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DAIRY ST R
July 9, 2022
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 24, No. 10
Smoky Hills buys, updates Hastings Creamery
Farmers process organic, conventional milk at site By Kate Rechtzigel kate.r@dairystar.com
HASTINGS, Minn. − More than a year ago, Smoky Hills Farmers Cooperative purchased Hastings Creamery from Plainview Milk Products. In the time since, the new farmer owners have built a new store and added organic processing. The creamery’s store opened June 17 in Hastings of Dakota County. “The focus of our group was to go from the farm to the customer’s table,” Justin Malone said. “In order to do that, we needed to be able to process our own milk and put it in a bottle.” Malone is the general manager of the creamery and a member of the Smoky Hills Farmers Cooperative. He and his family milk 220 cows near Ottertail, about 3.5 hours northwest of the creamery. Malone is a part of the group of 11 organic dairy farmers from northern Minnesota who
purchased the creamery May 1, 2021. “We wanted to start our own line of organic milk from the Smoky Hills Farmers Cooperative and the closest and highest quality plant we could nd was in Hastings,” Malone said. “It also had (high temperature short time) pasteurization, which is what we wanted because we wanted the milk to taste fresh.” The creamery bottles skim, 1%, 2% and whole white and chocolate milk in both organic and conventional lines under Hastings Creamery and Valley View Farms, respectively, as well as half and half, buttermilk and heavy whipping cream. “We really wanted to have a place to bring our milk where we would have the say of when we could bring milk in,” Malone said. “Hastings was also already an existing business and in grocery stores, so we didn’t have to start from scratch.” After purchasing the plant, the group brought in an organic
KATE RECHTZIGEL/DAIRY STAR
Dairy farmers JusƟn Malone (leŌ) and Peter Mursu of Smoky Hills Farmers CooperaƟve stand in their new store June 24 in HasƟngs, Minnesota. The coop processes both organic and convenƟonal milk. consultant to certify the plant that same spring. The consultant inspected the plant, helped with paperwork and new labels, and made sure they were using the
correct chemicals and cleaners. They also helped with the renewal of the certication this year. “They have been very helpful, even though as a food
grade processor we were meeting most of the standards already,” Malone said.
Turn to SMOKY HILLS | Page 8
Johnsons see viability in dairy’s future Family grows herd tenfold for sons’ returns By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
KERKHOVEN, Minn. – Brothers Stuart and Simon Johnson grew up on a modest 50-cow dairy in western Minnesota, but they knew if dairying was in their future, the farm’s structure was going to have to look vastly different. In 2020, the Johnsons and their parents, Warren and Stacy, and their uncle, Lane, entered into a partnership and built new facilities where they now milk 600 cows at the family’s farm site in Swift County near Kerkhoven. “There are more efciencies with milking 600 cows and we’re trying to
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
The Johnson family – (front, from leŌ) Stella and Kenton; (back, from leŌ) Simon, KaƟe holding Anna, Stacy, Collin, Warren holding Evelyn, Samantha holding ColleƩe and Stuart – milk 600 cows near Kerkhoven, Minnesota. The Johnsons underwent a major expansion to bring home Stuart and Simon and their families. optimize our footprint, so we knew that’s where we had to be with room to grow in order
to stay competitive with the modern-day dairy industry,” Simon said. “And, we knew
we wanted to raise our kids here and have them involved on the farm.”
Simon’s wife, Katie, and daughter, Anna, and Stuart’s wife, Samantha, and four children – Stella, Kenton, Evelyn and Collette – as well as the brothers’ youngest sibling, Collin, are also involved in the operation. The families milk the herd at Building Block Holsteins in a double-10 parallel parlor three times a day. Opportunity to expand the parlor to a double-20 is possible. The herd is housed in an 8-row, cross-ventilated freestall barn that stands 210-feet by 360-feet. Cows are grouped by stage of reproduction and lactation. Stalls are bedded with sand that is recycled through the farm’s reclamation system. “When designing the barn, we built an oversized holding pen and parlor,” Turn to JOHNSONS | Page 6
Page 2 • Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022
DAIRY ST R www.dairystar.com
ISSN 020355 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave. Sauk Centre, MN 56378 Phone: (320) 352-6303 Fax: (320) 352-5647 Published by Dairy Star LLC General Manager/Editor Mark Klaphake - mark.k@dairystar.com 320-352-6303 (ofce) 320-248-3196 (cell) 320-352-0062 (home) Ad Composition Nancy Powell 320-352-6303 nancy.p@dairystar.com Editorial Staff Jennifer Coyne - Co-editor (320) 352-6303 • jenn@dairystar.com Danielle Nauman - Staff Writer (608) 487-1101 • danielle.n@dairystar.com Stacey Smart - Staff Writer (262) 442-6666 • stacey.s@dairystar.com Abby Wiedmeyer - Staff Writer 608-487-4812 • abby.w@dairystar.com Kate Rechtzigel - Staff Writer 507-696-9213 • kate.r@dairystar.com Maria Bichler - Copy Editor 320-352-6303 Consultant Jerry Jennissen 320-346-2292 Advertising Sales Main Ofce: 320-352-6303 Fax: 320-352-5647 Deadline is 5 p.m. of the Friday the week before publication Sales Manager - Joyce Frericks 320-352-6303 • joyce@dairystar.com Bob Leukam (Northern MN, East Central MN) 320-260-1248 (cell) bob.l@star-pub.com Mark Klaphake (Western MN) 320-352-6303 (ofce) 320-248-3196 (cell) Laura Seljan (National Advertising, SE MN) 507-250-2217 fax: 507-634-4413 laura.s@dairystar.com Jerry Nelson (SW MN, NW Iowa, South Dakota) 605-690-6260 jerry.n@dairystar.com Mike Schafer (Central, South Central MN) 320-894-7825 mike.s@dairystar.com Amanda Hoeer (Eastern Iowa) 320-250-2884 • amanda.h@dairystar.com Megan Stuessel (Western Wisconsin) 608-387-1202 • megan.s@dairystar.com Kati Kindschuh (Northeast WI and Upper MI) 920-979-5284 • kati.k@dairystar.com Deadlines The deadline for news and advertising in the Dairy Star is 5 p.m. Friday the week before publication. Subscriptions One year subscription $40.00, outside the U.S. $200.00. Send check along with mailing address to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378. Advertising Our ad takers have no authority to bind this newspaper and only publication of an advertisement shall constitute nal acceptance of the advertiser's order. Letters Letters and articles of opinion are welcomed. Letters must be signed and include address and phone number. We reserve the right to edit lengthy letters. The views and opinions expressed by Dairy Star columnists and writers are not necessarily those of the Dairy Star / Star Publications LLC.
