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DAIRY ST R
Volume 24, No. 6
“All dairy, all the time”™
May 14, 2022
Set on dairying
From teenage farmhand to independent farm owner By Stacey Smart
stacey.m@dairystar.com
STACY SMART/DAIRY STAR
First-generaƟon farmer, Adam Vanden Wymelenberg and his wife, Marie, and their children – (from leŌ) Oscar, Ezra and Mabel – milk 155 cows and farm 280 acres near De Pere, Wisconsin. The Vanden Wymelenbergs purchased the farm in 2017.
DE PERE, Wis. – At the age of 13, Adam Vanden Wymelenberg got his rst job. By working on a dairy farm, he kicked off his dream of becoming a farmer someday. The son of an electrician and a dog groomer, Vanden Wymelenberg would be the rst in his family to dairy farm. Starting with six cows in his grandpa’s pig barn, this rst-generation farmer now milks 155 cows near De Pere on a farm he purchased in 2017. “Farming has been a goal of mine ever since I can remember,” Vanden Wymelenberg said. “I was always fascinated by farming and glued to watching tractors. I caught the farming bug when I was pretty young.” Vanden Wymelenberg worked his rst job until he graduated from high school, building up knowledge on the industry. “First, I learned how smaller farms ran, and then I went to a larger farm and learned how those operate, so I have experience in both,” he said. Vanden Wymelenberg and his wife, Marie, have three children – Ezra, 4, Mabel,
3, and Oscar, 15 months – as well as another child on the way. Marie is an emergency room trauma nurse who cut back on her hours to stay home with the kids but picks up shifts as time allows. Vanden Wymelenberg has one full-time employee and a handful of high schoolers who help primarily on evenings and weekends. His 280 acres of crops are custom done by a neighbor. In total, Vanden Wymelenberg has milked at three locations, beginning with the farm he purchased from his grandpa in 2009. The barn was set up for raising pigs, but Vanden Wymelenberg transformed it for use with heifers. His rst milk cow was an animal he took on at the coaxing of a friend – a special needs heifer that suffered a stroke and struggled to use the left side of her body. “She became my project animal,” Vanden Wymelenberg said. “I ended up breeding her, and she freshened in and did good. I milked her with a portable pump and added on a few more cows.” When he reached a half dozen milking but was dumping the milk, he knew he needed to either dive in completely or quit. He started looking for herds to buy and a barn to rent. At the time, he was working for a large dairy as a herdsman.
Turn to VANDEN WYMELENBERG | Page 7
Farming by feel Brekken does not let blindness slow him down By Stacey Smart
stacey.m@dairystar.com
MCFARLAND, Wis. – Imagine seeing only shapes but no details at close range and seeing nearly nothing from far away. This is what life is like for dairy farmer Cory Brekken. However, he can still do many of the same things other farmers do. Cory milks cows, feeds, does eldwork like cutting hay, and also performs maintenance on equipment. He treats cows and does much of his own veterinary work and can also breed cows and assist with difcult calvings. He drives tractor, runs the chainsaw and maneuvers around the farm with ease. Legally blind since birth, Cory suffers from Leber congenital am-
aurosis. He is missing cells in both of his retinas and as a result has had minimal vision his entire life. “I grew up this way, so it’s all I’ve ever known” Cory said. “I’ve been farming like this for so long that it doesn’t really seem challenging to me.” Cory milks 75 cows and farms 200 acres near McFarland. He began working on the farm as a salaried employee in 2000. For 18 years, Cory managed the dairy for the radiologist who owned the farm until purchasing the operation in 2018. From day No. 1, the farm has practiced seasonal calving and rotational grazing. Cory’s herd goes dry around Jan. 10, and cows started calving again this year March 1. “I don’t have a freestall barn, so Turn to BREKKEN | Page 7
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Cory Brekken milks 75 cows and farms 200 acres near McFarland, Wisconsin. Brekken was born legally blind and farms with limited vision.
Page 2 • Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022
DAIRY ST R www.dairystar.com
ISSN 020355 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave. Sauk Centre, MN 56378 Phone: (320) 352-6303 Fax: (320) 352-5647 Published by Dairy Star LLC General Manager/Editor Mark Klaphake - mark.k@dairystar.com 320-352-6303 (ofce) 320-248-3196 (cell) 320-352-0062 (home) Ad Composition Nancy Powell 320-352-6303 nancy.p@dairystar.com Editorial Staff Jennifer Coyne - Assistant Editor (320) 352-6303 • jenn@dairystar.com Danielle Nauman - Staff Writer (608) 487-1101 • danielle.n@dairystar.com Stacey Smart - Staff Writer (262) 442-6666 • stacey.s@dairystar.com Abby Wiedmeyer - Staff Writer 608-487-4812 • abby.w@dairystar.com Kate Rechtzigel - Staff Writer 507-696-9213 • kate.r@dairystar.com Maria Bichler - Copy Editor 320-352-6303 Consultant Jerry Jennissen 320-346-2292 Advertising Sales Main Ofce: 320-352-6303 Fax: 320-352-5647 Deadline is 5 p.m. of the Friday the week before publication Sales Manager - Joyce Frericks 320-352-6303 • joyce@dairystar.com Bob Leukam (Northern MN, East Central MN) 320-260-1248 (cell) bob.l@star-pub.com Mark Klaphake (Western MN) 320-352-6303 (ofce) 320-248-3196 (cell) Laura Seljan (National Advertising, SE MN) 507-250-2217 fax: 507-634-4413 laura.s@dairystar.com Jerry Nelson (SW MN, NW Iowa, South Dakota) 605-690-6260 jerry.n@dairystar.com Mike Schafer (Central, South Central MN) 320-894-7825 mike.s@dairystar.com Amanda Hoeer (Eastern Iowa) 320-250-2884 • amanda.h@dairystar.com Megan Stuessel (Western Wisconsin) 608-387-1202 • megan.s@dairystar.com Kati Kindschuh (Northeast WI and Upper MI) 920-979-5284 • kati.k@dairystar.com Deadlines The deadline for news and advertising in the Dairy Star is 5 p.m. Friday the week before publication. Subscriptions One year subscription $40.00, outside the U.S. $200.00. Send check along with mailing address to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378. Advertising Our ad takers have no authority to bind this newspaper and only publication of an advertisement shall constitute nal acceptance of the advertiser's order. Letters Letters and articles of opinion are welcomed. Letters must be signed and include address and phone number. We reserve the right to edit lengthy letters. The views and opinions expressed by Dairy Star columnists and writers are not necessarily those of the Dairy Star / Star Publications LLC.
The Dairy Star is published semi-monthly by Star Publications LLC, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246. Periodicals Postage Paid at Sauk Centre, MN and additional mailing ofces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246.
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Dairy Prole brought to you by your The United States Department of Agriculture has updated three key crop insurance options for livestock producers. With Dairy Revenue Protection, dairy farmers can continue coverage even if they experience a disaster, such as a barn re. Livestock Gross Margin coverage for cattle, dairy and swine is now available nationwide. Regarding Livestock Risk Protection, insurance companies must pay indemnities within 30 days of receiving the claim form. The previous window for payment was 60 days. Food supply chain needs attention The National Milk Producers Federation is urging the Biden administration to take steps to ease supply chain disruptions. In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, NMPF sought more collaboration to improve capacity at the ports and strengthen transparency throughout the supply chain. USTR calls out EU non-tariff trade barrier In its annual Special 301 Report, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Ofce has highlighted the importance of preserving market access. In particular, the report cited the European Union’s misuse of geographical indicators to create non-tariff trade barriers. The EU is trying to eliminate competition by restricting the use of common food and beverage terms, such as parmesan, asiago or feta. Mid-term elections may shake things up It is a mid-term election year. The 435 seats in the House and 34 of the 100 seats in the Senate are up for a vote. The outcome of these elections will impact the future of agricultural policy, including the upcoming farm bill. Cook Political Report Senior Editor Dave Wasserman said mid-term elections are typically a referendum on the
party in power. With DemoAg Insider crats leading in the House and Senate, there is a greater chance for change. “President Biden’s approval rating, on average, is 41%,” he said. “The fancy, political science term for that is wipe-out territory. It’s not possible for the party in power in Congress to hold the majority when the approval rating is that low.” Wasserman anticipates as many as 100 new members By Don Wick of Congress in 2023. “That Columnist means there’s a lot of education for farm groups in advance of the 2023 farm bill,” Wasserman said. FAPRI adjusts ag outlook The Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute has updated its baseline economic outlook to reect the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on markets. This report calls for higher commodity prices, higher production expenses and higher food costs than reported in the March report. FAPRI is forecasting 2022 net farm income to be on par with last year with higher crop and livestock prices offsetting the increase in expenses and the drop in government payments. Assuming a return to more normal conditions next year, FAPRI projects lower prices for many commodities and lower net farm income. Turn to AG INSIDER | Page 5
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Baldwin, WI
Efciency, sustainability the pillars of Jon-De Farm Inc. First Section: Pages 8 - 9
Milton, WI
Deer Park, WI
Fredonia, WI
Quist urges advocacy in face of tightening restrictions
Genomics, heat detection system help create repro success for Paulus Dairy
First Section: Pages 12 - 13
First Section: Pages 18, 20
Seymour, WI
Women in Dairy: Mary Adamson
Sheboygan Falls, WI
Barclay returns to family farm after commuting for 15 years
First Section: Page 29
Majestic Crossing Dairy hosts Classrom on the Farm
First Section: Pages 23, 25
Sauk City, WI
Dairy Prole: Mitch Breunig
First Section: Page 26 - 27
Stratford, WI
Harvard, IL
Carey keeps Saanen herd small
First Section: Page 31
White Oaks Cattle Co. caters to kids who want to show
Second Section: Pages 6 - 7
Third Section: Pages 3 - 4
FROM OUR SIDE OF THE FENCE:
For additional stories from our other zone, log on to www.dairystar.com
Moms: How do you balance farm work and motherhood? First Section: Pages 15 - 16
Zone 1
Zone 2
Columnists Ag Insider Pages Pa 2, 5 First Fi s Section Fir
Farmer and Columnist Page 35 First Section
Ram Ramblings gs fro from the e R Ridge Page Pa 366 First Section on
Vet Veterinary V ry W m Wisdom Pa 7 Page 37 F Fir s Section on First
From the F Zwe Z Zweber Farm P Page 38 Fir Section First
This is the front. We have what you need for what comes out the back.
Come Full Co Da Circle Dairy P Page 39 Fir Section First
Country C C Cooking P Page 22 S Second Section
The “Mielke” e”” kly y Market Weekly Pages 8 - 9 Second Section ion
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ConƟnued from AG INSIDER | Page 2
Biden reverses Trump environmental regs The Biden administration is reinstating a series of environmental regulations that were changed during the Trump presidency. In 2020, the process for environmental reviews was streamlined. The Biden team said the restoration of these environmental safeguards will provide regulatory certainty. House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member G.T. Thompson disagreed, saying the action will hurt farmers and their ability to do their jobs.
Battling bovine belching Elanco Animal Health is getting the U.S. licensing rights to a feed additive developed by a Dutch company that is supposed to reduce cattle methane emissions. On-farm trials in 14 countries show the additive reduced the greenhouse gas emissions by 30% in dairy cows. The total is even higher in beef cows. Elanco still needs regulatory approval for this product.
Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022 • Page 5
FSA state committee named The Wisconsin Farm Service Agency State Committee has been appointed. Joshua Tranel of Hazel Green is the new chairperson. The balance of the committee is made up of Clara Hedrich of Chilton, Tina Hinchley of Cambridge, Joe Koch of Wilson and Heidi Randall of Cambria.
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UWRF honors Ginther The University of Wisconsin-River Falls College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences has presented its Wisconsin Distinguished Agriculturalist Award to Francis Ginther. Ginther spent 30 years as a 4-H youth development agent, with the majority of that time in Pierce County. Ofces installed for Equity Livestock Adam Quandahl of Waukon, Iowa, is the new chairman of Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales. David Wilke of Ripon is vice chair and Steve Schleis of Kewaunee is secretary/treasurer.
Sargento purchases Baker Cheese Sargento Foods has acquired St. Cloud, Wisconsin-based Baker Cheese Factory for an undisclosed amount. Baker Cheese produces mozzarella string cheese that is sold in all 50 states.
DBA/Edge Co-op hires Haen Melissa Haen is the new marketing and events manager for the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative. Most recently, Haen had a similar role for the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce.
Chobani drops new dairy product Chobani ended production of its ultra-ltered milk product three months after its launch. In a statement, company ofcials said it “would be best to focus our resources and prioritize our core products, like yogurt, coffee creamers and oatmilk.”
Correction Country organizations within Wisconsin Farm Bureau and Wisconsin Farmers Union hosted informational meetings last month about a proposed Dairy Revitalization Plan. The state organizations were not part of these meetings.
WI fast food chain hits the toad The Culver’s restaurant chain is making Wisconsin part of its new road show. The new advertising campaign is called From Wisconsin With Love and features a 17-city food truck tour. Culver’s cheese curds and frozen custard will be distributed during stops, including Indianapolis, Phoenix, Atlanta and Tampa. Culver cofounder Craig Culver will join the tour on nine stops.
Trivia challenge Bovine somatotropin may be better known as bST. That answers our last trivia question. For this week’s trivia, when did June Dairy Month begin? We will have the answer in the next edition of Dairy Star. Don Wick is owner/broadcaster for the Red River Farm Network, based in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Wick has been recognized as the National Farm Broadcaster of the Year and served as president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Don and his wife, Kolleen, have two adult sons, Tony and Sam, and ve grandchildren, Aiden, Piper, Adrienne, Aurora and Sterling.
