April 8, 2023 Dairy Star - 1st section - Zone 1

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DAIRY ST R25

Your checkoff dollars

at work

AND THEN THERE WAS ONE

Surrounded by community

friends and even strangers surrounded him with support.

Berg owns last dairy in Aitkin County, stands among friends

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

MCGRATH, Minn. –Marty Berg has lived and dairy farmed mostly solo for the past 10 years in Aitkin County, but events on and since September 8, 2022, have proven what he said he already knew – he is not alone.

New products showcased at CPDE

By Jerry Nelson jerry.n@dairystar.com

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. –Dairy farmers were given an opportunity to see their checkoff dollars at work during the Dairy Checkoff Taste and Learn Experience March 29 at the Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls.

Several new products were offered for taste testing. The products included two new yogurts that were developed by General Mills; a new iced coffee that is being sold at Taco Bell restaurants; Cheesy Ranch Stix from Pizza Ranch; and MOO’V, a new ultra-ltered kid-focused milk beverage that was developed by Coloradobased DARI LLC.

Dairy Management Inc. and Midwest Dairy used checkoff money to help with the development and the marketing of these new dairy products.

That day, Berg, 62, was nearly killed by a bull named Jack on his farm, Solana Dairy, near McGrath. For many weeks to follow, Berg needed help, and neighbors,

“It is a community; there’s a community of faith, not just my church but all the little churches around here,” Berg said. “It’s my neighbors, the farming community in the area. We all work together.”

With seasonal calving just underway, Berg milks 10 cows in a double-10 parlor that has a holding pen and work area with swing gates.

“Normally we milk around 40,” Berg said.

After his run-in with Jack, the herd needed to be dried off while Berg recovered. Berg’s herd consists of mainly New Zealand Holstein-Friesians with some Montbéliarde and Ayrshire genetics crossing in.

“This year, I would have been milking 50, but Marty proposes and God disposes,” Berg said.

Turn to BERG | Page 8

Record rainfall, snow packs inundate Tulare County

By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com

PIXLEY, Calif. – After being ravaged by drought for nearly ve years, in California’s Central Valley, Tulare County has been inundated with rainfall and snow melt for over three months.

“They are calling this a 50to 100-year event,” Joey Airoso said. “The last time we have experienced ooding like this was 1969. This year, we have had record rainfall combined with a record snow pack in the Sierra Nevada mountains.”

Airoso, along with his wife, Laurie, his parents, Joe and Diane, and his son and

Marty Berg holds a New Zealand

calf that had been born April 3 on his farm near McGrath, Minnesota. Berg and his wife, Debbie, own the last dairy in Aitkin County, where they raise crossbred cows that adapt well to the county’s terrain.

Flooding impacts dairies in California

“All dairy, all the time”™

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Tulare Lake near Tulare, California, is normally very low due to drought but has overowed its banks this spring and con nues to cover farmland and force evacua ons. Joey Airoso, who farms in Tulare County, said those in the region are growing concerned about how much farther the lake will con nue to spread.

daughter-in-law, Joseph and Kelci, operate Air-Osa Dairy near Pixley in the state’s top dairy area of Tulare County.

The Airosos milk 2,900 head of primarily Holstein cows with a few Jerseys added to the mix. They farm 1,500 acres of

cropland where they raise corn, wheat, alfalfa and pistachios.

JERRY NELSON/DAIRY STAR

MOO’V is a new whole milk beverage for kids that was developed by DARI LLC. The bo les include a QR code that will generate a dancing cartoon cow named Morgan.

JAN LEFEBVRE/DAIRY STAR

Holstein-Friesian

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The market is moving into the spring ush period, and Rabobank economist Lucas Fuess expects milk prices to remain steady. “Taking $17 to $18 milk into the second quarter may be a little bit of a struggle here for dairy farmers in the coming months, but into the second half of the year, Rabobank is expecting a demand recovery-driven course by China and hopefully providing upside to milk prices into the second half of the year,” Fuess said. Fuess admits milk prices are not protable at current levels, “especially when we consider the cost of production.”

DMC payment triggered

According to the Dairy Market Report, the Dairy Margin Coverage program is paying $1.56 per hundredweight for $9.50 per hundredweight coverage for January. From December to January, the average all-milk price dropped by $1.60 per hundredweight. That’s tied for the 10th largest monthly price drop since January 2000. The bump in soymeal costs represented two-thirds of the margin decline. Corn and premium alfalfa prices also contributed to the change.

Milk production increases

February milk production in the 24 major dairy states rose 1% from one year ago. Minnesota milk production was also up 1%, with the size of the state dairy herd increasing by 2,000 head. South Dakota continues to lead the nation in the level of milk output gains, up 6.2% from one year ago. In the past year, South Dakota added 12,000 cows. In Wisconsin, milk cow numbers declined 3,000 head from one year ago and production dropped 0.3%. California production increased just under 1% while cow numbers rose 3,000 head.

A position of growth

Rabobank global dairy strategist Mary Ledman sees opportunities for growth for the U.S. dairy industry. “The U.S. accounts for about 15% of global dairy trade, and I think there’s room to improve that number,” Ledman said. Compared to other parts of the world, the U.S. has fewer regulations. “Our share in global dairy trade is growing, mostly because we don’t see the same type of environmental constraints hindering production growth,” she said.

Farm bill markup on the way

By Don Wick Columnist

House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson is preparing to mark up the new farm bill in a matter of months. “In terms of votes, I suspect we’re looking at the summer, end of spring, somewhere toward the beginning of summer,” Thompson said. Congress is mired in debate over the debt ceiling and budget cuts. Thompson said the country needs to get its scal house in order but not on the backs of the farmers.

Tai defends trade agenda

In testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai highlighted the Biden administration’s trade agenda, emphasizing U.S. agricultural exports reached record levels in 2022. Regarding the dairy industry, Tai said, “We are pressing Canada to ensure that U.S. dairy farmers are treated fairly.”

Budget targets announced

The DFL trifecta in Minnesota has reached an agreement on budget targets. This framework typically is not determined until the last days of the session. However, House Speaker Melissa Hortman said the era of gridlock is over. “Too often you have seen in the past the leaders taking a really long time to give budget targets to the chairs and to the members of the Legislature,” Hortman said. “At this point in time, we have targets that the chairs in the House and the Senate will get and the commissioners will get, and they will now work together. And when they are done with those bills, we will bring them to the oor and we will pass them.” The budget targets include nearly $18 billion in new spending, including $3 billion in tax cuts. The deal allocates $48 million for the agriculture budget.

MFBF expected different budget scenario

Minnesota Farm Bureau President Dan Glessing was surprised by the budget framework agreement and the $48 million budget allocation for agriculture. “We were certainly hoping to see more put toward agriculture,” Glessing said. “We’ll have some conversations and see if we can’t get agriculture properly funded. At the end of the day, we’ll continue to ght for farmers and ranchers and consumers. They’re really the ones who reap the benets of our food production.”

A full plate for farm policy

There’s no shortage of agriculture related issues being addressed in the Legislature. Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen said these concerns often extend beyond the purview of his department. “It may be issues like property taxes, school building referendums, the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit (or) avian inuenza, and they’re all incredibly important,” Petersen said. Petersen is closely watch-

ing the legislation dealing with the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.

“The issue is if we’re going to grow the Board of Animal Health,” he said. “It’s currently at six, but it was at ve members for about 100 years. My concern is making sure we have a board that understands farming, agriculture and animal diseases.”

DAIRI bill gains traction

The Minnesota Legislature is considering legislation to provide grants to dairy farmers who produced up to 25 million pounds of milk in 2022 and are enrolled in the Dairy Margin Coverage program. The Dairy Assistance, Investment Relief Initiative would issue payments to participants based on the amount of milk produced, up to a maximum of 5 million pounds per producer.

A good year for ag banks

Lending through U.S. farm banks increased to $103 billion in 2022, up more than 8% from the previous year.

The American Bankers Association’s annual Farm Bank Performance Report credits the change to nearly a 10% increase in outstanding loans secured by farmland and a 6% increase in farm production loans. At the end of the year, only a fraction of 1% of the loan portfolio was delinquent.

Ag Census forms still being accepted

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been collecting responses for the 2022 Census of Agriculture since last fall, and over 1 million questionnaires have been returned. USDA will continue to accept completed ag census forms through the spring. The census is used to help make decisions about farm policy, ag research, rural development and more.

Trivia challenge

The average cow produces 46,000 glasses of milk per year. That answers our last trivia question. For this week’s trivia, what popular type of blue cheese originated in Italy? We will have the answer in our next edition of Dairy Star. Don Wick is owner/broadcaster for the Red River Farm Network, based in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Wick has been recognized as the National Farm Broadcaster of the Year and served as president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Don and his wife, Kolleen, have two adult sons, Tony and Sam, and ve grandchildren, Aiden, Piper, Adrienne, Aurora and Sterling.

California’s Central Valley is being impacted by ooding caused by historic rainfall and

in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The wet weather pa ern follows a nearly ve-year drought. now.”

“The ooding really started with a storm that came through the end of February,” Airoso said. “We had snow in areas of California Feb. 25 where it is nearly unheard of even on the beaches. Then a week later, we had a warm rain that melted all of the snow below 4,000 feet. All of that rain, plus that snow melt, came down toward us.”

Over the past month, Airoso said the Central Valley has experienced a great deal of rainfall, including two days with rainfall totals over 3 inches each. Airoso said this winter’s rainfall total is over four times that of an average winter, and that the snow pack in the mountains is two to three times its normal depth.

“Two years ago, in Pixley, we got less than one-tenth of an inch of rain all winter, and there have been winters where have gotten 3 inches of rain throughout the entire winter,” Airoso said.

Airoso said there are several ood control dams located between nearby Fresno and Tulare that are typically able to contain the snow melt the area relies heavily on for moisture.

“They usually try not to have those full until the end of the winter, but after that storm, they lled up,” Airoso said. “Now we are getting the rain plus the dams have to release some water.”

Several factors played a role in how the water has come down through the Central Valley, Airoso said. Those include a lack of maintenance on aging infrastructure as well as a general lack of enough infrastructure.

“Before 1969, there was massive ooding in 1955, and that is when most of these ood control measures were built to alleviate that issue during future events,” Airoso said. “But here we are 68 years later still relying on that same infrastructure.”

Updating ood control infrastructure is something agricultural groups have been promoting for several years, Airoso said. Funding and approval from the state nally came in the last couple of years, but the updating projects have not yet been completed.

“If the updates had been completed and in place, I think the water could have been better managed to avoid the severe ooding,” Airoso said.

Airoso pointed to heavy state regulations and environmental policy as being roadblocks to ensuring infrastructure is up to date.

“There are people in this state who do not understand what we do, how we do it or why we do it,” Airoso said. “Those people want things to look like they did 100 years ago despite the fact that over 40 million people live here

While the ooding creates certain issues for residents of the Central Valley, Airoso said he is thankful for the relief from the drought.

“The last 12 months we have been in dire straits,” Airoso said. “Last July, people started to run out of water.”

California farmers are regulated in the amount of water they can use from underground, Airoso said.

“You can only take out as much as what goes in based on how much precipitation, snow melt and surface water recharges the aquifer,” Airoso said.

Airoso said the heavy rainfall and ooding issues have created additional levels of stress for both animals on his farm and the people trying to care for them. Airoso said about 10 farms in the Tulare County have had to relocate their cattle, and about that many are in the same situation in the Fresno area as well.

“We are lucky that we are not in an area where farms have had to relocate away from the ooding,” Airoso said. “One of our farms is about a half-mile from another farm that had to move. For now, we are just dealing with a lot of water and doing a lot of pumping.”

With continued heavy rains predicted, Airoso said increasing water levels remains a concern. Many roads in the area have been closed due to ooding and ood-related damage. As water levels in Tulare Lake continue to rise, Airoso said additional farms are being notied of pending evacuations.

Airoso voiced concern over the coming cropping season.

“We are normally planting our early corn by now and getting ready for our rst cutting of hay,” he said. “Even if we didn’t get another drop of rain, it will still be three weeks before we can get into the elds.”

In a typical year, Airoso said they make hay from March through November, and said they will probably for certain lose one crop of hay.

“That will denitely have an impact on feed availability,” Airoso said. “Feed prices are already up, particularly for roughages, because of the drought.”

Those pressures, coupled with a recent softening in milk prices, has Airoso concerned about increasingly tight margins in the near future.

“The impacts of this will be felt for a while, especially for those who have had to relocate,” he said. “The roads and other infrastructure that have been damaged will take a long time to repair and have a long-term impact on trucking in our area. And then there is the question of how it will affect crop production for this growing season.”

PHOTO SUBMITTED

snowpacks

“General Mills is a leader in consumer product goods,” said Rebecca MacKay Allen, senior vice president of global partnerships at DMI. “We have been able to help them with a couple of strategic initiatives this year including offerings for Generation Z, millennials and kids but also families. Yogurt is General Mills’ No. 2 category behind cereal. There is potential for yogurt to become their No. 1 category.”

