February 25, 2023 - 1st section - zone 2

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25

DAIRY ST R25

Volume 25, No. 1

Learn the latest in the dairy industry

PDPW Business Conference offers something for everyone

By Stacey Smart stacey.s@dairystar.com

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis.

– Dairy farmers looking to deepen their arsenal of knowledge, and network with peers from near and far, will not want to miss the 2023 PDPW Business Conference. The two-day event will take place March 15-16 at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells.

“If you have a stake in the conversation of the dairy industry, you need to be there,” said Cassandra Strupp, program manager at Professional Dairy Producers. “This is a chance to invest in yourself. The conference offers tools and information you can use to be better in your business and community.”

Forty-seven speakers will light up this year’s 30th annual business conference, the theme of which is “Empowering Success.” The conference promises to bring together the brightest minds in dairy to produce a premier educational event.

“What kind of tools and motivation do you need to be successful today, tomorrow or a year from now?” Strupp said. “The PDPW Business Conference offers the skillsets, awareness and education you can embody to be successful. Presenters come from both inside and outside of agriculture, which makes this event even more dynamic.”

This year’s conference will include sessions on water quality, carbon credits, business acuity, cover crops, udder health and much more. The conference caters to all types of learning styles – from longer listening sessions to hand-on hubs for those wanting to physically dive into a subject and learn a certain skillset.

The Nexus stage highlights product innovation, while the

February 25, 2023

Maximizing parlor time

Rotary technology boosts reproductive performance for Zieglers

By Stacey Smart stacey.s@dairystar.com

MIDDLETON, Wis. –

The Zieglers are better utilizing cows’ time in the parlor to complete tasks that previously kept the herd on their feet in the freestall barn. Instead of spending hours trying to nd cows that need reproductive shots, they now give shots on the rotary after having installed the ParlorBoss system in April 2021.

By giving shots in a more efcient manner, compliance improved by nearly 8% and the farm’s pregnancy rate climbed 9% all while reducing the amount of time cows spend in headlocks.

“It’s an awesome system,” Steve Ziegler said. “Anything we need to do with the cows,

we can now do while they’re milking.”

The Ziegler family milks

1,070 cows and farms 3,500 acres near Middleton. Three generations work side by side on Ziegler Dairy Farm, which was founded in 1862. Ziegler

and his four brothers – Andrew, Matt, Dan and Jon – are the fth generation on the farm they operate with their parents, Greg and Cheryl, and grandparents, Leo and Carol Ziegler. Cows are milked three times a day in the farm’s

48-stall rotary parlor that was installed in 2000. A 70-inch TV screen hangs on the wall near the exit of the parlor, clearly showing which cows need shots or need to be

Turn to ZIEGLERS | Page 8

Unexpected invita�on

Molitor attends State of the Union

By Jan Lefebvre jan.l@star-pub.com

ROCKVILLE, Minn. –Before Hannah Molitor could accept an invitation to attend the State of the Union Feb. 7 in Washington, D.C., she needed to reschedule with area farmers.

“I had to do some checking around,” Molitor said. “I had some herds that I was already scheduled to test. I had to call all those guys.”

Molitor is a eld representative for Dairy Herd Improvement Association. She also helps at her family’s dairy farm, owned by her dad, Joe Molitor, and uncle, Tom Molitor. They milk 300 Holsteins near Rockville.

On the morning of Feb. 2, Molitor was in her coveralls and barn boots, doing some milk testing in a tiestall barn, when her cell phone rang.

received a call

ing me to the State of the Union,” Molitor said.

Molitor was expected to depart at 7 a.m. the following Tuesday. She said all of her clients were willing to reschedule their milk tests when they heard about Molitor’s unexpected invitation.

Emmer sponsored the Agriculture Skills Preparation for Industry Recruitment Efforts Act with Sen. Tina Smith, which was introduced this summer. The act would support workforce development in the agricultural sector by establishing a work-based agricultural training program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program to fund apprenticeship and internship programs with local farms and agricultural businesses.

Molitor said the bill may be one of the reasons Emmer invited a young person in agriculture to attend the president’s speech. In a press release introducing his State of the Union guests, Emmer mentioned the bill. He also

Turn to

| Page 7

“All dairy, all the time”™

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Hannah Molitor stands with U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer Feb. 7 at Emmer’s office in Washington, D.C. Molitor was there as one of Emmer’s guests for the State of the Union and helps on her family’s dairy farm near Rockville, Minnesota.

“I

from U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer’s ofce, invit-

STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR

The Ziegler family – Andrew (from le�), Steve, Greg, Jon, Ma� and Dan – milks 1,070 cows and farms 3,500 acres near Middleton, Wisconsin. The farm’s pregnancy rate climbed from 25% to 34% a�er installing parlor technology that makes it easy to give reproduc�ve shots while cows ride the rotary parlor. Not pictured is Greg’s wife, Cheryl, and his parents, Leo and Carol Ziegler.

ST R

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Debt ceiling debate limits farm bill activity

National Council of Farmer Cooperatives President and CEO Chuck Conner is optimistic about the upcoming farm bill debate but is concerned about the lack of activity. Conner said Congress is consumed with the debt ceiling issue. “It’s sort of taken all the oxygen out of the room,” Conner said. “By the time that’s resolved, I fear the clock may just be working too much against us to get the farm bill done this fall or even by the holidays.” Farm bill priorities for the farm cooperative organization include strong commodity and crop insurance titles. Climatesmart agriculture is also part of the discussion. “I’ve been working hard to really try and get agriculture out front of this climate debate in a way that is very, very pro-farmer,” Conner said. The NCFC annual meeting was held this past week. Labor shortages were a top issue at that meeting. Conner said labor is the reason many farm cooperatives have postponed plans for expansion.

Decit continues to grow

Without action to raise the debt ceiling, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Ofce said the United States could default on its debt as soon as July. CBO Director Phillip Swagel also reported the U.S. decit totals $1.4 trillion. “The federal debt held by the public is projected to rise from 98% of GDP in 2023 to 118% in 2033,” Swagel said. “Over that period, the growth of interest costs and mandatory spending outpaces the growth of revenue. Those factors persist beyond 2033 pushing federal debt higher still to 195% of GDP in 2053.”

Seeking change in federal orders

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand plans to reintroduce the Dairy Pricing Opportunity Act. This bill was rst introduced in 2021. It calls for the Secretary of Agriculture to initiate the process of Federal Milk Marketing Order

hearings within six months. American Dairy Coalition CEO Laurie Fischer praised this announcement, saying the Class I pricing formula needs to be modernized.

Dairy industry weighs in over school lunches

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Evers delivers budget proposal

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ budget proposal includes nearly $16 million for the Dairy Innovation Hub, supporting the state’s dairy farmers and processors. There’s $2 million for the Wisconsin Initiative for Agricultural Exports and $1.6 million in biennial funding for the Dairy Processor Grant program through the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. In his budget address, Evers emphasized the need to address climate change. At the same time, Evers said that doesn’t mean Wisconsin is abandoning “our farmers who’ve been the backbone of our state for generations.”

Supply, demand estimate updated

According to the USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, the forecast for milk production totals 228.3 billion pounds. That’s down 900 million pounds from the previous estimate. A downturn in the milk price is also inuencing the expected number of cows in the U.S. dairy herd.

Record dairy exports

U.S. dairy export sales were record high in both value and production in 2022. According to USDA, dairy exports totaled $9.5 billion in value last year. That beats the 2021 record by 25%. Sales totaled 2.8 million metric tons in volume, up 52% in the past 10 years. The U.S. dairy industry now exports 18% of all milk production.

USTR renews Canadian dairy policy challenge

The United States is challenging Canada’s use of dairy tariff-rate-quotas through the U.S.-Mexico-Canada dispute settlement panel. “We would expect to have a response and a nding from the panel in 2023,” said Doug McKalip, U.S. ag trade ambassador. “We think our dairy farmers are in a very solid position.

Torres Small nominated for deputy ag secretary post

President Joe Biden has nominated Xochitl Torres Small to be the next Deputy Secretary of Agriculture. Torres Small is currently the USDA Undersecretary for Rural Development and previously represented New Mexico in Congress. Torres Small succeeds Deputy Secretary Jewell Bronaugh, who is stepping down. USDA Animal Plant

Health Inspection Service Administrator Kevin Shea will serve as the acting deputy secretary in the interim.

From New Zealand to Wisconsin

GEA Farm Technologies is moving the manufacturing of its rotary parlor platforms to Galesville, Wisconsin. Before this change, many of the GEA rotary parlor components were made in New Zealand. Supply chain challenges made the move to Wisconsin more feasible.

Romanski to serve MASDA

Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Secretary Randy Romanski will serve as the secretary/treasurer of the Midwestern Association of State Departments of Agriculture. The election took place during the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Winter Policy Meeting.

FarmFirst ofcers elected

John Rettler of Neosho, Wisconsin, was reelected president of the FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative. Steve Brock of Daggett, Michigan, will serve another term as vice president. Stephanie Hughes of Pittsville, Wisconsin, was elected secretary, and Bob Dieztel of East Dubuque, Illinois, was reelected treasurer.

Ag in the Classroom honors

The Wisconsin Agriculture in the Classroom Outstanding Educator of 2022 is Jessica Rettler. Rettler is a fourth grade teacher in Plaineld, Wisconsin, and will represent Wisconsin in USDA’s Excellence in Teaching About Agriculture Award Program.

Trivia challenge

In 1963, John Deere started producing and selling lawn and garden tractors. That answers our last trivia. For this week’s trivia, what snowmobile brand introduced the Pantera, Puma and Kitty Cat models? We will have the answer in our next edition of Dairy Star. Don Wick is owner/broadcaster for the Red River Farm Network, based in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Wick has been recognized as the National Farm Broadcaster of the Year and served as president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Don and his wife, Kolleen, have two adult sons, Tony and Sam, and ve grandchildren, Aiden, Piper, Adrienne, Aurora and Sterling.

Learning Lounge offers practical information in 30-minute doses that dairy producers can apply to their farms. Attendees can also visit approximately 200 exhibitor booths in the Hall of Ideas.

“I don’t know how anyone could be bored,” Strupp said. “The conference has something for everyone. We strive to meet you where you’re at yet ll your cup at the same time.”

Enjoy a back-and-forth dialogue between Dan Basse and Jacob Shapiro as they talk markets and deglobalization and what that means for commodity products in a dueling piano-style platform. Their discussion of global politics and evolving markets will help dairy producers break down the effects this might have on their business.

The PDPW Business Conference will bring together university researchers and their graduate students to share current ndings in mastitis control, lameness and more on the Preview Stage.

“This is going to be an exciting area as there are many interesting things coming out of research right now,” Strupp said. “Hear from those with boots on the ground to learn about their projects and ask questions directly. Engage with those on the leading edge of research and learn what they are nding that affects dairy producers today.”

For the second year in a row, attendees can explore the Innovation Lane. This hallway located outside of the trade show includes the Nexus stage where ve companies will showcase cutting-edge technologies and research from the Dairy Innovation Hub.

Michael Hoffman, the emcee of the event, will lead the youth sessions March 15. By building up the social skills of youth attendees, Hoffman empowers these young people with the tools they need to partake in regular sessions as a fellow peer the following day.

On March 16, Hoffman will help farmers learn how to ll those help wanted ads. Asking the right questions is important in

attracting the right team members. Hoffman will have his audience rethinking their approach to writing job descriptions and evaluating qualities of potential candidates. In turn, attendees will discover foolproof strategies for attracting and retaining valuable employees.

Conference attendees can shift gears with Morgan Ekovich, a personal trainer, as she teaches farmers new stretching techniques and yoga poses. Ekovich will share simple methods for building endurance, strength and exibility while protecting the body.

“I’m really excited about this session,” Strupp said. “Keeping your body toned so you can do what you need it to do is really important – whether that be stepping up into a large tractor, pushing a wheelbarrow of feed or doing other repetitive movements.”

All sessions will be translated live for attendees who prefer to learn in Spanish.

“Simultaneous Spanish translation is an important element of the conference, and almost all programs include this feature,” Strupp said. “It does not slow down the caliber of the content and allows you to include more of your team. It doesn’t matter which language you learn in, just that we learn together.”

The conference is not all about business. On Wednesday evening, comedian Kvon Moezzi will provide a welcome break of entertainment and laughter.

“After you’ve taken in a whole day of intense learning, and you feel like your brain is ready to explode, this will be a time to just laugh,” Strupp said. “It won’t require any brain cells as we take the tempo down a notch and bring folks back together to decompress.”

The conference provides many opportunities for education and professional development.

“In addition to educational opportunities, the networking that happens at the business conference is invaluable,” Strupp said. “Here, you have the opportunity to engage with people from other states and countries and the ability to learn from someone else –someone who might have once been where you are now.”

More than 1,200 people visited the conference last year, with attendees hailing from more than 20 states as well as Canada, France, Germany, Spain and Egypt.

“With the year we’re in, there’s a need to be resilient and stay in the now but also be prepping and bracing for the future,” Strupp said. “The PDPW Business Conference will give you the skillsets you need to make informed decisions.”

STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR

Michael Hoffman – author, speaker and founder of Dallas-based Igni�ng Performance – speaks to the crowd during the 2022 PDPW Business Conference in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Hoffman served as emcee of the event last year and will once again serve as emcee of this year’s conference.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Hannah Molitor received this invita�on to a recep�on she a�ended at the office of U.S. Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, Feb. 7 in Washington, D.C. Molitor was at the Capitol as a guest of U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer for the State of the Union.

gave high praise to Molitor and his other guest, Blair Anderson, who retired as police chief of St. Cloud.

“Hannah and Blair have both dedicated their lives to service,” Emmer said. “They represent the best of the 6th District.”

As majority whip for the House of Representatives, Emmer was allowed three guests for the State of the Union. Other Congress members could invite only one guest. Besides Molitor and Anderson, Emmer invited his wife, Jacquie.

When Molitor arrived at Emmer’s ofce Feb. 7, she had the chance to visit with him in a small group.

“Emmer is a big advocate for young farmers, so he was really interested in hearing what is going on,” Molitor said.

After the meeting, Molitor and other guests were invited to attend the Speaker of the House Reception in the speaker’s ofce.

“That was really cool because I got to meet Kevin McCarthy,” Molitor said. “The reception was fun because I was rubbing shoulders with all of these Congress people and their guests. Being a guest at something like that really leveled the playing eld. Everyone was there for a

reason, and everyone was interested in what that reason was.”

Molitor said she was impressed with how authentic and down-toearth everyone seemed there.

When it was time to assemble for the president’s speech, Molitor and other guests gathered in the gallery, located in the upper level of the House of Representatives. From there, they could observe the event.

“Being in the House chamber itself was an honor,” Molitor said. “It’s not anywhere I ever expected to be. To be in the same room with all of the leaders of our nation, it was a really neat experience.”

The gallery’s design allowed for close viewing.

“The House chamber is smaller than one might think,” Molitor said.

“Looking down onto the senators and the representatives, you could see their facial expressions. You could denitely see people that you know about.”

Being there allowed her to experience the emotions of the atmosphere.

“You could tell there was energy in the room,” Molitor said.

“People were excited to be there.”

Although Molitor enjoyed being in the heart of the political arena, she said it does not make her want to pivot to a career in politics. However, she does see value in knowing one’s representatives in government.

“It does make me realize that your relationship with your elected ofcials does make an impact,” Molitor said. “For example, being on the Stearns County Farm Bureau Board, we host events on dairy farms called Farm Bureau Friends on the Farm, where we ask local ofcials to attend, and they meet with farmers for oneon-one conversations. I think events like these are important.”

Right after Molitor received the call from Emmer’s ofce, she called Dan Glessing, the president of Minnesota Farm Bureau.

“He told me I should do it, to not pass it up,” Molitor said. “I’m so glad I did it.”

Farm Bureau stepped in to help make Molitor’s trip easier. They sent someone to help Molitor navigate Washington D.C. and get to Emmer’s ofce.

“They were really generous,” Molitor said.

Back in Minnesota, Molitor said she is still processing her experience.

“It was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Molitor said. “When would I ever get the chance to do something like this again?”

sorted for trimming or other activities.

The new parlor technology is helping the Zieglers manage their herd more efciently. A color-coded system makes it easy to identify groups of cows. For example, open cows are listed in red, fresh cows are light green, pregnant cows are dark green and trim cows are yellow.

“The system’s capabilities are endless,” Ziegler said. “Anything you want to do, you can add – somatic cell counts, milk weights, days in milk. If a cow has a high cell count, she’s going to stick out like a sore thumb, making decision making super easy.”

The system lists tasks for each cow, and shots are color coded as well with Lutalyse denoted as red and GnRH as blue, etc. Designed for rotary parlors, the technology works in cooperation with DairyComp herd management software.

Implementation of the system created a circle of success, touching many facets of the dairy operation. The family saved time and labor and increased its pregnancy rate. In addition, cow comfort improved when they reduced the amount of time cows are locked up

Steve

reproductive protocols. Ziegler said the system has saved 10 hours per week in lockups.

“It shaved off so much time,” he said. “I know we gained milk and have

less hoof issues because of that.”

With no way to efciently sort, pregnant cows were locked up as well.

“We had to walk ve pens to nd the cows that needed shots,” Ziegler

said. “It was a long time from the start of milking to the end – about three hours – and it took 45 minutes to give shots. All pens would be locked up this entire time. Pregnant cows shouldn’t have to be locked up because their neighbor needs a shot.”

A cow’s data is now displayed on the wall, making it painless to sort, Ziegler said.

“The process is efcient, and cow sorting became instantaneous,” he said. “You can see the last 18 cows at once of the 48-stall rotary. When you’re standing at the end, you know which cows are coming. The guy on the end post dips and gives shots.”

Pregnant cows are green; therefore, when glancing up at the screen, it is easy to tell if there is a cow that does not belong. The farm was able to eliminate one person in the parlor when it abandoned its manual sorting process.

“It’s really hard to keep groups separate on a rotary because it mixes cows so easily,” Ziegler said. “If a cow is not done milking when it’s time to get off, we’ll put a rope on her and let her go

Turn to ZIEGLERS | Page 9

STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR

Ziegler looks at data on his computer that is displayed in the parlor Feb. 9 on Ziegler Dairy Farm near Middleton, Wisconsin. The color-coded system makes it easy to iden fy groups of cows. for

When the Zieglers installed ParlorBoss in April 2021, they put in this 70-inch TV screen at the exit of their rotary parlor to help iden fy cows through a colorcoded system. For example, open cows are listed in red, fresh cows are light green, pregnant cows are dark green and trim cows are yellow.

around again. She ends up in another group then.”

Previously, the Zieglers lived a data nightmare. Information about each cow was sent to 48 individual smart boxes, creating an intricate system prone to failure.

“There were lots of wires, and they were exposed to moisture,” Ziegler said. “On sort day, there could be up to six computers not working. The system was old and failing, and we didn’t want to put money into it. It was a headache. We were getting by, but we didn’t realize how bad it was until we got ParlorBoss.”

Now, one enclosed cable runs from Ziegler’s computer to the TV screen in the parlor. A hard-wired reader on each stall reads the cow’s RFID tag in her ear – a tag that has been with the animal since birth. The farm does not use an activity monitoring system.

“When we bought the technology, we just needed to add a TV in the parlor, so we took our mom’s from her living room and put all the data on one screen,” Ziegler said. “We did later replace Mom’s TV.”

Before installing the technology, the Zieglers’ pregnancy rate was around 25%.

“It was good, but we wanted it to be better,” Ziegler said.

Fifteen years ago, the farm’s pregnancy rate hovered at 17%. They switched breeding companies and it climbed to 25% but then sat stagnant until they changed their strategy for how repro shots were given. Now, their pregnancy rate is at 34%.

Due to the ease of giving shots in the parlor, the Zieglers improved shot compliance and were able to advance to a double ovsynch program – two important factors that helped increase their pregnancy rate. Prior to this, they did a presynch program with cherry picking. Ziegler and his brother, Jon, did the best they could when giving shots but inevitably missed 7% to 10% of cows due for repro shots. That number has since dropped to 1% or 2%.

“There was no system for us to go back and nd the cows we missed,” Ziegler said. “We could only allow so much time for two guys to do it with eldwork and other things we had to do. Timing was another factor. We probably were not giving shots at all the right times.”

Saturday is breeding day, and herd health is done every other Wednesday. Ziegler said those are the only days cows are locked up with 1.5 hours being the longest time any cow spends in a headlock.

“We did a minimum shot program before for repro because it reduced lockup time,” Ziegler said. “We were told we could up our breeding rate and increase our pregnancy rate if we increased the number of shots we were giving. We spend more money on shots now, but we’re breeding cows fewer times.”

Improving their pregnancy rate also helped the Zieglers boost the beef side of their operation. The family raises about 500 steers and breeds many animals to Angus.

“We can either sell those calves between day 1 and 4 or raise them to ll our steer barn,” Ziegler said. “By keeping a higher, tighter pregnancy rate, we’re condent in getting calves, so the majority come out black. As a result, we have more overow calves to sell, which means more income.”

The ability to streamline tasks in the parlor has helped the Zieglers capture efciencies across the farm, resulting in an all-around win for the dairy.

“ParlorBoss solved an important problem we had with data,” Ziegler said. “Now, you can see the data, and everyone is happy. There is no downside to the system. It’s super simple to use, and everything lines up perfectly. I love it.”

STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR

Lotion a protable value-added product for Popp

By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com

UNITY, Wis. – Michelle Popp spent several years exploring options to add value to the milk produced by her small herd of Jersey cows before nding the one she felt might work for her.

Popp milks 26 Jerseys on her Clark County dairy farm near Unity.

“I started out thinking I wanted to bottle A2A2 milk, but anyway I looked at that, the capital investment required made it cost prohibitive for me,” Popp said.

Not giving up on her desire to create a value-added product to diversify her farm, Popp continued her search until she found the idea that worked for her.

“I just woke up one morning with the idea that I would explore making lotion from milk produced by my cows,” Popp said. “It turned out to be the perfect answer for me. It requires less labor, minimal investment and has a longer shelf life than food products would. And, it has turned out to be protable for me.”

Popp shared her story of creating a value-added business with oth-

Smooth as silk

er women in agriculture

Feb. 14 at the University of Wisconsin-Extension’s VITAL program in Milladore.

After about six months of research, experimentation and sharing samples of her lotion to gain feedback, Popp launched Jersey Girls Lotion February 2022, placing her lotions in small, local businesses and attending craft shows. To market her lotion, she needed only to obtain a Wisconsin seller’s permit through the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.

“Milk is the main ingredient in my lotions, and they are all natural,” Popp said. “That was very important to me; I messed around with the recipes until I came up with one I liked that was primarily milk.”

As a matter of choice, Popp pasteurizes the milk she uses for the lotions using an Instant Pot.

Popp produces lotions of seven scent varieties, including one that is unscented. Popp scents her lotions using essential oils.

Popp makes her lotions on an asneeded basis and has been working to discern trends in the demand. In

between milking, Popp said she can make up to four varieties of lotion.

“I have two sets of equipment to make the lotion,” Popp said. “One set can be in the dishwasher while I’m making the next batch. I use clean equipment between every batch to keep the scents pure.”

One batch of lotion yields about 7 quarts, and each 7-quart batch uses 88 ounces of milk. Popp packages her lotions in four sizes: 8-ounce tubs, 8-ounce pumps, 4-ounce bottles and 2-ounce bottles.

Once she found a recipe she was happy with, Popp started thinking about the marketing and branding of her product. She solicited name ideas from her family, and the suggestion of Jersey Girls was the one that most appealed to her.

“The lotion is about my cows, so this name really says it all,” Popp said.

Throughout her rst year in business, Popp has learned much about marketing her product.

“I have been able to experiment

and just try new things to see what works,” Popp said. “Because of the limited scope and investment, I am able to take those chances. I’m not relying on this for a primary income.”

In her marketing journey thus far, Popp has relied on both social media and word-of-mouth promotion.

“I’ve given away a lot of lotion this past year, just getting people familiar with it and being able to get their feedback,” Popp said. “I’ve donated quite a few baskets for fundraisers. I like to do that because I can. It’s a way I can give back.” Popp has also connected with customers at craft and vendor fairs and other events.

“I didn’t think I’d love spending my Saturdays at craft fairs, but I learned that I actually do,” Popp said. “It’s a great way to connect with the public to educate them about agriculture and the story of

DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR

Michelle Popp displays varie es of Jersey Girls Lo on at the University of Wisconsin-Extension’s VITAL program Feb. 14 in Milladore, Wisconsin. Popp launched her value-added side business by making lo on from milk produced on her dairy farm.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Michelle Popp’s herd of Jersey cows serve as the inspira on behind the milkbased lo ons she developed and markets under the Jersey Girls Lo on brand. This photo became the image Popp chose to use in her logo. Turn

my own dairy farm.”

In addition to her lotions, Popp offers canvas prints and notecards made from the photos she has taken around her farm. While Popp said she does not sell many photographs, they serve as a way to open conversations about her farm with consumers.

With a rst year of experience and learning under her belt, Popp is looking forward to the future with the protable business she has created. To increase her market share, Popp said she would like to venture

Michelle Popp lls an 8-ounce pump bo le with newly made Jersey Girls Lo on. Popp pasteurizes the milk she uses for her lo ons using an Instant Pot.

into the world of online sales and is considering opening an Etsy store for that purpose.

From a product development standpoint, Popp said she is exploring other non-food products made with milk, such as shampoos and lip balms.

Popp said others who want to nd a value-added product for their farm should adopt an open-minded attitude and persevere to nd the path that best ts the situation.

“I never thought this would become something I would love so much,” Popp said. “Having a positive attitude is so important in going after the things you want in life. I believe your current thoughts become your future life.”

DHIA FIELD REPRESENTATIVE PROFILE

What counties or area do you cover? Most herds are in Morrison county, but I also test herds in Crow Wing, Todd and Otter Tail counties.

