2022 NATIONAL HOLSTEIN CONVENTION Find out more about the convention starting on page 13 of the second section!
DAIRY ST R
April 23, 2022
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 24, No. 5
“I couldn’t see anything beyond the tractor’s hood. I had to use the tractor’s GPS system to nd my way back home from the other farm ...” – Luke Hintz
April blizzard ravages North Dakota
Hintz family grappled with heavy snow, high winds By Jerry Nelson
jerry.n@dairystar.com
FLASHER, N.D. – A mid-April blizzard roared across the northern Great Plains, blasting the region with heavy snow driven by hurricane-force winds. “It seemed as if Mother Nature was mad at us,” Bob Hintz said. “The wind was erce. It was trying to tear all of our buildings apart.” Bob and his wife, Debbie, and their sons, Luke and Mark, milk 250 Holsteins on their dairy farm located near Flasher in southwestern North Dakota. The Hintz family has four robots that handle the bulk of the milking on their farm. The Hintzes continue to milk a small number of cows in their milking parlor.
Luke said that Monday, April 11 was a beautiful day, 55 degrees and sunny with no outward signs a blizzard was brewing. By the morning of April 12, the ferocious winter storm was ravaging the Hintzes’ dairy farm. “I looked out the door on Tuesday morning at 6 a.m., and we had total whiteout conditions,” Bob said. “Travel was impossible. They closed (Interstate) 94 all the way from Billings, Montana, to Jamestown, North Dakota. The milk truck couldn’t make it to our farm for three days. Thankfully, we had enough milk storage to see us through. I think there may have been some dairies in the path of the storm that were forced to dump milk.” Blinding snow and high winds would continue to harass the Hintz farm and a vast swath of the surrounding region for three straight days. Luke said the family did what they could to prepare for the blizzard, fueling up tractors and skid loaders, mounting and servicing the snowblower Turn to HINTZ | Page 7
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Several calf huts are nearly buried by a three-day blizzard that hit the Hintz dairy farm near Flasher, North Dakota. The calves that had been in the huts were moved into the safety of a nearby barn shortly before the storm arrived April 12.
A kidney for Gabriel
Ryan family reects on journey to organ transplant By Kate Rechtzigel kate.r@dairystar.com
PHOTO SUBMITTED
The Ryan family – (from leŌ) Micayla, Isaac, Mabel holding Luke, Millie and Eric holding Gabriel – milk 200 cows near Goodhue, Minnesota. Gabriel is recovering aŌer having a kidney transplant last fall.
GOODHUE, Minn. − April is National Donate Life Month which is a special time for Eric and Micayla Ryan’s son, Gabriel, who received a kidney transplant September 2021. “He has this feistiness for life, he’s independent and really sweet,” Micayla said of their 2-year-old son. Eric agreed. “For all the struggles that he’s been through, he’s maintained a very high level of happiness,” he said. “He smiled through a lot of struggles and has been very inspiring to us and to many people.” Eric and Micayla farm with their children − Isaac, 7, Mabel, 6, Millie, 3, Gabriel, 2, and Luke, 3 days old − and Eric’s family. The family milks 200 cows and farms 350 acres of corn and alfalfa near Goodhue.
At Micayla’s 20-week ultrasound with Gabriel, the Ryans were told Gabriel had bilateral multicystic dysplastic kidney disorder. “Both of his kidneys were very full of cysts,” Eric said. “The diagnosis was fatal. Best case scenario, we were going to hold him for a few hours if he survived pregnancy.” In most cases, the baby passes away at 24 to 28 weeks gestation because there is no uid to develop the lungs, Eric said. “It was devastating,” Micayla said. Eric agreed. “People often asked me, ‘Why does God do this to good people?’ But the reality is, if God doesn’t allow bad things to happen, we’ll never fully realize how good life is,” he said. “So, we continued to remain hopeful, as there was just a tiny amount of uid left.”
Turn to RYANS | Page 6
Page 2 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022
DAIRY ST R www.dairystar.com
ISSN 020355 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave. Sauk Centre, MN 56378 Phone: (320) 352-6303 Fax: (320) 352-5647 Published by Dairy Star LLC General Manager/Editor Mark Klaphake - mark.k@dairystar.com 320-352-6303 (ofce) 320-248-3196 (cell) 320-352-0062 (home) Ad Composition Nancy Powell 320-352-6303 nancy.p@dairystar.com Editorial Staff Jennifer Coyne - Assistant Editor (320) 352-6303 • jenn@dairystar.com Danielle Nauman - Staff Writer (608) 487-1101 • danielle.n@dairystar.com Stacey Smart - Staff Writer (262) 442-6666 • stacey.s@dairystar.com Abby Wiedmeyer - Staff Writer 608-487-4812 • abby.w@dairystar.com Kate Rechtzigel - Staff Writer 507-696-9213 • kate.r@dairystar.com Maria Bichler - Copy Editor 320-352-6303 Consultant Jerry Jennissen 320-346-2292 Advertising Sales Main Ofce: 320-352-6303 Fax: 320-352-5647 Deadline is 5 p.m. of the Friday the week before publication Sales Manager - Joyce Frericks 320-352-6303 • joyce@dairystar.com Bob Leukam (Northern MN, East Central MN) 320-260-1248 (cell) bob.l@star-pub.com Mark Klaphake (Western MN) 320-352-6303 (ofce) 320-248-3196 (cell) Laura Seljan (National Advertising, SE MN) 507-250-2217 fax: 507-634-4413 laura.s@dairystar.com Jerry Nelson (SW MN, NW Iowa, South Dakota) 605-690-6260 jerry.n@dairystar.com Mike Schafer (Central, South Central MN) 320-894-7825 mike.s@dairystar.com Amanda Hoeer (Eastern Iowa) 320-250-2884 • amanda.h@dairystar.com Megan Stuessel (Western Wisconsin) 608-387-1202 • megan.s@dairystar.com Kati Kindschuh (Northeast WI and Upper MI) 920-979-5284 • kati.k@dairystar.com Deadlines The deadline for news and advertising in the Dairy Star is 5 p.m. Friday the week before publication. Subscriptions One year subscription $40.00, outside the U.S. $200.00. Send check along with mailing address to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378. Advertising Our ad takers have no authority to bind this newspaper and only publication of an advertisement shall constitute nal acceptance of the advertiser's order. Letters Letters and articles of opinion are welcomed. Letters must be signed and include address and phone number. We reserve the right to edit lengthy letters. The views and opinions expressed by Dairy Star columnists and writers are not necessarily those of the Dairy Star / Star Publications LLC.
The Dairy Star is published semi-monthly by Star Publications LLC, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246. Periodicals Postage Paid at Sauk Centre, MN and additional mailing ofces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246.
America dealers. MN lawmakers press for dairy North market access
Dairy Prole brought to you by your MN lawmakers press for dairy market access Members of the Minnesota congressional delegation are calling on the Biden administration to reject Canada’s recent dairy trade proposals. A letter was sent to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to demand the market access included within the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council applauded this action.
Milk check remains strong World Agricultural Outlook Board chairman Mark Jekanowski said the milk price remains strong. “Class III prices are up this month again by $1.20 per hundredweight; what’s happening there is very strong cheese prices are offsetting the slight reduction in pricing,” he said. The all-milk price is forecasted at $25.80 cwt. That is up more than $7 cwt from 2021. April supply demand estimates released The U.S. Department of Agriculture has increased its 2022 milk production forecast, boosted by an increase in cow numbers. Higher cheese prices offset a lower whey price, which was reected in the increase in the Class III milk price forecast of $22.75 cwt. GHG emissions drop in 2020 Greenhouse gas emissions declined 9% in 2020 due largely to the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on travel and economic activity. The EPA reports methane emissions from beef cattle declined slightly. Emissions related to dairy cattle increased marginally. Emissions from all U.S. livestock represent less than 3% of all greenhouse gas emissions nationwide.
Biden administration unveils plan to improve trucker shortage Supply chain disruptions during the pandemic highlighted the need for more truck drivers in the United States. According to U.S. TransportaAg Insider tion Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the U.S. is short about 80,000 truck drivers. To improve the situation, the Biden administration wants to boost registered apprenticeships, take a closer look at truck leasing rates, explore ways to increase truck driver pay, safety and make improvements to infrastructure. “These actions will help us recruit more drivers and, just as importantly, retain them to help By Don Wick keep down shipping delays and Columnist reign in the price of goods at a time when we’re ghting ination with everything we’ve got,” Buttigieg said. The Biden administration is also trying to make the job appeal to more veterans, women and drivers of color. Senators want ag trade nominees named soon Senate Agriculture Committee leaders Debbie Stabenow and John Boozman, along with Senate Finance Committee ranking member Mike Crapo, sent a letter to President Biden. The leaders asked Biden to quickly nominate a chief agriculture negotiator at the Ofce of the United States Trade Representative and an undersecretary for trade and foreign ag affairs at USDA. The former Chief Agricultural Negotiator nominee, Elaine Trevino, withdrew her
Turn to AG INSIDER | Page 5
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022 • Page 3
Sturgeon Lake, MN
Klejeski’s document life on their dairy First Section: Pages 8 - 9
Millerville, MN
Butter still a staple at Millerville creamery
Bloomington, MN
Oschner encourages producers at DCHA conference First Section: Pages 12 - 13
First Section: Page 10
Faribualt, MN
Claremont, MN
Garnavillo, IA
Wilsons are Clayton County Outstanding Young Dairy Producer
Goelz family grateful for their transition Second Section: Pages 6 - 7
First Section: Page 31
First Section: Pages 26 - 27
First Section: Pages 23, 25
Maple Lake, MN
Dairy Prole: Chappuis family
Clover Glen Farms receives Minnesota PDCA Distinguished Breeder award
Altura, MN
Sioux Falls, SD
Speltzes use variety of animals to educate community
Panelists discuss pros, cons at CPDE
Second Section: Page 17
Third Section: Pages 3 - 4
FROM OUR SIDE OF THE FENCE:
For additional stories from our other zone, log on to www.dairystar.com
When do you think you will get into the eld this year? First Section: Pages 15 - 16
Zone 1
Zone 2
Columnists Ag Insider Pages 2, 5 First F Section
Something S to Ruminate On Page 37 First Fi Section
Dea County Dear Ag Agent Guy P Page 36 First Firs Section
Hull, IA Watertown, SD
Jus Thinking Just O Out Loud Page 38 F First ir Section
Dairy Good Life Page 39 First Section
The “Mielke” Market Weekly Pages 8 - 9 Second Section
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Page 4 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022 • Page 5
ConƟnued from AG INSIDER | Page 2
nomination for the position in March. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack told reporters last month it has been difcult to nd a candidate for the undersecretary position. Senate Agriculture Committee hosting rst 2023 farm bill hearing The Senate Agriculture Committee will host their rst 2023 farm bill eld hearing Friday, April 29. Committee chair Debbie Stabenow will host the hearing in Michigan. A eld hearing is being planned in Arkansas with ranking member John Boozman.
MN Senate, House differ on budget surplus plans Minnesota lawmakers are pushing forward on the supplemental budget and tax bills. Minnesota AgriGrowth Lobbyist Cory Bennett said there are differing views in both chambers on what to do with the $9.25 billion budget surplus. “On the Senate side, a lot of those dollars are prioritized for tax cuts,” Bennett said. “I think their tax plan is about $8 billion. Conversely, I think the House’s target for taxes is about $3 billion. They are moving in different directions regarding how they want to prioritize those bills between investments, the supplemental budget and tax cuts.” A few policy priorities considered earlier in the session, like E15, are expected to be punted into the next legislative session. “I think we can all agree this is something that will be coming back and the discussion will be continued,” he said. No deal yet on MN disaster relief Minnesota lawmakers could not reach an agreement on a drought relief package before leaving for spring break. With their return, lawmakers from both chambers will meet in conference. House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee chairman Mike Sundin said the differences will be ironed out. “We’ll talk about how much money will go to agriculture and how much will go to the Department of Natural Resources,” Sundin said. Rep. Deb Kiel said livestock producers needed this help a long time ago. “It’s really important for us to make sure it happens,” Kiel said.
Thompson to return to her home state Minnesota State Veterinarian Dr. Beth Thompson will soon take over as South Dakota’s new state veterinarian. Thompson’s last day working in Minnesota will be May 8. Minnesota’s Assistant Director Dr. Linda Glaser will serve as the interim state veterinarian starting May 9. Tractor, combine sales declined in March According to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, tractor and combine sales declined in March. Tractor sales were down 21% while combine sales were off 10%, marking the rst decline in sales since last July. AEM said 100-plus horsepower, two-wheel drive tractors were the only segment to show an increase with sales up 7%. Mid-range tractors were down 14%, and four-wheel drive tractor sales were down 2%. The sub-40 horsepower tractors saw the largest decline, down 25.5%. Zoetis launches online tool Partnering with Holstein Association USA, Zoetis has introduced the Enlight 2.0 online management tool. This tool features additional functionality and is designed to help dairy farmers gain more value from their investment in genetic testing. “Innovation never stops,” said Jason Osterstock, vice president of precision animal health with Zoetis. “It’s all about how do we help provide a comprehensive solution to address our challenges and ultimately create a protable cow.” Trivia challenge Baskin-Robbins is the ice cream company known for offering 31 avors. That answers our last trivia question. For this week’s trivia, what do the letters bST stand for? We will have the answer in the next edition of Dairy Star. Don Wick is owner/broadcaster for the Red River Farm Network, based in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Wick has been recognized as the National Farm Broadcaster of the Year and served as president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Don and his wife, Kolleen, have two adult sons, Tony and Sam, and ve grandchildren, Aiden, Piper, Adrienne, Aurora and Sterling.
Correction
In the April 9 issue of Dairy Star, Monica Kramer McConkey was misidentied in the article, “Creating a lasting legacy.” Dairy Star regrets the error.
