May 13, 2023 Dairy Star - 1st section - Zone 1

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DAIRY ST R25

Volume 25, No. 6

May 13, 2023

Recovery comes one moment at a time

Reitsma improves daily through strength, community

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

SAUK CENTRE, Minn. – Spring storms can bring strong, damaging winds, but Carolyn and Paul Reitsma have seen that faith, family, community and their daughter, Katie, are stronger.

One year after Katie suffered a massive brain injury when she was hit by ying debris during a storm that swept through her family’s dairy farm near Sauk Centre, she nally came home to continue her recovery.

Katie and her parents, along with brothers, Joe and Mitchell, milk 280 cows with four DeLaval robotic milking systems at Reit-Way Dairy. Katie also works as a paraprofessional at Holy Family El-

Minnewaska schools serve fresh milk

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

GLENWOOD, Minn. –

Although Gay Finn, head cook for Minnewaska Elementary School, was skeptical at rst, she said her school’s transition from milk cartons to a milk dispenser has been a success.

“There’s so much less waste now, and the kids can help themselves whereas before there were gallons of milk being thrown away,” Finn said. “Yes, there are a few kids who take too much, but the majority take just what they will drink. If they are only going to drink half a glass, they take half a glass.”

Now, only about half a gallon of milk is dumped during a complete lunch period at the

ementary School in Sauk Centre. She had been planning to begin taking evening courses to earn her teacher’s license.

When Katie ew home on a medical ight April 29, with her was her childhood neighbor and boyfriend Eugene Marthaler. The two began dating over two years ago. Marthaler stayed with Katie in Chicago since her rst being transferred there in early March to receive therapy at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab.

“That poor guy slept on a couch that is not even comfortable to sit on, and it’s too short,” Paul said. “I think they (were) both ready to come home. It’s time.”

Katie will continue her recovery at Marthaler’s home in Sauk Centre. His house is

Turn to REITSMA | Page 6

Smooth transi�on

only for the elementary school, but also for Minnewaska School District’s secondary school, which holds grades 4-12.

Bridget Gallagher is the director of food and nutrition services for the district. When she heard about the grant available for milk dispensers through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered through Midwest Dairy, she said she was immediately on board.

“Our superintendent had gotten an email about the grant available for the equipment and forwarded it on to me, and I thought, ‘Yep, we’re going to do this,’” Gallagher said. “I had just been in my position a couple of months.”

That was in January 2022. Gallagher needed to convince lunch staff the change was doable.

“Their big concerns were spills and swapping out the machine,” Gallagher said.

“All dairy, all the time”™

JAN LEFEBVRE/DAIRY STAR

Bridget Gallagher (le�) stands with students Gre�a Gremmels and Nash Rashmussen as they help themselves to milk May 2 at Minnewaska Elementary School in Glenwood, Minnesota. Gallagher, director of food and nutri�on services for the Minnewaska School District, oversaw the transi�on from cartons to bulk milk dispensers in the district.

school compared to on average 4 or 5 gallons, Finn said. Plus, garbage has been greatly reduced due to no more cartons.

The transition came at the beginning of the school year, not

MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR

The Reitsma family – Mitchell (front, from le�), Ka�e and Joe; (back, from le�) Paul and Carolyn, along with Eugene Marthaler – gathers in the Reitsmas’ barn May 7 near Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Ka�e returned home April 29, almost a year a�er suffering a trauma�c brain injury during a storm that came through the farm.

ISSN

Dairy Prole brought to you by your North America dealers. Who holds the cards in the farm bill debate?

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Klobuchar hosts Boozman in Minnesota

A bipartisan approach is often talked about in the agriculture committees. That was on display as Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar hosted Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman for farm meetings in Rochester and the Twin Cities. “I am so honored to have Sen. Boozman here,” Klobuchar said. “We have worked together for years; he is the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee at a very important time, and we have always believed we are not going to get this done one party versus the other.” Boozman, who represents Arkansas, was able to hear from Minnesota farmers. “The farm bill really isn’t a Democratic or Republican thing; it is more about regions of the country with Southern agriculture different that the ‘I’ states,” Boozman said. With the makeup of the House and the Senate, Boozman said a farm bill won’t pass unless it is a bipartisan piece of legislation.

Animal rights group lobbies Congress

Animal rights activists were on Capitol Hill during the

522 Sinclair Lewis

Ag Insider

last week of April, asking Congress to prioritize animal welfare in the new farm bill. The platform for this coalition includes a moratorium on new and expanded large livestock feeding operations and a complete ban by 2040. They are also seeking $100 billion for a buyout program to transition animal feeding operations to raising pasture-based livestock, growing specialty crops or organic commodity production.

Education needed

During a House Agriculture subcommittee hearing, Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn

“GT” Thompson asked farmers to educate members of Congress about the importance of the farm bill. “We’ve got a signicant number, over half of the members of Congress have not been here for a farm bill, and quite frankly, some folks who have been (in Congress for a farm bill vote), it wouldn’t hurt to do a little additional education with some of them,” he said.

NMPF submits federal order proposal

Turn

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Market lows seen in cheese, butter

According to the monthly dairy report from the NMPF and the Dairy Checkoff, butter and cheese prices have reached their low point for the year. Class III milk prices have declined for four straight months. Feed costs have not followed milk prices lower, which will likely result in Dairy Margin Coverage payments until the fourth quarter.

Lawmakers hope to overturn new H-2A rule

A group of Republican senators has introduced a resolution of disapproval to overturn a U.S. Department of Labor rule dealing with H-2A workers. This rule increases the minimum wages for those working on an H-2A visa.

Climate collaboration

The U.S. Dairy Export Council and NMPF are partnering with similar organizations from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia and Colombia on climate issues. The collaboration will work with governments and international organizations to promote policies that consider the unique needs of the livestock industry.

EU

trade barriers

An annual report from the U.S. Trade Representative’s Ofce outlines trade barriers from the European Union. In particular, the EU uses geographic indicators to control the use of common terms, such as Parmesan or mozzarella cheese. The U.S. Dairy Export Council and NMPF are asking the trade ofce to preserve export access for food with these common names.

APHIS outlines its strategic plan

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has unveiled its new veyear strategic plan. It includes six goals, including the protection of agriculture from plant and animal disease, expanding safe trade, promoting animal welfare and addressing the agency’s workforce challenges. APHIS also focused on trends. That list ranges from threats to security, climate change and advances in science and technology.

Bongards year-end nancials

Bongards Creameries is reporting 2022 earnings of $35 million on sales of $942 million. Patronage earnings of $27 million resulted in a 20% cash payment to members of 36 cents per hundredweight. In addition, Bongards announced it will revolve half of the 2013 equity in the amount of just over $4 million. Patrons

will receive those payments in July.

Endless opportunities

At the Minnesota FFA Convention, students got a glimpse into their future at the Career Connections event. AgCentric Executive Director Keith Olander said this is a wonderful time to be in agriculture. “The opportunities are really endless for these kids with two, three, four jobs available to them,” Olander said. “On the other side, industry is here really seeking talent and courting these students; getting the talent and retaining talent, competition is high.” Parents often want their kids to get a four-year degree, but the prospects are also good for those getting a technical education. Olander cites less debt for the students coming out of a technical school, “and honestly, we’re seeing the earnings on the two-year side a little stronger than the four-year (degree) in a lot of cases.”

Nine selected for MN FFA Hall of Fame

Nine individuals are part of the Minnesota FFA Hall of Fame Class of 2023.

The inductees are T.J. Brown of Good Thunder, Dan Dylla of Wells, Mike Miron of Hugo, Brian Sather of Winona, Jon Yusten of Zumbrota, Leah Addington of Cannon Falls, Doris Mold of Cumberland, Sherry Newell-Opitz of Avon and James Tracy (deceased) of Dennison.

New state FFA ofcer team named The Minnesota FFA Convention capped off with the installation of the new state ofcer team. Katelyn Ketchum of Lewiston-Altura is the new president. Tyler Ratka of Rocori is vice president. The slate of ofcers also includes secretary Alison Murrell of Braham, treasurer Mason Grams of Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart, reporter Miriana Eiden of Buffalo and sentinel Mackenzie Kuschel of Sebeka.

Trivia challenge

The nutrition title accounts for 76% of mandatory spending in the farm bill. That answers our last trivia question. For this week’s trivia, who serves as USDA’s deputy agriculture secretary? 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.

one level and has easier access than the family’s house on the farm. They have purchased some equipment Katie will need as she keeps her therapy going at an intense pace along with outpatient therapy out of St. Cloud.

“I told Eugene that Shirley Ryan would hire him because he does so much,” Paul said. “Eugene’s aunt is an occupational therapist who advises him. He even has Katie doing pushups. They didn’t believe him (at Shirley Ryan), so Katie showed them.”

However, Marthaler said he did not see his efforts as above the ordinary for his relationship with Katie.

“If the roles were reversed, I know she’d do the same for me,” Marthaler said. … “You have to stick through the hard times to get to the good times.”

It was to Marthaler that Katie rst gave a sign that she was still Katie inside even though her brain was not cooperating. That sign came in early August 2022 in the form of the thumbs-up gesture.

“That was when I knew we’ve got this,” Marthaler said. “I knew then and there that Katie knew what was going on.”

At the time, Katie was at Regency Hospital in Golden Valley, the second facility she had been to. She would stay at two more during her year away from home. For her loved ones, the journey has gone from initial fear to hope and progress, and it all began with one storm.

Weather warnings were posted across Minnesota during evening chores May 12, 2022.

“Eugene had come over,” Carolyn said. “He said to me, ‘Something told me I needed to come help you get done before the storm.’”

Everyone was rushing to complete chores when the storm hit.

“The wind picked up the back end of a hutch, and the calf got out,” Carolyn said.

“I heard Katie say, ‘Mom, calf,’ and those were the last words she said to me.”

As Katie ran to address the loose calf, Carolyn nished up work with the skid loader.

“I was by the clothesline and saw all of these hutches ying up over the evergreens,” Carolyn said. “I didn’t know exactly where Katie was.”

Out of 66 calf hutches holding calves, only three stood in place when the storm ended. The rest were blown to elds and ditches around the farm. Calves roamed everywhere.

It was Marthaler who located Katie. She was lying on the ground close to the house. Thinking she had lost consciousness due to a concussion, he helped carry her inside the house. Paul called his sister, a retired nurse, who guided them in assessing Katie’s inju-

Carolyn Reitsma (le ) holds the hand of her daughter, Ka e Reitsma, May 7. at the family’s farm near Sauk Centre, Minnesota. A er a year of rehabilitaon for a trauma c brain injury, Ka e has returned home to con nue her recovery.

ries and then determined Katie needed emergency help. As Marthaler drove Katie to the Sauk Centre Hospital, the Reitsmas rounded up calves.

At the hospital, analysis was giving troubling results. Katie needed a ventilator and equipment the hospital was not set up with. She was transferred to the larger St. Cloud Hospital 40 miles away. Paul and Carolyn joined her and Marthaler.

“The rst diagnosis was that her brain stem was cut,” Paul said.

Katie also had multiple bleeds in her brain. Carolyn said they were told it was an injury similar to shaken baby syndrome.

“They said whatever hit her was heavy and blunt,” Carolyn said.

The family assumes it was a calf hutch that hit Katie, Carolyn said, but no one actually saw it happen. The type and location of her brain injury did not look promising.

“Everything initiates there – your walking, your talking, your coordination – everything stems from that spot in the brain,” Carolyn said.

As days passed, they began getting asked difcult questions.

“They kept asking us, because Katie was an athlete, if we could accept her in any other condition,” Paul said.

Katie played both high school and collegiate volleyball. She later helped coach her team at the University of Minnesota-Morris.

“We thought, ‘Katie’s much more than just an athlete,’” Paul said. “She has touched the lives of so many kids at Holy Family School. There’s more to

Turn to REITSMA | Page 7

HVC12 HOOF VET CARE CHUTE

MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR

her than just volleyball. She’s our daughter.”

The questions became even harder.

“They asked us if we wanted her to receive last rites,” Carolyn said.

The family agreed to have those rites performed.

“That’s when we realized it wasn’t good,” Paul said. “We were asked to make the decision between comfort death and giving her a chance.”

It was nearly 10 days after the storm. If they chose to keep trying, Katie needed to be taken off the ventilator and receive a tracheotomy to save her from permanent vocal cord damage. The hospital needed to know the family’s decision.

The Reitsmas and Marthaler needed a sign.

“The day we had to make the decision, that was the rst time she opened her eyes,” Paul said. “(The medical staff) didn’t look at that as being positive at all, but for us, it was.”

Then a staff member said something that Carolyn said was the right thing at the right time.

“A respiratory therapist said, ‘Well, let’s see what she can do,’” Carolyn said. “That helped us decide that we weren’t even going to think about comfort care because Katie could do this.”

