June 10, 2023 Dairy Star - 1st section - Zone 2

DAIRY ST R25

Celebrating a golden recovery

Jensens to host Polk County breakfast 4 years after storm

By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com

COMSTOCK, Wis. –

In a matter of moments, a wind storm tore through the Polk County farm owned by Neil and Janice Jensen and their daughters on the evening of July 19, 2019.

Nearly four years later, the Jensens feel they are nearing the completion of their rebuilding efforts and are ready to welcome visitors to their farm for the Polk County Dairy Breakfast June 17.

The Jensens, along with daughter Jillian Tietz, milk 140 head on their Idle Gold Guernsey Farm near

Comstock. The storm that hit northwestern Wisconsin that day caused some level of damage to every structure on the Jensens’ farm.

The National Weather Service conrmed two tornados, with wind speeds up to 90 mph, touched down in the area.

“I was feeding and heard the radio station saying the Barron County Fair was being evacuated because a tornado had been spotted about 30 miles due west of the fairgrounds in Rice Lake,” Neil said. “That had it headed right in our direction. It was milking time, and we had cows in the parlor, but suddenly the sky got dark and green. It really did

sound like a freight train, so we headed to the basement.” When the brunt of the

storm had passed, the Jensens emerged from their basement to nd a portion of

Near-fatal collision cannot hold dairywoman back

Marschall survives internal decapitation to return to the farm

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

CALEDONIA, Minn.

– Rural rst responders from Caledonia were already in the ambulance when they were called to the scene of Rebeckah Marschall’s car crash.

“They told me that I didn’t have another two minutes,” Rebeckah said. “They got to the scene, and they picked my head up and I gasped for air.”

if the

accident.

Rebeckah was struck on the driver’s side at around 55 mph in the late afternoon in snowy weather conditions Dec. 16, 2022, on her way to work on her family’s dairy farm.

Within six hours, her inju-

the house roof missing and water from the pouring rain ries required an airlift to a hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. The airlift occurred as soon as a plane could be found as the weather conditions did not allow for helicopter or ground transport.

There, they worked to stabilize her head and neck which had suffered what the medical team called internal decapitation. Rebeckah said the doctors described her injury as a complete separation of the skull base from the cervical spine which required them to do an occipital cervical fusion procedure.

The neurosurgeon had never seen or performed the type of surgery Rebeckah needed and had to rely on studying two medical journal articles about the surgery during her transfer. The family was informed of this immedi-

“All dairy, all the time”™

AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR

Rebeckah Marschall smiles with her dad, Dan Schroeder, in the milking parlor April 25 on their farm near Caledonia, Minnesota. One of Marschall’s rst concerns when she woke up a er a near-fatal accident was

milk tester had been called because they were supposed to test the day a er her

DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR

The Jensen family – Neil (from le ) and Janice Jensen and daughter Jillian Tietz – are preparing to host the Polk County Dairy Breakfast June 17 on their farm near Comstock, Wisconsin. The Jensens milk 140 cows.

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Former House Agriculture Committee Chair Collin Peterson addressed the U.S. Meat Export Federation Spring Conference. Peterson said he would be surprised if a farm bill is passed before the current law expires at the end of September. “I think they probably have until the end of the year to get something done,” Peterson said. “If it doesn’t get done by the end of the year, I think it will probably get extended, and with it being an election year, I wouldn’t be surprised if you do a one-year extension, you’ll end up with a two-year extension.” Farm groups are seeking additional farm bill funding to increase reference prices and boost international market development. “I just don’t know where it will come from,” Peterson said.

Supreme Court delivers victory for landowners

In a long-awaited decision regarding the Waters of the United States rule, the high court found the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers wrongfully claimed authority over wetlands. In a 9-0 holding, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Sackett family and killed the signicant nexus test which has caused headaches for landowners around the country.

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said the nexus analysis was very unclear. “It was almost impossible for a landowner or a farmer to quickly and efciently decide which wetlands are regulated,” he said.

White House: WOTUS ruling is a step ‘backward’

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the agency is still evaluating the Supreme Court decision on Waters of the United States. “I am deeply disappointed that the Court is taking away EPA’s ability that has been standing for 50 years,” Regan said. Meanwhile, the White House said the court ruling “will take our country backward.” In a statement, President Joe Biden said it puts our nation’s wetlands at risk of pollution and destruction, jeopardizing the clean water that American families and farmers depend on.

Dairy farmers receiving pandemic funds

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is preparing to distribute funds for the second round of Pandemic Market Volatility Assistance Program payments to dairy farmers within a matter of weeks. The rst round of payments re-

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Combest Sell and Associates managing partner Tom Sell hopes the agreement on the debt ceiling will spark momentum for the farm bill. “The farm bill tends to be an area where Congress can show how it can work together at its best,” Sell said. “It doesn’t make it easy, but we have great leadership.” Sell expects forward momentum in June and July with the farm safety net at the heart of those discussions.

Van Bruggen expects changes to be made to EPA’s WOTUS rules that were released earlier this year.

imbursed dairy farmers for 80% of the calculated revenue difference per month during the July-December 2020 time period. The rst payment was on the rst 5 million pounds of product, and the second round pays dairy farmers for 5-9 million pounds of milk production during that same window of time. Payments should be made by June 20.

Walz signs omnibus agriculture bill

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed the agriculture and broadband bill into law during a ceremony on a Finlayson farm. Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen said the bill contains over $48 million of funding covering soil health, biofuels, livestock processing and grain indemnity accounts. One important part of the agriculture bill that Petersen noted is the grain indemnity fund. “It will help with times when we have elevator failures where farmers would get 10 cents on the dollar,” Peterson said.

Added sugars debate includes avored milk

USDA is looking for ways to reduce the amount of added sugars in food and is considering a ban on chocolate milk from schools. Milk consumption declines signicantly in schools when avored milk isn’t an option. Nearly 40 major school milk processors have pledged to offer school milk options with no more than 10 grams of added sugar per 8-ounce serving by the 2025-26 school year. The Healthy School Milk Commitment has been made to get ahead of USDA’s update of its dietary guidelines.

A victory for AM radio

Ford Motor Company has reversed its previous decision and will keep AM radio in its new vehicles. Ford is also offering a software update to provide AM broadcast capabilities in its electric vehicles. National Association of Farm Broadcasting Executive Director Tom Brand credits the rural community and their lawmakers. “Listeners responded and reached out to lawmakers and automobile manufacturers,” Brand said. “There was also a letter sent by 102 members of the U.S. House of Representatives in recent weeks to several

automakers; it not only reminded them about the importance of AM radio but also asked some pointed questions, including the amount of federal subsidies they’ve received in the last 15 years.”

Bills have also been introduced in the House and Senate to preserve AM radio in cars and trucks. Local radio has a role in providing information during weather emergencies, and these proposals would consider radio as a safety feature in cars and trucks.

Stenholm passes

Former Texas Congressman Charlie Stenholm, 84, has died. Stenholm was the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee from 1997 to 2005. Stenholm also chaired the Blue Dog Coalition. Once his time in ofce ended, Stenholm was a lobbyist on agricultural interests and taught farm policy at Tarleton State University.

Flournoy to oversee diversity issues for FFA

The National FFA Organization has named Corey Flournoy the executive in residence for equity, diversity and inclusion. Flournoy was the rst African American national FFA president and has 30-plus years of leadership in diversity and inclusion programming.

WDE hires sponsorship manager

Jennifer Dobbs is the new sponsorship manager for World Dairy Expo. For the past 12 years, Dobbs was the director of festivals and events for the Wisconsin Dells Visitors and Convention Bureau.

Trivia challenge

June Dairy Month began as National Milk Month in 1937. That answers our last trivia question. For this week’s trivia, how many pounds of milk are needed to produce 1 pound of cheese? We will have the answer in our next edition of Dairy Star.

Don Wick is owner/broadcaster for the Red River Farm Network, based in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Wick has been recognized as the National Farm Broadcaster of the Year and served as president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Don and his wife, Kolleen, have two adult sons, Tony and Sam, and ve grandchildren, Aiden, Piper, Adrienne, Aurora and Sterling.

running rampant in their home.

“Coming up out of the basement, I wasn’t even sure we were going to be able to get out of the house,” Janice said. “It was still storming and rain was pouring down. We had no idea what we were going to nd.”

The Jensens climbed out of the house to nd their world in chaos.

“There were calves running everywhere, and the cows were spooked,” Janice said. “It was really overwhelming. We just had no idea what to do or where to start.”

The Jensens discovered about one-third of the roof was ripped off the tiestall barn that had been converted into their parlor, but none of the cows inside were injured. The freestall barn, built in 2015, did not fare as well and was leveled.

The Jensens lost heifers that ran out of their barn when debris began pummeling the building. Several animals needed to be culled later for injuries and issues that came from the aftermath of surviving the storm.

“There was so much metal everywhere,” Tietz said. “Northern Vet Clinic donated magnets, and every animal that was old enough got a magnet.”

Despite wide-spread damage in their area, the Jensens said they were blessed with volunteers who showed up to help and care for the animals. The majority of the cows were moved to a nearby vacant tiestall facility at Dueholm Farms, while others were taken in by the Grewe family. All of the calves on milk were taken in by the Dado family. Heifers and dry cows remained on the farm.

The Jensens themselves remained on their farm, taking up residence in a camper until home repairs could be completed.

An army of volunteers from around the community spent hours helping the Jensens clean up debris and prepare their farm for rebuilding.

The rebuilding process was slow because of the amount of damage to homes and other structures in the area, Neil said. Then, the coronavirus pandemic slowed the process down even further.

Not all of the damage was apparent immediately, the Jensens said. As the work on the house commenced, it was discovered that up-

Turn to JENSENS | Page 7

DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR

The Polk County Dairy Breakfast will be hosted by Idle Gold Guernseys near Comstock, Wisconsin. The Jensen family has spent the past four years rebuilding their farm a er a storm caused signicant damage.

rooted trees had damaged the septic system. Later that fall, the Jensens realized they were dealing with stray voltage on the farm.

“We realized as it started to freeze that the automatic waterers were shocking the heifers trying to drink,” Neil said. “It took a couple of weeks to track the problem down, but we had a broken line underground.”

The aftermath of the storm took a toll on their herd, but the Jensens said they nally feel things are starting to come together again for their cows.

“We had a lot of trouble getting animals bred back for a while that coincided

with the stray voltage,” Tietz said.

Most of the Jensens’ hay needed to be discarded because of debris damage.

“We had to get rid of all of our round bales and all of the small squares in the haymow because of metal debris,” Neil said. “Our corn crop that summer was badly damaged. It came back some, but the quality was so comprised because it really didn’t set on ears. In 2020, we were feeding haylage as fast as we could make it because we were out of corn silage.”

Working with their contractors, insurance company and herd health

team, the Jensens continued the day-to-day process of putting their farm back together.

Now, four years later, the Jensens are ready to welcome their community to their farm.

“I hope to see many of the people who came and volunteered to help us back then so that we can show

them our appreciation and show them what they helped us accomplish,” Janice said.

Tietz said she is excited to showcase the hard work and determination her parents have put forth.

“My parents have done something really amazing here,” she said. “We have award-winning cattle. We produce quality milk. We

have a beautiful farm. I am so proud of them, and I can’t wait to share that and promote agriculture. I have always loved educating the public about the dairy industry, and to me, the dairy breakfast provides a safe and educational way to help people learn and understand more about our industry.”