What do you enjoy about the farmers you work with?

since 1995

I have great respect for all the work and dedication that dairy farmers, their families, and employees have for their animals. I enjoy seeing the results of all they do. I also enjoy the fact that a lot of dairies I am working with are the second generation. I’ve watched them grow up and take over.

What do you like about your work for DHIA? Every day is a new day. I have been in barns in many counties. Every one is different, but they make it work.

What do you do in your free time? I enjoy spending time with my grandchildren in Minnesota and Nebraska. I enjoy gardening and cutting rewood. I am also active in American Legion Post 136 in Flensburg.

DHIA: Now MORE than ever

Sauk Centre, MN Buffalo, MN 763.682.1091

www.mndhia.org

“I enjoy seeing the results of all that farmers do.”

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Sled dog racing a passion for Carey, Perry

By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com

STRATFORD, Wis. – A fondness for competition and the animals is what drew both Joe Carey and Jamie Perry to sled dog racing and eventually to each other.

The pair live near Stratford where Carey manages a small herd of dairy goats, and Perry works as a dairy nutritionist.

Carey rst started racing sled dogs 13 years ago, while Perry began 27 years ago as a middle school student.

“My dad was selling dairy chemicals, and a dealer he worked with had sled dogs and was looking for someone to race an extra team he had,” Carey said. “I ran his dogs that rst year and was hooked. The next year, I bought four dogs from him and a puppy.”

Perry’s story started following a unit about sled dog racing taught in her English class.

“I talked my mom into letting me get a Siberian husky,” Perry said. “Little did she know, when we went to pick that dog up, two would be coming home. By the time I graduated from high school, I had 21 dogs.”

The two connected through sled dog racing, and between their two kennels, the pair own about 40 dogs.

Off to the races

Most of the dogs Carey and Perry race are a performance crossbreed known as Eurohounds, which vary from the dog most people envision when they think of sled dog racing. Only about one-third of their dogs are Siberian husky.

“Eurohounds can have a variety of different breeds behind them,” Perry said. “There is some husky but also usually some pointer-type blood behind them too. They are bred for particular traits that make them excel at racing, and they are smaller dogs than a husky.”

Most of the races Carey and Perry run are short-distance sprints, which typically range from 4 to 12 miles. They run teams of 8-10 dogs. Perry’s daughter, Riley, an avid youth musher herself, runs a four-dog team. They have an extra six-dog team available that friends also sometimes race for them.

“When we go to races, we usually travel with 26 or 28 dogs,” Carey said. “We take our racing teams, but we’ll also take puppies with us for the socialization and the experience.”

The dogs usually run in pairs

within the team. The lead dogs are the front pair, while the second pair are referred to as the point. The dogs closest to the sled are called the wheel dogs and are typically the largest dogs on the team. Any pairs between the point and wheel dogs are referred to as team dogs.

“The lead dogs take all of the commands,” Perry said. “The point dogs are kind of like co-pilots and often become lead dogs. The wheel dogs are the ones that turn the sled, while the team dogs provide power.”

The dogs learn from each other and can develop into good lead dogs, but both Carey and Perry agreed it is fun to watch when they have a dog that emerges as a natural leader.

“There really isn’t an alpha dog,” Carey said. “There are some that are a bit bossier, but we won’t keep a dog that is aggressive toward other dogs. They can cause problems when the team is hitched.”

A sled dog is typically in their rac-

PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT PEARSON PHOTOGRAPHY Joe Carey runs a team of four dogs Feb. 4 in the Three Bears Sled Dog Race in Land O’ Lakes, Wisconsin. Carey said dogs are at their peak from about 3 to 5 years old. He also milks a small herd of goats.

ing prime for only a couple years. Training begins just before a dog turns 1 year old.

“The average dog is at their peak from about 3 to 5 years old,” Carey said. “By the time they are 6 years old, you can see them start to slow a bit. By the time they are 8 or 10 years old, they’ll move down to what we call our Bteam. They still love what they’re doing, they just aren’t as competitive.”

Close attention is paid to the dogs’ diets to help them

reach the desired level of performance. They are fed a high-quality kibble that is 20% fat and 32% protein, which was developed by a fellow musher.

“The protein is higher than the average commercial dog food, but a sled dog’s nutritional requirements are higher too,” Perry said. “They don’t need to eat as much of this food, either, to meet their needs.”

Both Carey and Perry have high standards when it comes to choosing the dogs for their teams, and both have made key purchases from across the U.S. and Europe that they are looking forward to developing.

With the bloodlines they are developing, Carey and Perry produce a litter of puppies every other year and market their genetics to other mushers and breeders.

“We typically have people lined up for puppies before the mating even occurs,” Carey said.

vember. This fall, the dryland race saw 162 teams competing, making it the largest dryland race in the Midwest, according to Carey and Perry.

Joe

and Siberian huskies.

In addition to snow racing, they also participate in dryland racing. The couple hosts an annual dryland race the rst weekend of No-

During a typical racing season, Carey and Perry travel to ve to seven race events, and have taken in as many as nine in one season. They have traveled into Canada to race in Manitoba, eastern Ontario and Quebec, and have raced in New Hampshire. Carey has qualied for, and

competed in, the world championship races for both snow and dryland racing. Only 100 teams, from around the globe, are invited to participate in the championship races each year, Carey said.

“Sled dog racing is really becoming more and more popular,” Perry said. “The state of Wisconsin has the largest racing club outside of Alaska. There has been a huge insurgence of one- and two-dog events, and you see

all kinds of breeds running.” Races are timed events; each team has a set start time and are clocked as they cross the nish line to determine placings.

“The people we meet and race with are a big part of why I love racing, but it is really about the dogs,” Carey said. “It is truly a sport. You really work with the dogs. It is a joint effort. You pedal, push and run with them.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF RICH BESLER PHOTOGRAPHY

Jamie Perry and her team take off from the star�ng line in the Three Bears Sled Dog Race Feb. 4 in Land O’ Lakes, Wisconsin. Perry said sled dog racing is becoming more popular.

DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR

Carey and Jamie Perry hold a litter of December-born puppies: Merry, Noel and Christmas. Carey and Perry enjoy the sport of mushing with teams of Eurohounds

O f T h e F e n c e Of The Fence

Steve Endres Waunakee, Wisconsin Dane County

700 cows

What is your current somatic cell count? Our current SCC is 90,000.

What does your milking procedure consist of? Dry wiping, stripping (three or four squirts per teat) and predipping with Valiant which contains the germicide, chlorine dioxide. We then come back and wipe the teats dry and apply the milking machine. We milk in a double-13 parlor and will prep a group of seven cows followed by a group of six. After milking, we post dip with another version of the Valiant product. We have been using Valiant for a long time.

Throughout your years of dairying, what were the biggest changes you made to decrease your SCC? Culling for it and being stricter on our milking routine. We are constantly striving to keep that as consistent as possible. We have found that is as big a driver as there is in maintaining cell count. Paying good attention to how stalls are manicured is another area we have continued to improve upon. We have almost completed a conversion from sand to solids and have seen a little uctuation in cell count because of that. Solids are more challenging than sand, and our SCC is currently 20,000 to 30,000 higher than it was before switching from sand. However, we have gured out a process to keep our cell count at a desirable level.

Kris Weber

Elroy, Wisconsin Juneau County

70 cows

What is your current somatic cell count? It is generally well under 100,000. Our last average was about 80,000. What does your milking procedure consist of? We try to stay on a 12-hour interval. We strip before predipping with a peroxide-based dip. Then, we wipe with a cloth towel and attach the unit. We post dip with an iodinebased dip. We try to prep 10-15 seconds before the milker is attached. We run eight units in a tiestall barn.

Throughout your years of dairying, what were the biggest changes you made to decrease your SCC? I guess we haven’t made any big changes. It's always been pretty low. One year, we experienced stray voltage and had a challenge until that was diagnosed. We were running a million cell count without a ake on the lter. It turned out to be a faulty neutral line in the breaker box.

What preventative measures are critical to keep your SCC low? We keep them dry and bedded up good and clean. We try to have everyone milk the same. We also wear milking gloves.

When your SCC starts to rise, what are the rst things you do to keep it in check? We try to monitor and gure out what cow has the high SCC and what quarter. We don’t use much for treatment. We'll strip them out more often and maybe use a little oxytocin. The chronic ones end up getting culled.

What advice do you have for someone who is trying to lower their SCC? Test milk. That’s the rst thing. You have to know what cow is the problem. Then, gure out the quarter. We will use a quarter milker now and again.

Tell us about your farm. We farm about 400 acres and sell some corn. We have 80 cows and try to keep 70 milking. We feed out about 80 dairy steers a year. Our milk is shipped to Grassland Dairy. My wife, Lori, daughter, Samantha, and her children, Hunter, Weston, Hazel and Trevor, are all involved on the farm with me.

What preventative measures keep your SCC low?

What preventative measures are critical to keep your SCC low? Dry cow treating. We treat everyone. Most mastitis occurs in the early part of a cow’s lactation with calving time being a great risk. Therefore, a clean calving pen is also important as well as maintaining dry cow and pre-fresh cow stalls. Also, scheduled service and maintenance on milking equipment, including observing the washing and sanitizing of equipment, is critical.

When your SCC starts to rise, what are the rst things you do to keep it in check?

We culture cows that have clinical signs. We also make sure our milking routine is being maintained properly and that our bedding is dry enough. Our milk plant does a whole-tank culture every week which shows levels of strep, staph and E. coli. We look at that to see if there is a rise in any of those bacteria. We also check the chart recorder to verify correct water temperature as well as checking water softness level.

What advice do you have for someone who is trying to lower their SCC? Consistency is so important in a routine and so is stall management. Cleanliness of everything, such as equipment, is the rst place to look to see if you can improve. Also, culture your clinical mastitis cases to get a handle on what bacterias you may be dealing with.

Tell us about your farm. Endres Berryridge Farms LLC is a family farm where my wife, Kathy, and I farm with my brothers and their wives, Jeff and Jenny, and Randy and Karen. Jeff’s daughter, Sarah, and my son, Zach, also farm with us along with numerous employees. My son and niece are the fourth generation on the farm, which was established in 1915. Our farm is home to registered Holsteins, and we ship our milk to Grande Milk Marketing. We farm close to 1,300 acres of primarily corn, alfalfa and some grass acres.

Henry Soldner (second from left) pictured with William (from left) and sons, Simon & Luke H&W Soldner Farm Turtle Lake, Wisconsin Polk County

60 cows

What is your current somatic cell count? The somatic cell count from Feb. 1-13 is at 37,000.

What does your milking procedure consist of? We wash the cows with Monodine and Sepko with water. When they are done, we use a chlorohexidine spray in a bottle.

Throughout your years of dairying, what were the biggest changes you made to decrease your SCC? We focus on keeping the cows clean. We set a goal about 15 years ago to keep our somatic around 100,000. When we achieved that, we thought we could do better and set our next goal at 80,000. About 10 years ago, we achieved that, and thought we could keep doing better.

What preventative measures are critical to keep your SCC low? We dry treat and use a teat sealant and an exterior teat sealant.

When your SCC starts to rise, what are the rst things you do to keep it in check? We check cows for rm quarters.

What advice do you have for someone who is trying to lower their SCC? The best advice is to keep the cows clean.

Tell us about your farm. I farm with my brother, William, and my sons, Luke and Simon, are involved in the farm as well. We farm around 400 acres of cropland and plant corn, oats, soybeans, alfalfa and grass hay. We ship our milk to Burnett Dairy Cooperative. They consistently encourage their farmers to produce the highest quality milk possible.

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Patty Dolph Lake Mills, Wisconsin Jefferson County

500 cows

What is your current somatic cell count? Our current SCC is 78,000.

What does your milking procedure consist of? We begin prepping by wiping off each cow with individual cloth towels to remove dirt and other debris. We then predip with chlorine dioxide and strip out each teat three times to check for abnormal milk. We then dip again with chlorine dioxide. We milk in a double-9 parlor and prep a set of ve cows and then a set of four. We rst dry wipe all the cows in one group and then come back to predip, strip and dip. We then go back again and use cloth microber towels to dry the front teats rst and then the back teats. After that, we ip the towel over and wipe each teat end before going back and attaching the machines. We have auto takeoffs and will come through and reattach if a cow didn’t milk through. We post dip with chlorine dioxide or iodine. We rotate back and forth depending on the weather and if we’re seeing mastitis. If it’s cool and damp out, we’ll stay on chlorine dioxide. If we see mastitis cases rising, we’ll go back to iodine. If we have singledigit or below-zero temperatures, we use a winter dip that has lots of emollients. However, it offers no bacterial kill which is its downfall, but it helps prevent teats from freezing.

Throughout your years of dairying, what were the biggest changes you made to decrease your SCC? Going to cloth towels that we clean in a washer and dryer. Also, removing sand and debris as the rst step in our prepping procedure helped a lot in lowering somatic cell count. In 2007, we bought a herd of cows, and our cell count exploded. We implemented culturing to see what microbes were present on the farm and became more proactive on culturing when staph aureus and microplasma popped up. We cleaned out both, and now we ght environmental factors sometimes. We also found that putting in dryer sand helped tremendously. We cover sand piles with tarps when rain or snow is coming, and we try not to put it in sand on a wet day or after it rains as that can spike everything. We always try to put in dry sand.