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Page 6 • Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022
ConƟnued from VANDEN WYMELENBERG | Page 1
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“The herd manager on that farm was a really good mentor,” Vanden Wymelenberg said. “He put me in places on the dairy where I would benet most if I decided to go out on my own. He also connected me with other farms in the state I could potentially buy cows from.” Vanden Wymelenberg found a barn to rent and later a herd of 62 cows for sale on Facebook. When he and Marie got married the following summer, the couple he bought the cows from offered to come milk on their wedding day. Vanden Wymelenberg milked in that second barn for nearly two years, but with no opportunity to buy the farm, he began looking for a facility where he could set down roots. “It was a real blessing I found this farm,” he said. “The owners were great people to work with. I couldn’t ask for anything better. They were looking to retire and had no one to take over, so this was a really good match. When they got done milking that last morning, we brought our cows in that afternoon. The barn never sat empty.” Vanden Wymelenberg milked in the farm’s 62-stall tiestall barn for two years before building a parlor and freestall barn in 2019. “It was a terrible year to build with all the mud,” he said. “The week we broke ground on the barn it started raining and never stopped.” Vanden Wymelenberg also bought another herd of 60 predominantly Red and White Holstein cows and switched until the barn was built. He bought used stalls for the swing-10 parlor which was retrotted into the tiestall barn. The 3-row, 113-stall, tunnel-ventilated freestall barn with an enclosed feed lane is attached to the tiestall barn, allowing for good cattle ow according to Vanden Wymelenberg. “Making the best use of time is important to me, and this setup allowed us to be more efcient,” he said. “Efciency is huge to me. I’m always trying to improve our facilities as time and money allow. We have less manual labor than before, and it’s just easier for everyone. I also like the year-round exercise cows get in the freestall barn, and I can monitor heats better.” The remaining part of the tiestall barn is used to house breeding-age heifers. Vanden Wymelenberg likes its proximity to the parlor, making it easy to watch for heats. Dry cows are located on the far end of the barn where he converted the stalls to green ex stalls for added comfort. The former dry cow area is now used as a maternity and special needs pen. The freestall barn was built so that Vanden Wymelenberg could mirror the image to the east in the future if he wants to expand. Cows rest on deep-bedded sand stalls, and Vanden Wymelenberg said it was interesting to see the response in production due to the change in accommodations. “Late-lactation animals bumped up about 5 pounds, and everyone that was fresh took off like crazy,” he said. “Our somatic cell count is also easier to control with three-times-a-day milking and having the cows on sand. We also cut milking time in half going to the freestall/parlor setup. That was a huge benet.”
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Adam Vanden Wymelenberg preps the parlor for the 11 a.m. milking on April 26 on his farm near De Pere, Wisconsin. Vanden Wymelenberg has been milking cows three Ɵmes a day for two years. Vanden Wymelenberg, who ships his milk to Lamers Dairy in Appleton, went to milking three times per day when the coronavirus pandemic started. “My high school help had nothing else to do, so I gured why not try it,” he said. “I enjoy it, and the cattle enjoy it. And that third milking denitely helped with production, which increased by 10%. Feed intakes also went up 4 pounds per head.” Vanden Wymelenberg takes many of the morning and afternoon shifts, which allows him to be with his kids in the evening while high school help covers the night milking. “Those high school kids have been very good help to me,” he said. “I couldn’t make it without them.” In addition, the previous owner of the farm comes to help every day, feeding heifers and doing other chores as needed. “He’s a good guy and enjoys being involved with the farm,” Vanden Wymelenberg said. “The knowledge I get from him is invaluable. He has so much experience.” Vanden Wymelenberg attended Fox Valley Technical College for two years where he earned an associates degree in agribusiness science and technology and currently takes night classes through Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in the winter. Although he is the only farmer in his family, entrepreneurship is in Vanden Wymelenberg’s blood. Many of his relatives either own or manage a business. His mom owned a dog grooming business, his uncles and cousins own the local grocery store, and his brother is a business owner in Minnesota. “My parents have given me a lot of support on this journey, and I got a good sense of business from them,” Vanden Wymelenberg said. Childhood career ambitions do not always pan out, but they did for Vanden Wymelenberg. He looked for opportunities to get where he wanted and took advantage of the resources that could help him accomplish his goals. “This has been the dream for a long time,” he said.
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Cory Brekken cuts the baler twine off of a round bale of hay for his herd of cows May 3 on his farm near McFarland, Wisconsin. Brekken relies heavily on his sense of touch to accomplish tasks. my cows are outside year-round,” Cory said. “By drying them up during the coldest part of the year, there’s no trouble with freezing teats.” Cory’s dad, Dave, is a retired dairy farmer who comes to help his son almost every day. “Baling is challenging for me, so my dad does that,” Cory said. “With the new electronics, it’s harder for me because you have to be able to see the arrows. It’s also difcult for me to see the windrow, especially if it’s green hay on a green eld. Raking hay is hard too. I can’t go and get parts or run around for supplies, so my dad does that as well.” Cory does pick up round bales and wraps them – an activity that requires a lot of on and off the tractor to make sure he is in the right spot. “Cory doesn’t have what many of us take for granted,” Dave said. “At one point, we thought they could x his eyes through surgery.” Cory lives in a tactile world, relying on his sense of touch to get things done. Without normal eyesight to guide him, he sees with his hands. “When taking something apart, he doesn’t have to look at it,” Dave said. “Instead, he uses his ngers for eyesight. He can overhaul tractors and x most anything. He relies a lot on his other senses like hearing, smell and touch.” Cory’s visual acuity score is 15/400. This means that Cory sees in 15 feet what a person with normal vision sees in 400 feet. He can see shapes but not details. For example, he can see the outline of a person in front of him but not the expression on their face or what color hair they have. To read print, the letters must be 1.5 inches high. Cory is the only person in his family with a visual impairment, and growing up, he attended the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Janesville. Injuries are common to Cory, who has to be more careful than the average person when using hand tools and machinery. He recently cut his nger through a leather glove when trimming trees. He also smashed up his hand when it got caught in the manure spreader. When he was 15, he got in a dirt bike accident when he ran into a tractor. “I think the cows kind of know I can’t see and they help me sometimes,” Cory said. “Once when it was foggy and I couldn’t see well in the pasture, a cow came back for me and I followed her out.” Of the 200 acres Cory owns and rents, 100 acres are devoted to pasture. There are 38 pastures in the rotation, and cows are moved to a new pasture daily or sometimes twice daily. The rest of the acres are used for making hay. Cory feeds his cows
silage round bales during the winter that he places in plastic feeders. Cows drink from a creek all year long and are milked in a swing-8 parlor. “We start grazing in spring when the pasture reaches 3 inches high,” Cory said. “We usually get them on pasture by midApril, but this year we are starting about a month later because of the weather we’ve had. The biggest thing with grazing is that you can’t take the pasture down too far.” In 2019, Cory improved his pasturing system by redoing all the cow lanes and putting up new fencing. He received funding through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to help pay for the project. “Before we put in the gravel lanes, it was all mud,” he said. “We had big ruts, and our equipment would sometimes get stuck in the mud.” The fence consists of two high-tensile wires with tamarack wooden posts placed every 25 feet. The fences are painted black and white to make them easy for Cory to see. The tops are white, making them visible in summer, and the bottoms are black to make them obvious on snowcovered ground. “I was glad to get rid of the barbed wire,” Cory said. “We took out a lot of trees to do this and gained about 5 acres. Grazing makes things easier and keeps expenses low.” Since purchasing the farm, Cory has also put new green roofs on the buildings and redid the shop. He also put up a corn bin last fall. “I used to go to my cousin’s for one load of corn at a time,” Cory said. “Now, I’m able to buy corn all at once during harvest and get a little better price.” Cory likes crossbreeds and has eight breeds mixed into his herd. Starting out with Jersey, Cory proceeded to add Holstein, Red Angler, Normande, Dutch Belted and more. This type of breeding created a smaller cow weighing between 1,000 and 1,100 pounds. “I like the variety and even milked an Angus for awhile,” Cory said. “I’m getting away from Dutch and really pushing Normande now. They’re gentle and do well grazing. The cross I like is Holstein, Normande and Jersey.” When Cory was younger, his parents tried to get him a job at a factory or at fastfood restaurants, but nobody would hire him because he was seen as a liability. “We worry about him a lot and wonder how he can do this,” Dave said. But, Cory does not see his blindness as a handicap. “What other choice do I have?” he said. “The work has to get done. That’s kind of why I did this job. Farming is something I could do.”
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Page 8 • Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022
Efciency, sustainability the pillars of Jon-De Farm Inc.
Three generations of Doorninks look to the future By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
BALDWIN, Wis. – Farming has always been a matter of cultivating something to produce the best possible outcome. For the Doornink family of Baldwin, that has been true whether referring to crops in the eld, cows in the barn or the family who has been farming in northwest Wisconsin for the past ve generations. Jon-De Farm Inc. is a 1,500-cow dairy farm located in St. Croix County. Three generations of the Doornink family operate the farm today: Dean Doornink, Todd Doornink and Mikayla McGee. The current farm location came into the family in 1912 when Dean’s grandfather made the decision to move his family closer to the city of Baldwin so that his daughters could attend high school. Dean followed in the footsteps of both his grandfather and father and joined the farming operation in 1972. At that time, the Jon-De herd consisted of 80 cows milked and housed in a tiestall barn. That remained the farm’s model until the early 1990s when Todd returned to the farm to become the fourth generation of Doorninks to dairy farm. “We weren’t able to sell enough registered Holsteins in the early 1990s to be able to support three generations on the farm milking just 80 cows,”
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Three generaƟons of the Doornink family – (from leŌ) Dean, Mikayla McGee and Todd – operate Jon-De Farm Inc. near Baldwin, Wisconsin. The family milks 1,500 cows. Dean said. “It was a matter of either changing how we were doing things or going out of business.” The Doorninks experimented with ways to diversify their farm to create the additional income needed to support Todd’s young family. “We tried several different projects
like marketing hay and other things,” Dean said. “Nothing accomplished what we needed. We had a family meeting and decided to concentrate on what we were good at: getting cows to milk. We decided we needed to be efcient. Taking care of cows in a tiestall barn is very labor intensive.”
Fate played a role in pushing the Doorninks to building a new facility to accommodate a growing herd when they lost their tiestall barn in a re. The rst expansion to 260 cows occurred at that time and was closely Turn to DOORNINKS | Page 9
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Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022 • Page 9
ConƟnued from DOORNINKS | Page 8
followed by another expansion to 750 cows in 1994. In 2000, the herd size was doubled to 1,500 cows. Mikayla joined the farm full time as the fth generation in 2015, although she has been an active part of the farm for her entire life. The family has no interest in expanding further. Where they plan to place their focus instead is on improving. Part of that plan is a new rotary parlor this fall. “We really haven’t done any major improvements with the milking system in nearly 20 years,” Mikayla said. “From the research we have done, a rotary parlor will change the efciency of our farm compared to what we have now.” Each member of the family plays a role that capitalizes on their individual strengths. Mikayla has taken on the roles of overseeing personnel, scheduling and training. She also oversees calf care and herd management, working closely with the farm’s team of herd and calf managers.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Cows at Jon-De Farm Inc. use a motorized brush at the dairy near Baldwin, Wisconsin. The Doorninks pay close aƩenƟon to the details of cow comfort as well as environmental stewardship.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
An aerial photo of the Doorninks’ Jon-De Farm is taken in the early 1970s when Dean Doornink joined the farm as the third generaƟon.
“We feel having these records allows us to manage the dairy more efficiently.” What are some of the DHIA tests you use? We us the base DHIA testing.
How does testing with DHIA beneÀt your dairy operation?
We like being able to keep records of the cows and being able to monitor somatic cell count of the cows, as well as components. We feel having these records allows us to manage the dairy more efÀciently.
Tell us about your farm.
We milk around 180 cows in a double-8 herringbone parlor. Half of our cows are raised in sawdust bedded freestalls and half are in a deep bedded pack barn. We raise all of our own replacements on the farm and farm 330 acres of corn, alfalfa, winter rye, sorghum-sudan, and a cool season cocktail mix.
“We have a really strong team,” Mikayla said. “We try to be an employer of choice in our area with competitive pay and a family atmosphere.” Todd’s role has become one of providing support wherever needed, moving animals to various locations on the farm and overseeing the bred heifers. In addition, Todd has become active in Farmers for Sustainable Food and the Western Wisconsin Conservation Council, both groups involved in advocating for responsible and sustainable farming practices. Dean handles the nutrient management planning for the farm and is working on a project to bring Nature Energy, a Danish biogas company, to
western Wisconsin as a way to continue to lessen the carbon footprint of the dairy industry. The entire Doornink family takes their role in protecting the environment through conservation farming practices seriously. “We need to focus on being proactive to be sustainable, to be proactive in protecting our resources,” Todd said of the practices implemented on the farm as well as his passion for working with the WWCC. “We just want to be the best 1,500-cow dairy we can be. We want to focus on quality and efciency. That is what it will take for us to be sustainable into the future.”