PHOTO SUBMITTED

An aerial photo shows the damage suffered across the Jensens’ Idle Gold Guernsey Farm during a wind storm July 19, 2019, near Comstock, Wisconsin. Volunteers from around the community spent hours helping the Jensens clean up debris and prepare their farm for rebuilding.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

The Jensens’ freestall barn, built in 2015, was leveled by the wind storm that struck their farm July 19, 2019. A�er the storm, most of the Jensens’ hay needed to be discarded.

ately after surgery by the neurosurgeon, and Rebeckah was told personally at a follow up appointment.

“They (the surgical team) had … a little over an hour to gure out a plan and were just going in there kind of blind,” she said.

Rebeckah said most people with her injuries die at the scene or soon thereafter.

Rebeckah’s husband of 42 days, Andrew, was on his way home from work when he received the news from Rebeckah’s mother, Sheila Schroeder.

“She asked me to pull over, and I immediately knew something was up,” Andrew said.

The next few days were lled with unknowns as the doctors were unsure how Rebeckah would respond.

“The … neurosurgeon made it very clear that … if and how she recovers is completely dependent on the next 48 to 72 hours,” Andrew said.

Besides injuries to her neck and her severe skull fracture, Rebeckah also had a small laceration in her carotid artery and spleen, a broken rib, broken pelvic bones and facial bones, two lumbar fractures, a partially collapsed lung and initial paralysis on her left side.

Rebeckah does not remember the rst ve days after the accident well as she was on and off sedation. As she gradually came into consciousness, it was a confusing experience.

“It was just hard to wrap your head around,” Rebeckah said. “Waking up with a bunch of tubes in your throat, not knowing where you are, thinking it’s a dream.”

Rebeckah’s father, Daniel Schroeder, said one of the rst things she asked was whether they had called the milk tester because they had originally been

scheduled to test the day after her accident.

Rebeckah was unable to communicate verbally for two weeks after the accident and had to communicate via a whiteboard and hand signals.

Andrew said he was worried about her left side paralysis.

“We all know what kind of person Rebeckah is; we know that she’s a go getter,” Andrew said. “She needs to be able to do things herself. So, it was really hard for us to see that her left side was not responding.”

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The couple spent their rst Christmas in an intensive care unit. A row of icy windows, a table top Christmas tree and a stuffed cow completed the scene. By then, Rebeckah was beginning to recover.

She put in voracious effort to recover quickly in spite of a setback in early January when her spleen ruptured.

“I like to farm so it’s just trying to get back to the farm as soon as I can,” she said.

Dairy played a part in Rebeckah’s hospital stay. One of the nurses would

sneak her ice cream once she was starting to eat by herself again. Because of being intubated and a tracheostomy, she was unable to eat food for three weeks or drink thin liquids for ve weeks.

“I cried the rst time I drank milk because it was so good,” Rebeckah said.

Rebeckah returned home Jan. 19, and the rst thing she did was visit the cows. A mere 80 days after the accident, she was cleared to dairy farm

Turn to MARSCHALL | Page 9

AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR

Andrew and Rebeckah Marschall look out at the Schroeder dairy farm April 25 near Caledonia, Minnesota. Rebeckah is the  h genera on to dairy farm there.

Rebeckah Marschall and her husband, Andrew, give a thumbs up in the intensive care unit in Madison, Wisconsin. The couple had been married 42 days when Rebeckah got in an accident.

again with restrictions.

Rebeckah is the fth generation on her family’s dairy farm. She farms alongside her dad, uncle and cousin on their 1,500 acres.

While she was in the hospital, the farm sold nearly half of its cows going from about 190 cows to 110. Rebeckah said the lower cow numbers have been a blessing that came out of her accident, taking pressure off of all the members of the operation. The family said they are thankful for past employees and family members who made time in their schedules to help get the work done during this time.

On Feb. 18, the Marschalls hosted a thank you event for the rst responders and the rest of their supportive community. Daniel said the event allowed Rebeckah to break the ice with community members who were afraid to talk with her after the accident. Rebeckah agreed.

“They looked at me like I was a ghost,” she said. “They didn’t know if it was their place to really ask how I was doing.”

The event was well attended, and Rebeckah stood in the receiving line for three hours.

Though she has already made signicant progress, she wants to continue to see improvement in her healing.

“My hope is to get back to 100%,” she said. “We’re a long, long ways from that. I mean, everything (is) still kind of like in shambles.”

Now that she has returned home and is farming again, Rebeckah is able to help with milking and feeding calves and does a little bit of scraping. She is unable to drive the tractor, grind feed or bed the cows because the surgery which stabilized her neck added in plates and screws which took away the full range of motion making it difcult to look behind her to operate machinery.

She said she hopes to regain neck mobility through a potential surgery to remove the hardware once she has healed more. Over time, she also hopes to increase her balance and strength so she can return to all her daily tasks.

To follow Rebeckah’s journey, visit: www.caringbridge.org/visit/rebeckah121622.

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Johnson, Hoscheit share experiences from trip to Mexico

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Falk met the mother of one of her students, Gustavo. Falk shared what Gustavo’s mother told her about him working in the U.S.

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

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

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

Hoscheit has visited Mexico three times. Like Johnson, he appreciates the cultural focus on family.

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

AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR

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

in Mexico.

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

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

“It was really hard when they had prepared a large meal and they had their nest china out,” Johnson said. “They probably spent their whole three months’ worth of money they had on that meal to say, ‘I’m sorry we have to leave.’”

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

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

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

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

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

A Milwaukee tradition

Wisconsin’s oldest custard stand celebrates 85 years

By Stacey Smart stacey.s@dairystar.com

MILWAUKEE, Wis. –

When craving custard, people in the Milwaukee area can satisfy their longing with a trip to Gilles Frozen Custard. A local favorite of custard connoisseurs, Gilles Frozen Custard has been serving customers since 1938, making it the oldest custard stand in Wisconsin. Father and son duo Tom and Willy Linscott – the establishment’s present owners – have created nearly 200 avors of custard that keep customers coming back for more.

“We’ve been here a long time, and this place is very nostalgic to people,” Willy said. “Gilles Frozen Custard is the rst stop some people make after coming back from the airport and their rst stop before going to the airport.”

Tom echoed Willy’s sentiments.

“Some people come here more than once a day,” Tom said. “It’s very humbling.”

Gilles Frozen Custard was started by Paul Gilles, who in the beginning served vanilla custard, hot dogs and root beer from a walk-up window from March through November. Gilles Frozen Custard was not the rst custard stand in the state, but it is the longest running. While other custard

stands have come and gone, Gilles Frozen Custard remains a xture in the community, celebrating 85 years in business.

Tom began working at Gilles Frozen Custard in 1975. His dad, Robert, who worked at the custard stand since 1942, purchased the business from Paul in 1976. In 1978, a lobby

was added to the building, and Gilles Frozen Custard became a year-round destination.

Tom and his brother, Patrick, bought the restaurant from their parents in 1992. When Patrick passed away, Tom bought his brother’s portion of the business. Tom’s brother, Bob, also works at the

business. Willy came on board in 2013 and is the third generation in his family to own and operate Gilles Frozen Custard. The business is known for its classics – frozen custard in cones, dishes, pints, quarts and party tubs as well as sundaes, shakes, malts, oats, specialty custard pies and novelty treats. Gilles Frozen Custard also sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, homemade sloppy joes, French fries, cheese curds, sh fries, grilled cheese and more.

The frozen custard recipe begins with Gilles Frozen Custard’s patented mix, an original recipe of Willy’s grandfather, which contains a high level of butterfat. The custard is then made fresh on-site into thick and creamy avors.

In addition to favorites like vanilla and chocolate, Gilles Frozen Custard offers a variety of tempting avors from Monkey Madness and Mocha Tiramisu to avors modeled after liquor, such as their Jameson Whiskey and Bailey’s Irish Cream avors. The Linscotts also created a tequila custard once for a wedding.

“The sky’s the limit for avors of the day,” Tom said.

The stand’s most popular avors are butter pecan and turtle.

Group of Companies

STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR

Willy Linsco (le ) and his dad, Tom, take a break May 23 at Gilles Frozen Custard near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Linsco s own and operate the custard stand, which has been in business since 1938, making it the oldest custard stand in the state.

Durable foam base for cushion

“Those are classics in our communities,” said Willy, who also has avors named after his four children.

London’s Lemondrop, named for his daughter, is a lemon custard blended with lemon meringue. Chocolate lovers will nd happiness at Gilles Frozen Custard with avors like chocolate candy bar crunch, chocolate decadence and heavenly chocolate.

“Add chocolate to anything, and it moves,” Tom said.

The stand is known for its fancy sundaes, like the Zombie, which Willy describes as “a banana split and then some.” On top of a heap of custard are bananas, marshmallows, strawberries, pineapples, jimmies, chopped nuts, hot fudge and pecans.

From its owners to their loyal employees and customers, Gilles Frozen Custard brings families together.

“Working here is a family tradition,” Tom said. “There are grandkids of people I used to work with who work here now.”

Gilles Frozen Custard has 40 employees, including many long-term people. Husbands and wives, siblings, and mothers and their children work together where a busy summer day can draw a couple thousand people. Located 1.8 miles from American Family Field where the Milwaukee Brewers play baseball, Gilles Frozen Custard attracts many fans after games as well as other events.

The Linscotts encourage input from their employees, and Tom said their workers come up with many good ideas.

“We’ve built an environment where people feel comfortable bringing ideas to the table,” Tom said. “They might say, ‘What if we did this?’ And Willy and I will say, ‘Let’s try it.’ Our people are important.”

Working at the custard stand was not the job either Linscott originally envisioned for himself.

“I was going to go in the trades after high school and get a real job,” Tom said. “But, my dad had remodeled the place, and he told me three things he could guarantee about working here: There will always be work, you’ll never go hungry, and you’ll never be rich. That sounded good to me, so I decided to stay.”

Growing up, Willy also had dreams of working elsewhere.

“Watching my dad do it, I was very adamant (I was) not going to do this,” Willy said. “I went to college and had

another job for a while, but I came back because my heart was still in it. ‘What’s going to happen to the business if it’s outside of the family?’ I wondered. There is untapped potential here – a lot of people don’t know the story or our legacy.”

Willy has dressed the walls with details of the company’s history that illustrate the progression of Gilles Frozen Custard from the day it started up to today.

The quaint custard stand offers both indoor and outdoor seating. Not long before the coronavirus pandemic started, the Linscotts also put in a phone-in pickup window.

“That window saved us,” Tom said. “The business that went through the window was unbelievable.”

The Linscotts also cater for weddings, parties, funerals and company events. In total, Gilles Frozen Custard sells about 15,000 gallons of custard each year.

“The dairy industry is vital to our business,” Willy said. “We’re so dependent on it. Dairy makes up 50% of our business.”

In addition to all the custard rolling out its doors, the restaurant also uses a lot of cheese, the Linscotts said.

“Through all of the supply issues we’ve faced the last few years, the dairy side has kept up with it,” Willy said. “Dairy is in our name. It would just be Gilles Frozen without it.”

The Linscotts are quick to point out that custard is not the same as ice cream, and they never use the terms interchangeably.

“The egg yolk solids in custard are slow melting,” Tom said. “Also, there is way less air whipped into custard. When you compare a pint of custard to a pint of ice cream – ours will drop the scale. It’s solid.”

To celebrate their 85th anniversary, Gilles Frozen Custard is having a customer appreciation party June 27 and July 4, providing food, games and other family-friendly activities.

“We’re doing a lot of specials and throwbacks this summer,” Willy said.