DMI helped support the renovation of General Mills’ Oui brand of yogurt, a whole milk French-style yogurt.

“General Mills recognized the opportunity in this subsegment of yogurt, which is the whole milk, full-fat yogurt space,” Allen said. “We helped them with retail activations and some consumer marketing pieces to help them get the word out and capitalize on this growing segment within yogurts.”

Another bright spot is General Mills’ Ratio brand of yogurt. Ratio features a high protein and low sugar content, which makes it keto friendly.

“Ratio has doubled its brand share since it was launched,” Allen said.

Molly Pelzer, the CEO of Midwest Dairy, said the goal with the taste and learn experience was to give producers the opportunity to enjoy new dairy products and learn about the science behind them.

“Dairy farmers know that science is important,” Pelzer said.

Pizza Ranch is one of the largest and most recognized pizza chains in the Midwest. There are more than 200 franchised Pizza Ranch locations scattered across 15 states.

“The COVID-19 pandemic hit Pizza Ranch especially hard,” Pelzer said. “They were virtually shut down for a while.

Midwest Dairy partnered with them and helped them recover by finding ways to include additional cheese in their pizzas. We also helped them develop new appetizers and a new breakfast pizza.”

Taco Bell has more than 7,200 restaurants in the U.S. and serves more than 40 million customers each week. The fast-food chain has recently unveiled a new avor of iced coffee.

“Taco Bell has always sold a lot of dairy in the form of cheese, but it’s never had a dairy beverage,” Pelzer said. “Their Cinnabon Delights iced coffee includes a unique, 100% dairy, shelf-stable creamer that was developed by Sonia Patel and her team at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Food Science and Nutrition.”

At least three additional avors of iced coffee beverages are currently being tested

by Taco Bell. All of them will be made with 1.2 ounces of the new dairy-based creamer.

Per capita uid milk consumption in the U.S. has fallen over the past 20 years. Dan Ellsworth, CEO of DARI LLC, is working to reverse that trend.

DARI LLC was established by Nebraska-based Tuls Dairies in the spring of 2021. The fruit of this enterprise is a new premium beverage named MOO’V, an ultra-ltered, lactose free whole milk that is high in protein and is naturally sweetened.

“The Tuls family and DARI LLC dedicated themselves to developing a healthy milk option that moms want for their kids,” Ellsworth said. “We designed our on-the-go milk bottles for kids aged 2 to 11 years old.”

Pelzer said Midwest Dairy worked with DARI LLC to help them identify potential markets for their product by giving them access to some Midwest Dairy consumer research.

“We also used our research to assist them with producing marketing materials for their milk and the design of their milk bottles,” she said.

MOO’V milk will be available in three avors including vanilla, strawberry and cinnamon swirl. Ellsworth said MOO’V will be rolled out in 177 Hy-Vee food stores beginning in April.

“Our cinnamon swirl is similar to the Hispanic beverage known as horchata,” Ells-

worth said. “We feel that the there is a lot of potential growth in dairy consumption in the Hispanic market.”

They will be holding 15 MOO’V tastings at select HyVee stores during the rst part of April.

“MOO’V will eventually be available in all 280 Hy-Vee stores and in certain convenience stores,” Ellsworth said.

Each bottle of MOO’V milk has a Did You Know? feature that includes fun facts about dairy farming. The bottles also

have a smartphone QR code that generates a 3D animated cartoon cow named Morgan. When the QR code is scanned, Morgan begins to dance enthusiastically on the smartphone screen as jaunty digital music plays. The user can resize Morgan and reposition her into different places.

“Morgan is our version of a Cracker Jack prize,” Ellsworth said. “Kids enjoy interacting with her. She’s a lot of fun and helps keep our consumers engaged.”

Molly Pelzer Midwest Dairy

JERRY NELSON/DAIRY STAR

Samples of new dairy products were given out at the Dairy Checkoff Taste and Learn Experience March 29 at the Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Among these products were two new whole milk yogurts that were developed by General Mills.

On the day Jack become hostile, Berg’s wife, Dr. Debbie Berg, a senior animal research scientist in New Zealand, was home with him. The couple had been living in two places, her mostly in New Zealand and Berg mostly on the farm for the past 10 years. Berg said Debbie being home is what saved his life.

Debbie was in the house while Berg was in the yard, moving Jack to the barn. The bull was to be picked up the next day and hauled to a sales barn.

“He was a wonderful bull; I didn’t have a cow he didn’t improve,” Berg said. “He was a herd bull, a grazing bull. I raised him, so he did whatever I told him.”

However, Jack was still a bull.

“They’re good until they are not,” Berg said.

Jack was about 10 feet in front of Berg when he came to a halt before the barn, so Berg told him to get going. Suddenly, Jack whipped around and butted Berg hard on the left side, and Berg fell to the ground. Jack leaned down and butted Berg again, ramming him to a raised edge on the cement slab, which Berg nally maneuvered himself over so he could roll under the electric fence. He ended up in weeds by the manure spreader, hidden and unable to move.

Berg said he knew his lungs were collapsed because he could barely breathe.

“I was working so hard to keep from going into shock,” Berg said. “I could only puff a little and couldn’t shout.”

Later, he would nd that all but two ribs were broken, many of those crushed.

When Berg did not return to the house, Debbie began looking for him.

After shouting for him, she heard a faint voice but could not tell where it was coming from. She called neighbors for help and they started looking.

When they found Berg, community rst responders who had been called in arrived, and it was clear he was in rough shape. A medical helicopter was brought in to transport him to Duluth.

Jack was still in the yard. Debbie and a neighbor got a pail of corn, and Jack followed them into the barn to wait to be hauled away, one day too late.

Debbie was told at the hospital that they were not sure if her husband would make it home again, and if he did, he might not be able to walk. But, Berg said his wife has always been strong.

“She’s an amazing person,” Berg said. “You’ll never meet anyone stronger – small but mighty, only 4 feet, 11 inches.”

The Bergs met in college at the University of Minnesota. Debbie received a Fulbright Scholarship to study the use of in vitro fertilization with deer herds in New Zealand, and she was offered a job and completed a Ph.D. there through the U of M. Marty worked as a research associate, supporting cattle cloning and reporduction programs. They raised two sons there, but their plan was to retire in the U.S.

“I came back 10 years ago because this is our retirement dream,” Berg said. “We knew it takes a certain amount of time to get a farm going, especially when you start from scratch.”

The farm they bought had not had cattle on it since 1975 when the man who owned it died suddenly. Structures stood on the farm, including two Harvestore silos and automatic feeding equipment that had seen little use.

INTRODUCING THE NEXT GENERATION OF PREMIUM DIESEL FUELS

“Ever since we were at university together, this is something we wanted to do – have our own little dairy farm – and we would do it our own way because we are not second, third generation,” Berg said.

Berg worked remotely in research, living in New Zealand for about a month each year. Debbie visited McGrath whenever she could. Meanwhile, Berg began to assemble a herd

of animals that could graze on Aitkin County land.

“When we started, we bought sale barn cows,” Berg said. “My rst cross was Ayrshire, and I put Ayrshire over everything, trying to get dairy character and get a smaller size. I bought Jersey crosses and some Holsteins.”

Within two years, he added New Zealand Holstein-Friesian followed by Montbéliarde.

Turn to BERG | Page 9

JAN LEFEBVRE/DAIRY STAR

Marty Berg climbs one of two Harvestore silos April 3 on his farm, Solana Dairy, near McGrath, Minnesota. A�er suffering a near-fatal encounter with a bull in September 2022, which severely injured his ribs and lungs, Berg received help and support from friends, his church and even strangers.

“This is $1,000 ground; the cows are on grass,” Berg said. … “(A Friesian cow) is genetically adapted to graze. She ts the farm, and she ts this model of dairying.”

Berg said they wanted to try a unique way of dairy farming.

“We thought it could be a model for people who do not have family farms,” he said. “It would be a way to start, to get on that (inexpensive) ground that is available.”

Berg said they will not recognize the capital value of the dairy farm when they sell some day because the farm will have no one then to pick up the milk. Currently, the milk goes to Associated Milk Producers Inc. in Jim Falls, Wisconsin.

“The purchaser of this will be buying a postcard,” Berg said. “They will have their ATVs and they will have a hunting property, or maybe someone will run a few beef cows on it.”

The farm has 120 acres that are both fenced and grazed. Berg buys haylage and corn silage. Calves are group housed, and the herd is grazed for close to seven months of the year. Calving usually begins in March.

“Because we milk seasonally, I don’t push expensive feed through the winter.”

It takes Berg about an hour and a half morning and evening to milk when he is at full herd size.

“I milk with ve units,” Berg said. … “It’s easier for me to milk my cows than it is for most people to stand at the sink and peel potatoes.”

These days, Berg continues to heal his body. He spent 10 days on a ventilator, developed aspiration pneumonia and tested positive for COVID-19. Later, when medical staff tried to remove one of the many drains they had placed in his torso, a rib popped and tore his pericardium, the membrane that surrounds the heart and holds it in place. That required his chest to be cracked open to repair it. He was in the intensive care unit for about a month.

However, he said he is more than 80% healed and credits his community and the power of prayer chains for getting him there.

Over the past 10 years, Berg said, people have been hearing about him, not because he owns the last dairy farm in Aitkin County but because of the way he farms.

“When I meet people around here, they often say, ‘Oh, you’re that farmer; you’re that guy,’” Berg said. “Well, I’m that guy that everyone prayed for. I’ve received hundreds of cards.”

Berg’s next door neighbors took him in and cared for him the rst two weeks when he was discharged from the hospital and Debbie needed to be in New Zealand. After that, his church’s congregation insisted he stay in the vacant parish house for a while to be nearer to others as he healed. People from all around have brought food and support.

“To have a miracle recovery – that’s what it is

to do what I’m doing, to be where I am, to have what I have – is a low probability event,” Berg said. “I’m getting stronger every week, but I am very risk conscious; there will be no setbacks. People have invested so much in my recovery, and I would never jeopardize that. There is a whole community watching my every move.”

JAN LEFEBVRE/DAIRY STAR

A New Zealand Holstein-Friesian calf lounges April 3 at Solana Dairy near McGath, Minnesota. Owners Marty and Debbie Berg apply seasonal calving and graze their herd about seven months of the year.

BUILT TO KEEP GOING.

BECAUSE A FARM NEVER SLEEPS.

Keeping it close to home

Schultz specializes in pizzas made with home-grown, local ingredients

By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com

ATHENS, Wis. – After his parents sold their 50-cow dairy herd in 1998, Tony Schultz knew that someday he wanted to nd a way to reestablish the family’s farm as a business venture.

“I loved (the) farm, and I wanted to nd a way back,” Schultz said.

It was during his time attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison that the wheels began to turn in his head to develop a plan to do just that.

“I experienced the Dane County farmers market and was amazed at the support for local agriculture,” Schultz said. “I also learned about community-supported agriculture, and thought I had found my niche for going back to the farm.”

In 2006, Schultz returned to the farm and purchased 80 acres to set about creating an organic produce CSA, giving new birth to Stoney Acres Farm located near Athens in northern Marathon County. This year will mark his 17th year as a CSA and his 18th year attending the Wausau farmers market.

After touring a “pizza farm” in western Wisconsin, Schultz dove in to bring that business model to his own farm. He built his rst brick oven in 2010. The rst pizza nights were held as on-farm events for the partners of his CSA.

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“I loved that concept even though I had never been in the restaurant business,” Schultz said. “It was very exciting as I developed the idea. Everything used in making the pizzas, except for the cheese, is grown and made right here on the farm; and the cheese is all purchased as close to the farm as possible.”

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hyd. swing, rubber rolls

Vermeer 840, 10’3” disc mow. cond.

Gehl 2450, 15’ hydro swing disc mower

Haybuster 2650 bale grinder

Oliver 550 w/Oliver loader

‘21 MF GC1723, ldr., mower, 180 hrs.

MF GC1705 w/60” deck

‘07 NH TC34D, MFWD, loader 60 inch mower deck

‘21 Bobcat T770, high flow, SJC, 464 hrs.

‘20 Bobcat T770, SJC, 300 hrs.

Bobcat T770, SJC, 2,400 hrs.

Bobcat T770, A91, 1,800 hrs.

Bobcat S770, 3,200 hrs.

Bobcat T750, CAH, hand/foot

Bobcat T750, A71, joystick, 3400 hrs.

Bobcat S750, A71, ACS, 4,100 hrs.

‘12 Brent 782 gravity box tarp/scale

JD 146 Loader w/bucket

customer interest in the establishment. He began bringing in live music acts.

“It has really become a complete night out,” Schultz said. “You can have some really good, gourmet pizza, enjoy a couple of beers, listen to some great music and the kids can play on the playground all while you sit back and enjoy the country and farm atmosphere.”

Like most businesses, the pandemic presented a glitch for Schultz’s business plan. While the CSA remained operational, the restaurant business was stymied.

“The restaurant was shut down, and that is when I made the shift into making frozen pizzas,” Schultz said.

