoeing the corn was a challenge. Timely rain later in the season was good for us. The drier fall was excellent. We overcame those challenges by picking our spots where we could get into the elds. Some elds just couldn’t get cultivated as much as we wanted because of those wet conditions early on. This fall, we had the dry weather which helped us make small square hay bales to feed our calves. Some falls we don’t have a dry enough period to make small squares, but this will be a nice addition to the youngstock ration.
Reid Stransky (pictured with his wife, Daria)
Owatonna, Minnesota
Steele County 15 show cows
How many acres of crops do you have and what did you plant on those acres? We operate a farm in Minnesota and a farm in Wisconsin. Both are corn and soybean operations. There are a couple thousand acres at each operation.
What was the growing season like in your area and what was the biggest challenge you faced? The growing season in Owatonna, Minnesota, was one of the worst on record. We had over 40 inches of rain. It not only drowned out many acres, it also leached away the nitrogen. The Wisconsin farm was the opposite. We got about 20 inches of rain. Not only did Mother Nature kick us in the teeth this year, but the value of our commodity dropped over $1 on corn. Between the poor yields and decreased value of corn and soybeans, 2024 will go down as one of the most challenging years ever. In agriculture as a whole, if you want to stay involved and be viable, you have to be huge, you have to grow. This is a real challenge. You have to be in the thousands whether it is in acres or cows or pigs. If you’re not in the thousands, especially if you have kids you want to stay involved, you are forced to keep growing to stay viable.
How did each crop yield this year? We don’t have our exact numbers back yet, but the harvest was above average this year for hay and corn. When we made high-moisture corn, that was at 36%-38% snaplage corn. Our corn silage was at 68% moisture. We stayed pretty consistent on our moisture levels compared to other years. Last year we had to harvest earlier because of the drought, but that helped keep our numbers consistent.
What do you enjoy most about the fall harvest season? You get to nally see the rewards of your work from raising and producing the crop. You get to see it come to fruition.
What have you done in the past years to improve your soil health on your dairy? We work with a nutrient management planner to help us more closely manage our nutrients. Farming it organically helps us improve our soil health since we don’t put any chemicals on it. We also rotate our crops more often and manage our manure. We apply our manure and incorporate it fairly soon after we apply it.
Tell us about your farm. We have 210 acres and are a 200-cow organic dairy farm in Viola, Wisconsin. We use free stalls and milk in a double-8 parallel parlor. We rent 300 acres of cropland to help make our feed for our herd. We have 200 replacements. My wife, Virginia, my son, Aaron, and I along with three employees work on the farm. We started the farm in 1990.
How did each crop yield this year? On our Minnesota farm it was the worst corn crop I’ve seen in my career. In Wisconsin, on the other hand, that farm usually yields 20 bushels less than Minnesota, but this year it was 30 more.
What do you enjoy most about the fall harvest season? In normal years you enjoy seeing the fruits of your labor. You pick out a variety of corn and you place it on a certain soil type or a certain type of farm and you pick out which fertilizer you will use and how much. There are also other products you choose, like growth inhibitors, fungicides and insecticides. You try all these different products that you think will justify the cost because of the increased yields. You basically have test plots all across the elds. When you come with the combine, it is collecting the data. The fun part is seeing what worked and what didn’t and trying to build on that next year.
What have you done in the past years to improve your soil health on your dairy? In southern Minnesota, we have a black, heavy clay-based soil that is very high in organic matter and is high in cation exchange capacity. In Wisconsin, it is the bigger challenge to increase organic matter and CEC. We use cover crops to increase organic matter when we till in the spring. We also use some no-till practices. Cover crops and no-till are tools to help retain moisture and avoid runoff to constantly stay on top of organic matter and CECs.
Tell us about your farm. My wife, Daria, and I have four boys, Joseph, Zach, Jerome and Darian. We farm with Joseph and Zach. We farm the farm that I grew up on near Owatonna, Minnesota. We also farm the farm my wife grew up on near Barron, Wisconsin. At the moment Joseph is on the farm with us in Owatonna and Zach is manning the farm in Wisconsin because both farms were ready to harvest at the same time. We also still own and milk some dairy show cattle. Jerome is the one who enjoys the showing business. My father, Joe Stransky, has about 200 cattle, half dairy and half beef. All the dairy animals are youngstock.
How many times a day do you milk, and what is your current herd average, butterfat and protein? We milk three times a day. Our herd is averaging 106 pounds of milk per day with tests of 4.33% butterfat and 3.25% protein.
Describe your housing and milking facility. We milk in a double-16 parallel parlor. We have six-row freestall barns and utilize sand bedding.
Who is part of your farm team, and what are their roles? Our ownership group consists of John and Luann Shea, my wife, Katie, and me. Katie is more of our herd manager. She works really well with people and is uent in mastitis treatments as well as the transition cows. Juvenal heads the calf department and has a really good eye for calves and making sure they are drinking to the level they should be and how to handle the calves when they are not. Jesus is one of our top guys. He handles all our sand operations. He helps organize the hoof trimmer and the dry-offs and does a really good job in our herdsman role. He milks a couple of shifts a week and is a crucial part of our team. Jill Wiederholt manages our calves and does a lot of our nancial paperwork. She is our primary bookkeeper, handling the nances.
TOP PERFORMERS
TJ Roth Banner Ridge Farms LLC | Platteville, Wisconsin
What is your herd health program? We have herd check every Monday. There we do our traditional pregnancy checks and our ovsynch protocol. We use Bovi-Shield and a J5 vaccination at 35 days of milk during herd check. We will dry off and do ScourGuard and a J5 vacci-
nation at that time. We are selective on our dry cow treatment, individualizing it based on each cow. From there, we will also utilize a teat sealant. At 25-28 days out, we will move them to pre-fresh and administer another round of ScourGuard and J5. Fresh cows all get Inforce nasal
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vaccine and cows third lactation and older get a calcium bolus at calving. We monitor for the rst 10 days in milk.
What does your dry cow and transition program consist of?
Our dry cow period averages 60 days, and that uctuates depend-
ing on the individual cow. We’ll vaccinate with ScourGuard 4KC and J5. We’re pretty selective on the dry cow treatment, monitoring their cell count. If it is below our threshold, we will not give Spectramast DC, only a teat sealant. If they are over 100 pounds or have a mastitis event, they will get the Spectramast dry cow treatment. For the dry cow area, we built a new barn in 2022, a six-row, sand-bedded freestall barn. Our ration depends on how close they are to calving. We mix a different ration for the far-off group and another for the pre-fresh group. The pre-fresh group is 28 days before they’re scheduled to calve. When we get to their calving date, we’ll bring them into a straw bedded calving pen. That pen is more visible from all areas of the farm, which is super critical for us because we always want to have someone checking on that group to make sure they are all comfortable. They will return to the herd varying on their lactations. The more mature cows will return between 14-21 days post-fresh. Heifers and younger ones might be 35 days post-fresh before they join the herd.
What is the composition of your ration, and how has that changed in recent years? Our main milking diet is a premix
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PHOTO SUBMITTED
TJ Roth (from le ), Jesus Hernandez, Juvenal Hernandez and John Shea gather at Banner Ridge Farms LLC near Pla eville, Wisconsin. Roth and Shea own the dairy where they milk 500 cows.
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Fax (218) 346-4684
“We have seen good results with Udder Comfort™ through the years. We didn’t see that with other products we tried. We love what it does for our fresh cows, especially 2-year-olds. It gets swelling out fast, softening udders quicker for more comfortable milking. We really like the ease of use and doing fresh groups in the barn with the Udder Comfort Battery-Operated Backpack Sprayer. We do pre-fresh heifer groups once a week when we vaccinate. We do post-fresh heifers and cows every morning for 10 days after calving while in lockups for daily temps,” says Jim Rickert of Rickland Farms, Eldorado, Wisconsin.
Four generations farm 2000 acres and milk 975 Reg. Holsteins. They were profiled in a Sept. 2023 Holstein America on RFD-TV. (Watch it at https://qrco.de/Rickland or scan QR.)
“Udder Comfort makes the biggest difference,” Jim reports. “It pays to get fresh udders softer, faster, for better milking and more comfortable cows at the start
We wouldn’t be doing this if it didn’t pay.”
— Jim Rickert
The World’s Best TMR Processor
consisting of high-moisture corn, dry corn, dry gluten feed, soybean meal and whey/delactosed permeate. We’ll also use a mineral package to go with our traditional haylage and corn silage. Currently, we run about a 60% forage diet.
Tell us about the forages you plant and detail your harvest strategies. We grow alfalfa and corn. We harvest the alfalfa at two feet high. After we cut it, we try to have it harvested within 30 hours. We average 28 days between crops. For corn silage, we pay attention to dry matter. Sixty-ve percent moisture looks different every year, so we monitor kernel and stalk moisture because that varies by year.