The iconic little stand on West Bluemound Road has grown over time while staying true to its roots.

“Gilles Frozen Custard has built a community identity as a taste of the neighborhood,” Willy said. “This is a good thing going for a long time, and thanks to the customers, we’re still here.”

STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR

Willy Linsco packs a pint of Baileys Irish Cream custard May 23 at Gilles Frozen Custard near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Linsco s have created nearly 200 avors of custard.

from our side our side OF THE FENCE THE

Dairy farmers: If you were organizing a June Dairy Month activity, what would you do?

Katie Reineking Plymouth, Wisconsin Sheboygan County

60 cows

What does being a dairy farmer mean to you? It means being committed to working every day to take care of our cows who never take a day off. But the satisfaction of the work we do to care for our herd and produce a quality product makes all the work that goes into it enjoyable and worth it.

How do you personally promote the dairy industry? After college, I was on the Sheboygan County Dairy Promotion Association board for six years. I continue to provide pictures for the marketing items for the annual breakfast on the farm. This year, I also made a video for the host farm to put on social media to help promote the breakfast. As a member of the Howards Grove FFA Alumni, we have been hosting a day on the farm for kindergartners for numerous years. We also provided chocolate milk for take-home lunches during the pandemic for our school district. In addition, I try to share dairy facts and information, especially in June, on my personal page and my photography pages on social media.

If you were organizing a June Dairy Month activity, what would you do? Getting people of all ages out to the farm to see rst-hand how we farm and let them ask any questions they have is so important. Being transparent so you can build trusted relationships with people will ensure they get correct and accurate information to be able to make informed decisions. You can watch videos and read stories, but nothing compares to seeing a dairy farm for yourself.

What are the most effective dairy-related campaigns of all time? The “Got Milk?” campaign was huge and something that people still remember and recognize to this day. It got people excited about milk. The milk mustache was iconic, and a lot of people looked up to the people who donned the milk mustache in the ads. It would be great if we could bring it back.

What is the biggest misconception in the dairy industry? The biggest misconception in the dairy industry, and the ag industry as a whole, is how much we care about not only the product we are producing but also how we treat our animals and the land/environment. We all strive to make the best product we can, but caring about the comfort of our animals, how we treat them to keep them healthy and how we take care of our crops all go hand in hand with the end product we are producing.

What is your favorite dairy product and meal with dairy in it? My favorite dairy product would probably be cheese. There are so many different varieties and even more ways to use them all in an appetizer, main dish, dessert or just as a snack. My favorite meal with cheese would be my homemade mac and cheese where I use a black trufe avored cheddar gruyere cheese from Wood River Creamery.

Tell us about your farm and family. My parents, brother and I are the fth and sixth generations on our farm. We milk 60 Holsteins and Red and White Holsteins in a tiestall barn and milk with AIC automatic takeoffs. Our heifers are housed on a bed pack and sand-bedded free stalls. We grow corn and alfalfa and feed a partial mixed ration to our cows and top-dress corn and protein. We ship our milk to Foremost Farms.

Tammy Fritsch Freedom, Wisconsin Outagamie County

11 cows

What does being a dairy farmer mean to you? I am carrying on our family history. I’m a third-generation dairy farmer.

How do you personally promote the dairy industry? I promote the dairy industry by supplying direct sales off our farm. I am able to connect with every customer who buys our value-added products. Customers are able to see our process of bottling milk and making cheese on our farm. I also promote the dairy industry by having events on our farm.

If you were organizing a June Dairy Month activity, what would you do? Everyone loves calves, so I would do a June Dairy Month activity involving calves, showing how they grow to cows. Educating the general public on the life cycle of cows and promoting dairy products and hands-on learning on our farm is a big part of what we do.

What is the most effective dairy-related campaigns of all time? “Got Milk?” was an effective and memorable campaign and one that should be reinvigorated and reintroduced. They maybe aren’t a campaign, per say, but traditional on-farm dairy breakfasts and other on-farm events probably get us the biggest bang for our dollar. People love seeing the animals, and they want an experience. On-farm events provide more people with face-to-face encounters with agriculture than any other avenue we can pursue.

What is the biggest misconception in the dairy industry? The biggest misconception in the dairy industry is where food actually comes from. Basic education is needed so that people understand our industry and where food comes from.

What is your favorite dairy product and meal with dairy in it? My favorite dairy product is denitely our farm-fresh cheese curds. My favorite meal with dairy in it is scalloped potatoes and ham with our cheese and cream-line milk.

Tell us about your farm and family. We bought our current property and converted it into an on-farm creamery on 5 acres. We started Two Guernsey Girls Creamery in July 2021. My husband Dave helps on the farm as well as our daughter Breanna. We milk 11 cows and raise their heifers here. We buy all of our feed from local sources. We bottle A2 Guernsey milk and make cheese on-site. All the milk produced is made into products on the farm. We do not ship any milk. We will double our herd this next year in order to meet demand

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Clark County

90 cows

What does being a dairy farmer mean to you? Dairy farming is my life. We are stewards of the earth and of God’s creations. Every day, waking up to take care of the cattle, tending to the land and working with my family is what makes being a dairy farmer so worth it. I wouldn’t ask for a better place in the world to work with my husband and raise my two sons.

How do you personally promote the dairy industry? I promote dairy as much as I can. I talk with elementary school students and bring the farm to them by taking some dairy calves to school. I teach them how we care for our animals, what we feed them and why they are so important to us. We host tours on our farm with learning stations. I serve as a director on the Clark County Dairy Promotion Committee, a committee I am extremely passionate about. On the committee, I organize the Little Britches Dairy Show at the Clark County Fair for youth ages 4 through 9 to show a dairy calf at the county fair. I also oversee the Youth Saw Cow Contest for youth organizations. This is where the youth make a cow out of a sawhorse and decorate her to promote the dairy industry in Clark County. The cows are judged at the fair. We have a new dairy-related theme each year. These contests are used to help promote dairy in Clark County.

If you were organizing a June Dairy Month activity, what would you do? If I were to organize a June Dairy Month activity, I would do a Day on the Farm event packed full of fun, excitement and learning for all ages. For the day, we would invite the community to our farm to learn about the dairy industry, farming and our agriculture industry as a whole. We would put together stations emphasizing aspects of the farm and critical points in agriculture. We would have fun activities for the kids and activities where the youth can learn what it is to be a dairy farmer. To open the eyes of our visitors, we would have displays of cheese and other dairy products for them to try along with having the information for where to buy these products.

Dana and Don (not pictured) Antal Melrose, Wisconsin Jackson County

450 cows

What does being a dairy farmer mean to you? It’s a way of life. I like the lifestyle of being self-employed, working with cattle and providing a product for the people.

How do you personally promote the dairy industry? We produce the product. We also encourage milk consumption in the younger generation and think that more milk should be in kids’ diets, especially school-aged kids.

If you were organizing a June Dairy Month activity, what would you do? We would have a variety of milk and ice cream. We have been to events that only have white milk and no ice cream. We would also do something to show people that milk is healthier than pop.

What are the most effective dairy-related campaigns of all time? This is a hard one because the industry has had many strong campaigns. One of the most notable and recognizable of all-time was our “Got Milk?” campaign, which promoted consumption of milk along with other dairy products. So many consumers young and old recognize this slogan, and while it isn’t our main-stream campaign, it has left a positive mark on our consumers.

What is the biggest misconception in the dairy industry? One of biggest misconceptions in the dairy industry is how we care for our animals. The animals are loved, cared for and appreciated. On our farm, we have the motto that cows are fed and cared for rst. Another misconception is about the health benets of consuming dairy products. With so many alternatives, it is important for us to promote our products and the benets they offer our consumers.

What is your favorite dairy product and meal with dairy in it? My favorite dairy product is cottage cheese. A meal I enjoy making for my family, and one of my favorite dishes with dairy, is lasagna made with lots of Wisconsin mozzarella and cheddar cheese.

Tell us about your farm and family. I farm with my husband and sons on our dairy farm, Henar Acres Dairy, in central Wisconsin near Owen, Wisconsin. We farm roughly 250 acres of tillable cropland to feed our 90-cow herd of registered Holsteins and Jerseys. We milk two times a day in a tiestall dairy barn and ship our milk to Lynn Dairy of Granton, Wisconsin, which is a worldclass, family-owned cheese plant. We raise all our youngstock on the home farm, housed in freestall facilities. Annually, we grow around 100 acres of corn for corn silage and high-moisture corn to feed the cattle. We also farm about 125 acres of alfalfa hay ground for forage. In recent years, we are also growing roughly 25 acres of soybeans as a protein source to feed the cows. We have been farming on this farm for over 45 years since my husband’s family moved here due to the industrialization near the original Fischer Family Farm in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. I grew up on the Loritz Century Farm in Luxemburg, Wisconsin, on the Brown County and Kewaunee County line. I am proud to be the fourth generation to farm with my husband, raising our two sons who aspire to take over the family farm and eventually be business partners on the dairy.

What are the most effective dairy-related campaigns of all time? The “Got Milk?” campaign because it is memorable. I seem to see more commercials during the state basketball games.

What is the biggest misconception in the dairy industry? People think cows are mistreated, but we spend a lot of time and resources making sure they are well cared for. People also think farmers make a lot of money, but just because they handle a lot of money doesn’t mean they make a lot.

What is your favorite dairy product and meal with dairy in it? Cheese is Don’s favorite dairy product, and he uses it in every meal he eats.

Tell us about your farm and family. We milk 450 cows in a parlor, and they are housed in a freestall setting. We crop around 1,750 acres and ship our milk to Lynn Dairy. My husband and I run the farm with our daughter, Summer, and our team of employees.

Sara Fischer Owen, Wisconsin

Using baleage for better butterfat, protein components

Describe your farm and facilities. We have a 103-stall freestall barn with a problem pen. We milk in a double-8 swing parlor with automatic takeoffs.

What forages do you harvest? We have 55 acres of hay to make baleage and 125 acres of corn to make corn silage. If we have corn after making the corn silage, we make snaplage.

How many acres of crops do you raise? We farm 180 acres, 60 of which are rented. This year, there are 55 acres of hay ground and 125 of corn.

What quality and quantity do you harvest of each crop? We try to get hay made at 160 relative feed value for the cows.

Describe the rations for your livestock. Per cow, we feed 71.7 pounds of corn silage, 24 pounds of baleage and 14 pounds of a complete grain protein mix.

Describe your harvesting techniques for alfalfa and corn silage. Our hay is baled. We hire someone to bale and cut it. We hire

a custom chopper for doing our pile.

What techniques do you use to store, manage and

feed your forages? Our farm does alfalfa baleage at around 40% moisture, and we hire a guy to wrap it. We have round bales and wrap

them in a tube. We like to catch the alfalfa at 160-165 RFV, and we use a chart from the University of Minnesota that tells us we should cut when it is 27 inches tall, just as the buds emerge. We have a tar pad and do a pile for silage.

Throughout your career, have you changed the forages you plant, and how has that decision helped your operation? We now do baleage for better butterfat and protein components. We used to do haylage, and we were at 3.9% butterfat. Now it is at 4.3%. Protein used to be at 2.9% and now is at 3.19%.

Describe a challenge you overcame in reaching your forage quality goals and you overcame it. We used to do all hay and silage in ag bags. We wasted too much

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TIFFANY KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR

Bruce Asfeld stands in his freestall barn June 6 at his farm near Osakis, Minnesota. Asfeld milks 110 cows and farms 180 acres.

Happy June Dairy Month!