Gehl 100 Feed Mill

The rst pizza nights open to the public began in 2012 and were held one day a week from June through October. The rst two years, Schultz estimates he sold roughly 50 pizzas per night. By 2014, his volume had increased to anywhere from 225 to 250 pizzas a night.

Then, late in the summer of 2015, Schultz had the luck of being featured in an Emmy-winning episode of “Wisconsin Foodie,” which airs on PBS and features food destinations.

Schultz began marketing frozen pizzas at four local retailers and at the Wausau farmers market, and estimates he sells approximately 300 frozen pizzas a week.

Loftness 20’ Stalk Shredder, NICE!!

‘12 Brent 782 Cart, w/tarp & scale ‘15 JCB 536-60 Telehandler, CAH, 3,200 hrs.

Gehl CT5-16 Telehandler

‘08 Agco 3000 Corn Head, 8R30, poly ‘14 NDE 2906 Twin Screw TMR

SKID LOADERS

“After that, business just blew up, and when our season started in 2016, we were swamped with making 400 pizzas on a Friday night,” Schultz said. “We were frazzled, and the growth was stressful. But, I was not about to look a gifthorse in the mouth.”

The second and third brick ovens were built, and Schultz made the decision to open on Saturdays in addition to his traditional Friday night.

All of his pizza recipes are ones Schultz has concocted himself; some are variations of standard pizzas and others are unique creations that work in harmony with what produce is in season on his farm.

‘15 Bobcat E26, OROPS, 256 hrs.

Bobcat E50, long arm, 700 hrs.

“Transitioning to that second night helped spread out the pressure some,” Schultz said. “After that, I really started thinking of ways to embrace the growing popularity we were experiencing.”

In 2018, Schultz launched a microbrewery, making ales and ciders that are available only at Stoney Acres, which added another avenue of

In his pizza making endeavors, Schultz estimates he uses approximately 35 40-pound blocks of pizza cheese per month along with another 50 pounds of Nasonville Dairy’s bleu cheese. Schultz said he also uses fresh mozzarella from BelGioioso as well as cheese from Carr Valley and goat cheese from LaClare Creamery.

Schultz takes pride that, aside from the cheese, every ingredient for his pizzas comes directly from Stoney Acres.

Bobcat 5600 Toolcat, 2,200 hrs.

Bobcat V923 Telehandler, CAH, 1,100 hrs.

Bobcat 272D2 XPX, CAH, hi flow, camera IOS, 1,700 hrs

DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR

Tony Schultz holds a Dairyland Delight frozen cheese pizza March 24 at Stoney Acres Farm in Athens, Wisconsin. Schultz serves pizza using home-grown and local ingredients from his on-farm restaurant.

Between 10 to 20 acres of winter and spring wheat are grown each year. Schultz mills the wheat on-site to make his own our and also uses it to feed the 120 pigs he raises each year on the farm, which provide for all of the sausage used on his pizzas. Two to three acres of tomatoes are raised each year to make the 1,500 gallons of tomato sauce which serve as the base for both his 12-inch frozen pizzas and 16-inch restaurant pizzas.

“We want to keep everything as hyper-local as we can,” Schultz said. “This is a local, diversied, organic family farm. These are the ethical and productive pillars of the farm.”

Besides the reputation Stoney Acres has earned for their pizza, Schultz said the atmosphere of spending an evening on the farm has been a cornerstone of their success.

“People come here because this looks like a farm,” Schultz said. “I have weeds, I have mud, I have old machinery sitting around. It is the real deal, and people like the pastoral setting.”

Over the course of a summer weekend, Schultz said the farm will have as many as 500 visitors. Because of the connections he is able to make with customers, Schultz was looking forward to launching his 11th restaurant season April 7 despite the mud that likely greeted the rst customers of 2023.

“We get a real mix of people,” he said. “We get a lot of foodies who come simply because of the pizzas. We get a lot of localvores who appreciate knowing exactly where their food is coming from. We get a lot of people who bring visiting family or friends because this is a neat place to share.”

DHIA FIELD REPRESENTATIVE PROFILE

What counties or area do you cover? I cover all over–my main counties are Todd, Morrison, Douglas, and Stearns, but I go to Stevens, Pope, East Otter Tail, Polk, Becker and Wadena counties on a regular basis too.

What do you enjoy about the farmers you work with? Developing the lasting relationships. They become family in a way. You know what is happening in each other’s lives and you genuinely care about them. Most farms I go to don’t really feel like work, they feel like you are just going to visit a friend for a few hours.

What do you like about your work for DHIA? Even though there is way more work to do than most would prefer, there is still a lot of exibility in the scheduling. If I need to take a day off, it is easy to make that happen. I also like that if I look out the window and the weather gives you that “absolutely not” feeling, I just send a text to the farmer to apologize. Everyone understands when the weather is bad. I have very rarely had someone give me grief about it.

What do you do in your free time? I spend MOST of my free time keeping up with my 3 and 4 year olds. They are always on the go. When I can, I like to take my horses trail riding in the summer or go somewhere warm to ride in the winter. I just got into cattle sorting in the last year. That has been a lot of fun. I also enjoy doing nonlivestock judging for 4-H for the surrounding county fairs. Lastly, I help my nieces and nephews with showing their dairy cattle in the summer because showing cattle has been part of my life since high school.

DHIA: Now MORE than ever

Sauk Centre, MN Buffalo, MN 763.682.1091

www.mndhia.org

DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR

Tony Schultz waters young produce plants March 24 in the greenhouse at Stoney Acres Farm in Athens, Wisconsin. All of the ingredients for his pizzas are grown and raised on the farm, except for the cheese.

Katie Shaw

10 years with DHIA

“Most farms I go to don’t really feel like work, they feel like you are just going to visit a friend for a few hours.“

Bill aims to solidify use of ‘milk’ in labeling

DAIRY PRIDE legislation aims for rules instead of guidelines

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

With the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announcing Feb. 2 that it has chosen to set guidelines instead of regulations for plant-based beverage labeling, the DAIRY PRIDE bill increases in signicance.

The bill – Defending Against Imitations and Replacements of Yogurt, milk, and cheese to Promote Regular Intake of Dairy Everyday –has been introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate. If it passes, the DAIRY PRIDE Act would require companies to refrain from using the word “milk” in both plant-based products’ names and dietary descriptions.

In a press release Feb. 28, Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation, addressed the signicance of the bill in light of the FDA’s decision.

“DAIRY PRIDE is needed more than ever, now that FDA has of-

fered guidance on the labeling of plant-based beverages that, while taking steps in the right direction, ultimately doesn’t remedy the problem it seeks to solve, which is the proven confusion among consumers created when plant-based beverages steal dairy terms to make their products appear healthier than they really are,” Mulhern said. “FDA has acknowledged the problem of nutritional confusion without providing a complete solution.”

Although plant-based beverages have been around for centuries, it was not until recent years that they became widely marketed and consumed as an alternative to milk, with oat beverages seeing the biggest increases in sales. In the U.S. alone, retail sales of oat milk doubled from 2021 to 2022, earning $527.44 million.

However, it is not free market competition to which those in the dairy industry say they are objecting; it is the problem of false advertisement. Today, the plant-based beverage industry widely markets its products as being an equal, if not healthier, dietary replacement for milk, which research does not support.

FDA guidance on plant-based beverages suggests that manufacturers and marketers of such products disclose their products’ nutrient differences and inferiorities in comparison to milk. The guidance also acknowledges a public health

concern due to nutritional confusion over plant-based beverage labeling. If followed, the guidance would go a long way in clarifying dietary differences, but many in the dairy industry say that is a big if.

“DAIRY PRIDE requires FDA to enforce its standards of identity and would supersede the inadequate solution it offered … in which plant-based beverages could call themselves ‘milk’ as long as they clearly state their nutritional differences with real dairy,” Mulhern said. “Because FDA’s proposed guidance is meaningless without action, enforcement will be necessary to ensure that this limited progress is reected on grocery shelves.”

The FDA is accepting comments on its draft guidance until April 24, but the point could be moot if Congress moves to enact DAIRY PRIDE. The bill has bipartisan support in both the U.S House and Senate. Upper Midwest Congress members sponsoring the bill include Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-WI; Jim Risch, R-ID; Tina Smith, D-MN; and Debbie Stabenow, D-MI. Representatives include Derrick Van Orden, R-WI, and Angie Craig, D-MN.

Dairy farmers are closely watching movement of the bill.

Suzanne Vold is among them. Vold, along with her husband, Brad, and brother-in-law, Greg Vold, milk 450 cows with seven robotic milking units at their farm, Dorrich

Dairy, near Glenwood, Minnesota. Vold is also a Minnesota division board member for Midwest Dairy.

“Relabeling is denitely needed,” Vold said. “As strange as it may seem to us as dairy farmers, there are many people who do not understand that these plant-based beverages are not milk or milk-based.”

When a friend of Vold’s had the showcase herd for the Minnesota State Fair a few years ago, she told Vold about conversations she had with visitors there.

“She (the friend) was surprised by the number of people who told her they believed that almond milk was real dairy milk with almonds or almond avor added,” Vold said. “She spent a lot of time during the fair explaining the nutritional and processing differences to people.”

Vold said she sees a health concern due to misleading labels.

“Consumers, especially parents of young children, are being misled to believe that these alternative or plant-based products will give them the same nutritional benets as real dairy,” Vold said.

Jim Mulhern National Milk Producers Federation

Suzanne Vold Dairy farmer

Like Mulhern, Vold said she does not think the FDA went far enough.

“Guidelines are not enough,” Vold said. “Dairy products are among the most highly regulated foods in the United States, and there are very strict FDA guidelines for dairy standards of identity. I believe that other food or beverage products should be held to that same high standard.”

Vold also said she thought FDA guidance could actually lead to less clarity.

“Without transparency through regulation, the FDA is blurring the lines of standards of identity that they made and creating confusion in the marketplace,” Vold said. “On our farm, we work hard every day to make sure our cows get the best possible care so that the milk we produce is of the highest quality and nutritional value. Allowing other products to imitate us by using dairy terms in their labeling is unfair to dairy farmers.”

The issue is not so clearcut for farmers whose crops go to plantbased beverages or for the associations that advocate for them. On March 31, National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” covered the issue in a report by Chuck Quirmbach. In it, Quirmbach included a response from Tanner Johnson, a Wisconsin soybean farmer who serves on the boards of the Wisconsin and American soybean associations. Soy beverages, marketed as soy milk, have been sold in the U.S. since the 1920s, beginning as an alternative for those with milk allergies or lactose intolerance.

“We’re not trying to replace the dairy milk product,” Johnson said. “It’s just our own unique product, and I think there’s a lot of opportunity for consumer transparency and

education – and a voluntary nutrient statement is a good thing.”

When Dairy Star reached out to the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, they declined to comment on the bill itself but said they support dairy farmers.

Meanwhile, dairy industry leaders do not want to see the bill go down without a vote like it did in previous efforts, which would keep the industry relying on the FDA.

Mykel Bickham, director of government affairs for Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative & Dairy Business Association in Wisconsin, said the DAIRY PRIDE Act is a necessity.

“The FDA’s draft guidance is insufcient in protecting the use of dairy terms,” Bickham said.

“We have consistently disagreed with the claim that milk is a common or usual name to be used for plantbased alternative product labeling. We have fought for years to have the agency correct this, and it is unfortunate that this guidance continues to disregard our concerns.”

Bickham pointed to research that backs up what Vold’s friend heard at the state fair.

“Research has shown that consumers don’t understand the difference, especially the nutritional differences,” Bickham said. “Allowing the continued use of dairy terms accepts consumer confusion as tolerable instead of enforcing milk’s legal standard of identity: the lacteal secretion, practically free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows.”

Mykel Bickham

Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative & Dairy Business Association

F r o m O u r S i d e From Our Side

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

Gary Landman Linde Dairy White, South Dakota

Brookings County

1,700 cows

How many acres do you farm? What crops do you grow? We farm 1,000 acres. We grow corn for silage, alfalfa and annual Green Spirit Italian ryegrass.

What cover crops do you plant? We plant cereal rye as a cover crop.

How long have you been utilizing cover crops? Why did you decide to implement this practice? We have not grown many cover crops yet. We tried it only on a small part of one eld. We are looking into doing more acres right after we chop our corn for silage, depending if we have enough moisture in the fall to get it going. We tried cereal rye because it is fast growing and easy to grow with not much moisture.

Explain your crop rotation and how cover crops play an important role in that system. We rotate our corn elds with our Italian ryegrass so we can maximize the amount of forage that we can harvest from our acres. But we are always mindful of the levels of organic matter in our soils. We have seen more organic matter build up the soil after the cover crop that we planted on those acres.

What benets have you seen since implementing cover crops? Reclaiming the nutrients in the soil and increasing the water holding capacity of the soil in the springtime. We are also building up the soil’s organic matter.

Tell us your best and worst experiences with planting cover crops. We are just getting started on cover crops but have found that you need a different mindset regarding how you work your elds and when you apply manure onto your elds.