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Ephraim I. Martin - Sheridan, MI In January of 2021 I was seeing something that I didn’t like in my cows. The cows were performing well, 80# of milk 4.20% BF 3.20% Pro but I was seeing a fair amount of corn in the manure. My HMC was drier than I like it and a bit too coarse. I had been watching the adverƟsements from RECAL Microbials for someƟme and thought I’d call them. So, I called and talked to Jamie and he didn’t push anything, he just simply told me about their products and oīered me a thirty-day free trial. But Jamie said he wanted to come to my farm and take a look at my diet, not that he wanted to change my diet, just so he knew what kind of diet we are working with, take a look at my forages, cows and manure. So, I said when can you come. A few days later Jamie came to the farm. He did a very thorough evaluaƟon. He noƟced that I was mixing feed for more cows than I was milking. He checked the dry maƩers on my forages and noƟced that they were oī a fair amount and corrected them for me. We were walking the cows and Jamie was poinƟng things out in the manure. He looks at the manure very close. He noƟced that there was some inconsistency from pile to pile, a fair amount of undigested Įber and corn. Jamie then went on to tell me about the RECAL and the diīerence between the three diīerent products and how the free thirty-day trial works. At that point I decided I wanted to try the RECAL PLUS SS, what did I have to lose with the thirty-day free trial???? But Jamie told me that he wouldn’t start me on the RECAL at that Ɵme because of my dry maƩers being oī. What we needed to do was give the cows a week or two and see how they adjusted to the change in dry maƩer and then start the RECAL. Never do two things at once. So, we made the dry maƩer adjustments and waited two weeks to start to RECAL PLUS SS. In those two weeks I gained two pounds of milk, BF dipped a liƩle and I was mixing for the correct number of cows and all we did was adjust the dry maƩers on the forages, but the manure didn’t change. Then we started on the RECAL PLUS SS. Within three days I was seeing a diīerence in the manure, it was more consistent and creamier with less undigested Įber and corn. Within seven days I saw a lot less corn and Įber. Intakes stayed the same but milk was up three pounds while BF & PRO stayed the same but MUNS went to 13 and I pulled some protein out. I was seeing stronger heats too. Milk conƟnued to climb as Ɵme went on and was able to hold 90#-92# with 4.00% BF and 3.00%-3.20% PRO most of 2021. I had been feeding a toxin binder and yeast prior to feeding the RECAL but pulled them out aŌer seeing the results of the RECAL PLUS SS. I also started feeding the RECAL PLUS to my dry cows and I must say that the cows do transiƟon beƩer at freshening. They take oī beƩer, less issues, milk beƩer, peak higher, hold their peak longer and breed back beƩer. I also started feeding the RECAL CALF POWDER to my calves and I just don’t get sick calves anymore and the calves are so much livelier. I told Jamie I wish I would have started feeding the RECAL ten years sooner. Jamie will tell you that not every farm is the same and doesn’t see the same results. But with the deal he oīers what do you have to lose??? I for one am glad I called Jamie to Įnd out more about the RECAL. My family and I milk about 120 cows near Sheridan, MI.
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Page 6 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022
ConƟnued from RYANS | Page 1
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At 37 weeks, Micayla had a cesarean section to deliver Gabriel. “We thought we might have a good chance of life seeing as there was uid during the lung development stage,” Eric said. “But we didn’t know what to expect. We kept asking God for a miracle.” On March 17, 2020, Gabriel was born. He spent 56 days in the neonatal intensive care unit at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. They placed a catheter for dialysis within a week because his kidneys were terminal. During surgery for the placement of the catheter, he developed an infection. “There’s only like a 1% chance of infection, and it almost killed him,” Eric said. Shortly after, they started dialysis to ght the infection, and Gabriel was on dialysis for the rst ve weeks of life. They then found that Gabriel’s kidneys could function well enough without dialysis, and his disease could be managed through his diet. “For the rst year, the ultimate goal was to get him to 10 kilos because we knew his kidneys would fail, it was just a matter of when,” Eric said. They fed him through a nasogastric tube for the rst few months and then fed him through a gastrostomy tube so they could manage his diet and get him ready for a kidney transplant. “Gabriel really taught us how valuable it is to live one day,” Eric said. Micayla agreed. “During his rst 18 months, it was just a lot of managing him daily,” she said. “Every day could have gone downhill or not. He was very volatile. When we had good weeks, good months, it was awesome. … We all worked really hard to keep food in him and trucked him back and forth to Mayo Clinic. He threw up and was dehydrated a lot.” In January 2021, Eric registered for the Kidney for Life initiative program to try and donate his kidney to Gabriel. “However, my kidney was 14 centimeters long, and the average kidney is like 10 centimeters,” Eric said. “So, we signed up for the donor program and looked for an adult female kidney which would t better in a baby.” On Sept. 15, 2021, Gabriel was given a transplant from a woman of North Carolina. Eric then donated his kidney to someone from North Dakota on the same day. “The surgeon was happy to be able to have them on beds right next to each other so he could take the kidney out and place it right into Gabriel,” Eric said of the woman’s transplant to Gabriel. After the transplant, Gabriel is on medications to resist rejection of the new kidney and is fed through a gastrostomy tube. But, he is starting to swallow and learn how to eat orally. “You can tell food tastes better to him now, and he began walking within a few weeks of getting the kidney,” Eric said. Micayla agreed. “He’s happier and can get colds now
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Gabriel Ryan recovers aŌer having kidney transplant surgery Sept. 15, 2021. and doesn’t get dehydrated like he used to,” she said. On the farm, Eric does all of the feeding of the cows and calves, breeding and other herd management tasks. “During Gabriel’s rst two months of life, we had to change the time structure of everything,” Eric said. “We began milking at 3 a.m. and nished by 7 a.m. so we could get down to Rochester every day. That’s just really been a blessing, and we haven’t switched back because now I can see the kids get on the bus in the morning and in the evenings.” The day before transplant surgery, 30 family and friends helped chop corn for silage and cover the pile. “It was pretty cool, and they continued to feed us for three months afterward,” Eric said. “We are very grateful, thankful and appreciative of everything they have done for us.” Through all of Gabriel’s treatments, the family found strength in their faith. “We really began a search for a true relationship with God,” Eric said. “We changed our life to practice all moralities and truths of the Catholic Church, began a continuous study with Christianity and found Christ to come alive within us. As Fulton Sheen said, ‘Sometimes the only way into a man’s heart is to break it,’ and that’s what God needed to do with me.” As the Ryans reect on their journey as both donors and recipients, and especially during this month of awareness for organ donations, they are happy Gabriel received the transplant he needed, and Eric was able to help another in the process. “Life, in general, is a lot more valuable when you are willing to give your time, energy and gifts away,” Eric said. “If you use it all for yourself, there’s not nearly as much joy.”
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022 • Page 7
ConƟnued from HINTZ | Page 1 they hadn’t used since 2019. “The weather went from sunshine to the North Pole in one day,” he said. On Monday he gave the milking herd three days’ worth of feed. “That was the best thing I did, because mixing feed in that wind would have been extremely challenging,” he said. “The milk cows had it good during the blizzard. They had plenty to eat and were inside where it was nice and cozy.” The youngstock are housed 5 miles away on an additional farm site. Bob said there’s a highway bridge to cross to get to the other farm. “Snowdrifts had lled the bridge up to the tops of the guardrails” he said. “The boys blew it out with the snowblower so they could get through and feed the cattle. When they returned 45 minutes later, the bridge was completely blocked again. You couldn’t even tell that they had been there.”
Luke said the blowing snow caused zero visibility. “I couldn’t see anything beyond the tractor’s hood,” he said. “I had to use the tractor’s GPS system to nd my way back home from the other farm because it was impossible to see where the road was. It was a nerve-wracking experience because I had to put all of my trust in what was on the GPS screen.” He guessed they received two-feet of snow. A neighbors’ weather device that recorded a peak wind speed of 74 mph during the blizzard.” Luke and his wife, Chelsea, were married last summer and live in a trailer home on the farm. “My wife’s car, which was parked on the west side of our trailer, was totally buried under a snowbank,” Luke said. The Hintz farm never lost electrical service throughout the blizzard. In 2012, in the wake of a devastating ice storm,
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Luke Hintz uses a skid loader to dig out a bag of silage in the aŌermath of a midApril blizzard at his family’s farm near Flasher, North Dakota. The Hintzes were grateful to receive the moisture that the storm brought despite the fact that it arrived in the form of snow.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
The Hintz family – (from leŌ) Mark, Bob, Debbie, Rose,Chelsea and Luke – milks 250 cows on their farm in Flasher, North Dakota. the Hintzes went without electricity for 26 consecutive days. As luck would have it, they had purchased a standby generator that was large enough to power their dairy and their home. Despite all of the problems the blizzard caused, the Hintz family is glad to receive the moisture even in the form of snow. Bob said because the frost is out of the ground the moisture should all soak into the soil if the snow melts slowly. “But because of the high winds we had during the blizzard, there’s hardly any snow left out in the elds,” he said. “It seems like much of the snow ended up where we don’t want it, in our shelter belts and on our farmsteads. I would say that our snow depth ranges from nearly nothing to 20 feet.” The Hintz family farms about 1,200 acres of corn, alfalfa, oat and barley. All of their crops are used as feed for their cattle. Luke said the blizzard was the biggest moisture event they’ve had in two years. The family’s silage corn went 3 to
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6 tons per acre. The crop insurance adjustor said that the small grains yielded half a bushel to 2 bushels per acre, Luke said. “We received only ve inches of snow this past winter,” Luke said. “We were beginning to wonder if we should even plant anything in the dry dirt. The moisture from this snow is enough to at least give us some hope.” Bob said despite the hardships of the storm, he is grateful their livestock lived through the blizzard. “Our sons are only in their 20s, so they haven’t experienced a blizzard like this one,” he said. “We’ve had so many open winters over the past few years, so this is something new for them. I’m glad they got to see for themselves what it’s like to go through a major winter storm like those I’ve told them about. It’s April and the sun is at a high angle and the snow will soon melt. We hope that this blizzard is a sign that more moistureproducing weather events will be coming our way.”
Page 8 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022
Farming with YouTube
Klejeskis document life on their dairy By Grace Jeurissen grace.j@star-pub.com
STURGEON LAKE, Minn. – When Alan Klejeski started milking cows in 2006, the thought of sharing their life online was not even a consideration. Now, the Klejeskis upload multiple videos per week to show their day-to-day life on Trinity Dairy. Alan and Jennifer Klejeski milk 30 cows and farm 310 acres near Sturgeon Lake with their ve children. They started their YouTube channel, Trinity Dairy, Jan. 4, 2020. “We are the epitome of a family farm; every cow has a name, the kids are running around, and everyone helps,” Jennifer said. “I think our viewers really connected with that.” A unique aspect of Trinity Dairy is their utilization of older farm equipment and their variety of dairy breeds. Alan went to school for automotive mechanics before starting the dairy on his grandfather’s farm. His background in mechanics allows the Klejeskis to utilize older equipment on their farm, because that equipment is also what Alan grew up using. “We will get comments on our videos from younger kids and farmers
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Jennifer and Alan Klejeski sit together and reect on farm life while recording a video for YouTube on their farm near Sturgeon Lake, Minnesota. The Klejeskis began documenƟng life on their 30-cow dairy in January 2020.
asking where our GPS is for planting the elds,” Alan said. “I sometimes forget that many of the young farm kids grew up with brand new equipment.” Jennifer said they share every aspect of the farm, from tractor problems to cows having a difcult time calving.
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“Our channel has allowed us to become more personable with our audience,” she said. The Klejeski family’s growing presence on YouTube has put them in the limelight and brought the battle of misinformation and activist groups to their attention. “We had a viewer comment to
us that he just saw a clip of us in an animal rights activist video,” Jennifer said. “I started panicking a little, because the video we put out on articial insemination explained in detail that it wasn’t a harmful practice and that we do it to benet the herd.” Turn to KLEJESKIS | Page 9
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022 • Page 9
ConƟnued from KLEJESKIS | Page 8
Alan agreed. “That instance brought to our attention that it’s better for us to tell our own story rather than someone else, because chances are they won’t tell it right,” he said. The channel started as a way for the Klejeskis to address common myths about the dairy community, and after a shout out from another YouTube channel, their following grew and grew some more. The Trinity Dairy channel has more than 18,000 subscribers and more than 4.5 million views. The channel has also created a second
“People are following along with our farm, watching it grow and improve. More people need to share their farm stories.” ALAN KLEJESKI, DAIRY FARMER
source of income on the farm which has brought Jennifer back home to work as the video editor and teacher for the kids. “With the milk price where it was when we started the channel, I was working off the farm,” she said. “I would come home to milk and catch up with what the kids were doing on top of editing videos. Once we started getting a monthly check from the channel, it became a second income, and I was able to come back to the
farm.” The Klejeskis are grateful for the opportunity their videos have given them to get the kids involved on the farm and for both Jennifer and Alan to watch them grow up on the farm. One of the videos that received attention was Alan’s father, Leonard’s, draft horses. Something Leonard mentioned when the channel was rst starting was how much he would like to stay out of the camera. After hearing how much interest the farm had, they convinced him to do a video with his horses, which received more than 640,000 views. The camera has become a part of each family member’s life, and even the kids will walk by and make a funny face during lming. “It has now become a thing when the kids are farming with their toys, they pretend to have video cameras in their hands,” Jennifer said. The name Trinity Dairy has brought up many questions from the channel’s viewers. Alan said the explanation of the matter is rather simple. “In a sense of the word, we are paying homage to the many blessings we have had and prayers we have had answered on our farm,” Alan said. “We end every video saying, ‘Thank you for watching and God bless.’” Jennifer agreed. “We used to be NorthStar Dairy, but when we started registering some of our cows, that prex was already taken,” she said. “So, after pondering many options for names, we agreed that we need to pay tribute to our faith and how much we rely on God’s
“DHIA is a great tool to help keep our dairy profitable.” What are some of the DHIA tests you use?
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Leonard Klejeski uses his two Belgian horses in a video of the Klejeskis’ farm near Sturgeon Lake, Minnesota. One of the rst videos posted of Leonard and his team of horses drew 640,000 views.
blessings.” The channel has helped more than just the Klejeskis. One instance gave them afrmation to continue the lming. “We were contacted by a viewer who had been a New York City rst responder for many years,” Jennifer said. “He explained that he has posttraumatic stress disorder, and when he has attacks, he watches our videos to calm himself down. He had grown up on a family farm just like ours.” This platform has given the Klejeskis a community of people to
call friends. Alan can often be found talking on the phone with people who have become acquaintances because of the channel. “People are following along with our farm, watching it grow and improve,” Alan said. “More people need to share their farm stories.” Jennifer agreed. “We can’t assume people know what we are doing on the farm, and we need to be more transparent with people to build trust,” she said.