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Investing in the future of agriculture New building offers resources to Riverdale School District

By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com

MUSCODA, Wis. – When Kally Koch took the agricultural teaching position at Riverdale High School three years ago, there was discussion about possibly selling the 150-acre school farm property because there was an offer to purchase on the table. Instead, Koch advocated to expand the resource by adding a facility to the property.

Koch said she did not anticipate the overwhelming support that poured in from the community not only to keep the farm but to take her idea to the next level.

“We’ve been really fortunate,” Koch said. “Things have really taken off for us this year in terms of resources and developments in our facilities.”

Monetary donations from local businesses made building a facility possible. A portion of the proceeds was donated by Compeer Financial, the Riverdale FFA Chapter and the contractor who built it. A majority of the funds was donated by Todd and Maria Meister in memory of Todd’s father, Jack Meister. The building is now named after him.

The Jack Meister Agricultural Center has an indoor display area that will eventually have running water and a bathroom. The cold part of the building is enclosed and has so far been used as a lab area for Koch’s agricultural classes as well as for the grand opening of the building.

The school farm on which the building stands is 3 miles from the school. Koch acquired her commercial driver’s license so she can bus kids to the farm during their class times. She tries to get students outdoors at least once or twice a week.

“Except for my animal science class, there is a ton of stuff to do out there,” Koch said. “I’ve got a wildlife management class, and we do everything from skat to tracks to trapping and bird identication.”

She also has a greenhouse management class that does landscaping on the farm. Last fall, kids learned about cropping while the elds were being combined.

“It’s always surprising, with this and with the animal lab, how many kids say they’ve never seen this up close,” Koch said. “They have so many good questions once they’re exposed to something.”

The high school students plant test plots as part of another agricultural class. The land also has a pumpkin patch, apple trees and the beginnings of a Christmas tree farm.

“It takes seven years to turn a Christmas tree, and we have 25 of them planted so far,” Koch said.

“We’ll just keep putting in 25 at a time, and maybe in seven or eight years, we’ll have a Christmas tree sale out of our Jack Meister building there.”

Best

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Jackie Spears (le ) stands with Lynn Meister and Todd Meister at the grand opening of the Jack Meister Agricultural Center April 21 at Riverdale High School’s farm property in Muscoda, Wisconsin. The Meister family donated a majority of the proceeds for the building in memory of their spouse and father, Jack Meister.

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IT’S CONTEST TIME!

Find the AMPI logo and enter for your chance to WIN 10 pounds of AMPI’s Dinner Bell Creamery cheese and butter.

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Count the AMPI logos throughout this issue (excluding this page).

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Entries must be received by July

5.Winners will be drawn at random from the correct entry blanks received. Five winners will each receive five pounds of butter and five pounds of cheese.

The ideas are rolling for future opportunities at the building. Koch is hoping to host farmers markets with produce the kids grow on the school farm. She also anticipates it to be a useful area with her new farm-to-table class and meat science class where the kids learn to process venison.

“We get a few deer that are (tested for) chronic wasting disease donated to process in food science,” Koch said. “I usually have two classes on how to skin them, quarter them, and then how to get the silver skin and the fat off.”

The nal step is grinding. Classes usually make jerky, summer sausage and brats. The new space allows room for projects like this that involve a lot of mess. Students also learn taxidermy skills by using sh, and the new building offers exibility there as well.

Further enhancements to the agricultural program came through a referendum that passed last year that went toward improvements at the school. The greenhouse was upgraded and an animal lab was built onto the classroom. In it, there is a pen that has housed horses, calves, sheep, pigs and chicks.

“The goal is for something to give birth out here,” Koch said. “I’m just trying to share the experience.”

Koch grew up on a diversied beef, sheep and swine farm and is now married to a former dairy farm-

plant test plots May 9 at Riverdale High School’s farm site near Muscoda, Wisconsin. They are just a few of the many students who are u lizing the school’s updated ag resources.

er. Her background as a farm kid has provided her with a lot of insight to share with her students and a work ethic to model for them as well.

“I’ve always been taught to in-

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CIH MX120 ............................................Coming In

CIH MX110, FWA, 1600 hrs. ......................$65,000

IH 1466 restored, new 20.4x38 Firestones$38,000

IH 1456, cab ..............................................$22,000

IH 1086, nice..............................................$21,000

IH 806 ....................................................$11,000

TILLAGE

CIH 527B ripper .....................................$13,500

CIH 530B................................................$18,000

CIH 870 7-shank ....................................$38,000

CIH Tigermate II, 26’ ..............................$28,000

CIH Tigermate II, 26’ w/rolling basket ....$32,000

CIH Tigermate II 26’, w/28’ pull crumbler $31,000

CIH Tigermate 200, 30’ ..........................$44,000

CIH Tigermate 200, 28’ w/rolling basket$40,000

CIH Tigermate 200, 32’, w/4 bar drag ....$33,000

JD 714 11 shank chisel plow .................$14,000

CIH 5700 chisel plow, 23’ ...................Coming In

CIH 4300, 32’ ...........................................$7,500

CIH 4800, 24’ ...........................................$6,500

CIH RMX 340 25’ disc w/mulcher ..........$42,000

DMI 530 Ecolo-Tiger w/basket ...............$12,000

DMI 530 ripper w/leads..........................$14,000

DMI 530B w/lead ...................................$16,500

HAYING & FORAGE EQUIP.

Sitrex QR12, QR10, QRS rakes ....................New

Sitrex MKE 12-wheel rake ......................$11,000

Many sizes of rakes available

All Sizes of Sitrex Rakes.........................On Hand

GRAVITY BOXES & GRAIN CARTS

(2) Demco 365 ..........................$7,800 & $5,000

Many Sizes of Gravity Boxes ..................on Hand

Brent 657 gravity box, green & black, fenders ................................................$23,000

(2) Brent 644 box .......................................$18,000

Brent 644 ...................................................$16,500

J&M 385 ......................................................$6,500

J&M 540 box .............................................$13,500

Parker 4800 box...........................................$8,500

Unverferth 7250 grain cart .........................$29,500

MISCELLANEOUS

New Red Devil & Agro Trend Snowblowers

GREENWALD FARM CENTER

vest myself and time, and that labor is worth as much as money is,” Koch said. “That’s how I look at teaching. You can’t always put a lot of money in, but you invest your time, energy

and passion into it and hope that (students) come out in better shape than they went in.”

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Chaise McGuire (from le ), Rylee Wanek, Wya Storms and Jordan Bomkamp work together to

CIH MX120 2WD, 3800 hrs.

CIH 7120 FWA, 2800 hrs. - $85,000

Various Sizes of Rock Wagons On Hand

Hughes hosts 3rd annual youth dairy day

By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com

PITTSVILLE, Wis. –Showing a dairy animal can be a daunting experience for a young person, especially if they do not have the benet of family or close friends with knowledge to share.

Stephanie Hughes recognized that issue in her own county. Following the cancellation of the Central Wisconsin State Fair in 2020, Hughes realized an entire year of learning for some 4-H youth had been erased.

In 2021, Hughes opened her farm to host the rst Wood Area Youth Dairy Day to teach central Wisconsin kids interested in learning more about the details involved in preparing their projects for showing and about dairy cattle and the dairy industry in general.

“There are a lot of interested kids out there that aren’t fortunate enough to

have parents with a lot of experience in preparing a dairy animal for a show,” Hughes said. “By holding this clinic, we can help kids learn what they need to do to get their animals ready for the show and, more importantly, why they are doing it.”

Hughes and her

Joın the fun!

husband, Alan, along with their children, Bryce, Gavin and Derek, milk 52 cows on their Sunsett Dairy Farm near Pittsville in Wood County.

Hughes works to keep the focus of the day on education, adding enough fun and humor to keep the par-

ticipants occupied. Each year she varies the subject matter, tailoring it to t the experience and knowledge level of the participants, who preregister.

This year’s workshop took place June 4 with 11 participants attending.

The Wood Area Holstein

Breeders support the event by sponsoring a lunch for the attendees. Each year, parents are invited to stay and take in the workshop topics as well to help increase their own knowledge of their children’s projects through discussion.

Thanks to donations from area businesses and individuals, Hughes said she is able to send each participant home with gifts, such as brushes, buckets, sprays, water bottles, ashlights and other items that are useful in exhibiting fair projects.

During the workshops, Hughes and other presenters share information, along with their knowledge and experience, with participants.

Topics presented over the past three years begin with the basics and build from that foundation. Hughes starts by teaching the youth about the classes and age breakdowns for show calves, how the class names evolve as the animals age and how to understand the information given on a registration or identication paper.

Turn to HUGHES | Page 27

DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR

Par cipants in the Wood Area Youth Dairy Day listen to Stephanie Hughes June 4 at her family’s farm near Pi sville, Wisconsin. Hughes explained the supplies par cipants need when showing a calf at a fair.

Stephanie Hughes explains how dairy show classes are broken down based on the age and birth date of the animal to dairy project members June 4 at the Wood Area Youth Dairy Day in Pi sville, Wisconsin. This was the third year Hughes has hosted the event on her family’s farm where they milk 52 cows.

Participants learn about dairy cattle conformation and how that plays into selecting a project calf. Once a project calf is selected, the youth member needs to know how to feed and care for the animal on a daily basis, preparing it for show day at the fair. Hughes makes sure to cover show cattle nutrition and the role feeding hay – especially the right kind of hay – plays in show ring success.

Other skills that are covered include everything from the basics to the more detailed work. Participants practice correctly tying up a calf and making a bedding pack for their animal while at the show. The basics of washing and clipping are explained along with the details for show ring preparation.

Maddy Hensel, an older youth member of the Wood Area Junior Holstein Association and a Wis-

consin Holstein Association Junior Activities Committee member, shared showmanship pointers and explained the guidelines for showmanship competitions. The group discussed appropriate dress for showmanship contests and went over questions they might be asked while showing calves.

For this year’s event, Hughes procured three reproductive tracts for the youth to examine and learn the anatomy of. Each participant had the opportunity to try and pass a tube through a cervix, exposing them to the mechanics of articial insemination.

“Watching the kids learn and grow through their dairy project is very rewarding,” Hughes said. “Creating enthusiasm in the next generation of people who love our industry is vital to the future of our industry. I love watching that happen.”

DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR

Tell us about your farm and family. My husband, Brooks, and I dairy farm with my in-laws, Jeff and Kate Hendrickson. Brooks and I have two children, Adlee and Callum. Jeffrey-Way Holsteins is home to 120 registered Holsteins and 150 youngstock. The cows are milked in a tiestall barn with a handful of box stalls for fresh cows and hospital cows. Half of the herd is kept in the tiestall barn, and the other half is housed in a freestall barn. There are three heifer sheds on-site – a calf barn, wean shed and open-front shed for breeding-age heifers. Bred heifers are moved to an off-site location until they are close to calving. We farm 320 acres of hay, corn and beans. Our registered herd currently has a BAA of 113 with 66 Excellent cows (one 95-point and several 94-point) and 44 Very Good cows. Genetics is a main focus of ours as we try to breed for longevity, functionality and production. We enjoy showing at local, state and national shows. In 2021, our heifer Jeffrey-Way Doorman Tavor was the junior champion of the International Junior Holstein Show at World Dairy Expo.

What is a typical day like for you on the dairy? My day on the dairy begins when my full-time job ends. In addition to the farm, I work as a eld representative with Rolling Hills Dairy Producers Cooperative in Monroe, Wisconsin. After work, I head to the farm to help with milking and nishing chores. I also manage the animal information using the herd management software, PCDART. Depending on the day, I will generate reports for testing milk or pregnancy checks, which we do every two weeks.