The Dairy Star is published semi-monthly by Star Publications LLC, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246. Periodicals Postage Paid at Sauk Centre, MN and additional mailing ofces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246.
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Northbill America dealers. in farm hearing
During a recent House Agriculture Committee hearing, University of Minnesota dairy economist Marin Bozic questioned the ability of federal milk marketing orders to deliver fair prices to the producer. Bozic said it is very difcult for dairy farmers to switch to a different processor, which inuences competition for milk. “If a corn producer wishes to know how different local elevators would pay for corn, all they need to do is go online or tune into their local radio station,” testied Bozic. “In contrast, when some dairy producers have asked for milk price benchmarking information, in multiple instances, they faced tacit disapproval or even aggressive legal threats from some dairy processors.” Bozic said the farm bill must also address the long-term implications of dairy policy changes. The drop in uid milk consumption and the increase in dairy exports were cited as ongoing trends.
programs should be reformed Ag Insider for climate considerations. At this point, conservation programs, like carbon sequestration programs, aren’t taking into account previous farming practices. “Farmers that are rst adopters have already started to do no-till practices, plant cover crops and use biostimulants,” Ibach said. “They’re getting told already by private companies, and if By Don Wick we don’t move away from Columnist this philosophy, they will get told by USDA, ‘I’m sorry; Edge seeks federal order reform you’re already doing that so you have to do something Edge Dairy Farm Cooperative has unveiled its more.’” Ibach was featured in the South Dakota Gov. priorities for milk pricing reform. The proposal focuses on Kristi Noem’s ag summit. two principles—exibility and fairness. “More regional exibility in federal orders would benet everyone,” Trying to x emergency relief program hiccups said Mitch Davis, who is a member of the Edge board. The USDA knows there were a few hiccups in the “With our proposal, each order would have the authority implementation of the Emergency Relief Program. to operate its milkshed in a way that makes sense for the “The AGI-related issues, we’re looking to the exibility order.” To promote fairness, Edge is proposing contracting in the regulations for that,” said Zach Ducheneaux, principles to cover the timeliness of payments, price administrator, Farm Service Agency. “Some of the tax transparency, competitive risk management and incentive issues where the IRS is dening income, there may not payments. be much we can do other than have a conversation to see if there is exibility and we’ll work on that this Reform sought for conservation programs summer.” Ducheneaux said issues with prevented plant Former United States Department of Agriculture Turn to AG INSIDER | Page 5 Under Secretary Greg Ibach believes federal conservation
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Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022 • Page 3
Sioux Falls, SD
HydroGreen produces fodder in six days First Section: Pages 11 - 12
Hutchinson, MN
Lickfelt advocates while seeking out educational avenues First Section: Page 26
Zumbro Falls, MN
Albany, MN
Hyde Park Holsteins breeds for sustainable cows
Frericks’ passion leads to role as nalist
First Section: Page 18, 20
First Section: Pages 23, 25
Sauk Centre, MN
Baltic, SD
Meier highlights management system at pasture walk
Boadwines install technology to capture methane gas from manure
First Section: Page 27
Lyle, MN
Second Section: Pages 3 - 5
Dewitt, IA
Silbaugh raises goats, helps on uncle’s farm
Sioux Falls, SD
Daily chores, county fair ll time for Lee-Ann’s Swiss June 24
Second Section: Pages 12 - 13
Producers share insight at Data and Innovation Summit Third Section: Pages 2 - 4
Second Section: Pages 14, 16 - 17
FROM OUR SIDE OF THE FENCE:
For additional stories from our other zone, log on to www.dairystar.com
How does this year’s hay crop compare to previous years? First Section: Pages 15-16
Zone 1
Zone 2
Columnists Ag Insider der Pages 2, 5 First F Section tion
F From the Z Zwe Zweber Farm P Page 34 Fir Section First
Dea County Dear ty Ag Agent Guy y P Page 36 First Firs Section on
Veterinary Vet V Wisdom W Page P Pa a 37 First Fir F irs Section
From My Perspective Page 38 First Section
Come Full C Da Dairy Circle Page 39 Fi Section First
Country C Cooking C P Page 22 S Second Section S
The “Mielke” Market Weekly Pages 8 - 9 Second Section
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Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022 • Page 5
ConƟnued from AG INSIDER | Page 2
will also be addressed. Farmers with crop insurance have until July 22 to complete and submit their forms. FSA will send out pre-lled applications for 9,000 eligible farmers with NAP coverage in mid-July. A war crime According to the European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Russia needs to safely open the Black Sea for shipments of Ukrainian grain. In his words, it is a ‘war crime’ to have millions of tons of wheat blocked in Ukraine while the world goes hungry. The EU supports efforts by the United Nations to nd a way to restart grain shipments out of Ukraine. Trade mission returns from United Kingdom Deputy Agriculture Secretary Jewell Bronaugh said a goal of the trade trip was to offer a positive impression of U.S. agriculture. Bronaugh said there is hope the trip will lead to resuming formal trade talks with the United Kingdom. “I think we’re all very hopeful there will be a U.S.-U.K. Free Trade Agreement,” Bronaugh said. “Our job is to set the stage for removing and reducing barriers to trade and the non-tariff barriers. We also have to develop an understanding of how we can knock down some of those walls ahead of a free trade agreement.” Recession may already be here AgriSompo North America market analyst Sterling Smith thinks the U.S. is already in a recession. “I’m going to say something few are willing to say,” Smith said. “We’re in a recession in the United States right now. The GDP numbers in the last quarter were negative, and we’ll probably have a negative print this quarter as well, at least, in terms of real GDP.” Smith emphasizes commodity prices, other than in the energy sector, don’t have that much to do with ination. “Stock market behavior the last few days is giving me an indication maybe we’ve seen a bottom,” Smith said. “Typically, when the recession starts to improve, the recession has already hit bottom.” AMPI announces leadership transition After 38 years with the cooperative,