Paul and Carolyn’s other daughters – Michelle, Renae and Christine – as well as neighbors and friends stepped in to help with the farm when

Paul and/or Carolyn were with Katie. After work each day, Marthaler, who is a carpenter, was by Katie’s side.

The Reitsmas also had 50 heifers due that month.

“You have to keep everything going,” Carolyn said. “Nothing stops.”

Kindness and support surrounded them.

“We were sent a video of the kids from Holy Family; they formed a rosary, praying for Miss Katie,” Paul said. “The school would cover a day each week the whole summer where two staff members would sit with Katie (at Regency Hospital) because we couldn’t always get down there.”

Once Katie woke up and was weaned from her tracheotomy, she was transferred Aug. 17, 2022, to Melrose Hospital near Sauk Centre. Katie received physical, occupational and speech therapy there with good results.

“There you go with that small town thing,” Paul said.

“Everyone knew her and treated her like family, and when you left there at night, you felt good because you knew she was going to be taken care of.

That’s when Katie really started responding to therapy.”

Meanwhile, Katie’s high school and college teams did fundraisers as did the FFA chapter and other groups. People keep bringing food. Prayer groups far and wide wrote, saying they were praying for Katie, one card coming from a

group in Rome.

“It’s working,” Carolyn said.

Meanwhile, Katie continued therapy to reconnect her

brain to muscle control because it was no longer automatic.

It was from the Melrose Hospital that Marthaler sent a video to the Reitsmas of Katie

singing three words – I love you – the words mufed and taking effort to be formed, but that did not matter.

“It was a thrill,” Carolyn said.

Katie was also able to the visit the farm a few times, the rst being in October 2022 when she arrived on a minibus with four residents from the nursing home. They drove through the barn. Both Paul and Carolyn said Katie lit up when she saw the cows again.

On March 9, the next phase of Katie’s recovery began, which required more equipment, and she and Marthaler prepared to move to Chicago.

“The staff and residents (at Melrose Hospital) lined the halls,” Paul said. “They clapped and were in tears.”

They even blew bubbles.

In Marthaler’s care, Katie worked on core strength in Chicago and continued with other therapy with the goal of Katie walking independently again.

Now, with Katie nally home, the next year of her recovery begins.

“We don’t know what the plan is in the end, but we still have her,” Paul said.

Carolyn said they never lost hope, and community helped them maintain that hope.

“One day, Katie will walk into Holy Family School,” she said.

Mark Klaphake contributed to this article.

MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR

The Sauk Centre High School volleyball program made T-shirts in 2022 to support Ka e Reitsma and her family. Reitsma was a standout volleyball player in high school and college.

Milking cows in western ND

tween New England and Regent. The farm’s milk is picked up twice a week to be processed by Dairy Concepts, 169 miles away in Pollock, South Dakota.

Doe family dairy stands alone

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

NEW ENGLAND, N.D. – When the last dairyfarming family in Hettinger County makes plans for the day, western North Dakota weather is the big factor.

“We had a blizzard last year in the beginning of April, and we weren’t able to get back into the eld until late,” Warren Doe said. “The weather is the most challenging thing with the extreme cold and wind and no trees to protect us. We had 55-below windchill for three, four days in a row this winter.”

Doe and his family milk 250 cows in both a double-8 and a single-12 parlor be-

Doe, his wife Gail, son Kory and daughter Ariann run the farm together. Warren and Gail’s grandchildren are now old enough to help as well. All three families live on the farm in separate houses. Doe said he appreciates being able to work with his family.

“Not many people get to do that, and we get along very well,” Doe said.

Even though the winters in Hettinger County are tough, this past winter marking a record snowfall, summer weather has been more of a problem with a drought lasting already more than two years. The family grows 640 acres of mixed grass, 240 acres of oats, 160 acres of barley, 2,100 acres of durum, 600 acres of silage corn and 150 acres of grain corn. They also have 1,000 acres of pasture.

“How do you scrape enough feed together when you are constantly ghting drought?” Doe said. “The

snow disappeared, and it’s dry. We’re praying for rain every day even though we have to get the crop in.”

However, after 75 years and three generations of dairy farming, drought is unlikely to stop the Doe family.

“It’s determination,”

Doe said. “I guess you have to work hard when you’re on a southwestern North Dakota dairy. It’s also being selfsufcient since there’s no service. It’s getting tough.”

The closest dairy to Doe Dairy is over 40 miles north.

“It’s really sad,” Doe said. “When I was grow-

ing up, there were at least 50 dairy farms (in Hettinger County). It seems like every small farm had dairy cows. It went from a slow decline to a rapid decline.”

JASON O’DAY/FORUM NEWS

Ariann Doe (from le ), her son Wes n Gilman, Korey Doe, his daughter Kelsey, Gail and Warren Doe stand by their farm sign on their family’s farm near New England, North Dakota. The Doe family milks 250 cows in both a double-8 and a single-12 parlor.

However, Gallagher said neither have become a problem. At the secondary school, two dispensers were placed at the front of the food line.

“Spills are not any more of an issue than they were with the cartons,” Gallagher said. “At the high school, a lot of kids have learned to ll their glass and set it on the table before going through (the food) line. We have some who will stand there and drink one glass while they’re waiting in line and rell it right away.”

The elementary school’s one dispenser is placed at the end of the food line.

Containers that hold 5-gallon bags of bulk milk sit in the dispenser May 2 at Minnewaska Elementary School in Glenwood, Minnesota. Due to school dietary regula ons, the dispenser serves 1% and skim milk Mondays through Thursdays but also serves chocolate milk on Fridays.

Finn said even the youngest students have gured out the best method for handling both milk glasses and food trays.

“With kindergarten, they set their trays down rst, then they come get their milk. At the elementary level, paraprofessionals pick up the glasses afterward.” One reason Minnewaska schools experienced a smooth transition is they put in effort at the start of the school year to ready students. During student orientations last fall, students and parents had a chance to try the dispensers.

“We had the dispensers up and running and fully stocked, so we were encouraging families and kids to come in and get a feel for what was going to take place,” Gallagher said. “We had that benet of being able to prep everything to kick off the program rst thing.”

Help also came from the Vold family that owns and operates Dorrich Dairy near Glenwood. Suzanne and Brad Vold, along with Brad’s brother, Greg Vold, milk 450 cows with seven robotic milking units. Suzanne is also a Minnesota division board member for Midwest Dairy.

“The Volds spent a couple of weeks at each of the schools, helping the kids acclimate to the dispensers,” Gallagher said. “They were very instrumental in helping out and getting everything to run smoothly, especially for the kids who weren’t at orientation. They also helped with the grant process itself.”

Due to mandated school lunch guidelines with overall fat and sugar limits, Minnewaska dispensers offer 1% and skim milk Mondays through Thursdays. On Fridays, they also offer chocolate milk.

Nash Rassmussen, a rst grader, said he likes milk from the dispenser.

“It’s cold, and there’s other kinds,” he said. “I would say 1% white milk is my favorite. I drink any kind of milk unless it’s skim.”

He also said he chooses chocolate milk on Fridays and prefers glasses to cartons.

“(Cartons) get dents in them and stuff,” he said.

Gretta Gremmels, a kindergartener, said the dispenser is easy to use.

“I like it because you just have to pull up,” she said. “It tastes normal. It’s good.”

The positive student reaction, Finn and Gallhager said, has led to an uptick in milk consumption. Chocolate milk is by far the most popular. On days it is not offered, 1% milk tops skim milk.

The elementary school has around 350 students, kindergarten through third grade.

“I can go through eight of (the 1%

bags) during the week to every one bag of skim,” Gallagher said. “(On Fridays,) I can go through four of the 5-gallon bags of chocolate just at this school.”

Each container with a milk bag placed in it weighs about 40 pounds. On a usual day, Finn needs to change out a container once or twice per lunch except on chocolate-milk Fridays when she changes about four bags. She said the task has not been difcult.

“I’ve been doing it the whole year, and it doesn’t bother me,” Finn said.

“If I feel a need, I could ask somebody to help me out. Before, we had coolers sitting outside each door, and we’d have to load all that milk in for breakfast and for lunch. Now, we are just located to one spot.”

Since the dispensers stay plugged in and cold, the bags can stay in the dispensers until empty without having to move them to a cooler at night. When there is a longer break during the year, such as over the holidays, the machines get a deep clean.

The dispensers were delivered from Hubert, a food merchandising company out of Harrison, Ohio.

“Once we were selected for the grant, everything got shipped to us,” Gallagher said.

That included the glasses in their crates, dollies for moving them, the dispensers themselves with their wheeled bases and containers that hold the 5-gallon milk bags.

Minnewaska schools bought extra, smaller glasses for the elementary school as well as a few more dollies. They also bought disposable plastic lids that t the elementary school’s glasses, used only for the few times students carry glasses of milk to their classrooms for various events. For ease and speed when switching out bags during lunches, the district also bought a few extra milk bag holders so they could be ready to go when switching.

The bags of milk are delivered by Cass Clay, owned by Kemps, which also made for a smooth transition because Cass Clay had previously been supplying the district’s cartons of milk.

“It’s actually a little bit of a cost savings,” Gallagher said. “We get it delivered here once a week, twice at the high school.”

However, Gallagher said she especially likes the savings on waste.

“It’s good just having less waste going into the dump with cartons being a nonissue and less waste in product,” Gallagher said.

She also hears and sees good reports from both students and staff.

“Some kids were put off by drinking out of a paper carton – that alone turned them off to drinking milk – so having an actual glass, they say, gives a fresher taste,” Gallagher said. “We have kids who recognize the benets of the colder, better-tasting milk, so they are drinking more.”

Give Classieds a try.

Gay Finn Head cook

JAN LEFEBVRE/DAIRY STAR

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DMI 530B Disc Ripper

JD 712 9 shank disc chisel

CIH MRX690, 5 shank disc ripper disc.

JD 980 Field Cult., 44’ w/harrow

CIH 4800 30’ Field Cult, w/3 bar coil tine harrow

The biggest decline, Doe said, came around 40 years ago.

“What really hurt was in the 1980s when they had the dairy buyout,” Doe said. “That totally destroyed North Dakota dairy. We lost probably 70% of the dairies because of that.”

The Whole Herd Buyout Program of 1986 was a government plan to decrease milk supplies and raise dairy prots. Farmers signing up for the plan would slaughter or export their entire herds and get out of dairying for ve years in return for payments from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Other factors, Doe said, led to dairy decline in his area as well.

do not add bedding to the mattresses. Their calf barn is heated.

“In this country, everything has to be heated,” Doe said.

Some dairy supplies come from a dealer in Mandan.

“He’s the last dairy supplier in the state,” Doe said.

Other dairy equipment, supplies and parts come on a route from Leedstone out of Melrose, Minnesota, 450 miles away. Doe said his son has become skilled in repairing milking equipment, and they keep extra parts at the farm.

With a late start this spring, they are growing 73-day corn for grain, but they are using 88- to 95-day corn for silage as is usual.

Loftness 20’ Stalk Shredder, NICE!! ‘08 Agco 3000 Corn Head, 8R30, poly

Gehl 100 Feed Mill

SKID LOADERS

‘21 Bobcat T770, 407 hrs.

‘20 Bobcat T770, 215 hrs.

‘20 Bobcat T770, SJC, 300 hrs. ‘20 Bobcat T770, high flow, 1,000 hrs.

‘12 Brent 782 Cart, w/tarp & scale

“Then, with the high fuel prices and low milk prices, (dairy farmers) just couldn’t hang on,” Doe said. “Before that, if you worked hard, you could always make it, but now it didn’t pay the bills.”

Cash crops have helped Doe Dairy survive.

“If we weren’t diversied out here where we are, it wouldn’t be possible to sustain a dairy by itself,” Doe said.

It also helped that his wife ran her own hair salon business for the rst 25 years they were married. Slowly, they expanded the dairy farm.

“If you step back and look 50 years ago to where we are now, our aerial farm photos have changed drastically since 1952,” Doe said.

Doe said his parents rst milked around 10 cows in a hip roof barn. He and Gail expanded to 25 cows in a stanchion barn. In 1973, the Does built a double-4 parlor. But, 10 years later, they expanded the parlor to a double-8.

Later, as their children joined in running the farm, they added the second parlor, the single-12.

“It just kept growing and growing,” Doe said. “I don’t know what the next step will be with the way things are going, if we’ll expand or if we’ll just tie another knot in the rope and hang on.”

Cows on the farm are housed in a freestall barn with mattresses. The Does

“Our growing season is short, but the new varieties usually make it,” Doe said. “We raise all our own forage.”

The durum, one of their cash crops, is used to make pasta.

“It’s kind of considered a specialty crop,” Doe said. “It’s seeded just like spring wheat.”