What is your average somatic cell count and how does that affect your production? Our SCC is sitting at 52,000. Our sand crew does a fantastic job of keeping the stalls full and properly groomed. The scrapers on every milking shift also clean out the stalls as they push cows to the parlor. Attention to detail in the prep routine is another area of focus for keeping the SCC low. Lastly, a healthy cow on a well-balanced diet will better ght off infections, therefore producing more milk.
What change has created the biggest improvement in your herd average? The largest improvement came when we were able to match our feed quality with the overall ration. Small changes amounted to big milk. Having the right people in the right places really makes a big difference as well. Over the last four or ve years, we have focused on timely harvesting, making the most of every acre, and, most importantly, cow comfort.
What technology do you use to monitor your herd? Currently, we rely on our great employees. In the future, we plan to use CowManager. But at this point, we
rely on our people monitoring and paying close attention to the herd.
What is your breeding program, and what role does genetics play in your production level? We run a presync/ ovsych program. That plays a massive role for us. We have improved our genetic potential over the last 15 years by changing our strategy. We have focused more on breeding for components and daughter pregnancy rate, and that’s been super critical for us and our herd. It has enabled us to bump our voluntary waiting period back to 80 days in milk from the original 60 or 65 and has helped us gain milk.
List three management strategies that have helped you attain your production and component level. Our top management strategies are hiring and retaining quality employees, paying attention to detail and having a great support team. Most of our employees have been here for the past 10-15 years and they care about our dairy. They want to see us do well, and that investment in us and our herd really helps us. Our attention to detail has been crucial, too. There are a lot of other producers out there, but how closely we monitor our herd and pay attention to details helps us nd things early and get them xed. The support team of our hoof trimmer, nutritionist, breeder, vet and everyone else works well together. We know they want us to succeed as much as we want to. Having that kind of synergy from the top down has been such an important piece. We are lucky to work with the people we do.
Tell us about your farm and your plans for the dairy in the next year. We want to keep operating at a high level and keep costs low. We want to look to the next generation to see where we can make that transition smoothly years from now when it becomes more of a reality.
S780 2021, 707 hrs., 491 Sep hrs., #575391
IH 8250 2022, 1100 hrs., 864 Sep hrs.,
JD S790 2021, 961 hrs., 613 Sep hrs., #565421 ......................................
Contact one of the following dealers to learn more:
IOWA
Prairie Land Ag Supply Inc. Rock Valley, IA 712-476-9290
United Dairy Systems, Inc. West Union, IA 563-422-5355 Monticello, IA 319-465-5931
WISCONSIN
Advanced Dairy Spring Valley, WI 715-772-3201
Bob’s Dairy Supply Dorchester, WI 715-654-5252
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
Professional Dairy Services Arlington, WI 608-635-0268
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
Farm Systems
Melrose, MN
320-256-3276
Brookings, SD
800-636-5581
Advanced Dairy Mora, MN
320-679-1029
Pierz, MN
320-468-2494
St. Charles, MN
507-932-4288 Wadena, MN 218-632-5416
Gear Up for Fall
A sweet, curious Surprise
Olmar Farms provides heifer for annual Dairy Star giveaway
By Emily Breth emily.b@star-pub.com
SLEEPY EYE, Minn. — As the leaves fall and the temperature drops, young cattle enthusiasts can anticipate Dairy Star’s Great Christmas Giveaway.
This year, one of the calves youths can win is Olmar Rocket Surprise, provided by Brian and Jill Nelson of Olmar Farms near Sleepy Eye.
“She is very sweet,” Jill Nelson said. “Her pen is right next to the water fountain, so she gets pet a lot more than the other calves, so she is already spoiled. When we got her out of the pen, she was spunky and curious.”
Surprise has 11 generations of Excellent or Very Good cows behind her dam, Olmar Helix Sansi. Sansi herself was classied a Good Plus as a two-year-old. Surprise is sired by Terra-Linda RocketET.
Nelson said Surprise should be a nice project calf to show, and also a productive cow a young person can develop and breed.
Surprise and her herd mates are bred according to the Nelson herd motto: Find your future herd here. When considering genetics, Nelson said she pays attention
RUTH KLOSSER/DAIRY STAR
Jill Nelson leads Olmar Rocket Surprise on a halter Oct. 30 at Olmar Farms near Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. Surprise has 11 genera ons of Excellent or Very Good cows behind her dam, Olmar Helix Sansi.
to what would be a good addition to other farms if they were to buy an animal.
“We have sold many animals for farm expansions and people come back and say, ‘The best decision we ever made was buying cows from you guys,’ because it is a good foundation for their herd,” Nelson said. “Hopefully this calf will (do the same) for somebody.”
Surprise’s family was welcomed to Olmar farms in the early 1990s when
Nelson’s dad bought embryos from Regancrest Holsteins LLC.
“We got to be good friends with the Regans from Waukon, Iowa,” Nelson said. “We always really admired (their cattle) when we competed against them, so my dad bought in.”
Besides watching Surprise’s relatives be shown, the Nelsons also experienced showing them once they started breeding them into the herd.
Surprise is the seventh generation of this cow family born at Olmar Farms to carry the Olmar prex. Though many have been show-worthy Nelson said, opportunities to exhibit them have not always presented themselves.
“There are others that could have been shown in the past,” Nelson said. “We just didn’t have enough people to show (them all). They have been a nice addition to the herd though.”
All matings are made with a focus on production and type.
“(This family has) been a nice addition to the herd,” Nelson said. “We don’t give up (production or type) to get the other. I don’t like cows that don’t milk, and I don’t like (non-show) cows.”
A well-rounded cow with functional type, production and longevity is what Nelson aims for.
“I want real results in every area,” Nelson said. “That has always been a part of breeding a registered herd, paying close attention to genetics, family lines and much more than what the paper shows.”
Nelson’s grandpa was the rst person in the family to start registering their animals about 80 years ago. It is a practice Nelson has continued.
“The information we get from the Holstein Association is valuable to us,” Nelson said. “It helps us diversify and we enjoy the registered business.”
The herd at Olmar Farms has 130 registered Holsteins milked in a double-8 herringbone parlor. The rolling herd average is around 30,000 pounds milk with tests of 4.0% butterfat and 3.2%-3.3% protein. Nelson is the fth generation on the farm.
“I’m excited to be a part of (Dairy Star’s Great Christmas Giveaway) and I hope a lot of kids sign up,” Nelson said.
Jill Nelson Dairy farmer
Prize Heifer Calf:
Sire: Terra-Linda Rocket-ET Dam: Olmar Helix Sansi Look for the red box at participating locations to enter!
Born: September 25, 2024 Pictured is Olmar Rocket Surprise, the heifer that will be given away in the Great Christmas Giveaway drawing.