What are the most important things you have learned since you started planting cover crops and what adjustments did you make as a result to increase success with cover cropping? We are eager to learn more about cover crops and are going to keep experimenting with different crops. We want to see what will benet our soils and our dairy operation the most.

Tell us about your farm. I operate our family’s seventh generation dairy with my brother, Steve, and our parents, Rein and Bjouke. We moved here in 2003 from the Netherlands, where our parents had operated a 100-cow dairy. My focus is on the crops and youngstock, but we all work together on the farm whenever we need to get things done. Over the past 20 years, we have gradually expanded our dairy operation from its original size of 850 head to the 1,700 Holsteins that we milk three times a day.

Karl Sorg

Hastings, Minnesota Dakota County

300 cows

How many acres do you farm? What crops do you grow? We farm a couple thousand acres of corn, alfalfa, soybeans, small grain and canary crops (peas, snap beans).

What cover crops do you plant? We grow winter rye and have tried interseeding rye grass and kale.

How long have you been utilizing cover crops? We have been using cover crops for about ve years. We switched to get the extra tonnage in the spring and to break up manure hauling in the spring because we don’t have enough manure storage to go all the way through the summer. We also wanted to reduce erosion and get the extra income of having an additional crop.

Explain your crop rotation and how cover crops play an important role in that system. Most of our land close to the dairy makes sense to use for forage. We grow all alfalfa, corn and rye close to home and then cover crops go on after soybeans are harvested. It is easy to apply fall fertilizer and rye together. If we are able to get the corn out early enough, we will plant rye on those elds as well.

What benets have you seen since implementing cover crops? We get more tonnage off an acre of land. It helps with the erosion that happens to some of our elds because there is something growing there all the time. We are in the Minnesota River Valley so some of our land is steep.

Tell us your best and worst experiences with planting cover crops. The worst experience was trying to interseed. That did not work because the corn shaded it out right away. Best experience was in 2017. Everything just went well. We got in the elds early, planted early, it came up early, and we harvested early; we were harvesting rye the end of April.

What are the most important things you have learned since you started planting cover crops and what adjustments did you make as a result to increase success with cover cropping? We have learned that whatever we are told is the seed rate for winter rye, we need to double it. It seems like the more plants we put down, the higher forage quality we get. It also reduces the amount of ash.

Tell us about your farm. We milk in a double-12 parlor three times a day. We ship our milk to First District Association. My sister is my veterinarian, and my brother-in-law is my breeder and is in charge of calf health. We have 10 employees.

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Explain your crop rotation and how cover crops play an important role in that system.

Richard Callstrom Red Wing, Minnesota Goodhue County

40 cows

How many acres do you farm? What crops do you grow? We farm about 1,200 acres. Our main crops are corn, soybeans and alfalfa.

What cover crops do you plant? Winter rye.

How long have you been utilizing cover crops?

I started in the 1970s by planting winter rye before they called it a cover crop. The rst couple years we planted winter wheat, but the seed got expensive so we started planting winter rye. In the beginning, we planted it after sweet corn and then later after silage corn. Now, we have started planting it after soybeans too. We started planting cover crops because I didn’t like seeing the ground staying idle over winter. I like that the rye greens up quickly in the spring and seeing the ground covered.

Explain your crop rotation and how cover crops play an important role in that system. After I take the silage corn off in the fall, I will till the elds lightly to level them off and then plant the winter rye. I will harvest the winter rye around Memorial Day and then no till soybeans into that ground. We are now working on putting winter rye on soybean stubble too.

What benets have you seen since implementing cover crops? The organic matter in our soil seems to increase. The rye has good root mass, and the soil seems to till better. I see improvement to the soil every year. Each year depends on how much moisture there is and how the cover crops grow. Also, another benet is it is good feed for our cattle. One year our alfalfa winter killed, and we fed it to our cows, which worked well.

Tell us your best and worst experiences with planting cover crops. Most of my experience has been really good. I’ve only had a couple failures, and they were my fault because I didn’t kill the cover crop off how I should have. We were trying to gure out the best way to do it. Most of my experiences with cover crops, though, have been good. We’ve never had a crop failure on cover crops, but some years, they do take a little bit of patience.

What are the most important things you have learned since you started planting cover crops and what adjustments did you make as a result to increase success with cover cropping? We have found that you have to know your soil and the seeding rate that your soil can handle. There’s a ne line of seeding it too heavy and not getting enough. We have also found that planting winter rye on ground that has just had manure on it will cause the rye to grow too tall and it stools out and gets too thick. This makes it hard to get it cut and harvested before it topples.

Tell us about your farm. I farm in partnership with my two sons, Carl and Adam. We have a tiestall barn, and we sell our milk to Plainview Milk Products Cooperative. We have 40 beef cows, and we also buy feeder cattle in the fall to feed out about 300 head per year.

Melrose, Minnesota

Stearns County

260 cows

How many acres do you farm? What crops do you grow? We farm approximately 600 acres of corn, alfalfa, sorghum/sudan, barley and soybeans.

What cover crops do you plant? Mostly cereal rye, oats and some brassicas like radishes, kale and turnips.

How long have you been utilizing cover crops? We have been using cover crops for nine years. We started seeding to help protect the soil in our rolling hills after corn silage and to help convert some to no till. Also, to use as another feed source if the spring cooperates.

Explain your crop rotation and how cover crops play an important role in that system. We do corn silage on corn silage for 3-4 years. Then, we plant alfalfa on some acres. But, we are trying to move to a corn silage, then double crop barley or rye with sorghum sudan, then corn silage for one or two more years, and then three years of alfalfa. We try to no till covers after the crop if possible and depending on how late fall harvest gets. Oats and a brassica will be planted if weather looks good and it is before Sept. 25. Otherwise, rye gets planted up to Oct. 31. Our main goal with the rye and oats is to control erosion and extra feed if double cropped. The brassicas are meant to help with compaction if we can get them planted early enough.

What benets have you seen since implementing cover crops? Cover crops has been a no brainer on soil erosion. There are visibly more worms in the soil and more mellow in the spring. There is less tillage needed and also less horsepower needed when we do till.

Tell us your best and worst experiences with planting cover crops. There is a learning curve. Every year is different. The best is no tilling a cover crop, taking that crop as spring forage, planting another crop in the same year and pulling more total dry matter tons off than taking a single crop. The worst is probably when the season gets late and cold, and we cannot get any covers in the ground and watching it erode until next spring. Or, we do get it planted, and it freezes. Then, the crop dies before doing any benet.

What are the most important things you have learned since you started planting cover crops and what adjustments did you make as a result to increase success with cover cropping? The earlier in the season you can seed them the greater the benets. We have started planting the covers as soon as the crop is off, and then, we worry about manure later even if manure is spread on top of the cover crop.

Tell us about your farm. We are a family farm that includes three generations of Kerfelds. We milk 260 cows on four Lely robotic milking systems, and our milk is sold to Bongards. We raise our replacement heifers on-site. We also do custom farming services for neighboring farms near Melrose, Minnesota.

CORRECTION

In the March 25 issue of Dairy Star, a quote within the story “Carbon market experts discuss opportunities” was incorrect. Ryan Stockwell, a project developer, was misquoted as saying, “Carbon credits are tied to a commodity, which simplies payment structure.” Rather, it should have said, “Supply chain insets are tied to a commodity, which simplies payment structure.” Dairy Star staff regrets this error.

Nathan (from left), Tim and Nick Kerfeld

Kerfeld Hillview Farms

Paving their way to genetic success

Describe your facilities and list your breeding management team. We milk in a 35cow tiestall facility which has been completely remodeled since coming back to Sarah’s parents’ farm in fall 2017. Calves and heifers are housed in loose bedding with bred heifers/dry cows and milk cows grazing pastures in the summer.

Aaron does all the articial insemination. Bull selection and mating choices are a joint decision between Aaron and Sarah. We work with Cashton Vet Clinic and Dr. Andrew Mason to achieve our reproductive and herd goals.

What is your current pregnancy rate? With being a smaller dairy, this is not something we necessarily calculate. If we had to estimate, we would guess it is around 35%.

What is your reproduction program? We currently have a voluntary waiting period of around 65 days. During summer months, we rely heavily on Estrotect patches. If cows are not showing natural heats, we typically run them through a standard ovsynch protocol or G7, whichever is advised by our vet. With heifers, we prefer to breed natural heats. If no heat

is shown, we will have them ultrasounded to conrm an appropriate stage in their cycle, give them a shot of Lutalyse and will breed once their patch is changed. With being a smaller herd, we can closely monitor our cows and know which ones should be returning when and can watch for heats that way.

Describe your breeding philosophy. Our main breeding philosophy is to get cows pregnant within a timely manner to reduce our calving intervals. Milking in a tiestall barn does not allow for much grace when it comes to inventory, so we have to be pretty particular about the number of incoming heifers and how long we want to keep breeding certain cows. We also strive to breed high type, functional animals. We recently classied our herd of Holsteins for the rst time and had two homebred Excellent cows and a BAA just over 106. To many that might not seem like a lot, but it was a great starting place for us as we venture down the registered cattle path. Aaron follows a lot of social media to see what mating decisions are being made in the industry. We also enjoy taking the time to attend World Dairy Expo and inquire about various family lines

happy with the results, which included two EX-90 cows and an 86-point 2-year-old. All but one of the 25 homebred cows scored Good or be er, with over 50% of the herd scoring Very Good or above.

and what mating decisions are working for the breeds.

What guidelines do you follow to reach the goals for your breeding program? We focus

very heavily on Red and White bulls for our herd. We use sexed semen primarily on our highend cows and heifers. Everything else on the farm will receive Angus semen. Cows and heifers that struggle to settle after two services of sexed semen will receive Angus on the third and following services.

What are the top traits you look for in breeding your dairy herd and how has this changed since you started farming? We try to pick bulls with sound feet and legs, good production traits, and high type characteristics. As stated above, we use mostly Red and White bulls which has started to become an issue with the shrinking genetic pool. Since we started making the breeding decisions, we have now begun using more red carrier bulls and have tried to implement more corrective mating. Having a Holstein classier talk us through each animal really opened our eyes to how we can better make corrective decisions to breed even better cattle.

Aaron & Sarah Schmitz Red Line Ridge Holsteins and Jerseys | Ontario, Wisconsin | 40 cows

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Sarah Schmitz and her husband, Aaron, milk their cow, Red Line Ridge Punch Rudy EX-90, at their farm near Ontario, Wisconsin. The Schmitzes classied for the rst me this year and were

Bongards’ Creameries

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Perham, MN 56573

(218) 346-4680

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“People ask how our cows’ udders look so good so soon after calving. I say we always use Udder Comfort.™ It maximizes a cow’s genetic potential. We use it on the entire udder of every heifer 2x/day after calving. We also like to get it between the leg and udder to prevent irritation before they calve. For second lactation and older cows, we use Udder Comfort routinely but not as many days as the first-lactation. It does an awesome job softening udders and is gentle to the skin at the same time. Results set Udder Comfort apart from everything else on the market,” says Joe Engel.

The Engels milk 184 cows at Luck-E Holsteins, Hampshire, Ill. The dams of the milk herd average EX92. They have bred over 600 EX, including both sides of the pedigree of Luck-E Awesome Adventure EX94 96MS, 2022 Illinois Cow of the Year. Joe’s 9-year-old son Blake showed her at World Dairy Expo.

Adventure (above) was 2022 WDE International Type and Production winner and nominated Junior All-American.

“We want fresh, crisp, perfect udders by 10 to 21 days in milk. Udder Comfort gets udders spot-on, all the way ready, fast. We had many young cows just fresh and showring ready at our sale in 2019,” says Joe, as he and Matt prepare 170 lots, many fresh in March for the ‘Best of Luck-E’ in April.

What are certain traits you try to avoid? We try our best to avoid a negative daughter pregnancy rate which can be a struggle with higher type bulls. Many of the class winners at WDE were sired by bulls with extremely negative DPRs, which is frustrating as we see the value of using these bulls but do not want to risk the loss of fertility. We also try to avoid negative milk, poor udder composites and incorrect leg sets.

Describe the ideal cow for your herd. Our ideal cow would be one that is around for numerous lactations (more than ve). She has produced stylish and functional daughters. She breeds back easily each lactation, has little to no health issues and acts youthful even in old age. She may never reach the coveted score of an Excellent cow, but she’s come awfully close (87+ points) and has paved her way with production data.

What role does genetics have in reaching the goals of your farm? At the end of the day, the cows are what pay the bills. If we can continue to produce animals that milk well and score high, we can capitalize on both milk and genetics. Plus, we all know that farming is no easy task, but waking up to a barn full of beautiful, well-balanced cows makes the job a little bit easier.

What percentage of your herd is bred to sexed, conventional and beef semen? We currently use sexed semen on the top 30%-40% of our cows. All other cows receive Angus semen. After making some changes to our heifer protocols, we are now using around 65% Angus and 35% sexed semen in our virgin heifers.