Associated Milk Producers Inc. CoPresident/CEO Donn DeVelder plans to step down at the end of the year. Sheryl Meshke, who has been copresident/CEO since January 2015, will continue leading AMPI. “We are excited for what is to come and know Sheryl’s leadership will be critical in achieving continued success for AMP member-owners and employees,” said Steve Schlangen, board chairman. AFBF names executive vice president Joby Young is the new executive vice president for the American Farm Bureau Federation. Most recently, Young was a partner in a lobbying rm. Before that, he was the chief of staff for Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. Young replaces Dale Moore, who announced his retirement in March. One scoop or two? In conjunction with its annual Capitol Hill Ice Cream Party, the International Dairy Foods Association released a report on ice cream trends. The study conducted by Research America said nearly two-thirds of Americans rank vanilla as their favorite ice cream avor. The top 10 list rounds out with chocolate, cookies ‘n cream, mint chocolate chip, chocolate chip cookie dough, buttered pecan, cookie dough, strawberry, moose tracks and Neapolitan. Trivia challenge The average American consumed 655 pounds of milk, cheese, ice cream and other dairy products in 2021. That answers our last trivia question. For this week’s trivia, how many servings of dairy products are recommended by USDA each day? We will have the answer in the next edition of Dairy Star. Don Wick is owner/broadcaster for the Red River Farm Network, based in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Wick has been recognized as the National Farm Broadcaster of the Year and served as president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Don and his wife, Kolleen, have two adult sons, Tony and Sam, and ve grandchildren, Aiden, Piper, Adrienne, Aurora and Sterling.
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Page 6 • Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022
ConƟnued from JOHNSONS | Page 1
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MARK KLAPHAKE /DAIRY STAR
The Johnsons house their cows in an 8-row cross-venƟlated freestall barn at Building Block Holsteins near Kerkhoven, Minnesota.
Stuart said. “That gives us options going forward.” Simon completed a dairy science Ŷ INSTALLATION, MAINTENANCE & REPAIRS degree from Cornell University in 2019 and managed a large dairy Lange Ag Systems is proud to offer Grain Bags, Silage Bags & in Iowa before returning home to Bunker Covers from Up North Plastics and Feed Fresh Silage Covers & the family’s dairy. Stuart pursued a Custom Size Bunker Covers from Raven! degree in mechanical engineering and t ^ >> E t Θ h^ 'ͳ ' Θ < >>z Zz E '' Z^ graduated from Stanford University in 2015 and worked for other companies as an engineer and business manager. The brothers proposed a partnership to continue their goals of building for the future. “When I left for school, I had plans Repair vs. Replace to come home,” Simon said. “I’ve Electronic Dairy always liked the cows and working Board Repair Service with Dad and my family.” Lane agreed. Specializing in: 3x4 Bales • 1st, 2nd & 3rd Cutting Hay “Those boys are two smart, young WestfaliaSurge, BouMatic, WE DELIVER men, and they know how to work,” & DeLaval pulsators & Takeoffs, he said of his nephews. “This isn’t Heavy Oats Also For Sale circuit boards, Mueller milk a fallback. They have a lot of other Honeyland Farms tank circuit boards. opportunities they could pursue, so it’s 1-320-250-8805 or 1-204-347-5780 Mike exciting that they wanted to be here.” Call: (c) 406-590-7764 www.circuitÀxer.wixsite.com/ www.honeylandfarms1.com As part of the partnership, Lane boumaticboardrepair invested 30 acres in the project. When the new build was operational, Lane then invested his herd of 70 cows in the new enterprise. “After our initial meeting about nancing this new barn, it was gured that the 30 acres I put in would be enough, but I knew we needed to G5000 SERIES mortgage the home farm to make it work,” Lane said. “I made my mind up on the way home. … I don’t have kids to take it over, and I want the farm to go on. So, that’s what we had to do to get the next generation involved.” With little hesitation, Stuart and Simon insisted on a parlor. “I like robots, and if I was going to do it myself at my age, that’s what I would’ve done,” Warren said. “But, the boys are willing to work with employees, and this setup seems like a much better t for their skills,” Warren said . Stuart agreed. Ŷ BARN DESIGN
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“The big reason we didn’t go with robots was because of the capital investment,” he said. “There was also the concern with being tied to the software, difculty scaling and a labor shift to technicians rather than completely eliminating labor.” In Stuart’s previous line of work, he was managing two manufacturing locations. Throughout the construction, he was able to use a similar skill set to work with the general contractor and oversee the operations of the new build. Construction began in fall 2020 with the groundwork for the parlor and holding pen. By the following spring, they started laying the foundation for the barn. The Johnsons constructed a steel building, partly due to the supply chain issues at the time. “We received a bid for lumber, but it was only good for a day,” Stuart said. “They honored a steel bid longer, and at the time, it was a little bit cheaper. Really, I think it’s made this a better building.” Simon and Collin worked on building the barn by setting the headlocks, framing the curtains, putting up the iron beams and more. Stuart designed and built the water manifold. It was a family affair as Samantha and Katie would bring meals to the team as they worked all hours to nish the facility. Once complete, the dairy could facilitate direct load milk hauling, support a milking crew and maximize equipment such as the feed mixer. “We gured if we wanted to bring in the next generation, we had to go from 60 cows to 600 cows,” Warren said. “That was the biggest, smallest step; getting our hands around the vastness of this project so that this Turn to JOHNSONS | Page 7