REGISTER AT THESE PARTICIPATING BUSINESSES:
IOWA
ALLAMAKEECOUNTY
• Equity Livestock, Waukon Waukon • 563-568-4501
• Farmers Union Coop
Postville • 563-864-7234
DELAWARE COUNTY
• Del-Clay Farm Equipment
Edgewood • 563-928-6445
• Edgewood Feed Mill Edgewood • 563-928-6405
• Helle Implement Dyersville • 563-875-7154
• Farmers Union Coop Manchester • 563-927-6050
DUBUQUE COUNTY
• Eastern Iowa Dairy
Epworth • 563-876-3087
• New Vienna Ag Automation New Vienna • 563-921-2896
• Rexco Equipment Farley • 563-744-3393
• Roeder Implement Dubuque • 563-557-1184
• Scherrmann’s Implement Dyersville • 563-875-2426
• Skip Breitbach Feeds Sherrill • 563-552-2393
• Ungs Shopping Center (IAS) Luxemburg • 563-853-2455
CLAYTON COUNTY
• Windridge Implement Elkader • 563-245-2636
FAYETTE COUNTY
• Baumler Implements Inc. West Union • 563-422-3835
• Nexus Cooperative Elgin • 563-426-5566
• United Dairy Systems West Union • 563-422-5355
HOWARD COUNTY
• Farmers Win Co-op Cresco West • 563-547-3660
• Windridge Implement Cresco • 563-547-3688
JACKSON COUNTY
Equity Livestock, Maquoketa Maquoketa • 563-652-8080
SIOUX COUNTY
• Sioux Dairy Equipment, Inc. Rock Valley • 712-476-5608
WINNESHIEK COUNTY
• Brynsaas Sales & Service Decorah • 563-382-4484
• Farmers Union Coop Fort Atkinson • 563-534-7216 Ossian • 563-532-9381
• Farmers Win Coop
Ridgeway • 563-737-2244
• Franzen Sales & Service Fort Atkinson • 563-534-2724
• Lang’s Dairy Service Decorah • 563-382-8722
• Windridge Implement Decorah • 563-382-3614
MINNESOTA
BECKER COUNTY
• Adkins Equipment Inc. Detroit Lakes • 218-847-3131
BENTON COUNTY
• Farm-Rite Equipment
St. Cloud • 844-262-2281
• First National Bank of MilacaGilman Of ce • 320-387-2233
• Gilman Co-op Creamery Gilman • 320-387-2770
• Midwest Machinery
Sauk Rapids • 320-259-6222
• Pine Country Bank Royalton • 320-584-5522 Rice • 320-393-4200
BROWN COUNTY
• New Ulm Regional Vet Clinic
New Ulm • 507-233-2500
CARVER COUNTY
• Lano Equipment of Norwood Norwood/Young America 952-467-2181
DAKOTA COUNTY
• Werner Implement Vermillion • 651-437-4435
DOUGLAS COUNTY
• Midwest Machinery
Alexandria • 320-763-4220
• Osakis Creamery Assn. 320-859-2146
• Pro Ag Farmers Co-op Gar eld • 320-834-2271
FILLMORE COUNTY
• Farmers Win Co-op
Rushford • 507-864-2161
• First Southeast Bank
Harmony • 507-886-6922
• Hammell Equipment
Harmony • 507-886-2255
Rushford • 507-864-2845
• Minnwest Bank
Spring Valley • 507-346-9899
GOODHUE COUNTY
• Ag Partners
Cannon Falls • 507-263-4651
Goodhue • 651-923-4496
Pine Island • 507-356-8313
• Central Livestock
Zumbrota • 507-732-7305
• Finnesgard Trucking
Goodhue • 651-923-4861
• Midwest Livestock Systems, LLC
Zumbrota • 507-732-4673
• Midwest Machinery
Cannon Falls • 507-263-4238
Wanamingo • 507-824-2256
• Stockman’s Supply
Zumbrota • 507-732-7860
HOUSTON COUNTY
• Farmers Win Co-op
Caledonia • 507-725-3306
Houston • 507-896-3147
• Hammell Equipment
Eitzen • 507-495-3326
• Midwest Machinery
Caledonia • 507-725-7000
KANDIYOHI COUNTY
• D&D Ag Supply & Construction Pennock • 320-599-4466
• Farm-Rite Equipment Willmar • 877-484-3211
MCLEOD COUNTY
• Ag Partners
Belle Plaine • 952-873-4244
• Leedstone Glencoe • 877-864-5575
• Midwest Machinery Glencoe • 320-864-5571
MEEKER COUNTY
• Farm-Rite Equipment Dassel • 888-679-4857
• Schlauderaff Implement Co. Litch eld • 320-693-7277
MILLE LACS COUNTY
• First National Bank of Milaca Milaca • 320-968-3101
• Foreston Farmer’s Co-op Creamery Foreston • 320-294-5711
MORRISON COUNTY
• Litke’s Veterinary Service Pierz • 320-468-6666
• Magni Financial
Little Falls • 888-330-8482
• Midwest Machinery
Little Falls • 320-632-5469
• Modern Farm Equipment Pierz • 320-468-2161
• Pierz Co-op Pierz • 320-468-6655
• Pine Country Bank
Little Falls • 320-632-9740
• Sunrise Ag Cooperative Buckman • 320-468-6433 Lastrup • 320-468-6433 Little Rock • 320-584-5147
MOWER COUNTY
• Midwest Machinery Grand Meadow • 507-754-1100
• Nexus Cooperative LeRoy • 507-324-5242
OLMSTED COUNTY
• Ag Partners Stewartville • 507-533-4222
• Hammell Equipment Chat eld • 507-867-4910
OTTER TAIL COUNTY
• Bongards’ Perham • 218-347-4142
• 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 Le Center • 507-357-6868
• Midwest Machinery North eld • 507-645-4886
STEARNS COUNTY
• A&C Farm Service Paynesville • 320-243-3736
• 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
• Centre Dairy Equipment & Supply Inc. Sauk Centre • 320-352-5762 or 1-800-342-2697
• 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
• Freeport State Bank Freeport • 320-836-2126
Greenwald • 320-987-2265 Melrose • 320-256-7208
• Hartung Sales & Service, Inc. Freeport • 320-836-2697
• Lake Henry Implement Paynesville • 320-243-7411
• Leedstone Melrose • 800-996-3303
• Magni Financial
Albany • 888-330-8482
Avon • 888-330-8482
Belgrade • 888-330-8482
Cold Spring • 888-330-8482
Freeport • 888-330-8482
Melrose • 888-330-8482
Paynesville • 888-330-8482
Sauk Centre • 888-330-8482
• Melrose Implement Inc. Melrose • 320-256-4253
• Midwest Machinery
Paynesville • 320-243-7474
Sauk Centre • 320-352-6511
• Modern Farm Equipment
Sauk Centre • 320-352-6543
• Nutrien Ag Solutions 320-352-6564
STEELE COUNTY
• Northland Farm Systems
Owatonna • 507-451-3131
TODD COUNTY
• Magni Financial
Grey Eagle • 888-330-8482
Long Prairie • 888-330-8482
• Farm-Rite
Long Prairie • 866-514-0982
• Olson’s Custom Farm Service
Staples • 218-894-2474
• Pro-Ag Farmers Co-op in Browerville Browerville • 320-594-2711
• 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 Plainview • 507-534-2531 Lake City • 651-345-3328
• Beck Implement Elgin • 507-876-2122
• Leedstone Plainview • 800-548-2540
• Midwest Machinery Plainview • 507-534-3116
• 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 Co-op Creamery Elba • 507-796-6571
• Kalmes Implement Altura • 507-796-6741
• Lang’s Dairy Equipment Lewiston • 507-452-5532
• Lewiston Sales Lewiston • 507-523-2112
• Midwest Machinery St. Charles • 507-932-4030
• Minnwest Bank Lewiston • 507-523-2161
WRIGHT COUNTY
• Hobert Sales Inc. Cokato • 320-286-6284, 1-800-820-6455
• Midwest Machinery Howard Lake • 320-543-2170
SOUTH DAKOTA
BROOKINGS COUNTY
• W.W. Tire Service Brookings • 605-628-2501
CODINGTON COUNTY
• Glacial Lakes Livestock Watertown • 605-886-5052
MINNEHAHA COUNTY
• Central Valley Dairy Supply Garretson • 605-467-0812
• Midwest Livestock Systems Renner • 605-274-3656
ROBERTS COUNTY
• Valley Dairy Supply Corona • 605-432-5224
SPINK COUNTY
• Kasemeister Creamery Frankfort • 605-475-2020
American FFA Degree dairy recipients
Why did you want to obtain your American FFA Degree? A. Dieball: I wanted to earn my American FFA Degree because it is the highest honor an FFA member can achieve. My sister and I set this as a goal to accomplish together. Walking across the stage at the National FFA Convention and Expo in our blue jackets for the last time was the best moment.
S. Dieball: I wanted to obtain my American FFA Degree because I wanted to get the highest degree in FFA I could. My sister and I set this as a goal to accomplish together.
Clemenson: Receiving my American FFA Degree has been a goal of mine from the time I joined FFA in eighth grade. The American FFA Degree is the highest honor that someone can receive in the FFA organization and I
wanted to push myself to work hard enough to receive this honor. I also have family members who have received this award, and they were very encouraging throughout my journey to pursue the American FFA Degree. Hoefs: I wanted to get my American FFA Degree because it is a great way to wrap up my FFA career. This award is the highest an FFA member can receive and less than 1% of all members do. To get this award you must be involved in your local and state chapters and with your community and have a substantial supervised agricultural experience. The American FFA Degree is a way to represent all the hard work and hours I have dedicated to FFA and my SAE.
What was your reaction when you found out you received it and who did you tell rst? A. Dieball: I was so excited when I knew I was receiving my American FFA Degree. My dad, Jim, was an active FFA member in high school and remembers attending the national convention. I shared this honor with him rst, and he was just as excited as I was.
S. Dieball: I was so excited and surprised when I found out I got my American FFA Degree. My parents were the rst people I told.
Clemenson: I was honored when I found out that I had received my American FFA Degree. It truly takes a lot of work and dedication to achieve this degree and it is such a rewarding experience to be recognized for this work. The rst people I told when
I got the email were my parents because they were by my side throughout my journey and have always been my biggest supporters.
Hoefs: I was very excited when I found out and told my mom right away. My mom is also an ag teacher and FFA advisor, so she knows the importance of this degree and helped me a lot along the way.