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Page 10 • Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022
From the cow to the consumer
Stensland Family Farms nds success in retailing their dairy products By Jerry Nelson
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LARCHWOOD, Iowa – Two Iowa brothers made it their mission to revive their family’s dairy farm. The high school teens, spurred on by an FFA project, have re-opened Stensland Family JERRY NELSON/DAIRY STAR Farms. The Stensland family – (from leŌ ) Jason, Paige, Mona, Doug, Chelsea and JusƟn What began nearly two decades ago as a pair of – dairy farm near Larchwood, Iowa. The Stenslands have found considerable brothers milking 40 cows success in retailing the dairy products that are made in their on-farm creamery. as an FFA project has blossomed into an on-farm creamery that retails dairy products came from one of our employees. We experimented with across the region. the starter and tweaked it until we got it exactly the way we Doug Stensland and his father, Art, milked 30 head but want it.” exited the dairy in 1989. In their unending effort to control quality, the StensDoug and his wife, Mona, have four children: Leah, lands buy whole tomatoes and make their own marinara twins Jason and Justin, and Kyle. Shortly after they entered sauce. high school, Jason and Justin began to milk cows for neighThe marketing team at Stensland Family Farms Creambors. They decided re-starting the family’s dairy could be ery includes Jason’s wife, Paige, and Justin’s wife, Chelsea. their FFA project. “Chelsea and I are both graphic designers,” Paige said. After graduation, the brothers opted to stay in the dairy “We have designed all of our marketing materials, includbusiness and focus their efforts on organic farming and ex- ing our logos and signs.” panding their herd. The Stenslands haven’t purchased any commercial ad“The boys were soon milking 200 head in their at par- vertising. They have spread the word about their dairy prodlor,” Doug said. “Milking was taking 10 hours a day.” ucts via farm tours, social media and strategic partnerships To help with efciency, the Stenslands decided to in- with restauranteurs and retailers. stall a trio of robotic milkers. “We have been able to do a lot of natural marketing “The robots really lightened the workload for the through our farm tours,” Paige said. “Before COVID, we boys,” Doug said. “It gave them more time to look at what had as many as 10,000 people come out to our farm each it would take to build a creamery.” year. The tour numbers are slowly coming back.” On-farm processing had always been a dream of The family is cognizant of its partnerships, and Doug Doug’s. When the kids were younger, the family would said, as they add new retailers or restaurants, the family dedrive around looking at dairies that had their own creamer- cides if that particular venture is a good t for their brand. ies, and as the farm expanded, on-site production became a “A big way that we move milk is by educating the pubgoal. Jason and Justin’s brother Kyle had a farm of his own lic and telling the story of our farm,” Doug said. and had the equity to put back into the family’s dreams. A noteworthy promotional opportunity came to the After researching the marketing environment, the Stenslands when they were asked to create a signature ice Stensland family decided to take the plunge into on-farm cream to be served at the Sanford International, a PGA Tour processing. The Stenslands broke ground for their on-farm Champions event held each September in Sioux Falls. The processing facility in 2015. The next year, Stensland Family Stenslands created a lemon cheesecake ice cream that has Farms began to retail their products including bottled milk, blueberry swirls throughout. They named this frosty treat ice cream, butter, aged cheese and cheese curds. The Sanford Swirl. “We have learned to develop the market before introThe Avera Foundation has also asked the Stenslands ducing new products,” Doug said. “We’ve also discovered to craft an ice cream for them. Avera Encouragement conthat people can tell the difference in the quality of the food tains of a mixture of mint ice cream, homemade brownie they consume. We’re often asked why our ice cream tastes and cookie. so good. We tell folks that it’s because we don’t skimp on Another strategic partnership involves the venerable quality. All of our cows have the gene for producing A2 Twin Bing candy bar. milk. We think that this has made it possible for more peo“We made some Twin Bing ice cream, and it was a ple to be able to enjoy our milk and other dairy products.” big hit with our customers,” Doug said. “Jason got a meetStensland Family Farms has trucks that deliver their ing with members of the Palmer family, who created Twin products to retailers and restaurants within an 80-mile ra- Bing, and gave them a sample our ice cream. They really dius of their farm. Their dairy goods are retailed by numer- liked it. This led to a partnership with the Palmer Candy ous grocery and convenience stores, coffee shops, and ice Company and permission to use their Twin Bing logo. Our cream parlors. Twin Bing ice cream has instant name recognition.” The family keeps investing in strategies to further the Stensland Family Farms has three retail outlets in business and separate it from its competitors. Sioux Falls. They also operate the Falls Overlook Café and In 2019, the Stenslands constructed a commercial bak- run the concessions at the Midco Aquatic Center, both in ery in their on-farm store and visitor center. The bakery has Sioux Falls. Leah manages all of the family’s retail operaenabled them to experiment with new products. One of the tions. latest additions to their lineup is frozen pizza. In their quest to move more product, the Stenslands “There are a lot of pizzas out there, so we asked our- recently partnered with The Ritz, a bar and grill located at selves how to make ours unique,” Mona said. “That’s why Lake Okoboji, a tourist hot spot in northwestern Iowa. we decided to use a sourdough crust. Our sourdough starter “We are going to set our ice cream trailer in their parking lot and dip ice cream all summer long,” Doug said. “The boys are always coming up with new product ideas and new ways to promote our brand.” Jason said it is important for their business to remain exible. “You want to avoid having tunnel vision when you are running a business like ours,” Jason said. Justin agreed. He said they have learned the place to be consistent is with their products. “Retailing our dairy products has been a challenging experience, but it has also been immensely rewarding,” Justin said. Looking back at the past few years, Doug is humbled by the way things have unfolded for his family. “We have 20 employees,” Doug said. “This means that JERRY NELSON/DAIRY STAR we now have 20 families who are depending on us. Dad is Stensland Family Farms makes ice cream. The 92 and still lives here on the farm. He’s been able to watch Stenslands partnered with Palmer Candy Company his grandchildren and his great-grandchildren grow as they and received permission to use Palmer Candy Com- worked on our farm. It has been an amazing experience for pany’s Twin Bing logo. him and for our entire family.”
Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022 • Page 11
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Page 12 • Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022
Fighting for the right to farm in Polk, Burnett counties Quist urges advocacy in face of tightening restrictions By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
DEER PARK, Wis. – Dairy farmers in the northwestern Wisconsin counties of Polk and Burnett are in a ght for their right to operate their family-owned farms, facing regulation from the town boards that govern their local municipalities. Last fall, six townships – ve in northern Polk County and one in southern Burnett County – began working in partnership to disapprove of the development of animal agriculture, particularly concentrated animal feeding operations. Kristin Quist and her family own and operates Minglewood Inc., a 1,200-cow, fthgeneration dairy farm located in the southern Polk County township of Black Brook. Quist said she rst saw opposition to farm growth in 2019 as people in the area began expressing concern about a proposed hog CAFO being planned in Burnett County. “None of the people on
these town boards are involved in agriculture at all; there are no farmers representing these townships,” she said. The situation has elevated to a state of critical concern for farmers in the two counties. During the coronavirus pandemic, Quist said the resistance seemed to quiet down, but as the world began to return to normal in 2021, things began to pick back up. “When this hog CAFO was proposed, people just did not understand,” Quist said. “They thought it was just going to be this big hog factory … and it was going to be terrible.” Quist shared that one member of each of the six townships – Trade Lake in Burnett County and the Polk County townships of Eureka, Laketown, Bone Lake, Luck and Sterling – was appointed to a committee, and each township committed more than $3,000 to retain legal counsel. With the help of the Wild Rivers Conservancy, this
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
KrisƟn Quist is the Ōh generaƟon of her family to operate Minglewood, LLC. near Deer Park, Wisconsin. Quist is working to increase public awareness in the face of local ordinances that would limit animal agriculture in Polk and BurneƩ counƟes. committee crafted proposed ordinances aimed at regulating agriculture in their municipalities and impeding growth or expansion. Rules being proposed include lower caps on animal numbers, limiting hours of operation and increasing fees and permit costs. Since last fall, Trade Lake, Laketown and Eureka townships have enacted the
ordinances, while the other three are looking at putting them in place. Quist said she has recently heard that a seventh township, located in Polk County, has begun looking into enacting similar types of ordinances. Currently, there are only six CAFOs permitted in Polk County, ve dairy farms and one poultry farm, and one dairy CAFO in Burnett Coun-
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Last fall, the county board chairman invited the owners of Polk County CAFO operations to attend a county board meeting, allowing them 20 minutes to present about the daily operations of their farms. “It was shocking to my dad; there were protesters outTurn to CAFO | Page 13
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Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022 • Page 13
ConƟnued from CAFO | Page 12
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Cows eat a TMR at Minglewood, LLC. near Deer Park, Wisconsin. Minglewood is a 1,200-cow dairy farm located in the southern Polk County township of Black Brook. side of the government center,” Quist said. “They think we are here to ruin their water quality and things like that, but they don’t understand that if we don’t have good water quality, we can’t exist either. We live here and raise our families here. We have been here, farming, for 128 years. We are not new to the community.” As longtime community members, Quist said most of the opposition to animal agriculture seems to come from people who are not lifelong
“We live here and raise our families here. We have been here, farming, for 128 years. We are not new to the community.” KRISTIN QUIST, DAIRY FARMER
county residents. “Polk County is so close to the Twin Cities metro area, and there are a lot of people who own recreational land and have cabins here,” Quist said. “They forget that industry still has to exist here, and that there are people who actually live here. It is not just their lake homes.” Quist is frustrated she cannot easily connect with those opposed to the
permits so they can learn more about this type of modern-day agricultural practice. “We really have to begin nding ways, as people in agriculture, to get in front of people,” she said. “We need our advocacy groups to be unied together and have the same approach, be on the same page. This is no longer a discussion about how big your farm is. It doesn’t matter if you milk 30 cows or 5,000 cows. The ordinance in Trade Lake is down to 500 animal units, which equates to 275 cows. We all need to be in this together.” Besides imposing stricter limits on the number of animal units, the proposed and enacted ordinances include the following: limited hours of operation of heavy machinery to Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m..; no surface spreading of manure; disinfection of all tires before any vehicle or machinery leaves the farm premises; no Jake-brakes; and a log of every person who enters and leaves the operation accessible to the township board. “A lot of farmers might want to deny that this is happening, because it isn’t happening right in their backyard, but if it can happen here, it can happen anywhere,” Quist said. “This might have started with a hog CAFO, but it doesn’t matter what species of animals you have anymore. At the end of the day, it is about animal agriculture.”
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Dairyy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022 • Page 15
Moms: How do you balance farm work and being a mother?
Emily Heeg Marsheld, Wisconsin Wood County 60 cows
Tell us about your family and your farm. My husband Eric and I have been married 2.5 years. We both grew up in central Wisconsin on dairy farms. We purchased the herd from his parents in March 2021. We wanted to own the cows before starting a family. Our son was born eight weeks premature in January. He is now 4-months-old and doing well. We look forward to raising him on the farm.
Selina Knutson Sparta, Wisconsin Monroe County 50 cows Tell us about your family and your farm. My husband, Cody, and I have three kids: Jeara, 9, Raylan, 5, and Brailey, 4. Cody is the fourth generation to dairy on this farm. How do you balance farm work and being a mother? It has been a learning process. I learned to understand that the farm comes rst and that will not change. The cows need to get milked no matter what. Everything is a time management practice, and I tote the kids along when I have to. What lessons on the farm are you instilling in your children? We are teaching them awareness of heavy equipment and what is always going on around them. Cody loves farming so I want the kids to see that they can do what they love, whether farming or not. What are traits your mother had that you’ve tried to embrace? I was taught that just because someone is not a blood relative does not mean they are not family. Sometimes you can count on people who are not family more than you can your real family. Being adopted made me appreciate the love my parents did not have to show me, but did. Tell us about one of your fondest memories as a mother? Seeing the kids enjoy the farm and the things Cody enjoys. When our oldest was a baby, he would watch the tractors out the window and I would teach him to say, “John Deere green,” and now he loves everything with tires and a motor. What is most gratifying about your role as a farmer and mother? Being able to experience the farm full on. I love being home every day, being able to work with Cody and enjoy this lifestyle with him and the kids.
The cows are adjusting to him as well. He makes different noises than they are used to. What are traits your mother has that you’ve tried to embrace? Keeping a clean, organized and beautiful farm. By keeping the farm clean and organized, this can help with safety. I had a great uncle who rolled his tractor because he hit a cement block in some tall grass. Incidents can happen so fast.
Tell us about one of your fondest memories as a mother. I’ve only been a mom for four months so I haven’t created a whole lot of memories with my son yet, but I loved being able to grow up and work sideHow do you balance farm work and being a mother? I’m still by-side with my father. I have so many fun memories working with trying to gure out the whole farming and being a mom balance. It him from picking rock to driving together. I hope to be able to work is so new to me yet. My in-laws have been a huge help. My mother- side by side with our son like I did with my father. in-law had stepped up to help with more chores. She helped make it possible for me to visit our son in the NICU every day. This sum- What is most gratifying about your role as a farmer and mothmer, I plan to put my son in a stroller while we milk in our stanchion er? I am looking forward to watching my son grow up on the farm barn and put him in a carrier to wear around the farm while I do my and getting to be with him all the time. When I’ve worked off the other chores. farm at the local cheese plant, I can always tell the people who grew up with a farm background. I want my son to have that same work What lessons on the farm are you instilling in your children? ethic and love for farming. Our son has the opportunity to grow up I’m huge on safety. I want to teach our son to stay near a building learning and working with his parents, both sets of grandparents while equipment is moving and to never approach a tractor until it and a set of great-grandparents on each side. We’ve been blessed to is in park. I plan to have him wear a lot of high-visibility clothing come from a hard-working family; my grandpa is 92 and still helpto help him be seen easily. In the barn, we plan to keep our son in ing with eldwork. a play yard or swing until he fully understands the danger of cattle. Heidi Meier Sun Prairie, Wisconsin Dane County 250 cows
how to be a team player. Learning how to get up in the morning and get going is part of that. From budgeting to paying bills, money management is another important lesson learned on the farm as well as patience.
Tell us about your family and your farm. My husWhat are traits your mother has that you’ve tried band, Stuart, and I have two children, 8-year-old twins to embrace? Her patience, but that doesn’t work for Kayla and Kellen. I started farming with my parents me. My mom is a saint. She is the glue that held this after graduating from the University of Wisconsinfarm together when my sisters and I were little. From Madison Farm and Industry Short Course and joined milking cows to making dinner, she has done a lot in a partnership with them in 2006. I bought in at 10% over the years and never complains. And she always and used to joke that I started with the tail, but somedoes everything with a smile on her face. She is alday, I’m going to own the whole cow. I met Stuart in ways happy, upbeat and easygoing. I’d like to think 2008. He did construction/concrete work and joined I’m that way, but actually I’m a little high strung forces with us at the end of 2009. We got married in 2011 and con- and not as even-tempered as my mom. She’s an amazing woman. tinued buying in with my parents. We milk 250 cows twice a day in a double-12 parlor and run about 900 acres. Tell us about one of your fondest memories as a mother? We went through a lot to get pregnant, so I would have to say the How do you balance farm work and being a mother? Sometimes I birth of my children is my fondest memory. Now, I love watching forget that you have to do both, and it does get overwhelming at times. them grow up and seeing their love and passion for the farm. It’s That’s when I need to wheel it back and remember what’s important. wonderful and tugs at my heart. Just knowing they are both alive Sleep, prayer, God and my husband help me keep my sanity. We pray and well and watching them thrive and persevere is the greatest. a lot and go to church. You also need to have patience and just take it day by day. Some days are better than others. You have to nd that What is most gratifying about your role as a farmer and mother? balance of tting everything in, and managing time is No.1. I’m con- Being together as a family on the farm and not missing a beat with stantly running a clock, but I’m OK with that. I like the busyness. my kids is probably the best gift I could ask for. Knowing we can farm and be with our children every day is endearing. Our family is What lessons on the farm are you instilling in your children? molded together by the farm, and it’s the best life, even though it can First of all, I’m teaching them to trust in the Lord. He gives us what be busy and stressful at times. I love seeing and working with my we have even though we work hard. A lot is in God’s hands. He is husband, parents and kids every single day. I’m here to get the kids watching over and guiding us. I’m also teaching my children how to on and off the bus, and I also have the exibility to serve lunch at work hard and think for themselves. I encourage them to try to gure their school several days a week. They get to see their grandparents out a problem before asking someone else to gure it out for them. every day. Getting to see the next generation grow up is special to my They help us a lot on the farm and are learning a great work ethic and parents.