What decision have you made in the last year that has beneted your farm? Our recent focus has been improving foot health and overall efciency. Last year, we began using sand as bedding in the tie stalls. Prior to that, the stalls were tted with pasture mats and topped with lime and straw. The pasture mats were worn, and we were noticing an increasing number of sore

Riley Hendrickson Belleville, Wisconsin Green County 120 cows

feet. Bedding the barn with straw was also a time-consuming chore done every morning. Now the stalls are rebedded with sand every few days using a skid loader and sand shooter attachment. We also upgraded our foot bath at the end of the barn to make it more efcient and effective. It is longer now, allowing cows to get in more strides. Since making these changes, we have had fewer lame cows and our cows are overall more comfortable. We also began using a herd management software program, which has been benecial for recording animal information and generating necessary reports.

Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. I have had many through the years, but raising our kids on the farm has handsdown been the most rewarding. Our daughter, Adlee, loves being in the barn helping with chores – whether it’s carrying buckets or chasing cats. It isn’t easy, since little ones seem to get into everything, but seeing the excitement on their faces is priceless.

What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? Denitely the people. From growing up on my family’s dairy farm to showing cattle at various shows to graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a dairy science degree and entering the real world – the connections within the agriculture industry are endless.

What is your biggest accomplishment in your dairy career? There are a handful of things in my dairy career that I am proud of, including success showing cattle in 4-H and as a junior Holstein member, representing UWMadison at the National Dairy Challenge contest and nding a job I enjoy that still allows me to be present on our family farm. I’m looking forward to what is to come within my career.

What are things you do to promote your farm or the dairy industry? Our farm hosts many groups throughout the

year. We welcome farm tours to showcase our genetics during WDE as well as offer a location for dairy judging practices.

What advice would you give another woman in the dairy industry? Communication is key. Farming is always changing, but being able to communi-

cate, listen and gure out a game plan will help navigate through the chaos.

When you get a spare moment, what do you do? The majority of my vacation days are spent at cow shows, which serve as a great time to connect with friends and family. I also enjoy baking, cooking and reading.

Fighting for the farmer

DBA, Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative share legislative priorities during policy picnic

By Stacey Smart stacey.s@dairystar.com

MANITOWOC, Wis. – From milk pricing reform to conservation initiatives, farmers have a voice in Madison and Washington, D.C. The Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative advocate for the dairy farmer on the issues that affect them most.

Informing farmers about legislative policy priorities was a primary point of discussion May 3 during the Farmerto-Farmer Policy Picnic held at Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center near Manitowoc. Representatives from the groups discussed 2023 federal policy priorities as well as state budget priorities for 2023-25.

Edge is tackling a hot-button issue for farmers – milk pricing reform. This topic took center stage as Karen Gefvert, director of public affairs, highlighted the ideas Edge is proposing.

“We put together a stakeholder group across the Edge footprint to learn what our member farmers wanted to see in regards to milk pricing reform,” Gefvert said. “We then took a progressive, forward-looking approach of how to make changes to milk pricing.”

Federal Milk Marketing Orders are nearly a century old, and Edge sees a lack of transparency and limited regional exibility as aws within the system. Edge is concerned the orders will become irrelevant in the Upper Midwest if provisions to allow updates

to the system are not examined during the 2023 farm bill process.

Equal treatment of farmers and processors across the board is at the core of their proposal. Focused on exibility and fairness, Edge proposes provisions that will strengthen the relationship between farmers and processors in a way that increases transparency, fairness and competition while also providing farms a reasonable amount of price certainty.

Given wide differences in product mixes across the country, Edge believes more regional exibility in federal orders would benet everyone. With their proposal, each order would have the authority to operate its milkshed in a way that makes sense for that order. A regional approach would account for geographic differences in population, farmer base and product mix.

Gefvert said there is currently very limited order-to-order exibility under the law; therefore, a legislative change would be required. Each federal order could then decide whether to seek to amend the pricing structure of its order through an inclusive U.S. Department of Agriculture hearing in their geographic areas.

Avoiding unintended consequences of current uniform price rules, such as frequent switching of pooling status, negative producer price differentials and declining share of total area milk production pooled on the order, is also part of the proposal.

According to Edge, a standard set of contracting principles would provide more transparency while simultaneously

605N Cornstalk Special Baler

building condence in the system for farmers and processors. The proposed contracting principles would be effective independent of the orders.

Edge recommends contracts and supply arrangements between farmers and processors be constructed in a way that helps processors compete and innovate while strengthening communication and trust between farmers and processors.

According to Edge, some of today’s business transactions between farmers and processors are loosely arranged. Edge is proposing basic contractual expectations that would create structure and certainty. They would like to see all milk supply agreements in writing and timely payments where farmers are paid every two weeks, with no more than a three-week lag. Processors would also be required to give a reasonable notice before terminating contracts.

Transparent pricing formulas are a key part of the legislation Edge is proposing. Milk composition and quality incentive formulas for things like somatic cell count, protein and volume premiums would be clearly spelled out in milk supply agreements, and sufcient notice would be required before changing incentive formulas.

Edge would like to see equal opportunity given to all farmers with no special deals allowed. In their proposal, any incentive offered to one patron must be offered to all current patrons meeting the same criteria set by the processor, including but not limited to differences for farm location, size and quality.

Edge said areas like the Upper Midwest could benet from the elimination of producer price differentials, replaced by a protein pool premium. In this system, each handler would be required to pay their patrons at least the market-wide commodity value of their product mix plus the protein pool premium. There would not be a uniform price among processors; rather, it would disincentivize depooling and encourage processors to continuously monitor and adjust their product mix as needed to pay competitive milk prices.

Currently, if a farm is located outside of a federal order or its processor is not pooling their milk, there are few guardrails that must be followed. Edge’s contracting principles would ensure those farms have protections such as timely payments, verication of weights and components, and contract termination notices.

Tim Trotter, CEO of Edge, voiced the importance of having programs in place that do not distort the competitive nature of the industry.

“This legislation looks at the Federal Milk Marketing Order program in totality,” Trotter said. “We can’t be held to this legacy program that was developed 80-plus years ago. We need to think about the future of dairy. The marketplace is different now, farming is different, and we need to look at this differently. Edge is making a bold move, but I think it’s the right time.”

Edge also supports the tools farmers can use to manage risk, such as the Dairy Margin Coverage Program. They back equal treatment and full enrollment of all dairy operations and would like to see an increase in the production amount covered under DMC. Edge is against any payment limitations and program participation limits based on farm size.

Chad Zuleger, director of government affairs for DBA and Edge, focused on state budget priorities, touching on programs involving infrastructure and conservation. Zuleger

said the Agricultural Road Improvement Program includes $150 million to improve Wisconsin roads.

“The rst mile off the farm is critical, and this is a big opportunity to invest in infrastructure,” he said. “We’re really excited about that. It’s getting great response.”

DBA is also working with conservation and environmental partners to advocate for resilient farms and clean drinking water. Expanding eligibility to the Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program is one item on the agenda. This program is designed to better utilize nitrogen management techniques that reduce nitrate contamination in drinking water in vulnerable parts of the state. The goal is to increase funding to the program by $900,000.

DBA would also like to maintain the Cover Crop Insurance Premium Rebate Program and increase funding to a total of $1 million per year.

In addition, DBA would like to modernize the Farmland Preservation Program by increasing and simplifying tax credits.

“The preservation program hasn’t been touched in nearly 14 years,” Zuleger said. “There is currently a 15year enrollment period, and there have been concerns that it ties up the land for too long. We’re asking for that to be reduced to 10 years.”

DBA is also looking to raise the per-acre tax credit to $10 and $12 which would increase program funding by $5.6 million per year and bring support up to a total of $21.6 million per year.

DBA hopes to enhance managed grazing livestock production systems by creating a Transition to Grass Pilot Program. This program would assist farmers intending to strategically transition row crop elds to grass-based grazing or perennial forage production systems for live-stock.

Adding county conservation staff to support and enhance current conservation efforts is another priority, as Zuleger said a number of counties are short staffed. Increasing the program by $9.4 million per year to $18.7 million annually is what DBA is proposing and would bring annual funding up to the statutory requirement.

DBA is working on expanding the Dairy Processor Grant Program. They are also asking for more funds for meat processing and would like to expand the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Meat Processor Grant Program with a $300,000 per year increase.

“We’re trying to get the baseline moved up to grow our meat processing capacity along-side our dairy processing capacity,” Zuleger said.

Wisconsin agriculture exports continue to rise, and the state’s program has seen tremendous success since its inception last session, Zuleger said. Exports increased over 7% in the rst year alone, and the goal is to increase all ag exports by 25% in the next ve years.

Reviving the University of Wisconsin Farm and Industry Short Course program is an initiative on DBA’s radar. Gov. Tony Evers has allocated $700,000 for the program to take place at the University of WisconsinRiver Falls with the goal of it being a fully accredited, on-campus, in-person program.

To help ensure the priorities DBA is proposing come to fruition, Zuleger encouraged farmers to invite a lawmaker onto their farm and to stay engaged in local government.

When it comes to durability and efficiency, the new Vermeer 605N Cornstalk Special baler is equipped to bale through even the toughest crop quickly and efficiently. With more heavy-duty components than its predecessor, it’s clear that the 605N Cornstalk Special offers unmatched productivity when baling cornstalks.

a rugged baler with heavy-duty components to withstand the tough conditions and tight time frames of baling cornstalks.

June Dairy Month

Area events across Wisconsin

June 17

Owen-Withee Dairy Breakfast: The menu features pancakes with fresh maple syrup, sausage, scrambled eggs, cheese, fruit and beverages. The cost is $9 for ages 10 and up, $5 ages 5-9 and free to those 4 and under. The breakfast will run from 7-11 a.m. at O-W Lions Pavilion, 511 Division St., Withee, Wisconsin.

Sheboygan County Breakfast on the Farm: Established in 1977, Hickory Lawn Dairy Farm milks 700 Holstein cows with 12 robotic milking systems. The menu includes all you can eat pancakes, scrambled eggs, meat, cheese, yogurt, bagels, milk, coffee and ice cream. Activities offered are wagon farm tours, educational stations, pony rides, pedal tractor pull, petting zoo and more. The event runs from 7 a.m. to noon with parking at the farm. The cost is $10 for ages 7 and older, $5 for ages 3-6, and free to those 2 and under. Hickory Lawn Dairy Farm Inc. is located at N2957 Hickory Grove Road, Cascade, Wisconsin.

Kenosha County Dairy Breakfast: Enjoy a morning on the farm that includes a farm breakfast, milking demonstrations, a Wisconsin products tent with items for purchase, old-fash-

ioned kids games and more. The event will run from 6:30-10:30 a.m. The cost is $10; children ages 6 and under are free. Daniels Dairy Farm II is located at 1166 240th Ave., Kansasville, Wisconsin.

Rusk County June Dairy

Breakfast: Join the Rusk County Beef & Dairy Promoters for their annual June Dairy Breakfast. The event, which runs from 7-11 a.m., includes a breakfast of eggs, sausage, pancakes and more along with educational activities. The location is the Rusk County Fairgrounds at W8323 Highway 8, Ladysmith, Wisconsin.

Pierce County Dairy Breakfast: Join the Erlandson Family at Maple Bud Farm for breakfast and more. Come meet calves and animals, participate in activities for kids and adults, see educational displays and wander around the Erlandson family Maple Bud Guernsey Farm.