Footbath DOSING SYSTEM
We use the BASE DHIA testing as well as the Dairy Elisa checking for pregnancy. Which is your favorite test and why? We don’t have a favorite. All the information that we get from DHIA is utilized to make decisions on our dairy.
How does testing with DHIA beneÀt your dairy operation? We see many beneÀts from the information we get from DHIA testing on our farm. We closely monitor the somatic cell count of individual cows to keep the quality of the milk we sell at its best. Management decisions are also based on the results we get from using DHIA testing. The great amount of data that comes back to us in reports each month guide us in breeding, culling and many other decisions on our dairy. DHIA is a great tool to help keep our dairy proÀtable.
Tell us about your farm. We milk around 100 cows in a double-10 New Zealand style swing parlor. Our cows are housed in hoop barns, with most of the cows being in the barn with sand free stalls. We have four grown children who all helped out as they were growing up. Our youngest son, Ethan, graduated from SDSU last May and is working with Ecolab and also on the farm. He wants to come back and take over the operation. We also have a full-time worker and a parttime worker. We raise all of our youngstock and farm Dean and Elizabeth Johnson 320 acres of corn, soybeans Johnson Dairy and alfalfa. We have recently 100 cows • Heron Lake, Minnesota began using cover crops in Testing DHIA for 41 years our operation.
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Page 10 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022
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Co-op known for batchmade dairy product By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
MILLERVILLE, Minn. – Not much draws attention to a rural town quite like butter does to Millerville. For 93 years, the Millerville Cooperative Creamery has made 1-pound blocks of butter for customers near and far to enjoy. “People come from all over for our butter, some from Alaska and Montana,” Deidre Hubbard said. “It really speaks for itself.” Hubbard is the creamery’s general manager. While not an operating creamery in the normal sense of the word, Millerville Cooperative Creamery continues on a tradition the business was founded on in the 1900s. Every two weeks, Hubbard’s husband, Eric, embarks on the three-day process of making butter. The creamery purchases cream from Land O’Lakes in Melrose, which is then hauled to the Millerville location as the start of the rst day of production. Cream is placed in a batch pasteurizer where it is brought to a high temperature and held for 30 minutes, then allowed to cool overnight. “That long process gives the cream a sweeter taste,” Hubbard said. “It’s what makes Millerville butter Millerville butter.” Hubbard explained how most butter is produced with a high-temperature short-time pasteurization and continuous churn system where upwards of 20,000 pounds of butter can be produced in an hour. In Hubbard’s facility, the process reconvenes on day two, when the pasteurized cream is pumped into a churn. At that moment, the liquid is churned until it has the consistency of popcorn. On average, that part of the process takes about an hour, depending on the fat content of the cream, Hubbard said. Then, the buttermilk is drained and salt is added, and the churning continues until the butter becomes creamy. From there, the butter is taken out of the churn by hand and placed into 90-pound stainless steel frames to set overnight. The next day, the butter is removed from the frames, cut into 1-pound blocks, and wrapped and boxed for retail. “We’re fortunate that one person can do it all,” Hubbard said. “Once we get to the cutting and wrapping, though, we do have two or three additional people helping.” Each batch generates about 1,100 pounds of butter to be sold in the creamery’s storefront and 45 additional locations across the state and Fargo, North Dakota. During the creamery’s busy season, they ramp up
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Eric Hubbard makes buƩer using 90-pound stainless steel frames at Millerville CooperaƟve Creamery in Millerville, Minnesota. The buƩer-making process takes three days.
JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
Deidre Hubbard shows the 1-pound blocks of butter made at Millerville CooperaƟve Creamery April 8 in Millerville, Minnesota. The creamery has made batch-made buƩer for 93 years. production and make butter almost weekly. “What we do here brings us a lot of pride and it’s something we absolutely love,” Hubbard said. “We know it’s a great product, and with word of mouth, it’s crazy to hear how many others think so too.” Butter production increases a bit to accommodate a busy season during the summer months and typically goes until the end of the year. “Then, the area lls with vacationers and it’s the season of grilling and corn on the cob,” Hubbard said. “These families have grown up on Millerville butter.” In 2018, when Hubbard began in her position, the creamery made about 13,000 pounds of butter during the course of the year. The growth has been unprecedented with upward of 32,000 pounds of butter produced by the end of last year with consumer demand nearly tripling. “People are calling about our butter,” Hubbard said. “It’s our cooperative’s biggest area of growth and an area we plan to expand on.” In its early years, the creamery was producing butter in masses with at least two batches made each day. At the time, the butter was made from milk supplied by the creamery’s farmer owners. Unfortunately, the creamery’s separator broke down 25 years ago which gave way to purchasing cream. In 2017, the creamery completely stopped taking in milk from patrons. “Our hope is to build a butter plant in the future,” Hubbard said. “Then, we could bring in milk to make butter from our farmer owners.” The creamery is comprised of a diverse group of member owners, with only about 3.5% being active dairy farmers. In 2020, the cooperative became certied to allow anyone to become an owner, farmer or otherwise. With the limited dairy farming community in the area, the creamery has also specialized in automobile mechanics and agronomy. It most recently became a True Value hardware store. “We’ve always been a dairy cooperative, but as we lose dairy farms and are not replacing them, we had to get creative to bring more back into our community,” Hubbard said. As Hubbard and her team think about the future of Millerville Cooperative Creamery, she knows one thing is for certain. Despite the changing demographics of their rural western Minnesota community, butter will remain a staple and tell a story of dairy farmers. “We value all of our farmers,” Hubbard said. “They are the reason for our existence and without them we wouldn’t be here, and Millerville butter wouldn’t be what it is today.”
Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022 • Page 11
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Page 12 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022
Navigating change: Anticipating, innovating, allocating
Oschner encourages producers at DCHA conference By Kate Rechtzigel kate.r@dairystar.com
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. − Over the past year, farmers have been faced with many challenges such as the coronavirus pandemic, food shortages and increasing gas and fuel prices. “We are living in some very volatile and uncertain times,” Kevin Oschner said. Oschner is the president of Agcellerate Consulting Company and the host of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association television program, “Cattlemen to Cattlemen.” He also farms with his family on their beef ranch near Kersey, Colorado. Oschner presented, “Navigating the road to the future,” at the Dairy Calf and Heifer Association conference April 13 in Bloomington. “The reality is we all deal with change, and I think we have two options for how we approach it,” Oschner said. “We can panic, focus on the problems, throw a pity party and become absolutely paralyzed to any
action in progress; or, we can pause, brainstorm the possibilities, pivot and commit ourselves to prevail. The fact of the matter is our decisions drive these outcomes.” When looking at the future of the dairy industry, high input costs, labor shortages and packing constraints are a few of the obstacles farmers will face in their dairy businesses. As farmers consider these, Oschner provided three ways any company or organization can navigate change, by anticipating, innovating and allocating. “Anticipate how the changing landscape is going to impact our business, ask questions and imagine new ways of doing things,” he said. “We also need innovation in the agricultural industry at large. And ultimately, how do we allocate, or where are we going to put our chips?” Oschner said the key to being a successful dairy farmer is to anticipate consequences. “Can you anticipate consequences in your business?” Oschner said. “As strategic planners, we have to navigate turns in the road.” As an example outside of the dairy industry, Oschner spoke of Microsoft and its near-miss with internet. The technology company realized the impact the internet would have on their
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KATE RECHTZIGEL/DAIRY STAR
Kevin Oschner presents “NavigaƟng the road to the future,” at the Dairy Calf and Heifer AssociaƟon’s conference April 13 in Bloomington, Minnesota. Oschner is the president of Agcellerate ConsulƟng Company and the host of the NaƟonal CaƩlemen’s Beef AssociaƟon television program, “CaƩlemen to CaƩlemen” and farms with his family on their beef ranch near Kersey, Colorado.
business and proceeded to adapt to that change. As farmers, the need to adapt to change is not all that different. “You have to hire a lot of right
people who think in a lot of different ways and then you got to be able to identify the right challenge and put Turn to DCHA | Page 13
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ConƟnued from DCHA | Page 12
The other large challenge Oschner sees the industry facing is labor. A survey from Purdue University reported that 66% of agricultural employers are having difculty in nding workers to ll the job. Oschner said farmers have to be willing to be innovative. “For example, the beef on dairy process,” he said. “Farmers took a creative thought such as putting beef embryos in dairy … and put value in that.” There are ve common skills among innovators, said Oschner. Those individuals associate, question, observe, experiment and network. “Get out and network, allow your minds to be challenged. We “People want to feel can learn from people we diswith,” Oschner said. “If good about what they agree you want to be innovative, be willing to ask tough questions.” eat. In fact, when Farmers need to have a clear producers think about vision for their dairy business and provide the appropriate sustainability, they amount of time and resources to see it succeed. immediately think “Today, we spread our resources so thin that our focus reof environmental sults in any kind of loss of comsustainability; however, petitive advantage,” Oschner said. “Where are you putting the majority of your money and time?” example, focus should be consumers think about putFor on the people and employee side of the business. animal welfare.” “What if we believe that if we invest more in training, develKEVIN OSCHNER, oping, motivating, inspiring and AGCELLERATE CONSULTING COMPANY keeping people hitched to the producers think about sustainability, wagon as employees, then it would they immediately think of environcover a lot of our problems down the mental sustainability; however, the road,” Oschner said. majority of consumers think about Oschner said when faced with animal welfare. Optics matter.” Oschner also said there will be in- challenge and adversity, leaders are creased political and social activism. people who nd a way when there is In Colorado, the agriculture in- no way. “When the right thing is set in modustry has had to work through chaltion, it can cause a domino effect,” he lenges of beef versus plant-based or said. “Which domino are you going to lab-made food products. To combat push today? Allocate your resources, the promotion of other products, there was a movement to consume time, talents and treasures carefully.” meat, Oschner said. some energy behind the right solutions,” Oschner said. There are consequences for not facing the challenges appropriately. Producers are faced with challenges such as changing consumer behaviors and preferences that have an increased focus on sustainability, increased political and social activism, and ongoing labor shortages. Studies show that only 25% of consumers are familiar with how cattle are raised, yet 70% of people said how food is grown impacts their purchasing decisions, Oschner said. “People want to feel good about what they eat,” he said. “In fact, when
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Vaughn Wicks Cavour, South Dakota Beadle County 40 cows
What kind of equipment maintenance and preparations do you do before spring eldwork starts? I lube everything, change the oil and the lters on the tractors, check all the tires and hydraulic hoses, and repair anything that needs attention. We also go to the elds to scout for rocks to help us avoid future repairs. What do you enjoy about spring eldwork? It’s a new beginning and a new year, and a welcome change from the long winter months. In your mind’s eye, you can already see the crops growing. Tilling the elds stirs things up, and the gulls and the hawks arrive to feast on the worms and the mice. It feels good to be back in nature. When do you think you will get into the eld this year? We hope to get into the eld by May 1. It could be a week or so earlier if it remains dry. What are you planting this year? We are going to plant all of our 235 acres of cropland to soybeans this year. What is the latest and earliest date you have started in the eld? One year, we weren’t able to get into our last 25 acres until June 23. We planted the eld to corn and harvested it for silage. The earliest we have gotten into the eld has been the last week of April. Do you have any predictions for this year’s growing season? I’m afraid that it will be dry and windy. I like to stay positive and hope our current weather pattern doesn’t persist. These dry and windy conditions make me think of the extended drought our ancestors endured during the 1930s. Tell us about your farm. I farm with my wife, Valerie, our son, Elliott, our daughter, Allison, and her husband, Loren Fisk. Allison and Loren have two sons, Elias, 5, and Isaac, 2. During the next year, my family and I plan to construct a new freestall barn that will have a drive-thru feed alley. We all feel that the main thing in life is to keep moving forward.
Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022 • Page 15
Dairy farmers:
When do you think you will get in the fields?
Bill and Jim Ertl Ertl Farms Inc. Holdingford, Minnesota Stearns County 65 cows What kind of equipment maintenance and preparations do you do before spring eldwork starts? We change engine and hydraulic oil in the tractors. We also put new air and fuel lters in. We also change the oil in the tractor hubs on the FWA tractors. The tillage equipment is cleaned before we put it away in the fall.
What are you planting this year, and how many acres of each? We plan to plant 130 acres of corn, 20 acres of soybeans, 20 acres of oat underseeded with alfalfa, and we have 100 acres of existing alfalfa. What is the latest and earliest date you have started in the eld? I would say the earliest we got in the eld was April 11-12 for planting small grain, and the latest we started planting corn was May 13-14. Do you have any predictions for this year’s growing season? Hopefully it will be better than last year. We would have had 75-bushel corn, but then we had a powerful wind storm that knocked a lot of corn down. We only had 50 bushels an acre. We had nished chopping silage the day before the storm so we had to combine the down corn. Most years, we average 180-190 bushels an acre on corn.
What do you enjoy about spring eldwork? Bill: I enjoy watching the wildlife and seeing the animals in the eld and seeing what the neighbors are doing. My job is picking stones with the skid loader. Jim: I like getting the crop in the ground. I like to see what’s going on around us. We have a hill on the backside of our property that gives us a great vantage point to see things. I do the tillage and planting. Tell us about your farm. We are the second generation of Ertls on this farm. We took over from our parents, Norbert When do you think you will get into the eld this year? and Theresa. Dad started here in 1947 and was a bachelor Hopefully we can get in next week. I was hauling manure for 10 years before getting married. We took over in 1986 today (April 18) and the ground was frozen again. and started buying the farm in 1992.
Loren Weisensel New Ulm, Minnesota Nicollet County 140 cows
What are you planting this year? This year, we are planting 400 acres of corn and 60 acres of soybeans. We have 100 acres of alfalfa, 20 of which is new seeding.