What is your conception rate? How does this differ with different types

Aaron Schmitz prepares cows for classica on at his farm near Ontario, Wisconsin. Aaron milks 40 cows with his wife, Sarah, and her parents, Sco and Genise Wi

of semen? We do not track our conception rate. We denitely see a higher conception rate with the use of Angus semen, but we have also been fortunate with our successes using sexed semen in our mature cows. This has undoubtedly allowed us to make greater genetic advancements by producing daughters out of our top cows and keeping the offspring of lower-end animals out of the herd.

What is the greatest lesson you have learned through your breeding program? The biggest lesson we have learned is that not every heifer out of a great cow is going to turn out. We were using a lot of sexed semen in our heifers, and once they calved in, they may have not been the heifer we envisioned them

to be and were then stuck with a calf that we weren’t sure what to do with. We have gone to using a lot more Angus in our heifer program until we know the type of udder that heifer will put on and how she will perform. Once she has proven she possesses the traits we are breeding for, she then may receive sexed semen as a lactating cow.

What is the age of your heifers at rst service? Before remodeling the barn, we were breeding heifers around 12 months of age to calve them in with a smaller frame to accommodate the stalls in the barn. Prior to the remodel, stalls were 58 inches in length. Now that we have remodeled the barn and lengthened the stalls to 65 inches and 72 inches in

length, we typically hold off until at least 14 months of age for rst service. We have enough feed and heifer space that we are OK with holding off on rst service to allow for larger-framed, rstcalf heifers.

How does your heifer inventory affect your breeding program? For a while, we were keeping every single heifer calf which led to an abundance of replacements. This allowed us to cull out a lot of cows with undesirable traits or health concerns, which has further improved the herd. Due to our successes with breeding, we have been able to cut back on the number of replacements needed. By not needing as many replacement heifers, we have been able to capitalize on the added value of beef-cross calves. We have also been able to purchase sexed semen of higher-end bulls and mate them with our top cows.

Tell us about your farm. We farm alongside Sarah’s parents, Scott and Genise Witt. Sarah is the fth generation on the family dairy and works off the farm as an agriculture teacher/FFA advisor. We have two young children, Tanner and Aubrey, so we keep busy. The farm includes over 220 acres which is used to grow our own feed for the cattle. We have registered Holsteins and a handful (or two) of registered Jerseys. By remaining small, the farm has been able to maintain its protability. Each year we strive to continue to make small improvements to ensure the legacy of the family dairy can continue on for generations to come. We enjoy watching our kids interact with the animals that we are so passionate about and hope that one day, they will continue breeding and developing our cow families with similar goals in mind.

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New Jersey native embraces central Minnesota

Baldwin a veterinarian in Freeport

By Tiffany Klaphake tiffany.k@dairystar.com

FREEPORT, Minn.

– New Jersey native Steve Baldwin did not have Freeport on his radar when he was nishing up veterinary school but has been charmed by the small town in central Stearns County.

Baldwin dreamed of being a dairy veterinarian since he was a young boy.

“I love dairy cows; that is my passion,” Baldwin said. “If I could do dairy medicine every day I would.”

He is doing just that at the Freeport Veterinary Service in Freeport where the majority of his clients are dairy farmers. Baldwin and his wife moved there seven years ago and enjoy raising their two children, Levi and Ella, in Minnesota.

“I have really enjoyed how inviting all the community has been,” Baldwin said. “When I rst moved here, all the farmers were very intrigued to learn about where I came from. They were very

accepting. Everyone is very willing to help, offering to help with this or that and suggesting places to go out to eat.”

Baldwin grew up on a small dairy farm in northwestern New Jersey. Baldwin’s dad, Steve Baldwin Sr., did not grow up on a dairy farm but started to raise dairy calves as a hobby. Those calves grew into cows, and before long, the senior Baldwin was milking 10 to 15 cows with buckets. Baldwin’s dad maintained a full-time job in town; the farm remained a hobby.

“He would spend nights and weekends making hay and planting corn,” Baldwin said. “We fed the milk to the calves until my brother got older and took an interest and wanted to have a full-edged dairy operation.”

Baldwin’s father has now retired from his job in town and helps his son run the dairy farm and a custom chopping business. Together, they milk about 80 cows in a parlor.

There are not many dairy farms in New Jersey. Baldwin said the urban sprawl is making it increasingly difcult for farmers to keep going.

“Most farms are 60 to 100 cows,” Baldwin said. “If they get any bigger, manure man-

agement becomes a big issue because of the urban sprawl. There is not a lot of available land.”

The dairy farmers in New Jersey do not have the infrastructure like they do in Minnesota, he said.

“When my dad has to make a parts run, he goes to

Pennsylvania,” Baldwin said. Baldwin also went to Pennsylvania for college for his undergraduate degree. After, he was accepted to Purdue University in Indiana for veterinarian school. He only stayed there for two years and transferred to Ross University on St. Kitts Island in

the Caribbean. For his fourth year of veterinarian school, he attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“The best part of my journey is the fact that every university was able to do something that I value in my career today,” Baldwin said.

TIFFANY KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR Steve Baldwin and dairy farmer Mike Welle discuss calf health March 30 at Welle’s farm near Freeport, Minnesota. Baldwin grew up on a small dairy farm in New Jersey, fostering his passion for dairy cows.

Turn

Accompanying Baldwin through his travels and schooling was his high school sweetheart, Brittany. They were married once Baldwin nished his undergraduate degree.

Just prior to graduating veterinarian school in Wisconsin, a friend of Baldwin’s approached him with an idea: to contact Tom at the Freeport Veterinary Service and apply.

“I was pretty set on staying in Wisconsin,” Baldwin said. “I wasn’t even really looking at the time for jobs yet. But, I sent my resume and that same day Tom gave me a call. He said he would like me to come up to Freeport and

have an interview.”

It just so happened Baldwin was already in Minnesota doing an externship with the University of Minnesota.

“I drove up here are 6:30 a.m., and I’m from a small town in New Jersey but not Freeport small,” Baldwin said. “I stopped at Charlie’s Café and there was a couple of older gentlemen at the counter. I looked around and said, ‘Oh boy, I could do this, but could my wife handle this small?’ We took the plunge, and now, it’s been seven years. We are very happy we did.”

Baldwin said the biggest difference from New Jersey

to Minnesota are the relaxed personalities and the weather.

“People here are always asking what’s the weather like; it’s a big deal,” Baldwin said. “I remember as a kid getting 3 to 4 feet of snow at one time. It would be gone in a week because it wouldn’t stay cold. Here it is little storms all the time all winter long.”

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Even with the cold, the snow and the wind, Baldwin said he and his wife are glad they came to Minnesota.

“The clientele here is so awesome,” Baldwin said. “I could go to a 10-cow dairy and a 4,000-cow dairy in the same day. Two completely different style of dairying,

but I was able to help both of them in the same capacity. I have some older farmers who are just doing their thing milking their 50 cows, happy as a clam, and I have families putting up robots and always looking for ways to better their operation. I love that variety.”

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TIFFANY KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR

Steve Baldwin listens to a calf’s heartbeat as Mike Welle holds the calf March 30 at Welle’s farm near Freeport, Minnesota. Baldwin has been with the Freeport Veterinary Service for seven years.

TIFFANY KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR

Veterinarian Steve Baldwin stands at the Freeport Veterinary Service March 30 in Freeport, Minnesota. Baldwin grew up on New Jersey dairy farm.

Central Plains Dairy Expo draws a crowd

A endees take in the trade show March 29 at Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The trade show featured more than 300 exhibitors and innova ve products, services and technologies.

Aaron and Jessica Radermacher, holding Rayna, a end Central Plains Dairy Expo March 29 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Radermachers milk 200 cows with Aaron’s parents, Greg and Audrey Radermacher, near Brooten, Minnesota.

TIFFANY KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR

Jus n Keyser (le ) of Pivot Bio talks with Randy Bauer March 29 at Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Dairy farmers and enthusiasts had the chance to visit with industry representa ves during the expo.

TIFFANY KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR

Sara Evans makes a toast with a glass of milk to salute dairy farmers March 28 at the Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Evans was the Tuesday night entertainment as part of the welcome recep on. AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR

Allen Schlenker (le ) and Greg Endres visit March 29 at Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Schlenker, of Marsh & McLennan Agency, informed trade show a endees of insurance and risk management op ons.

IN DAIRY women

Family: I farm with my husband, John, and his parents, Dave and Sandy.

Tell us about your farm. We crop about 500 acres and raise our heifers. We also raise a few steers every year for butchering. John is the third generation, and we milk in a double-8 Surge parallel parlor. Our milk goes to Grassland Dairy Products.

What is a typical day like for you on the dairy? I wake up at 4:30 a.m. to milk. I am usually out of the barn by 7 a.m. Then, I feed the baby calves, push up feed to everything else and check the heifers for any sick ones. I also check who needs bedding and who needs more feed. Then, I go in to make breakfast. During the day, I push up feed and check the dry cows every two hours. Every couple of days, we sort animals that need to be moved. Then, it is time

Katie Noth Wilton, Wisconsin Monroe County 110 cows

for chores again. In the summer, when John is busy with eldwork, I am mostly on my own for night chores.

What decision have you made in the last year that has beneted your farm? We made the decision to rely on bull breeding which has turned out very well. We also put an addition on the calf barn last year, and the calves have been doing so much better. We added a 24by 36-foot area that is a large weaned pen. We added a couple more huts as well. It’s nice because everyone has a roof now, and they are staying much healthier.

Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. When we were rst married, we had a pet cow have twins on some rented pasture land. One of the calves ended up in the creek, and I had to go down and sh it out. It was OK and had not drowned or anything, but it was unusual to have to go in after a calf in the creek.

What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? I have really enjoyed working with all the animals, from calves to cows. I like being independent and not having a boss per se.

What is your biggest accomplishment in your dairy career? Coming from a military background, it was an adjustment to settle down and stay in one place on a farm. I am proud we are actually succeeding and not struggling.

What are things you do to promote your farm or the dairy industry? I share photos on Facebook and talk to people in different groups who need advice about raising bottle calves and things like that.

What advice would you give another woman in the dairy industry? Just be patient. You will gure it out. Don’t be afraid to ask another person like your nutritionist or someone who deals with other farms.

When you get a spare moment, what do you do? Sit down and rest.

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The feed pusher robot is a great help during the day, but at night it really comes into its own. While you enjoy a good night’s sleep, the robot automatically pushes the roughage. As a result, the lower ranking cows can also access fresh feed 24/7. This reduces selection and helps to reduce tension in the herd as the animals know that feed is readily available whenever they want it.

Consistent disease recording is important

By Isaac Haagen

Inconsistent recording on the farm can impact herd metrics. It is hard to benchmark or make decisions without the whole picture. Therefore, accurate and complete records are important when analyzing a herd. However, one area of the farm that often lacks consistent, accurate records is youngstock.

This certainly became apparent during my Ph.D. while researching disease resistance in calves and heifers. I spent a lot of time looking at herd records and was tasked with extracting disease data from herd management software like DairyComp and PCDart. These software programs allow producers to record and track many performance and life events for animals including disease events. This task ended up being more daunting than anticipated due to the amount of variation in disease recording, both across and within farms.

Take calf scours, for example. Across six herds that were recording calf scours in herd management software, we observed over 15 different

names related to scours. Within a single herd, it was common to have two or more events for calf scours. Some farms may record “dia” for diarrhea while others may abbreviate scours as “scr.” Some of the variation was simply due to spelling. The same was true for calf respiratory disease, as we recorded over 20 unique events across herds.

This can impact herd metrics. For example, Herd A uses only “resp” as the event name for calf respiratory disease. The incidence of calf respiratory disease in this scenario is simply the proportion of all calves that had a “resp” event recorded. If there were 20 calves that had a “resp” event recorded out of 100 calves, then the incidence of calf respiratory disease for Herd A would be 20%.

However, as I previously stated, many herds use two or more event names for a single disease. Herd B also has 20 calves out of 100 that have had a respiratory disease event recorded. However, Herd B uses “resp” and “pneu” as event names for calf respiratory disease. This herd has ve “resp” events and 15 “pneu” events

recorded across the 100 calves. In this scenario, it is important that Herd B adds both events together when calculating calf respiratory disease incidence. If the herd only included “resp” events, then their incidence of calf respiratory disease would be only 5%, which is severely underestimated when compared to the correct 20%. It is only by ensuring that all event codes are included in the calculation that a realistic estimate is obtained.

What can you do? First is to routinely monitor animals and check for signs of disease. This is critical to making sure you are identifying most diseased animals. Next, record the data. I highly recommend recording in the herd management software that you use on your farm. When you do record, keep disease event names simple and recognizable. For instance, create one event for calf scours and one event for calf respiratory disease.