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Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022 • Page 7
ConƟnued from JOHNSONS | Page 6 farm could provide for each family.” By Oct. 1, 2021, two pens in the barn were complete, and the Johnsons began milking in the parlor. “That day was our last day milking in the old barn and the rst day milking here,” Samantha said. Over the next few months, the family grew the herd from within as well as purchasing a few herds. By the middle of February, the herd reached its current size. With the barn full and the parlor running for 22 hours each day, responsibilities are falling into place. Simon serves as the farm’s herd manager and oversees all of the herd health alongside Warren’s cousin, Scott Johnson. Stuart cares for the youngstock and manages the construction projects. The
brothers work closely with the six full-time employees. Warren has taken a small step back and is in charge of mixing and delivering feed, and Stacy manages bookwork and payroll. While Lane has also taken a step back, he feeds youngstock and dry cows at the home farm, provides feed for the farm and gives input when the family looks to add cows to the herd. He also retained a few show cows and plans to develop a small show string for his nieces and nephews and their children. “I’m just glad they’ve included me and am tickled pink they’re out here,” Lane said. “I’ve told them, put a little faith in God and things seem to work out. I think he’s on our team.” With each person taking the lead on focus areas of the
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Lane Johnson invested in his family’s herd expansion at Building Block Holsteins in Kerkhoven, Minnesota. Johnson helped facilitate the family’s ability to expand from 60 to 600 cows.
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
An employee milks cows during the aŌernoon shiŌ June 27 at the Johnsons’ farm near Kerkhoven, Minnesota. The double-10 parlor has the capacity to expand to a double-20. farm, they meet biweekly to discuss short-term and longterm priorities for the families and future of Building Block Holsteins. They lean on each other’s insight to develop a plan moving forward. “If we all have the same opinions, we’re not gaining different perspectives and bringing forth our best ideas,” Stuart said. “By discussing problems where we have differences, we’re able to draw from each other’s experiences and develop what are hopefully the best solutions from the group.”
The Johnsons want to challenge ideas so that the poor ones are weeded out before being put into practice and the stronger ideas have a better chance of accomplishing what is intended. When the Johnson brothers left the farm, they used the values and ethics they learned on the farm to pursue education at elite schools on the coasts and found themselves returning to their roots in anticipation of building a rewarding life in rural Minnesota. Their parents, for one, are grateful
for the path that led them home. “Simon came home and knew he had to be a value add but wasn’t sure if that was through investing or some other way to bring money in,” Warren said. “Honestly, I was tired, and we needed those younger people and their energy level. They were a value add on day one.” Simon agreed. “This is the beginning of something, and now the work begins,” he said. “We have the tools, and it’s time to hit our benchmarks .”
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ConƟnued from SMOKY HILLS| Page 1 The plant uses one we purchased this, I didn’t 30,000-gallon silo for organic realize how much reputation and milk and one for conventional community support there was. milk. A third 30,000-gallon silo is Everybody loves the milk that under construction. comes out of the creamery and Each silo is washed after use the shakes that come out of the and the milk is segregated while store which is important because it is being processed and bottled, we really need Hastings and the said Malone. surrounding communities to Before opening, farmer- support us.” owners also designed and built The creamery is run by a a new store complete with local cooperative board of ve dairy products such as eggs, jams, salsa farmers – Brice Blickenstaff of and other items. And, they have New York Mills, Michael Dalquist increased customer awareness to of Randall, Tim Anderson of the organic line by handing out Evansville, Peter Mursu of New samples at stores that have signed York Mills, Malone and eldman on with their product. and manager Michael Hendrickx “The reactions have been of Sebeka. great,” Malone said. “People Dairy farming and serving drink the milk and they’re like, as the creamery’s interim general ‘Man, this is great. This is the best manager is an undertaking for milk I’ve ever tasted. This tastes Malone. like when I was a kid down on the “The only way I’m able farm.’ That’s been a big boost of to do this is because of my encouragement for all of us.” children who help on the farm, They sell conventional milk especially my three oldest boys, in 30 stores and organic milk in and our great employees who eight stores and at their dairy are responsible and help out at store in Hastings. home,” Malone said. “If I didn’t “Everybody knows about the have all those people working store here,” Malone said. “When as a team at home, I wouldn’t be
KATE RECHTZIGEL/DAIRY STAR
Store employee Lillyan Schweich, sells milk and eggs to a customer June 24 at the HasƟngs Creamery dairy store in HasƟngs, Minnesota.