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ConƟnued from OUR SIDE | Page 15
Jessica Rogers Franklin, Wisconsin Vernon County 50 cows Tell us about your family and your farm. We have a 50-cow, registered Holstein dairy farm in southwestern Wisconsin. We moved to this new farm a year ago. Our farm is 120 acres, and we are working toward a grazing focus with approximately 30 heifers that will freshen next spring. How do you balance farm work and being a mother? We homeschool our children, and both my husband and I are home to farm every day. I never feel all that balanced with farm life and the tasks of motherhood; probably because I can never get caught up either. However, farming and raising a family blend together to create a wonderful life unlike any other for a family. The daily routine of farm life is good for children and suits their need for a structured day as well. What lessons on the farm are you instilling in your children? First and foremost, morals based on biblical principles is our highest priority and the importance of that outweighs everything else in life. Secondly, work ethic and instilling a sense of pride in doing a job well and completely for the betterment of the family and our farm. And, to instill lifelong standards of excellence for their own lives. What are traits your mother had that you’ve tried to embrace? My mother was always there for my siblings and me. She was so consistent with meals and housework and her time spent in God’s word daily. As a result, her house was always clean and tidy, and we were always taken care of. She was a wonderful model for us children in all areas of life. I try to be like her in those areas of my life as well. Tell us about one of your fondest memories as a mother? My favorite memories of motherhood would have to be looking into my baby’s eyes for the rst time, and I remember it so vividly for each child. I also love going on walks in the woods with the kids and gardening with them and playing games with them. What is most gratifying about your role as a farmer and mother? Raising and caring for all the littles. Baby calves or our own kids, there is nothing as precious as the gift of life. Anything I can do to nourish and care for them is a blessing back to me as well.
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Trista Yoap Coleman, Wisconsin Oconto County 130 cows
What lessons on the farm are you instilling in your children? We are teaching them work ethic; chores need to be done day and night no matter the weather, etc. We are also teaching them teamwork. When there is a big job or extra help is needed, we all pitch in to get the job done.
What are traits your mother has that you’ve tried to embrace? Growing up, my mom had Tell us about your family and your farm. My to make some hard choices I never really knew husband, Ryan, and I are the fourth generation about until I look back now. She worked hard. on our farm. We have four children: Cadence, As a child, she taught me to be curious and ad10, Killian, 6, Ainsley, 5, and Odellia, 9 months. venturous. A lot of times we would take a day We farm with Ryan’s parents, Steve and Denise (more like a couple hours) once a week and go Schleis, and his uncle and aunt, Marvin and Juexplore the woods, park, our garden or even the lie Schleis. Our farm of 400 Jersey and Fleckfarm. She found a way and taught me that it’s vieh cows is located in Kewaunee County. We OK to work hard as long as you can nd a way also raise our youngstock and some steers. We to still have fun and laugh. Sometimes explorfarm about 1,100 acres of mainly forages, corn ing our garden was pulling weeds and looking and wheat. at the growth of our different plants. Taking work that needed to be done and making it fun How do you balance farm work and being a mother? was what she did. She did it in a way that also taught me the I have learned there is no 100% right answer to balancing importance of family and friends. I hope I can teach my kids work and family. That balance for our family changes based how to keep curiosity and adventure even when working. on the season, week and needs of our children and cattle. My husband and I are lucky with his family also being on the Tell us about one of your fondest memories as a mother. farm because we get a little room where we can take time My kids are still young, and we’re building memories every away from the farm and take our kids to different things. day. My favorite memories are watching the wonder in their Between Ryan and I, his parents, and a neighbor who helps eyes when they see something new. My other favorite is their babysit regularly, we have found our family’s balance. When face and actions when they learn and master a new task by the kids do come to the farm, they help us with lots of differ- themselves. It helps make the difcult days so much better by ent tasks. They are also good reminders to stop and explore watching them learn. your surroundings. You never know what you might nd. What is most gratifying about your role as a farmer and What lessons on the farm are you instilling in your chil- mother? One of the things I nd most gratifying about bedren? Ryan and I hope our children learn the importance of ing a mother and a farmer is actually being able to combine taking care of your family, farm and community. As a fourth- the two. I get to bring my kids to my work, and they get to generation farm, we know the importance of making sure our learn at a young age how to care for others, our animals, our cattle are well cared for. We also know the importance of land and water. I also have the ability to take off of work and caring for our land and water. To watch our children grow make sure my kids have someone at their games, recitals and and learn how to raise and care for each other, our animals, practices. There are so many things to be grateful for, and I crops and the land is amazing. They are so curious, and from am blessed to get the opportunity to raise a family and farm their curiosity, we as parents can also learn things. There are together. so many different lessons to learn by being raised a farm kid,
Tell us about your family and your farm. I am married to my high school sweetheart Everett, who manages our dairy farm with his brother, Alex. They also operate a custom cropping business. I have three amazing boys: Lenny, 6, Mason, 4, and Jett, 4 months. How do you balance farm work and being a mother? When I had my rst and second sons, I helped more on the farm. Now that we have three boys, I am not helping at the farm quite as much. We were able to hire on quite a bit more help though, so my husband doesn’t need my help as much. Once custom cropping starts, I tend to milk cows more at night. I have a full-time job off the farm, so balancing being a mom, working and helping at the farm gets a little difcult at times. I’ve learned to accept that my house will be dirty. My dishes and laundry may pile up, and it’s OK. I don’t stress about the little things as much anymore.
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What are traits your mother has that you’ve tried to embrace? My mom has always been hard working, and she instilled that quality in me. Tell us about one of your fondest memories as a mother. There are so many. Watching my boys work together on the farm, cleaning pens, etc., and seeing how they love to be able to help us. It is amazing watching them grow up and all the new things they are able to help with at the farm. What is most gratifying about your role as a farmer and mother? I am so grateful to be able to work alongside my husband and to raise my boys to love farming just as much as we do.
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Genomics, heat detection system help create repro success for Paulus Dairy Mike, Lori and Andy Paulus Paulus Dairy Fredonia, Wisconsin 1,700 cows Describe your facilities and list your breeding management team. We house our cows in two 4-row freestall barns with a double-20 milking parlor in the middle. Heifers are housed in a 6-row freestall barn. Most of our breeding is done inhouse by Armando Barrera. For ovsynch days and Armando’s day off, technicians from Central Star do the breeding. Casey Degnitz is our main technician with Central Star. We also work with Scott Hecker and Susie Martin from Central Star through their Select Reproductive Service and Select Mating Service. We work with Cedar Grove Veterinary Clinic, and our herd veterinarians are Dr. Lindley Reilly and Dr. Collin Wimmler. We started genomically testing and work with Katie Martin from Zoetis. Andy Paulus, Tiffany Schneider and herd manager Nicole Schommer are also part of the breeding team. What is your current pregnancy rate? 30%. What is your reproduction program? Do you use a synchronization program? How do you get animals pregnant? We run a 14/12 presynch program that we start when the cows are 54-60 days in milk. For the 12 days after the
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MYSTIC VALLEY DAIRY LLC, SAUK CITY, WISCONSIN, 450 Registered Holsteins Mitch, Jacquie, Allie, Lauren, and Brayden Breunig, BAA 105.8 RHA 32,746M 4.02F 1318F 3.17P 1038P, Cheese yield 3524, SCC 98-113,000 “Comfort matters. For 10 years, we have been using Udder Comfort™ because it gets fresh cows off to a great start. Cows that start clean tend to stay clean throughout the lactation. So, we spray every fresh udder 2x/day for 3 to 7 days after calving and see their SCCs come down much faster,” says Mitch Breunig, Mystic Valley Dairy, Sauk City, Wisconsin, home to Jenny-Lou Holsteins, founded by his parents Jeanette and Louis. From balanced breeding and a focus on longevity came the legacy of Toystory. A goal today is high component, low SCC milk, shipping at least 7.5 lbs combined fat and protein. The 450-cow freestall herd averages over 110 lbs/cow/day with RHA over 1300 of fat, over 1000 of protein and records to 55,000 with more than 60 past 150,000M lifetime.
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Page 20 • Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022
ConƟnued from PAULUS | Page 18
Describe your breeding philosophy. We installed the CowManager system in 2018 and try to get the most out of that. We use less inputs as a result. We used to tail chalk daily, but we’ve gotten away from that practice. We also don’t give as many shots. We recently began using genomics to aid in mating cows. Our goal is to keep our herd size static but continue to grow our genetic prole.
have routine meetings with the members of our reproduction team to monitor our progress and make sure we are always heading in the right direction. We work as a team on the farm to execute those plans. There is no one thing that makes our reproduction what it is. It is a combination of things.
What guidelines do you follow to reach the goals for your breeding program? We have regular team meetings which include our veterinarian, Central Star reproductive team, Zoetis genomic consultant and farm employees. We try to stick to the plans that we lay out to keep our cow numbers consistent while growing our herd potential. We utilize sexed semen in our rstlactation cows and some high genetic second-lactation cows. Older cows and hard breeders are bred to Angus.
How does your heifer inventory affect your breeding program? Susie Martin from Central Star monitors our heifer inventory closely and mates the cows accordingly. We aim for 70 heifer calves born per month. This number allows us to continue to improve the genetics of the herd, while keeping our cow numbers stable.
What are the top traits you look for in breeding your dairy herd, and how has this changed since you started farming? We breed for a medium-sized cow with good feet and legs. We also put emphasis on productive life and net merit. With the addition of genomic testing, we also look at DWP$ when mating animals. Our cow size has changed over the years. We used to have bigger cows but have moved away from that. They don’t do as well in the freestall barn. They get banged up and don’t seem to last. Andy and Susie pick out the bulls we
What is the age of your heifers at rst service? 13 months.
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Nicole Schommer and Armando Barrera go over the breeding list May 10 at Paulus Dairy near Fredonia, Wisconsin. The farm runs a 14/12 presynch program that is started when cows are 54-60 days in milk. use. We typically use four bulls at a time and tailor them to our needs. With genomics, we also focus on some health traits in calves. Everything starts with a healthy animal. What are certain traits you try to avoid? We are watching the straightness of leg. We don’t want them to get too posty, which may cause stress on the tendons and ligaments. Describe the ideal cow for your herd. She is a mediumsized, well-balanced, functional animal with good productive life and good net merit. What role does genetics have in reaching the goals of your farm? All of our breeding de-
cisions are made based on genetics. If we have genomic information on the animal, that is what is used to mate her to get the best possible calf out of her. If we don’t have genomic information, we use net merit. With genomics, we are able to netune the bulls we are using and what cows are getting bred with what semen. We don’t plan on expanding, so this also helps to keep our heifer inventory in check. We can then make sure the heifer calves we get have the best genetic potential. What percentage of your herd is bred to sexed, conventional and beef semen? Cows: sexed 20%, conventional 16% and beef 64%. Heifers: sexed 64% and beef 36%.