Dana Adams, adam1744@umn.edu

320-204-2968

Joe Armstrong armst225@umn.edu

612.624.3610

Luciano Caixeta lcaixeta@umn.edu

612-625-3130

Gerard Cramer gcramer@umn.edu

612-625-8184

Marcia Endres miendres@umn.edu

612-624-5391

Joleen Hadrich jhadrich@umn.edu

612-626-5620

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It is important to utilize these records for benchmarking and decisions. Benchmarking can be done by comparing yourself to recommended targets. For preweaned calves, the Dairy Calf and Heifer Association has established the following goals: Keep scours treatment below 15% and respiratory disease treatment below 10%. Further, benchmark your herd against your historical data. Routine benchmarking may help in identifying any worrisome upward trends in your herd that require intervention or help identify if a recent change has been benecial. Finally, while I have mainly discussed disease recording, make sure you are recording all relevant data for youngstock such as breeding dates and culling codes. Happy data recording.

Les Hansen hanse009@umn.edu

612-624-2277

Brad Heins hein0106@umn.edu

320-589-1711

Nathan Hulinsky huli0013@umn.edu

320-203-6104

Karen Johnson ande9495@umn.edu

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Emily Krekelberg krek0033@umn.edu

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Claire LaCanne lacanne@umn.edu

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Brenda Miller nels4220@umn.edu

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Erin Royster royster@umn.edu

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Jim Salfer salfe001@umn.edu

320-203-6093

Mike Schutz mschutz@umn.edu

612-624-1205

Melissa Wilson mlw@umn.edu

612-625-4276

Isaac Haagen hagge041@umn.edu

612-624-7455

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Precision technologies for dairy grazing systems

Pasture-based dairy herds continue to grow in the United States as the demand for grass-fed and continued sustainable farming practices increases.

Sustainable farming practices may be achieved with connement dairy herds; however, the increased expense of dairy farming has caused farmers to adopt different management styles within their dairy herds. Animal welfare and cow comfort must be a priority within pasturebased dairy herds; however, unlike in connement herds, cattle are not always within eyesight of employees. Therefore, precision dairy technologies allow for cattle to be monitored continuously without constant human observation. Monitoring daily behaviors such as feeding, ruminating, resting or lying, and active time can aid in understanding animal health and productivity. Farmers that want to increase overall production efciency should consider implementing precision dairy technologies.

eating time, ruminating time, lying time and standing time may be continuously collected. Once data are processed through algorithms, they can be categorized into specic behaviors or health and estrus alerts. The data can then be viewed on a computer or website, and some companies have applications for mobile devices. There is a need to improve welfare and efciency and utilize behaviors to study grazing patterns as well as determine how heat stress can affect cattle on pasture.

By Brad Heins U of M

The goals of precision dairy technologies for dairy grazing systems include increased animal performance through enhanced milk production, increased fertility, improved animal health, reduced transition disorders, reduced lameness and increased utilization of pasture through improved grazing patterns and behavior of cattle. Precision dairy technologies for grazing dairies have received attention because of advances in continuous monitoring of animal behavior and health of cattle on pasture, robotics, computer vision and machine learning techniques. This article summarizes the current research and status of precision technologies for grazing dairy herds with wearable technologies, pasture forage measurements and grazing management, and virtual fencing.

There are more than 50 wearable technologies that have been developed and marketed for dairy cattle. Many technologies are worn by the cow and may be reused; whereas, some are placed inside of the cow and may not be reused. Cow behavior data such as

The research team at the West Central and Outreach Center has validated wearable technologies for grazing cows and found which ones will accurately monitor rumination and eating behavior. The technologies were less accurate in monitoring the active behavior because grazing behavior and walking are difcult to dene. In pasture-based herds, y pressure may inuence the behavior of cows. Increased horn y populations were associated with a decrease in rumination for cows that grazed almost 24 hours per day. Another study conducted at the West Central and Outreach Center determined that activity and rumination were different across breeds.

Satellite photography is growing in popularity to measure pasture forage biomass on grazing dairy farms. These satellite images will provide farmers with weekly real-time information to support pasture management. Satellite technology can reduce the amount of time farmers spend determining forage biomass of their pastures. Farms can use normalized difference vegetation index from satellite images to determine pasture biomass. Alternative methods to calculate the biomass of pastures may provide advantages for farmers to improve grazing management.

Cattle are routinely contained with electric fencing of numerous forms within grazing dairy farms. Virtual fencing is an encouraging future technology to implement because it allows for remote monitoring of cattle, improved pasture utilization and reduced labor. Virtual fencing provides boundaries for cattle without using a physical barrier. Previous research demonstrated that virtual fencing could contain grazing cattle within the boundaries of a pasture with no adverse behavioral events associated with implement-

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ing virtual fencing for grazing dairy cattle. For virtual fencing to be utilized by grazing farmers, one can assume the technology must be economically feasible, it must be easy and convenient for farmers to use, and it must reduce labor costs.

Precision technologies for grazing dairy farms will aid in decision support for farmers, improve animal health and performance, and increase production efciency. However, there are challenges that come with any new technology that include costs of the technology, familiarization of new software, willingness to implement technology, interpretation of the data and subsequent actions to take with cattle, and lack of technical service.

They have the potential to maximize prot of a grazing dairy herd when integrated into the whole grazing farm, which includes a self-feeder, robotic milker, feed pusher, wearable technologies, pasture management technologies, and virtual fencing, among numerous other technologies. In the future, farmers need more information from researchers and industry professionals to help implement precision technologies on their grazing dairy farm.

Please join us for the Precision Dairy Conference June 2021 in Bloomington, Minnesota. This event will include dairy producer panelists talking about how technology has affected their bottom line and many precision technologies will be discussed.

HIGH COMFORT MAT

Giving the gift of life

The registered dairy cattle industry lost a great patron: one of the biggest cheerleaders and advocates, someone with vision, who pushed the edges and made all of us strive to do just a little better in our own breeding programs.

Michael Heath was a lifelong lover of the Jersey breed, growing up on his family’s registered Jersey farm, Spring Valley Farm, near Westminster, Maryland. More than just a Jersey enthusiast, Michael was a connoisseur of good cows of any color, and his unique approach to breeding cattle impacted the Holstein and Red & White breeds as well.

Michael’s choice to give the gift of life resonates with me. When my dad passed away, we were approached by the hospital about donating. It wasn’t something my dad had ever mentioned, and honestly, it was not something I ever gured I would need to consider that cold and snowy day after Christmas. With only moments to make the decision, my family and I decided Dad, too, would want to do what he could to help someone else, and my dad’s corneas, along with skin and bone tissue, were donated.

By Danielle Nauman Staff Writer

I rst came to know Michael and his family nearly 30 years ago, and they were instrumental in converting this Holstein girl to a Jersey lover. My rst Jersey, Juno Magic of Billings, was purchased in the second sale Michael hosted, the Maryland Elite Heifer Sale II.

Anyone who knew Michael could appreciate, and likely was in awe of, his keen eye for picking out the good ones, especially when they were a little green, not yet at their prime. Many of us can hear him in our minds, describing one that caught his eye.

Michael loved judging. He once told me it was his absolute favorite thing to do. Michael embraced every judging job, from the smallest county fair to the world’s biggest dairy cattle stages, with the same fervor and enthusiasm.

Michael was known for his colorful reasons.

“She has the shoot-to-the-moon front end.”

“She emulsies this class.”

The “BING! BANG! BOOM!” that made history as he culminated the 2013 International Red & White Show with a cow named Apple, her clone and her daughter as the nal three cows will likely be remembered for all-time; as will his excitement, and his “Air Heath” moment naming his junior champion during the 2012 International Holstein Show.

Michael also loved his family, his friends, shing and good food, and approached all with the same passion as he did everything else.

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On St. Patrick’s Day, Michael suffered a farm accident that left him ghting valiantly for his life for nearly a week in a Baltimore hospital. Along with many other members of the global showing family, I found myself fervently praying for God to show us a miracle.

During that week, nearly every post I saw scrolling through social media was a photo of Michael or a memory someone had to share. The underlying theme was the faith and the optimism that our showing family had. No matter how dire the straits, God would answer our prayers and return Michael to all of us.

The memories shared about Michael by our global community were not solely about his acumen for dairy cattle evaluation. Those stories centered around a person who was genuinely kind and caring, one who respected others.

Michael was a product of his family and of the extended Maryland dairy community that shaped his view of the world.

Ultimately God did show us a miracle through Michael. It just wasn’t the one those of us who had the fortune of calling Michael a friend had prayed for. The miracle God chose to grant was to give new hope and new life to many through Michael’s nal gift of organ donation.

During the days that followed, I questioned if we had done the right thing. Two weeks after my dad’s death, we received a letter from the Lions’ Eye Bank telling us my dad’s corneas had given sight to a 13-yearold boy. That was the same age my son was at the time, and I took that as a sign. Two years later, we received a letter from a woman named Patricia, thanking us for the gift of my dad’s bone tissue that had given her back her life, allowing her to regain her mobility and rejoin the workforce as a contributing member of society.

Since my dad’s donation, I have become hyper-aware of organ donation and how my path has crossed with those who have beneted: skin tissue after serious burns, livers, kidneys, hearts, lungs and bone marrow; and sadly, I had a friend who didn’t get his new heart in time.

I have been the beneciary of a donation gift myself. Five years ago, I was involved in a skid loader accident that shattered my tibia plateau and left me non-weight bearing for 90 days. The reconstructive surgery involved the use of donated bone tissue to help my own bone knit back together.

It was not surprising someone like Michael had made the decision to reach out and help a stranger in the event of his death. His own family had been affected by the gift of life, given so generously because of the death of another.

Now, because of Michael, countless others will have the opportunity to celebrate another birthday or another holiday or another special life event, even though he no longer has that chance.

I would urge you, as you read this, to be like Michael. Be kind, be genuine and caring, and take the steps to give the greatest gift and make your wishes known as an organ donor. To help someone live on, when you no longer can, is the greatest expression of caring we can make.

To quote another registered dairy cattle industry leader, “Who ever got Michael’s heart, got a good one.”

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Michael Heath evaluates animals during the Canadian Na onal Holstein Show at the 2015 Royal Winter Agricultural Fair in Toronto, Ontario. Heath was a lifelong lover of the Jersey breed and passed away in March.

Students balance chores with state tournaments

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

Throughout state tournaments this winter, dairy farm youth have contributed their skills and talents to their teams’ efforts. Dairy Star asked several of these students about their successful seasons.

When the Northeld High School Raiders competed at the Minnesota state gymnastics meet, Alison Malecha was there, competing in all four events – vault, beam, bars and oor. Malecha, a sophomore, is the daughter of Jim and Jennifer Malecha, who milk 130 Holsteins in a tiestall barn on their farm near Northeld, Minnesota. Malecha said going to state was made even better because of her team’s camaraderie.

“What I like most about my team is we put all of our personal differences aside and come together to all work together and be the best we can be,” Malecha said. “I most enjoyed the atmosphere (of the tournament). Every athlete wanted to be there, and everyone was cheering for each other.”

Being from a dairy farm, Malecha said, has its advantages when competing.

“I think by growing up on a farm, especially a dairy farm, you denitely learn the true meaning of hard work and determination,” Malecha said. “Both of those things are key to doing well in your sport, and they truly have helped me become the athlete I am.”

Many supporters turned out to cheer for Malecha and her fellow gymnasts.

“It was an amazing experience competing in front of that big of an audience on the biggest competition oor I’ve been on,” Malecha said. “I was also super thankful my entire family was able to come up and take time away from the farm to watch me compete.”

Malorie Thorson, a senior at Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted High School, competed with the Lakers at the Minnesota state speech tournament. This was her

Dairy youth deliver

second year in a row at the tournament. Thorson is the daughter of Andrew and Colette Thorson, who run Diers Corporation, a dairy farm near Waverly that has been in the family for six generations. The Thorsons milk 250 cows in a double-12 parallel parlor. In speech, there are 13 individual categories students can compete in. Thorson has competed many times in the informative category and has composed and delivered speeches in a variety of categories including articial insemination in dairy farming and cow monitoring systems. Although her teammates compete in a variety of categories, Thorson said they are one team.

“My team has been one of the reasons why I consistently come back to participate in speech,” Thorson said. “We are not just a team; we are family. I can say condently that my speech team has been one of the most welcoming and supportive teams at my high school. We laugh, make memories, cry, build each other up and never tear each other apart.”

Thorson also sees a connection between growing up on a dairy farm and being a strong competitor.

“Working on the farm has … taught me time management and helped me be open to constructive criticism,” Thorson said. “Waking up a 3 a.m. in the morning to milk cows, attend a full day of school, participate in sports and also have homework can seem like a lot. However, the farm has shown me to focus on one thing at a time, and, if I plan accordingly, I can complete everything.”

The dairy farm taught her other lessons as well.

“I have also learned how to accept constructive criticism on the farm as I can always become a better employee if I listen to others’ advice,” Thorson said. “This was extremely helpful when it came to speech because I was able to use the critiques from my coaches and judges to help me improve as a competitor.”

Thorson said she saw a benet in choosing the topic of agriculture.

“What I enjoyed most about going to state in speech was being able to share my speech and passion about the dairy industry to more people than just in Wright County,” Thorson said. “In that moment, I

became an advocate, by talking about the importance of the dairy industry and the diversity within it. To me, going to state is about making an impact on everyone who is willing to listen, so even though I may never win a state title for informative speaking, the impact and advocacy for the dairy industry is far more important than a medal.”