Because most farms nearby are crop farms, the Does have another way to earn money – manure.

“We have that value commodity that all the grain farmers want to have,” Doe said.

“It’s not a real fun thing to do, but it’s really valuable.”

The soil and terrain on his farm, Doe said, varies. Parts have heavy loam, but others have sandy soil. Some places have rolling hills, but others are at.

Doe said he enjoys farming there.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

This aerial photo shows Doe Dairy near New England, North Dakota. The Doe family operates the last remaining dairy farm in He nger County.

JASON O’DAY/FORUM NEWS SERVICE

Ariann Doe stands in one of two parlors on her family’s farm near New England, North Dakota. Milk from the farm is hauled 169 miles to Dairy Concepts in Pollock, South Dakota.

“I guess I just like to work,” Doe said. “A great day is if I can get 300 acres seeded. I love making hay, a good day of baling.”

He said he does not even mind the lack of a vacation.

“We have a motorcycle,” Doe said. “When the work’s all done, which is rare, (Gail and I) like to jump on that bike and take a ride.”

Now 68 years old, Doe said he would like to keep working into his later years like his own parents did. His father quit milking at 62 years old but helped with eldwork for many years after. He lived to be 90. Doe’s mother milked cows until she was 75 years old.

“I nally had to kick her out of the barn because, if she fell and got hurt, I’d be blamed for it,” Doe said. “She loved to milk cows.”

However, the future, like the weather, is subject to variables.

“My knees are starting to go bad; the cold, damp cement is catching up with me,” Doe said. “Now I’m the old guy on the farm.”

As he looks to the next generations, he said he wonders how the dairy with fare.

“I’d hate to see my kids have to work that hard and not succeed,”

Doe said. “Once Gail and I aren’t able to help, it will make it that much tougher. Help is such an issue; you can’t get help here.”

For now, the Doe family will keep dairy farming.

“It’s what I was born into and grew up with, and it rubbed off on the kids, unfortunately,” Doe said. “If my kids weren’t here, there wouldn’t be a dairy here either, but they wanted to do it. It’s going to be tougher for them than it was for me.”

DHIA DIRECTOR PROFILE

We are grateful to dairy farmer Directors who share their time, their ideas, and their common sense to help keep DHIA services relevant. From time to time we will use this space to recognize these leaders and to say thank you. We will start with our current president, Dave Scapanski. He started as a local DHIA leader in Benton County, serving on the Board and as President.In 2002 Dave was elected to the Minnesota Board, and has been our President for the past 10 years. He was elected to the National DHIA Board 10 years ago as well, and currently serves as Treasurer there.

What are some of your duties as director? Making sure that we are nancially sound, competitive and ef cient. We work to keep DHIA affordable, accurate, and timely for management decisions for your farm.

What do you like about this role? As president of the board, I enjoy working with good board members who all give a lot of insight into the future of DHIA. Also working with Bruce and the staff make my role as president an easier job.

Why is DHIA important to you? DHIA is a very important management tool to us and our consultants for making good decisions. We use PCDART software to keep track of herd information on our farm. Nutritionists look at it monthly or more depending on ration changes. PCDART also works with our activity monitoring system. We are a big user of the milk pregnancy test. Preg tests are taken every test day and in between tests. It is a big labor saver. The somatic cell count list is watched closely. We either cull or treat high cows. The treated waste milk is pasteurized for calves.

Tell us a about your farm. The farm – Scapanski Farms LLC – is a partnership with my two sons, Chad and Brad. We are a diversi ed farm. In addition to the dairy herd, we raise all of our heifers, feed our steers and farm 1,100 acres for feed and to sell. We also do custom chopping, planting and combining.

DHIA: Now MORE than ever

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Warren Doe loads a sprayer on his farm near New England, North Dakota. Doe Dairy, which is the last remaining dairy farm in He nger County, has been in the family for 75 years.

Dave Scapanski

A thrilling yet chilling experience

Artisan ice cream a hit at The Cranberry Creamery

By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com

PITTSVILLE, Wis. – A few family road trips led to a question that began to churn in the minds of Mike Hobbs and Kim Baas: Could an ice cream shop be protable in a town like Pittsville?

After extensive market research, the couple felt the small town, located at the center of the state of Wisconsin with a population just under 900 people, might indeed be a good place to open a specialty ice cream shop.

“We really felt that if it was done right, an ice cream shop could be a good t for the community,” Hobbs said. “This feels like what an ice cream shop is supposed to be.”

Hobbs and Baas share an entrepreneurial streak and own another small business called Event City Designs, which shares building space with the ice cream shop. They relished the idea of creating a new business from scratch despite nei-

ther having a background in either food service or the dairy industry.

“We began researching the idea of stocking a premium ice cream brand, but that meant dealing with minimum orders and needing a crazy amount of freezer space,” Baas said. “Then, I came across a company that makes batch freezers, and I started playing around with the idea of making our own ice cream.”

For about four months after the arrival of the batch freezer, Hobbs taught himself to make ice cream, largely using tutorial videos put out by the freezer manufacturer.

“It really came pretty easily,” Hobbs said. “I just felt like I knew what I was doing.”

After all the planning, The Cranberry Creamery opened its doors to the public for the rst time over Memorial Day weekend last year and was

open through September. The success of the shop exceeded Hobbs’ and Baas’ expectations.

“We really thought we could staff this with just our own family,” Baas said. “We were blown away by the response, and we quickly learned that we needed more staff than just our own family. We were both working 80-hour weeks most of the summer.”

Hobbs and Baas turned to

the young people of Pittsville to staff their ice cream venture.

“We have been lucky to have such a great group of kids want to come work for us,” Baas said. “They are so happy and work together well; there is no drama. All of the kids who worked for us last season are coming back to join us again this year.”

The top two sale days last summer both came in July –National Ice Cream Day July 17 and the Fourth of July.

“We didn’t even know National Ice Cream Day was a thing, but it was great,” Hobbs said. “One of the local radio stations kept talking about it, and people came in steady all day.”

Baas said more than 20,000 customers were served during their inaugural year, and sales exceeded their expectations by over 50%

The Cranberry Creamery opened for business this season in early April, and the ice cream season in Pittsville runs through the later part of September.

What sets The Cranberry Creamery apart from other central Wisconsin locales is the ice cream itself. Hobbs makes all of the store’s ice cream in

DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR

Kim Baas and Mike Hobbs stand in front of the ice cream counter May 4 at The Cranberry Creamery in Pi sville, Wisconsin. Baas and Hobbs opened the ar san ice cream shop with the goal of crea ng a memorable experience for their customers.

A ight of four ar�san ice cream avors – Co�on Candy, White Chocolate Raspberry, Cookies and Cream, and All The Chocolate – is served with a piece of homemade waffle cone May 4 at The Cranberry Creamery in Pi�sville, Wisconsin. The shop is open from April to September.

small artisan batches of 5-6 quarts.

“We wanted this to become a destination and an experience,” Hobbs said. “We want the ice cream to be the main focus not just dessert after a meal. We purposely avoid having food on the menu. We don’t even have sundaes or any toppings; it is just about the ice cream.”

Hobbs and Baas have developed more than 130 recipes, and they typically have 15 on their avor board each day and up to 24 avors in their ice cream case.

“Some are rather basic standards, and some are pretty unique,” Hobbs said. “Some we make frequently, and there are others we have made once and might not make again.”

One of the most popular avors is Apple Pie. Contrary to what people might think, cranberry being in the name is not necessarily related to the ice cream itself.

“Cranberry is actually a really hard fruit to make ice cream with, because the dairy hides the tartness of the berry,” Hobbs said. “We do have several recipes that include cranberries, but we chose the name because the cranberry is the Wisconsin state fruit. We are in the heart of cranberry country in Wood County.”

Hobbs and Baas purchase the base mix for their ice cream from the Galloway Company Classic Mix Partners in Neenah.

“We tried nding a way to have it

made locally, but it wasn’t feasible,” Hobbs said. “We even considered making our own, but that meant more equipment, required more space and more things we had to learn to do. We decided to focus on doing one thing, rst, and doing it well.”

Keeping with the idea of making their shop a unique experience, Hobbs and Baas make the wafe cones for their ice cream on-site.

“We had planned to make the wafe cones in the back room, but we didn’t have enough counter space,” Baas said. “So, we were making them out here behind the ice cream case. People, especially kids, loved to watch them being made.”

That realization led them to rearrange their seating area to make room for a wafe-making station where customers could have a vantage point to watch the cones being made.

“It makes the place smell amazing, and it wafts down the street,” Baas said. “People will come in and say, ‘We knew you were making cones today.’”

For Hobbs and Baas, supporting the community that has supported them played a role in their desire to bring another small business to the downtown area of Pittsville.

“We hope others will see that small businesses can thrive in a small town like this,” Hobbs said. “People want a memorable experience, and providing that is our goal.”

DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR

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

Kirsten Udermann

(pictured holding Zoey and with husband Alex holding Kallie)

Sartell, Minnesota

Stearns County 80 cows

Tell us about your family and farm. Our farm is Meadowbrook Dairy Inc., and it consists of my husband, Alex, and I along with our two children, Kallie and Zoey. We farm with Alex’s parents, John and Mary Lou, and his brother, Jake. We farm 1,100 acres of corn, soybean, rye, alfalfa and grass hay. We milk 80 cows and raise 275 steers. We are a fth-generation farm. We no till plant our crops and plant cover crops for soil health and forage. We also custom haul liquid and solid manure and do custom no till planting.

What are some of the best aspects of being a mother and dairy farmer? The best aspects are getting to raise our children on the farm. It has been fun to watch their bonds with the animals and their love for farming grow. The girls get to learn many lessons they wouldn’t necessarily be exposed to off the farm. The girls also love to pitch in and help where they can, and they do so without being asked to. They are very observant, and it doesn’t take them long to pick up on a task.

What are the biggest challenges with your dual role? A big challenge especially this time of year is the balance of farm life and family life. 0ur family time is spent the most in the barn on our busy days, and the rest of the day is a constant run to get everything done while the weather is nice. The girls have learned to have patience on the busiest days and have adapted well to going with the ow. Having the girls around with us farming helps us to slow down and appreciate the little things throughout the day. They are denitely the bright spot in our busy days.

What are three traits you want to pass on to your children?

I’d like to pass on a strong work ethic, integrity and a strong dedication to nish what they start.

What has been a highlight of your dairy career as a mother? A highlight has been being able to watch the girls grow with the animals and watching their love for the farm ourish. It also has been fun to watch the girls pick up on our everyday routines and start to pitch in with chores. Kallie has taken an interest to helping me feed calves and bottle feed our new calves. She loves to help in any way she can. Zoey is starting to want to help also but is a little small, but she loves to play with the cows, cats and our dog any chance she can.

If you had an afternoon all to yourself, what would you do? I would spend it with my husband either going out for lunch or nding a new park or place to explore.

Who do you admire? I admire my mom and my mother-inlaw because they both raised their families on the farm and both of them have strong faith. They both have been extremely helpful during our busy times and have helped us tremendously with taking care of the girls.

Kristine Heinrichs Browerville, Minnesota Todd County 75 cows

Tell us about your family and farm. We have a mix of Jerseys, Brown Swiss and Holsteins on our farm. It’s just me, my husband, Josh, and our son, Bo. We milk 75 cows in a tiestall barn and ship our milk to First District Association. We are rst-generation farmers, and we bought our farm in October 2020. We farm 220 acres of corn and alfalfa. We own 160 of those acres. What are some of the best aspects of being a mother and dairy farmer? What I love about it is being able to raise our son on the farm and teach him the same values we have, how to have a work ethic and take care of things. It’s priceless to be able to farm with my family every day. I love being able to work beside my husband and be able to stay home to raise my family. I get to work with the people I love.

What are the biggest challenges with your dual role? Some days there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done. We pick up and drop off our son at school, and I have to drop what I am doing when it is time to bring him in and be there to pick him up. Shortly after we get home, it is chore time, and whatever house work I didn’t get done has to wait until he goes to bed.

What are three traits you want to pass on to your children? A good work ethic, have respect for what you have and take nothing for granted.

What has been a highlight of your dairy career as a mother? I have learned so much. I still am learning. The whole process has been interesting, but my favorite part is farming alongside my husband and raising my son on the farm.

If you had an afternoon all to yourself, what would you do? Spend the day with my mother. She is one of my best friends, and we would do whatever she wants to do.

Who do you admire? My grandmother. She was so awesome. She did it all and was a stay-at-home mom of nine kids. She canned, cooked, gardened, sewed, made her own soap and milked cows every morning and night. All of those things were not as easy as they are today. She taught me so much, and now, I am following in her footsteps. I am a stay-at-home mom; I cook, garden, can, take care of our chickens and milk cows every morning and night with my husband. I think of her every day, and she had a huge impact on my life.