What is your conception rate? How does this differ with different types of semen? Our conception rate is 43%; conventional 46%, sexed 45% and beef 41%. What is the greatest lesson you have learned through your breeding program? Reproduction is very multifaceted. Over the years, we worked to netune the different parts of our program. We worked with our veterinarians to build a sound vaccination protocol and put an emphasis on cow comfort to get the healthiest cows possible for a good base. We have made changes to how we grow and harvest feed to get high-quality forage in front of them. We then work with our nutritionist, Paul Roden, to balance rations. We
Tell us about your farm. Paulus Dairy is owned by Mike and Lori Paulus and their son, Andy Paulus. Their daughter, Tiffany Schneider, a large-animal veterinarian, came back to the farm full time in 2015. Mike bought the farm from his mom’s uncle in 1975, starting with 33 cows and 160 acres. In 1977, he built the farm’s rst freestall barn and double-6 herringbone milking parlor. Mike and Lori married in 1978 and purchased 45 more cows. In 2017, they formed an LLC with Andy. The Paulus family’s herd now contains 1,700 cows milked three times a day in a double-20 parlor, and they farm 2,500 acres.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022 • Page 21
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JD 9450, 2000, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 3850 hrs., 2481 sep hrs., #532894...........$44,900 JD S780, 2018, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 1597 hrs., 1130 sep hrs., #276170.......$329,900 JD S680, 2012, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 2808 hrs., 1765 sep hrs., #274579.......$134,900 JD S770, 2021, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 290 hrs., 200 sep hrs., #532535 .............$524,900 JD S680, 2014, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 2350 hrs., 1713 sep hrs., #276314 .........$219,900 JD S780, 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 451 hrs., 345 sep hrs., #190866...........$492,000 Case IH 8240, 2017, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 1733 hrs., 1318 sep hrs., #191428$212,000 JD S680, 2017, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 1941 hrs., 1362 sep hrs., #191923.......$271,000 JD S780, 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 161 hrs., 109 sep hrs., #191479...........$535,900 JD S790, 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 413 hrs., 299 sep hrs., #275515...........$549,900 JD 9670 STS, 2008, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 4233 hrs., 2830 sep hrs., #276373 ....$79,900 JD S790, 2018, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 1237 hrs., 914 sep hrs., #273973 ...........$334,900 JD S680, 2017, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 2200 hrs., 1507 sep hrs., #276315.......$247,900 JD S790, 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 147 hrs., 94 sep hrs., #275856.............$554,900 JD S790, 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 516 hrs., 382 sep hrs., #276139...........$524,900 Case IH 1680, 1987, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 4125 hrs., #276343 ..........................$8,950 JD S770, 2018, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 2242 hrs., 1587 sep hrs., #181147.......$245,000 JD 6620, 1979, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 1557 hrs., #187694 ...................................$7,900 JD S780, 2020, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 763 hrs., 539 sep hrs., #188459...........$454,900 JD S780, 2020, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 791 hrs., 596 sep hrs., #188309...........$454,900 JD S780, 2020, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 836 hrs., 626 sep hrs., #188458...........$454,900 JD S780, 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 290 hrs., 217 sep hrs., #191047...........$504,900 JD S780, 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 216 hrs., 168 sep hrs., #191048...........$507,900 JD S780, 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 114 hrs., 79 sep hrs., #191064.............$518,900 JD 9600, 1997, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 4409 hrs., 3113 sep hrs., #532056...........$24,900 JD S680, 2017, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 1487 hrs., 1053 sep hrs., #273646.......$254,900 JD S790, 2020, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 1088 hrs., 684 sep hrs., #274274.........$449,900 JD S680, 2012, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 2300 hrs., 1600 sep hrs., #532046 .........$150,000 JD S790, 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 322 hrs., 231 sep hrs., #275632...........$534,900 JD S780, 2020, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 872 hrs., 633 sep hrs., #531647...........$439,900 JD 9650 STS, 1999, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 5395 hrs., 3467 sep hrs., #276232 ....$34,900
JD X9 1100, 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 485 hrs., 321 sep hrs., #276061 .....$699,900 JD S790, 2020, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 1142 hrs., 864 sep hrs., #275917.........$429,900 JD 9770 STS, 2010, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 3666 hrs., 2599 sep hrs., #532697 ....$79,900 JD S780, 2018, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 1080 hrs., 700 sep hrs., #531873 ...........$319,900 JD S680, 2016, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 1659 hrs., 1197 sep hrs., #273603.......$247,900 JD 6620SH, 1982, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 3594 hrs., #274596...............................$6,950 JD S780, 2019, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 1268 hrs., 888 sep hrs., #275242.........$369,900 JD 9560 STS, 2005, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 3350 hrs., 2100 sep hrs., #531329..$82,900 Case IH 7088, 2010, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 3175 hrs., 2476 sep hrs., #531665$99,000 JD 9500, 1991, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 5637 hrs., 3750 sep hrs., #531870 ........$23,900 JD 9870 STS, 2009, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 5890 hrs., 4072 sep hrs., #532518..$54,500 JD S780, 2020, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 657 hrs., 473 sep hrs., #532549...........$465,000 JD S780, 2020, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 823 hrs., 640 sep hrs., #532517...........$439,000 JD S680, 2012, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 2575 hrs., 1817 sep hrs., #524875 .........$132,500 JD S780, 2019, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 745 hrs., 508 sep hrs., #169507...........$409,500 JD S780, 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 340 hrs., 281 sep hrs., #191053...........$528,000 JD S780, 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 387 hrs., 310 sep hrs., #191065...........$509,900 JD S670, 2014, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 2590 hrs., 1673 sep hrs., #191790.......$167,000 JD 9770 STS, 2008, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 3245 hrs., 2000 sep hrs., #531918..$92,000 JD S790, 2019, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 1184 hrs., 810 sep hrs., #171378.........$389,500 JD S680, 2014, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 2974 hrs., 2063 sep hrs., #182070.......$128,900 JD S680, 2014, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 1985 hrs., 1420 sep hrs., #189953.......$202,000 JD S680, 2015, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 2430 hrs., 1762 sep hrs., #190078.......$191,000 JD S790, 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 427 hrs., 308 sep hrs., #191075...........$582,500 JD S780, 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 397 hrs., 285 sep hrs., #191076...........$500,000 JD S680, 2016, Corn/Bea, PRWD, 1842 hrs., 1250 sep hrs., #532830.........$249,000 JD S780, 2018, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 1379 hrs., 950 sep hrs., #183533.........$355,000 JD 6620, 1983, Corn/Bean, 2WD, 3800 hrs., #188350 ...................................$9,500 JD S790, 2019, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 1390 hrs., 1110 sep hrs., #532032.......$359,000 JD 9760 STS, 2005, Corn/Bean, PRWD, 3984 hrs., 2728 sep hrs., #532686..$64,000
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Page 22 • Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022
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What dreams are made of
This morning I woke up in a home that I share with my husband and four children. I got the kids on the bus while sipping hot coffee, and then headed out to the barn to milk cows with the new puppy trailing me. After chores were done, I had breakfast with my husband before settling into my home ofce to work on things for the newspaper. I guess you could say I’m living the dream. My version of it, anyway. When I was younger, this is in fact what I thought of when I considered the dreams of my By Abby Wiedmeyer future. A red, hip-roofed barn full of cows, a family and an outlet as a writer. What I did not picture was everything it took to get here. There are a few moments that come to mind when I consider the last decade. How about the time we were moving from Viola to Muscoda. It was about a 40-minute drive. We had three kids at that point, ages 5, 3 and 9 months. Even though our family members, who were two hours away, helped as much as they could, there were many trips made with the kids, my husband and I in the pickup truck and a load of belongings in the back. There was one such trip where the baby screamed lustily unless the toy on her car seat was playing its music. This toy was a smiling ower that hung from the car seat and wailed a high-pitched tune. It bore no resemblance to any recognizable song and seemed to pierce right through the listener’s ear drums, leaving them cross-eyed and on the brink of insanity. Paired with complaints from the two older kids who were given the task of repeatedly activating the torture, it was enough to make me question some life choices. We made multiple trips that night and I remember saying to my husband, “Imagine hearing this tune 10 years from now?” To which he replied, “I think I’d instantly break into a cold sweat.” Or, how about once we were settled at that farm and happily milking our 40 cows in a tiestall barn. Our fourth child was born in the meantime. My husband got a job off the farm to make ends meet, and I took care of most of the chores while he was gone. Usually, the new baby would sleep in the stroller while the other three kept each other occupied. There was one time in particular that nothing was going well. The new baby was cranky, and the older three would not stay where I could see them. The cows picked up on my frustration and kept kicking milkers off while the baby cried and cried. Jason was not home from the off-farm job, and I had half the cows to milk. I nally had enough and let the milkers hang idle. I found a 5-gallon pail to sit on in the middle of the walk and nursed the baby while the other kids ran wild and the milkers clickclacked away. Not my most glamorous moment, for sure. When we moved to our current farm, I thought things would get easier. We had since doubled our herd and the simple fact that we no longer had to switch cows was encouraging. Less than a week after we moved there, however, Jason injured his knee while milking and was conned to the aid of crutches to get around. Our youngest was just under 1 year old, and the oldest was 6. Our roles changed, and he spent most of the time in the house with the kids while I took over chores. The rst time I tried to feed the heifers with the electric feed cart, I ran into trouble. The feed cart had to go up a slope which was wet and icy because it was the middle of winter. I put some barn lime down and started up the slope. The feed cart did not have enough power to go up the slope, and even though I was pushing as hard as I could, it slid off the side and smashed my nger into the gate. Some choice words were used, and life went on. Those are not the best or worst times we have endured. When I have a good day and think I am living the dream, I try to remember what it took to build. The struggles are what makes a dream. If it was easy, it would not be worth it. While there are many reasons why I don’t feel as though we have made it, I can recognize certain things are not quite as hard as they used to be. Next time you nd yourself in a less than ideal situation, think of what you are working toward and remember that someday you may laugh about it.
Home at last
Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022 • Page 23
Barclay returns to family farm after commuting to cows for over 15 years By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
SEYMOUR, Wis. – Sept. 22, 2021, was a special day for Aaron Barclay. It was the rst morning he was able to wake up on the farm and walk to work rather than drive. “Ever since I started dairy farming in 2005, I was never living where my cows were until now,” Barclay said. “The convenience is great.” Barclay and his wife, Ann, milk 50 cows and farm 80 acres near Seymour and are the proud parents of a 3-month-old daughter, Hannah. Barclay’s journey home began Jan. 1, 2017, when he started milking cows on the farm where he grew up, taking over the family operation from his parents, Warren and Sally. The farm has been in the Barclay family since 1905. Barclay’s dad was 15 when he took over the farm after the passing of his father. Barclay commuted to the farm for nearly ve years until his parents retired and moved to an apartment in town. At
that point, Barclay and his wife moved into the farmhouse. With cows close at hand, Barclay felt he had achieved an important milestone in his life and career. “We’re so glad to be living on the farm,” Barclay said. “I admit there are better places to have 50-cow dairies, because land here is limited and the price is high, but despite that, we’re in a great place for farming. There is an excellent infrastructure in the Seymour area. One of the best vet practices in the state is 3 miles away, and we have two feed mills in town as well as several implement dealers. Also, the neighborhood is amazing.” Prior to returning home, Barclay farmed at a couple other locations. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Farm and Industry Short Course in 2005, he started milking cows in a rented barn on a farm near Seymour. Taking a couple cows from home, he milked there until the spring of 2008 when he moved to the Nichols area in lieu of a larger setup. Milking 150 cows, Barclay entered
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Aaron and Ann Barclay and their daughter, Hannah, walk through the Ɵestall barn at the family’s farm near Seymour, Wisconsin. For the rst Ɵme in over 15 years, Barclay is living on the same farm where his cows are housed. into a partnership that lasted only a few years. “It was a great learning experience, but it did not go as planned,” he said. “However, I believe all things happen for a reason, even though sometimes you don’t understand the why of it. Much of what I learned has been useful for me in helping others through challenging situations.”
In January 2015, Barclay sold his cows and stopped dairying. He started working for a seed dealer doing sales and seed deliveries. In 2016, discussions of Barclay taking over for his mom and dad began, and the following year, he started purchasing the cows from his parents. When the cows are paid off, Barclay will begin buying the real estate,
which he anticipates will occur late next year. Barclay’s brother, Larry, took on half of the acres for cash cropping, and Barclay and his dad and brother each own machinery on the farm. Barclay buys dry hay and grain and also buys silage and haylage occasionally. “We’re shorthanded here Turn to BARCLAY | Page 25
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Page 24 • Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022
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Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022 • Page 25
ConƟnued from BARCLAY | Page 23 like everyone else,” Barclay said. “Ann and I do the brunt of the work, and we also have a neighbor who helps part time along with Mom and Dad as they are available. In the past, I’ve often employed teenage kids as their rst job and hope to do that again.” Ann grew up on a dairy farm near Marion, and brought some of her cows with her to Seymour. The Barclays milk in a tiestall barn, but Barclay has dreams of building something different one day. “I’d like to go to open housing, either a bedded pack or homemade free stalls,” he said. “I have the vision and schematics in my head. I’m also putting in a bigger bulk tank because the milk haulers won’t pick up every day.” Barclay likes to make improvements on the farm as he is able. Since stepping into the operation, he put up a Quonset shed for dry cows, and in January, he put a new steel roof on the barn. “I’m debating whether to sell some cattle or grow bigger and take the next step to 80 or 100 cows,” Barclay said. “It depends on the market and nances.
“I also like seeing cows on pasture, and I want to continue putting out a quality product.” AARON BARCLAY, DAIRY FARMER
However, I do like that we are a small family operation with the ability to give non-farm people a chance to see a dairy in a hands-on way. I like our approach-
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
The Barclay farm has been in Aaron Barclay’s family since 1905 near Seymour, Wisconsin. Barclay conƟnues to make updates, such as puƫng a new roof on the barn in January. ability. I also like seeing cows on pasture, and I want to continue putting out a quality product.” When he started running the family farm, Barclay also acquired his own dealership with Byron Seed and took his career in seed sales from full time to part time. Helping clients grow better crops and produce better feed is a passion of Barclay’s. He enjoys the challenge of helping farmers nd the right combination of seeds to attain the ultimate in feed quality and volume. “Ann and I try to emphasize the
value of family and faith in everything we do, and so does Byron Seed,” Barclay said. “That’s one of the key things that attracted me to this company. I believe in the people and the products. We’re trying to serve God with what we do and how we do it.” Between running his farm and selling seed, Barclay is always busy. But life is a little simpler now that he and his cows nally make their homes on the same piece of land. Things may not be perfect, but Barclay is happy to be the next generation in charge of his
family’s farm. “I’m aware of the struggles and shortcomings of being here, but it’s worth it to me,” he said. “It’s a great place for our young family to grow. Our intent is to dairy on this farm until we retire and leave the opportunity, not the obligation, for a new generation. This was not an obligation for me to take over the farm, and I don’t want it to be an obligation for my kids either. I just want it to be an option.”
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Page 26 • Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022
Majestic Crossing Dairy hosts Classroom on the Farm
Nearly 1,000 students visit to learn about agriculture
Farm. “We have to tell our story,” said Darin Strauss, one of the farm’s owners. “If you SHEBOYGAN FALLS, don’t do it, someone else Wis. – From milking a ber- does. You have to start someglass cow to petting a new- place, and this event provides born calf, students in She- an opportunity to educate both boygan County enjoyed an kids and adults.” exciting day on a dairy farm The partners at Majestic in early May. The educational Crossing Dairy milk 2,000 event brought many rst-time cows between two sites and farm visitors face farm 3,600 acres. to face with the inAt the site where dustry. Classroom on the Sheboygan Farm was held, County Farm Bu780 cows are reau hosted Classmilked by 13 Lely room on the Farm robots installed in May 5-6 at Majes2017. At the sectic Crossing Dairy ond site, cows are near Sheboygan milked in a parlor. Falls. Nearly 1,000 “More people third and fourth Darin Strauss are farther regrade students from Dairy farmer moved from farmSheboygan County ing and dairying in schools attended the event. general and as a result do not Two groups of students trav- know where their food comes eled to the farm each day from from,” Strauss said. “We’re 9:30-11:30 a.m. and noon to 2 losing that connection. Yet, p.m. This is the second year people are becoming more that Majestic Crossing Dairy intimate with their food and has hosted Classroom on the very passionate about what By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Children from Sheboygan Falls Elementary School get the opportunity to milk “Addie” the cow on the morning of May 5 during Classroom on the Farm at MajesƟc Crossing Dairy near Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin. Nearly 1,000 students visited the farm. they eat but are still naive on how it’s produced. We’d like to bridge that gap.” Students rotated through nine stations: Let’s Milk a Cow, Wisconsin Agricultural Diversity, Robotic Milking Demonstration, Beef, The
Cow Doctor, A Day in the Life of a Cow, Farm Machinery, A Cow Needs to Eat and Baby Calves. Presenters included local dairy farmers, college students and area professionals from Nutrition Profession-
als, Riesterer and Schnell, CP Feeds, Sheboygan County Dairy Promotion Committee, Dairy Doctors, the Dairy Business Association as well as Alice in Dairyland and JuTurn to TOUR | Page 27
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Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022 • Page 27
ConƟnued from TOUR | Page 26 lia Nunes. Held the rst Thursday and Friday of every May for the past 15 years, the two-day event replaces Ag in the Classroom in Sheboygan County. Kathy Salm is the Sheboygan County Farm Bureau promotion and education chair. “It was so hard to t Ag in the Classroom into the schedules of all the schools and farmer volunteers,”she said. “This way, we can reach all the kids at once. Many of the parents and teachers who come to Classroom on the Farm have never been on a farm either, so we can even help educate adults during this event.” Students had the opportunity to milk Addie, a life-size berglass cow, pet newborn calves and learn how they are cared for, see the farm’s crossbreed cows and learn what their day is like, watch a cow being milked by a robot, and view some of the farm’s large tractors. They also learned about the nutrients in milk and beef, what cows eat, the different agricultural products Wisconsin produces, some of the cheeses Wisconsin is famous for and other details. Strauss said the biggest thing he wants kids to take away from the event is knowing how much people in animal production care about their animals. “We take good care of our cattle, and more than anything, we want people to understand the type of relationships we have with our livestock,” Strauss said. “We want consumers to know that the milk and meat they buy are coming from well-managed facilities.”