What was your SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience)? A. Dieball: My SAE focused on dairy entrepreneurship. I own part of the animals on my family’s dairy farm, primarily colored breeds. I lease these animals to young 4-H members for showing at county and state fairs, which allows
Aly Dieball Green Isle, Minnesota University of Wisconsin-Platteville Major: dairy science
Shelby Dieball Green Isle, Minnesota Northeast Iowa Community College Major: early childhood education and criminal justice
Natalie Clemenson Zumbrota, Minnesota University of Wisconsin-River Falls Major: dairy science
Alexis Hoefs New Prague, Minnesota University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Major: animal science
me to give youth the experience of caring for and showing an animal at the fair.
S. Dieball: My SAE was working on my family’s dairy farm. I cared for the animals and helped where it was needed.
Clemenson: My SAE consists of dairy placement on my family’s dairy farm and dairy entrepreneurship, in which I have my own herd of Brown Swiss cattle. My main task on the farm has been caring for youngstock as calf manager. Before college, I fed the calves and youngstock their milk and grain, ensured they had fresh water and clean and dry bedding, and monitored overall health and conditions. I help with breeding selections, our reproduction protocols and selecting bulls to correct faults to improve overall herd genetics of progeny. Milking and eldwork are also some responsibilities I hold depending on the time of year and need of our operation. Being away at college, I am not home to complete these tasks daily, but I still help on the weekends when I can. For my entrepreneurship SAE, I have eight Brown Swiss cows and heifers. I purchased my rst heifer in 2018 and have expanded by breeding and raising my own in addition to purchasing heifers at sales.
Hoefs: My SAE is working on my family’s farm. Throughout high school, I helped milk 2-3 times a week and spent my summer and weekends there as well. My tasks ranged from vaccinations, hoof trimming, herd checks, moving cattle, cleaning pens and many other miscellaneous tasks. It was really neat to see the progress I had made from my rst year in 2019 to my last year of records in 2023.
What are your future plans? A. Dieball: After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in December, I will be joining Munson Lakes Nutrition in Howard Lake, Minnesota, as an animal nutrition sales support specialist. I am so excited.
S. Dieball: My future plans are to work at a childcare center. I also want to continue to help on the farm as much as possible. I am currently attending Northeast Iowa Community College working toward a degree in early childhood education and criminal justice.
Clemenson: My future plans are to nish my education at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and obtain a bachelor of science degree in dairy science with a minor in ag business and Spanish. After graduation, I hope to pursue a career in dairy nutrition. Through this career, I hope to assist local farms in maximizing their production and efciency while keeping their livestock happy and healthy. I also plan to stay involved on my family’s farm and continue to improve our cattle, land and sustainability.
Hoefs: My future plan is to work in the dairy industry, preferably in the genetics or reproduction sector in sales or as a consultant. I love visiting new farms and making new connections with farmers. I want to be able to help them reach their goals and be a great resource for them as well.
Tell us about your farm. A. Dieball: My family’s farm, Dieball Dairy LLC, milks 240 cows using ve robotic milking systems. We also have land for crops. I’m actively involved in the livestock side, feeding calves and caring for the robot cows. Since I attend college ve hours away, I manage many records and tasks remotely to stay updated.
S. Dieball: I live on my family’s fourth-generation dairy farm, Dieball Dairy LLC. We milk 240 dairy cows with ve robotic milkers.
Clemenson: I grew up on my family’s farm, Clemenson Farms, located outside of Zumbrota, Minnesota. We milk around 90 cows consisting of Holsteins, Brown Swiss and Jerseys. In addition to the milking herd, we keep all our bull calves and raise them as feeder steers. We also run 750 acres of crops, growing alfalfa and corn for our livestock and selling additional corn each year.
Hoefs: My family’s farm is run by my grandparents, Jim and Donna, my dad, Jimmy, and his brothers, Jason and Joel. A cool thing about the farm is it was started in 1861 which makes me the seventh generation to grow up there. Hoefs Dairy milks 250 cows two times a day in a double-8 herringbone parlor. They are housed in a freestall barn. We also raise all youngstock on the farm and nish out our own steers. We own about 1,000 acres and grow corn, soybeans, wheat, alfalfa, winter rye, barley and peas.
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Advanced Dairy Spring Valley, WI; Mondovi, WI; West Salem, WI; Mora, MN; Pierz, MN; Wadena, MN; St Charles, MN
Central Ag Supply Juneau, WI; Baraboo, WI
J. Gile Dairy Equipment, Inc. Cuba City, WI
Redeker Dairy Equipment Brandon, WI
Stanley Schmitz Inc. Chilton, WI
Tri-County Dairy Supply Janesville, WI
Fuller’s Milker Center Lancaster, WI; Richland Center, WI
Eastern Iowa Dairy Systems Epworth, IA
Sioux Dairy Equipment Rock Valley, IA; Colton, SD
United Dairy Systems West Union, IA; Monticello, IA
Gorter’s Clay & Dairy Equipment Pipestone, MN
Leedstone Melrose, MN; Glencoe, MN; Plainview, MN; Menomonie, WI
Monroe Westfalia Surge Monroe, WI
Lely Center Monroe Monroe, WI
Total Dairy Service Kewaunee, WI
Midwest Livestock Systems Zumbrota, MN; Renner, SD; Menomonie, WI; Kaukauna, WI; Weston, WI
Ederer Dairy Supply Plain, WI
Professional Dairy Services Arlington, WI
Dairy judging through the nation
Lake City FFA team takes second at national convention
By Emily Breth emily.b@star-pub.com
LAKE CITY, Minn. — The dairy cattle evaluation and management team from the Lake City FFA Chapter was welcomed onto the stage Oct. 25 as they were announced as the secondplace team overall at the National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The team consisted of Blake Siewert, a junior, and Emily and Ashley Mellgren and Lillian Schumacher, all freshmen. Individually, Siewert placed fth, Ashley was ninth, Emily was 12th and Schumacher was 21st.
“It was a really cool experience being on the stage in front of 60,000 people,” Ashley said. “Especially since it was our rst time competing in dairy judging (for FFA) and right away we made it to nationals.”
Siewert and the Mellgrens come from dairy farms, where their passion for the industry began. Schumacher said she was drawn to the industry because of the Mellgrens and because dairy farmers are active in their community.
“My mom grew up on a farm,” Schumacher said. “I kind of always wanted to show dairy at the county fair, so one year I asked Ashley and Emily if I could lease from them, and I have been showing ever since.”
When it came time for the awards ceremony at the national convention the whole team was excited and anxious to see how they did.
“It was really exciting, especially since we are a really young team,” Ashley said. “We were kind of nervous going into this contest because we were going against freshman in college and didn’t really know how we would do.”
After winning the state contest, the team knew they had to put in the work to do well at nationals.
“We did dairy judging practice through 4-H with our 4-H dairy judging coach, Kayla Sexton, so that was
placed second overall in the 2024 contest.
our practice over the summer,” Siewert said. “We did some special practices where we went to different farms to practice judging cattle this fall.”
A part of the contest at the national level includes a presentation on a topic selected by the National FFA Organization. In preparation for this, the team worked with their FFA adviser, Haely Leiding, and another dairy specialist to gain as much knowledge about the topic as possible.
“(This year) it was on dairy cattle housing and facilities,” Siewert said. “We gained the knowledge for that portion of the contest and presenting it.”
The team took rst place in the presentation section of the competition.
“When we got done (with the presentation), we were all super excited because we thought we did well and were happy with ourselves and how it turned out,” Emily said.
The Mellgrens said the presentation was their favorite portion because they enjoyed discussing problems on dairy farms and looking into solutions
to help them out.
“Evaluating that as a team was a cool experience, especially getting feedback from the judges,” Ashley said. Judging and evaluating cattle was another task the team enjoyed.
“My favorite part of the contest was judging because that is what I know the most of and what I feel I can do the best on,” Schumacher said.
Siewert agreed with the Mellgrens and Schumacher that the presentation and evaluation are the best parts of the competition. The nal part of the contest is the practicum.
“We practiced the test portion of the contest that is basically dairy quiz bowl questions,” Siewert said.
The whole team has been active in dairy judging since they were in fth grade. Siewert and the Mellgrens have also been participating in dairy quiz bowl since.
“We all have a good background in the dairy industry,” Ashley said. “It is one thing we all grew up loving and it’s our passion. When we came together as a team we worked well together because we all have knowledge on our own part.”
Some memories that stick out to the team include their bonding experiences between FFA and 4-H, competing and practicing together, and being on stage at both the state and national level.
“One of my favorite memories is all of us standing on stage and being called rst at state and then second at nationals,” Emily said.
Looking forward, the team plans to continue their dairy judging with 4-H. They hope to earn a trip to compete at World Dairy Expo or the All-American Dairy Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, because they are no longer eligible to compete in FFA dairy evaluation and management.
“We are planning on doing dairy foods for a new competition in FFA,” Ashley said. “We gave it our best effort and it paid off with all the hard work we did this summer, so we were really excited with the results.”