Erica Elsenpeter Maple Lake, Minnesota Wright County 180 cows

Tell us about your family and farm. My husband, Dan, and I run our organic dairy in partnership with Dan’s brother and his wife. We farm about 600 acres. We have eight kids ranging in age from 17 to 2.

What are some of the best aspects of being a mother and dairy farmer? The farm is absolutely one of the best places to raise kids. Both Dan and I are here most of the time, and that provides both security and accountability for our kids. Beyond that, being able to have room for them to explore, get dirty, learn about living and growing things while also learning responsibility is invaluable.

What are the biggest challenges with your dual role? Besides the mountains of laundry, the biggest challenge is time. Having time to give attention to all the kids as needed but also devoting attention to work is challenging. Striving to nd a balance between work and play is also a never-ending challenge.

What are three traits you want to pass on to your children? Faithfulness in God, loyalty and devotion to family, and a sense of humor.

What has been a highlight of your dairy career as a mother? These high points are different at various stages of motherhood and different ages of kids. Certainly, watching a joy-lled toddler ride with Dan in a tractor or a chopper is awesome. Later, when they drive a tractor or operate something on their own with pride, it is amazing. My 10-year old daughter once upon a time would run screaming in fright from a newborn calf and is now looking forward to her second year of showing “her” heifer at the county fair. I am proud of the kids when they work as a team to get a crop of hay up. I’m in a fairly unique situation where I get to witness some or most of these things on a continuous loop.

If you had an afternoon all to yourself, what would you do? First, I would go for a walk. Then, I would spend some time in quiet prayer, read a good book and putter in the garden. I’d also like a nap. It’s very possible I would need more than an afternoon.

Who do you admire? This may sound very uncool, but the one person I admire most is my husband, Dan. He’s a great dad, very smart and funny, and I’d be a terrible mom without him to support me.

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Meghan Palmer

Waukon, Iowa

Allamakee County

185 cows

Tell us about your family and farm. I farm with my husband, John, and our ve children. Our oldest is Faith who is graduating from Iowa State University with a degree in dairy science this month. She and her husband are expecting our rst grandchild very soon. At home are Ethan, Norah, Naomi and Roslyn. All the kids have always been active in the day-to-day operations, and the oldest kids help with eldwork. My husband and I grew up only a couple of miles from each other, and we are fortunate to have each of our family farms close and a part of our daily lives and farming operation. We own and milk cows on the farm I grew up on, and it means a lot to me to be able to raise my children here. We grow all our feed and raise our youngstock. We started a small cow-calf herd, and so far that has been a fun experience. What are some of the best aspects of being a mother and dairy farmer? I can’t think of another profession that enables the entire family to work together for a common goal while sharing in each other’s trials and successes. I appreciate seeing my kids grow up with the values I think are important to leading a successful life. I am fortunate I am able to be home to get the kids to school and am here when they get off the bus. I am also a registered nurse. I have been able to cut back to the level that I only pick up hours when I want to a couple times a month. The days I do work off the farm make me appreciate being able to be home on the farm that much more.

Kari Jungemann

(pictured with husband Lucas and children Vonn (front), Walker and Ava) Wolsey, South Dakota Beadle County

900 cows

Tell us about your family and farm. I have been married to Lucas Jungemann for eight years, and we have three children: Vonn, Walker and Ava. Vonn is about to nish kindergarten, and Walker and Ava keep us busy and are becoming a dynamic duo as they grow up. Lucas and I dairy alongside his parents, Russell and Janet, who started Lazy J Dairy in 1980. We milk 900 cows three times a day, raise our own heifers and grow our crops for feed. We have several employees who help us keep the dairy running 24 hours a day. My rst job is being kid wrangler, but other than that, I work alongside Janet with overseeing the nancial side of the dairy, managing our heifers and doing the recordkeeping for our herd. I also have been known to run a tractor and pack haylage or silage as needed.

What are some of the best aspects of being a mother and dairy farmer? Having a job that you can share with your kids. Before working full time on the farm, I worked as a CPA. While I loved it, that is a job a kid doesn’t understand. But kids completely understand working with animals, driving tractors and watching crops grow and are game to go along for the ride and help when asked. It is a job that can be done with your kids. It usually takes longer, but they can come along for the ride.

What are the biggest challenges with your dual role? Balance is always something we have to try hard to nd. Even though we work at home, that also means we are always at work. Planning time away from the farm can be a challenge, and there is always worry when you are away. I encourage my kids to be involved in school sports, 4-H, FFA and Holstein association activities, but it’s denitely hard to attend games, shows, contests, etc. Thankfully, the kids understand.

What are three traits you want to pass on to your children? In my living room, I have a sign that reads, “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” That is something I hope my kids read and remember each day as they go about their lives. Otherwise, I want them to be curious and strive to never stop learning. The farm is the perfect place to teach hard work and resiliency.

What has been a highlight of your dairy career as a mother? Watching the kids enjoy life on the farm is what I enjoy most and a necessary reminder of why we do what we do on the harder days. I love watching them work together to get a job done and interact with the cows, calves and kitties.

If you had an afternoon all to yourself, what would you do? In the warm months, I would work in the ower garden and go on a long walk or go do a bike trail. In the winter, I would work on a quilt or just sit down and read a good book.

Who do you admire? I admire my mom and grandmothers. They were all farm wives. While my mom always worked full time off the farm, she was always supportive of my dad and proud of raising me and my siblings on the farm. My grandmothers and great-grandmother were integral parts of their farming operations while raising their families. They probably never got enough credit for that. I am fortunate that women are receiving recognition and respect as partners in their farming operations.

What are the biggest challenges with your dual role? Those times when you can’t do both things at once. There are some jobs that just don’t lend themselves to having kids along. Most of the time, I am the primary person who stays home with the kids when the hours get long, and the desire to be out working with everyone else is strong during planting and harvest. There are also times where I have to put the long hours in with everyone else and the kids spend time with our day care provider, grandparents, or aunts and uncles, and those times, you feel the guilt of shorter hours with your kids. That’s the normal guilt all moms can feel.

What are three traits you want to pass on to your children? Both my husband and I would like to raise our kids with a strong work ethic. We both saw that from our parents and appreciate how that has helped us, and we want to give that to our kids. We also hope to raise them to appreciate working with their hands, whether that is with plants, animals or machinery. It might not be the type of job they end up with, but hopefully, they will have an appreciation for it and how important it is. I hope they have compassion. Working with animals can develop that. Being able to care for another living being can soften your heart.

What has been a highlight of your dairy career as a mother? In a weird way, the summer of 2020. We typically send our kids to an in-home day care which was shut down during that summer. At the time, we only had Vonn, but he tagged along with us every day that summer. It makes you appreciate a job where it is OK to bring your kid to work every day if needed.

If you had an afternoon all to yourself, what would you do? The main thing would be relaxing. Take a hot bath, paint my nails, read a book, watch a show without cartoons in it and bake something I enjoy.

Who do you admire? My husband, Lucas. He works so hard every day whether it is on the farm keeping everything running, at home doing crazy building projects I suggest or being a great dad to our kids. It seems anything he tries to tackle he is amazing at, and I wish I had half of his knowhow.

Healthy land yields productive feed

Describe your farm and facilities. We have a 64-cow organic dairy with 64 head of replacements. This is a small family farm passed down from Pam’s parents. We purchased it in 1993, and now our son and his wife are working their way into ownership. They will be the fth generation. The milking barn is a converted stanchion barn to a at-barn parlor with free stalls and a manure pit. We have a small barn for the young babies and an open-sided shed for heifers with headlocks and drive-along feeding. For feed storage, we have a grain bin, two silage bunkers, an upright silo and a feed bin. What forages do you harvest? Forages consist of grain corn, silage corn and alfalfa, grain barley and/or wheat and alfalfa hay. We use a crop rotation of corn, corn, barley or wheat with a new seeding of alfalfa and three years of alfalfa hay.

How many acres of crops do you raise? We own and rent 300 tillable acres and have 130 acres of pasture land.

What quality and quantity do you harvest of each crop? We chop the rst cutting of alfalfa for optimum quality and bale the

remainder for dry hay. Then, we bale second and third cutting with high-moisture round bales with approximately 2,000 dry small

squares for calves. We chop about 40 acres of corn for silage; the remaining 40 acres are shelled for grain with an average of 120 bushels per acre of corn. We usually have surplus of hay which is sold to other farmers.

Describe the rations for your livestock. The cows get corn silage, haylage, baleage, ground corn, mineral, and soybean meal or roasted soybeans. Pasture is accounted for in the summer months into the ration. The dry cows get corn silage, baleage, ground corn, mineral, soybean meal or roasted soybeans, and pasture in the summer. The heifers get corn silage, haylage, baleage, ground corn, mineral and some soy if called for by a nutritionist. The summer ration for heifers is ground corn and mineral with most dry matter intake coming from pasture.

Alan and Pam Seelow of Chaseburg, Wisconsin | Vernon County | 64 cows

ABBY WIEDMEYER/DAIRY STAR

The Seelow family – Pam, Alan and Tony – take a break May 3 on their farm near Chaseburg, Wisconsin. The Seelows milk 64 organic cows on their  h-genera on farm. Not pictured is Tony’s wife, Megan Seelow.

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“We notice a lot more udder texture and veination at 2 weeks in milk when sprayed consistently and right away after calving, compared with 3 to 4 weeks in, if they are not.

“The Udder Comfort Battery-Operated Backpack Sprayer is smooth. It puts a nice, even, effective coat of Udder Comfort on the udders. It gets under the udder, broadcasting over the ligament and around the teats, where you want it,” Scott explains.

“We have relied on Udder Comfort over 10 years as the best tool to get cows through transition and into milk faster with healthier udders,” he adds.

“We always talked about getting milkers to stick to the protocol. The Sprayer does that. It’s more convenient and user-friendly than I thought it would be. It holds a lot of product, charges fast, holds the charge well, so it’s always ready and easy to grab, turn on, and go,” Scott reports.

Describe your harvesting techniques for alfalfa and corn silage. We chop our own hay and corn with a pull-type chopper and custom hire a combine for corn, barley and wheat. We harvest hay three times a year, preferably every 30 to 40 days. Of course, corn is chopped in the fall.

What techniques do you use to store, manage and feed your forages? Haylage is stored in a bunker and covered with plastic and tires. Corn silage is stored in a bunker and covered the same as the haylage. The rest of the corn silage is in an upright silo for summer use. The animals are fed with a vertical mixer.

Throughout your career, have you changed the forages you plant, and how has that decision helped your operation? When we rst purchased the farm, there was cropland around the barn. We seeded in the corn ground with a pasture seed mix and left the hay, turning it into 50 acres of pasture on the farm utilizing rotational grazing with permanently fenced paddocks. Pasturing our cows made the switch from conventional to organic certication an easier transition. We also went from using oats to barley or wheat for nurse crops for alfalfa. The barley and wheat have less lodging, and the grain is used as a partial corn replacement in our cattle ration. We are experimenting with soybeans no tilled into crimped winter rye.

Cows eat a ra on May 3 at the Seelow family’s farm near Chaseburg, Wisconsin. Corn silage, haylage, baleage, ground corn, mineral, and soybean meal or roasted soybeans make up the total mixed ra on.

Describe a challenge you overcame in reaching your forage quality goals. Using our nutrient management plan as a guide in reaching optimum soil health which in turn gives a better long-term alfalfa stand. Soil testing tells us when we need to spread potash and lime.

How do quality forages play a part in the production goals for your herd? Quality hay reduced the need for added protein sources which lowers our cost of production.

What are management or harvesting techniques you have changed that have made a notable difference in forage quality? We have gone from hiring custom choppers to purchasing our own equipment which can make a difference in harvesting when the crop is ready.

ABBY WIEDMEYER/DAIRY STAR

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Visser honored with Golden Alumni Award

By Hans Lammeman hans.l@star-pub.com

ST. PAUL, Minn. –Barry Visser stood in front of a crowd at his alma mater in late April, accepting an award recognizing his achievements in the dairy industry from the University of Minnesota.

The 2023 Golden Alumni Achievement in Industry Award marked the latest honor atop a long list of accomplishments on his resume.

During his April 27 acceptance speech at the university’s Animal Science Showcase, Visser maintained a humble tone, expressing gratitude for the mentors and opportunities that shaped his career.

“To me, the real reward in all of this is knowing that I have made an impact on enough people’s lives to be recognized with this award,” Visser said.

Visser reected on his life during the nomination process as he updated his resume – a task he had not done in two decades.

Growing up on a 70-cow dairy farm near Ada, a small town in northwest Minnesota, Visser developed a passion for working with livestock.

Visser credits his parents, Richard and Linda, with instilling the values of honesty, integrity, hard work and

relentless care for animals. Through multiple degrees and dairy experiences, Visser ultimately found his niche in the industry as a dairy nutritionist.