What kind of equipment maintenance and preparations do you do before spring eldwork starts? To What is the latest and earliest date prepare for spring, we make sure the you have started in the eld? I’ve beequipment is in running order. We try gun planting as early as the beginning of to x what was broke from last fall and April and as late as the end of May. have it ready. Once we begin, we want to make sure everything is running Do you have any predictions for this smoothly. Sometimes we don’t have year’s growing season? The elds look a very big window to till and get the good. We could use more rain. crop planted. We also have to allow for time to milk cows and feed and take care of the livestock. Tell us about your farm. We are a family farm. My wife, Dawn, and I have seven children, Rylee, Sophia, What do you enjoy about spring eldwork? My Derek, Mara, Claudia, Aiden and Masen. They have all son, Derek, and I enjoy getting out in the eld. He does helped with chores and eldwork. Our oldest son now the tillage, and I do the planting. Winters are long, so takes care of feeding the cattle. Our younger kids help we look forward to be able to work the ground and do my wife raise the calves. I milk the cows, and the kids something different. take turns helping me milk. We also have about 300 steers we feed out. When do you think you will get into the eld this year? We hope to be planting soon, but it looks like Turn to OUR SIDE | Page 16 it’s going to be the beginning of May, at least.
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ConƟnued from OUR SIDE | Page 15 Duane Salmen Osage, Minnesota Becker county 120 cows What kind of equipment maintenance and preparations do you do before spring eldwork starts? I nish up the bigger shop projects. Then, I go over the tractors to change the oil, grease, change lters, check door latches and more. I will then work on replacing worn parts on my planter, drills and tillage equipment. I also clean seeds with the fanning mill for small grains, clover, beans and corn.
What are you planting this year, and how many acres of each? We are planting 100 acres of corn, 50 acres of sunowers, 50 acres of black beans, 150 acres of small grains, (oat, barley and triticale) and 270 acres of hay. What is the latest and earliest date you have started in the eld? Earliest I have ever started in the eld was March 16. I can’t remember what the latest time I have been in the eld was. Do you have any predictions for this year’s growing season? It should be better than last year.
What do you enjoy about spring eldwork? Working in the fresh spring air and smelling the fresh soil. There is always the thought during planting that this might be the year for a bumper crop.
Tell us about your farm. My wife, Tyyni, and I bought the farm in 1976. We have seven kids. We became certied organic in 2008. We farm in a partnership with our son, Lanny, and his wife, Jill, and their four kids. We also farm with our neighbor, Scott Makela, When do you think you will get into the eld this his wife, Cassie, and their two kids. We cash crop our year? Small grains will go in as soon as the ice is off black beans, and the rest is raised for cattle or some is the lakes. Corn and sunowers will start around May 20 sold if we have extra. with beans probably the rst week in June. We wait until the soil is warm enough so the seeds can compete with the weeds.
Bill Hansen Cashton, Wisconsin Monroe County 50 cows What kind of equipment maintenance and preparations do you do before spring eldwork starts? We change the oil in everything, grease equipment, check uid levels and do basic inspection. What do you enjoy about spring eldwork? I like driving tractors in the elds. It gets me away from the everyday chores, and I enjoy the fresh air.
Shaun Decker Medford, Wisconsin Taylor County 55 cows
When do you think you will get into the eld this year? I had hoped to be in the elds this week, but it probably won’t be for another couple weeks.
What kind of equipment maintenance and preparations do you do before spring eldwork starts? We try to put everything away in the fall washed and cleaned, if weather allows. If it doesn’t get done in the fall, we get everything out in the spring and wash it off good. We inspect everything and take care of whatever preventative maintenance we can do. We change the oil on everything and get them ready every spring. We have a lot of tractors for our size of operation, and they all get about the same amount of use. I have a friend who is a John Deere mechanic and another guy who is good with electrical issue and they help me in return for using my shop for their own projects.
What are you planting this year? I am planting 25 acres of oats and 55 acres of corn. What is the latest and earliest date you have started in the eld? The latest I have ever started in the elds was the end of April, and the earliest I have ever plowed was in March. Do you have any predictions for this year’s growing season? Right now, it looks like we will have good moisture but that could all change.
What do you enjoy about spring eldwork? I enjoy getting everything done and not having to worry about a pit that is getting too full and knowing that next year’s crop is coming. You cross your ngers that everything goes well. This is the third year I’ve had enough land to grow everything and not have to look for and buy feed. It’s a really good feeling to know the crop is out there right by the farm.
Tell us about your farm. This farm has been in my family for 155 years, and I have been here all my life. My son, Paul, farms full time with me and will eventually take over. My wife, Lori, works off the farm three days a week and babysits our grandchildren when she can. We milk 50 cows and farm 200 acres. We raise most of our youngstock as well.
to get worked up already, but I gure it doesn’t make any difference. We’ll be able to get started when we can. It’s not the end of May yet. If it were, then I might be getting antsy. This is my rst year trying silage corn, so I’m a little concerned but not too much yet. What are you planting this year? We are seeding down 30 acres and planting 40 acres of corn. And, we have 80 acres of good, nice clover, and then we run about 40 acres of grass hay that we make little square bales out of. What is the latest and earliest date you have started in the eld? I don’t know an actual date, but I would say early May, maybe May 8 sticks out; and, we have never planted anything in June. Do you have any predictions for this year’s growing season? I am going to predict we’re going to have a good year. I am hoping for good crops again. The last couple of years have been great for us. There have been no problems getting corn off the ground. I am hoping for a good, average year.
Tell us about your farm. I milk 55 cows in a 47-cow tiestall barn and have just about as many heifers. I keep all the heifWhen do you think you will get into the eld this year? ers and raise everything on the farm. I farm on my own but Whenever it dries out; I don’t do much grain cropping. Every- am blessed to have a hired hand in the morning and help from thing is for the cows. Sometimes we’ll combine a little extra several retired farmers. corn and sell it if we have it. I know some guys are starting
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Harvesting Quality Forages
Quality feed essential at Legacy Farms Reuben Schloneger Legacy Farms Shell Lake, Wisconsin Washburn County 1,475 cows Describe your farm and facilities. We have sand-bedded free stalls and milk in a double-16 parlor twice a day with an average of 85 pounds, 4.45% fat, 3.45% protein and a somatic cell count of 110,000. We have gone to almost no dry treatment for three years now and generally only have one cow withheld for mastitis. Cow comfort and quality feed allow for healthy cows. Switching to twice-a-day milking 22 months ago has allowed us to focus on prot per cow versus high production. We have drastically cut purchased feeds including almost all fat. We are feeding 10% more forage and added 250 cows last year, and total purchased feeds actually went down. On threetimes-per-day milking, we were at 92 pounds, 4.20% fat and 3.30% protein, but other costs have also decreased besides purchased feeds. We have 90 cows scored Excellent now including seven scored 93 or higher. Turn to FORAGES | Page 20
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LIDDLEHOLME FARM, Adam, Nicole, Anthony, Brock, Hailee Liddle, Argyle, NY, 75 Holsteins, BAA 113.4, SCC 140,000. (Left and center) Anthony at 2018 WDE with his All-American, All-Canadian Production Cow Liddleholme Resur Lu-RC-ET EX-97 3E. She was 2018 Royal Best Bred-Owned, Best Udder and 2017 All-American Supreme. (Right) Adam with 2021 All-American Supreme Macland HF Yoder Rachal. “We have been using Udder Comfort™ for 15 years. We use it on all fresh cows and when we are bagging and showing cows. It helps get the udder quality back quickly after they calve,” says Adam Liddle, Argyle, N.Y. At Liddleholme Farm, the family milks 75 cows, breeding top Holsteins like All-American All-Canadian Production Cow (2018) Liddleholme Resur Lu-RC-ET EX97 3E. She passed away at 13 last fall with fans worldwide for her dairy strength and with lifetime 195,880M 4.2 8144F 3.3 6394P.
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For external application to the udder only, after milking, as an essential component of udder management. Wash and dry teats thoroughly before milking.
Page 20 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022
ConƟnued from FORAGES | Page 18
What forages do you harvest? We harvest corn silage, alfalfa, Italian ryegrass, corn, rye and oat.
of our crops ourselves. We have seen an improvement in silage by getting enough weight on it for packing.
How many acres of crops do you raise? We have 1,150 acres of corn for silage, King Fisher and Jung varieties; 650 acres of alfalfa, 180 relative forage quality; 150 acres of Italian ryegrass/rye silage, 220 relative feed quality 950 acres of corn; 200 acres of rye grain and straw and 80 acres of oat.
What techniques do you use to store, manage and feed your forages? Silage is stored in bunkers, and dry corn is stored in bins before it gets ground.
Describe the rations for your livestock. We feed one milk cow diet that is 57% forage with no brown midrib as we like to put up cheap forage. We try to harvest and grow crops to maximize digestible forage. We have been DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR practicing lower population Cows are fed a TMR at Legacy Farms near Shell Lake, Wisconsin. Ruben Schloneger considers planting for corn silage, inharvesƟng quality forage as an important part of his overall herd management system, saying creasing stalk diameter and that high quality feed is essenƟal for cow health. plant health. Planting a lower population allows for more water and nutrient availability per plant without sacricing yields and gets close to BMR digestibility.
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Describe your harvesting techniques for alfalfa and corn silage. We harvest all
Describe a challenge you overcame in reaching your forage quality goals. With the new Kuhn merger, we have been able to reduce ash by 2%-3%. How do quality forages play a part in the production goals for your herd? Highquality feed is essential for cow health allowing for controlled culling. Other benets include a 33% pregnancy rate, lower death rate and better hoof health. What are management or harvesting techniques you have changed that have made a notable difference in forage quality? We have seen an improvement in forage quality as we have improved our soil and reduced compaction.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022 • Page 21
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Equipment and pictures added daily • Go to www.mmcjd.com DISKS Summers DIAMOND DISK, 1996, 28’, 3-Section Folding, #532112 ..........................$13,000 JD 637, 2006, 29’, 3-Section Folding, #532550 ..........................................................$15,500 JD 650, 1997, 32’, 3-Section Folding, #185256 ..........................................................$18,000 Krause 8200-28W, 2010, 28 ft, 3-Section Folding, #275204....................................$22,900 JD 637, 2004, 23’, 3-Section Folding, #532542 .........................................................$23,500 JD 637, 2010, 37’, 3-Section Folding, #191801 .........................................................$25,900 JD 637, 2011, 35’, 3-Section Folding, #532530 ..........................................................$26,000 Case IH RMX340, 2009, 35’, 3-Section Folding, #181151..........................................$29,400 JD 637, 2011, 42’ 5-Section Folding, #523980 ..........................................................$29,500 Landoll 6230-26, 2012, 26’, 3-Section Folding, #532374 .........................................$32,500 JD 2680H, 2021, 10’, Rigid, #532352 .........................................................................$39,900 JD 2625, 2013, 33’, 3-Section Folding, #275921 ........................................................$39,900 Wishek 862nt, 2014, 26’, #276355 ...........................................................................$39,900 JD 2625, 2014, 40’, 5-Section Folding, #532507 ........................................................$44,000 JD 2623, 2012, 4’, 5-Section Folding, #523876 ..........................................................$49,900 Degelman PRO-TILL 40, 2016, #191161 .................................................................$95,995 FIELD CULTIVATORS JD 980, 1998, 36’, 3-Section Folding, #532504 ..........................................................$11,500 Wil-Rich Quad 5, 47’, 5-Section Folding, #532076....................................................$11,500 Case IH 4300, 2001, 38’, 3-Section Folding, #186653 ...............................................$11,995 Wil-Rich Excel 42’, 1999, 42’, #276243 .....................................................................$14,900 JD 2200, 2002, 34’, 3-Section Folding, #185898 ........................................................$19,000 Case IH TIGERMATE II, 2003, 50.5’, 5-Section Folding, #186586 ..............................$19,000 Case IH TIGERMATE II, 60’, 5-Section Folding, #532083...........................................$21,900 Case IH TM14, 2005, 50.5’, 5-Section Folding, #187546 ...........................................$26,900 Wil-Rich QUAD 5, 2012, 36’, 3-Section Folding, #531719 .........................................$33,900 JD 2210, 2004, 35’, 3-Section Folding, #532437 ........................................................$34,900 JD 2210, 2008, 42’, 5-Section Folding, #531703 ........................................................$39,900 JD 2210, 2014, 38’, 3-Section Folding, #532138 ........................................................$43,900 JD 2230, 2018, 60.5 ft, 5-Section Folding, #532409 ................................................$144,900 HAY MERGERS Kuhn 1300, 2021, #524031 ....................................................................................$135,000 MOWER CONDITIONERS KUHN FC4000RG, 2012, #273847............................................................................$12,900 NH 1432, 2007, #531654 ..........................................................................................$14,000 JD 535, 2006, #531226 .............................................................................................$14,900 JD 946, 2001, #531949 .............................................................................................$17,500 CASE IH DCX131, 2008, #275006.............................................................................$17,900 NH 512, 2012, #272184 ............................................................................................$17,900 NH H7230, 2015, #176984......................................................................................$22,400 JD 946, 2016, #532531 .............................................................................................$24,999 JD 956, 2016, #177925 .............................................................................................$28,900 JD 956, 2015, #180948 .............................................................................................$35,900 JD C400, 2021, #531334 ...........................................................................................$41,500