What preventative measures are critical to keep your SCC low? Keeping cows clean and dry and putting in dry sand. Also, switching up the dips from chlorine dioxide to iodine whenever we see a spike is critical to keeping the SCC low.

When your SCC starts to rise, what are the rst things you do to keep it in check? We sample everything once a month, and if we see somebody that was low and now spiked up, I go through and culture to see what I am ghting. If there is something we can do treatment wise, we’ll do that. Otherwise, we have to gure out what’s going on. If we see a spike in SCC, we’ll watch the milkers and remind them we need clean, dry teats in the parlor and clean, dry units going on. We want to be mindful of what they’re doing too. We hold quarterly meetings for milkers to provide refreshers and get everyone back on the same page.

What advice do you have for someone who is trying to lower their SCC? Try to nd the problem cows. If you can treat them and try to get their SCC down, that’s great. If it’s some type of mastitis you can’t treat, sell the cow. Otherwise, she’s going to keep spreading it throughout the herd. Keep bedding dry. Cows need to be clean and dry; that’s the biggest thing. Also, try to be consistent. Cows like consistency. They want to be fed and milked at the same time every day and be able to lie down when they want. They don’t want to be bugged.

Tell us about your farm. My husband, Chet, and I own Dolph Dairy LLC with my in-laws, Don and Pat Dolph. We milk around 500 cows and farm about 1,000 acres with help from 13 employees. Our crops include 550 acres of corn and 450 acres of hay. We ship our milk to Grande Cheese Company. Grande makes a lot of cheese, like mozzarella and provolone, for the pizza industry and is focused on milk quality. Therefore, they try to help farms have good milk quality. We raise our animals onsite and focus on keeping them dry and clean. Heifers and cows are on sand bedding, while calves are in group housing on straw or cornstalk bedding.

Boyceville, Wisconsin

Dunn County

270 cows

What is your current somatic cell count? It is at 63,000.

What does your milking procedure consist of? We brush off excessive dirt, use an iodine predip, then wipe with an individual towel, strip and apply the milker. After milking, an iodine-based post dip is applied. During extreme cold weather, we use a powder dip.

Throughout your years of dairying, what were the biggest changes you made to decrease your SCC? Diligent use of a quarter milker or bucket to withhold suspect milk from the tank and routine systems checks on the vacuum line have been the biggest changes to decrease SCC. We are fortunate to have consistent hired help who know the cows well and keep the routines the same. When we started crossbreeding with Fleckvieh, we also experienced a notable drop in the SCC of the herd.

What preventative measures are critical to keep your SCC low? Keeping vacuum levels in check, routine ination changes, and cow comfort and cleanliness are important. Adjusting for the seasons with adequate y control in the summer and keeping good foot health help with overall health of the cow. We try to keep their dry period as stress-free as possible. We make sure udder health is good before dry off, and we minimize vaccines and extra movements during the dry period to keep stress levels low to prevent early lactation issues.

When your SCC starts to rise, what are the rst things you do to keep it in check? We begin doing more frequent California mastitis test sampling and examine teat ends for signs of vacuum level issues. We refer to the DHI reports for possible problem cows. A year ago, we implemented the use of smaXtec herd monitoring. Although we did not see a dramatic change in SCC levels, it has helped us determine where the problems may be. Temperature increases and graph changes help us look for cows to watch or sample more closely.

What advice do you have for someone who is trying to lower their SCC? Being consistent with routines, watching teat end health and stall cleanliness has helped us maintain our low levels. Keep things simple and nd what works for your farm.

Tell us about your farm. Over the years, our ve children have been involved in the dairy. Our son, Paul, and his wife, Catherine, are a major part of the day-to-day work and decision making. They also farm 45 acres of their own and have a custom business. We currently ship our milk to Burnett Dairy Cooperative.

Trevor Baier (pictured with his dad, Charles)

Baier Creek Farms

Elmwood, Wisconsin Dunn County

600 cows

What is your current somatic cell count? It is usually around 50,00060,000.

What does your milking procedure consist of? We predip with foamers, strip, wipe and then attach. Two guys milk in a double-12 parlor. We prep six cows at a time to achieve a two-minute letdown time. For a post dip, we use a 1% iodine solution. We have always liked spending a little more money on post dip.

Throughout your years of dairying, what were the biggest changes you made to decrease your SCC? Prior to 2009, we bedded with sawdust. With our new freestall barn, we went to sand bedding. Our SCC went from 150,000-200,000 down to under 100,000 in about three to six months. It goes to show the signicance of sand bedding.

What preventative measures are critical to keep your SCC low? We always rake the beds when cows go to get milked. We use fresh sand, not reclaimed, so we always get the nes. Cows are housed in a 4-row barn which helps keep manure managed.

When your SCC starts to rise, what are the rst things you do to keep it in check? We try to nd the cow with mastitis that caused the SCC to rise. Our employees get a $5 bonus for every cow they catch with mastitis which helps incentivize this.

What advice do you have for someone who is trying to lower their SCC? Everybody is so critical on parlor routine, but you need to walk around where the cows are spending their time – where they’re lying down, walking, eating. Manure management is key. It is important to keep the cows clean and comfortable.

Tell us about your farm. We farm about 1,200 acres of alfalfa, corn silage and grain corn. We ship our milk to Eau Galle Cheese in Durand, Wisconsin. The fth and sixth generation currently run the farm along with our employees. The fth generation is my uncle, Rodney, and my dad, Charles. The sixth generation is my cousin, Steve, and myself.

Mike and Lori Boesl (left) pictured with Catherine Boesl, holding Adaliene, and Paul Boesl, holding Waylon Cabin Hill Dairy Inc.

Kicking off year 25

What were you doing 25 years ago?

One might think conjuring up details from a quarter century ago would be a difcult pursuit, but for me, vivid memories rise to the surface, making it feel much more recent. I was fortunate to be here 25 years ago when the rst issue of Dairy Star ew off the press. While I was a writer and salesperson for the local Sauk Centre Herald, an always thought-provoking dairy farmer, Jerry Jennissen, thought the area would benet from having a paper strictly geared toward dairy farmers.

because of the vastness of the challenge of operating a dairy farm. There are so many things that happen on a dairy farm every day; there are equally many thoughts from those same farmers on how they hope tomorrow can be a little easier.

Since day one, the stories we have featured are often informational and otherwise entertaining. Our story list covers the gamut of ideas.

By Mark Klaphake Editor

After discussing the venture with Jeff Weyer, the then sales manager of the Sauk Centre Herald, and mentioning the idea to the then Sauk Centre Herald publisher Dave Simpkins, we decided to give Jennissen’s idea the go-ahead.

After working on the inaugural issue for several weeks, Dairy Star was born Feb. 27, 1999. Then and for many issues after, designer Janell Westerman and writer and assistant editor Andrea Borgerding and I crafted each issue along with Weyer and sales person Laura Seljan.

Our rst paper was delivered to mailboxes throughout Stearns County. Approximately 750 dairy farmers dotted the landscape in this dairy-rich county at that time.

In the inaugural issue, we highlighted Mennonite families that had moved to the Stearns County area. We published a column about the worst day on a farm and included relevant information for dairy farmers, like market updates.

Our mission then was to publish a newspaper about farmers for farmers. We wanted to be a median where farmers could share workings from their farms with other farmers.

And now, all these years later, our focus remains the same: We synchronize our efforts to craft a paper highlighting the dedicated, hard-working dairy farmers and the news happening in their farm yards.

I have a lot of family who milk cows, which includes ve brothers, two nephews and a brother-in-law. But when I think of my dairy family, I believe it stretches to everyone who milks cows. Whether you milk 50 or 1,000 cows, you are part of a unique family with one thing in common.

You work tirelessly to produce milk to feed a growing population. Our family numbers go down yearly, but the value or importance of being a dairy farmer only rises.

As a dairy newspaper, our job is to cover the farmer’s daily trials, whether good or, sometimes, not so good.

That scope can be pretty encompassing

We cover the broad technology boom we are within and dairy farmers receiving awards – from low somatic cell count to sustainable farming to tremendous farm families. We put pen to paper, highlighting farms handed down from generation to generation. We bring dairy-related news from our government and shine a light on dairy consumption and promotion. We share dairy farmers’ hobbies and pastimes. We journey through the tragedies that occur and rally among our dairy farming community.

The ideas are countless because of the incredible diversity of what it takes to be a dairy farmer.

The paper remains free thanks to the support of our advertisers. Without their belief in us, the paper could not exist.

Dairy Star is delivered to mailboxes on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month. While our sales team is visiting with dairy advertisers, our writers are heading up driveways to interview farmers about their thoughts and ideas.

Then, our ads are sent to our designers, and stories with photos are sent to our Sauk Centre, Minnesota, ofce. Within three to four days, we are ready to print.

As we embark on our 25th year, we have several signicant changes within Dairy Star.

You’ll notice our year-long theme celebrating 25 years. Starting with this issue and for the following 23 issues, we will give away $100 cash. All you have to do is nd the 25-year logo in each issue of Dairy Star and mail us the form or enter online at www. dairystar.com. We will draw one winner for each issue.

Secondly, we have content-driven changes starting with a shift in our Day in the Life feature being bolstered into a photo story feature. Day in the Life has been a popular feature for many years, and moving into the upcoming year, we plan to make this small but impactful change.

Another new feature we plan to highlight is introduced in this issue – The Day That Went Awry. Within this feature, we will visit with farmers about when things didn’t necessarily go according to plan. That might include equipment breaking down when traveling down the road or a cow putting herself into a position where words cannot explain how she got there nor how a farmer can get her out. Or, it could simply be when one breakdown leads to another, and by the end of the day, a cold drink is the answer.

We hope to continue to land on the top of your mail stack every two weeks. Between our feature stories, columns, and question-and-answer responses, know you are not the only one ghting the good ght. What you do really matters.

“Talking to veterinarian Doug Evans and the team at the Udder Comfort™ booth, we got more regimented in our use of Udder Comfort and saw SCC drop from 200,000 to 120,000. We started making sure we sprayed every fresh udder after each milking for the full 3 to 4 days after calving and watched our somatic cell counts respond. We saw SCC on our fresh cows drop right down collectively by 10 to 12 days in milk,” says Kyle Hirt, Mithva Farms, New Woodstock, New York.

“We were already using Udder Comfort for 4 years on swelling in fresh cows and mastitis. We knew it reduced edema faster and better than anything else,” Kyle adds.

“By getting more regimented on the full routine of Udder Comfort for every fresh animal, we saw even better results. It works,” he reports.

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DAIRY STAR MILESTONES 1999

Feb. 27, 1999 First issue of Stearns County Dairy Star is published.

September 1999

The paper expands into Otter Tail, Wadena, Todd, Morrison, Sherburne, Benton, Wright, Meeker, Kandiyohi, Pope and Douglas counties. It then becomes Minnesota Dairy Star.

Dairy farmers in the lower two-thirds of Minnesota are added to the newspaper’s mailing list.

The northern counties of Minnesota, as well as the larger dairy counties in South Dakota and Iowa are encompassed in the paper’s coverage area. Minnesota Dairy Star now becomes its current name, Dairy Star

Dairy Star expands into southwest Wisconsin, covering counties along the MinnesotaWisconsin border.

Dairy farmers in west central Wisconsin now receive the paper.

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Hansen returns to the dairy industry

By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com

VIROQUA, Wis. – Zach Hansen has responsibilities to juggle. Besides a full-time job, two small children and a wife expecting triplets, he also milks a herd of 30 organic cows on a farm near Viroqua.

Hansen and his wife, Stephany, bought the farm in November 2020. The road to farm ownership has not been a straight one, but Hansen is reveling in the journey.

“The biggest inspiration is I want my kids to grow up somewhat like I did,” Hansen said. “Just being able to run around and be around animals and learn how to work.”

Hansen grew up in the Viroqua area on a conventional farm with his parents. His grandparents were on a neighboring farm, and he and his siblings and cousins had the run of the land between the two farms.

Hansen said his grandparents taught him and his cous-

The winding road to home

ins how to milk and take care of animals. They all have fond memories of milking, haying and raising tobacco, Hansen said. The families helped each other until Hansen’s parents exited the industry in the late 1990s. Then, when Hansen was 15, his grandfather died, and everything on his farm was sold.

At the time, Hansen was looking forward to taking over his grandfather’s operation with his cousin, but they were too young.

Hansen’s uncle purchased the farm instead and continues to operate it today. Hansen took jobs milking cows and worked for 10 years for Paul Buhr while nishing high school, attending college and getting married.

“Paul was a huge inspiration into how I operate my dairy today,” Hansen said. “I accredit him to his knowledge in many areas.”

In 2016, Stephany’s grandfather approached them about starting a dairy at a farm he owned, which is where the couple lives today. The barn was an old chicken barn. All the gutters were lled in, and there were no stalls.