KATE RECHTZIGEL/DAIRY STAR
The HasƟngs Creamery and the Smoky Hills Farmers CooperaƟve opened their new store June 17 in HasƟngs, Minnesota. The cooperaƟve is made up of 11 organic dairy farmers from Minnesota. able to be here.” Minnesota, including the northern big hit.” Malone is at the creamery part of the state where the farmerMalone is thankful for the two to three days a week members reside. people who work at the creamery, answering phone calls and “We have our own route that the farmer-owners for the work participating in virtual meetings, delivers to about 30 stores, but they put into their farms every often leaving his farm by 4:30 we are still working on nding day and the town of Hastings for a.m. and not getting home until out how to get our organic milk to their support. late in the evening. other places and what it’s going “I don’t know if I can say “It’s a full-time job and then to cost,” Malone said. “We also enough thanks for them,” he said. some,” Malone said. have to make sure customers are The cooperative has plans to Malone’s team for daily plant aware of when our products hit take on more patrons from both operations include his foreman, stores so they can purchase them Minnesota and Wisconsin come Jesse Parsons, more than 25 plant before their sell by dates.” later this year. employees, a route supervisor, To celebrate this new venture “We’re planning on growing Chuck Anderson, seven route and the future of Hastings more on the retail and processing drivers and three ofce staff. Creamery, 1,800 people attended side so we can take on more “It takes a lot of people the grand opening June 24-25 milk,” Malone said. “Whether working together to make this where they could buy dairy your organic or conventional, we happen every day,” Malone said. products, including cheese curds don’t have a preference. We just “They do a great job.” from farmer-owner Peter Mursu, want local milk from farmers The greatest challenges the and meet other farmer-owners. who care about their farms and creamery has faced since its “We bought the cheese animals, and there’s a lot of those new startup have been selling curd wagon earlier this year and in the dairy industry. Everyone the organic milk before its shelf eventually plan to make our own does a good job to produce food life expires and nding a way to cheese curds to sell out of here in for all the people in the country.” distribute the milk throughout the future,” Mursu said. “It was a
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Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022 • Page 9
Cow spots in Clinton crosswalk
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Hillary Burken shows off the cow spots she painted on a crosswalk as part of Paint Iowa Beau�ful in Clinton, Iowa. Burken is one of the 2021-22 Iowa dairy princesses.
Iowa dairy princess adds dairy angle to community project By Sherry Newell Contributing Writer
CLINTON, Iowa – A painted crosswalk in downtown Clinton is not the average urban beautication project. It is, however, reective of Hillary Burken’s heritage.
The Iowa dairy princess took to the street June 17 for six hours as part of a partnership between her high school’s Synergy organization and a Paint Iowa Beautiful grant administered by the Clinton Downtown Alliance. The student group, which earns students credit for community service, raised funds for projects that included murals and crosswalks. Burken’s choice of design for the crosswalk at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Second Street South was
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“We make most of our management decisions based off of what we see in the reports.” What are some of the DHIA tests you use? We use the standard tests; milk production, butterfat, protein and somatic cell count. Which is your favorite and why? Snapshot by string, quick list and the youngstock report. We use the reports from the tests. How does testing with DHIA beneÀt your dairy operation? We make most of our management decisions based off of what we see in the reports. Tell us about your farm. Our cows are housed in a freestall barn and milked in a parallel parlor. We have stir fans in the freestall barn. The cows are fed twice a day. I have enough land to provide all the corn silage and some of the hay. Roger Peters (right) Most grain, protein, pictured with herdsman David Grooters concentrates, minerals Prairie Line Farm and the balance of hay 275 cows • Tyler, Minnesota are purchased.
