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SPRING CALF & HEIFER
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DAIRY ST R
March 26, 2022
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 24, No. 3
Moving toward progress Siemens relocate herd for better opportunities By Kati Kindschuh kati.k@dairystar.com
MERRILL, Wis. – Wanting to bring their son home to farm, Roy and Bridget Siemen were faced with a fork in the road. They were landlocked by neighboring farmers, and land prices were high near their farm in Cleveland. “At the time, the farm wasn’t big enough to nancially take on another full-time employee,” said Roy of his son, Tyler’s, return. “When Tyler graduated from tech school, we looked for a bigger place because it was cheaper to buy than it was to build.” In 2015, the Siemens loaded up their farm assets and moved to Merrill for a better opportunity for their future. Currently, the Siemens milk 280
cows and farm 1,100 acres of alfalfa, corn and soybean in Lincoln County. When Tyler was nishing his education at Fox Valley Technical College and had committed to farming full time with his family seven years ago, the decision was made to start looking for a different farm. Hoping to grow their herd size and add acreage, the Siemens found their currentday farm site with a 500-stall freestall barn, a double-8 herringbone parlor, calf barn and acreage. “Even though it was bigger than what we wanted, at that time there were not a lot of places available,” Roy said. Moving an entire herd was no simple feat and came with its fair share of challenges. “The biggest challenge was leaving a tiestall barn to a freestall barn and parlor,” Roy said. “It took some time for the cows to adjust. They adTurn to SIEMENS | Page 6
KATI KINDSCHUH/DAIRY STAR
Tyler, Bridget and Roy Siemen stand in their 250 cow freestall near Merrill, Wisconsin. The Siemens moved to the farm in 2017 in order to expand their farming business, allowing Tyler to farm full �me with his parents.
Promo�ng US dairy products in Dubai Levzow partakes in mission trip to help increase exports By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
The Levzow family – (from le�) Ken, Becky and Ralph – milk 150 registered Jerseys and Holsteins and farm 950 acres near Rio, Wisconsin. Becky went to Dubai last November with three other dairy farmers and staff from the U.S. Dairy Export Council to promote American dairy products.
RIO, Wis. – Becky Levzow had the experience of a lifetime in November 2021 when she visited the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. She was not there on vacation but traveled halfway around the world to help promote U.S. dairy products. The ve-day mission was packed with opportunities to shed light on the quality, diversity and abundance of American-made dairy foods. “It was an amazing and wonderful experience,” Levzow said. “Dubai is a place I never thought I’d see, and I was honored to go.” The trip was sponsored by Dairy Management Inc. and the United States Dairy Export Council. Levzow, three other dairy farmers – Larry Hancock, who milks 4,000 cows in Texas;
Marilyn Hershey, who milks 900 cows in Pennsylvania; and Alex Peterson, who milks 120 cows in Missouri – and USDEC staff made the 20-hour trip to Dubai. Local USDEC staff joined the group when they arrived. “We all come from family farms that practice sustainability, and this was a great opportunity for us to tell our story,” Levzow said. “It’s good for these countries to hear from farmers – who we are, what we are, what we do. We put a human face to our experience, and that goes far for our sales. I milk 150 cows, and Larry milks 4,000. But in the end, we all strive for quality and are devoted to animal care.” The trip’s goal was to increase dairy product exports into the Middle East by way of Dubai, a dynamic regional Turn to LEVZOW | Page 8