LARGE SQUARE BALERS KRONE BP890, 2008, 38000 Bales, #185784 ...........................................................$41,900 NH BB940PT, 45000 Bales, #189397......................................................................$39,000 NH 330, 2013, 18741 Bales, #524006......................................................................$64,900 ROUND BALERS KRONE BP890, 2008, 38000 Bales., #185784 ..........................................................$41,900 JD 566, 1998, Reg. PU, 540 PTO, 5’ Bale, 14000 Bales, #181621..................................$9,400 JD 567, 2001, Mega Tooth PU, Twine Wr., 540 PTO, 5’ Bale, 15000 Bales, #191170 ......$9,500 JD 435, 1991, Reg. PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 4’ Bale, #532055 ....................$9,950 JD 466, 1997, Reg. PU, Twine Wr., 540 PTO, 4’ Bale, 20000 Bales, #531378..................$9,950 JD 567, 2002, Mega Tooth PU, Twine Wr., 540 PTO, 5’ Bale, 8486 Bales, #189795 ......$10,250 JD 568, 2009, Mega Tooth PU, Surface Wr., 540 PTO, 5’ Bale, 21016 Bales, #276166..$10,900 NH BR780, 2003, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 540 PTO, 5’ Bale, 5979 Bales, #189190 ..................................................................................................$13,500 JD 566, 2000, Mega Tooth PU, Twine& Surface Wr. 540 PTO, 5’ Bale, 9000 Bales, #185847 ..................................................................................................$14,900 NH BR7060, 2012, Mega Wide PU, Twine Wr., 540 PTO, 4’ Bale, #191972..................$15,500 JD 468, 2007, Mega Wide PU, Twine Wr., 1000 PTO, 4’ Bale, 14630 Bales, #532080 ...$16,900 NH BR7090, 2008, Reg. PU, Twine Wr., 540 PTO, 5’ Bale, 4500 Bales, #187234 .........$17,500 JD 568, 2010, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 22500 Bales, #185782 ................................................................................................$19,950 JD 568, 2010, Mega Wide PU, Twin & Surface Wr., 540 PTO, 5’ Bale, 17000 Bales, #191921 ................................................................................................$20,500 JD 459, 2015, Mega Wide PU, Twine Wr., 1000 PTO, 4’ Bale, 12000 Bales, #185719 ...$20,900 JD 568, 2011, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 540 PTO, 5’ Bale, 17869 Bales, #273365 ................................................................................................$20,900 JD 568, 2012, Mega Wide PU, Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 16000 Bales, #190535 $21,500 NH Rollbelt 460, 2016, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 4’ Bale, 12800 Bales, #185645 ....................................................................................$23,900 JD 568, 2011, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 12814 Bales, #532159 ................................................................................................$24,500 JD 569 Silage Special, 2016, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 540 PTO, 5’ Bale, 13738 Bales, #189642 .....................................................................$24,500 JD 568, 2012, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 11000 Bales, #532300 ................................................................................................$25,500 JD 569, 2014, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 15560 Bales, #179194 ................................................................................................$25,900 JD 569, 2014, Mega Wide PU, Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 16639 Bales, #275377 $25,900 JD 568, 2011, Mega Wide PU, Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 6804 Bales, #531240 ..$27,900 JD 450E, 2021, Reg. PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 540 PTO, 4’ Bale, 1600 Bales, #190086$27,900 JD 568, 2008, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 540 PTO, 5’ Bale, 11500 Bales, #274734 ................................................................................................$27,900 JD 854 Silage Special, 2011, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 4’ Bale, Precut Knives, 10500 Bales, #191935 .............................................................$28,000
JD 568, 2012, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 9000 Bales, #275245 ..................................................................................................$29,900 JD 459 Silage Special, 2014, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 4’ Bale, 5775 Bales, #531345 .....................................................................$30,500 JD 569 Premium, 2016, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 11000 Bales, #531225 ....................................................................................$30,900 Claas 480RC, 2017, Mega Wide PU, Surface Wra, 540 PTO, 4’ Bale, Precut Knives, 5165 Bales, #179187 ...........................................................................$31,500 JD 569, 2014, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 540 PTO, 5’ Bale, 10866 Bales, #185783 ................................................................................................$31,900 JD 569, 2014, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 12950 Bales, #274282 ................................................................................................$31,900 JD 459 Silage Special, 2017, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 540 PTO, 4’ Bale, 5355 Bales, #532355 ......................................................................................$34,500 JD 569, 2015, Mega Wide PU, Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 8000 Bales, #275564 ..$34,775 JD 459 Silage Special, 2016, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 540 PTO, 4’ Bale, 4700 Bales, #531823 ......................................................................................$35,500 JD 460M, 2018, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 4’ Bale, 9694 Bales, #185644 ..................................................................................................$35,900 JD 569, 2017, Mega Wide PU, Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 7400 Bales, #531256 ..$36,500 JD 560M, 2019, Mega Wide PU, Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 12500 Bales, #191873 ................................................................................................$36,900 JD 569, 2014, Mega Wide PU, Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 7500 Bales, #275820 ..$37,900 JD 569, 2015, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 5720 Bales, #531335 ..................................................................................................$40,000 JD 460M, 2018, Mega Wide PU, Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 4’ Bale, 7000 Bales, #187682$40,000 JD 560M, 2018, Mega Wide PU, Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 7600 Bales, #181057$41,500 Krone Comprima V180XC T, 2016, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 4’ Bale, Precut Knives, 7450 Bales, #182694...............................................$41,900 JD 560M, 2018, Mega Wide PU, Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 4000 Bales, #531241$45,900 NH Rollbelt 460, 2020, Mega Wide PU, Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 4’ Bale, 173 Bales, #531262 ....................................................................................................$46,000 JD 560M, 2019, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 3576 Bales, #531213 ..................................................................................................$46,900 JD 450M, 2018, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 4’ Bale, Precut Knives, 5200 Bales, #191843 ...........................................................................$47,000 JD 560M, 2019, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 5430 Bales, #276358 ..................................................................................................$47,900 JD 450M, 2019, Mega Wide PU, Surface Wr., 540 PTO, 4’ Bale, Precut Knives, 1000 Bales, #531693 ..................................................................................................$48,500 JD 560M, 2021, Mega Wide PU, Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 5900 Bales, #531233$49,500 JD 560M, 2019, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, 4174 Bales, #275819 ..................................................................................................$49,900 JD460M, 2020, Mega Wide PU, Twine & Surface Wr., 1000 PTO, 5’ Bale, Precut Knives, 3277 Bales, #275937 ...........................................................................$59,900
Locations throughout minnesota & western wisconsin! CALL TODAY! (320)365-1653 SEE OUR COMPLETE INVENTORY WITH PICTURES AND DESCRIPTIONS AT: www.mmcjd.com
Page 22 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022
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Joe’s Refrigeration Inc. Withee, WI 715-229-2321 Mlsna Dairy Supply Inc. Cashton, WI 608-654-5106 Professional Dairy Services Arlington, WI 608-635-0267 Redeker Dairy Equipment Brandon, WI 920-346-5579
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is a registered trademark of Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A. and “DeLaval” is a registered trade/servicemark of DeLaval Holding AB © 2022 DeLaval Inc. DeLaval, 11100 North Congress Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri 64153-1296. Nothing in this document shall constitute a warranty or guaranty of performance. www.delaval.com
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Breakfast on the farm season will soon be upon us. It is a fun time of year. For me, it means connection – the connection between hard-working farmers and people who probably don’t have a tie to a farm and want to know and see what a current dairy looks like. More than likely, it’s quite different than what they imagine. I have been a huge adOn the Mark vocate of breakfast on the farm since Stearns County in Minnesota started the event in 2008. Each time I go I am amazed at the volume of people who attend and the sheer amount of work the farmers did in preparation for hosting an event of this magnitude. With ve brothers who dairy farm, I know the vast amount of chores farmers tackle daily. I also know By Mark Klaphake and admire the immense Editor talents of dairy farmers. Many take on tasks that dabble in areas covered by veterinarians, nutritionists, agronomists, mechanics and electricians, among many skills. But because the number of farmers continues to recede, another job farmers take on is being an educator and communicator of their farm and lifestyle. To me, the best way to do this is by opening the barn doors to host a breakfast on the farm. The number of people a farm can connect with in a six-hour span of an on-farm event is remarkable. From visiting with and interviewing farmers who have hosted these events in the past, I have learned many of these events draw 1,000 or more people who want to see and learn the basics of a modern-day dairy farm. Many attend because their kids have never seen a dairy animal besides in a book or on a screen. Others go because they used to have ties to the farm but do not anymore. Others want to learn and have a better understanding of where the delicious dairy products of cheese, yogurt and milk, that their family thoroughly enjoys, come from. The breakfasts I have attended have been quite thorough in displaying the farm in an educational and fun manner. There are tours of the farm that walk attendees through or in front of buildings on the site. Also included are informational booths, farm equipment, petting areas and of course a big breakfast. One of the biggest perks of the event is the people who come to the farm. Farmers have the opportunity to show the fruits of their hard work and continued development of their farm without having to bring visuals or printouts. The people come to the farm to learn from the farmers’ vast knowledge and experience and can visually see the layout of the farm and the care provided for all animals. The best part about this opportunity is the host farmer doesn’t have to do it alone. Most breakfast on the farms have a committee or volunteers who help with the endeavor. They do an incredible job separating the duties and helping the farmer so the task doesn’t seem so daunting. They help plan the event down to the smallest detail. The tallest task for many hosts might be cleaning up the tractors for display and working on getting the yard as tidy as possible. I know many counties host breakfast on the farms already, and I encourage people who live in a county that doesn’t host one to give it some serious consideration. If not this year, perhaps attend a couple events in your area and do the breakfast next year. To have an opportunity to communicate and share the true story of dairy farmers is yet another current duty of dairy farmers, and it could be a way of sharing your story.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022 • Page 23
Coming home to the family farm Wilsons are Clayton County Outstanding Young Dairy Producer By Sherry Newell Contributing writer
GARNAVILLO, Iowa – Mark Troester often told his daughter, Anna, that she could always come home. After leaving the farm for college, jobs in two states and travel to four countries, she took her dad up on the offer, bringing along a husband she added to her life, David Wilson. Back on the Troester farm since 2016, David and Anna were named Clayton County’s 2022 Outstanding Young Dairy Producers at the county’s annual banquet in Elkader April 8. David is full time on Maars Dairy, the farm owned by Anna’s parents, Mark and Rondee Troester. Anna works off the farm while raising Lewis, who will be 2 years old in August. “I’ve always had a love for the cows and for helping Dad,” Anna said. “Growing up here was a blessing; there’s nothing like coming home to your own herd and family.” David grew up in Pennsylvania. His father worked
for an articial insemination company but also farmed with his wife, Barb, at RoseEdge Holsteins. After graduating from Penn State University, David worked for Genex and then CRV USA. Anna attended the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and landed a dairy genetics job at AMS Genetics in Maryland. Later, she worked for the Red and White Dairy Cattle Association, located across the street from David’s place of employment in Madison, Wisconsin. The two were introduced by a mutual friend and married in 2019. Since returning to the farm, David and Anna have worked for Anna’s parents and own cows within the herd, mostly Brown Swiss and a few Holsteins. Rondee had a long career as a teacher and is now retired; she has a passion for dogs. But Mark was always a dairy farmer. “My dad, Oscar, was hurt when I was 8 years old, so I’ve been milking since I was 9,” Mark said. “I’m ready to move on now. At one point, I hadn’t missed a milking for seven years.”
SHERRY NEWELL/DAIRY STAR
Mark Troester (from leŌ), Rondee Troester, Anna Wilson holding Lewis and David Wilson milk 95 cows at the Troesters’ farm in Clayton County near Garnavillo, Iowa. The Wilsons were recently named Clayton County’s 2022 Outstanding Young Producers. Physical challenges for Mark have relegated him to outside work, while David is the primary milker of the 95 cows in the 102-stall tiestall barn.
The farm has been up and down with cow numbers through the years. “We started with 26 cows, then 46, then we added 56 more stalls,” Mark said.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022 • Page 25
ConƟnued from WILSONS | Page 23 in 1991. In 2011, the Troesters sold the top half of the herd, continuing to milk 40 cows. Soon after, they got 20 cows from a friend and 20 more from a cousin and were back to a full barn. David and Anna’s registered cows carry the Rose-Maar prex, which combines David’s parents’ farm name, Rose-Edge, with the Troesters’ Maars Dairy. They hope to develop a small show herd of their own. David brought Brown Swiss to the longtime Holstein herd and began focusing on genetics and herd health. One of those cows, Rose-Edge GPS Enter TW, earned her second Excellent classication – the couple’s rst homebred Excellent. David and Anna have high hopes for their Brown Swiss herd, using embryos from Top Acres Garbro Wanda ET, EX-91, EX-92-MS, which are due to be born this fall. They also have a long line of Red and Whites with good genomic scores, which they hope to develop more fully. David said they have set some goals for themselves. “I’d love to breed something that does well at Madison,” David said. “And, we would like to start selling some of our genetics.” Anna agreed. “It will be nice to see something do well for someone else,” she said. Some of their cows are shown by local 4-H kids. But, they hope to have Rose-Maar B Parton *RC in the Iowa Holstein Futurity this summer. Anna utilizes social media to promote their animals and farm. She also is involved in dairy promotion, including serving on the Midwest Dairy Iowa Division board and the Clayton
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Anna holding Lewis (second from leŌ) and David Wilson accept the award for Clayton County’s Outstanding Young Dairy Producers alongside county dairy royalty April 8 in Elkader, Iowa. The family returned to Anna’s parents’ farm in 2016. County Dairy Promotion Committee. She is a delegate for Associated Milk Producers Inc. and serves with David on the cooperative’s young cooperator steering committee. The farm participated in AdoptA-Calf through the Discover Dairy website. Recently, Anna helped put togeth-
er an event with an Undeniable Dairy Grant for her employer, CJ Moyna & Sons. It led to 3,000 people enjoying dairy products. As they envision how their future in dairy might look, the Wilsons are watching Lewis enjoy his early years on the fourth-generation farm.
“He’s always out here, hanging out in the milkhouse, seeing the cows or riding with Papa,” Anna said. David said it is nice to carry on the tradition. “I’ve always liked dairying,” David said. “But it’s especially great now with Lewis with us.”