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CECIL, Wis. – If you happen to attend an outdoor summer event in northeastern Wisconsin, you just might hear the distinctive sound of an old-time tractor engine. Chances are, if you follow that sound, you will enjoy a delicious homemade ice cream treat. “A lot of people DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR tell me they knew Jacob Miller from Cecil, Wisconsin operates PuƩ PuƩ Ice Cream as a side-busiexactly where to nd ness. He makes and sells homemade ice cream at community events and fesƟme because they could vals throughout northeastern Wisconsin. hear the engine from a couple of blocks away,” Miller said. Jacob Miller, of Cecil, owns his ice cream looking – or listening, as the case may be – for business, Putt Putt Ice Cream. Miller keeps busy us,” Miller said. Miller takes his Putt Putt Ice Cream machine selling his homemade ice cream at events nearly every weekend from early June through the end to a variety of community events throughout the summer, making a vanilla ice cream that he said of September. “July and August are denitely my busiest has a custard-like consistency. Miller offers a wide times,” Miller said. “But, it keeps me fairly busy variety of toppings when serving his ice cream. He said crushed Heath candy bars and cookies throughout the whole summer.” Putt Putt Ice Cream is churned using a custom- and cream are two of the most popular toppings, ordered 1946 John Deere Hit and Miss tractor along with chocolate and caramel syrups. “The ice cream is classied as a custard engine, which has been completely restored and because of the high percentage of dairy,” Miller attached to a 5-gallon ice cream freezer. “I grew up on a farm in Ohio and knew of said. According to Miller, it takes about 20 minutes several people that had homemade ice cream makers like this,” Miller said. “But, I haven’t seen for the machine to make a 5-gallon batch of ice cream, and he estimates that each batch creates another one around this area like it.” The uniqueness of the machine captivates approximately 100 servings of ice cream. Miller both young and old, and Miller said he enjoys said that during the average event, he makes sharing the experience that reminds him of his anywhere from four to eight batches of ice cream. The ice cream is made using a purchased ice own childhood with those he meets at the different cream mix, and Miller adds whole milk, sugar and events. “It really draws attention with the distinctive vanilla avoring. Miller uses a hand crank to re noise it makes,” Miller said. “People of every up the tractor engine. Currently, Miller operates his ice cream age group love it. The older generation enjoys reminiscing, because they grew up with tractors business from a pop-up tent and is a vendor only like that. The younger kids are just fascinated by at local events. Future plans for Putt Putt Ice Cream might it and love the sound.” Since he began offering his ice cream, Miller include obtaining a food truck license, which said he has developed a following of many familiar Miller said will allow him to expand not only what he can offer to his customers but also increase his faces that seek him out at events. “I will see numerous familiar faces that are ability to attend more events and functions and possibly have regular non-event hours. Miller said the gaspowered, water-cooled engine is fairly simple to operate and requires minimal maintenance to keep it running in tiptop shape, including oil changes after each 20 hours of operation and occasionally changing the spark plugs. “The nostalgia of the old hit-and-miss engine, the homemade ice cream and the spirit of small-town community events have made this a very rewarding venture for me,” Miller said. DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
PuƩ PuƩ Ice Cream is made using a fully restored 1946 John Deere Hit and Miss tractor engine which is hooked up to a ve-gallon ice cream freezer. Jacob Miller uses the machine for his business.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022 • Page 11
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Wheat mat is ready for harvest June 29 at the HydroGreen InnovaƟon Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. HydroGreen produces forages in six days using a rack style system to ensure a fresh harvest daily.
HydroGreen produces fodder in six days By Maggie Molitor Staff Intern
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – As Holstein enthusiasts gathered in South Dakota for a week showcasing progress in the industry, a tour to HydroGreen Innovation Center showcased the leading edge of technology and innovation in the dairy industry. “Here at HydroGreen, we have created commercial scale crops from seed to feed in just six days,” said Ben Schmidt, president of HydroGreen. “We essentially control the environment and replicate Mother Nature indoors.” The forage company was a stop for attendees of the National Holstein Convention June 29 in Sioux Falls. Tour groups visited the company’s research and development facility where they learned about how forage is produced in their indoor vertical pastures and the benets of it within a cow’s diet. The 140-hour process begins with separating and cleaning the seeds to ensure consistency
throughout the crop. The seeds are then placed on the grow rack system about a half-inch thick with an automatic seeder. Each level on the rack is planted on a different day to ensure fresh harvest daily. “The benet of having a fresh forage available every day, 365 days a year, is the consistency of feed for the animals,” Schmidt said. “Cows are creatures of habit. The more consistent the ration is the better for performance and animal health.” The seeds are given water and LED lighting through an automated system. When the feed reaches peak nutritional value at day six, it is harvested. The whole level of forage is then unloaded into a feed sizer. The mat of feed is cut into uniform-sized particles that allow for easy mixing with other feed ingredients in a ration. The company has two rack systems available. The DG rack system can produce around 3,000 pounds of forage a day, and the GLS system can produce upward of 34,000 pounds per day. It is recommended the forage be about 15% of a cow’s dry matter intake. “The forage has a lot of glucose Turn to HYDROGREEN | Page 12
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ConƟnued from HYDROGREEN | Page 11
and enzymes,” Schmidt said. “The cows love smelling it, and because it is so efcient, the cows will actually eat more of their other feedstuffs.” The exibility and consistency of the product has been primarily focused on transition cow diets. The company has found three important factors their product has aided, especially when considering
JERRY NELSON/DAIRY STAR
The HydroGreen GLS rack system is shown June 29 at the HydroGreen InnovaƟon Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The GLS can produce upwards of 34,000 pounds of forage per day.
the diet of transition cows. The high sugars in the micro-forages help stimulate dry matter intake, the feed balances dietary cation anion difference levels and helps with the negative energy balance going into lactation. “In a study with Crosswind Jerseys, we noticed increased dry matter intake and rumination activity in the pre-partum period,” said Dr. Shawn Jenkins, research scientist at HydroGreen. “This resulted in similar responses postpartum, even though they weren’t being administered.” The tour not only highlighted the health benets for cattle but also numerous sustainable practices of the vertical growing system. HydroGreen does not use pesticide, herbicide or fertilizer. The company relies on seeds, water and lighting to grow its forages. This allows for less required resources in the production of the product. “Our goal is to do this all in a sustainable manner at commercial scale with very signicant and measurable impacts on the environment, whether we’re thinking about enteric methane emissions, feed efciency, ber digestibility or water,” Jenkins said. Jenkins’ business uses 95% less water to grow fodder than would be used in conventional growing practices. A model such as this caters to drier climates where water
JERRY NELSON/DAIRY STAR
Hydrogreen’s president, Ben Schmidt, presents to NaƟonal Holstein AssociaƟon tour aƩendees June 29 at the HydroGreen InnovaƟon Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
is a limiting resource. “Water access in this part of the country is less of an issue,” Schmidt said. “You go to west Texas, Arizona, California, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and it becomes a signicant problem that we are hearing about more and more.” The forage company’s focus on sustainability and strides in
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Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022 • Page 13
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A city bus approaches a newly painted crosswalk featuring Holstein cow spots. It was painted by Iowa Dairy Princess, Hillary Burken, as part of a community service partnership.