PHOTO SUBMITTED
The Lake City dairy ca le evalua on and management team — Blake Siewert (from le ), Emily Mellgren, Lillian Schumacher and Ashley Mellgren — gather Oct. 25 at the Na onal FFA Conven on in Indianapolis, Indiana. The team
Low colostrum in Jersey cows
If you have Jersey cows, have you noticed that they tend to produce less colostrum during the fall and winter months? In some cases, this reduction is reported as a complete lack of colostrum. Despite these observations, the causes remain largely unknown.
Colostrum is crucial for a calf’s health and growth. It provides essential antibodies (immunoglobulins), fats, sugars, minerals, vitamins and water, helping the calf ght off disease from day one. However, colostrum can also carry bacteria and other pathogens, potentially exposing calves to serious diseases like E. coli infections, leukosis and Johne’s disease. Ensuring clean, high-quality colostrum is key to giving calves a strong, healthy start.
ter when cows naturally produce less. We know that nutrition, the length of the dry period, previous milk production and lactation number all impact colostrum quality. But what leads to low colostrum production in Jersey cows is still a mystery to some.
By Brad Heins University of Minnesota
Previous research on a Texas Jersey farm found the average colostrum production was 9 pounds. (about 1 gallon) and ranged from 0-60 pounds. Colostrum production was lower in December compared to June and was 50% lower during the winter. The conclusion was that cows exposed to longer daylight 21 days before calving produced more colostrum. Genetic analysis indicated a potential genetic component, with certain sire lines more prone to low colostrum production.
Successful transfer of immunity to the calf depends on how soon it receives colostrum and on the colostrum’s quality, cleanliness and quantity. Getting enough colostrum can be especially challenging in fall and win-
Recently, a study by the University of New Hampshire identied variables affecting colostrum production and quality in Jersey cows. Data from 415 cows across 28 U.S. Jersey farms were analyzed to predict colostrum produc-
tion, IgG concentration and IgG production based on farm and lactation performance variables. Key predictors included previous lactation days open, which increased colostrum production, and time to colostrum harvest, which decreased IgG concentration.
Here are some key highlights from their study: colostrum production increased with longer dry periods. Also, cows in the northern U.S. had lower colostrum production than cows in the South. Production was negatively correlated with pasture access, suggesting that indoor management may favor more colostrum production. Time between birth and colostrum harvesting inversely affected IgG concentration, highlighting the need for prompt colostrum collection. The ndings suggest that colostrum production in Jersey cows can be improved by optimizing dry period management, reproductive strategies and rapid colostrum harvesting.
Some practical tips for enhancing colostrum quality and improving antibody transfer include feeding colostrum immediately after birth, ideally
Dana Adams adam1744@umn.edu 320-204-2968
Luciano Caixeta lcaixeta@umn.edu 612-625-3130
Gerard Cramer gcramer@umn.edu 612-625-8184
Marcia Endres miendres@umn.edu 612-624-5391
Brad Heins hein0106@umn.edu 320-589-1711
Nathan Hulinsky huli0013@umn.edu 320-203-6104
Karen Johnson ande9495@umn.edu 320-484-4334
Emily Krekelberg krek0033@umn.edu 507-280-2863
Claire LaCanne lacanne@umn.edu 507-332-6109
Brenda Miller nels4220@umn.edu 320-732-4435
within the rst two hours, as the calf’s ability to absorb antibodies decreases quickly. Farmers should aim for highquality colostrum with over 50 grams/ liter of IgG, which helps ensure the calf receives enough immunity to lower risks of disease.
Freezing colostrum is a good way to have reserves, but it is best to feed it fresh to maintain immune benets. Pasteurizing colostrum (heating to 60 degrees Celsius for 30-60 minutes) can kill pathogens, improving health outcomes for calves. Adding certain supplements like selenium or nicotinic acid (vitamin B3) to the cow's diet before calving has been shown to boost colostrum quality.
In summary, good pre-calving cow management, feeding colostrum quickly, pasteurization and having backup colostrum can all improve the immunity and health of newborn Jersey calves. To listen more to the conversation about colostrum quality in Jersey cows listen to our recent episode (264) on The Moos Room Podcast which can be found wherever you get your podcasts.
Isaac Salfer ijsalfer@umn.edu 320-296-1357
Jim Salfer salfe001@umn.edu 320-203-6093
Mike Schutz mschutz@umn.edu 612-624-1205
Melissa Wilson mlw@umn.edu 612-625-4276
Isaac Haagen hagge041@umn.edu 612-624-7455
Michael Boland boland@umn.edu 612-625-3013
Sabrina Florentino slpore@umn.edu 507-441-1765
Scott Wells wells023@umn.edu 612-625-8166
Erin Cortus ecortus@umn.edu 612-625-8288
Evaluating camera-based lameness detection
By Drew Swartz, Elise Shepley and Gerard Cramer
Lameness is a signicant issue in the global dairy industry due to its adverse effects on welfare, farm profitability and environmental sustainability. It is a painful condition that changes pain thresholds, alters eating and lying behaviors and increases risk of culling due to decreased milk production and reproductive efciency. This reduction in productivity increases the number of animals required to maintain dairy production, thus impacting environmental sustainability.
To address these concerns, quality assurance programs like the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management Program in the United States have been developed to evaluate animal care. However, current methods, such as visual locomotion scoring, have limitations due to their subjective nature and variability in observer accuracy. As a result, there is a growing interest in automated approaches for lameness detection, such as camera-based technologies that utilize deep learning to enhance accuracy and early detection. These systems, including the recently released technology from CattleEye Ltd., have shown promise in being comparable to human assessors in detecting lameness.
Given the potential of these new technologies, it is important to examine the relationships between camera scores, lesion location and lesion type as lesions are present in 70%-90% of lameness events. Knowledge of these relationships could provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of automated systems in improving lameness detection and management in dairy herds.
To evaluate these relationships, we utilized a camera-based technology (CattleEye) that assigns locomotion scores to dairy cows, where 0 is a sound cow and 100 is a severely lame cow. This system, installed in the return alleys, uses a two dimensional camera to capture video of cows as they pass under the camera, identifying them via RFID tags or visual markings. We combined the camera data with cow and hoof trimming data that were extracted from the farms' herd management software and standardized across the farms to describe
the different trends of the CattleEye locomotion scores leading up to each hoof lesion diagnosis. Hoof lesions were categorized into digital dermatitis, sole ulcer, white line disease, and other types, with further classication based on the affected hoof. The study accounted for a cow's hoof trimming history by classifying the order of trimming and lesion events, with cows being categorized into various groups based on the presence or recurrence of lesions. This approach allowed for a detailed analysis of the relationship between locomotion scores and hoof health.
In our study, at the population level, cows with hoof lesions consistently exhibited higher median camera-based locomotion scores compared to cows without lesions across all observed weeks. For cows without lesions, the median scores remained relatively stable, with values of 39-40 over the four weeks leading up to the lesion diagnosis. In contrast, cows with lesions showed a gradual increase in median scores, rising from 44 in week -4 to 50 in week -1 before diagnosis. These trends were consistent across two-thirds of the farms.
When examining the data by specic lesion categories, cows with no previous lesions had the lowest and most stable median scores. With each subsequent trimming or lesion event, scores increased, with cows with lesions showing more signicant increases, ranging from 4-8 points over the four weeks. Among specic lesions, digital dermatitis had the lowest median scores, followed by white line disease and sole ulcers. Notably, white line disease had the largest increase in median scores over the fourweek period, with an increase of 12 points, compared to increases of 3 and 8 points for digital dermatitis and sole ulcers, respectively.
Given the results from our study, we are conducting further research validating other components of the technology such as its ability to accurately identify cows and perform other tasks such as body condition scoring. We have also conducted an on-farm trial using this technology combined with other farm and cow level metrics to try and ne-tune ways to detect cows that have hoof lesions.
How did you get into farming? The only reason is our dads, Keith (Matt’s dad) and Ken (Tim’s dad), were doing it and we started helping. Our dads are brothers. We bought the cows in 2013, but we started farming the land in 2010. We joined the farm out of high school. We started with getting paid to help. Under our occupation on taxes, we’ve always been dairy farmers. Growing up, we milked for neighbors, helped with hay and worked for odds and ends. We were helping neighbors before we could drive as soon as we could throw a hay bale. The rst business we did together is we bought steers, our dads fed them, and that was our bonus. We had some of our own cows, so we already had a few animals in the herd when we purchased it.
What are the most signicant ways your farm has changed since you started farming? We were milking 86 cows at two farms. On the home farm we were milking with buckets and a step saver and had no barn cleaner. In 2000 the rst barn cleaner was installed. Before 2000 I was a lean guy. We had to haul all our feed over to the other farm and haul all the manure back. Labor Day 2011 we added the pipeline at the home farm. We added 14 tie stalls in the old calf area so the barn went from 49 stalls to 63 stalls. In June 2012, we reduced cow numbers and went down to one barn instead of two. We grew up working with our dads, but now predominantly it is the two of us. We bought another 240-acre farm in 2021. We started our trucking business so we could help pay for it. We keep our beef herd at this new farm. The beef freshen at our main farm, and then once they are established, we take them to the other farm.