Zaria, a student from Jefferson Elementary, said her favorite thing about Classroom on the Farm was seeing how big the cows are. “I didn’t think they were that big,” she said. “And the calves are really cute.” For a boy named Devin, seeing and petting the calves was his favorite part of the day. He also enjoyed learning how much calves eat. His classmate Jerry loved seeing the big tractor that was on display and learning how cows are milked. Valerie Kaiser is a third-grade teacher. “I think it’s really important for kids from the city to see a working farm in action,” she said. Each student was sent home with a reusable drawstring bag packed with information highlighting Wisconsin agriculture and careers. The students also received cow erasers and pencils along with Baker string cheese and dried cranberries courtesy of the Wisconsin Cranberry Growers. Teachers received informational packets and a block of artisan cheese courtesy of Sartori. Salm said the event is a continual way to get kids on the farm and interested in the agriculture industry. “We need a future for ag,” Salm said. “My neighbor who milks 1,500 cows said, ‘What if our kids don’t want to take over?’ They need another option, and getting today’s youth excited about agriculture might be that option. Not all kids go to college. Sometimes you have to work with your hands, and agriculture is working with your hands. We want kids to think about all their possibilities.”
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Women In Dairy Mary Adamson Milton, Wisconsin Rock County 300 goats Family: My husband, Randy, and I have six adult children and nine grandchildren. All of our children were a part of the beginning years of our goat enterprise, which started as a 4-H project that. Only our youngest daughter, Sarah, has maintained her interest in the farm. Although she is not involved in the daily operations, she comes out when needed and continues to travel to the shows with us. Tell us about your farm. Our farm started in 1994 with a small show herd of registered Alpines and Lamanchas. In 2009, we had the opportunity to buy a commercial herd of 160 does. Our farm employees consist of me, my husband and some high school kids who milk on occasion when we are out of town. We rented a milking facility down the road from 2009-11 and built new at our home farm in 2011. We milk 225 dairy goats in a double-12 parlor, where we have managed to increase our herd size solely through internal growth. Our herd is made up of primarily commercial does, Alpines, Lamanchas and Saanens; we also have a registered show herd within the milking herd. We have found dividing our milkers into three groups according to age and milk production allows us to tighten our management practices and have a more successful and healthier herd. We milk year-round and try to capitalize on the higher winter milk prices. We have approximately 300 to 400 kids born each spring. We keep only those kids out of our best milkers as well as some of the registered show kids. We own 5.5 acres, so we purchase our feed. Our hay comes in by the semi-load monthly from South Dakota, and our grain ration, milk replacer and mineral are purchased through Vita Plus. Our nutritionist is our youngest daughter, Sarah. What is a typical day like for you on the dairy? My main responsibility on the farm is kid raising and assisting with birthing during kidding season. I start my day at 6 a.m. in the kid barn, where I’m greeted by 100 hungry mouths. It takes me approximately 2.5 hours to feed, water and bed everyone. I repeat the process again in the evening. Our kids are raised solely on milk replacer and a starter-specic ration program, allowing us to ship all of our milk to our cheese plant in Belmont. I am also responsible for dehorning and vaccinating our youngstock, and I tattoo the registered kids. I am in charge of all record keeping for the registered animals, which includes breeding dates, birth dates, sire and dam information, and submitting registration applications to the American Dairy Goat Association. I also took an A.I. class many years ago, and I inseminate selected does in the fall. In addition to working on the farm, I am a real estate agent with Shorewest Realtors. What decision have you made in the last year that has beneted your farm? The biggest decision I made in the last year was taking early retirement from the school district where I worked. With a full-time job, I was nding it increasingly difcult to give the attention needed to everything at home. I also wanted a chance to grow my real estate business which would give me the exibility I was looking for. As I told my co-workers at the high school, I am not retiring. I’m going from three jobs to two. One of the biggest benets from this decision is that our youngstock are thriving because I have more time to look after and care for them, which allows Randy to focus on other aspects of the farm. Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. Competing in dairy goat shows is a big part of our farm, and it was the reason we initially got into dairy goats. Many of my most memorable experiences involve those special moments in the show ring. In 2013, at the ADGA National Show, we had three of our animals in the lineup for national champion and won the Alpine reserve national champion. Having one of my A.I. bred and home-raised bucks go premier Alpine sire at the national show in 2017 and 2018 is also a hard memory to beat. What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? Denitely watching my husband build up our herd to where we are recognized nationally with our show animals and also recognized here in the Midwest for our milk production in our commercial herd. Together we have improved the show herd, but he has been responsible for the improvement of our commercial dairy. We sell breeding stock to other commercial dairies, and he is regularly asked to advise other people who are interested in
Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022 • Page 29 starting a goat dairy business. We also enjoy all the friends we have made over the years in the industry who have enriched our lives in so many ways.
What is your biggest accomplishment in your dairy career? I have become successful at A.I., which has had a direct impact on the success of our show herd. With a friend of mine, I have hosted an A.I. class on our farm for the last ve years, and we also conducted an A.I. class at Northwest Technical College in conjunction with the Wisconsin Dairy Goat Association Fall Conference. I also did an A.I. demonstration for a delegation of university professors from Russia. But not being raised on a farm myself, one of my biggest accomplishments is giving our children the opportunity to experience the responsibility of livestock husbandry; it instilled a work ethic that has stayed with them into adulthood. They learned that jobs needed to be nished, and priorities needed to be set. Due to the nature of raising livestock, which can come with disappointments and losses, they also learned how to cope with adversity and to keep moving forward. What are things you do to promote your farm or the dairy industry? Most of our promotion is direct contact with people. We use our time at the Wisconsin State Fair and the Minnesota State Fair to educate fair visitors. We regularly have people who stop to ask questions, and this gives us the opportunity to educate the public not only on the dairy goat industry, but the dairy and agriculture industry as well. Many of them express appreciation for the information and insight into agriculture that we give them. I am the junior dairy goat superintendent at the Wisconsin State Fair, and this also gives me a chance to have a positive impact on the public’s perception of dairy goats. We supply the milking does for the goat milking demos at the Wisconsin State Fair’s Dairy Lane, which educates the public on Wisconsin’s goat dairy industry and the process in which the cheese and milk get from the farm to their table. I also use my real estate business to promote our products by including goat cheeses in my thank you baskets I give to my clients. What advice would you give another woman in the dairy industry? Be proud of what you do. We are part of a strong sisterhood of capable and dedicated women. But remember, there are other things that are equally important. Take time to be with your family and friends, or to do something you really enjoy. Those things that enrich our lives are important for our mental and physical well-being. When you get a spare moment, what do you do? I am an avid reader and enjoy many different authors and types of books. I also like to spend time with my husband, whether it’s a quiet hour at home or going along with him on an errand. And then there’s our children and grandchildren; seeing them are some of the best spare moments.
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Page 30 • Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022
Succession planning has two sides
Schmitz, Plante explain process with tips to succeed By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com
CASHTON, Wis. – When a farm goes through a generational transition, there are two sides to consider: the retiring party and the party that is taking over. Developing a plan that appeases both parties is key. “A farm succession is like when people who are on their own individual paths who are coming together to a future that is foggy and uncertain,” Mark Schmitz said. “When you’re doing this for the rst time, it can be pretty scary and feel risky if you don’t know what to expect. Having a guide like the Farm Center in ad-
dition to your trusted advisory team can help.” Schmitz, a staff member of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection’s Wisconsin Farm Center, spoke at a conference sponsored by AgrAbility at the Organic Valley Distribution Center in Cashton. He was joined by his co-worker, Kevin Plante. Schmitz and Plante stressed the importance of planning when considering a generational transition. When beginning to draw a plan, there are a few points that successful transition plans have in common. The goals of both parties are clearly identied and documented, nancial security for both parties is considered, an estate plan is established with a professional team and proactive communication within the family is evident. “Communication is so important because without clear communication, people don’t know where each
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other stands and make bad assumptions,” Schmitz said. “This creates needless fears about the future.” When considering the nancial aspects of farm transitions, assets and equity come into play. Schmitz said there is a difference between being equal and being equitable. “You can’t go to town and pay for groceries with a 5-gallon bucket of soil,” Schmitz said. “Even though you have a whole bunch of equity tied up in the land, that might not do you any good if you don’t have liquid assets.” There are certain cases when holding on to assets can be benecial, but it can sometimes have a negative effect as well. Plante explained what the Wisconsin Farm Center refers to as the DIRTI ve. The acronym stands for depreciation and repayment, interest on loan repayment, repairs, taxes and insurance. “This looks at what the expenses related to holding on to an asset are relative to what the opportunities are and whether there is income available or potential for revenue generation,” Plante said. “We sit down and crunch the numbers out.” Plante said there are many cases where gifting takes place in a farm transition. Some people do not realize that when a gift is made, the basis of the cost of what you buy stays with the giftee. If they turn around and sell it, there is a gain. “There’s always a caveat,” Plante said. “But if the idea is that it stays in the family and carries on year after year, let’s hope it’s a few generations before anyone has to deal with it.” Depending on what everyone’s needs and resources look like, there are a few business structures that can take form. Whether a limited liability company is formed or an informal agreement is made, an operating agreement can then be developed. This should establish the rules of the game and offer all parties a peace of mind. The operating agreement can also lay out the details of the purchase options versus the rst right of refusal if someone wants to exit and sell their share. It also lays out who owns what percentage of equity. Once the operating agreement is established, an estate plan should be documented to ensure control of the property while the retiring party is still alive and what will happen to them should they die. “It’s never too early or too late to start an estate plan or adjust a current plan,” Schmitz said. “It’s really a living document. It’s not a one-and-done situation.” There are ve events that the Wisconsin Farm Center says should trigger a review of a succession plan: death, disability, disagreement, divorce and decade. “As uncomfortable as it might be to get in front of an attorney and write a check for them to plan, without it, it really leaves a lot of uncertainty going forward,” Schmitz said. “Without it, it might end up being more expensive to administer your estate upon your death.” In the event of a death where there is no estate plan, assets are distributed per Wisconsin state law. This offers no Medicaid protection and is subject to probate which varies by county. “Doing nothing is certainly not a plan,” Schmitz said. “The bottom line is if you don’t have a plan then you really don’t have any control over what happens to your estate. The state will tell you what is going to happen.” Plante encourages everyone to develop a team to help with succession planning. This can be made up of an accountant or tax professional, attorney, family members, nancial advisor, insurance agent, lender or a third-party facilitator. “We always tell people this is a marathon not a sprint,” Plante said. “This will take some time, but it is better to try to get in front of it right away instead of trying to react to situations as they change.”
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What strategies do you use to withstand the volatile milk prices? I’ve tried to do more forward contracting. We use the Dairy Margin Coverage Program on the rst 5%. We have also been doing Dairy Revenue Protection, and then I have been using option strategy along with that to help pay for my premium. I have also started to work with our nutritionist to know what the real cost of production is and calculate our income over feed cost and understand how that affects our business.
How did you get into farming? I grew up farming. I went to college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for dairy science. I worked for a year at Land O’Lakes as a livestock production specialist. I came back to the farm after one year.
How do you retain a good working relationship with your employees? I try to be fair. I also try to communicate well and communicate expectations and then provide them with information that shows them how they’re doing.
What are your thoughts and concerns about the dairy industry for the next year? I think input costs are going to be a challenge. Risk management is also a big challenge. This will be the perfect time where the guys who do nothing will probably end up ahead, but over time, being able to control what you get paid and what you pay for things will be important no matter what size farm you are. What is a recent change you made on your farm and the reason for it? We went to raising our calves in pairs instead of in individual huts. A lot of the research is showing that there are a lot of benets to pair raising and not a lot of negatives. We’ve also been working on lung ultrasounds on baby calves. Every two weeks, calves between 7 and 35 days old get lung ultrasounds. We are nding some of the subclinical pneumonia before they show they are sick. We are discovering all the negative things that we do in our calves like not having enough straw for nesting in early winter and if other management is not good. If you have negatives in your calf program, it shows up there. I’m seeing gains in our post-weaned calves by using preventative maintenance strategies because of the ultrasound results. Tell us about a skill you possess that makes dairy farming easier for you. I love to study data and look for changes in performance of the parlor, cows and crops. I love to study information, and I’m pretty good at computers for DairyComp and writing my own codes. What is the best decision you have made on your farm? To invest in genetics and breed for cows that work at our farm. It’s made our farm successful. We have a high producing herd, and I probably sell 120-150 replacement
Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022 • Page 31
What do you enjoy most about dairy farming? I love the cow part of it. Just having a new cow calve in that really looks good and has potential to have genetics not only for our farm. The genetics are my favorite. What advice would you give other dairy farmers? Either you or someone in your operation needs to understand the nancial implications of decisions you make on your farm. Don’t be afraid to invest some time in further education. Try to get off your farm and get your employees off the farm to learn things about other farms that you can bring home and be successful with. animals to other farms per year. What are three things on the farm that you cannot live without? Activity collars, my nutritionist and my employees. The activity collars help track heats, help manage our fresh cows and give us a good overview of how our diet is performing. We have had them since 2013, but we learn how to use them more every day. Our nutritionist challenges us to not be complacent; make better forages, do better with our housing and helps raise the overall level of our farm by not accepting things that are changeable. Our employees do a great job of allowing us to farm, have family time and be productive.
What are your plans for your dairy in the next year and ve years? Short term, we will be building better heifer housing to replace older buildings. One of the goals we have on our farm right now is to ship 8 pounds of solids per cow. We have been trying to do it through forages and then just feeding our cows well and encouraging our dry matter intake. We are close to reaching that goal. The next ve years are tough to say as I’m not sure what the next generation looks like. How do you or your family like to spend time when you are not doing chores? My kids are in sports, and we love going to watch. I started broadcasting my daughters soccer games on Facebook live this year which I love. When I was a kid, I wanted to be Bob Ueker. I love doing that. What’s really cool about it is the kids go back and watch the game afterward too.
Page 32 • Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022
One generation at a time
Nelsons reect on dairy career, anticipate the future By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com
ARENA, Wis. – Nels-Vale farm has been home to dairy cows and four generations of Nelsons since 1915. As the times change, Jerry and Deb Nelson reect on their part in the farm’s story and what the next chapter will look like. “Experience teaches you a lot,” Jerry said. “I guess if you don’t learn from experience, you probably wouldn’t be farming.” The Nelsons milk 50 cows in a tiestall barn in Iowa County near Arena. Jerry’s great-grandfather, Karl Nelson, came to Arena from Norway to join family and friends that had already made the journey. Karl farmed on a couple different farms for ve years before purchasing the farm that stayed in the family. The farm began with a few animals and some land which was typical for the era. “They somehow scraped up money and bought 40 acres,” Jerry said. “They had a cow or two and worked for the neighbors in the village of Arena.” Henry Nelson, Jerry’s grandfather, expanded the farm in 1915. He had a funeral business with a team of horses that pulled a buggy and a hearse, serv-
ABBY WIEDMEYER/DAIRY STAR
Jerry and Deb Nelson stand by their barn April 19 at their farm near Arena. The Nelsons milk 50 cows with their son, Kris.