Holstein spots. “I’m not much of an artist,” Burken said. “But, I can paint cow spots.” Burken comes from a farm only seven minutes from Clinton, Blue Hyll Dairy, owned by her father, Marty Burken. She was crowned Iowa Dairy Princess last August and graduated from Clinton High School this spring. She has spent much of this summer going to dairy promotion appearances while also working on the farm. But before graduating, she met with city leaders working to bring downtown Clinton to life and put their grant to work. “One of them said it would be cool to paint the crosswalks,” Burken said. While her design was simple, putting it on concrete was not as easy as she thought. “The surface is just so coarse,” she said. “After we got the background painted, we decided to just dump a little spot of paint on it and push it out until it looked like a spot.” While she and another student did their work, they received plenty of attention from passers-by, including a police ofcer. The street was blocked
“I fell in love with the idea of working with my city; it is so rewarding. My mindset about (Clinton) is so different now.” HILLARY BURKEN, IOWA DAIRY PRINCESS
off during the painting. Other crosswalk designs throughout the area include clouds, a yellow brick road and piano keys with a treble cleft and the word “music.” Burken said the location of the one she painted is good, with many downtown events happening a block away. Perhaps more important than the cow-themed crosswalk is how working with Clinton’s leaders connected Burken to her city. “I met a lot of great people,” she said. “I fell in love with the idea of working with my city; it is so rewarding. My mindset about (Clinton) is so different now.” Burken said her previous experience was that people saw Clinton as a rather grungy urban area. She now serves on the Mayor’s Youth Commission, a role that came up during her senior year of high school. “The mayor reached out to Synergy and said it was in the constitution that youth be involved in the city,” she said. Burken’s experience in Clinton led her to make plans to attend Kansas State University in the fall to pursue community planning and related topics. That is a big change from her original plan to pursue an agriculture curriculum, staying close to her dairy farm roots. “When I told my father I was thinking of switching my plans, he was good with it,” Burken said. “He told me agriculture will never leave me; that’s where I learned a lot of my skills.”
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From Our Side Of The Fence
Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022 • Page 15
How does this year’s hay crop compare to previous years?
Dave Stich Randall, Minnesota 425 cows
Jeff Schultz Freeman, South Dakota 2,300 cows
Tell us about your hay harvest this year. We have 350 acres of alfalfa and 200 acres of grass meadow hay. The alfalfa hay is cut and chopped and put into a bunker. The meadow hay we bag. With the wet weather, the meadow hay is all ooded. We’re pretty much done, and we just got started. We sprayed for bugs, but we’re about 10 days behind because of that. We usually cut every 30-32 days.
Tell us about your hay harvest this year. We windrow our alfalfa with a pair of self-propelled mower conditioners. We merge ve windrows and chop our hay with our self-propelled chopper. All of our haylage is stored in a bunker. Most years, we average 900 acres of alfalfa per cutting. We have two quarters of our own alfalfa and buy the rest from our neighbors as a standing crop. We pay about $1.30 per point of relative feed value corrected to 15% moisture. All of our haylage is fed to our dairy herd and youngstock.
What was the yield? The yields on rst cutting were exceptional, about 10%-15% above average. That crop will go to the milk cows. We use the meadow hay for heifers, dry cows and beef cows. Hopefully we’ll get some later. We have some carry over from last year, so that’ll take us for a while. How does this year’s crop compare to previous years? First cutting of alfalfa hay was about 10%15% above average in yield. We had plenty of water this season. We didn’t test any of it because we are feeding last year’s still. We shoot 160-180 relative feed value and will test when we feed. What has been the greatest challenge of hay harvest this season? How have you overcome it? With the heavy rains for meadow hay harvest; we got about 12 inches with the last storm. We’re just going to sit and wait to see what happens. How will you plan to manage your hay crop for the remainder of the season? We’ll spread some fertilizer after second crop alfalfa because we didn’t get it done after rst. We bale a little after second crop but not a lot. The rest gets chopped for putting it in the bunkers. We try to take two cuttings of meadow and three cuttings of alfalfa. It seems it’s the same volume of forage each cutting and one extra machinery cost for another cutting. And, it seems we’ve also lost some in the rst crop next year if we go for four cuttings of alfalfa. Tell us about your farm. I farm with three of my brothers; we all work together. It’s a family farm. We have about 1,000 acres of corn in addition to our alfalfa and meadow hay. We raise our replacements and also feed out steers and beef cows. We have a couple Amish farms raise some calves for us that come back at 90-120 days. We purchase bull calves and feed those out in addition to our own, so we buy a little bit of grain too.
What was the yield? The rst cutting on dryland yielded from 3/4 of a ton per acre to 1.3 tons per acre. The quality was excellent; it looked like fourth cutting hay and had a RFV of 185-200. How does this year’s crop compare to previous years? Last summer was also dry. By the Fourth of July, it looked like we wouldn’t get any more cuttings, so we purchased a bunch of hay. Then, we received 2.5 inches of rain July 5. We harvested 2 tons per acre from our third cutting and even got a respectable fourth cutting. We harvested ve cuttings from our irrigated ground. What has been the greatest challenge of hay harvest this season? How have you overcome it? The biggest challenge has been the hot, windy weather. The hay can be dry as dust on the top of the windrow and wet underneath. We have to work quickly to avoid the hay becoming too dry. At our farmstead, which sits in a valley, the hay can be soaked with dew in the morning, but 3 miles away on the top of the hill it can already be too dry. How will you plan to manage your hay crop for the remainder of the season? We typically start cutting when we start to see buds. We will denitely be spraying for bugs as we’ve been seeing a lot of insect pressure. If the windrows are too thin, we’ll bale our alfalfa as dry hay instead of chopping it. Tell us about your farm. I farm with my brother, John. Our dad, Mike, still helps with the cropping, manages our center pivot irrigation systems and packs silage. We built a new beef barn last year. We breed half of our dairy herd to SimAngus bulls and nish the calves in the new barn. We’re currently tearing down some old, smaller calf barns that Mom and Dad built more than 30 years ago. We will be replacing them with a new calf facility that will have a better ventilation system and will give us healthier calves. The next project after that will be putting up a much-needed commodity shed.