DAIRY PROFILE
What was a challenge you faced in your dairy farming career and how did you overcome it? Keeping up with the rules and regulations as they get tighter and tighter and all the stuff you have to do to just sell milk nowadays. Trying to keep up with the National Dairy FARM Program rules. We have to switch our dehorning practices because the rules no longer allow us to use gouging.
What is the best decision you have made on your farm? Matt: Putting in the milk house and the pipeline and the ease of having one barn. Tim: Purchasing the truck and diversifying. We got into trucking in 2020. It’s been a lot of long, hard days trying to do both, but the amount of revenue that that’s brought in has far exceeded anything that we could have brought out of this barn. We have a 1998 Peterbilt 379. The rst year we had
it, Matt hauled gravel all summer during the day and Tim hauled turkeys at night. For a few years we hauled sweet corn. With sweet corn we had to keep a guy in the truck 24/7. That got to be too much, so we stopped. One of the things we haul currently is turkeys which still happens at night. The trucking business has allowed us to purchase nicer stuff when the milk price goes south.
What three things on the farm can you not live without? Explain. The skid loader. It saves a lot of manual labor. The heated shop. Just being able to drive something in there and work on it on cement with heat or we can put a tractor or spreader in there during a real cold spell and know that it will start in the morning. The third thing is family. Everybody has everybody’s back. We are so blessed. If one of us wants to get away someone can pick it up. To do this job by yourself would be really difcult. At any given point we can have a lot of stuff going on at once. One day we were picking corn, running grain cart, combining corn, chopping stalks and hauling cattle. It just makes you smile. To have that capability is awesome. Sometimes it takes one guy to put out res and keep everyone and everything moving.
What are your thoughts and concerns about the dairy industry for the next year? For a while it was the uncertainty of whether somebody wants our milk, but not so much anymore. It’s hard to produce a product that nobody wants. If you don’t have a place for your milk, you don’t have anything. How many places are taking places farms with less than 100 cows?
Dan
KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
Ma hew (le ) and Tim Boese smile Nov. 1 in their estall barn on their farm near Morristown, Minnesota. The Boeses milk 60 cows.
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
Nathan (from le ), Jared and Tim Boese x a barn cleaner Nov. 1 on the Boese family dairy near Morristown, Minnesota. Ma and Tim Boese said working together is one of the most rewarding parts of dairy farming.
What strategies do you use to withstand the volatile milk prices? Diversifying through all the extra stuff that we do. We don’t just milk cows. We have a trucking company. We have H&S bale wrappers that we rent out and go do that. We do a little custom baling. We have beef cows and we’re able to raise the steers. We also bought a cutter baler.
How do you maintain family relationships while also working together? Communication is huge. It’s better that we’re cousins instead of brothers. We have seen our dads grow up as brothers and that was more difcult. Knowing each other. As time evolves, people often will have different goals. Through those differences, the less ambitious person will hold the more ambitious person back while the ambitious person can push the less ambitious person. You don’t have to have the same goals, but just the same mindset on where you want to be and to not let yourself get far apart.
What do you nd most rewarding about dairy farming? Working together, absolutely. Watching everything go on. Everyone for the most part has their roles, but everyone can do everything.
Tell us something special about your farm. We let our cows in and out. Not many people do that anymore, especially in the tie stalls. Cows go in and out every day except if the weather is especially nasty.
What are your plans for your dairy in the next year and ve years? In the next year, it probably will be pretty much the same. In the next ve, there could be potential for change depending on what some of the kids do and whether they are interested in joining the farm. If they are, we would try to integrate them into the farm. We could have enough work for more people between the trucking, beef cows and dairy.
How do you or your family like to spend time when you are not doing chores?
Tim: I like snowmobiling. I try to take a few trips each year. As a family we went up north in August. Matt: We go camping every year with my wife’s family. Its tent camping with a softball tournament, eating pie at the local pie social and sitting around the campre at night. Both: Overall, family is very important to us. Going to sporting events is a priority. Those get more fun as they get older. Watching T-ball compared to Little League and similar advances in other sports, it’s fun to see the plays set up. We don’t go anywhere together really because on-farm we spend more time with each other than we do with our wives.
Now dispensing fresh milk
School milk dispensers have piqued my interest the past several years.
The concept seemed quite simple. If we provide kids with a great milk-drinking experience now, maybe we can make them lifetime consumers of milk.
Several school districts in Minnesota, such as Hutchinson, Waconia, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa and Minnewaska Area, have implemented the dispensers, and the results have been positive.
The districts have reported more milk consumption and less waste.
As school administrators, who wouldn’t want to serve students cold milk out of a cup rather than that of a carton?
pensers, stainless steel tables, cup racks, cups and even a dishrack dolly for the cups.
We went over the bids and ordered three dispensers.
Next was the nancial side of things. Interestingly enough, this was far less difcult than I thought it was going to be.
By Mark Klaphake Staff Writer
In addition, schools have provided students the opportunity to have free rells. Others have placed a milk dispenser in the weight room to refuel after a practice or a game. It makes a lot of sense to let students refuel with milk, and all the health benets it provides, rather than alternatives.
In Sauk Centre, where my kids attend school, the district wasn’t equipped with dispensers. Now, that has changed.
About a year ago, superintendent Don Peschel was approached regarding the idea.
Peschel said he needed to talk to the food service provider and see if they had an outlet for bulk milk.
Fortunately, they did.
Then, I spoke to several dairy farmers and agricultural businesses and told them about the idea. The consensus was to get the job done. They were willing to offer nancial assistance.
For the next step, Peschel proposed the idea to the school board to gather their thoughts.
After one meeting, he reported they were on board with the idea.
We proceeded to the bid stage.
We found businesses that provide dis-
We received over half the money necessary from Midwest Dairy and the Stearns County American Dairy Association.
The remaining funds came from like-minded dairy enthusiasts. Three local dairy farmers: Vogt Dairy LLC, Dan and Jason Klaphake, and Meyer Dairy, LLC; two agricultural businesses, KLC Farms Roasting, MBC Drainage LLC; and the Sauk Centre Area Community Foundation, all wanted to see the project become reality.
When the school year commenced this fall, it was gratifying for me to know two milk dispensers had supplanted cartons. Each machine has three spigots, two for chocolate milk and one for white.
A couple weeks into the school year, Peschel gave a tour to the nancial supporters. This was also a chance to talk about the students’ reactions.
The immediate responses were super. The students enjoyed having cold milk out of a cup. They could ll their cup to whatever level they wanted. Plus, there was no carton waste.
The third dispenser arrived about a month into the school year and will be an a la carte machine. Students can drink as much milk as they want at no cost to their families.
The funds for providing free milk in the third machine will be gathered from local businesses as the year progresses.
If your school recently added milk dispensers, let me know about the process and students’ feedback by emailing me at mark.k@ dairystar.com.
DECORAH, IA
Lang’s Dairy Equip. 563-382-8722
MONTICELLO, IA United Dairy Syst. 319-465-5931
WEST UNION, IA United Dairy Syst. 563-422-5355
FREEPORT, MN Arnzen Construction 320-836-2284
Hartung
The power of perspective
While October was a quieter month for Princess Kay appearances and events, this allowed me to focus on academics and the opportunities I have here at school. My experiences here give me more perspective as a dairy advocate and expand my knowledge on topics connected to the dairy community. During this quieter season, I have had the chance to reect on what it means to represent Minnesota’s dairy farmers. As both a college student and an agriculture advocate, I am constantly reminded of the importance of adapting my perspective. Shifting our views — whether looking at dairy from the eyes of a consumer or seeing the farm through the lens of a future industry leader — helps us connect with a wider audience and share the value dairy brings to our tables.
busy, and low commodity prices create challenges, but let’s shift our perspective to celebrate the privilege we have to be a part of a farm and the industry that feeds the world.
As we continue through the fall season, let us celebrate the success and completion of harvest and the dedication it takes to bring wholesome dairy products to our communities. By seeking to understand new perspectives, we can strengthen our ability to effectively and authentically share our dairy story. I am beyond proud to represent Minnesota’s dedicated dairy farmers and am so excited for what the rest of the year has in store.
This October, many students from across the country traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana, in their blue jackets for the 97th National FFA Convention & Expo. They gathered to learn, exhibit their knowledge, and discover different perspectives on agriculture. As a past FFA member, I once competed in the creed speaking contest, a contest for seventh through ninth graders that evaluates them on their ability to recite the memorized FFA creed by E.M. Tiffany and answer three related questions. A quote that resonated with me from that contest over four years ago was, “I believe that to live and work on a good farm, or to be engaged in other agricultural pursuits, is pleasant as well as challenging.” These FFA students who chose to engage in this opportunity with one another are truly the future of agriculture. There is no doubt, this future is looking bright.