While continuing to work at Buhr’s, Hansen gutted and renovated the entire barn. The

gutters were dug by hand, and concrete was poured with the help of friends. Hansen purchased all of the equipment used and brought it onto the farm, including tie stalls, a barn cleaner and chain, a bulk tank and milking equipment.

“We sourced all the stuff

and pieced it together,” Hansen said. “It was fun. It was kind of like a sense of ownership.”

After about a year of working with Stephany’s grandfather, they decided to go their separate ways. Hansen sold most of his cows,

and Stephany’s grandfather bought him out. Hansen’s brother-in-law stepped in at the farm, and Hansen and Stephany moved to town. After selling their house and buying another one on

Turn to HANSEN | Page 25

PHOTO SUBMITTED

The Hansen family – Dekker (from le ), Stephany, Ledger and Zach – milks 30 organic cows near Viroqua, Wisconsin. The Hansens ship milk to Westby Coopera ve Creamery.

Con nued from HANSEN | Page 24

the edge of town, Hansen raised a heifer calf in the backyard using a dog kennel. The desire to farm was still strong.

“I just couldn’t get it out of my system,” Hansen said. “All I could think about was that I just wanted to milk cows.”

About a year later, Hansen’s brother-in-law went out on his own; the farm came up for sale. Hansen and Stephany decided to buy it outright and return to the farm they already loved.

It was actually the third time Stephany lived on the farm, because in the 1990s, her parents farmed the property for a couple of years before moving out of state.

“When she was a kid, this was her favorite place to be,” Hansen said. “She always had a dream of being back on this farm.”

The couple sourced an organic herd and brought cattle back to the farm. Hansen said it felt right to farm organically this time.

“I like organic for the crops because I just never really liked all the spraying and pesticides,” Hansen said. “I just think it’s safer for my family. It’s a more natural, old-time way to do it.”

Hansen also watched his parents and grandparents struggle with low milk prices when he was younger. The organic premium was an attractive point to consider, Hansen said.

The couple owns the buildings and 5.5 acres.

They rent the pasture ground from Stephany’s grandfather and purchase their feed. Cows are fed corn silage, baleage and a protein mix.

Hansen said it is not always easy to be at the mercy of the milk market and the feed market. His off-farm job helps to subsidize the family and sometimes the farm.

Hansen is working on raising replacements and ne tuning the organic techniques to get a higher milk production. With 35 stalls in the barn, his goal

is to milk a barn full.

While Hansen enjoys his off-farm job and spends time hunting, shing and playing sports when he can, he said his favorite place will always be in the barn with his family.

“My favorite part is milking together with my family,” Hansen said. “Everybody together in the barn, kids running down the walk while we’re milking, and no phones or TVs. Just the radio, the cows and the kids. I love that part of it.”

ABBY WIEDMEYER/DAIRY STAR Dream Hollow farm was named a er the road it sits on, Harrison Hollow, and the dream that it represents to the Hansen family who milk 30 organic cows. The Vernon County farm is owned by Zach and Stephany Hansen.

“My favorite part is milking together with my family. Everybody together in the barn, kids running down the walk while we’re milking, and no phones or TVs.”

ZACH HANSEN, DAIRY FARMER

Manure is a year-round resource

Paletta presents topic at UW webinar

By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com

MADISON, Wis. – Laura Paletta urges farmers to consider the value of manure and how intentional spreading can benet farm land. Instead of viewing manure as a waste to be disposed of, she encourages farmers to consider it a resource to be utilized.

“Here in Wisconsin, we see a lot of different weather throughout the year,” Paletta said. “We have four seasons, and our elds look vastly different throughout the year.”

Paletta is an outreach specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension’s Agriculture Water Quality Program. She spoke during a Jan. 31 webinar entitled, “Manure and water quality: Why looking at the calendar matters.”

With farm land in different stages throughout the year, Paletta said it is important to understand when elds suffer the most nutrient losses in order to carefully choose which manure management practice to utilize to avoid those losses.

Data from Discovery Farms, a research division of UW-Extension, shows that March is the month where the most runoff occurs due to snowmelt and

thawing of the soil. In May, June and July, when farmers are often tilling and planting, soil is most susceptible to loss. Roughly 77% of all soil loss occurs during those months, Paletta said.

Research reveals those same months are when 70% of a farm’s particulate phosphorus is lost. The particulate is the portion of the phosphorus that is bound to the soil particle, Paletta said. So, when there is soil loss, there is also typically a decrease in particulate loss. Particulate soil loss produces an increase in sedimentation in water bodies that impacts wildlife.

“I want to connect it back to what our elds typically look like in May, June and July,” Paletta said. “We’re out there tilling, we’re in and out of the elds with the tractor, and tilling up our soil. That’s typically why we see that increase in soil and particulate loss.”

Keeping elds covered, especially in the spring, is the most effective way to avoid soil loss. To alleviate the impact, farmers can overwinter crops in order to have something growing and provide soil coverage come spring.

Paletta said reducing tillage keeps residue on the soil, which allows crops to be planted into living matter. This eliminates bare ground and helps retain nutrients in the soil. Low-disturbance manure injection is another way to maintain coverage and limit soil losses in spring and fall.

“We know our manure adds great nutrients to our soil,” Paletta said. “Now that we know when we see our biggest losses, we want to add manure

into it.”

The windows of time to spread manure on most dairy farms is in the spring before planting and in the fall after harvesting. Research from Discovery Farms indicates the best time to spread manure in the fall is when the soil temperature drops but is not yet frozen, typically late October. This timeframe coincides with the reduction in microbial activity when the temperature drops.

“When microbial activity reduces, that nitrifying bacteria also decreases,” Paletta said. “That can help reduce nitrogen losses through the winter and into the spring.”

Paletta said once soil freezes, it acts as a concrete layer, reducing inltration. Then, when the spring melt occurs, a large runoff event occurs.

Paletta said research shows spreading manure in the summer, when the growing crop can actively take in the nutrients, helps increase yields. Specically, studies showed spreading manure with a dragline hose on corn in a V3 to V4 stage allows the corn to pop back up; the manure will increase yields.

“This just opens up a window for potentially spreading when it is better weather,” Paletta said. “There’s a crop there that can take up those nutrients.”

When spreading during warmer months, it is important to be aware of the potential for large runoff events. When soil loss is increased in a runoff event, phosphorus loss is typically higher as well. The easiest way to avoid a large runoff event is to watch the weather and try not to spread before a rainfall is expected, Paletta said.

Laura Paletta UW-Madison

Finding efciencies in grazing systems

Lowering overhead costs is key to success

By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. –

When Jon Winsten, agricultural economist with Winrock International, learned of dairy farms that were grazing their herds 30 years ago, he thought it was the immediate future of dairy farming in America. Winsten visited New Zealand in 1987 to learn about the grazing systems being used and returned to tell his father about it.

“When I came back and told my dad, who had a very traditional 60cow dairy operation, about how they farmed down there, he literally slapped his hand on his forehead and said, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’” Winsten said. “I thought the adoption to grazing would start and dairy was going to be about grazing from here forward.”

Winsten spoke about the nancial efciencies in grazing systems during his presentation, “Large Herd, Low Overhead Grazing Dairy,” Feb. 3 at the GrassWorks Grazing Conference in Wisconsin Dells.

While Winsten has not seen the signicant changes in the dairy industry he thought he would, he said he believes in the benets of a grazing system. Winsten said it is a protable system when feed, labor and capital efciencies are implemented.

Winsten denes feed efciency as being able to minimize feed cost per hundredweight of milk shipped by maximizing the nutrient intake of grazed pasture.

“The more milk that is produced on pasture, the more benet for water quality and climate mitigation,” Winsten said. “That’s part of the driving force why I think it’s such an important system.”

Labor efciency is measured by maximizing the amount of milk shipped per worker. Winsten said this is achieved by utilizing an efcient milking system such as a swing parlor. Seasonal calving can also be a step toward efciency by getting one chore done at a time – all the calving, then all the weaning, and so on.

Finally, Winsten said capital efciency is trying to maximize the farm’s return on assets. It is the measure of how well the assets on a farm are able to produce a prot.

For a comprehensive nancial analysis of a farm, Winsten looks at the cash ow statement, income statement and balance sheet.

The income statement calculates the net prot, which is often called net farm income from operations. Winsten said this is the best measure of farm protability. The income statement differs from the cash ow statement, which tracks all cash inows and outows, including the principal portion of loan payments, but does not include depreciation. The income statement includes a realistic estimate of actual depreciation as well as changes in farm inventory, which is derived from the balance sheet.

“You are accurately estimating how much it costs you to run your

farm,” Winsten said of the income statement. “Depreciation is not a cash expense necessarily, but at some point, your farm ceases to run properly, so it is a real expense.”

Winsten said the cows and land are the revenue-producing assets on the farm when considering overhead costs. Maximizing the ratio of cows and land to the value of buildings and machinery is important.

After spending time on these issues for 30 years, Winsten has seen a trend in why grazing has not taken off like he thought it would within the dairy industry. Winsten said most traditional dairy farms have money invested in buildings and machinery. Some have debt on those buildings and machinery as well.

“It’s a lot of value in assets,” Winsten said. “Most of these farms have a nite number of stalls, so a limited herd size, which leads to a high overhead cost per cow on top of your direct costs.”

Winsten said many traditional dairy farms that have high overhead costs per cow can get into a cash ow dilemma and need maximum milk production per cow, even if it would be more profitable to graze and produce less milk per cow than in a connement system.

“Having cash ow concerns override protability decisions is not a great position for any business to be in, but I think it’s very common in the dairy industry,” Winsten said.

Winsten said a larger-herd, lowoverhead dairy grazing operation can provide a way out of this cash ow dilemma. He said to minimize the building and machinery costs per hundredweight produced by using an appropriate high-throughput milking system and an efcient feeding system. This allows a farmer to increase the number of cows and milk shipped per worker.

Achieving efciency in feed, labor and capital leads to greater exibility overall, Winsten said.

“If you’re not caught up in a cash ow crunch, you can make more protable decisions when things get tough, such as low milk prices, high grain prices or both,” he said. “For example, you could back off on your grain feeding and milk production if the milk-tofeed price ratio gets too low. If needed, you could more easily pivot toward beef as well.”

A grazing system also provides options for milk price by making it easier to produce for the organic or grass-fed markets. There are additional environmental and social benets from this system as well. Winsten said with more technical assistance and innovative nancing, more dairy farmers can consider a grazing system.

Before changing to a grazing-based system, Winsten said farmers need to understand their cost of production and what drives it. That includes setting clear and consistent goals for the farm and understanding the impact of overhead costs to determine a plan for change.

“I do think this system can probably outcompete the large, modern connement dairy on a nancial basis,” Winsten said. “It needs excellent management, but I think it’s a really powerful and potentially protable system.”

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Women In Dairy

Rachel

Klinkner Cashton, Wisconsin Monroe County 65 cows

Family: Gerald and Ann Klinkner family

Tell us about your farm. Our organic dairy farm, Breezy Acres Dairy, is a sixth-generation dairy farm in rural Cashton, Wisconsin, which has been proudly owned and operated by family for more than 160 years. Our family farm started in 1863 with horse-drawn implements and the hand-milking of cows. The farm has progressed through various stages of mechanical horsepower and the sciences of animal genetics, nutrition, health, quality cow care and modern crop production practices. In 1993, we added a heifer barn and silo; in 1996 a feed room; and in 1998 an earthen manure pit and rubber mattresses for the cows. In 2000, we transitioned to an organic dairy; in 2002, we added a new silo; in 2003, we added an addition to the house; and in 2008, a new shed and shop were built. Then, in 2012, we put an addition on the heifer barn; in 2016, we installed a new 60-stall freestall barn; and in 2017, we converted our barn into a swing parlor. Today, we milk roughly 65 cows with a rolling herd average of more than 21,000 pounds of milk. We produce and ship more than 1 million pounds of milk to Westby Cooperative Creamery. The cows are milked twice daily in that same barn built back in 1903. We grow corn, alfalfa and small grains on over 300 acres of land as feed for the cows. I also have an aunt and uncle who own a farm nearby. Together, we help each other with planting and harvesting and the sharing of equipment and knowledge. It’s a very unique opportunity that we have been blessed with and allows us to remain close with our loved ones. We especially enjoy visitors to Breezy Acres. In 2014, we were happy to host the annual Monroe County Dairy Breakfast, which was also our 150th year family farm celebration. We had more than 3,000 people in attendance. It’s a good thing dairy farming teaches you how to plan, organize, manage time and details and to feed a herd.

What is a typical day like for you on the dairy? Because I am in college, I am not on the farm much. But, when I do come home, I help my family milk cows. I also help with feeding calves and monitoring cows who are about to calve. When there is enough help in the barn, I play with my nieces and nephews in the barn’s breezeway. They love to help with little chores and know a lot of the cow’s names, which is fun for me to see them grow up in the barn.