Breakfast includes pancakes, sausage, deep-fried cheese curds, Culver’s custard, Kwik Trip milk, water and coffee.

Pricing includes all food listed: $8 for ages 12 and older, $5 for ages 5-11, free for ages 4 and under. The event runs from 7:3011:30 a.m. Maple Bud Farm is located at N5718 530th St., Ellsworth, Wisconsin.

Eau Claire County Breakfast on the Farm: Bears Grass Dairy will host a fun morning on the farm including breakfast for all, agricultural education, face painting and more. The event runs from 7-11 a.m. The cost is $10 for ages 12 and older, $5 for ages 5-11, and free to those ages 4 and under. Bears Grass Dairy is located at S8495 County Road V, Augusta, Wisconsin.

Columbia County Moo-Day Brunch: Brunch will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Darian Acres. Wagon rides, a specialty cheese sampling of award-winning cheeses, kids games and other entertainment and displays will be available. The menu will feature Pizza Hut pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, cheese, yogurt, Cedar Crest ice cream sundaes and Sassy Cow milk. The cost is $9 for ages 11 and up, $5 for ages 4-10 and free to ages 3 and under. Bring a nonperishable food item for $1 off the cost, one per person. Darian Acres is located at W4598 County Road G, Rio, Wisconsin.

Watertown Agri-Business

Club’s Breakfast on the Farm: This event is June 17-18 at Zwieg’s Maple Acres. Guests will enjoy a breakfast including scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, cheese, milk, orange juice, coffee and ice cream. There will also be wagon rides, live music featuring the Gary Beal Band, kids play area,

Ziemer trains, and Klettke toy farm display. Free shuttles will run from the Watertown High School and Meadow View Elementary School in Oconomowoc. Parking will be available on-site, weather permitting. The event runs from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The cost is $10 in advance or $11 at the door for adults, $5 in advance or $6 at the door for children 6-10 and no cost for those 5 and under. Tickets will be available online at Eventbrite and at many local businesses.

Zwieg’s Maple Acres is located at N947 Plover Road, Ixonia, Wisconsin.Minnesota.

June 18

Kewaunee County Breakfast on the Farm: Kewaunee County Dairy Promotion and the Salentine Family would like to invite you and your family for great food and quality family time. Enjoy a delicious dairy brunch with omelets, fresh rolls and butter, a variety of cheeses, choice of milk, strawberry sundaes, pizza, deep-fried cheese curds, mozzarella sticks and yogurt samples. There will be horse and tractor wagon rides, petting zoo, kids tent, live music and more. The event runs from 8 a.m. to noon. The cost is $10 for ages 12 and older, $5 for ages 4-12 and free to ages 3 and under. Salentine Homestead Dairy is located at E1669 County Road A, Luxemburg, Wisconsin.

Marsheld FFA Alumni June Dairy Breakfast: The breakfast will be held at Nasonville Dairy. Buttermilk, blueberry and potato pancakes will be served with maple syrup along with sausage, applesauce, cheese, ice cream sundaes, orange juice, Weber’s Farm bottled milk and coffee. Enjoy a petting zoo, door prizes and silent auction. The event will run from 7 a.m. to noon. The cost is $10 for ages 12 and up, $5 for ages 5-11 and free to ages 4 and under. Nasonville Dairy is located at 10898 U.S. Highway 10, Marsheld, Wisconsin.

Loyal Dairy Breakfast: The Loyal FFA Alumni welcome you to a dairy breakfast from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the farm of Dave Jr. and Ashley Clintsman. Enjoy pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, cheese curds, applesauce, ice cream, milk, juice and coffee. The cost is $8 for adults, $4 for ages 6-12 and free for those 5 and under. Clintsman Farm is located at N10776 County Road K, Loyal, Wisconsin.

Ripon FFA Alumni Country Breakfast: The menu includes pancakes, eggs, sausage, cheese curds, fruit and milk. The meal costs $10; children 5 and under are free. Enjoy farm animals, Turn

HIGH COMFORT MAT

Con nued from DAIRY MONTH | Page 31

kids activities and Culver’s ice cream. The event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Miller Farms, which is located at N9610 County Road M, Pickett, Wisconsin.

Waupaca County Weyauwega-Fremont FFA Breakfast on the Farm: The FFA Dairy Breakfast will run from 8 a.m. to noon. Enjoy a petting zoo, hay rides, agriculture displays and kids games. Food will include pancakes, hash browns, ham, cheese, apple sauce, ice cream, milk and coffee. The cost is $10 for adults, $5 for ages 5-12, and free for ages 4 and under. The event will take place at Waupaca County Fairgrounds, located at 602 South St., Weyauwega, Wisconsin.

June 24

Racine County Breakfast on the Farm: Breakfast at Swan’s Pumpkin Farm from 7-11 a.m. will include eggs, sausage, mufn, cheese, juice, yogurt and ice cream. The cost is $10. A special treat will be Swan’s cider donuts for sale. Enjoy a tractor display, petting zoo and more. There will also be a 5K Breakfast Scrambler happening at the farm. Preregister at http:// BreakfastScrambler.5K.run. The event will include live music, kids games, a learn-to-sh activity and a day to explore the farm. Swan’s Pumpkin Farm is located at 5930 County Highway H, Franksville, Wisconsin.

Dunn County Dairy Breakfast: This year’s event will be hosted by Maple Hills Dairy, owned by Steve and Angie Olson, from 7-11 a.m. Enjoy farm tours, a bake sale, pancakes, ice cream, avored milk and cheese curds. Maple Hills Dairy is located at N12588 190 St., Boyceville, Wisconsin.

Buffalo County Dairy Breakfast: The Danzinger family at D S Farms is hosting the breakfast from 7-11 a.m. Stop by for a great breakfast and fun activities. D S Farms is located at W1528 County Road E, Alma, Wisconsin.

Marathon County June Dairy Breakfast: Come to Redetzke’s No Joke Dairy from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to enjoy a morning lled with a delicious breakfast, farm tours, hoof trimming demonstration and more. The menu includes pancakes, maple syrup, sausage patties, scrambled eggs, cheese curds, milk and ice cream. The cost is $10 for ages 13 and older, $5 for ages 5-12 and free to ages 4 and under. Redetzke’s No Joke Dairy is located at 216601 Wescott Ave., Stratford, Wisconsin.

Auburndale FFA Alumni Dairy Breakfast: Stop by from 8 a.m. to noon for a drivethrough or sit-down breakfast at the Auburndale High School Shop where food and dairy products will be served. Auburndale High School is located at 10629 North Road, Auburndale, Wisconsin.

June 25

Shawano County Brunch on the Farm: Located at Synergy Family Dairy, the menu will include eggs with ham and cheese, sausage, hash browns, cheese curds, cinnamon bread with butter, milk, juice and ice cream sundaes. The cost is $10 for ages 12 and older, $5 for ages 4-11 and free to ages 3 and under. The event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with wagon rides, farm tours, a scavenger hunt, a petting zoo, live music and more. Start the day with the Dairy Dash and Stroll 5K. More information is available at 877-583-4438. Synergy Family Dairy is located at W2285 County Road S, Pulaski, Wisconsin.

Colby FFA Dairy Breakfast:

The breakfast will be at Harmony Holsteins, hosted by Todd and Jessica Ertl with Trevor, Jenelle, Jasmine and Juliet. There will be face painting, a petting zoo, a bouncy house and a polka band. The event, running from 7:30 to noon, is sponsored by Colby FFA Alumni & Supporters and AbbyColby Crossings Chamber of Commerce. The cost is $6 per plate with a menu of pancakes, maple syrup, sausage, applesauce, cheese, cookie, milk, coffee and ice cream. Kids ages 5 and under eat free. Harmony Holsteins is located at W1455 County Road K, Unity, Wisconsin.

Fond Du Lac County Breakfast on the Farm: Forest Ridge Holsteins is hosting the event. A large country-style breakfast in the Lakeview Electric Contractors food tent will include scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, pork sausage, pancakes, applesauce, coffee and milk. Enjoy live music, ice cream, local cheese samples, Alliant Energy Foundation’s kiddie tractor pull and more. The event will run from 8 a.m. to noon with a cost of $10 for ages 13 and older, $8 for ages 6-12 and free to ages 5 and under. Only handicap parking is available on the farm. Tickets are available at Envision Greater Fond du Lac (23 South Main St., Suite 101, Fond du Lac) or the Envision Greater Fond du Lac website (under events) where more information is available. Forest Ridge Holsteins is located at W2133 Randellen Lane, Eden, Wisconsin.

Marinette County Breakfast on the Farm: Great food will be served at Van De Walle Farms. A church service will begin at 7 a.m. The menu for breakfast includes pancakes, eggs, sausage, cheese curds, maple syrup, applesauce, milk, juice, coffee and ice cream sundaes. Activities include a petting zoo, Moo-Mania comedy show, face painting, balloons, bouncy play area and barn tours. The event runs from 7:30 a.m. to noon with a cost of $10 for ages 11 and older, $5 for ages 6-10 and free to ages 5 and under. Van De Walle Farms is located at W8303 W. 22nd Road, Crivitz, Wisconsin.

Calumet County “Sundae” on a Dairy Farm: Tour Shiloh Dairy Farm via a wagon ride and enjoy interactive kids activities, cheese tasting, free milk and cheese, and more. Food sales will include artisan grilled cheese sandwiches, cheeseburgers and sundaes. Meet Alice in Dairyland Taylor Schaefer. The event will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. A bus equipped to transport those with physical disabilities will be available. Admittance to the event is free. Shiloh Dairy LLC is located at N8681 Bastian Road, Brillion, Wisconsin.

Juneau County Dairy Breakfast: Come to the Elroy Fair Grounds Entertainment Tent from 7-11 a.m. and have a great breakfast. The menu includes pancakes, eggs, applesauce, cheese curds, milk, juice and more. Afterward, local teams will compete in donkey races. The cost is $5 for adults and $3 for children. The Elroy Fair Grounds Entertainment Tent is located at N2435 WI Highway 82, Elroy, Wisconsin.

Greenwood Dairy Breakfast: Together the Greenwood FFA Alumni and Chamber of Commerce will sponsor a breakfast from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. featuring pancakes, eggs, sausage, cheese, cheese curds, soft serve ice cream, applesauce, milk, juice, coffee and water. The cost is $7 for adults, $4 for ages 5-12 and free to those 4 and under. The breakfast will take place at Ed Krultz Farm located at N10334 Sidney Ave., Greenwood, Wisconsin.

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How did you get into farming? grandfather and father both farmed for a living. From as early as I can remember, I was involved on the farm in some capacity. Upon college graduation, I worked brie in an ofce as a soil conservationist, but I soon returned to the farm. While farming has changed a lot over the years, it is my lifelong passion. Now, Pitzen Farms consists of my parents, Gerald and Marietta Pitzen, along with my wife Gail and our daughters Kaylee, Hannah, Ashlyn and Carina.

What are your thoughts and concerns about the dairy industry for the next year? The biggest concern for the dairy industry is fair, consistent milk prices. There are far too many lows versus highs in the milk price paid to farmers. When I look at prices in the store, there should be plenty of money for dairy farmers to get the share they work for and deserve.

What is a recent change you made on your farm and the reason for it? Our most recent change is the addition of DairyComp to our recordkeeping system. The benet of being able to enter data and do herd checks with mobile devices helps farm efciency.

Tell us about a skill you possess that makes dairy farming easier for you. I can manage the issues that arise on the farm through thought-

ful problem solving and keeping a sense of humor.