On the St. Paul campus at the University of Minnesota, I am a part of a community of ambitious students, many of whom have similar backgrounds, whether growing up on a farm, in 4-H or FFA, or in a rural community. Sharing this common foundation gives us a unique bond as we navigate life as college students, challenge ourselves academically and expand our knowledge while away from the comfort of home, and for many, the farm. As a college student, I nd that a shift in perspective is most helpful when balancing academic workloads, campus jobs, leadership in clubs and organizations and more. Adjusting my outlook to “I get to” instead of “I have to” when approaching these challenges has been transformative. Shifting our mindset even in small ways helps us see the privilege we have to study agriculture, expand the knowledge we have from work on the farm and be part of this industry.
I saw a quote recently that read: Not all classrooms have four walls. This speaks volumes to the importance and privilege it is for those who get to grow up, live or work on a farm. Working on the farm teaches important skills like resilience, teamwork and a can-do attitude. These are the traits that truly set “farm kids” apart when we step into our rst interview, apply for our rst job or continue working on our family’s farm. When I speak to my peers, many of us share a similar starting point on our resume. For many of us, our rst job was working on a farm and there is no doubt this experience shaped who we are today. Yes, harvest season is
Princess Kay of the Milky Way, Rachel Visser, serves as the Minnesota dairy community’s goodwill ambassador. Rachel grew up in Hutchinson, Minnesota working on a neighboring dairy farm. She attends the University of Minnesota double majoring in Agricultural Food and Business Management and Agricultural Communications and Marketing. Her favorite dairy food is cheese sticks. Her parents are Barry and Shannon Visser. Princess Kay is active doing school visits and events representing dairy farmers, and sharing the importance of dairy farming and dairy foods at appearances across Minnesota.
Editorial disclaimer: The views expressed by our columnists are the opinions and thoughts of the author and do not reect the opinions and views of Dairy Star staff and ownership.
By Rachel Visser
71st Princess Kay of the Milky Way
On the Road with Princess Kay
Visiting Frank Lloyd Wright
Some years ago, my wife and I were driving toward Illinois, which is how we ended up in Quasqueton.
Quasqueton, located in eastern Iowa, is a small town that sits astride the Wapsipinicon River. These names were obviously bestowed early in Iowa’s history, a time when people believed that the supply of vowels and consonants was innite. This proved to be untrue, which is why some Iowa towns received such names as Burt and Milo.
A roadside sign prompted my wife to pull over at Quasqueton. The placard mentioned Cedar Rock, a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
My wife said that it might be fun to tour the house and I agreed. That’s the sort of wild and crazy people we are.
We went to the visitor center and learned that they would be conducting the next tour within minutes. There’s no luck like dumb luck.
A nice young man named Joey seated us on an open atbed and pulled us out to the Cedar Rock house with a John Deere tractor. Arriving at the house, he shut off the tractor and donned a pair of white cotton gloves such as those worn by museum docents when handling delicate artifacts. I saw nothing particularly delicate about the sprawling single-story brick structure.
Joey gave a short talk before we entered the house.
He explained that its original owners, Lowell and Agnes Walter, commissioned Wright to design their home in 1945. Wright drew up plans for a 1,800-square-foot abode in a style he had dubbed Usonian. The Usonian moniker supposedly implied that anyone in the U.S. could own one. Some were built for as little as $5,000.
The Walters were told that their Usonian home would cost between $20,000-$50,000. When nally completed in 1950, its price tag had ballooned to
$150,000, which proves that the government doesn’t have a monopoly on the phrase, “behind schedule and over budget.”
The Walters were able to easily absorb the cost overruns. Lowell had made millions in the road construction business by inventing a bituminous oil process for paving roads. Strange that such an icky base product would lead to a structure of such grace and beauty.
Some of the soaring costs were due to the fact that the house is situated on a limestone bluff. Site preparation was so problematic that dynamite had to be used to excavate holes for planted trees.
By Jerry Nelson
But what a site. On one side the house has a commanding view of the Wapsipinicon; on the other is a whispering forest, which, like every detail of the home, was planned by Wright.
Agnes Walter stood 5 feet, 3 inches tall, and Wright used this as a scale for their home. The cement oor tiles (which hide the radiant heating system) are 5 feet, 3 inches wide, as are the windows. Everything was built so that it would be an easy reach for Agnes. Lowell was by no means left out. A few rods downhill from the house, perched on the limestone bank of the Wapsipinicon, is a boathouse that became Lowell’s domain.
These days, such a thing would be called a smokehouse: a place where a guy can re up a stinky stogy, scratch himself and emit manly bodily noises without having to say, “Excuse me”.
But what a smokehouse. It’s essentially a miniature version of the main house with a boat ramp underneath. The river rolls lazily past the veranda; it would be impossible to resist the temptation to stretch out on a chaise with a shing rod in one hand and a cold beer in the other.
Yep, the Walters had a pretty swell little shack. But it came with a price in the form of Frank Lloyd Wright.
As Joey explained, the Walters moved in with only their clothes; Wright insisted that he design all the furniture that went into “his” house. Wright even demanded veto authority over housewarming gifts.
And it didn’t end after construction ended. Wright often kept a set of keys to “his” houses and might drop in for an unannounced inspection. He would throw a t if the homeowner had done something that didn’t match the scheme of “his” house. Wright was both a genius and The Architect from Hell.
One day, Agnes was watering her houseplants when Wright suddenly strode into Cedar Rock. He glanced around the room and said, “When you’re nished, Agnes, this vase belongs here.” Wright then moved said vase six inches from the spot where she had left it.
Cedar Rock is an awfully nice home, but I don’t think I would want to live there, because I’m a slob and it could be that Wright is like a weed: you never know when he might pop up again.
Jerry Nelson is a recovering dairy farmer from Volga, South Dakota. He and his wife, Julie, have two sons and live on the farm where Jerry’s great-grandfather homesteaded over 110 years ago. Feel free to email him at jerry.n@dairystar.com.
What’s the big deal with aspirin?
I am going to apologize in advance as this article gets a little in the weeds when it comes to drug approvals. However, given the recent attention that the Food and Drug Administration has given to aspirin use in lactating dairy cattle, I wanted to provide clarity on the FDA’s recent communications. The FDA is the main regulatory body responsible for approving and monitoring drug use in food-producing animals. Recently, veterinarians were sent a letter regarding the use of aspirin in lactating dairy cattle. The FDA clearly stated that they are aware that aspirin is being used to treat lactating dairy cattle for fever and pain and such use of aspirin is prohibited. Until now, the FDA has turned somewhat of a blind eye to aspirin use in lactating dairy cattle. Previously, the FDA had stated that aspirin was of low regulatory concern, so while its use was not legal, it didn’t appear to be a high priority for monitoring or enforcement. However, this is no longer true, and the FDA’s change of stance appears to be due to the rise in aspirin use with the spread of highly pathogenic avian inuenza in cattle.
By Megan Weisenbeck Veterinary Wisdom Veterinary Wisdom
So why is aspirin prohibited by the FDA? Despite its widespread availability, aspirin has never actually gone through the approval process for use in cattle. All FDA-approved animal products carry the statement “Approved by FDA under NADA/
ANADA #XXX-XXX.” In fact, there are several other drugs used in animal health that do not have an FDA approval such as lidocaine, epinephrine and calcium solutions. You might wonder why these drugs don’t have FDA approvals. This can be typical of low-revenue products where companies do not foresee a signicant return on investment in the expensive and sometimes lengthy FDA approval process.
How exactly is aspirin used on farms? I typically see aspirin used in two different scenarios. The rst is for a sick cow that may or may not be culled; therefore, the producer does not want to administer drugs that carry a signicant withdrawal period but may still want to provide some sort of supportive care. The second scenario is the widespread administration of aspirin in fresh cows after freshening to reduce inammation and increase milk yield. Although several studies have shown potential boosts in milk yield following aspirin use, the follow-up work on milk withdrawals by Kansas State University is somewhat discouraging considering the FDA’s prohibition of aspirin. In one KSU study, researchers administered oral aspirin (3-5 boluses of 480 grain) to rst lactation and mature cows after freshening and again 24 hours later. Blood and milk samples were then collected to evaluate aspirin concentrations and used to estimate withdrawals based on FDA methods.
The study found that the previous 24-hour milk withdrawal guideline for cattle treated with aspirin may need revision to 156 hours for whole-herd treatment scenarios and 120 hours for individually treated cows. This data also found that aspirin appeared to mitigate prostaglandins, or inammatory markers, for only 12 hours after administration.