What decision have you made in the last year that has beneted your farm? In the last year, my parents and my brother’s family have decided to switch houses to allow my brother and his wife and kids to live on the home farm. Currently, my brother and his family live right next to us in a house on a farm we use for crops, so it won’t be a far move. However, this transition will be a big but important change to the operation of the farm. My brother and his wife will start to take more ownership of the farm, so it will be more efcient for them to be where the animals and machinery are. We plan to make the switch this summer if plans stick to schedule.

Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. Starting when I was very young, I helped name our cows. With less than 80 cows, naming them is easier to do and helps us identify them. When we name freshened heifers, we pick a name that starts with the rst letter of their mother’s name, which allows us to keep track of lineage and pedigree. Of course, when I was younger, I would name cows Cookie, Chips and Cinderella, for example. As I got older, I stared using real names, but occasionally, we will name a cow like Motor, whose mother was Harley and sister was Davidson. Being a part of the naming process allowed me to memorize all of the cows and be the family cow identier. In addition to names, I also memorized ear tag numbers and cow families. This is something I nd fun.

What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? I have enjoyed educating people about the dairy industry. Throughout middle and high school, I was a part of FFA. With my connections and experiences with FFA, I have had opportunities to teach others about agriculture and my farm’s story. Now, I am at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where I am able to reach many people who are not familiar with dairy farming. Educating people about where their food comes from brings me joy. In addition, I am a communications major, and for my class projects, I always choose an agricultural topic because it’s a chance for me to learn more and educate others. I am blessed to have grown up on a dairy farm. I have developed a strong work ethic, time management skills and responsibility, which some people aren’t exposed or pushed to learn.

What is your biggest accomplishment in your dairy career? I started showing dairy cattle at the Monroe County Fair when I was about 9 years old and showed until my senior year of high school. I learned how to clip cattle from my dad and other cattle showers and leaders in the county. I was also a member of the Monroe Country All Breeds Junior Dairy Club where we went on educational farm tours, held dairy workshops, club activities and held a silent auction dairy basket sale at the Monroe County Fair. I was fortunate enough to place well in showmanship many years and was a part of the dairy basket program. Through showing, I gained numerous skills not just about the dairy industry but in general too.

What are things you do to promote your farm or the dairy industry? Besides educating about my experiences and knowledge of the dairy industry, I am also active through social media where I promote the dairy industry. I love cows, so I am always taking pictures of our family’s cows. I tend to post pictures of them on my social media accounts. In addition, I share news articles, blogs and interviews that handled dairy topics. As a patron and follower of Westby Cooperative Creamery on social media, I enjoy sharing content the creamery posts as it tends to be educational, promotional and engaging. Posting behind-the-scenes content of our farm operations is a great way to promote the dairy industry as well as following dairy-related businesses and organizations.

What advice would you give another woman in the dairy industry? I recommend getting involved in organizations and sharing dairy-related content on social media. Getting your foot in the door is a gateway to making an impact on the dairy industry, even if it’s small. If you want to start your own dairy operation, go for it. There are plenty of resources, organizations and people to support you along the way. As society is becoming increasingly engaged on social media, that is a great place to start promoting and educating. Follow fellow agriculturalists, whether

they are women or men. Finding people who are as passionate as you is a great start. I follow accounts such as the New York Farm Girls, FarmHer, Dairy Girl Network, FFA and others. There are numerous people who are passionate about advocating for agriculture.

When you get a spare moment, what do you do? When spare time comes around, I enjoy hunting, hiking, ATV riding, snowmobiling, going to concerts, crafting, watching movies, baking, nding new coffee shops, and spending time with family and friends.

www.extension.umn.edu/dairy

Horses, not zebras, when we hear hoof beats

By Joe Armstrong, DVM the zebra category.

The temptation when a disease process rears its ugly head is to chase down a complex cause or somewhat rare pathogen. We can also tend to lean toward placing the blame on external factors outside of our control. In reality, even when a disease process appears complicated, the solution is often under our control and relatively simple. This is the old adage in medicine of hearing hoof beats and training yourself to think horses and not zebras. Let us consider a common issue between beef and dairy operations: calf scours.

When dairy or beef operations call me with scours issues, the rst question is often centered on what to treat with to x the issue. Treating scours appropriately is important, but the most important question is: What can we do to prevent scours from occurring in the rst place? The next question is often what vaccine should be given. Vaccines are also important, but I prefer to solve on-farm issues without a needle whenever possible. Additionally, vaccine protocols, and changes to them, can be complicated and expensive, many times falling in

So, where do we look for a solution? How do we establish what is most important to x when there is limited time and money? Below you will nd a list, in order of importance, of where to look rst when preventing scours on beef and dairy operations.

– Colostrum: Colostrum is the single most important piece of calf health and the biggest predictor of lifetime performance for any calf. A proper colostrum management protocol on a dairy is essential for calf success. In a beef operation, farmers may think colostrum is outside of their control, but taking care of the dam’s health and nutrition has a huge benet to calf vigor, which applies to their ability to stand and nurse quickly. Dam health and nutrition also contribute to quantity and quality of colostrum.

– Dam health and nutrition: As many studies have shown, the health of the dam greatly inuences the health of the calf. Dam health starts with nutrition and comfort. Nutrition in its simplest form revolves around protein and energy. Feeding the appropriate amounts of protein and energy during the stages of gestation re-

sults in a healthy calf with improved growth. Bunk space, water space, clean and dry bedding, and protection from the elements gives the dam the comfort they need to keep stress as low as possible.

– Calf nutrition: Calves need enough calories to develop a reserve of fat. Fat acts as a vital source of energy to ght off any disease challenge the calf sees. On the dairy, this means at least 2 gallons of whole milk or a quality milk replacer (26% protein, 20% fat) per day, quality calf starter available starting on the second day of life and water available in addition to milk. In a beef operation, this is largely dependent on dam health and nutrition.

– Calf environment: Everything the calf comes into contact with needs to be clean. Infectious causes of scours are dose-dependent. More

Dana Adams, adam1744@umn.edu

320-204-2968

Joe Armstrong armst225@umn.edu

612.624.3610

Luciano Caixeta lcaixeta@umn.edu

612-625-3130

Gerard Cramer gcramer@umn.edu

612-625-8184

Marcia Endres miendres@umn.edu

612-624-5391

Joleen Hadrich jhadrich@umn.edu

612-626-5620

Les Hansen hanse009@umn.edu

612-624-2277

harmful bugs means a higher likelihood of disease. Look at your calf housing and decide what the calves can reach with their mouths. If they can reach it, they will chew on it, and you need to clean it. With beef cows, everything starts with clean and dry cows, which comes back to dam comfort. Calving areas need to start clean and that is a function of keeping animals from contaminating the area prior to the start of calving.

– Calf stress: Stress suppresses the immune system. We cannot avoid stress entirely, nor should we, but we do need to be careful of stacking stress in calves. Dehorning, vaccination, weaning, handling and pen moves are all examples of stressful events. If we can spread stressful events out, rather than stacking them in a short time period, our calves will be healthier.

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

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Busting burnout

By Emily Krekelberg

When we hear the word burnout, we likely conjure images in our head: Someone who has fallen asleep at their desk, a person who looks overly tired and seems a little too disorganized, and the ever-popular rubbing of the temples with a deep sigh.

If any of these images sound like something you have seen or experienced, I am glad you are reading. Burnout exists in every context of work. The work of agriculture is not immune to burnout.

We hear the word burnout, but what does it actually mean? Is it only stress? A higher level of stress? Something beyond stress?

Let’s take a moment to break all this down. Burnout is a form of exhaustion caused by constantly feeling swamped. Excessive emotional, physical and mental stress can make us feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained and unable to keep up with life’s demands. Burnout is more than stress; it is the result of too much stress.

Signs of burnout

Across medical literature, ve key symptoms are associated with burnout. A common symptom is increased anxiety. Even simple tasks or situations may feel overwhelming, and this may lead to avoidance or procrastination. A lack of sleep and general fatigue are also indicators of burnout. A constant feeling of exhaustion inuences all areas of our health: physical, mental and emotional. This can impact our ability to work and function day to day. Another symptom to look out for is a lack of creativity and purpose. Regardless of the work you do, feeling like you can express yourself and your ideals through your work is important. We all experience bad days or times when our drive is low; if creativity and purpose feel like a daily struggle, it may be a sign of burnout. Burnout can also be signaled by emotional numbness or depression. Depression is more than just feeling sad all the time; most people describe it as a feeling of emptiness. Other symptoms of burnout can leave us with a lack of emotional feeling and recognition. Because of that, emotional numbness can lead to poor work ethic. Lastly, a cynical outlook is a symptom of burnout. We all have our moments where it can be hard to feel optimistic about our job, but if every day feels like a battle to understand the purpose of it all, you may be experiencing burnout.

Taking action against burnout

If you think you or someone you know is experiencing burnout, there are several strategies to alleviate it. It may be hard to nd the motivation, but remember, you are an asset to your business. No one else is going to put your health rst, so learn to advocate for yourself even if it means taking some time away from work or readjusting your schedule. This can sound harsh,

but every job is replaceable. You, however, are not replaceable. Treat yourself like the high-value asset you are.

If there are work-specic stressors, evaluate your options. Discuss these concerns with someone. Think about schedule or expectation changes that may help take pressure off. Again, advocate for what you need to be successful. This is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of wisdom and foresight that what you are doing currently is not sustainable. With that, it is also important to seek support. Being able to talk about what we are experiencing and having others acknowledge it not as a fault but as a challenge can do a lot for our mental health. It is likely the way you are feeling is felt by others. Strong support systems promote emotional health and can help you get back to you.

Other actions you can take focus on self-care. Self-care is not an event or one thing you do once a month to feel good. Self-care is any action you take with the intention of taking care of yourself. Think of self-care as a series of decisions you make every day. Will you choose to take care of yourself today? Try a relaxing activity such as yoga or listening to music you like. Find a way to get physical activity outside of work every day. That could be going for a short walk, working out at the gym or going on a family bike ride. Along with exercise, fuel your body. Eat well-balanced, nutrient-dense meals and snacks. Having enough energy from your diet can make a world of difference in how you feel. Getting enough sleep is also critical to having energy. Sleep is restorative and can protect our health. Even during busy seasons, getting seven to eight hours of sleep every night is critical and can help you work more efciently during the day.

Mindfulness can reduce burnout

Mindfulness is the practice of focusing on your senses and feelings. A great way to start practicing mindfulness is by deep breathing. Take long breaths in through your nose and exhale through your mouth. As you are breathing, become aware of how your breath feels going in and out of you, what other sensations you notice and the emotions you are feeling. Becoming more mindful of our thoughts and feelings can help us recognize when we may be starting to feel burnt out. In addition, mindfulness is a great strategy to cope with burnout and general stress. It can be easy to ignore what our mind and body are telling us, especially when life and work feel too busy to focus on anything else.

Taking time to check in with ourselves and ground ourselves in the moment can provide relief and clarity. Mindfulness looks different for everyone, so nd what works for you. Deep breathing, meditation, journaling and practicing gratitude are all great ways to increase mindfulness. I encourage you to nd one way you can incorporate mindfulness into your life today. Your health will thank you.

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Wilbar Dairy

Bill (from left), Brenna, Barb, Blair and Brett Thiel (not pictured, Brice)

Auburndale, Wisconsin Wood County

300 cows

How many years have you been dairy farming? We have been dairy farming for 23 years on our own, but both of us grew up on dairy farms and worked on dairy farms while attending school. Barb attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Bill attended the UW-Madison Farm and Industry Short Course program.

Tell us about your farm and how it has evolved over the years. Currently, we are milking 300 registered Holstein and registered Brown Swiss cows in a double-8 step-up parlor with sand-bedded free stall housing. We also have 300 head of youngstock. We started out renting a 50-stall tiestall barn in western Wisconsin. We bought Barb’s parents’ cows, 32 head, as they were retiring and moved the cows from eastern Wisconsin to western Wisconsin near where Bill’s parents farmed. We bought a few cows here and there on good registered sales. In 2004, we purchased a farm of our own. We moved 68 cows to our current facility in central Wisconsin in August 2004. At that time, the farm consisted of a 70-stall tiestall barn, a small heifer shed and 40 acres. Calves were raised in hutches. We rented about 150 acres and bought most of our feed and hired all planting and harvesting. We quickly outgrew the 70 tie stalls and built a 78-stall freestall barn in 2009. We then switched cows out of the tiestall barn. Soon we were outgrowing the freestall barn, so we added another 120 stalls in 2012. We also added a heifer barn for weaned calves to 500

pounds. Then nally, we decided we needed to do something about our milking situation. Switching too many cows in the tie stalls was wearing on our bodies. We put in a double-8 step-up parlor in 2015. In 2019, we were sick of feeding 40 calves in hutches, so we built a wet calf barn with room for 60 individual pens, added onto our existing calf barn, and renovated and added onto an existing older heifer barn. We now own 200 acres and rent another 350 and still buy some hay but grow our own corn. We own our own tilling and planting equipment along with some haying equipment including a baler, triple mower and wrapper. We hire chopping for corn silage and some haylage.