What is the best decision you have made on your farm? Building our freestall barn because our worn-out stanchion barn needed too much repair. The cow comfort a freestall provides, like the access to the water and feed and sand-bedded stalls, is great for the cows.

What are three things on the farm that you cannot live without? Skid loader, total mixed ration and parlor. What strategies do you use to withstand the volatile milk prices? In volatile milk prices, we try to really watch the spending. The Dairy Margin Coverage payments are a little help, but they never cover the deep market drops.

How do you maintain family relationships while also working together? Sometimes it takes just stepping back from a situation, taking a deep breath and dealing with it after having time to think of the best solution.

What do you enjoy most about dairy farming? What I enjoy most about dairy farming or farming in general is the ability to work outdoors and the many different jobs there are on a farm, whether it is seasonal or day to day.

What advice would you give other dairy farmers? Try and get some down time, but that is easier said than done.

What are your plans for your dairy in the next year and ve years? The plan for the next couple of years is to upgrade the calf buildings by adding more space and making it easier to do those chores. The ve-year plan is to transition a larger portion of the herd to Jersey.

How do you or your family like to spend time when you are not doing chores? I enjoy hunting in the fall, and our family enjoys traveling, playing games and spending time together on our patio.

Taking my dad with me

As we approach Father’s Day, I am reminded of all the wonderful memories I have of the man I was lucky to call Dad.

Whether we were milking cows, picking rocks or sorting cattle, I learned a lot while working alongside my father. He taught me many things while also teaching me what was most important in life – God, family, friends, honesty, loyalty, integrity and responsibility.

He built a work ethic into me and my four siblings from a young age. My dad was the hardest working person I ever met, and he never seemed to tire. He was a morning person with plenty of energy to literally run through his day at times. None of us could keep up with him. We just tried to do one-tenth of what he did in a day’s time.

By Stacey Smart Staff Writer

My dad was not one for dawdling nor did he want to hear excuses. He was also the type of man you did not sass. Although patience was not his strong suit, my dad had a big heart and was someone I could always count on.

He was a loving husband, a caring father and a loyal friend. Quick to help a neighbor or fellow farmer, my dad was also a father gure to hired hands, grandsons and sonsin-law. He was inspiring and wise – a man many looked up to.

My dad was a faith-lled man who always put God and family rst. Sundays were sacred to him. Only necessary chores were done on this day – like milking and feeding. No eldwork was ever done no matter how perfect the weather was.

He always wore a watch and always carried a pair of pliers. He could make anything like new with a piece of duct tape and even taped the bill back onto a beloved hat once. He was the ultimate recycler, hanging onto all kinds of items because he might need them again one day. Like most farmers, he was crafty and could devise a solution to nearly any problematic situation.

Even though the days were long and some quite grueling, he never would have considered an occupation other than dairy farmer. But my dad was not all work and no play. He liked to have fun – whether it was getting together with friends to play cards or celebrate a birthday, attending a ball game, or going to a fair or festival. He also loved to travel, and hopping in the car to take a good road trip was one of his favorite things to do. His adventurous spirit often took him and my mom off the beaten path. He also loved auctions, cattle sales and rummage sales.

I fondly remember riding in his pickup truck nicknamed “The Beast.” We went many places, but trips to the feed mill in the neighboring town were some of the best because it always meant lunch at a café that served the best malts around. My dad’s sayings stick in my head, some of which include, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” and “Another day, another dollar.” In keeping with the spirit of his Polish heritage, he also often said words and phrases in Polish.

We lost my dad to cancer 12 years ago at the age of 66. Although he is no longer with us, my dad lives in my heart, and I take him with me wherever I go. I can always feel his presence.

I am sad he was never able to see me writing for Dairy Star. He would’ve been so proud that I was working in the dairy industry in this capacity. But yet, I know he does know. I’m condent he’s watching over me and smiling down on the work I’m doing. If my dad were alive today, he would read every word of Dairy Star cover to cover.

My dad taught me how to drive and went with me to buy my rst car. He walked me down the aisle on my wedding day. He sat in the hospital waiting room while I was in labor with both of my children and was one of the rst to hold my daughter and son. He was there for every cattle show and school function and every major milestone of my life, but no amount of time with him could ever have been enough.

My dad was someone I could always look to for advice. To this day, there are times I nd myself wondering, “What would Dad say about that? What advice would Dad give in this situation?” Setting his children up for success, a father guides us through life. My dad still guides me today but from another place.

As I follow the example he set and live a life I know he would be proud of, I remember him with love and gratitude this Father’s Day and every day.

To all of you dads out there, happy Father’s Day. And if your dad is still around, give him a big hug, and don’t forget to say, “I love you.”

Cool, comfortable cows

As the school year nished, the last of the big toothless smiles of kindergartners hopped off the bus on Friday to spend a few hours at our farm. It seems like summer is here too quickly. The memory of cool mornings a few weeks ago has been pushed away by a blast of hot weather. The 85-degree days can melt even the most excited students.

The kids carried their own water bottles throughout the farm tour. Sometimes they left them behind, requiring them to remember where they were left so they could be relled to rehydrate and refresh them with cold, country well water. The sweat that was dripping from their hot faces didn’t stop them from holding chicks, feeding lambs and snuggling up with the calves. Giggles and shrieks were roared from the kids as they ran through the fans with the foggers, only to have the cows look at them blankly as they continued to chew their cud.

Just as the heat this week was pushing the mercury up the thermostat, the installation of our new soaker system was installed. Now that we have a new system, the cows are trying to adjust to the soaking. The water droplets are bigger, and it is more of a blast that wets them quickly. I have been blasted with the cows, and it is cold water that does soak cows and people quickly. We will be tweaking the settings to nd the best amount of time, volume of water and intervals when it is soaking. One more system, more technology, to keep the cows cool and comfortable this summer.

I have many families vacationing in Wisconsin, summer camps, church groups and a few senior out-

By Tina Hinchley Farmer & Columnist

With the hot temperatures and drought conditions brought on as the season of spring is forgotten, our cows have found the best locations in the barn to maximize their comfort. Our cows have waterbed mattresses with circulation fans above with a fogging system that will turn on for a few minutes to cool the air down, and then it shuts off. There are humidity sensors throughout the barn that also take temperatures in the barn and outside. We are connected to a main computer that can be controlled by us or other technicians through the fan company.

The tunnel ventilation in the barn is pulling the outside air in, and the foggers cool it to make it so nice. The added humidity helps keep the manure moist to enable it to be pushed through the slats in the oor by the Lely Discovery robots. Without the humidity, we have areas that the robots struggle to keep clean, so we need to manually push dry manure through with a at scraper.

Last year, we noticed the cows really love the foggers. Many of the girls liked them so much that they would rather stay put on the waterbed than get up to eat or go to the robots to be milked – just lying there comfortable, chewing their cud, keeping cool. Cool cows are content, and that is great, but some would be lying in a puddle of milk. Perhaps they could be too comfortable; is that possible?

We were told about another system we could use. More technology ... another system. I love when all the robots and systems work, but when they don’t, I am not happy. The cows also have problems when they are showing signs of heat stress or if they are standing too long by the waterers. This system would be over the headlocks and would soak the cows while eating. It would go on and off on a timer based on the temperatures in and out of the barn.

I actually knew what foggers were because we were able to check them out at the World Dairy Expo. We looked at brands and systems when we were planning and designing our new barn. I didn’t even know what a soaking system was. I envisioned a soaker hose like I have in my garden. Anna has seen some that were like irrigation tubing that would sprinkle the cows to moisten their hide and cool them down in feedlot settings. The system that was planned for us would be heavy duty, so the cows wouldn’t be able to pull it down, and it would work with our fogging system too.

ings planned to visit us throughout the hot summer days. We will all be enjoying the cool visits to the barn to check out the cows as they get soaked and fogged.

I am certain our cows will be cool and comfortable with this new technology, and our visitors will get a rst-hand feeling of how cool it is to be a cow.

Tina Hinchley, her husband Duane and daughter Anna milk 240 registered Holsteins with robots. They also farm 2,300 acres of crops near Cambridge, Wisconsin. The Hinchleys have been hosting farm tours for over 25 years.

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

Happy June Dairy Month.

It should surprise none of you who have read this rambling column before that I have a slight obsession with books. It has been deemed a healthy one. I could have a gambling or a drinking problem; instead, I just hoard books, read books, share books and talk books. Some days (OK, most days), I also think in books. At the moment, this has taken my brain in a few different directions.

Every time I have the good fortune of catching one of our bunnies and snuggling it, I hear the words, “bunnies say nothing at all.” This comes from one of 3-yearold Cora’s favorite books – Patricia Polacco’s “Mommies Say Shhh.”

When I wander from critter to critter in the early morning hours and hear the rooster crow above the din of the other animals, I become a young Fern in “Charlotte’s Web.” The newfound joy I have in brushing and helping walk the pigs for the fair has made me feel all that much more like Fern with her precious Wilbur.

As I look out across the yard and spy the catalpa tree

just beginning to think about displaying its pungent owers, I hear Anne Shirley from “Anne of Green Gables.” Anne greets the trees, the water, the woods, all by the eloquent names she has given them as if they are all old friends.

As we work to nally plant our garden in the very dry ground and I contemplate different ways to help things grow, I nd myself in the pages of “Farmer Boy” by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Almanzo grows the prize-winning pumpkin by feeding his pumpkin buttermilk. This may be the year I try that.

All because of a conversation with Jaime about some random ideas I had years ago regarding books and growing things, our gardens have turned the pages to a new planting theme this year.

The kids and I listed some of our favorite books that had vegetables in them and a wild plan began to take shape. The nal product looks incredible in my head. Now to make the real-life version follow suit. We have a picket fence with cabbages and carrots and a few wellplaced rabbits to show our living story of “Peter Rabbit”

Don’t just hope for the best. Plan for it.

by Beatrix Potter.

A bedspring is awaiting peas to climb up it that Cora weaved strips of fabric through to symbolize the many mattresses in Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea.” We are attempting to plant the three sisters of pumpkins, beans and corn this year for Tasha Tudor’s “Pumpkin Moonshine.” Cora’s owerbed is blazing with colors to illustrate Lois Ehlert’s “Waiting for Wings.” There are a few more books making their garden debut, but I will save the list for a later column if this all works out.

There are many storybooks written about farmers, farm animals, how farms look and so on. No two are the same, and one of our many blessings in spending our lives as farmers is that we get to write our own story about our own farms. Every farm is a different book, and each day is a new page. We can choose to share our story with many or choose to lock it tight like a lovestruck teenager’s diary – lest someone see what happens. There will be characters that appear but once in your story, but their experience with you will change their story in ways you may never get to know.

By Jacqui Davison Columnist

The last month of school was a urry of eld trips for most children, and our farm welcomed all of our local fourth graders as well as a small high school study hall. Students were well-behaved, asked great questions, were observant and appeared to thoroughly enjoy the experience. One fourth grader went home and reported the entire trip to her parents, thrilling her farm-raised father. Her mom contacted me and asked if the child could come out another time to farm some more. We made it happen last week. She was elated and went home requesting a pair of bib overalls and some barn boots.