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Page 26 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022
A career in dairy cattle, promotion
Clover Glen Farms receives Minnesota PDCA Distinguished Breeder award By Kate Rechtzigel kate.r@dairystar.com
Editor’s note: This is a part of a series of articles highlighting the 2021 and 2022 Minnesota Purebred Dairy Cattle Associations’ Distinguished Breeders. CLAREMONT, Minn. − Glenn Johnson and Deb McDermott-Johnson were surprised to receive the 2021 Minnesota Purebred Dairy Cattle
Association’s Distinguished breeder award. “It is a very humbling award, one you are not working for,” Johnson said of the award. “It is an honor to receive, because it is something presented to you from your peers.” Johnson and McDermott-Johnson milk 50 cows and farm 230 acres of corn and alfalfa near Claremont. The operation typically has 90 cows, but the Johnsons down-sized to prepare for a transition that did not occur. McDermott-Johnson also has an off-farm job at the Owatonna Public School as the director of community education and helps plan Clover Glen Farm’s annual cow camp where they allow youth with no agricultural background to learn more about the dairy industry and get involved in
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showing dairy cattle. “Registration lled up in two minutes this year, and we have a person coming from Arizona this year. In the past, we also had three children from Florida,” Johnson said of the camp. The Johnsons were named a Minnesota PDCA Distinguished Breeder along with Stacey and Todd Leiding from Fountain; Kimm’s Dairy from Pelican Rapids; and Wayne and Kris Houdek from Caledonia at the Minnesota PDCA luncheon during the Minnesota All-Breeds Convention March 11 in Willmar. The family has Brown Swiss and Holstein cows on their farm, but the farm began with Guernsey cows in 1978. “My grandpa had the grand champion Guernsey cow in Waterloo in the early 1920s,” Johnson said. “It’s interesting to see how the cows have changed. Back then, all the horns were polished, and they wore big charms around their horns and people graded them. It’s been interesting to see how production, type and what we look for in cows has changed.” Today, the farm breeds for production, longevity, strength, feet and legs, and daughter pregnancy rate. “Our goal is always to improve the production in the herd,” Johnson said. “A cow that’s going to Turn to JOHNSONS | Page 27
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022 • Page 27
ConƟnued from JOHNSONS | Page 26
be around longer is going to be more protable, so we look at what’s going to stand around the longest. You have to be open-minded to your breeding program. When we started, they were paying for volumes of milk, and there were no components. Now, everybody is looking at components.” The Johnsons have made the Minnesota Dairy Herd Improvement Association’s high 200 Herd Honor Roll ranked on dollar value with their Holsteins and have been No. 3 in the state for Brown Swiss. The family shows cattle at the county and state fairs, local district shows and World Dairy Expo. “Our Rachel cow went undefeated for 11 years in her classes as Minnesota owned and bred; in open placings, she has only stood second to a Wisconsin-bred Guernsey,” Johnson said of the Guernsey cow. “The rst cow we got over 100 pounds was also something we remembered. We rst started making a list because we had so few cows that did it and then the list just got too long.” Johnson remembers the rst Brown Swiss cattle to join the farm 12 years ago. “They became such pets and still are,” Johnson said. “It seems like as big as they are, they are a docile, friendly breed as compared to the Guernseys who were equally as docile but more reserved in their interactions and not as aggressive at the feed bunk as we needed them to be able to compete in milk production.” Johnson keeps his options open when breeding cattle. “As small as a herd as we have, we made sure we use a little bit of a lot of different bulls,” he said. “I focus my attention on longevity, daughter pregnancy rate and production. If they have those three things, chances are the cow is going to stand around and milk.” On the farm, Johnson handles the cows and most of the crops while McDermott-Johnson helps with the calves, bookwork and some eldwork when needed. They also hire part-time help to assist with milking and various chores.
“I’ve been farming my whole life,” Johnson said. “There was never any other thought as to what I would do.” In the community, the couple is involved on their county’s American Dairy Association board, are involved in supporting youth activities such as 4-H and have hosted several judging teams in addition to hosting the camp for 13 years. They were also the National Young Guernsey Farmers in 1988 and were inducted into the Steele County Livestock Hall of Fame in 2021. They have also provided care for other families’ dairy herds when those families were making critical life choices. “When life feels unfair and overwhelming, we have all wished for someone to come in and just be in that moment with us,” McDermottJohnson said. “Glenn and I are so fortunate to have done that about six times now – each time making lifelong friends and truthfully working with some amazing cattle in the process. No one asked us to. It was what we felt the calling to do.” Johnson was also on the local re department for 10 years, and McDermott-Johnson was involved on many dairy promotional boards. “Promoting our products, no matter if it is on a small or a large scale should be something we all have to take part in,” Johnson said. “We have to promote ourselves, our businesses and dairy farmers so people know where their food comes from.” The Johnsons plan to retire and nd another young couple to take over the farm. “We have a couple ideas in mind,” Johnson said. The couple is thankful for their time spent in the dairy industry and for the work they have done both on the farm and on the promotional side. “I hope we’re remembered as people who promoted the industry as much as we could and that we are part of the reason why some of the people know what’s going on in the dairy industry,” Johnson said.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022 • Page 29
Women In Dairy Amanda Nicholson (pictured with her husband, Aaron) Sheldon, Wisconsin Rusk County 80 cows Family: My husband, Aaron, and I bought our farm in 2001. We have two children. Our daughter, Ashley, 20, is attending a local technical college to pursue a welding certication. Our son, Alex, 21, attended technical college for agronomy and has since joined us on the farm. Tell us about your farm. We milk about 80 Holstein cows three times a day. We milk in a tiestall barn, and the cows are housed in a rotation of tie stalls and free stalls. We have two excellent employees who help part time and a supportive extended family who often pitch in. We raise dairy steers as well as replacement heifers. We own about 240 acres and rent additional crop land. We primarily grow corn and hay for use on our dairy as well as occasionally some small grains. What is a typical day like for you on the dairy? Our milking schedule is normally 5 a.m., 1 p.m. and 9 p.m. In between milkings, manure is scraped and hauled, feed is mixed and fed, cropping is accomplished, and the many other tasks required to maintain the farm and care for the livestock are t in. I typically handle the bookwork and recordkeeping in the evenings after chores are completed. In addition to working alongside our farm team, I also work as an emergency medical technician for the Rusk County Ambulance Service. The past two years have been challenging in the world of healthcare, and we have done a lot of juggling to balance the increased demands of my job with the needs of the farm. I typically hold between 500 to 600 hours of call time a month for our local ambulance and respond to EMS calls from the farm when paged. As the calls are unpredictable, I have often left in the middle of milking, feeding or even left a tractor in the middle of a eld when a page comes in. Fortunately, our whole team is acclimated to this scenario and typically jumps in and takes over for me when needed. What decision have you made in the last year that has beneted your farm? We built a heated shop on the farm which has made maintenance and repairs easier and less expensive to accomplish. It has also made operating manure and feeding equipment much easier in the winter months as we can avoid dealing with frozen equipment every day. Additionally, we constructed additional youngstock housing for weaned calves to reduce overcrowding and post-weaning lag in growth. Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. Every day on the farm is memorable. Farm life creates memories of successes and failures and of joy and grief. Farm life is unique in that it requires dedication, perseverance and presence on a daily basis to be successful and meet all of the challenges. It makes getting away difcult. What I nd most memorable is how supportive our families and community have been of us. Over the years, our families and friends have accommodated our farm life by having holiday and birthday celebrations on the farm so that we could participate in, and enjoy special moments, instead of stressing out about how to get away. As our children were growing up, so many neighbors, friends and community members helped us with getting the kids to sports practices and club events on time. Often, they pitched in to help us get done in time to attend events or took over so we could get away when needed. While the events were enjoyable, the comfort and security of knowing we had the gift of that support is what I nd most memorable. What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? The most enjoyable thing about dairy farming has been the relationships and friendships I have made along the way. Farming hasn’t been a singular experience but rather a culmination of a great team. We work closely with so many people to make this all come together and work. Getting to work with, and become friends with our employees, milk haulers, vets, nutritionists, agronomists, inspectors, sales representatives and so many others who are passionate and dedicated to our industry has kept me inspired and motivated.
understand and operate equipment safely and prociently was something that I had to work at for a long time. I wanted to be able to step into any role on the farm if needed and be able to perform well. Equipment operation was my big hurdle to overcome. I am denitely not as procient as a lot of people, but I am much more competent, comfortable, and if need be, I can get the job done. I’m proud of that. What are things you do to promote your farm or the dairy industry? I often share the story of our farm life on my personal Facebook page and on our farm page. I have participated in advisory committees for our local technical college. I also chair the Farm Service Agency county committee. Most importantly, I engage with people who are curious or concerned about the dairy industry. Allowing people to have a personal connection to what happens on a farm and within the industry is the best way to garner support and give an understanding about what we do. It’s rewarding and fun. What advice would you give another woman in the dairy industry? Build a team of people you can support and who will support you. At some point you will need the help. Along the way, you will succeed, and you will fail. Carry your successes like badges of honor, be proud of your accomplishments and learn from your failures. Be humble, grateful and thankful. Others will appreciate it, and you will too. When you get a spare moment, what do you do? I don’t think there are spare moments per say; rather, every moment matters and has a purpose. I usually have a pretty full schedule, but to relax, I like trying new hobbies and experiences. I have done some cake decorating as well as designing and creating greeting cards. I also enjoy reading when time allows.
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What is your biggest accomplishment in your dairy career? Managing, handling and caring for animals has always been intuitive to me. I am not naturally mechanical, and operating equipment is something that I found intimidating and a little scary. Learning to
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Page 30 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022
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Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022 • Page 31
Chappuis family Brothers Lorne and Tim; and Lorne’s son, Adam and his wife, Brie, and their children, Addisyn, 15, John, 14, and Mike, 13. Faribault, Minnesota Rice County 51 cows
What do you enjoy most about dairy farming? Tim: The baby calves. Lorne: For me, it’s the cows. It helps to have good cows. Adam: Cows and baling. I like cows.
How did you get into farming? We grew up with it. Lorne: I’m the fourth generation. Adam: And, I’m the fth generation.
What advice would you give other dairy farmers? Lorne: It’s a good life. If the prices are good, you can handle it. Adam: If the prices are high, try to keep your debt load down.
What are your thoughts and concerns about the dairy industry for the next year? Lorne: Prices. Adam: The biggest thing is inputs and prices. What is a recent change you made on your farm and the reason for it? Adam: We added beef cows after the cows were sold a year and a half ago. We never had them before. And, we recently bought the dairy herd back. Tell us about a skill you possess that makes dairy farming easier for you. Adam: Knowing cattle and catching the little things. If a cow is sick or has a bad foot, that’s the biggest thing. If you miss one little thing, it turns into a big thing.
KATE RECHTZIGEL/DAIRY STAR
The Chappuis family – (front, from leŌ) Addisyn and Tim; (back, from leŌ) Lorne, Brie, Adam, John and Mike – milk 51 cows in Rice County near Faribault, Minnesota.
Lorne: I’ve been farming all my life. The only skills I learned was basically details in dairy. Know what you’re doing and pay attention. It’s all about details. What is the best decision you have made on your farm? Put the forage harvester in for baleage and
chopped hay. This allowed us to stop baling small squares. What are three things on the farm that you cannot live without? Skid loader, the manure system and the feed cart. We don’t have to feed by hand, and the skid loader and manure pump
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make taking care of the cows easy. What strategies do you use to withstand the volatile milk prices? Adam: Keep your overhead low. Lorne: Watch your costs and keep your debt load low.
What are your plans for your dairy in the next year and ve years? Lorne: Fill the barn back up to 68 cows. Adam: We used to switch almost 30 cows and milk 100, but we’re not going to expand anymore because we are right next to the lake. How do you or your family like to spend time when you are not doing chores? Adam: Take a nap, watch movies and sit down and relax. Lorne: We live right by the lake. So, in the summertime, we have the lake. I also play cards.
Page 32 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022
www.extension.umn.edu/dairy
Causes, prevention of calf scours By Joe Armstrong University of Minnesota
Scours has many causes. We often focus on the infectious causes, which are signicant, but it is important to note there are also non-infectious causes of calf scours. Rotavirus, coronavirus or cryptosporidium cause 95% of infectious calf scours cases. These three agents can also be present in combination. All calves are exposed to these pathogens; it is unavoidable. The deciding factor on whether or not a calf gets sick is often dose-dependent, meaning the more pathogens a calf receives, the more likely they are to have scours. Rotavirus infects cells that are essential for the absorption of nutrients in the small intestine. This reduction in nutrient absorption causes nutritional deciencies for the calf and interferes with the digestive tract’s ability to absorb water. The result is diarrhea, with an added complication of missing nutrients for the calf. Coronavirus infects cells in a similar way to rotavirus. However, instead of just interfering with absorption, the virus actively kills cells in the lining of the intestine. The result is widespread destruction of the lining of the small intestine. The calf cannot absorb any nutrients, the inammation is massive and severe diarrhea occurs. Cryptosporidium, often referred to as crypto, is a protozoan. Protozoa are microscopic animals. The most important thing to remember is that crypto is not bacteria. Crypto implants itself in the wall of the intestine and causes severe inammatory damage to the lining of the intestine. This damage results in diarrhea for the calf. Crypto infections are incredibly painful. Outside of the body, crypto has a thick shell that allows it to survive for long periods in the environment. Poor nutrition is the most common cause of scours. Calves need to eat. They are trying to grow in addition to ghting off any pathogens that could be present. Calves must have energy stored in the form of fat in order to gain weight and still have the energy to develop their immune system. Not feed-
ing enough milk to give the calf the energy it needs to maintain a healthy immune system is the leading cause of scours. It is important to feed calves on a regular schedule. Feeding at inconsistent times causes calf stress and increases the chance of acidosis. Calves should be drinking body temperature milk. A cow’s body temperature is between 101-102.5 degrees. Mixing too concentrated milk replacer can cause osmotic diarrhea. If you mix milk replacer with a higher concentration of solids than recommended, you will cause water from the calf’s body to move into the intestine resulting in diarrhea. Preventing calf scours starts even before the calf is born. A healthy cow produces a healthy calf. We can inuence the health of the calf by making sure the cow has a proper body condition score, adequate nutrition (including minerals) and a clean, dry environment. We can also use vaccines to inuence what antibodies a cow puts into her colostrum that are then passed to the calf. By vaccinating at the correct time while the cow is pregnant, we can improve the quality of the colostrum and target specic scours causing pathogens. Four quarts of good quality, clean colostrum should be fed within the rst two hours of life. Every hour after birth, the calf’s ability to absorb the protective antibodies in colostrum decreases. Managing colostrum correctly is probably the single most inuential thing a farmer can do to improve calf health. Exposure to pathogens starts the moment the calf is on the ground. If the calving pen is not clean and dry, the exposure to pathogens is more likely. Make sure your cows are calving in a clean environment. In addition to a clean calving pen, everything else the calf comes into contact with needs to be clean. As discussed earlier, infectious causes of scours are dose-dependent. More harmful bugs mean a higher likelihood of disease. Look at your calf housing and observe what the calves can reach with their mouths. If they can reach it, they will chew on it, and you need to clean it. Clean and disinfect individual calf housing between each calf use. Clean and disinfect group hous-
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ing between groups. Feeding equipment should also be cleaned and disinfected regularly. Chlorine dioxide is an excellent disinfectant and can be mixed in varying concentrations for different applications. Calves need to eat because they need calories.