Tell us about your family. We have four children: Brice, Brett, Brenna and Blair. All four are active on the farm including milking, scraping, hauling manure, tillage, planting, harvesting, and heifer and calf care. Brice attends MidState Technical College in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, for welding. Brett and Brenna attend Auburndale middle and high schools, and Blair is at Auburndale Elementary School. Last year, Brice and Brett did all the tillage and planting. Both run the mower and baler and wrap bales as we feed mostly baleage. Brenna and Blair can be found in the calf barn every night helping Mom. All four enjoy showing our Brown Swiss in 4-H.

What motivates you to keep dairy farming? The lifestyle and being your own boss is a great motivation along with the joy of breeding and raising good quality animals and taking care of them.

What has been the highlight of your dairying career? The highlight of our career is prob-

ably that we started with 32 cows, and as of last year, we had grown to 330. We have only bought one or two here and there for fair projects. Last February, we were able to sell 150 cows just to downsize. Today, we are at 300 head.

What do you love about dairy farming? Barb: I love bringing newborn calves into the world, taking care of them and watching them grow up to be productive cows. I also love working with my kids every day. When they were little, it was challenging getting up at 3 a.m. to get chores done before they woke up and toting toddlers around, but I liked the exibly and spending all day with my kids and teaching them how to care for animals. Now, I love milking or feeding calves with the kids.

What piece of equipment or technology do you wish you had incorporated earlier on your dairy? We wish we had installed the step-up parlor sooner. It would have saved a lot of wear and tear on our bodies, and we can milk so much faster.

What has been the biggest obstacle you have faced in your dairying career and how did you overcome it? Our biggest obstacle was being the rst generation on our dairy. We could have continued farming with either of our families but chose to do it on our own. This left everything – from the nancial side to the work load – up to Bill and I. It was hard at rst not having family near to help, especially when our family began to grow. Fortunately, we moved to a friendly area and have great neighbors. We made great friends.

What has been the best decision you have made on your farm? Barb would say her calf barn and Milk Taxi were great decisions. We used to use 40 calf hutches. Now, we have 50 individual pens in a beautiful calf barn to keep her out of the wind, rain and snow. But the rst freestall barn was probably the best decision. Cow comfort is key. Getting the cows in sand-bedded free stalls was the best decision and let us keep growing.

Who has been an inspiration to you during your dairying career? There have been many who have been an inspiration for us. First off, our parents as they were the rst ones to give us the bug and were our rst teachers. Then, there are some special neighbors, 4-H leaders, vets, nutritionists and employers who continued to teach us.

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•

Lice is a common external parasite in dairy cattle, most notably detected by visible loss of hair. Infestations occur predominantly in the winter months from December through March when cattle have thick winter hair coats. This is compounded by having seasonally less light and the tendency for animals to crowd or bunch together.

Lice infestations are more than a cosmetic issue. Cattle lice infections can affect the health and performance of animals during with winter months. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has estimated that livestock producers lose up to $125 million per year due to effects of lice infestations.

By Barry Visser Nutritionist

Lice are small, at-bodied insects with legs modied for grasping hairs. Cattle serve as the host to lice and are critical to their survival. Lice can only live away from the animal for a few days. Two common species of lice that infest cattle are biting lice and sucking lice. Biting lice eat skin debris and secretions on the outside of the animal while sucking lice pierce the skin with their narrow, pointed heads and suck blood from the host. Lice are species-specic, suggesting cattle lice cannot affect people or other livestock species.

Female lice will lay an egg at the base of cattle hair follicles, and the eggs are essentially glued individually to the hair. It takes about two weeks for the baby lice, or nymphs, to hatch. The nymphs resemble adult lice but are smaller. It takes them about three weeks to mature to adult lice. The adult lice live for about two to three weeks and, as reported by University of Kentucky entomologists, the females lay about one egg per day.

Determining the severity of the infestation is the rst step in developing an action plan against lice infestation. One method is to count and record the number and species of lice found per square inch of the hide. Biting lice will move when disturbed and are usually not found clustered with other lice, so you will see individual lice jumping around. In contrast, sucking lice will tend to stay stationary when disturbed and like to group together. Kentucky specialists have referenced 10 lice per square inch as the economic threshold for treatment initiation. However, producers will often treat with any presence of lice to proactively prevent reinfestation and, in some cases, just for the improved appearance that results.

The most common sign that cattle are suffering from a severe lice infestation is hair loss and raw spots, leading to increased maintenance costs associated with additional energy to keep animals warm in the winter. This is often combined with reduced weight gain, health and general thriftiness. Studies have shown average daily gain of growing calves reduced by up to 0.25 pounds per day, resulting in decreased feed efciency. Lice infestations can also lead to skin infections, potential blood loss and anemia in severe cases, and wear and tear on facilities and fences.

Lice populations will decrease in activity as the weather starts to warm. This may inuence the decision to treat, especially in cases where lice numbers are low or animals do not seem bothered by the lice infestation. When treating cattle, it is important to treat the entire group. Missing even one animal could allow it to serve as a reservoir for reinfesting the entire herd. A variety of products are available for control of lice. If you decide to treat a lice infestation, select a product that will work the best for the population of lice you have present. Biting lice are most effectively treated with a topical treatment. Sucking lice feed on blood and serum, so they are controlled more effectively with a systemic injectable product. To achieve a more complete kill, as second treatment may be necessary to capture those lice that were in the egg and infancy stage during the initial treatment.

Work with your veterinarian and herd health advisors to determine which products t the needs of your dairy. Implementing an effective lice control program will allow your herd to maintain optimal health status and maximize performance.

Barry Visser is a nutritionist for Vita Plus.

Something to Ruminate On

Animal talk

Having a variety of animals at our farm makes my days very exciting and cheerful. While our dogs greet us every morning from their spot in the laundry room, barking and jumping like miniature Jack Russell terriers do, our border collie remains calm and heads to the door to wait for it to be opened. As soon as the door is opened, she heads out rst, and the other two follow unless it is cold, wet or snowy.

comes out of the egg shell is different from when they are chirping and kicking up the bedding looking for food. With a goose, though, is the honking hiss a happy sound or a warning that a bite is next?

enough to see if she needs a hug, but I do know that for people, if we try to understand each other better and gure out one another’s needs, hugging can make a big difference.

Perhaps I will.

Tina Hinchley, her husband Duane and daughter Anna milk 240 registered Holsteins with robots. They also farm 2,300 acres of crops near Cambridge, Wisconsin. The Hinchleys have been hosting farm tours for over 25 years.

By Tina Hinchley Farmer &

I hold the door open as I try to call them, luring them as I pet them on their heads and ears, baby talking to them. They understand completely what I am doing. It is a daily routine, and they know a treat will be coming out of my pocket when I get my work clothes on and head to the barn. The little dogs sit up pretty, and they all wag their tails.

As soon as I head off the porch, the cats know it is time for their food: one can of cat food for all ve cats to share. The whole gang of cats meow and run in front of me, scurrying under my feet. Every once in a while, one gets stepped on. It will shriek, sounding off to let me know I hurt its foot. I try to pet them as they eat so they are not afraid to be touched.

Next, it is the turkeys that see me. They start to walk over gobbling and making high-pitched peep sounds. They wait patiently while I ip out the ice in their water tub and give them a scoop of corn and chicken feed. If I have a leftover end of bread broken into pieces, they all pay close attention and dart to get the piece of bread before the next turkey can. Competition between them is erce, so I try to make sure I have enough for everyone.

Eventually, I make my way to the barn, but before I even get close, the lonely goose runs up fast in a loud goose-honking yell. She lost her duck friend last month to something that left a very messy crime scene. Owl, coyote or a fox are the suspects. There were feathers everywhere and some blood in the snow.

This goose is trying to tell me something, but it is hard to gure out. She aps her wings as she runs like she is going to attack me, but she stops and honks and puts her head low. I change her water in her pan and give her some of the chicken feed. I even take time to feed the heifers their 18% feed so she can eat some. She isn’t tempted. She hisses and follows me to the dairy barn. As she walks into the barn, the cows just look at her.

I can gure out what most animals want when they talk to me. Every morning and night, calves are very good at telling me they are hungry. Chickens have a different cluck when they are out of water or feed. The cows are good at letting me know they need to be milked, are hungry or just sharing a good morning moo.

When families and school groups visit, they all know the animal sounds. However, they don’t know the different tones of the sounds that each animal can make. As farmers, we know when a cow is sounding out in pain and when a calf makes its rst baby moo. The same goes for dogs with a happy bark or a growl. The chirp a chick makes when it

I do know animals have feelings and can sense our emotions. Many times, I have been comforted by our dogs, cats and cows. I have hugged a chicken, but it isn’t like hugging a calf or lamb. Maybe this goose is still mourning the loss of her duck friend, and she is just sad and lonely. I know I can relate to those feelings too. I don’t think I am brave

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Columnist

Musical state of mind

“Ain’t it funny how a melody can bring back a memory/ Take you to another place in time/ Completely change your state of mind, ” Clint Black, “State of Mind.”

I woke up this morning with these lyrics in my head, because they t my thoughts for this column perfectly.

I love music for its power to transport me to a different place and time in my memories, to make the stress melt away and to put me in a better mood. If I start out the day feeling a bit off, I can usually work myself into a better mood by turning on some tunes, singing loud and dancing. Kitchen dance parties are a sure-re way to improve a gloomy day – just ask my kids. I have a crazy good memory, so my attachments to songs are pretty strong and far more positive than negative.

When I hear Hank Williams’ “Hey, Good Lookin,’” I remember an old DHIA milk tester we had who would sing that song endlessly as we tested milk. I was always in the barn for test days because I knew the cows best.

I can instantly see the old feed cart with a sheet of plywood on top and all the milk meters in the cart to pull out and swap for a full sample.

“Just take those old records off the shelf,” from “Old Time Rock and Roll” already has me at a birthday party when I was 12, dancing with Grandpa Ike. He had some interesting moves: He kicked out a leg and the corresponding arm at the same time to the beat. It was an absolute riot. Most of those good oldies remind me of being about 13 years old, living in my “oldies” phase of music interest and milking cows in the tiestall barn with my dad. There’s also a memory of my uncles crouched around a campre making giant apjacks singing along with the oldies station. It’s as if a movie projector is clicking through memories in my head along with the songs on the radio: All the cows in their tie stalls, me dressed too old for my years at the birthday party, in my trademark red sweatshirt in the barn testing milk, waiting with my cousins for a warm apjack.

When the Oak Ridge Boys’ “Elvira” comes on, I’m back in sixth grade learning to do the Charleston with obnoxious boys singing the “Um-pah-pah-mow-mow” part. I hear “Eye of the Tiger” and I’m in high school again, doing the specially choreographed cheerleading dance (We are the Tigers here in Hillsboro.) for a pep rally. One time, the memory escaped my head and I started doing the dance moves in the kitchen. My boys gave me some seriously strange looks. The same thing happens with “I Like to Move It.” I’m a scrawny 16-year-old in an orange and black skirt doing the moves.

The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” inevitably makes me smile. I see my brothers serenading Aunt Sherry at her son’s wedding. For those familiar with this song, it is best sung with sunglasses and a guy in uniform. Tony and Peter had all the supplies. Tony was in his Marine uniform with sunglasses on and phone in hand with the lyrics in case they forgot them.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s “Workin’ Man” is one of the few songs I’ve ever heard Keith sing along to. I can always hear his voice in the chorus. Eddie Rabbit’s “I Love a Rainy Night” takes me back to those years of dating each other when Keith would come into the barn after he was done with the other chores, and if this was on (sometimes by request) we would two-step across the limed barn alley.

The opening words of “Cotton Eye Joe” puts me in a circle of cabin crew friends, high-kicking until we were too sweaty to go on.

I’m pretty good at recognizing a song by the rst couple measures of music, so my memory works just as fast at taking me back to a place in time. It can happen so fast sometimes, like a little musical vacation. Charlie Daniels Band’s “Drinkin’ My Baby Goodbye” and Alan Jackson’s “Chattahoochee” have my feet just itching to get up and nd the nearest competent swing dance partner. If not competent, at least one willing to learn the moves and attempt to keep up. Dan Obert’s haymow turned dance oor comes into view in my mind. I’m 20 years old, wearing well-tted Wrangler jeans, swinging, two-stepping, jitterbugging and just dancing all night amid the hay bale-lined wall.

The Bellamy Brothers’ “Redneck Girl” always makes me turn the radio up, and the feeling of being newly in love makes my heart smile. It was a song that Keith would always dance with me to in that haymow, and though I don’t consider myself too terribly old, it always makes me feel younger for a moment.

Occasionally, I turn on the polka station to ashback to simple Sundays when I was 17 and Tony was 6. When we got home from church, the country music station would be blaring those beautiful polkas. With the doors open, windows down and music turned up, it was there in the gravel driveway that I taught Tony how to polka.

There’s also “Peace Is Flowing Like a River” and “On Eagle’s Wings” from church that bring pictures to mind of all ve of us kids trying desperately to behave and stay awake during Mass.

Just writing this column has brought back many memories. I’m ready to start my day now with some songs in my head and a bit of dance in my step.