“What I knew from a very young age is that I wanted to be involved with the dairy industry,” Visser said. “To say that I knew I was going to be a nutritionist when I was 18 years old would have been an understatement, but it is a career that I have found rewarding and enjoyable for the past 25 years.”

While he originally planned to return to the farm in Ada after receiving associate degrees in dairy production and dairy science from the University of MinnesotaCrookston, Visser’s life course changed when professor and adviser Dr. Lyle Westrom challenged him to pursue a four-year degree.

In 1993, Visser moved south for a bachelor’s degree in animal science from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. As Visser was completing his undergraduate studies, Dr. Brian Crooker recruited him as a full-time site coordinator for a U.S. Food and Drug Administration trial at the St. Paul campus.

“Although I enjoyed this experience and it made me really appreciate research, it also made me realize that

I didn’t necessarily want to spend my career in the world of research,” Visser said.

Visser left the Twin Cities to work at a small feed mill in Byron for nearly four years. During his acceptance speech, Visser credited that time as a great introduction to the world of dairy nutrition consulting.

In the fall of 1999, Visser returned to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities at the encouragement of Dr. Jim Linn to pursue a graduate degree in ruminant nutrition while working early mornings and late nights as an assistant herdsman for the university’s dairy herd.

Since graduating in the spring of 2003, Visser has recorded more than two decades of work with Vita Plus as a dairy nutrition consultant. Additionally, he holds a dairy superintendent position with the Minnesota State Fair, writes a monthly dairy nutrition column with Dairy Star and guest lectures dairy courses at several Midwest universities.

“I am very fortunate to work with many great dairy farms,” Visser said. “Some of them are successful because they achieve high production, high levels of protability or have effectively transitioned the farm to the next generation. Success can be dened in so many different ways on a

dairy farm, and knowing that I have been a small part of helping clients to achieve their goals is denitely the most rewarding.”

The emotional highlight of receiving the award for Visser was sharing the moment with his wife, Shannon. Although his daughters – Rachel, Kayla and Hannah – were unable to attend the award ceremony due to a dairy show in Wis-

consin, the family reunited the following morning at the livestock show.

“I am certainly appreciative of mentors along the way within the university system: Lyle Westrom at Crookston, Jim Linn at St. Paul and several others,” Visser said. “But, just like many people, it is the support from our spouse and family that allows us to be successful in what we do.”

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Snow Buckets

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Shannon and Barry Visser stop for a photo April 27 at the University of Minnesota Animal Science Showcase in St. Paul, Minnesota. Visser was honored with the Golden Alumni Achievement in Industry Award.

From brown to green

Nature Energy eyes Sauk Centre for anaerobic digester plant

By Hans Lammeman hans.l@star-pub.com

SAUK CENTRE, Minn.

– Dozens of local dairy farmers turned out to Sauk Centre City Hall in force May 1 to learn about a promising green energy project that could help them increase prots and reduce their environmental impact.

The nearly two-hour informational meeting was lled with excitement and apprehension as farmers listened intently to the details of the proposed Nature Energy biogas plant for potential advantages and drawbacks.

Jesper A. K. Nielsen, Nature Energy vice president of business development, said tanker trucks would collect manure directly from participating farmers and return with nutrient-rich fertilizer after an anaerobic digestion process pulled methane from the waste. The presenters said the project would have a positive nancial impact on local producers and the Sauk Centre community.

Self-described as a leader in the green transition and

biogas pioneer, Nature Energy has ambitious goals to operate 15 plants in North America by 2027, beginning with agricultural communities in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Each plant is intended to produce renewable natural gas from local organic waste for more than 40 years.

Sauk Centre Economic Development Authority board members Jean Marthaler and Heidi Leach ew to Denmark in late March as part of the third group of Americans to tour the Nature Energy biogas facilities. After returning, Marthaler said road damage from trucks presented the primary apparent downside of the proposed plant in their community.

The Denmark-based biogas company opened its U.S. headquarters in St. Paul in February 2022. Shell Global acquired Nature Energy in March; the subsidiary continues to operate under the same brand name.

The proposed Sauk Centre plant would be the standardized design used in Nature Energy’s 14 large-scale renewable natural gas plants in Europe. City boards ap-

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proved similar facilities in Benson and Wilson for the permitting process.

According to Nielsen, Nature Energy was exploring several sites in the Sauk Centre area to potentially house the biogas plant that requires at least 25 acres near an interconnect to a natural gas distribution system.

During the presentation, Nielsen said the project aims

to utilize manure from roughly 17,000 cows in nearby farms of all sizes within a 2030 mile radius of the facility. Nature Energy trucks would collect the manure from the storage site while it was still fresh – within seven days. The biogas company intends to compensate participating producers with an improved bottom line and higher-quality fertilizer.

According to Nature Energy data, the company transforms 4.4 million tons of waste into renewable natural gas annually, leading to about 5 million tons of soil health products and green fertilizer production each year. The company’s protability, however, relies heavily on selling carbon credits rather than biogas.

For the last 100 years, Ritchie has been manufacturing a complete line of livestock watering products with thehighest specifications in the industry.

From a single horse Stall Fount to a fountain that waters up to 500 head, Ritchie fountains are top quality. Plus,every Ritchie fountain is backed by our 10 year limited warranty.

HANS LAMMEMAN/DAIRY STAR

Several dozen Sauk Centre community members and farmers listen to a Nature Energy presenta on May 1 at Sauk Centre City Hall in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Nature Energy is proposing a biogas plant and wants to partner with local farmers.

“It is all about carbon credits at the end of the day,” Nielsen said. “The gas is sold off the same as natural gas. The green molecules go with the black molecules and travel (through) pipes around the U.S. The carbon credits are sold off to companies that need to lower their footprint.”

More than an hour into the meeting, one woman raised her hand with a question: “How does this model pay us?”

Bob Lefebvre, Nature Energy USA vice president of business development, said the annual rate per cow was dependent on several factors. The company’s payment model starts with a one-time upfront payment meant to cover initial investment costs for the farmer. That initial amount, and an annual payment, reect the amount of manure collected greater than 5% solids.

“Then there is prot sharing,” Lefebvre said. “The better we do, the better you’re going to do.”

Lefebvre said participating farmers, in many cases, could use savings and prots from the partnership to pay off the initial investment for the covered reception area within one to two years. However, this depends largely on the size of the storage site.

“The investment that Nature Energy makes with the farmer (impacts) the length of the contract,” Lefebvre said. “We would like to have 10-year contracts, and then we could work from there.”

Nielsen said one farmer increased their bottom line by 11% solely by participating; then, there were advantages of more efcient fertilizer and decreasing the carbon footprint.

“The (fertilizer) will come out (of the plant) with no gas in it, of course, but also with a lot less smell,” Nielsen said. “It does smell, but it does not hang in the air like natural manure, so there are a lot of neighbors that will be happy.”

While fertilizer returned to the producers from the biogas plant would have less volume than the manure collected, Nature Energy staff said the nutrient level would be equal to or greater than the initial input.

“That product that we’re bringing back (has) more nitrogen in part because of the turkey litter and in part because of the processing of the regular anaerobic digesting of it,” Lefeb-

vre said.

In addition to property taxes that would accrue on the state-of-the-art biogas facility worth tens of millions of dollars, the proposed plant would dramatically impact the Sauk Centre community in several ways.

Referencing data from Nature Energy’s European portfolio, Nielsen said one biogas plant would generate about $15 million in local revenue each year. Nielsen said through an email that the company was eager to partner with local government and had not yet discussed tax abatement plans.

The plant would bring an estimated 12 to 16 full-time jobs to the Sauk Centre community, with 65 to 75 additional full-time indirect positions. The company projects 650,000 man hours for facility construction.

The Shell subsidiary ensured it would be a corporate neighbor in Sauk Centre, supporting the community with initiatives like local scholarship funds. Nielsen said Nature Energy was open to working with local schools to provide educational opportunities for students.

The plant would operate from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. on weekdays and 8

a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday. Trafc for the Benson plant was estimated to account for about 90 trucks daily during the week and roughly half that gure on Saturday.

The presenters said the informational meeting was in-part to gauge interest from local producers as their partnership is crucial to the business model.

After the informational meeting, Sauk Centre Mayor Warren Stone said the project’s future ultimately comes down to interest levels from local producers.

“My thought right now is Sauk Centre is agriculturally based,” Stone said. “We are giving the option to all our agricultural producers to look at other ways of doing things. Citywise, I think it’s great, but for our ag base, if they like it, they like it. If they don’t, they don’t. If we don’t get enough people on board to go with this, it might not happen.”

Discussion of the proposed project is expected to return to Sauk Centre City Hall throughout the coming months for ofcials and producers to consider the plant.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

A rendering depicts the proposed Nature Energy plant in Benson, Minnesota. The proposed plant for Sauk Centre, Minnesota, would u lize the same standardized design.

IN DAIRY women

Tell us about your family and farm. I work alongside my sisters, Maddy and Grace, to develop our small herd of registered Red and White Holsteins at Red Blossom Farm. We board our animals at Dorsland Farms in Rudolph, Wisconsin, and with the Hughes family at Sunsett Dairy in Pittsville, Wisconsin. I have been the full-time herdsman at Dorsland Farms since September 2022. We milk 45 registered Holstein cows in a tiestall barn and manage about 100 head of youngstock. During the summer months, the herd spends most of its time on pasture. We appreciate cows that excel in dairy strength and functional mobility that have the potential to live a long and productive lifetime.

What is a typical day like for you on the dairy? My morning starts with feeding our component-fed herd and milking. After milking, I feed calves and do heifer chores. Throughout the day, I like to focus on heat detection, facility cleanliness and other tasks around the farm. Afternoon and evening chores are similar to morning tasks.

What decision have you made in the last year that has beneted your farm? In my small herd, we have become more focused on breeding polled and red animals as those traits have come to be in higher demand in the industry. Currently, over 40% of the Red Blossom herd is polled, with all of our animals being red. We value bigframed, strong cows that work hard with well-balanced udders. I appreciate quality over quantity. My sisters and I are grateful to our mentors who have helped us learn and grow in the dairy industry.

Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. My most memorable experience has been preparing the animals for classication at Dorsland Farms this past March. It was rewarding to see Excellent cows gaining additonal points and so many young cows going Very Good. I have learned many new things and have strengthened my skills as a herdsperson

Hannah Hensel Rudolph, Wisconsin Wood County

at Dorsland Farms and look forward to making more memories in the future.

What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? I have truly enjoyed developing my herd and creating connections throughout the dairy industry. I value showing bred and owned animals as it is fullling watching your own breeding successes do well both in the barn and in the show ring. I am fond of my time involved with the Wisconsin Holstein Association and as a graduate of the last farm and industry short course class held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

What is your biggest accomplishment in your dairy career? From being a young 4-H’er not having grown up on a dairy farm to becoming a herdsman of an impressive herd of Holsteins is my biggest accomplishment. In just 10 short years, I have learned and grown and took chances on new experiences that have led me to the place I am now. I am thankful for my family and friends who have helped me and supported me. I am proud of myself and my sisters for being dedicated to our herd and working together. The learning never stops, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds as I know it is bright.

What are things you do to promote your farm or the dairy industry? To promote the dairy industry, I support young showmen by answering questions and encouraging their involvement. Social media is an important platform to share promotion events and information. As a past and current member of youth organizations such as 4-H, FFA and junior Holstein, it is important for youth to become involved in these programs because it helped me become the person I am today.

What advice would you give to other women in the dairy industry? Do not let one bad day or experience ruin your future in the industry. You are strong and resilient.

What is a challenge in the dairy industry you have faced and how did you overcome it? When I was in high school, I received comments surrounding the idea of why I chose to pursue an education for my career choice of becoming a herdsman. My mentors supported and encouraged me on my choice of going to UW-Madison’s Farm and Industry Short Course, and I absolutely do not regret my decision. I made lifelong friendships, learned more about myself and this industry, and it helped me make a seamless transition

into post-secondary life. Education is important for every career path. Whether it is through a certication course, technical school program or a four-year university, it is worth the investment of your time. Every day is a new opportunity to learn something.

When you get a spare moment, what do you do? I like to visit my family and friends, spend time with my cat, Tootsie, and go shopping at local small businesses.

www.extension.umn.edu/dairy

Effective fan maintenance for facilities

By Karen Johnson

As the milk prices continue to uctuate, producers should consider what management tasks take a little effort with minimal cost yet improve efciencies on the farm.

We have all read articles about the benets of cleaning waterers to improve water quality or strict culling strategies to remove cows from the herd that are not paying their own way. However, one spring time chore that often gets overlooked is fan maintenance. A little time and elbow grease can have big effects on overall animal health and energyuse expenses. For fan maintenance, the ultimate goal is to create an environment for the fans to run both effectively and energy efciently.