Ordinarily, we remember to compost that unlikely dead calf that just happens to be lying outside the barn before a eld trip. The day the fourth grade came out, we had forgotten. I answered the questions head on – it’s part of real life; isn’t it? The kids handled the answers ne; no one got squeamish or dramatic about it. I chose to tell the real story. When I have kids one-on-one in the barn with me, I always explain the truth about what is happening with a cow. Gumball, one of my all-time favorite cows, freshened two weeks ago and within two hours had cast her withers and died before I had gotten to the barn. That was the image four kids and I discovered when we walked up to the barn. Only one of those children was mine, and man, was that an educational evening.

I’ve made a couple quick trips to town lately and decided that I was much too sweaty to attempt to peel off one outt in order to tug on another. So, the general public got a glimpse of the real me in my daily business attire: boots, oversized overalls, probably a few unknown spots of manure freckling my arms. That is the person I am, most of the time. My pockets sag with the weight of all my necessary items. I probably have manure on my pant legs and have no idea. I was real on those trips to town.

So, when you hear about how you should be telling your story to the public, especially during this month of all things dairy, choose to be open and honest about it. It will shock some, it will amaze others, it will grow curiosity, and it will hopefully create more appreciation for what and why we do what we do. You will have new characters that add to your stories, and your words will show up on the pages of theirs.

Jacqui and her family milk 800 cows and farm 1,200 acres of crops in the northeastern corner of Vernon County, Wisconsin. Her children, Ira, Dane, Henry and Cora, 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.

Ramblings from the Ridge

The future of the dairy veterinarian

I am the current president of the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association. Representing the MVMA, I recently attended the white coat ceremony at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine.

28,000 dairy farms in the state of Minnesota. Now there are 2,600. That is a drop of 91%.

Veterinary Wisdom

tual shortage of bovine veterinarians.

By Jim Bennett Columnist

During this ceremony, students transitioning from their third to fourth year come on stage and ceremoniously put on their white lab coats with the assistance of faculty and others, including the MVMA president. Typically, the nal year of veterinary school is directed toward clinical work, hence the need for the white coats. Of course, for food animal students, we should really help them put on coveralls instead of white coats.

Recently, a young veterinarian applying for a position at our practice asked me, “Do you think there is a future for dairy veterinarians?”

This was a perceptive question, because, as you all know, the dairy industry has changed dramatically in the last few decades. For example, while we did not have a white coat ceremony back in 1980 when I would have been coated, there were about

Over the same period, Wisconsin has lost about 86% of its dairy farms. Similar statistics exist for other midwestern states, with the notable exception of South Dakota. While the number of cows in most midwestern states has not dropped nearly as much during that period, the demand for dairy veterinarians is more closely related to the number of farms than the number of cows.

So back to the question, the simple answer is yes. But, of course, it is complicated. During the white coat ceremony, I saw over 100 bright, optimistic young faces who will be the future of the profession. I was pleased to see that, while some came from all over the globe, including China and Vietnam, a signicant number were from rural areas of Minnesota and an even large number listed their main area of interest as food animal or mixed.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last decade, you have heard that there is a shortage of veterinarians in rural America. If one polls dairy and beef producers, for example, many will say they need more veterinarians in their area.

The American Association of Bovine Practitioners created a task force to examine the issue over 10 years ago. The task force concluded that, while there were many areas that were underserved by veterinary services in the United States, there was not an ac-

Since then, especially during the pandemic, demand for small animal veterinarians skyrocketed and created an overall shortage of veterinarians, including in some food animal practices. For example, the 2022 unemployment rate for veterinarians in the United States was only 0.5%. However, in the longer term, the market for dairy veterinary services has declined and continues to, and this has paradoxically created the situation of not enough dairy veterinarians in some areas. This means adding more veterinarians to the supply will not solve the problem.

In a growing market, there is plenty of economic power to support new positions. In a shrinking market, however, the reverse is true. So as the number of veterinarians an area can support goes down, it creates shortages as doctors retire or leave the area. The new economics do not support replacement veterinarians. The result is fewer practicing dairy veterinarians and areas where competent veterinary services are hard to nd.

Why is yes the answer to our young veterinarian’s question? It is because there will still be opportunities, though fewer, for new doctors to succeed. Ultimately, veterinarians need to provide signicant value to dairy businesses to thrive. If the dairy industry is strong and veterinarians can meet that challenge, dairy veterinarians will succeed. But, things will be different. For example, the model of a well-paid professional driving

long distances in an expensive vehicle with thousands of dollars of drugs onboard to see individual cows will become more unusual. This is because cows have not increased in value in real dollars since 1980 while the cost of vehicles and labor has. On the other hand, larger farms have a larger revenue base on which to spread farmbased costs rather than individual animal-based costs. This means that the demand for farm-based rather than animal-based services such as designing protocols and training employees, for example, may increase. In fact, in many places of the United States, including the Upper Midwest, speaking Spanish has become an important skill for dairy veterinarians.

Many of the technical procedures veterinarians have done and do today will be done by farm staff or perhaps by veterinary assistants and certied veterinary technicians. As is often the case, change is hard, and sometimes the path to the future is bumpy and difcult. The bright eyes of those enthusiastic, young, soon-to-be veterinarians cannot see into the future. But, the future will be there for those who adapt to the new realities and are able to meet the needs of the future dairy industry.

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 roof fell off

I love this time of year. It’s time to put up some hay.

The cows have been on pasture grazing for almost a month, and everything has been growing great with the moisture we got from the rains and all that snow melting right into the ground instead of running off. The pounds of milk in the tank keep rising as the quality and amount of feed in the pastures goes up. It even rained this morning after a couple concerningly dry weeks. There’s only one thing currently marring my otherwise rosy view of the world.

One of our chopper boxes has most of its roof missing.

Yes, I have known it was missing for a while.

Either snow or wind or a combination of the two caused its nal demise this winter, and I gured we’d get around to xing it a bit sooner than right before we start hay. However, like many jobs that aren’t immediately necessary, it got put off a bit longer than ideal in favor of getting other things xed, moved or cleaned up.

The Discbine needed a bit more service than usual, and the mowing tractor had an oil leak that turned into a bigger project than expected especially since the starter died while I had it in the shop so that had to get rebuilt as well. Very convenient timing for a starter to fail versus sitting in a eld 8 miles from home, but it added to the repair time either way. My neigh-

bor recently took all the roofs off his boxes when they bought a self-propelled chopper, so hopefully he can nd where they stashed the metal, and we’ll have the box in working order by tomorrow.

From the Zweber Farm

My favorite part of making hay is cutting it. It’s fun to see how all the different parts of elds grow and the differences from eld to eld. We have rolling ground around here. There are not many places you can unhook a wagon without it rolling away. For some cuttings, the low areas yield really well and the tops of the hills are thin and short; other times, it’s the opposite because we get too much moisture.

By Tim Zweber Farmer & Columnist

The types and percentages of different species thriving vary from area to area. I don’t plant particular species in particular areas because the elds vary so much that it would be a ton of work planting 2 acres in a couple spots with this mix then 5 acres with another mix and so on, but it would be really neat if that were possible. Maybe someday prescription planting of hay will be a thing.

We plant a very diverse mixture of seeds when we reseed hay elds. The mix consists of a couple varieties each of alfalfa and red clover, chicory, ve to six different grasses and a cover crop, usually barley and peas. For the rst year, we get a nice crop of small grains and then usually a crop of mostly weeds – which often surprises me with its palatability and quality – and then a nice third crop when the alfalfa and clover come in without the weeds. For the next couple years, the eld is primarily alfalfa and red clover with some grasses, and by years four through six, the eld becomes more grass than legumes and very dense. The last couple years, we have been letting elds go a couple years longer than usual before plowing and replanting. We are probably going to plow up one eld after the rst crop this year to x a bunch of rough patches from pocket gophers and tile repairs, but other than that, the elds all made it through winter really well.

I better get down to the barn to get a roof on that wagon so we can get chopping hay. Until next time, keep living the dream. Don’t forget to glance back often while cutting. It’s embarrassing to leave strips in the eld because something broke 500 feet ago.

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

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

Making the mundane matter, podcasting with purpose

One of the many blessings that dairy farming affords is the daily routine of tasks that need to be completed each day. It’s the time spent in the tractor, milking cows, tending to livestock and tackling projects that seem to make the days, months and seasons speed by.

During this time, we nd ourselves secluded on our dairies, each of us so preoccupied with the farm and our family that the task of gathering new information and exploring new ideas falls to the bottom of our very long to-do list. However, many of these routine tasks allow for multitasking, and more specically, podcasting.

Podcasts are a great way we learn new information and generate new ideas for our dairy. They also enable us to stay

By

current on the latest unbiased news that may affect our business. As the industry moves at an increasingly rapid pace, it is becoming more critical for dairies to receive the right information at the right time.

“An organization’s ability to learn, to translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage,” said Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric.

Podcasts are a great way for knowledge to be shared quickly and easily with others around the globe. The devices we all carry around in our pockets have access to incredible amounts of information and knowledge that contribute to the success of our dairy business.

So what podcasts are we tuning in to in order to enhance our business? We subscribe to quick podcasts delivering daily 10-minute summaries of current markets and events impacting our industry, as well as weekly or biweekly podcasts talking about new advancements or ideas.

Try the podcast “Grain Markets & Other Stuff” for a quick synopsis of grain markets and information related to ag business. “Dairy Dened,” produced by the National Milk Producers Federation, is also a great quick podcast that explores current issues affecting the dairy industry, with an emphasis on domestic policy, economics, international trade and sustainability. “The Business of Agriculture” and “Discover Ag” are two fantastic pod-

casts which discuss current events affecting our industries and host well-experienced guests on a wide variety of topics.

Other podcasts provide training, leadership coaching, and support both for our dairy business and personal development. One of the core challenges of many dairy businesses is often employee management. Many dairymen and women began dairying because of their passion for farming but are now realizing they are spending an increasing amount of time managing people.

Podcasts are a great way to develop leadership and employee management skills. They provide direct information on how other successful dairies are excelling with their teams. Some podcasts will even allow for specic questions to be asked or situations to be addressed.

The “Jocko Podcast” is a fantastic podcast on all things leadership and discipline in regards to your business, relationships and personal life. In a recent article, we also touched on the topic of surrounding yourself with people or businesses you feel are highly successful or doing the things your dairy would like to achieve. Podcasts allow you to hear directly from these thought leaders and are one way to accomplish that goal. We thoroughly enjoy the “Uplevel Dairy Podcast.” This weekly podcast hosts leading dairy producers and thought leaders, and discusses what it takes to be successful, protable and competitive on your dairy farm.

Don’t get us wrong, sometimes life can be more than mundane. It can be busy and stressful. Podcasts also provide an outlet for us to think (or not think at all) about things that are unrelated to our dairy. They’re a great avenue of entertainment and have been noted as the modern version of storytelling.

According to Edison Research, 53% of Americans (ages 12-54) have listened to a podcast in the last month and over 90 million Americans are weekly listeners, with true crime and comedy being the most popular genres. Our favorite podcasts we go to when we are looking for entertainment while working on our dairy are, “The Huberman Lab,” “The Joe Rogan Experience,” “The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast,” “The Fairly Interesting Podcast,” “Abiding Together” and “Our American Story.”

If you are a current podcaster, perhaps we were able to provide a new podcast for your quiver, or perhaps you are new to podcasting. We encourage you to give it a try. Use the podcast app on your iPhone or the app Spotify to stream for free. Try one of our favorites or nd a topic you enjoy. It may take some time to discover whom you enjoy listening to, but trust us, you will begin to look forward to those daily routine tasks.

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

RUGGED, RELIABLE, and ECONOMICAL

Megan Schrupp & Ellen Stenger Columnists

The NexGen: Adventures of two dairy daughters

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