Brothers Adam and Alex Wilwerding, a senior and sophomore, respectively, competed for the Melrose/Sauk Centre Fusion at the Minnesota state boys swimming and diving meet March 2-4 at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. They are the sons of James Wilwerding and Sarah Overby. The family owns Wilwerding Dairy near Freeport, Minnesota, where they milk 2,800 cows using parlor systems.

Adam swam the 100-yard freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay events at state and took second in the backstroke with a time of 51.46 seconds. His medley relay team took 12th while the freestyle relay took 20th. Alex competed at the state meet for the rst time, swimming the 100 backstroke and placing 20th. When split seconds count, placing that high as a sophomore bodes well for his future in swimming. Alex said the younger team members did well in competition.

“The Fusion started the season with only one returning senior (Adam), leaving gaps in our roster,” Alex said. “I am proud of all us younger guys who stepped up and committed to working hard to make our team a success.”

Adam agreed.

“I was extremely proud of our team when we qualied for the state boys swimming true team in January,” Adam said. “This is an event that shows the depth and quality of your entire swim team. We put in a lot of hard work together, and it paid off.”

Being raised on a dairy farm prepared the boys for the commitment needed for

competing in swimming.

“Success in swimming takes long hours of dedication to strength training and pool time,” Adam said. “You cannot give up when things get hard. Our dairy farm also requires dedication and perseverance.”

For Adam, his last appearance at the state swimming meet was a memorable event.

“I enjoyed hanging out and having fun with the other Fusion swimmers,” Adam said. “It was nice to have them supporting me for the nal swim of my high school career.”

Alex said he appreciated going to state with his brother.

“I enjoyed sharing my rst state experience with my brother and teammates,” Alex said. “It is a great memory to have competed in the same preliminary backstroke heat as my brother.”

Conlan Carlson also balanced dairy farm duties with state competition. Carlson, a sophomore, wrestled at 138 pounds for the Willmar Cardinals March 2-4 at the Minnesota state wrestling tournament in St. Paul.

Carlson is the son of Chad and Kindra Carlson, who dairy farm near Pennock, Minnesota, at Carlson Dairy LLP. They milk 2,000 cows in a 60-stall rotary parlor using robotic milking units.

Carlson’s team went farther in the tournament than any previous Cardinal wrestling teams.

“What made me most proud was the growth we showed from the beginning to the end of the season,” Carlson said. “It was also the rst time Willmar wrestling has won two duals at state.”

Although he was there to compete, Carlson said he had fun too.

“I most enjoyed spending time with my teammates as well as getting to compete in front of thousands of fans,” Carlson said.

Strength is a benet Carlson said he has gained from working on the family’s farm.

“It gives me a work ethic and teaches me to be tough,” Carlson said. “Everyone on my team likes to joke that I have farmer’s strength, and that’s why I feel so strong.”

Alison Malecha

Adam Wilwerding

Alex Wilwerding

Malorie Thorson

Conlan Carlson

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My parents recently went on a short trip to Florida with my two sisters’ families. Our young nephews and niece aren’t really the right ages to join the kind of trips we take our teen kids on, so they do their own trip to a kid friendly beach in Florida. My folks join in the fun or misery depending on how well the toddlers sleep in an unfamiliar Airbnb. You can probably guess that usually someone needs a nap. I could denitely relate to those kiddos even though I wasn’t on the trip.

By Tim Zweber Farmer & Columnist

I hauled a load of cattle to the butcher shop shortly before Mom and Dad were headed out of town. On my way home, the brake pedal started to feel a little low, and then, the service brake system light came on. Not ideal, but I was an auto mechanic so no big deal. It shouldn’t take long to x a brake problem, or normally it wouldn’t. As I should have expected, though, repairing the brakes was not that easy. We don’t have a carwash located anywhere near us so the truck, which is almost always hooked to a trailer, does not get washed often during the winter. Not washing a vehicle in Minnesota tends to lead to extensive rusting of all the unprotected parts that road salt can get to. It just so happens that brake parts aren’t very well protected and are very much exposed to road salt. The main cause of the brake system failure was a brake line that rusted and burst, but also, both the front and rear brakes needed servicing too. This led to a couple very long nights after chores torching rusty bolts and hammering rotors off to get the truck back to driving condition with all its wheels on just in time to haul pigs to the butcher the next morning.

Our kids have rock climbing team practice and ballet on Saturday mornings so usually that’s a busy morning getting done in time. Emily has to get out of the barn in time to run the kids to practices, and I do their usual morning chores. Because we were short of people with Dad gone, something that hasn’t happened here in probably 20 years happened that morning. There was a huge bull calf in the calving shed and an old cow with a prolapsed uterus. I got a hold of one of our local vets, who I think was eating breakfast at the time, and ran up to the gas station in town for a bag of sugar to shrink the cow’s uterus down to get it back inside her. The vet showed up in an hour like he said, and we spent the next hour and a half working to put her uterus back where it belonged. We then got to enjoy the donuts I bought at the gas station while I was shopping for sugar. It has been a long time since I’ve had to do that job, but I don’t remember it being that difcult the couple other times in my life I’ve had to help the vet.

Doing that job made me very happy that most AI bulls today have very low calving difculty genetics. When my parents got back from their trip, and Dad and I were milking cows, we talked about the prolapse cow. We recalled how bad some calvings were decades ago and how far genetics have come since people started to care more about calving ease than huge show-type calves. We are both happy we spend more time worrying about checking cows for signs of calving out of fear of the babies being born in the cold than because we may have to help deliver it. At least I didn’t have to deliver that big bull calf before also having to x a prolapse. No. 872 did the calving part just ne on her own; she just did a little too good of a job pushing.

Until next time, keep living the dream, and make sure you budget twice the usual time you’d need for a task if you’re shorthanded on the farm. Also, don’t overdo a job. Sometimes to quit pushing at the right time is rather important.

Tim Zweber farms with his wife, Emily, their three children and his parents, Jon and Lisa, near Elko, Minnesota.

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From the Zweber Farm

Liveliness of spring

Spring has always been a bustling time of year. Whether it was school, chores on the farm, eldwork, softball or FFA events, my schedule was lled with activities.

On the Road with Princess Kay

As the temperature began to warm, my energy heightened, and I became excited about all my adventures. One of my favorite parts of the spring season is Easter. Since I was in middle school, I have sung in my church’s choir alongside my dad. Singing at Mass on Easter has always been so fullling. I love the sound of the organ and a fully decorated church of colorful owers as we join in together in the Easter celebration.

By Rachel Rynda

After church, we always headed to Grandma’s for a large meal of ham and cheesy potatoes. A wooden bunny Easter basket, full of candy, sat on the table after lunch as my family, stuffed from the meal, sat and visited together.

Easter conversations unfailingly consist of the progress of spring eldwork, how the cows are doing and spring sports. Any of my family get-togethers involves dairy, bringing us together through the enjoyment of real dairy foods.

As the weather turns to spring, my travels as Princess Kay are ramping up. In March, my journey as Princess Kay brought me to the Minnesota All Breeds Convention awards banquet to highlight outstanding individuals who have dedicated their time to help the dairy community ourish. During the banquet, I was able to share one of my personal mentorship experiences and the extreme importance of sharing experience and knowledge within the dairy industry.

Lights, camera, action. I got the opportunity to get my hands dirty and lm an episode of Hastings’ Community Television cooking show “Aprons Optional” alongside dairy enthusiast Sara. It was so fun to appear as a guest for the June Dairy Month segment of the show. Together, Sara and I whipped up some great tasty dairy recipes as we talked about all things dairy. Stay tuned to check out this amazing episode airing in June.

Stonebridge Elementary School in Stillwater, Minnesota, welcomed me for their dairy day at school. I was able to meet with the pre-k through fourth grade students sharing about my role as Princess Kay. Let me say that Stonebridge went all out for my visit by having their art teacher sculpt their principal’s likeness out of 10 pounds of butter. I was able to eat lunch with the rst and second graders and cheer on the fth grade students as they presented their class play Peter Pan.

On National Ag Day, March 21, I joined Minnesota Farm Bureau for their second annual Ag Day Gala. The gala consisted of a social followed by sitting down for a Minnesotan homegrown meal together as we enjoyed conversations with fellow agriculturalists from across the state. Before the dinner meal, I was able to give the milk salute. With a ballroom full of raised glasses of ice cold milk, we toasted to the industries and people that feed us. I was also able to help read the ofcial proclamation from Gov. Walz declaring March 21 as National Ag Day in Minnesota. This time of year is full of crowning new dairy

princesses. I have loved seeing all the excitement of the young ladies enthusiastic about advocating for Minnesota’s dairy community. I remember dreaming of becoming a dairy princess when I was little and the excitement of when I was crowned a dairy princess in my home county. Becoming a dairy princess has given me much to be grateful for by opening the door to outstanding opportunities to learn new things, meet amazing people, gain lifelong friends and share my dairy story. As the newly crowned dairy princesses begin their year representing our Minnesota dairy farmers, have fun, build connections, create memories and share your love for all things dairy.

Princess Kay of the Milky Way Rachel Rynda serves as the Minnesota dairy community’s goodwill ambassador. Rynda grew up in Montgomery, Minnesota, on her family’s dairy farm. She attends University of Wisconsin-River Falls, studying agriculture business with a minor in dairy science, with plans to assist farmers with their nances. She enjoys participating in sports and singing in church with her dad.

Princess Kay is active doing school visits, representing dairy farmers at the Fuel Up To Play 60 activities in conjunction with the Minnesota Vikings and sharing the importance of dairy farming and dairy foods at appearances across Minnesota.

Editorial disclaimer: The views expressed by our columnists are the opinions and thoughts of the author and do not reect the opinions and views of Dairy Star staff and ownership.

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Dairy expo adventures

The two dairy cows wandered, unfettered, throughout the convention hall. They attracted scant attention save for the occasional pedestrian who posed with them for a sele.

As a recovering dairy farmer, I found this disconcerting. Not just from a safety point of view but also regarding any possible, um, cow-based messiness. No cow has ever been successfully housebroken.

There was another problem with this dynamic dairy duo, one that had to do with their size. The Jersey – her neck tag read Jolene – was much taller than the Holstein, whose neck tag read Holly. Dairy farmers know the opposite is the case. Holsteins are usually taller than Jerseys.

So much for truth in advertising. But there was also the fact that the two cows were walking around on their hind legs.

OK, so it was clear that the bovine buddies were

humans masquerading as cows. But that sort of thing isn’t at the least bit unusual at the Central Plains Dairy Expo.

My wife and I attended this year’s expo to reconnect with some of our dairy industry friends. It seems like we always manage to pick up a few new friends along the way.

For example, one evening as we enjoyed a meal, we randomly met Mike and Hollie Whittle, who dairy farm at Volga, Iowa. What are the odds that we would meet another couple from another Volga?

Mike and Hollie have four grown sons. “There’s one thing in common with training horses, dogs and kids,” Mike said. “They don’t start to listen to you until they get tired.”

My wife remarked that Mike’s appearance was very similar to that of ranch hand Rip Wheeler on the hit TV series “Yellowstone.” She wasn’t wrong.

“It’s the other way around,” Mike grinned. “I had this look rst. Rip copied me!”

While I jawboned with folks from the dairy industry, my wife and her friend Jane wandered the exhibit hall and began to pick up a few items of swag. It wasn’t long before collecting swag became their mission. They were as giddy as a pair of little girls itting from booth to booth at the state fair.

One of the most popular items at the expo were tote bags. My wife soon had to get a tote bag to hold all of her tote bags.

She showed me some of the freebies she had scored. They included such things as a yardstick, lip balm, magnetic chip clips, a thumb drive, a large ngernail clipper along with dozens of ballpoint pens and piles of scratch pads.

By Jerry Nelson Columnist

“We’re procuring ofce supplies,” my wife exclaimed proudly as she held out a stful of free ballpoint pens.

“Fair enough,” I replied, “But what about that bundle of foam koozies? We would have to acquire a pretty serious drinking habit in order to make use of all of them.”

“You never know,” my wife replied as she and Jane resumed their freebie patrol. “A person should always be prepared.”

I’m not entirely sure what many of those giveaway items have to do with dairy farming. Although I suppose that the ngernail clipper could, in theory, be used to trim cows’ hooves.

“Jane and I are disappointed,” my wife reported later. “We heard that someone was giving away stress-relief cows. Have you seen any of them?”

I knew exactly what she meant. The cow in question is a foam rubber toy that ts in the palm of your hand. When you squeeze the cow, stress ows from you into the bantam bovine. The cow’s rear vent responds to this abrupt transfer of tension by manifesting what appears to be a very large and very painful hemorrhoid.

My wife wasn’t seeking this particular item for me, although having one would undoubtedly reduce my stress. She wanted the toy as a gift for our toddler grandson. But that could prove dangerous. What if, after squeezing the stress cow, he gets the idea that this also works on people? It would no longer be safe for me to lie on the oor when I play with him for fear he might jump on my midsection to see if his theory is correct.