Based on a benchmark report generated through FINBIN, Minnesota dairies spent from $59.71 to $224.53 per cow in utilities in 2022. Total feed expense, hired labor, supplies, repairs and utilities rounded out the top ve expenses per cow

for the 261 farms represented in this report. Data for the FINBIN database is provided by the Minnesota Farm Business Management programs. Utilities account for 3.1% of the total direct expense per cow on the farm. Although a minimal expense on farms, a small bit of effort to maintain fans can lead to money savings.

Here are suggestions to improve fans efciencies and overall energy use:

Clean fans thoroughly. Dirty fan blades, louvers and guards can reduce air ow as much as 30% to 40% and put a larger load on the motor. Dust accumulation on top of fans creates insulation keeping the motor hot, which leads to reduced lifespan of motor components and bearings. A stiff brush will remove dust and dirt from many fan parts. Compressed air nishes the hard to reach areas. Never use water to clean electrical components of fans for safety reasons.

Assess if each fan is in proper

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working order. Evaluate parts for unexpected wear and replace if necessary. If the fan does not move freely, the motor’s bearings may need to be replaced. Keep a close eye on electrical wiring, fan blades, louvers, belts and guards. Make sure all electrical wiring and cords have proper insulation to prevent a re and safety hazard.

Lubricate fans as recommended by the manufacturer. Too much lubrication inside the motor has been shown to cause more damage than not using enough. Consider using a lubricant such as graphite.

Inspect and clean other ventilation components such as building air inlets and barn thermostats. Misfunctioning barn thermostats lead to fans that turn off and on at incor-

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

rect times. Research has shown that consistency in air temperatures and quality in barns leads to improved animal health, production levels and reproduction.

Finally, make sure the fans are positioned properly to achieve the necessary cow cooling this summer. According to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the recommended ventilation rate during summer is around 40 to 60 air changes per hour.

These are easy steps that can help maintain the efciency and effectiveness of fans. A well performing fan will help save money in overall animal health and energy-use costs. For more ventilation information, check out your state’s extension dairy team’s resources.

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

320-484-4334

Emily Krekelberg krek0033@umn.edu

507-280-2863

Claire LaCanne lacanne@umn.edu

507-332-6109

Brenda Miller nels4220@umn.edu

320-732-4435

Erin Royster royster@umn.edu

Isaac Salfer ijsalfer@umn.edu

320-296-1357

Jim Salfer salfe001@umn.edu

320-203-6093

Mike Schutz mschutz@umn.edu

612-624-1205

Melissa Wilson mlw@umn.edu

612-625-4276

Isaac Haagen hagge041@umn.edu

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Testing liquid application equipment with trafc-tolerant varieties

By Melissa Wilson and Josh Gamble, USDA-ARS research agronomist

Growing perennials, like alfalfa, can have water quality benets while still producing a crop for cattle feed; in some parts of the country, using manure on established alfalfa is often avoided, leaving a smaller land-base for manure to be applied. New liquid manure application equipment plus the use of trafc-tolerant alfalfa varieties may reduce some of the negative aspects of manure application on a living crop like alfalfa.

We have two main goals in this ongoing study:

– Evaluate a trafc tolerant variety of alfalfa for manure application.

– Determine if the use of dairy manure, fertilizer or a combination of both throughout the three-year alfalfa growth cycle could be used to maximize growth and quality.

We established two varieties of Roundup Ready alfalfa in the spring of 2021 at the University of Minnesota’s Rosemount Research and Outreach Center: Pioneer 54VR10-RR (high yielding, FD-4) and Ameristand 455TQ-RR (trafc tolerant, FD-4).

Prior to establishment, we either applied phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) sulfate fertilizer according to soil test needs, or injected dairy manure slurry at about 3,000 gallons per acre to supply full P needs for the rst year (about 27 pounds of P2O5 per acre).

We replicated each set of treatments in large strips four times. We harvested the alfalfa twice in the rst year and sent samples for forage quality analysis. After the second cutting in August, we applied manure in strips using three methods and compared that with strips of fertilizer that was applied according to soil test recommendations. The manure application methods included broadcast, surface banding every 15 inches or shallow disk injection. Later that fall, we evaluated crown health of plants in each plot and took

soil samples to evaluate nutrient uptake and soil carbon storage. We are also evaluating nitrate leaching at 4-foot depth below the soil surface throughout the project.

The following results are from the rst and second years of a three-year study. We experienced a drought in both growing seasons in Rosemount, Minnesota, with 10 and 9 fewer inches of rain than usual in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Because of this, yields were lower than expected.

In the rst year, the conventional alfalfa (Pioneer 54VR10-RR) yielded 1.8 tons of dry matter per acre, which was higher than the 1.5 tons of dry matter per acre for the trafc-tolerant variety (Ameristand 455TQ-RR). Across both varieties, manure applied pre-establishment increased yield by about 8% compared to the plots where only P and K sulfate fertilizer were applied.

As for plant health, we dug plants by hand in early November prior to a killing frost and scored them on a scale of 1 to 4. A rating of 1 meant the plant was healthy; it had a robust crown and large root. A rating of 4 meant the plant looked questionable for survival; there were few crown buds, and the plant had a small root.

The percentage of healthy plants scoring a 1 or 2 was calculated for each treatment. Generally, the trafc-tolerant variety of alfalfa had a higher percentage of healthy plants (53%) than the conventional variety (46%). For the trafc-tolerant variety, pre-establishment manure increased the percentage of healthy plants (57%) compared to fertilizer only (47%). The manure treatment had no effect on the percentage of healthy plants for the conventional variety. This was a bit surprising and will be interesting to see if manure application plays a role in stand longevity and yield in upcoming years of the study.

In the second year, after manure had been applied in the fall or fertilizer had been applied in the spring,

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we were only able to take three cuttings due to the dry conditions. The conventional alfalfa yielded 4.1 tons per acre during the growing season, while the trafctolerant variety yielded 2.9 tons per acre.

There was an interesting interaction between nutrient application techniques, alfalfa variety, and whether or not manure had been applied prior to alfalfa establishment.

In the plots where there was high soil fertility (i.e., manure had been applied prior to establishment), the conventional variety did not respond to additional fertilizer or broadcast manure compared to the noadded-nutrient controls.

Manure that was banded or disk injected actually caused a 23% yield reduction. In the plots where there was lower soil fertility (i.e., manure had not been applied prior to alfalfa establishment, only commercial fertilizer), the conventional alfalfa variety responded well to fertilizer and all types of manure application.

Yield increased by 17% in the fertilized plots, 37% in the broadcast manure plots, 43% in the banded manure plots and 5% in the disk-injected plots, compared to the control plots.

For the trafc tolerant variety, the nutrient sources did not make much of a difference in yield, but they did not decrease yield either. Only the fertilizer source tended to increase yield consistently compared with the no-added-nutrient control plots, but the increase was only 0.4 to 0.5 tons per acre.

We will continue this experiment for one more growing season. This past fall, we applied manure in the same manner as before in the same plots. We will apply commercial fertilizer to the other plots this spring based on fall soil tests. We will continue monitoring soil nutrient cycling, carbon storage and nitrate leaching. We also will start a second site for this research project in Waseca, Minnesota, on some heavier soils. Keep your eyes out for future updates.

HIGH COMFORT MAT

Family creates common ground across cultures

Johnson, Hoscheit share experiences from trip to Mexico

By Amy Kyllo amy.k@star-pub.com

PRESTON, Minn. – As Mike Johnson met his employee Raphael’s daughter, Ashley, it was a special moment. Holding Ashley in his arms for a photo, Johnson had the privilege of doing something Raphael has never done: meet Ashley in person.

“Raphael has been employed with me a long, long time, and I’ve known a lot about this girl,” Johnson said. “To get to meet her in person was pretty special.”

Johnson, a dairy farmer from Fountain, was part of a recent trip to Mexico with Puentes Bridges, a nonprot organization that works with dairy farmers and their employees from Mexico. The organization plans trips so dairy farmers can learn the culture and meet the families of their employees.

Johnson, Cole Hoscheit, a dairy farmer from Caledonia, and Mercedes Falk, director of Puentes Bridges, shared details from their trip April 17 during an event hosted by the Lions Club in Preston.

Johnson encountered a sense of commonality between the rural Mexican culture he experienced and his own rural midwestern culture. Values like family, work ethic, frugal living and agriculture were all traits Johnson said he connected with.

“I always knew a family was important, but to be there … and see that … kind of took it to a different level for me,” Johnson said.

Many farm employees invest their money in their families in Mexico, working to give them a better life. Johnson shared the conditions of one family they visited.

“There’s no way to get more money in that area,” Johnson said. “They’re just subsistence farmers. They just live on what they grow and that’s it.”

Some former employees of members on the trip had taken their earnings and invested in starting their own small businesses like a restaurant, technology store, school supply store and taxi business.

Ishmael, a former employee who Johnson visited, shared the difference his job on Johnson’s farm made.

“Before he worked on our farm, he had barely any education,” Johnson said. “Working for us and helping us, he had been able to build a house to provide for his family.”

The scene was emotional as Johnson and Ishmael gave each other a long hug amid tears.

Some employees leave behind spouses and children as they sacrice to create a better future for their families.

Falk met the mother of one of her students, Gustavo. Falk shared what Gustavo’s moth-er

told her about him working in the U.S.

“Gustavo’s mother told me, ‘Even though he’s gone, Gustavo makes sure that we always have tortillas on the table,’” Falk said. “‘His siblings can keep going to school. He calls us every two days, and we are never lacking anything because of him. We would love

for him to be here with us, but because he’s there, we have enough down here.’”

As director of Puentas Bridges, Falk shared the outcome of these trips.

AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR

A endees listen to Mike Johnson present on his trip to Mexico April 17 at a mee ng hosted by the Lions Club in Preston, Minnesota. Johnson experienced a commonality of values between himself and the people he met in Mexico including family, work ethic, frugal living and agriculture.

“Farmers get to see the homes (of their employees) and really wrap their mind around the sacrices that their employees are making,” Falk said. “They have this renewed sense of understanding and connections with their employees.”

Hoscheit has visited Mexico three times.

Like Johnson, he appreciates the cultural focus on family.

“One thing that I really appreciate about the Hispanic culture is it reminds me of my grandparents,” he said. “They grew up back in the ‘30s and ‘40s. Same thing, they always took care of each other.”

Both Hoscheit and Johnson met the families and visited the towns and villages their cur-rent or former employees came from. Hoscheit said the people they saw were grateful they took the time to visit.

Johnson said many of their visits had to be more brief than their hosts desired.

“It was really hard when they had prepared a large meal and they had their nest china out,” Johnson said. “They probably spent their whole three months’ worth of money they had on

Deregulating dairy pricing

Sen. Rasmusson works to repeal law

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

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Sen. Jordan Rasmusson, R-Fergus Falls, has authored a bill to repeal Minnesota’s price-setting law for dairy products.

The bill was heard March 13 by the Minnesota Senate Agriculture, Broadband and Rural Development Committee and is now being considered as part of a larger agriculture policy package that is moving through the Senate.

Dairy Month because otherwise promotions on dairy products would be illegal. If we repeal this law, every month can be Dairy Month.”

Rasmusson rst realized the law’s existence while looking into a different law.

“I discovered the current pricesetting law for dairy products while conducting research for a bill that removes the minimum markup on gasoline sales,” Rasmusson said. “I talked with dairy farmers and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture about repealing the price-setting law for dairy products, and they were supportive of me moving forward.”

that meal to say, ‘I’m sorry we have to leave.’”

One mountainside village they visited had made a pit-roasted lamb barbacoa and were waiting for the group to arrive before unveiling the culinary delight.

Falk said the Puentes Bridges trips began in the late 1990s and originally focused on learning the language and culture. Today, the focus has shifted from language learning to relationship building.

“There are a lot of connections that can be made,” Falk said. “When you have the desire to want to understand another person, … you don’t necessarily have to have all the right words or all the right translation.”

Hoscheit sees the part his farm has in improving lives in Mexico. He said because of their U.S. income, his employees are building houses in ve years that would perhaps take them a lifetime to build without.

“We work hard to take care of them – to take care of our people,” Hoscheit said.

Under Minnesota law, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture can act against retailers and processors for selling milk below a set price. According to a press release by Rasmusson’s ofce, these laws hurt consumers because they set an articial price oor for dairy products, meaning consumers pay more for dairy products than they otherwise would. This, in turn, hurts demand for dairy products and impacts income for Minnesota dairy farmers.

“Right now, retail prices for dairy products are articially high due to this law,” Rasmusson said. “By repealing this law, retail prices for dairy products will be lower and encourage more demand for dairy products.”