Exposure to pathogens starts the moment the calf is on the ground. ... Make sure your cows are calving in a clean environment. Their energy needs increase when cold weather is also a factor. Inadequate nutrition leads to sick calves that also do not grow. In general, feed calves a minimum of 8 quarts (2 gallons) per day of either whole milk or high-quality milk replacer (26:20 or 24:20). Timing, mixing and temperature have huge impacts on scours prevention. You should strive to deliver the same product at the same time every day to calves. Timing and temperature are more straightforward measurements to keep consistent. When mixing milk replacer or when using whole milk, the products can change from day to day. When using milk replacer, weigh all measurements of powder. Humidity, clumping and other factors make the volume an inconsistent measure for a powdered product. You can measure total solids of your nal mixture, or whole milk, to target a consistent reading. In the order of importance, vaccines given to calves are toward the bottom of the list. Colostrum, nutrition, clean environment, cow health and feeding consistency are all more critical factors. There are products when given at birth under label instructions that can reduce scours, but they are not a cure-all solution. Work with your veterinarian to develop a vaccination protocol.
Dana Adams, adam1744@umn.edu 320-204-2968
Kevin Janni kjanni@umn.edu 612-625-3108
Joe Armstrong armst225@umn.edu 612.624.3610
Karen Johnson ande9495@umn.edu 320-484-4334
Luciano Caixeta lcaixeta@umn.edu 612-625-3130
Emily Krekelberg krek0033@umn.edu 507-280-2863
Gerard Cramer gcramer@umn.edu 612-625-8184
Claire LaCanne lacanne@umn.edu 507-332-6109
Erin Cortus ecortus@umn.edu 612-625-8288
Brenda Miller nels4220@umn.edu 320-732-4435
Marcia Endres miendres@umn.edu 612-624-5391
Erin Royster royster@umn.edu
Joleen Hadrich jhadrich@umn.edu 612-626-5620 Les Hansen hanse009@umn.edu 612-624-2277 Brad Heins hein0106@umn.edu 320-589-1711 Nathan Hulinsky huli0013@umn.edu 320-203-6104
Isaac Salfer ijsalfer@umn.edu 320-296-1357 Jim Salfer salfe001@umn.edu 320-203-6093 Mike Schutz mschutz@umn.edu 612-624-1205 Emma Severns sever575@umn.edu 507-934-7828 Melissa Wison mlw@umn.edu 612-625-4276
Make the sustainability journey a convoy By Erin Cortus and Baitong Chen University of Minnesota
Environmental stewardship is part of modern dairy farming and so is continuous improvement. Studies show past changes in dairy production practices, from feed production to milk storage and manure management, resulted in fewer cattle, land and water resources and less greenhouse gas emissions by the U.S. dairy industry per glass of milk in 2017 compared to 2007 or earlier. Past practices evolved because of economics, evolving regulations, society’s need for milk and opportunities to enhance the quality of life for those on and around a farm, sustaining the industry for present generations. The modern push by consumers and society for sustainability comes with many different interpretations of what the future should look like. Despite different visions of what sustainable dairy production looks like, we can recognize there is a general push to continue to improve and simply be more specic about progress. How do we do this? I liken environmental sustainability initiatives, like the U.S. Dairy Net Zero Initiative, to long road trips. There is a distant goal, a timeline and some priorities for the trip. But there is also the freedom to take unique paths and detours along the way. A sustainability journey can include multiple vehicles that meet up along the way, take both common and different routes, and may even have different endpoints in mind. But each vehicle contributes to the shared experience of the broader journey by all. Sustainability journeys are easier to navigate with a trusted team. Each farm needs a convoy. A convoy can include other dairy farms and farmers. The vision for the NZI is, “Dairy as an environmental solution.” Through this initiative, the U.S. dairy industry is collectively committed to becoming greenhouse gas neutral or better, optimizing water use and improving water quality. The NZI is designed as a collective commitment, recognizing there can be multiple vehicles involved in this road trip, leaving from different places, taking different roads and making different stops along the way. There are many stages to a road trip. Some farms are It often seems like agriculture, likely considering whether this road trip, with the priand the dairy industry orities of greenhouse gases, specifically, is in the spotlight water quality and water quantity, is a trip they want to join. for environmental impact Other farms may be wondering how to start or join in the reductions. movement. Others may be already en route. Regardless of where a farm is at, it is important to recognize that this road trip, this sustainability journey, can look different for everyone. Sharing experiences along the way, good and bad, benets the broader convoy. A convoy can include trusted advisors and suppliers. If we use the NZI priority of greenhouse gas emissions as an example, a dairy farm’s greenhouse gas footprint includes the sum of all greenhouse gases produced in the creation and use of all products on the farm divided by the productivity of the farm. Consider everything used on a farm. This includes feed, vitamins, bedding, forage wraps, fertilizers and electricity, just to name a few examples. All of these can be considered in a footprint. When we look at the life cycle of everything used within a dairy’s fence line, this is called a cradle-to-farmgate perspective. If the perspective is expanded to include all movement and further processing of that milk, all the way to the consumer, this perspective is called cradle-to-grave. Even efforts to simply improve animal health and productivity without an increase in resources used can reduce a footprint. It often seems like agriculture, and the dairy industry specically, is in the spotlight for environmental impact reductions. However, many companies and industries are taking similar actions of setting goals and assessing the environmental impact of their products, generally in response to market demands. As an example, in 2022, the American Concrete Institute launched a center to increase the understanding and adoption of carbon neutral (i.e., greenhouse gas neutral) materials and technologies in the concrete industry. Efforts by suppliers or advisors to understand, quantify, and in some cases reduce, the environmental impact of their recommendations helps a dairy farm in their journey. Starting a convoy assumes you or your farm are considering being a part of this journey or are already en route. Finding members for your convoy, now or in the future, starts with asking some simple questions about the journey others are on. Recognize that sustainability goals and priorities are personalized among individuals, organizations or industries. Asking questions helps identify overlap in respective trips. Whether you are charting an initial course for this road trip or are well on your trip, ask the question of those that support you, “How does this recommendation affect my farm’s sustainability metrics?”
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Page 34 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022
Prepare for planting season By Steve Frericks Farm Service Agency Executive Director
Mother Nature continues to show us who is the boss. This extended cool, wet weather pattern has slowed down the plans of many. Make sure to add the Farm Service Agency to the list of things to accomplish. Our doors are open to in-person business. We would love to update anything that needs attention. Many farming operations have changed over the past two years. If the last two years have taught us anything, it is that United States Department of Agriculture programs are a moving target. There have been many COVID-19-related programs and disaster-related programs administered because of the 2021 drought. Producers indicate it has been difcult to keep up with all these changes. Producers who are buying, selling or renting different land must notify the county FSA ofce as soon as possible after the transaction. Please provide a copy of the recorded deed for any purchased land. FSA is not notied by the county courthouse of these sales. Also, if you will be renting new land, we will need a copy of the lease before we can add you to the farm and/or give you information about the farm such as maps, base acres, yields, etc. Updating records now will save you time during crop certication. If you have changed your bank or bank account, provide FSA with the updated account as to not miss payments in the future. The FSA is committed to providing our farm loan borrowers the tools necessary to be successful. FSA staff will provide guidance and counsel from the loan application process through the borrower’s graduation to commercial credit. While it is FSA’s commitment to advise borrowers as they identify goals and evaluate progress, it is crucial for borrowers to communicate with their farm loan staff when changes occur. It is the borrower’s responsibility to alert FSA to any of the following: – Any proposed or signicant changes in the farming operation. – Any signicant changes to family income or expenses. – The development of problem situations. – Any losses or proposed signicant changes in security If a farm loan borrower can’t make payments to suppliers, other creditors or FSA on time, contact your farm loan staff immediately to discuss loan servicing options. For more information on FSA farm loan programs, contact your local county USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda. gov. Agricultural producers with crop insurance can hay, graze or chop cover crops for silage, haylage or baleage at any time and still receive 100% of the prevented planting payment. Previously, cover crops could only be hayed, grazed or chopped after Nov. 1, otherwise the prevented planting payment was reduced by 65%. USDA’s Risk Management Agency added this exibility as part of a broader effort to encourage producers to use cover crops, an important conservation practice and a good farming practice. Cover crops are especially important on elds prevented from planting as they help reduce soil erosion and boost soil health. RMA recognizes that cover crops are not planted as an agricultural commodity but rather with the primary purpose for conservation benets. For the 2021 crop year and beyond, RMA will not consider a cover crop planted following a prevented planting claim to be a second crop. But, RMA will continue to consider a cover crop harvested for grain or seed to be a second crop, and it remains subject to a reduction in the prevented planting indemnity in accordance with the policy. This decision to allow exibility for the 2021 crop year, and to make the change permanent for future years, builds on the advanced research and identied benets cover crops have supporting healthy soils and cropland sustainability efforts. To learn more about this policy change, visit RMA’s prevented planting webpage. The webpage also has the latest cover crop termination guidelines, which USDA updated in 2019 as a result of greater exibilities provided in the 2018 farm bill. Crop insurance is sold and delivered solely through private crop insurance agents. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA Service Centers and online at the RMA agent locator. Learn more about crop insurance and the modern farm safety net at rma.usda.gov. Farm Service Agency is an Equal Opportunity Lender. Complaints about discrimination should be sent to: Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250. Visit the Farm Service Agency Web site at: www.fsa.usda.gov/ for necessary application forms and updates on USDA programs.
Winning hearts, minds: Inuencing the inuencer Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022 • Page 35
At Midwest Dairy, we work with partners to share dairy’s story and build trust with consumers through ongoing relationships. Recently, you may have heard an emphasis on capturing the attention of Generation Z (ages 10-25) as they now make up 20% of the current U.S. population. Gen Z also has $100 billion in spending power and possesses a large inuence determining the growth of dairy over the next decade. Because of these factors, it’s important the dairy industry understands Gen Z so we can reach them with the right messages in the By Samantha right places at the right time. Carter As we investigate social Midwest Dairy platforms like TikTok and Instagram, you will see the power of the modern-day inuencer. Inuencers are relatable peers who connect well with the public on a variety of lifestyle topics and are highly trusted sources of information based on their authenticity. They built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on a specic topic, and are proven to have the power to affect the purchasing decisions of others. We know a key place to reach these consumers is on social media because 80% of Gen Z shoppers are inuenced by social media in their purchases. Midwest Dairy seeks partnerships with a variety of inuencers because of their vast network and sharing platforms as well as their high level of engagement with consumers. When choosing inuencers, strategy is important. We work with inuencers who can help us reach Gen Z, but we also look to connect with the parents of Gen Z or millennial parents with children in the home. A relationship typically occurs through an inuencer accepting an invitation, for example, for a hosted meal or event with a Midwest Dairy partner. From there, we see who is truly engaged and open to learning more. How an inuencer engages their audience and shares information also is important. We typically look for someone who can extend dairy information beyond the choir. We nd value in additional channels beyond social media accounts including blogs, podcasts, videos, recipes and by extension websites that allow accurate, relevant dairy information to live on; to meet consumers where they are the next time they turn to Google. All in all, we want people who enjoy talking about dairy and believe in the work farmers do. Once a relationship is established with an inuencer, we work to select themes and messages that complement their platform. Midwest Dairy becomes their resource for all things dairy and helps prepare them with materials and support when creating content. The more inuencers get to know Midwest farmers, over time, they become more comfortable asking questions and developing more in-depth
content. Farm tours are a special opportunity we use to show what life is like on a farm while interacting with a real dairy farmer. Once people see and experience a farm themselves, they can speak to agriculture and dairy rsthand and in a positive light. I am personally excited for the inuencer partnerships we have coming up in Kansas and Missouri which include the following inuencer partnerships: – Alaina of Honest Grub Honest Foodie. We met Alaina when she attended a Bringing Dairy to Life event in 2019. This year, we’re collaborating on quarterly recipes, sharing them through Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Alaina also will share her experience visiting a dairy farm this spring. – Braden of BradenSTL. Braden caught our attention through his love for food, which he began sharing to help support St. Louis businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. We’re an exclu-
sive sponsor of Braden’s Scoopin’ through the Lou micro-vlog series premiering this May. The series will be shared through Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, featuring local ice cream shops throughout St. Louis. – Shanna of Wellness for the Win. As a registered dietitian, we admire Shanna’s ability to speak authentically about nutrition and health topics. We met Shanna in 2018 and look forward to talking about the satisfying pairing of dairy and plants together through Shanna’s blog, Instagram and Pinterest. The work of building trust with inuencers is measured in part by our ability to grow and nurture relationships with these credible allies. We need relationships to help promote dairy’s sustainable nutrition story to consumers authentically and in ways that resonate. With the help of inuencers, we are positioned to win the hearts and minds of today’s consumers.