Should we continue to use aspirin? At this time, I would say no. Due to its lack of ofcial approval, the FDA has no established withdrawal and if milk was tested, the tolerance would be considered zero. The FDA does have the capability to test milk, though we haven’t had any indication that they plan to test or how they might implement such testing. If one decides to continue aspirin use in lactating dairy cattle, consider extending the milk withdrawal period signicantly longer than 24 hours. Additionally, I would challenge pharmaceutical companies manufacturing aspirin to take the time and resources to nally seek FDA approval so producers can use their products with condence knowing that they work and not have the liability of guessing at withdrawal periods.
So, what should be used instead of aspirin? This is another potentially loaded question that producers should discuss with their veterinarian of record. If we follow the FDA-approved products available for cattle with specic pyrexia and pain labels, veterinarians and producers should be using injectable and pour-on unixin options. Injectable unixin should be given intravenously only. If IV administration is difcult to perform on the farm, there is a pour-on unixin product available called Banamine Transdermal that is easy to use and has been approved in both beef and dairy cattle. Another option might also include meloxicam when used under the direction of a veterinarian.
Megan Weisenbeck is one of six veterinarians at Northern Valley Livestock Services in Plainview, MN. She practices primarily dairy production medicine in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Megan can be reached at meganweisenbeck.dvm@gmail.com.
E-EDITION
Wide loads
My boys and I went on a short road trip recently, leaving after evening milking and driving all night to get to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky to do some rock climbing and camping behind the famous Miguel’s pizza restaurant. It is famous among rock climbers anyway. I don’t know if anyone else outside of Kentucky locals knows it is there. After a couple of days of hiking the hollers and climbing cliffs with pizza and guitar-accompanied evening bonres, we drove back all day to get home just in time for bed so we could get a good night’s sleep to recover from our weekend activities before morning milking.
a bit more.
From the Zweber Farm
Thirty or so hours of driving gives you a lot of time to spot interesting things. One of them was the variety of wide loads going down the freeways with pilot car escorts: half a house, a whole house, the left and right wings of an airplane each on its own truck and trailer, and numerous pieces of farm equipment. The freeway system was designed for moving big military equipment quickly in the event of a military invasion with the side benet of commerce being able to move materials quickly. It seems to be serving the purpose originally envisioned in 1916 quite well.
By Tim Zweber Farmer & Columnist
We’ve had trouble feeding enough haylage to stay ahead of it heating with the 80-plus degree weather the last month as well as the delays that happened due to rain when we were bagging it. It seems like any time we must pause lling a bag there will be quality problems at feed out of that bag. There were denitely pauses during the rst crop this year. When it cools down, we’ll open a bag of higherquality feed to mix with the lowerquality rst crop we’ve been feeding. Feeding grass-fed cows is tricky. We can’t just up the corn or protein mix to balance out lower-quality pasture or hay. We have to plan out feeding what we have in a way that we feed a fairly consistent protein and energy ration all year by mixing the forages we have on hand and maybe buying some high-quality hay.
The last couple of weeks, the cows have been grazing a hay eld during the day and eating haylage at night. After almost two months without rain, the hay elds I was planning to make a fourth crop on are about all that is left to graze. It turns out the cows really, really enjoy grazing the hay and come in from the pasture looking like the wide loads we saw on the freeway: big bellies on little legs. Their extra width makes tting them in the parallel parlor a bit tough at night, but I love seeing cows looking like they should have some ashing lights and a yellow banner across their butt. They came up a bit in milk and hopefully will go up more when we start feeding the better haylage when it cools down
We got the rst little bit of snow the other day, which, after the seemingly endless summer, puts me in the mood to start wrapping up projects and getting things ready for winter. Hopefully we’ll get another few weeks of good weather to get all the things done and equipment put away before winter shows up for real. We’ve been spoiled with consistent warm weather and better get-into-winter prep mode or we will end up nishing up projects in either snow or mud, neither of which are fun to work in.
Until next time, keep living the dream and get out there to nish up those fall projects. Winter is coming as they say. If you’re already done with everything, go enjoy the fall season. Should you nd yourself near Slade, Kentucky, a stop at Natural Bridge State Park is worth your time.
Tim Zweber farms with his wife, Emily, their three children and his parents, Jon and Lisa, near Elko, Minnesota.
Making every drop count
From space, it is said that there are three man-made technologies visible: electried cities spread across vast continents, the Great Wall of China, and green crop circles irrigated by center pivots. This fact recently came to mind as we were ying across the Great Plains to attend the joint annual meeting of the National Milk Producers Federation and Dairy Management Inc. in Phoenix, Arizona.
Center pivot irrigators are perhaps the most signicant mechanical innovation in agriculture since the replacement of draft animals by the tractor. They reshaped the entire course of food production in America. In the
commodity prices exploded, resulting in a surge in sales of the center pivot system. Today, there are thought to be over 400,000 center pivots irrigating over 30 million acres of land.
By
early 1900s, before the invention, the region between the Rocky Mountains and the 100th Meridian — where the Great Plains began — was known as the Great American Desert. Today this region is one of the most important agricultural regions of the world, making it a key player in the global food supply. That is all due to the invention of the center pivot irrigator by Frank Zybach in 1948. Zybach lived in Columbus, Nebraska and held a total of nine patents for various inventions throughout his career. An interesting side note; besides the center pivot, he invented the driverless tractor. The tractor would plow concentric circles in ever-decreasing size from the outside to the middle.
Irrigation was traditionally carried out using various methods such as systems of ditches and canals to wells and pumps powered by windmills, and eventually replaced by gas engines due to technological advancements. Zybach, after witnessing the struggle to construct complex pipeline irrigation systems with gates, siphon tubes and aluminum pipes, developed the idea of a rotating irrigation pipe system. Originally, water pressure was the driving force to move the irrigator, which had a 600-foot boom, 15 sprinkler heads, and irrigated a 135-acre circle or an entire quarter section. In the summer of 1954, the manufacturing rites of the center pivot system were sold to Valley Manufacturing Company — known today as Valmont Industries — until the patent expired in 1969. In 1974,
Coincidentally, the man who invented the center pivot irrigator also happened to live on top of the world’s largest aquifer — the Ogallala Aquifer. The Ogallala Aquifer holds approximately 978 trillion gallons of water, which is similar in quantity to that of Lake Huron. It provides water for about one-third of the country’s irrigated agriculture. It is the most important groundwater resource in the U.S., lying under eight states including Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming. This area is 174,000 square miles.
Many areas of our country rely on underground aquifers to supply precious water resources for agricultural production. Center pivot irrigators are used all across the country to maximize efciencies in the production of commodity crops and feed for livestock. They have brought relative prosperity and abundance to many areas of the country. A stable water supply is critical for dairy farms, providing optimal health of both cows and crops, efcient milk production and quality nutrition for American citizens. In recent decades, conversations about our most vast and nite resource have arisen across the country. It was a topic of discussion about the Arizona dairy industry at the joint meeting as well as with producers we met from all over the U.S. Water is our most valuable resource for food production not only here in the U.S., but across the globe.
The global demand for center pivot irrigation systems was valued at $3.5 billion in 2023 and is expected to jump to $9 billion by 2030 according to PR Newswire in their global report on center pivot irrigation systems. Most of the growth expected in the next decade will be in Africa and the Asia-Pacic regions in response to population growth in these areas.
As we progress into the next quarter century, this is a situation that has a vast and complex history and no easy answer. As dairy farmers, we are no strangers to facing challenges head on with innovation in science and technology. Many dairy farms are already developing ideas to reuse water while also increasing the efciency of that water. As these technologies continue to improve — plant and animal genetics, precision technologies and milk processing efciencies — we will continue to develop new solutions that will further display to the world that we are the American farmer.
Megan Schrupp and Ellen Stenger are sisters and co-owners of both NexGen Dairy and NexGen Market in Eden Valley, Minnesota. They can be reached at Nexgendairy@gmail.com.
Megan Schrupp & Ellen Stenger Columnists
The NexGen: Adventures of two dairy daughters
CowScout™ has improved our pregnancy rate by 7%
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Contact Your Local GEA Milking Equipment Dealer:
Central Ag Supply, Inc.
Centre Dairy Equipment and Supply Inc.
Sauk Centre, MN
Eastern Iowa Dairy Systems
Five Star Supply
Fuller’s Milker Center, Inc.
J Gile Dairy Equipment, Inc.
Leedstone, Inc.
Midwest Livestock Systems
Midwest Livestock SystemsKozlovsky Dairy Equipment
Monroe Westfalia Surge
Sioux Dairy Equipment, Inc. Rock Valley, IA
Stanley Schmitz, Inc.
Tri-County Dairy Supply
Preston Dairy Equipment
BENJAMIN WUEBKERS Malecha Dairy Villard, MN Milking 1,070 cows