Section 32D.28 of the price-setting law, or Dairy Trade Practices Act, calls for an annual suspension of the provisions of the law each year during June in honor of National Dairy Month.

“We know this law hurts dairy farmers because they got an exemption for Dairy Month,” Rasmusson said. “This law is not in effect for

The Minnesota Milk Producers Association and consumer advocate groups testied in support of Rasmusson’s bill when it was heard. The bill also has support among Rasmusson’s colleagues in both houses.

“I have bipartisan co-authors in the Senate, including Sen. (Aric) Putnam,” Rasmusson said. “Rep. Dan Wolgamott (D-St. Cloud) is the chief author of the bill in the House.”

Putnam is the chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

In a Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus press release March 17, Rasmusson stated why the bill is important for dairy farmers, but he also said it will directly help Minnesota families.

“Whether it is milk, yogurt or cottage cheese, it is against the law to sell dairy products too cheaply in Minnesota,” Rasmusson said. … “If we abolish this law, we will help Minnesotans feeling the impacts of ination afford nutritious dairy products for their families.”

The next steps for the bill are clear.

“The bill was included in the Senate Agriculture Committee’s policy omnibus bill and was voted to pass out of committee,” Rasmusson said. “The next steps will be a vote on the Senate oor and to see if the House votes for it too. We will know by the end of May if the bill will pass this year.”

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AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR

Mike Johnson shares about his experience visi�ng Mexico April 17 at a meeting hosted by the Lions Club in Preston, Minnesota. Johnson saw the difference employment on his farm and other farms has made on others’ lives in Mexico.

“When you have the desire to want to understand another person, … you don’t necessarily have to have all the right words or all the right translation.”

MERCEDES FALK, PUENTES BRIDGES

Fields of work

Spring of 2021 was wonderful. My dad and I were the primary people turning dirt and planting. We had a date set on the calendar for cutting hay, May 25. I don’t remember if we actually started cutting hay May 25, but I know we were really close.

Last year, I wasn’t at home for any of the spring eldwork. I was able to help keep my dad, brother and a hired hand in the elds on the weekends by helping man the parlor and do all of the feeding. Cows are my strong suit on the farm, but a change in pace is necessary to keep yourself sharp. I longed for a few hours of solitary connement in the tractor, whether it was hauling manure, cultivating or cutting hay.

By Grace Jeurissen Staff Writer

Usually, I’m excited to get moving on eldwork, and then, two hours into a six-hour job I regret my decision. Kudos to cash croppers. I don’t have the attention span for 12 hours in a tractor.

This year has been wet, cold, hot, cold again, wet again, cold, warm and windy, and nally, I’ve been able to oat the manure spreader across the unplowed elds.

This year will be a year where you harvest as many days of sunshine as you can and run the clock until your eyes can’t stay open. Now that mid-May is upon us, I’m not certain cutting hay May 25 will happen, but a girl can dream.

Projects seem to pile up during spring eldwork. I have a number of cows that need feet trimming done and calves that need a pasture to frolic on. I love a good challenge, which is why I love farming. I enjoy completing a project and sitting back watching things fall into place.

As much as I despise break downs and broken fence lines, my job would be boring if those things didn’t keep me on my toes. As much as I love the challenges and constant busy work on the farm, I need time for socializing too.

It’s easy to forget how important spending time with loved ones is during crunch time. Almost like the hunting season widows, many farm wives experience planting season widowhood. At rst, it might seem like a blessing, but in reality, the loneliness sets in quickly. This is why God put fenders and buddy seats on tractors.

My mom said she used to sit on the oor of our 7030 Allis-Chalmers while my dad planted corn. She no longer does that, but she understood nding time to spend with my dad while they were dating was going to be limited if she didn’t get her pants a little dirty.

In my case, the buddy seat is occupied by a 5-year-old on the weekends. The funniest part is he passes out for a nap within the rst 30 minutes of riding in the tractor. Lucky for him, the space behind the driver seat is perfect size for a kid.

Acre by acre passes by, and with time, we will get it done. But until then, it is pedal to the metal while sending a prayer to the man upstairs.

A protable heifer program

Overton presents culling, calving weight as keys to success

By Amy Kyllo amy.k@star-pub.com

PRIOR LAKE, Minn. – Dr. Michael Overton encourages farmers to focus on a number of good practices to develop and curate healthy heifers at rst calving.

Overton, a former practicing veterinarian and professor, is now the global dairy platform lead in the precision animal health unit at Zoetis.

Overton presented “Heifer Management: Balancing Value and Cost” at the Dairy Calf and Heifer Association’s annual conference April 12 in Prior Lake.

“Producing better quality replacement heifers to me is a really good rst step toward trying to increase future productivity and protability,” Overton said.

Overton spoke about culling practices in relation to the milking herd, genetics and the breeding pen, and the importance of tracking animal health and development from birth to understand the nancial probabilities of each animal.

“When possible, you want to identify leading indicators of performance and not simply rely on lagging outcomes,” he said.

Overton has a background in dairy production medicine and preventative veterinary medicine. His main concerns for a farm’s heifer program is ensuring farmers are raising extra heifers compared to their projected replacement needs. This gives farms the ability to cull heifers based on genomics and poor health as well as replace cows at a rate that keeps the most protable animals in the herd.

“There are heifers in your pipeline that are truly inferior,” Overton said. “If we can identify those animals accurately and earlier, you cut your losses quicker, you can be better off long term, and the resulting heifers that do calve are going to be higher quality on average than the original population.”

Overton said there are several factors to consider when deciding on the number of heifers to produce such as: market cow values, replacement costs, milk prices, other economic variables, historic needs and heifer drop out risks.

One way Overton recommends culling heifers is by using genomic numbers. From his research, he has found that after culling the bottom 5% of heifers via genomics, the remaining 95% have a higher predicted lifetime prot of $50.

Heifers that have been damaged by disease or poor growth can also be removed, he said.

Extra heifers allow producers the freedom to cull cows that should not be in the herd. For example, Overton said if a farm’s cull point is 60 pounds of milk, keeping a cow down to 50 or 55 pounds of milk will cost the farm an estimated $1.50-$2 a day.

“I’m accused of wanting to cull more cows, and that’s not true,” Overton said. “I want you to have the capability of culling as you need to.”

Overton said heifers must earn their place.

“Just because you raise a heifer does not give her an automatic ticket to join the lactating herd,” Overton said.

Overton said producers should not worry about the specic culling rate but instead should focus on addressing the issues that cause their cows to be replaced.

Managing and culling from the breeding pen is another area Overton focuses on. He recommends producers cull heifers after three to four unsuccessful services or no more than ve to six cycles of breeding opportunity.

From Overton’s research, only 5% of heifer pregnancies occur after the fth 21-day cycle of the breeding period.

According to his gures, Overton said culling heifers for not breeding is a predicted loss of $300, but breeding a heifer past ve services is a predicted loss of $320.

As producers look at their breeding program, Overton said it is important to separate the success of the breeding program from the management efforts that affect it.

For example, age of rst service varies according to how quickly heifers are moved into the breeding pen, something which the reproductive program has little control over. Instead, he recommends monitoring how many days from entry into the breeding pen heifers are being serviced. This gives a more accurate understanding of reproductive management success.

A successful heifer program is about more than culling and breeding. A major focus for Overton is developing heifers who have healthy and consistent gains so they calve in at the proper weight.

Overton recommends producers spend more time weighing their heifers. The different growth periods for monitoring weight gains are: birth to weaning, weaning to 5-6 months, 6 to 12 months, weight at breeding and weight at rst calving.

By tracking weight gains, Overton said management techniques and practices can be tweaked so there is a reduction in variation in gains. Monitoring gains also give producers a way to more objectively understand heifer’s

health, gauge future protability and understand when they should be bred.

However, while these benchmarks are important, Overton said they must be considered in light of the genomic prediction for body size. Selecting heifers primarily on the basis of body weight will lead to bigger animals in the lactating herd unless attention is concurrently paid to genomic body size.

Ensuring heifers calve in at their target weight has nancial implications. Heifers who calve in below their targeted weight produce less milk during the rst lactation. In his research, Overton found that every pound of body weight a heifer has that brings her closer to her target weight means 7.4 additional pounds of milk in her rst lactation. Making sure heifers calve at their targeted weight

will also cost the least in reproductive inefciency.

“Let’s help animals realize the full potential of the rst lactation by better management and growth before calving,” Overton said.

Heifers who are at their target weight or above their target weight do not see negative effects in milk production during rst lactation. However, older, larger heifers are not the answer. When milk production is considered, older heifers are more likely to leave prematurely, and the mortality rate is about double on heavy heifers.

“Calving fat, old heifers, it’s not good,” Overton said. Overton recommends heifers are approximately 56%57% of mature body weight at rst service so they calve in at 85% of mature body weight.

“We need to establish realistic value-based goals and then feed or manage heifers to try to achieve this,” Overton said. “That starts with trying to understand an individual animal’s predicted mature weight and getting her close to her target.”

Dr. Michael Overton Zoetis

The lawncare season

The rst truly warm days of spring have arrived, and the snow has nally melted which means we can now see exactly how much junk has accumulated in our yards.

‘Tis the lawncare season once again, a time when all across this great land of ours, a massive armada of lawn mowers sails forth to do battle with that nefarious scourge known as grass.

We fertilize and water our lawns, which encourages the grass to grow thicker and faster, which adds up to more mowing. It's as if we’re funding both sides of a never-ending war.

Mowing a lawn is an effort to force order onto an inherently chaotic world. In the end, this effort will be futile. But as with so many things in life, it's not about the destination; it's about the journey.

Most houses nowadays have a deck or a porch. It’s odd that you never see anyone enjoying these decks or porches. It’s as if we built churches to worship the outdoors but everyone is too busy to attend.

Not me. I use our deck whenever possible, soaking up the sun like a marine iguana on the rocky shores of the Galápagos Islands, my reptilian brain slowly coming to life as the warmth seeps in. If you stop to think about it, we're all solar powered. I'm simply cutting out the middleman.

And there's no better time to sit on the deck and sun yourself than right after the lawn has been mowed.

Birds love the microenvironment they think I’ve created just for them. Blackbirds stroll briskly across the fresh-cut grass, exuding a serious sense

of purpose that reminds me of mall walkers. Robins do their two-step hip-hop, stopping to listen for worms. Talk about super-sensitive hearing.

Songbirds aren't the only fowl to foul our lawn; we also have a few chickens. My chickens are of a species known at our house as Your Stupid.

This moniker was bestowed upon them by my wife. I can't tell you how many times she has said something along the lines of, “Your stupid chickens are staring at me through the kitchen window.” Or, “I stepped in something your stupid chickens left on the sidewalk.”

When I needed shoulder surgery, I asked my wife to take care of the chickens for me.

By Jerry Nelson Columnist

“No problem!” she chirped cheerfully. “Where do you keep the 12 gauge?”

Nothing beats sitting on the deck and looking out across an emerald green, freshly manicured lawn. The birds are happily pecking through the green chop, the sun is warm, and all is right with the world. The aroma of new grass and a feeling of accomplishment waft on a gentle breeze.

At such times I may reward myself with a cold beer. I slurp the brew and think of a eld of golden barley. The wind rifes the ripe grain heads, creating ripples that resemble ocean swells.

Maybe I'll sip a shot of bourbon. The tang of charred oak transports me to a cool, damp forest that abounds with hidden troves of morel mushrooms. This makes me think of fried mushrooms, forcing me to go inside to nd something to eat.

While lounging on the deck, I sometimes think about my great-grandfather Charlie Sveen, who homesteaded this farm. Did he also relax in the cool evening shade on the east side of the house and sip something cold? Did he enjoy the simple tableau of the birds and the lawn and the sweeping vista of the farmland?

He was probably too busy with carving a farm from the barren prairie and eeking out a living. I doubt Charlie had the time to establish a lawn, mow it and enjoy it at his ease.

At least that's what I thought until recently, when I stumbled across an old photo of our farm. Judging by the height of the trees, I would guess it was taken when the 20th century was quite young.

Next to the house that Charlie built is a patch of closely cropped grass. Maybe it was clipped by sheep or horses, but it's a lawn nonetheless. And there, not far from the old house's east wall, rests a lone kitchen chair.

You have to look closely, but next to a wooden wheeled wagon that sits in the middle of the farmstead is a small, dark blob that closely resembles ... of course! It has to be!

I am pretty certain the blob in the photo is a bird that’s known hereabouts as a Your Stupid.

It’s extremely enjoyable to sit on the deck, especially now that I know the chickens and I are upholding a century-old tradition.

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.

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.

The hidden costs of mastitis

“Doc, the plant just doesn’t pay me much of a somatic cell count premium anymore. What’s the point of having a low SCC?”

Most dairy veterinarians have heard many versions of this statement.