Jacqui and her family milk 800 cows and farm 1,200 acres of crops in the northeastern corner of Vernon County, Wisconsin. Her children, Ira, Dane, Henry and Cora, help her on the farm while her husband, Keith, works on a grain farm. If she’s not in the barn, she’s probably in the kitchen, trailing after little ones or sharing her passion of reading with someone. Her life is best described as organized chaos, and if it wasn’t, she’d be bored.

By Jacqui Davison Columnist

Ramblings from the Ridge

Signup set to open for Conservation Reserve Program

By Steve Frericks Stearns County FSA executive director

Agricultural producers and private landowners can begin applying for the Conservation Reserve Program Feb. 27 through April 7.

CRP is a cornerstone voluntary conservation program offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a key tool in the Biden-Harris administration’s effort to address climate change and help agricultural communities invest in the long-term well-being of their land and natural resources.

Producers and landowners enrolled more than 5 million acres into CRP in 2022, building on the acceptance of more than 3.1 million acres in the largest grassland CRP signup in history. There are currently 23 million acres enrolled in CRP, with 1.9 million set to expire this year. USDA’s Farm Service Agency FSA is aiming to reach the 27-million-acre cap statutorily set for scal year 2023.

General CRP

General CRP helps producers and landowners establish long-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees, to control soil erosion, improve water quality and enhance wildlife habitat on cropland. Additionally, general CRP includes a Climate-Smart Practice Incentive to help increase carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by helping producers and landowners establish trees and permanent grasses, enhance wildlife habitat and restore wetlands.

Timely report ownership, operator changes

Producers who are buying or selling agricultural land need to notify FSA as soon as possible following the transaction for timely update of FSA farm records.

To report an ownership change, provide either a copy of the recorded warranty deed or a contract for deed to FSA.

If you will be renting new land, FSA needs a copy of the lease before we can add you to the farm and/ or give you any information about the farms such as

maps, base acres, yields and ARC/PLC elections. If an operator is dropping rented land, we appreciate notication of those changes also for updating of records.

Producers who have transferred their land into a trust also need to report this ownership change to the FSA. To record an ownership change to a trust, the trust, grantors or trustee(s) need to provide a copy of the recorded deed to FSA.

Ownership changes involving land enrolled in CRP need to be reported to the FSA once the deed is recorded at the county ofce. Failure to report an ownership change (including land being transferred from an individual to a trust, etc.) for land enrolled in CRP could result in termination of the CRP contract and require a refund of all payments received under the applicable contract.

Timely reporting of ownership changes is appreciated. FSA is not notied by the county recorder’s ofce of these sales. In addition, notify FSA if a bank account has changed.

Streamline loan application process

FSA has developed a simplied direct loan application to provide an improved customer experience for producers applying for loans from FSA. Producers also have the option to complete an electronic llable form or prepare a traditional, paper application for submission to their local FSA ofce. The paper and electronic versions of the form will be available starting March 1.

Approximately 26,000 producers submit a direct loan application to the FSA annually, but there is a high rate of incomplete or withdrawn applications, due in part to a challenging and lengthy paper-based application process. This new application will help farmers and ranchers submit complete loan applications and reduce the number of incomplete, rejected or withdrawn applications.

In October 2022, USDA launched the Loan Assistance Tool, an online step-by-step guide that provides materials to help an applicant prepare their farm loan application in one tool. Farmers can access the Loan Assistance Tool by visiting farmers.gov/farm-loan-assistance-tool and clicking the “Get Started” button. A

version compatible with mobile devices is expected to be available by this summer.

The loan application and Loan Assistance Tool are the rst of multiple farm loan process improvements that will be available to USDA customers on farmers. gov.

Other improvements that are anticipated to launch in 2023 include an interactive online direct loan application that gives customers a paperless and electronic signature option along with the ability to attach supporting documents such as tax returns. An online direct loan repayment feature will relieve borrowers from the necessity of calling, mailing or visiting a USDA Service Center to pay a loan installment.

Finally, all direct loan borrowers will receive a letter from USDA describing the circumstances under which additional payments will be made to distressed borrowers and how they can work with their FSA local ofce to discuss these options. Producers can explore all available options on all FSA loan options at fsa. usda.gov or by contacting a USDA Service Center.

Foreign buyers notication

The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act requires all foreign owners of U.S. agricultural land to report their holdings to the Secretary of Agriculture. Foreign persons who have purchased or sold agricultural land in the county are required to report the transaction to FSA within 90 days of the closing. Failure to submit the AFIDA form could result in civil penalties of up to 25% of the fair market value of the property. County government ofces, realtors, attorneys and others involved in real estate transactions are reminded to notify foreign investors of these reporting requirements. The data gained from these disclosures is used in the preparation of periodic reports to the president and Congress concerning the effect of such holdings upon family farms and rural communities.

Farm Service Agency is an Equal Opportunity Lender. Complaints about discrimination should be sent to: Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., 20250. Visit www.fsa. usda.gov for necessary application forms and updates on USDA programs

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Seeing clearly

I remember when my mom started wearing glasses. My dad hooted and hollered about the fact her rst pair of glasses were bifocals. I didn’t understand what the big fuss was about until I repeated history.

I can clearly see the moment I realized I needed glasses. I was taking pictures of our kids as they marched in the Platte River Day Parade. I had a really nice camera and was able to zoom in on their faces. Yet as I looked through the view nder, the image was a bit fuzzy. Apparently the automatic focus wasn’t working right, so I slipped it off and manually adjusted the picture into focus and snapped away. When I got my pictures back from the developer, (Yes, the pictures were on lm.) I discovered

my problem. The rst “out of focus” pictures I took were as clear as day. The ones I manually manipulated were a bit fuzzy. The automatic focus was working just ne. It appeared my eyes were not. My rst pair of glasses would soon be bifocals too.

Mark and I have been stashing cheater glasses all over the farm for quite a while. There are glasses in all the tractors, trucks and skid loaders. There are at least four pair of glasses in the barn desk to nd breeding dates, sire codes and DHIA cell counts. We started asking why everything was printed in such small font. Apparently the only thing that was really changing was our eye sight.

I’ve adjusted to wearing glasses all the time now, but it sure has been a strong learning curve. Wearing glasses around the house is one thing. Wearing

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glasses in the barn is an entirely different thing. Going in and out of a warm humid barn during cold winter days presents the challenge of how to keep glasses from fogging up. I would get frustrated having to wait for my glasses to clear before I could see what I was doing. Instead of waiting, I pushed the glasses up on my head and out of my way as I nished bedding cow stalls. I only needed to wear them for close-up work. In general, I could see what I was doing without them. Once I was done bedding cows and ready to move to the next job, I realized I couldn’t nd my glasses. Apparently, they must have slipped off my head as I bent down to get the straw under a cow and fell in the gutter. It would take a miracle to nd them. I always imagined we would nd them on the head of a deer or fox out in the elds.

By Natalie Schmitt Columnist

Since then, I have been very careful to keep track of my glasses. I wish they were as easy to nd as my cell phone. I just call the number and the ring tone leads me to where I left it last. I can’t call my glasses. I wish there was some sort of tracking device for them, especially when I lose them during milking.

When I’m milking, I have to be vigilant in protecting my glasses from swinging tails. With a quick ick of a tail, my glasses have been known to y off my face. Once they landed in the feed aisle in front of the cows. Another time, I retrieved them next to my feet. The worst time was when we stopped milking for 20 minutes just to search for my lost glasses.

Chime swung her tail and ipped my glasses right off my face before I even realized what was happening. I heard a gentle plop, but because sounds are all the same direction for me, I couldn’t tell where they landed. Mark and I took off all the milking units and started to search under three cows on each side of Chime. We searched the feed aisle. We rummaged our hands through the gutter just in case. Nothing. Another lost pair of glasses. We started milking again and moved the milking cart forward to the next set of cows.

As I walked back to retrieve a milking unit, I was walking very gently just in case I might step on the lost glasses. Good thing I was cautious. As I stepped out of the stall with the unit, there were my glasses lying in the middle of the barn alley. They had landed under the milking cart, and we managed not to step on them in our search.

I guess the best way to keep track of my glasses is to break down and put those granny chains on my glasses that droop from my ears to behind my neck. This will probably be the only way to protect my glasses from being launched by a swinging tail.

I’m glad I can see clearly now, but I hope I can see with more than just my eyes. As Zig Ziglar said, “Always pray to have eyes that see the best in people, a heart that forgives the worst, a mind that forgets the bad and a soul that never loses faith in God.”

As their four children pursue dairy careers off the family farm, Natalie and Mark are starting a new adventure of milking registered Holsteins just because they like good cows on their farm north of Rice, Minnesota.

Just Thinking Out Loud

Our small, connected world

1950, the Ihrkes returned to Dover.

My grandpa’s youngest sister, Eileen, also settled down in southeastern Minnesota. After graduating from high school in Cromwell, Eileen moved back to Dover to work for Margie. She was reacquainted with Glenn Walters, a boy she had known from the Quincy one room school. They fell in love, got married, and took over Glenn’s family farm north of Dover.

Dairy Good Life

By Sadie Frericks Columnist

Good things happen when dairy farmers get together. Last week, several of us gathered for Minnesota Milk’s Annual Meeting, Dairy Dinner, and Dairy Day at the Capitol. Congratulations to the Mursu family – Tom, Tammy, Jeremy, and Vanessa – on their selection as Producer of the Year. They did a great job representing Minnesota’s dairy community at the Capitol.

During the ride from the Dairy Dinner back to the hotel, I was chatting with Marlys Hinckley of Chateld, Minn. She mentioned growing up in St. Charles, Minn. and followed with: “It’s a little town you’ve probably never heard of.”

“Well, actually, I have,” I replied. And then I shared a quick version of my family’s history:

My grandfather, Erwin Smith, was raised in southeastern Minnesota. My great-grandparents, Clarence and Ina (Kingsley) Smith, were raised in New Hartford Township, Winona County and Money Creek, Houston County, respectively.

At the time my grandfather was born in 1919, Clarence and Ina were farming near Stockton in Winona County. But, in the 1920s, Clarence and Ina lost their farm, likely due to the plummeting commodity prices and corresponding land values of that decade.

The Smiths family left their home in Stockton and moved to a farm in Trout Valley near Oak Ridge in Winona County. They farmed there on shares with the landowner. After three more children joined the family, bringing their crew to 11, they moved again to a different farm with a round barn near Quincy, farming 320 acres on shares and milking 25 cows.

Then, in the late 1930s, word came from Ina’s brother, Kenneth Kingsley, that there were farms for sale in northeastern Minnesota. Kenny had moved up north to work on road construction in Carlton County.

In September of 1941, Clarence and Ina packed up their family, four horses, two cows, and their belongings and relocated to Cromwell, Minnesota. They picked a farm near the highway because it was close to the new electric lines.

But one of my grandpa’s sisters, Marjorie, didn’t make the move. Margie, as we knew her, had already married an Olmsted County fellow by the name of George Ihrke, who she had met at the Dover Calf Show. George and Margie farmed together near Dover until 1945, when George was drafted into the war. Margie and their three young children moved in with Clarence and Ina while George was away. In

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When I was a kid, we often visited George and Margie and Glenn and Eileen. I always marveled at Glenn and Eileen’s farm because they had a milking parlor with glass pipeline. We usually stopped in Dover as part of a making-the-rounds trip that included a visit to my aunt and uncle’s home in northeast Iowa.

So, yes, I told Marlys, I’ve been through St. Charles many times.

And then the conversation got really interesting.

Marlys said, “Dale is related to the Ihrkes!”

“No way!” I said.

Dale, Marlys’s husband, conrmed: “Yep. My mother was George’s sister.”

Dale knew that most of his Aunt Margie’s family was from up north, but wasn’t aware the family had deep roots in southeastern Minnesota.

We all agreed that the world is smaller and more connected than we often think –especially in the farming community.

Telling my great-grandparents’ story made me reect on one of the comments Jeremy Mursu made in the Mursus’ Producer of the Year video.

“I’m thankful for my forefathers and their families. Each generation has put a lot of hard work and sacrice into continuing farming. Without what they’ve done, I probably wouldn’t be farming today,” Jeremy said.

I couldn’t agree more with Jeremy’s statement.

Clarence could have gone back to work in town after losing the farm. No doubt it would have been simpler than relocating his family and livestock multiple times – including half way across the state. But during the Great Depression of the 1930s, living on a farm provided many benets for a large family. And, as my elders tell me, Clarence loved farming and working with animals – enough to go wherever there was an opportunity to continue.

That love for farming and courage to strike out continue to dene my family. My grandpa and grandma bought their own farm. My dad and mom did the same. Glen and I bought our own farm – and relocated our livestock a quarter of the way across the state in the process.

It’s good to reect and it’s good to be grateful. I’m so glad Marlys mentioned St. Charles. And that Jeremy talked about being grateful for his forefathers. Thank you to Marlys and Jeremy and all of the other dairy farmers and dairy friends who gathered with us for a great two days together.

Sadie and her husband, Glen, milk 100 cows near Melrose, Minnesota. They have three children – Dan, Monika, and Daphne. Sadie also writes a blog at www. dairygoodlife.com. She can be reached at sadiefrericks@gmail.com

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