Jerry’s father took over the reins after graduating eighth grade. “Dad always used a rented bull and milked whatever was standing there,” Jerry said. “That’s just how they did things back then.” Jerry grew up and made plans to get married, knowing he would someday take over the farm. His parents accelerated that plan. “Ten days before the wedding, Jerry went in for breakfast after chores one day and his mom said, ‘Go get your clothes changed, we’re going to the attorney to sell you the farm today,’” Deb said. Jerry and Deb ofcially bought the farm that day in October 1979. They split JERRY NELSON, DAIRY FARMER the herd with Jerry’s dad the following January. Jerry and Deb stayed on the farm, ing three surrounding towns. When he and his dad went down the road with quit the funeral business, they added his half of the cows to continue farming some animals and began milking on a on his own. larger scale. “Jerry’s dad probably should have
“I think of what we had when we rst started here. The quality I am nally seeing, especially in the youngstock, I wouldn’t want to see them step on a trailer.”
retired, but he wanted to keep milking cows,” Deb said. Jerry and Deb began shipping their milk to Associated Milk Producers Inc. that same year. Previously, the farm had shipped to a small creamery nearby. “The creamery was Grade B,” Deb said. “We decided to ship Grade A milk and put an addition on the end of the barn.” This change opened up opportunities for the young couple to get involved with their milk cooperative. They joined AMPI’s Young Cooperators program where young producers would get together over the summer and an outstanding young cooperator was chosen every year. “We met people from practically all over the state,” Jerry said. Deb holds two positions for the AMPI board; district secretary and resolutions. Jerry is nishing his last year as a district director. Aside from upgrading their milk quality, Jerry and Deb also purchased a few registered animals in an effort to improve the genetics of their herd.
They tried to use good bulls and had a few cows go Excellent at 90 points. “It was a big deal back then to go out and buy a registered animal,” Jerry said. “That was 40 years ago. It was always neat to be able to go back and know what the generations are.” Today the farm is using more polled bulls. Deb said she is tired of dehorning, and Jerry worries about the animal welfare aspect of it. Jerry and Deb agreed farming has not always been an easy road. “There were times we were not sure if we’d make it,” Jerry said. Deb said that even though they are not organic, there were times they did not spray the crops or use fertilizer. Instead, they would cultivate the corn and use a nutrient management program to maximize the benets of their manure. “We were just careful about what we did, what we spent and how we did things,” Deb said. “We were able to raise ve kids here.” One of those children, Kris, is investing in the farm by upgrading equipment. This year, the farm will plant corn with a GPS guided 12-row corn planter. As the precision ag technician at a local implement dealership, Chris is using a more modern method of farming. The Nelsons think NAME may eventually take over the farm. “He likes the cows but envisions more of a freestall and robot set up,” Jerry said. “We told him that’s ne but it will be on his dollar.” Deb said she watched Jerry and his dad transition the farm and the difculties that come with working with family. She is now watching the same with Jerry and Chris. “It runs in our family,” Jerry said. “At one point, I wanted to quit school because dairy farming is all I ever wanted to do.” Jerry said he is not ready to let go of the reins just yet. “I think of what we had when we rst started here,” Jerry said. “The quality I am nally seeing, especially in the youngstock, I wouldn’t want to see them step on a trailer.” Deb agreed. “When people ask why he doesn’t quit milking cows, he just says, ‘What else am I going to do?’”
Innovating the use of byproducts
Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022 • Page 33
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Westby CooperaƟve Creamery in Westby Wisconsin invested $1 million in acid whey processing equipment. The creamery expects to process 6.9 million gallons of whey in 2022 and save $50,000 in disposal costs every month.
Cottage cheese manufacturer makes equipment investment By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com
WESTBY, Wis. – Westby Cooperative Creamery has made a $1 million equipment investment to process acid whey, the byproduct of cottage cheese production. The creamery has seen a demand for their product while simultaneously experiencing a change in the market for byproducts. “For several years, Westby had a client that directly purchased the acid whey for use as an ingredient in their operation,” Emily Bialkowski said. “The pandemic brought that business to a screeching halt, so we had a lot of acid whey on our hands with no place to sell it or put it.” Bialkowski is the sales and marketing manager for Westby Cooperative Creamery. The creamery initially disposed of the acid whey when they lost the market to sell it, said Bialkowski. “Proper disposal of this byproduct was costing as much as $50,000 every month, and that’s what drove us to invest in processing the acid whey ourselves,” Bialkowski said. The equipment has been in use since June 2021 and processes the acid whey into two saleable products; whey permeate and whey protein. The permeate is used as animal feed and the protein is sold to be used as an ingredient in human or animal nutritional supplements. “The process allows us to sell the ltered material in a more desirable form to a wider customer base,” Bialkowski said. During the cottage cheese making process, about 14% of skim milk is turned into dry curd, so 86% is turned into unprocessed acid whey. Every day, approximately 150,000 pounds of Westby’s production is untreated acid whey.
The acid whey is sent through ultraltration membranes where the protein is pulled off which creates the rst saleable product, whey protein. The byproduct of the protein process is sent to a reverse osmosis system where the permeate is pulled out, creating the second saleable product of whey permeate. The remaining water is ltered one more time, leaving the cooperative with more than 12,000 gallons of plain water each day. “It is the goal of the creamery to eventually reuse the water consumed from ltering acid whey,” Bialkowski said. “We are hoping to use the water for cleaning purposes.” The cooperative produces approximately 17 million pounds of cottage cheese annually. Westby Cooperative is the only remaining cottage cheese manufacturer in Wisconsin. “We can only hypothesize that the time and attention needed to make cottage cheese became less appealing to other creameries,” Bialkowski said. “It is a specialty product requiring experienced cheesemakers diligently watching time and temperature in every batch.” Cottage cheese is the creamery’s stalwart product. They make more cottage cheese than any other product. Approximately 44% of the creamery’s revenue is from the sale of cottage cheese. Westby Cooperative Creamery, founded in 1903, has one manufacturing plant in Westby. There is also a distribution center and cheese store in the community. There are approximately 125 employees, and the operation is owned by 146 small family farms. “As a dairy cooperative with over 145 small family farms that make their living off the land, we have a responsibility to actively research and invest in practices that help better our environment and the communities we live in,” said Pete Kondrup, general manager. “Turning acid whey into a usable product is one way we can do this.”
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Getting better
I missed writing an article for the month of April. Previous articles were centered around the concept of how we get better. Well, for me April was, “How do I get better?” You see, on March 24, I From My Perspective was driving home from two days of farm appointments. It was a cool day and a bit overcast and cloudy. I was traveling northbound and came over the top of a hill when I noticed a car traveling east to west, which was supposed to be slowing down for a stop sign at the intersection. However, in a split second, I noticed he was actually speeding up and apparently trying to beat me to the intersection. By Tom Anderson I didn’t have a stop sign, but Columnist he did. I knew I either needed to try and swerve to miss him (likely rolling my car) or take a hit. From the time I saw him until the massive crash to my passenger side was likely around two seconds or less. I have heard from people in the past that in those situations your life ashes before your eyes. It did in a way that I never understood before. It is amazing how many people you can think of in two seconds and what an impact this potential disaster may have on your family, friends, job and nancials. The other guy, driving a 2010 Mercury, plowed into my right side at a speed of about 70 mph (according to the county sheriff’s department). The bang of the metal against metal and the explosion of all the airbags in my car was deafening. I knew I had to keep the car on four wheels, if at all possible, and hopefully not let it roll. My car traveled through the ditch out into a eld and came to a stop on all four wheels. I remember thinking, “If I can see myself in the rearview mirror, I must be alive.” However, there was no mirror. Then I heard someone say, “Are you OK?” Hearing that voice made me realize I was alive. I eventually responded, “No, I am hurt, and I can’t get out.” Then suddenly the door opened and again he asked if I was OK but also said, “You blew the stop sign.” I asked, “And, who are you?” “The driver of the other car,” he said. I responded, “No, you blew the stop sign.” He looked over his left shoulder to the intersection and the replied back to me, “Well, maybe.” Shortly after, a lady passerby appeared at my door and called 911. It seemed within seconds that the county sheriffs, the ambulance and local re department were on the scene. One of the remen, Matt, is a farm management student of mine and a very good friend. He called my wife to let her know what had happened and that I was being taken to the emergency room, was alive and should be OK. What a blessing it was to see his friendly face and to have him comfort my wife. Blessed and grateful are about the only words to describe how I have felt since that day nearly seven weeks ago. Blessed to be alive. Grateful for all the rst responders who always graciously give of their time and talents to help those they don’t even know. Blessed to have a wife who provided marvelous care during a time I wasn’t able to get out of a chair alone. She is the best. Blessed and grateful for no life-long injury resulting from the accident. I will recover from a fractured sternum, bruised ribs and lungs. Lastly, I am surely blessed to have my church and so many others who have prayed for me and helped my family in so many ways. God is good. Why am I still alive after being hit at 70 mph? Why was I alone in the car as any passenger would have been crushed? Why am I so blessed? I am not sure how to respond to all of the questions that circulate in my mind, but I believe God must have plans for me yet. I can choose to be angry at the young 26-year-old driver or to pray for him as he hopefully reaches a more responsible time in his life. I would actually like to meet him someday and thank him for asking if I was OK. Accidents change our lives. They can change us physically but also mentally in how we look at life. I am now reecting back to how I cared for others when they needed help. Did I truly offer all I could? My accident will change the way I look at future situations and how I can be of support to others in times of need. It brings up a topic I shared in my last article on estate planning. I leave you with this question. Are you and your family ready for an unforeseen situation? Do you have a plan, documents prepared, and does your family know your wishes should the unlikely situation occur? Reach out to get help and support in making these most important decisions for your family. Tom Anderson is a Farm Business Management faculty member at Riverland Community College.
What happens in May There are a lot of things that happen in the month of May. We usually nish planting but not this year. Once it dries off, it will be a race to stay ahead of my husband, Duane, when he is planting. This year will also be a new adventure for Kevin, Anna’s husband, who will be working ground before she and I follow. As of today, we have only begun getting into the wet, cold elds to start cleaning up. By that I mean picking rocks, sticks and anything that can get in the way of By Tina Hinchley the planter once we start Farmer & Columnist rolling. Another thing that usually happens in May is that the farm tour season begins. We have had a few schools come to see the cows, pet the calves and get a chance to milk Stacy. This year we have bounced back after the pandemic and have a few extra farm critters such as lambs, piglets and many chicks. As May continues, more and more schools will be rolling in on the school bus for two hours of education and a chance to eat in the shed. While all this is happening, there are also upcoming elections for the board of directors for the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin. At the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, there are creative professionals who understand how precious our milk is to all of us dairy farmers. This staff works together to brainstorm new ideas, programs and also helps the companies that sell our dairy products. Everything that our milk is going into, whether it is cheese, ice cream, uid milk or one of the hundreds of dairy products that are now being brought to the grocery shelves, is being tracked and monitored by the people behind the scenes. These professionals are motivated by sales and are ecstatic when Wisconsin dairy products surpass goals that have been set. Every year, one-third of the 25-member board
Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022 • Page 35
consincheese.com website. Please take a moment and read about the dairy farmers who are passionate about knowing where our check off dollars go, but also how to be knowledgeable about all that is being done for all of us Wisconsin dairy farmers. I know a few dairy farmers who may think being on the board might take too much time, is too far of a drive or even that it is not going to make a difference. Well I am here to tell you different. Every dairy farmer can make a difference. If your district isn’t up for election and you might be interested in running for a board position, look ahead for when the term is up and make plans to participate.
If your district is up for election, you have until May 25 to vote. It is important when voting that you only vote for one candidate. You must sign the certication. You must send in the entire ballot in the postage paid envelope. All of these are required to make sure your vote is counted. Thank you for participating in voting for your district representative for the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin. Tina Hinchley, and her husband, Duane, daughter Anna, milk 240 registered Holsteins with robots. They also farm 2300 acres of crops near Cambridge, Wisconsin. The Hinchley’s have been hosting farm tour for over 25 years.