Veterinary Wisdom

The beauty of those SCC premiums was they were visible. You saw them right on the milk check every two to four weeks. However, premiums still exist; it is just that they are more hidden.

However, it was also negatively correlated with feed efciency for milk and for feed efciency for energy-corrected milk.

For example, if we compare a cow with a 250,000 SCC to a cow with a 50,000 SCC, the results suggest the cow with the higher SCC produces about 3.52 pounds less milk per day, produces 0.04 pounds less milk per pound of dry matter intake and produces 0.03 pounds less energy-corrected milk per pound of DMI.

While clinical case rates are strongly dependent on how determined one’s team is to diagnose clinical cases, it is a fair assumption that low SCC herds typically have very low clinical case rates, and high SCC herds have high rates. It is also a reasonable assumption that substantially reducing herd SCC will substantially reduce clinical mastitis rates.

Using a cost of clinical mastitis of $444, from another peer-reviewed paper (Rollin), we nd the cost of clinical mastitis to be $173,160, or $173 per cow, for our high SCC herd. The total cost is $374,948, or $375 per cow, of which 54% is from subclinical mastitis.

By Jim Bennett Columnist

The costs of mastitis has been discussed for many years, but most discussions focus on the cost of clinical mastitis because this is the most obvious cost. For clinical mastitis, the biggest cost is normally the cost of discarded milk. For subclinical mastitis, there is normally no discarded milk because the term subclinical just means something we do not notice, so the milk gets sold and you get paid.

One might assume the costs are, therefore, minimal. But, they are still real and signicant.

Because the incidence of subclinical mastitis is typically many times greater than clinical mastitis, even minor costs per case can add up to be signicant. A 2018 paper by Potter et. al., in the Journal of Dairy Science, looked at two of the biggest costs of increased SCC: reduced milk production and reduced feed efciency. The authors looked at seven experiments between 2009 and 2015 using over 1,000 observations at Penn State University. As one would expect, the linear score of the SCC was negatively correlated with milk production and energy-corrected milk production.

Let’s assume our clean cow produces 90 pounds of milk per day and eats 56.25 pounds of dry matter. Then, let’s assume a milk price of $22 per hundredweight, feed cost of $0.16 per pound, and that feed cost is 50% of the cost of producing milk.

According to a little spreadsheet I constructed to calculate the losses, our lower SCC cow produces $0.77 per day after subtracting feed costs, from more milk, for a net gain of $141.33 per year.

When we include the loss of feed efciency for the higher SCC cow, we nd an additional cost of $0.17 per day, or $60.43 per year.

The total difference between our two cows is $0.55 per day, $201.79 per year or $0.50 per hundredweight using 90 pounds of milk per day. In this example, loss in feed efciency is about 30% of the total loss. This estimate is just for milk and feed efciency. It does not include more culling, actual SCC premium losses from the processor or anything else. It also does not include the cost of clinical mastitis.

To calculate the cost of clinical mastitis, let’s assume a herd of 1,000 lactating and dry cows has a rate of 3% and 4.5% for new clinical (this lactation) and total clinical cases per month.

Then, let’s assume another 1,000-cow dairy next door has a 50,000 herd SCC and rates of new clinical and total clinical mastitis for 0.35% and 0.5%.

Data from the University of Minnesota’s FINBIN system show an average prot after labor and management for 2022 for all dairy farms in the dataset of $328 per cow. Thus, the gains in reducing SCC from 250,000 to 50,000 in our ctional herd exceed the total average net prot of a dairy farm in 2022.

Notice that in this example, using fairly high rates of clinical mastitis in the high SCC herd, the cost of subclinical mastitis is still greater than that of clinical mastitis. We can adjust the assumptions and recalculate, but in all cases, the costs of subclinical mastitis are substantial. Thus, to answer my client’s question, I would say, “Healthy cows. Healthy cows will make you more money.”

Either way, the hidden costs of subclinical mastitis are real and substantial. Having a low herd SCC does indeed generate substantial premiums. They just show up in a different column on your milk check.

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.

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JD 8600 2018, Kernel Processor, PRWD, 1651 hrs., 778 CH hrs., #188792 ......... $342,000

JD 8800 2016, Kernel Processor, PRWD, 2603 hrs., 1679 CH hrs., #175182 ....... $268,100

JD 7550 2009, Kernel Processor, PRWD, 2373 hrs., 1769 CH hrs., #560107 ....... $158,000

JD 8500 2016, Kernel Processor, PRWD, 2232 hrs., 1180 CH hrs., #555984 ....... $259,000

JD 8300 2022, Kernel Processor, PRWD, 33 hrs., #537501 ................................ $459,000

JD 9900 2019, Kernel Processor, PRWD, 1222 hrs., 884 CH hrs., #550177 ......... $493,000

JD 9900 2020, Kernel Processor, PRWD, 844 hrs., 661 CH hrs., #553436 ........... $508,000

JD 9800 2019, Kernel Processor, PRWD, 899 hrs., 661 CH hrs., #550175 ........... $503,000

JD 8500 2017, Kernel Processor, PRWD, 1460 hrs., 1070 CH hrs., #553938 ....... $299,000

JD 9600 2019, Kernel Processor, PRWD, 1720 hrs., 1130 CH hrs., #553763 ....... $349,900

JD 7500 2005, Kernel Processor, 4568 hrs., 3267 CH hrs., #547004 .................... $74,500

Claas 940 2020, Kernel Processor, PRWD, 650 hrs., 480 CH hrs., #532728 ........ $399,900

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

JD 7780

CowScout offers round-theclock cow health monitoring; with pertinent individual information on:

So many babies

March and April are busy months around here when it comes to calving. We like to take vacations in January and February, and we don’t like fresh cows with frostbit teats. To do the things we like and avoid the things we don't, we take a break from breeding cows for a couple months. We do not have any calves from around Christmas to March 1. The only problem with taking a few months off from calving is that they have to be born some time, and that makes for a busy couple months of spring calving.

Calving season started off a little slow with just a couple of beef calves born from our rst springing heifers. We graze our heifers on rented pasture near New Prague, Minnesota, in the summer and run a beef bull with them to get them bred.

“The GEA CowScout system is helping us catch cows in heat earlier, even those showing more subtle signs we normally wouldn’t have seen. It’s helping us diagnose health issues earlier too, like mastitis, DAs, Ketosis, & even foot issues. Even the obvious health challenges are being caught a day or two earlier than we would have found before. We’re seeing great results with CowScout. It’s doing all the things Leedstone said it would!”

Ben, MN

I like to breed heifers to beef bulls for a couple reasons. First, we always have way more replacement heifers than necessary, and second, we never seem to have enough beef cattle for our retail meat business. Possibly even more important than both those reasons is that beef bulls make for easy calving. I’d rather give up a little genetic advancement by not breeding my heifers with A.I. for dairy calves in exchange for an easy calving and a successful rst lactation.

Last year, we bought a mystery speckled bred yearling beef bull from a neighbor who has a small beef herd. The calves born from him are the cutest little speckled babies often with black noses and ears. Unfortunately, that bull didn’t ll out as much frame and muscle as I’d have expected, knowing what his sire looked like. We ended up shipping him.

By mid-March, cows and heifers were calving in regularly. The huts were lling up fast. That was kind of a problem as most all the individual and group huts were frozen into big blocks of ice thanks to the ample snow we had this winter melting and refreezing. Eventually, we just decided to sacrice some gate bottoms and boards on the huts and made everything come loose with the skid loader.

We got all the huts cleaned up,

By

reset and lled fairly quickly for a bit. Then, we started to have a lot of Holstein bull calves from the cows calving in. Even my nicest cows bred to sexed semen had bulls. Sometimes we just have runs like that where most of the calves are bulls or heifers, and this time we got bulls. The calf born before milking this evening was a bull of course. Oddly, the beef calves were primarily heifers this spring. Not exactly the way we’d prefer that to have gone, but I guess it does leave us with less calves to raise as we sell the Holstein and Jersey bull calves at the sales barn or to neighbors. We’ve found they take too long and don’t nish out well in a grass-fed system.

Now that it’s almost May, the dry cow and springing heifer group is much smaller than it was in February, and things are calming down. There shouldn’t be many more three- to four-calf days in the next couple months. That’s convenient as it will soon be time to transition into the grazing and haying season. I nally got the chopper tractor started the other day after it has had dead batteries most of the winter and hasn’t moved since we parked it in October. Time to start getting everything ready for the year. It’s still pretty chilly, and all the plants seem to be waiting for another week of warm weather to get going like we had a couple weeks ago. I don’t know if it would be wise to hope for more nearly 90-degree days though. Until next time, keep living the dream, and I hope you all have a lot more luck than us getting bulls when you want bulls and heifers when you want heifers.

Tim Zweber Farmer & Columnist

From the Zweber Farm

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

Healthy cows to healthy humans: Colostrum is our liquid gold

This spring, we were fortunate to host the pre-conference tour for the Dairy Calf and Heifer Association’s annual meeting. We always enjoy tours, especially with others directly involved

The NexGen: Adventures of two dairy daughters

in the dairy industry. Their questions are an excellent reminder to pause and evaluate whether the protocols we have implemented continue to be relevant to our dairy’s current goals and opportunities. Oftentimes, as dairy men and women, we become so busy with the completion of the day’s tasks that we trudge along, worrying more about getting them done than if what we are doing is appropriate for our dairy’s needs.

One aspect of our successful calf program that generated much interest during the tour was colostrum management. At NexGen Dairy, colostrum is liquid gold. It is one of the foundations of our calf program.

We must remember that during pregnancy, the placenta of the cow does not allow for the transfer of many of the immune factors from the dam to the calf. Therefore, the calf needs to receive many of the major components of its immunity from colostrum after birth. Receiving quality colostrum will directly affect the calf’s ability to grow, thrive and ght off disease throughout its lifetime. This information also reminds us we can further enhance a calf health program by vaccinating cows before the period when they develop colostrum with a scour-focused vaccine.

A few of the keys to our colostrum program are collecting clean colostrum from vaccinated dams within several hours of giving birth. We test each collection for quality using a digital handheld Brix refractometer. Only colostrum that tests above a Brix of 22.5% is kept to be fed as rst-feeding colostrum. Anything lower is added to our batch pasteurizer and fed with our waste milk to all other calves. Finally, after testing, all colostrum is loaded into individual bags for pasteurization in a specic colostrum pasteurizer before feeding. Every calf receives 1 gal-

Monahan

lon of tested and pasteurized colostrum within one hour of birth.

None of those management practices are new. However, what is new is the continual discovery of highly valuable compounds in bovine colostrum that make it as valuable as gold. Colostrum contains many different proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins (A, D, E and B), minerals (calcium, copper, iron, zinc, magnesium, manganese and phosphorus), and also bioactive compounds and antimicrobial factors.

These bioactive factors are exciting in that they work in interesting avenues, from acting as prebiotics and helping benecial bacteria in the gut ourish to competing for binding sites along the gut lining with disease-causing organisms. They can aid iron absorption, activate the immune system and are essential to maintain a healthy gut lining. These are just a minuscule amount of the known benets. Discoveries to new compounds and their functions are continuing to be made.

The other thing about gold is that once it’s discovered, it’s hard to keep it a secret. Our liquid gold is no different. Lately, an increasing interest in bovine colostrum for human use has arisen. Many dairies, including ours, are selling extra colostrum for further processing into human health products. Other dairies are further capturing the human market for colostrum directly, such as Royal Dairy in Washington. Royal Dairy utilizes colostrum to make Nurst, a skin cream that uses properties in bovine colostrum to treat skin conditions such as eczema. In humans, colostrum from our cows has been found to boost immune function, enhance various measures of athletic performance, enhance muscle growth, reduce inammation, and strengthen gut health and integrity. We can directly testify to the effects of bovine colostrum supplementation on gut health. This past winter, a physician recommended an IgG product to alleviate symptoms of digestive distress. We were pleasantly surprised to discover the source of the supplement was bovine colostrum.

Finally, we’d like to share a few onfarm tips for colostrum use. Because it is so imperative that calves receive enough quality colostrum, keep some in the freezer to have on hand in an emergency. However, the quality decreases after being frozen for a few months. Also, during those times when calves are battling scours, freeze ice cubes of colostrum from vaccinated cows and toss a few cubes in the calf’s milk to provide an added boost of immunity.

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.

Since 1997

Trimming commercial and show cattle

By Megan Schrupp & Ellen Stenger Columnists

CowScout™

“CowScout pays for itself. We’re improving reproduction and finding health issues sooner, before they escalate into something more severesaving treatment costs and lost production while saving labor and being more efficient with our time.

CowScout is one of the best investments we’ve made.”

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Centre Dairy Equipment and Supply, Inc.

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Fuller’s Milker Center, LLC

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