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Barbershop blues Page 36 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022
Barbershops are making a comeback, and I for one am glad of it. Guys simply aren’t meant to get their hair cut at places like salons or boutiques. At a certain age, boys begin to separate themselves from their mothers. This is mainly due to the universal aversion boys have for maternal at-home haircuts. “Mom,” I would exclaim after my mother had given me a trim. “It looks like you plopped a bowl on my head and mowed off everything that stuck out.” Mom eventually grew tired of my whining and allowed me the extravagance of getting haircuts at a barbershop. Mom would hand me the $2 a haircut cost back then and drop me off at the Main Street barbershop that was owned by a guy named Helmer Dahl. As I walked into his shop for the rst time, Helmer greeted me with a cheery, “Hello there, young sir. Have a seat!” I liked Helmer right away. Helmer’s barbershop smelled of clipper oil and cigarette smoke and manly haircare products such as
Vitalis Hair Tonic. If you had to wait, there was a large selection of manly reading materials to pass the time,
But it’s never a good situation when your barber says things like “Oops,” or “Let me get a bandage for that,” or “I can’t keep the bowl straight if you don’t hold still.” magazines like Field and Stream and Outdoor Life. Helmer also had a plethora of comic books for his younger clientele. I went to Helmer for haircuts for many years and
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learned two things. First was that Helmer didn’t care if my hair was a tangled mat of silage particles and oat chaff. Second was that you could tell any kind of joke in Helmer’s bar- Dear County Agent Guy bershop, just as long as it was funny. After Helmer retired, my wife said we could save a bundle if she were to cut my hair at home. But it’s never a good situation when your barber says things like “Oops,” or “Let me get a bandage for that,” or “I can’t keep the bowl straight if you By Jerry Nelson don’t hold still.” Columnist At my wife’s behest, I was introduced to the world of hair salons. My rst impression of a hair salon wasn’t good. The place reeked of industrial hair chemicals, and its walls were plastered with posters of emaciated supermodels who sported hairdos that deed the laws of physics. The only reading materials available were magazines with cover stories such as, “Drive your man wild with these irty new perms.” Yeesh. Yvette, my hair technician, ushered me over to a plastic sink and proceeded to wash my hair. Like I hadn’t already done that when I took a shower the previous week. I was then instructed to sit in a mauvecolored, electronically adjustable, berglass chair. Yvette tried to untangle my mop, often stopping to remove bits of hay from her comb. “Do you use a conditioner?” she asked. “I used to,” I replied. “But it gave me too much trouble, so I took the thing off. Now I just windrow my alfalfa without it.” Yvette decided to change the subject. “How often do you comb this ... whatever it is?” “Once a month, whether it needs it or not,” I replied proudly. “And what sort of tool you use? An eggbeater?” I’m not sure, but I think Yvette was being sarcastic. Things seemed to be getting tense, so I thought I would lighten the mood by telling the latest blonde joke I had heard. But before I could start the yarn, I was struck by a philosophical quandary: Would a person be offended by such a joke if the person hearing it – Yvette, for instance – was blonde by choice? Given the fact that Yvette was holding a pair of sharp scissors, I opted not to risk it. My wife said my haircut looked great. I thought my new do looked suspiciously similar to the one recently sported by Lady Gaga. As soon I as I got home, I snuck into the bathroom and ran a wire whisk through my hair. Otherwise, I might have spooked my cows. I get my hair trimmed nowadays at a honest-togoodness barbershop in a nearby town. They never complain about the foreign matter they nd in my mop, there’s a good supply of manly reading materials on hand, and the only thing on the wall, other than the mirror, is a battered old hockey stick – a souvenir of some guy’s glory days. And the people who cut my hair call themselves barbers, not hair technicians. But best of all, I can tell any kind of joke that I like, just as long as it’s funny. Jerry is a recovering dairy farmer from Volga, South Dakota. He and his wife, Julie, have two grown sons and live on the farm where Jerry’s great-grandfather homesteaded over 110 years ago. Jerry currently works full time for the Dairy Star as a staff writer/ad salesman. Feel free to E-mail him at: jerry.n@dairystar.com.
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Controlling ies on dairy farms
Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022 • Page 37
Now is the time to make y control plans for your operation. Flies are a nuisance to farm workers and animals, transmit disease and cause signicant economic loss. Flies cause livestock to expend extra energy fending them off instead of resting, feeding and milking. Fly control is critically important to all dairy operations to reduce the spread of disease and improve animal comfort, resulting in decreased stress and greater efciency of growth or production. In the past, management of ies in dairy and livestock barns often relied solely on insecticide use. But this single-tactic approach can aggravate y populations’ resistance to insecticides and inadvertently destroy natural enemies of ies. Today, farms are successfully combining careful use of pesticides with other integrated pest management practices. Fly identication, biology Identifying the type of ies on your dairy and understanding their lifecycle is key to developing an effective IPM plan. Common ies found on dairies include house ies, horn ies, stable ies and face ies.
M d t to Moderate t iintense t fl fly pressure can be stressful to dairy cattle in many ways and result in decreased profit. House ies are the most abundant around livestock operations but cause the least irritation. Horn and stable ies are both bloodsucking insects and can be very painful to their hosts. Although house and face ies don’t suck blood, they do spread disease. According to Purdue University research, a y can complete an entire generation – from egg to adult – within as few as 10 days. All ies pass through four life stages: egg, larva (maggot), pupa and adult. Dur-
ing its lifecycle, which is about 30 days, a house y female can lay up to 1,000 eggs. These eggs are deposited on moist manure or any type of moist, rotten or decaying organic matter. The eggs hatch in 10 to 12 hours, and the maggots move into the wet manure. Fly maggots mature in four to ve days under warm, moist conditions. Pupation occurs in the drier parts of manure, with the adult ies emerging in three to ve days. Although capable of movement up to several miles, house ies normally stay within one-half to three-quarter miles of their breeding sites.
cycle by inhibiting the synthesis of the bug’s body wall (exoskeleton), resulting in death before Something to Ruminate On the larvae can become adult ies. Begin feeding diubenzuron 30 days prior to ies appearing and continue until cold weather restricts y activity in the fall.
Sanitation The largest economic return for y control is effective cleanliness and sanitation. Approximately 90% of a dairy’s ies will develop in less than 10% of its physical area. Flies reproduce in undisturbed, damp organic matter. Removal and disposal of wasted feed, spilled milk or manure will go a long way in reducing y populations. Eliminating tall weeds around facilities can reduce attractiveness to ies, especially stable ies. In some cases, alternative bedding sources (such as sand in calf hutches) can be considered during the summer months.
Additional y control strategies Residual premise By Barry Visser spray is often benecial Nutritionist throughout the summer to kill ies or deter other ies from coming into the dairy. Baiting or trapping ies is benecial in certain locations. Large surface area y control tape may aid in reducing the number of ies in conned spaces. Parasitic wasps have also been used effectively to help control the pest y population. Lastly, don’t forget about pour-on y control. This is perhaps the best option for controlling ies in a pasture situation. Resistance to chemicals is a concern; however, new products continue to come on the market. Moderate to intense y pressure can be stressful to dairy cattle in many ways and result in decreased prot. Flies are attracted to dairies due to the large amounts of feeding and breeding sites that exist on any operation. Cleanliness in these high-risk areas is a great place to start controlling ies, but this alone is not enough. Complementary y control programs, such as spraying, baiting and trapping, and larvicide feeding, will go a long way to reducing y populations and positively impacting productivity. Barry Visser is a nutritionist for Vita Plus.
Feed an insect growth regulator The key to any y management strategy is to start early in the season before y populations become a problem. An insect growth regulator is a feed additive that can be added to calf and heifer feeds as well as any adult cows in housing situations that allow manure to accumulate over time. This generally starts in mid-April to early May in most of the Midwest. Insect growth regulators will not get rid of current ies but can go a long way in preventing future ies. Your nutritionist can assist with specic larvicide recommendations. The larvicide diubenzuron is the most common IGR used in dairy cattle and effectively prevents the four most-irritating ies from developing and emerging in the manure. Diuebenzuron breaks the y life-
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Hinge moments Page 38 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022
I was listening to Minnesota Public Radio in the parking lot the other day. The host was talking with a science ction writer about the imaginative use of time travel in her story and how this theme of a specic time in history affected her career path. She called it a hinge moment. She pointed to a specic moment in time where your past and future hinged, a point where your current life hinges on a moment in your past that put you in this spot today. Hinge moments seem to be her family theme. Her grandmother was dating two guys at the same time. They decided she needed to pick one of them, so they came up with a plan. One said he was going this way, the other a different direction. Who she followed was her hinge mo-
So, it appears my jobs on the farm may be waning, but my next adventure is just a left turn or a right turn at the end of our driveway. ment. If she had followed the other guy, the life she lived wouldn’t have existed and neither would the author. I can still see my hinge moment. It was a rainy April day when my mom, sister and grandmother drove all the way across Illinois to the eastern border to help me start my move to a new job in Minnesota. As the move became more certain, I became less certain of my decision. I didn’t know anyone up there. I would be 10 hours from home and not ve. I started to drag my feet, and my attitude was surly. Then, Grandma snapped me out of it and pushed me out the door.
You have to understand, this is a woman who is like a mother hen protecting all her chicks beneath her wings. She loved having all her family (siblings, children, nieces, nephews and grandchildren) close to home. Now here she was pushing me out of the nest, yet somehow, she knew I needed to try this adventure. Thirty-seven years later, I’m still on the path she pushed me toward. If I hadn’t moved, I wouldn’t have met Mark, and we wouldn’t have our kids or grandkids. Life would have been completely different. I bring this up because I attended a women in agriculture conference recently. The morning panelists talked about moments in their careers where they had these hinge moments. Corey Scott works for Land O’Lakes now, but one summer when she was younger, she worked at a landll that was on re. She called it a crappy job, but she also learned a valuable lesson. Never underestimate the positive power of a crappy project or job. How you act and handle the situation becomes your brand and how people will see you. I was amazed at the advice. I could see all my jobs ash before my eyes and how I had to show up every time, like it or not and do my best job. As I gazed around the banquet room, I saw so many young women. Would I have heard this message when I was their age? Could I truly have understood what was being said? Or, would the words become a seed planted for later growth and maturity? I may have looked out of place, but I felt just as young and excited as these ladies about the potential for new adventures in future careers in agriculture. I may appear to be at the end of my career, but I’m just at the right spot. Austin keeps asking me what I want to do. What do I want to do if I didn’t have to work on the farm? So, it appears my jobs on the farm may be waning, but my next adventure is just a left turn or a right turn at the end of our
driveway. I wonder which turn I will take to lead me on my new adventure. I know there is a job available just down the road. The local potato farmers are starting to cut potatoes for Just Thinking Out Loud planting. This is as sure of a sign of spring just like the fat robins hopping across my yard pecking at fallen berries and seeds scattered across the ground. The recent high winds have pretty much swept my yard clean but left behind branches as exclamation points. I guess it is time to nd my garden seeds and start my growing season in the house. It may By Natalie Schmitt be a few weeks before I can Columnist actually put seeds in the ground, but it will be here before we know it. There are so many questions at the start of the growing season but this year even more so with extremely high input prices and limited supplies. Fortunately, Austin is a numbers guy and has been trying to look at options for our elds. His college education and work experiences are really starting to pay off. By looking at the numbers, we are trying to not get caught up in the emotion and uncertainty of the situation. It is a learning curve, but we’re hitting it at the right angle and speed to keep moving forward. Who knows, it might lead to another hinge moment in our lives. As their four children pursue dairy careers off the family farm, Natalie and Mark are starting a new adventure of milking registered Holsteins just because they like good cows on their farm north of Rice, Minnesota.
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Beefers
Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022 • Page 39
Admittedly, we were a little late to the beef-on-dairy party, but we’re here now. According to the most recent data I’ve seen, more than 80% of dairy farmers in the Midwest are using beef semen in their herds, and the uptick in use began back in 2017. We tried incorporating beef semen into our breeding plan about that time but didn’t continue due to very poor conception rates. But, as with many ideas that failed initially, Dairy Good Life we tried again, because we seriously needed to do something to right the size of our heifer herd. Even with drastically reducing our use of sexed semen, we still had way too many heifers for our replacement needs. This time around, we had success and now have over a year of experience with little black beefers. We started using Limousin semen but switched to Angus due to better calving ease. My rst conclusion regarding beefers is that, without a doubt, they are born to suckle. From the very rst bottle of colostrum, feeding these little guys is a treat. Both the beef-on-Holstein and beefBy Sadie Frericks on-Jersey calves drink better. I noticed, too, that Columnist the insides of their mouths are considerably softer than those of dairy calves. Comparing beef-ondairy and dairy calves makes for an interesting illustration of the power of selective breeding. Dairy breeds could denitely benet from selection for newborn vigor. We also found out – the hard way – that beefers are born to run. They literally hit the ground ready to run. We usually collect dairy calves born on pasture several times a day. We now collect pasture-born beefers immediately after birth, unless we feel like running too. A secondary benet of beef-on-dairy breeding was the corresponding switch we made to weekly bull calf pickup. We used to feed our dairy bull calves for two to three weeks before selling to add value. We now have a buyer who picks up beefers and dairy bull calves twice each week. There is the axiom, “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” Well, I didn’t realize how much extra work we made for ourselves by feeding bull calves. But, we could also never stomach a $25 check for a healthy calf. Now we don’t have to choose between extra work and reasonable compensation. Beef-on-dairy semen use also allowed us to return to year-round calving. Many years ago – 12, I think – we adopted a no-new-calves policy for the coldest and hottest months of the year. That meant no calves born between Dec. 15 and Feb. 15 and again during July and August. This practice helped us avoid the newborn calf challenges that came with outdoor winter calving and the fresh cow challenges that came with summer heat. With those benets, though, came a new set of challenges: quarterly calfalanches. Before and after each breeding ban, we doubled our efforts to settle cows, which resulted in literal overruns of calves nine months later. We also encountered several seasons of unseasonable weather – like the hottest September on record and the coldest, snowiest November – which convinced us that trying to out-plan Mother Nature is next to impossible. Long story short, this past winter was the rst in over a decade that we calved straight through. We learned last spring that beefers can handle a cold Many years ago – 12, I think – we weather birth better than adopted a no-new-calves policy dairy calves. So nearly all of the cows who calved for the coldest and hottest this winter were bred to months of the year. beef semen. It’s interesting to think we’ve come full circle now with our calving schedule. But, it’s important to recognize that trying a new approach – sometimes more than once – is necessary for solving problems. We can and should continue to adapt our practices to meet our needs. One nal thought. I drafted this column prior to the Holy Week blizzard that dropped literal feet of wet, heavy snow on beef ranches in North Dakota and Montana and then whipped that snow around with gale-force winds. Even the heartiest of beef calves – newborn or not – were challenged. My heart goes out to the ranchers who worked in those unholy conditions to protect their cows, calves and livelihoods. Sadie and her husband, Glen, milk 100 cows near Melrose, Minnesota. They have three children – Dan, 15, Monika, 12, and Daphne, 9. Sadie also writes a blog at www.dairygoodlife.com. She can be reached at sadiefrericks@gmail.com.
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Page 40 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 23, 2022
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