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Hot mess
Page 36 • Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022
People use the phrase, “Hot mess,” to describe many situations, but rarely is it used in the literal sense. We had a literal hot mess on our hands two weeks ago here on the ridge. Our machine/commodity shed went up in ames. At 30-plus years old, this shed has served many purposes. I can remember when they built it, because my rugrat little brother Thomas was throwing clay at my friend and me as we scooped clay to build our erosion model for the science fair in fourth grade. At 60-by-120, its primary use back then was to house machinery. It also hosted many graduation parties and summer farm parties. It was the place where Peter, Stacy, Thomas, Tony and I honed our skills as gladiators. We strung 15-gallon drums from the rafters on heavy twine and invented our own obstacle course. Two generations of farm kids used the big straw bales and piles of tires as barriers during hundreds of giggling games of hide-and-seek. The outside of the shed was lined with lilac bushes; overgrown, yes, but so lovely and fragrant every spring as the breeze carried the scent across the farm. More recently, the shed was used to house all of our big straw bales, two freezers of meat, a seeder, the year’s seed corn, skid loaders, skid loader attachments, milk replacer,
extra tires and miscellaneous lumber. One bay of the shed held oat hulls and another held ground corn. We use quality straw in our TMR daily, for bedding animals from sheep to calves, and for keeping the calving pen cozy and clean. Dad purchased the freezers a few years back, and they have been well utilized when we butcher pigs, chickens and inevitably, an injured cow. Peter had the seed corn all neatly organized on pallets ready for the weather to scream it was at long last spring. Peter was on uncle duty that night. Henry and Cora were helping him work in the shop when they heard a loud pop. Jaime was headed to Bible study after feeding calves and noticed a giant cloud of black smoke. Dad was assisting the manure-pumping crew when he saw ames and heard a pop. All three, not knowing where anyone else was at, all called 911 within minutes of each other. I hurried home from a banquet in town, leaving Ira and Dane to be dropped off by a dear neighbor. Though you know in your brain that no one was injured (or worse), the immediate shock of seeing a re of that magnitude on your farm is extremely emotional. When you pull in the driveway and are greeted by rst responders, a sheriff’s deputy, and the snapping and
popping of ames as they swallow the roof of the shed and gulp at the straw and everything else underneath, you Ramblings from the Ridge can do nothing but cry from the helplessness of the situation. Tony and Peter were using the payloader with the pile shaver attachment to pull off the tin to then be carried to spots on the lawn by the crews of remen. The Hillsboro Fire Department’s ladder truck made its debut here and is likely responsible for saving not only the shop, By Jacqui Davison but also the transformer that Columnist sits between the shop and the shed. Five area departments were called to help control the ames. They zoomed to ll their tanks at different branches of the Baraboo River down the road to keep hoses spraying. Thankfully, the wind was in our favor that night as it blew the smoke down to the woods as opposed to toward the house or the cows. The black plume of smoke was reportedly seen many, many miles away. As the remen, with help from Bill Krueger in his excavator, and our men, worked to keep the shop safe and calm the re, the rest of us fed the people working. I called my cookie baking friends down the road and within an hour had two fresh batches of chocolate chip cookies. The rest of us set about making sandwiches, frying burgers, hot dogs, frosting brownies and phoning a few friends to deliver water and Gatorade. As we set up an impromptu buffet line in the shop, we were given a roaster full of pork from the FFA banquet in town to add to our late-night smorgasbord. Cora was quite shook up from the experience and poured her feelings into drawings. After a day of hearing adults talk about how expensive everything is (and how thankful we were that they weren’t playing in there that day), she also drew a plan for the new shed and then pitched it to Grandpa Jim. “It should be pink on the outside with a blue roof, and in white paint, we should paint the word expensive on the front of it.” When asked what she thought expensive meant, she didn’t miss a beat. “It means you worry about it and want to take care of it.” The amazing mind of a 5-year-old. Though I know I didn’t name all of the incredible, helpful, kind and thoughtful humans, know that we all appreciate every little thing from each of you. I often wonder if other sectors of society are as generally helpful in times like this as farming communities are. I am moved to tears in an instant by the goodwill of our neighbors, vendors, friends and many other kind-hearted people. Thank you. As the kids stared at the shed debris in disbelief, we reiterated that while many things may have been lost, none of them breathed. So, they are easy to replace. Jacqui and her family milk 800 cows and run 1,200 acres of crops in the northeastern corner of Vernon County, Wisconsin. Her children, Ira (14), Dane (12), Henry (7) and Cora (4), help her on the farm while her husband, Keith, works on a grain farm. If she’s not in the barn, she’s probably in the kitchen, trailing after little ones, or sharing her passion of reading with someone. Her life is best described as organized chaos – and if it wasn’t, she’d be bored.
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Milk per stall
I am just going to say it right here. Milk per stall is not an appropriate measure of efciency to use on a dairy farm. There seems to be a trend to use milk per stall this way, and I do not like it. Why not? For one, increasing milk per stall by increasing stocking density as in Veterinary Wisdom “High stocking density is a solution for more prots”, Dairy Star, 2022, 24:4, p. 1, is based on a fallacy. The fallacy is this: I added more cows to my barn. I made more money. So therefore, diluting the cost of a stall makes me more money. The problem is that you did not just dilute the xed cost of a stall. You diluted the xed cost of By Jim Bennett everything, including your Columnist tractors, skid loaders and the big one: the parlor. So yes, diluting xed costs on a dairy with more milk from more cows often is a solution for more prots, and dairy farmers have known this for generations. The plant needs to be full. But, that does not mean the prot came from diluting the cost of a stall. In fact, on most farms with high stocking densities, adding cows and adding stalls will make more money than just adding cows. Isn’t it OK to look at individual costs, like the cost of a stall, in a nancial analysis? Sure, of course. But, why not calculate prot based on the cost of all the tractors on the farm and then design a prot-increasing metric like milk per horsepower? Or, maybe milk per number of skid loaders? Using metrics like this lead one to try to improve in isolation, which can have negative consequences. This is particularly true with the use of milk per stall. There are several problems specic to using milk per stall. The rst one is that most negative changes that occur following an increase in stocking density are long term not short term. This means you do not see the results right away; so yes, you made more money this year, but what about next year, or three
Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022 • Page 37
years down the road? The Dairyland Initiative does a great job explaining this: https://thedairylandinitiative.vetmed.wisc.edu/home/housing-module/adultcow-housing/stocking-density/. Negative effects include reduced lying time, increased lameness, sorting feed, decrease in milk fat and protein percentage, decreased milk production per cow, reduced rumination, decreased conception rates and pregnancy rates, elevated somatic cell counts, more manure contamination of legs and udders, reduced water consumption, less fresh air volume per cow, longer milking times and strains on other facilities on the farm. The effects of these changes are mostly not seen for some time after they happen. Furthermore, overstocking negatively affects ve of the big six drivers of protability as dened by Compeer and Zoetis: somatic cell count, milk per cow, cow death rate, pregnancy rate and herd replacement cost. But, maybe you did increase stocking density a while ago and made more money, and your pregnancy rate did not really drop. And, your somatic cell count did not really increase, and your milk per cow stayed about the same. So, how can this be true? What about your neighbor? How is your neighbor doing? Your neighbor probably gets more milk per cow, has a higher pregnancy rate and a lower somatic cell count than he did ve years ago. In other words, even though you did not see big changes, you are in a poorer competitive position than you were before. There is also the problem of losing labor efciency. Crowed pens means a lot more labor every time someone needs to nd a cow or group of cows. Often there are two or even three people looking for cows. This is expensive. The real problem with milk per stall is that almost all the negative effects result from, or directly harm, animal welfare and animal well-being. Ouch. Putting more cows through the parlor every day typically does not decrease animal well-being. Having manure from more cows in that million-dollar manure pit does not decrease animal welfare. But, putting more cows in a stall does. Farmers know this. One of my associates told me she asked one of our successful dairy farm-
ers why he did not crowd his cows more and he said, “Because it is the right thing to do.” She told me, “I wanted to hug him.” Putting more cows in a bed is not the right thing to do. This leads to the nal reason for not using milk per stall as a measure of efciency: public opinion. Imagine the bad press if a company running a forprot prison started measuring the numbers of prisoners per bed. There would be a public outcry because everyone knows sleeping is a fundamental need of humans. Everyone also knows that lying down is a fundamental need of cows. The animal care agreement of the FARM program says, “I conrm my commitment to the highest standards of animal care by hereby agreeing that proper animal care is the responsibility of every individual who is around animals, including me.” Chasing milk per stall shows consumers we do not mean what we say. Saying one thing and doing another creates cognitive dissonance for our consumers, and they may respond by eating less dairy. Who wins here? Not cows, not dairy farmers and not consumers. We do not have to treat cows like people. The goal of any business, including dairies, is to make money. And yes, some compromises can be made, but they need to be made in ways that do not grossly compromise animal well-being. In fact, my observation from more than 40 years of veterinary practice is that farms that signicantly compromise animal well-being tend not to stay in business while the ones that concentrate on excellent animal care tend to do very well. Milk per stall is not somewhere we should go. It should not be on anyone’s goal sheet. We can do better. 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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The shoe cobbler’s children Page 38 • Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022
There’s a saying I’ve heard from time to time that the shoe cobbler’s children are the worst shod. I don’t personally know any cobbler’s children to verify whether that’s a saying based on any truth, but I can say that this dairy farmer’s kids are often without milk for their cereal. This morning I grabbed milk for my coffee and realized that, once again, there was barely enough milk for the kids’ cereal. A portion of what little was left went into my multiple cups of coffee consumed while writing this and listening to the birds who, like me, are overjoyed with the sunny and warm weather after a month of rain and gloom. The fact that there are only about four hours every other day where there is no milk to be had on the farm without going out and throwing a halter on one of the show cows and hand milking her means there’s not much incentive to grab the milk jug and run to the barn for a rell. I can grab it out of the tank after I nish chores. No one will miss
it for another couple hours. This usually leads to me forgetting to ll the milk jug still sitting on the step of the bulk tank an hour or two later when I head up to the house after nishing those chores. No worries though, I can ll it after breakfast. At this point, someone usually calls me, and I’m distracted from what I was going to do immediately when I got back to the barn. That thing being lling the milk jug and bringing it back up to the house. By the time I remember again that the milk jug is waiting to be lled, I walk into the milkhouse just in time to greet Erik, the milk hauler, and hear the sound of the hose sucking air because the last few drops of milk just exited the tank and headed to the milk truck’s stainless steel tank. Not all that interested in going out and hand milking one of the kids’ show cows, I vow to remember to grab milk after evening milking and sometimes I do. Sometimes I wake up the next morning and nd there’s still no milk in the fridge. I hope I’m not the only person this happens to. I won-
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der if chicken farmers ever have to forgo wafes for a lack of eggs in the refrigerator to make them with. Probably so. It’s sometimes easy to forget when you live on a farm surrounded by food just how expensive eating well can be, especially with a couple teen boys eating seemingly everything in sight all day long. If we didn’t have freezers full of meat and all the eggs and milk a person could From the Zweber Farm ever want to consume, our grocery bill would be astronomical. Teenage children’s appetites are a great incentive to have a diversied farm that sells meat and eggs. I’ve never kept track of how many pigs and chickens we eat personally each year as a lot of our meals consist of the By Tim Zweber weird sized or shaped packages, or something Farmer & Columnist that got dropped on the oor, or was mislabeled, or a chicken missing a wing, or countless other defects that cause me to toss something in our personal freezer instead of selling it to a customer. Sometimes I accidentally drop a steak just in time for breakfast on Saturdays when Emily and the kids are gone to rock climbing and ballet practice and I’m in the mood to cook myself some steak and eggs. Time to get down to the barn and take care of all those chickens, pigs and cows while enjoying the sun. Hopefully things will start to dry out and some planting can get done in the near future. Until next time, keep living the dream, and don’t forget about the milk jug. Morning coffee just isn’t as good without a splash of milk. Tim Zweber farms with his wife Emily, their three children and his parents Jon and Lisa by Elko, Minnesota.
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Milk’s new look
Not surprisingly, I sometimes feel I am obsessed with milk on our farm and household. I haul it, pour it, feed it to calves from a bottle, watch it stream from our cows’ udders into the milking system and listen to it get pumped into a tanker every other day. Then, I haul it in 2-gallon pails to our home pasteurCome Full Dairy Circle izer, cool it, pour it into containers for two homes, place it on the table and put it back into the refrigerator, time and again. Our milk is delicious because it is fresh and pure with a nice amount of fat and protein from our cows. People compliment the milk served in our house, and then we realize we take it for granted. Lots of us grew up drinking milk at every meal and pouring it on top of our breakfast cereal. Now that doesn’t happen in many households for a variety of reasons. Yet most grocery shoppers still put cow’s milk in their carts along with butter, cheese, yogurt, ice cream and even more dairy. People now enjoy eating more of By Jean Annexstad their dairy rather than drinking it. Still, I believe uid Columnist milk innovations will lead people to drink their milk beyond the traditional ways. People look to dairy for different reasons, but this is the main one: “Dairy foods are a delicious, wholesome source of protein. Whether you choose white milk, chocolate milk, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt or greek-style yogurt, all contain high-quality protein to help fuel us through the day.” That’s the banner statement on the Midwest Dairy website. The challenge is how to tap into this when creating and marketing new milks. People now eat on the go. They seek healthy options for muscle rebuilding and hydration before or after workouts. They want ways to fuel their bodies during their busy days, even seeking attributes such as improving gut health in their drinks. They also like coffee drinks or cool smoothies for a treat. So, if we think about the transformation in eating habits people have made, does drinking cow’s milk still have a place? If you check for new beverages on the market that contain milk, whey, cream, no lactose, added protein, various avors, A2 milk, and a boost of prebiotics or probiotics, it certainly seems that transformed milk is becoming suited to what people are seeking. Peering into the beverage cases at a grocery or in convenience stores gives you instant insight into the variety of appealing new products. To focus on the positive story of milk that we all work hard to produce every day, I thought it would be fun to highlight a few of those options that are redening uid milk that we in the barn might not know about. Good Sport is a new sports drink containing milk components that is naturally sourced and has three times the electrolytes and one-third of the sugar of traditional sports drinks. It is described as “scientically-proven to provide rapid and long-lasting hydration by harnessing the electrolytes and carbohydrates found in milk.” It has B vitamins, glucose and galactose to improve uid absorption and calcium for stronger bones and powerful muscle function. I will provide it in a cooler for the hot, humid days of preparing and covering the bunker silos this summer to see how it works in that situation. More intriguing new milk-based options are found at Taco Bell. This spring, that chain unveiled a shelf-stable creamer to use in their coffee drinks, Pineapple Whip Freeze and Island Berry Freeze beverages, developed with support from national dairy checkoff food scientists. The freezes sound like a refreshing summer treat to sip while enjoying their other offerings containing lots of cheese. Taco Bell’s new Cinnabonavored iced or hot coffee using the milk base sounds delicious to me. Another new milk option is called siips, a Dairy Farmers of America product. It is sold as an 8-ounce can of avored lowfat milk. The online marketing calls out its appeal: “Protein for power. Calcium for bones. And ridiculously indulgent avors just for fun. It’s smooth and sweet. Nourishing you at your best.” It comes in chocolate, caramel and mocha avors. A favorite offering that I enjoy while watching my fat intake is Chobani coffee THE AFFORDABLE GPS creamer. I use it sparingly to make special coffee at GUIDANCE home and will try it in my SOLUTION iced coffee this summer. It has only 1.5 grams of fat and 30 calories per serving and comes in several enticing avors. There is evidence, however, that younger folks are looking more toward full-fat natural milk and Add a level of precision to your operation this season with cream, so that is yet another the Outback® S-Lite GPS Guidance System. A few of the key uid market to tap. features include. Though everyone s !FFORDABILITY n It’s now affordable to add GPS seems to enjoy good, oldto your operation. fashioned, ice-cold chocos 'UIDANCE -ODES n Perform both straight and contour late milk as an appealing modes. Includes perimeter acre feature. treat, some of these new ops 3UB -ETER !CCURACY n Utilizes WAAS without the need tions sound delicious. They for a subscription. are made with milk, so let’s s -ULTIPLE !PPLICATIONS n Utilize the S-Lite for everything drink up. from spraying to tillage applications. Jean dairy farms with s 1UICK 2ETURN ON )NVESTMENT n Quick one season payback. her husband, Rolf, and brother-in-law, Mike, and children Emily, Matthias and Leif. They farm near St. Peter, Minnesota, in Norseland, where she is still trying to t in with the Norwegians and Swedes. Order online at: i They milk 200 cows and www.RuralMfg.com farm 650 acres. She can be reached at jeanannexstad@ Toll Free 1-800-477-7135 gmail.com. Rural Mfg. Co. Inc. • Freeman, SD 57029
Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2022 • Page 39
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