Nobody should go hungry at the expo. This event offers numerous opportunities to enjoy free cheese, ice cream and milk. There are few meals more pleasurable than a free grilled cheese sandwich that’s washed down by a carton of free, ice-cold chocolate milk.

My wife and I had a very pleasant time at CPDE. And let us know if you need a tote bag. We have a few extra.

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 works full time for Dairy Star as a staff writer and ad salesman. Feel free to email him at jerry.n@dairystar.com.

Is there an ideal somatic cell count?

Can somatic cell counts get too low?

That is the title of a recent article in Dairy Herd Management magazine. In the article, Amber Yutzy, from Pennsylvania State University, suggests cows with counts below 50,000 cells per milliliter might respond more slowly to infection.

or to get clinical mastitis? In reality, we do not have healthy cows with four uninfected quarters each having a SCC of 100,000 to 150,000.

and chronic infections, and low SCC herds would have a greater proportion of gram-negative infections. This does not mean low SCC causes more coliform infections.

Is this true? No.

The preponderance of evidence suggests low SCC cows and herds have lower rates of clinical mastitis. To be fair, Yutzy is quoted at the end of the article saying, “The benets of having a low SCC far outweigh the risks.” But, she also states, “Ideally an individual cow cell count should be between 100,000 and 150,000,” which is clearly not true.

There is no benet to the cow by having a count between 100,000 and 150,000, and there are clear benets to having a lower count. Normal, healthy cows typically have counts around 20,000 to 50,000. A cow with a count of 100,000-150,000 most likely has one infected quarter that is causing the composite sample to increase. Remember, we do not typically measure SCC by quarter. So, how is it possible that a cow with one infected quarter with, say, a quarter level SCC of 750,000 and three quarters with SCC levels of 25,000, for example, is less likely to get infected

The idea of decreased susceptibility due to increased counts assumes there are more cells present in the udder, and the increased cell numbers somehow make the udder respond quicker to infection. However, in reality, those cells are continually being released into the milk in response to an infection and being ushed out of the udder two or three times per day via milking. Cows with elevated counts have already been infected, and cells are continually being released into the udder in response to that infection. So, the idea of infecting a cow to prevent her from becoming infected makes no sense. It is like cutting off one’s arm to prevent it from being cut off.

According to a review paper of this subject by Rainard (Journal of Dairy Science, 101:8, 2018), “It seems unlikely that the low concentrations of leukocytes found in milk from a healthy mammary gland play a signicant role in its defense.” In other words, the whole concept that resident somatic cells of the udder actually defend the udder from infection is not true. If fact, a feature of a healthy mammary gland is its capacity to mount a swift and massive inammatory reaction, bringing hordes of a particular type of white blood cell, the neutrophil, to milk that can reach concentrations of more than one hundred million cells per milliliter, according to the article.

be the same as the count of a normal cow, or 20,000-50,000. It is just that it is so darn difcult to keep at least some cows from getting infected, even in really clean herds, so we do not see many herds with herd SCCs below 50,000.

My own 42 years of experience working with top dairy producers conrms the available evidence in that herds with very low herd SCCs have very little clinical mastitis. In fact, in those herds, clinical mastitis is an unusual occurrence, and producers may be unconcerned about the occasional case. Maintaining great udder health in those herds seems to be much easier than maintaining decent udder health in herds with SCCs in the range of 150,000 to 200,000. This seems to be one of those dairy secrets that only certain producers seem to know.

Some have claimed an association between low herd somatic cell counts and a greater proportion of coliform infections. However, if true, this is likely explained by the observation that the cow’s SCC drops rapidly following a coliform infection, yet often takes weeks to months with infections from gram-positive environmental organisms and may not drop at all when infected by contagious pathogens. Thus, very high SCC herds would be expected to have more gram-positive

So, what is a healthy herd SCC?

The typical Holstein cow at one month in lactation has a baseline SCC of about 20,000. The herd SCC is determined by how much shedding and how much milk infected quarters produce. For example, if you have a few cows with very high quarter level SCC, and they produce a lot of milk in those quarters, the herd SCC may rise signicantly just from their contribution. In simple terms, the herd SCC is a combination of the contribution of healthy cows with SCCs 20,00050,000 and infected, unhealthy cows with much higher counts. Thus, even a herd SCC of 100,000 is not really healthy. Ideally, herd counts would

The idea that a herd’s somatic cell count can be too low seems to surface in the press every few years. It is not true. One cannot be too healthy nor can an udder. The rewards of excellent udder health are remarkable, and we should continue to pursue that goal.

Bennett is one of four dairy veterinarians at Northern Valley Dairy Production Medicine Center in Plainview, Minnesota. He also consults on dairy farms in other states. He and his wife, Pam, have four children. Jim can be reached at bennettnvac@ gmail.com with comments or questions.

2016, Kernel Processor, PRWD, 1840 hrs., 1103 CH hrs., #525709 .............. $324,000

JD 8700 2018, Kernel Processor, PRWD, 1701 hrs., 1069 CH hrs., #541389 .............. $348,500

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JD 9600 2019, Kernel Processor, PRWD, 1224 hrs., 811 CH hrs., #532049 ................ $409,900

JD 7780 2013, Kernel Processor, PRWD, 3370 hrs., 2109 CH hrs., #274502 .............. $169,900

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JD

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Sharing their story one video at a time

Gieroks advocate for agriculture through social media

By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com

INDEPENDENCE, Wis. – Aaron Gierok sees his family farm through the lens of a video camera.

As often as he can, Aaron takes time off of work and makes the one hour commute to his home farm to help his dad with chores and projects. While he is there, he documents their work and shares edited videos on YouTube. His work has earned him more than 32,000 subscribers

“People get to see a more old school farm like this that dad built,” Aaron said. “It’s in a beautiful spot, and they can see that the small farm still works.”

Aaron’s parents, George and Mary Gierok, milk 45 cows in a tiestall barn near Independence. Aaron grew up helping his parents on the dairy along with his three

siblings. While he has been lming videos since 2017, Aaron started the YouTube channel in 2021 as a way to advocate for agriculture and his family’s small farm.

Since purchasing the farm 32 years ago, George has added hand-crafted buildings and fences to the farm, which adds to its character. Whether it is a heifer shed or a carving, woodworking is a creative outlet for George and is something the viewers seem to appreciate.

“We are getting to be kind of a niche by keeping this place the way we are keeping it,” George said. “I think it’s so cool that now he can document all this stuff.”

Aaron uses a GoPro camera to lm the videos. He has a custom-built tripod with a magnet that he uses to mount the camera to the fenders of tractors, on top of balers, on barn walls or wherever else the action might be taking place.

When Aaron rst started, he shared one video every other week. Once the channel garnered a larger audience, he increased the posts to twice a week. He now shares three videos a week. Each video is between 10 and 20

minutes long. While he is getting faster at editing them, Aaron said initially it took about an hour of editing for every 2-3 minutes of video.

“I’ve learned by looking up tutorial videos or just trying it out myself,” Aaron said. “I never took any classes for this in high school.”

All of the efforts have created a community of followers on the social media channel. The demographic is mostly people aged 55 and older, but Aaron has started to see a shift with the addition of younger subscribers. Aaron said he has learned from the comments people leave on the videos.

“I think our community has been super positive,” Aaron said. “There is a wealth of knowledge, especially with an older audience.”

When Aaron bought a John Deere planter, he posted a video about it and asked if any viewers had advice for how to operate and maintain the equipment, because his dad had always used an International planter in the past. Aaron said people were quick to share their experiences, and three different people mailed literature to the channel’s registered post ofce box.

“One guy was a mechanic who did a lot of custom planting and sent a whole notepad of information,” Aaron said. “The neat thing was this old guy wanting to pass on his knowledge to this younger guy.”

Aaron used to try to respond to every comment on the videos, but as their list of subscribers has grown, it has not remained possible. The father and son duo occasionally post a Q&A video where they try to respond to questions asked in the comments. Other times, they will begin a new video by answering a couple questions from other posts.

Most of the videos are of daily chores and other projects that are normal for the Gieroks like cutting rewood or machinery maintenance but may be interesting to someone who does not live the lifestyle of a small dairy farmer.

“What I’m learning with social media is the simpler the better,” Aaron said. “To us, it seems really monotonous like feeding cows again, but to a viewer, it can be a totally different video than the last one.”

Between doing the work to lm the videos and then going through the editing process, Aaron said he is happy with the return he gets from his efforts.

“I’m not investing a crazy amount of money or anything; it’s mainly just time,” Aaron said. “It’s allowed us to create a history book in a way.”

I really using the It’s quiet cows really to it quickly.”

– Jose

I really like using the Merlin2G . It’s quiet and cows really adapt to it quickly.”

– Jose A.

I really like using the Merlin2G . It’s quiet and cows really adapt to it quickly.”

– Jose A.

a fusion with:

I really like using the Merlin2G . It’s quiet and cows really adapt to it quickly.”

– Jose A.

I really like using the Merlin It’s quiet and cows really adapt to it quickly.”

– Jose A.

I really like using the Merlin2G . It’s quiet and cows really adapt to it quickly.”

– Jose A.

“ I really like using the Merlin2G . It’s quiet and cows really adapt to it quickly.”

– Jose A.

ABBY WIEDMEYER/DAIRY STAR

Aaron Gierok sets up a camera March 7 to lm acvi es on his family’s farm near Independence, Wisconsin. Aaron posts videos to his YouTube channel, Gierok Farms, which has over 32,000 subscribers.

Mindsets are contagious

This winter has been brutal.

Here in Minnesota, we are close to, if not already, breaking records on total snowfall amounts for the past winter season. In the doldrums of winter, many of us struggle with not only the specic difculties that winter brings to our dairies but also the separation that occurs when we are hunkered down for months after the busy holiday season.

The NexGen: Adventures of two dairy daughters

By Megan Schrupp & Ellen Stenger Columnists

Recently, we participated in two opportunities to immerse ourselves in our great dairy community. These events have reminded us that we are not alone and are doing work worth doing. We attended the Minnesota Farm Bureau Ag Day Gala in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Besides the information we absorbed from informational sessions and visiting with industry experts at both events, we came across an unexpected topic – sequoias. In some ways, they are just like the farming community.

Giant sequoias are some of the world’s largest trees. These trees can live to be more than 3,400 years old and weigh more than 2 million pounds. The General Sherman sequoia tree, the largest in the world, measures 275 feet tall and is 36 feet wide in diameter at the base.

If you have ever visited a sequoia forest, how insignicant you feel is incredible. However, the most interesting thing about giant sequoias is that even with their massive size and weight, their roots venture only about 6 to 12 feet deep. How can these enormous trees stay standing, living for thousands of years, on such a shallow root system?

Rather than relying on deep roots to keep them upright, they spread their roots wide and intertwine with the other trees in the forest. These roots mat together to build a strong and stable community, each tree supporting the other. These trees are like the members of our dairy industry’s community. We, like them, are all intertwined and interconnected, supporting and depending on one another, holding each other up and helping each other grow.

In a rapidly changing world and an industry that can be physically and mentally challenging, you must surround yourself with a community of “sequoias” that inspire you and your business. This community should consist of individuals and dairies solving challenges with a positive attitude that you respect and admire.

Proximity is power. As Tony Robbins lectures, “Always remember that who you spend the most time with is who you eventually become. To reach new heights of success, you must surround yourself with people who not only inspire you but challenge you.”

Dairying is not easy. Top dairy herds acquire a circle of inuence with wide-ranging expertise that pushes their dairy to raise the bar and achieve loftier goals.

The members in your “forest” could be fellow dairy men or women, nutritionists, veterinarians, professors, business professionals, members of your church and local community, or anyone else who challenges and pushes you and your business to learn and grow continually.

If you’re a young farmer like us, we recommend seeking a mentor and spending time with them. Don’t be afraid to ask them questions and to expand and discuss topics that interest you and your dairy. Highly successful people are often willing to share their experiences, mistakes and goals. Your circle of inuence is also critical because it can be called upon in a time of need, providing knowledge, training and expertise. Surrounding you, your dairy and your team with these individuals and spending time where they are will take your dairy to the next level.

Many people aspire to be the smartest or most successful person at the table. However, if you are always that person, you limit yourself and what you can achieve. At NexGen, we aim to push ourselves outside our comfort zone. We desire to acquire a seat at the table of dairies and experts that are more successful, knowledgeable or experienced than we are. Our participation has provided numerous new ideas and management strategies and at times has encouraged us to change our thinking and make successful changes to our dairy farm.

Suppose we continually expose ourselves to a community of men and women with different perspectives and new ideas. In that case, we can grow into and along with that network of roots and allow those giants to help hold our business upright and to grow to new heights.

Megan Schrupp and Ellen Stenger are sisters and co-owners of both NexGen Dairy and NexGen Market in Eden Valley, Minnesota. They can be reached at Nexgendairy@gmail.com

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