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Chad Wieneke Adrian, Minnesota 350 cows Tell us about your hay harvest this year. We have 145 acres of alfalfa this year and 25 of the acres are new seeding. Everything is chopped and stored in the bunker. We haul with three trucks and a wagon and use a tractor with a blade to pack the pile. All of the hay we make goes to the cows, and we purchase the hay we feed to our youngstock. What was the yield? We had a good rst crop despite some acreage getting rained out. We have yet to cut our second crop because of how wet it is, but hope to start by the end of the week. How does this year’s crop compare to previous years? This year is about the same as previous years. What has been the greatest challenge of hay harvest this season? How have you overcome it? This year has been very wet, so we have to cut between the rain showers. How will you plan to manage your hay crop for the remainder of the season? We are hoping for four cuttings this year. We shoot to get the fourth cutting off by Sept. 10, but the weather will determine whether we do or not. Tell us about your farm. I farm with my brother Kevin, and together we milk 350 cows, raise 1,200 acres of corn, soybeans and alfalfa and feed out 800 steers. We both have sons who are juniors in high school who are a great help on the farm and we have three hired hands.
Turn to OUR SIDE | Page 16
Page 16 • Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022
ConƟnued from OUR SIDE | Page 15
Johnny Kahn Olmsted County Rochester, Minnesota 160 cows
Tim Poortvliet Prinsburg, Minnesota 650 cows Tell us about your hay harvest this year. We normally harvest 350 acres of hay, but this year, we had about 200 acres of winter kill. We reseeded about 160 acres and hope to harvest it by late July or early August. All of our alfalfa is harvested as haylage. What was the yield? For rst crop alfalfa, we had about 2.5 tons of dry matter, and we had about 3 tons for second crop. All of it will go to the cows. How does this year’s crop compare to previous years? Our tonnage is down from last year due to the winter kill and the weather. This summer has been fairly dry so far, and last year, we had rain at meaningful times. What has been the greatest challenge of hay harvest this season? How have you overcome it? The winter kill and lack of acreage has been a great challenge. We have hay already contracted to get us by. We will have to increase the amount of silage we feed. How will you plan to manage your hay crop for the remainder of the season? Weather permitting, we try to cut hay every four weeks. Tell us about your farm. I farm with my two brothers, Don and Ken, near Prinsburg, Minnesota. We milk 650 cows and feed out all of our steers. We run 1,000 acres of alfalfa and corn combined.
Tell us about your hay harvest this year. Between what we rent and own, we have about 90 acres of hay. We usually harvest rst crop in mid-June. This year, we harvested last week, so it’s about two weeks later than usual. We always chop and bag. What was the yield? We harvested late, so the quality was not as good. Our relative feed value was around 120-130. The quantity was still there. We chopped and bagged the hay and will feed it to our dairy cattle. How does this year’s crop compare to previous years? It was a little better than last year. What was the greatest challenge of hay harvest this season? How have you overcome it? Health and lack of help, so we custom harvested. How will you plan to manage your hay crop for the remainder of the season? We will cut every 30 days, depending on Mother Nature, so we will get four crops. We chop everything and will rarely round bale. Tell us about your farm. We run 450 acres. In 1980, we built the stanchion barn on John’s family farm which was started with 10 cows and 80 acres. His family farm had no electricity until the electric line was added in 1978. We raised our heifers, and in 1994, our son, Mark, started adding his cows. In 2005, we built the freestall barn, and in 2014, we added a calf and heifer barn.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022 • Page 17
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Page 18 • Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022
Breeding Prole
Hyde Park Holsteins breeds for sustainable cows Kerwin, Sandy, Kevin and Kay Siewert Employee management team: Eric Hanson, Dan Hanson, Nick Hanson and Cam Laqua Hyde Park Holsteins Zumbro Falls, Minnesota 670 cows Describe your facilities and list your breeding management team. We milk in a double-8 parallel parlor. Our cows are housed in sand-bedded, naturalventilated freestall barns with fans and sprinklers. Eric does all the shots and breeding for the milking herd. Cam follows the activity monitors on both the cows and heifers. Kerwin breeds most of the heifers. What is your current pregnancy rate? 30% for the milking herd. What is your reproduction program? Do you use a synchronization program? How do you get animals pregnant? All cows get two shots of Estrumate or Lutalyse before they go into an OvSynch program. The rst shot is between 41 and 47 days, and the second shot is between 55 and 61 days. If they show up on the activity monitors, or physically show a heat, we’ll breed them then. Two weeks after that, they get a GnRH shot on a
Monday, and then the following Monday, they get cycle checked by our veterinarian and resume our double Lutalyse OvSynch program if they have a corpus luteum. With our double Lutalyse OvSynch program, they get GnRH one week, and then the following week is Lutalyse on Monday, Lutalyse on Tuesday, GnRH on Wednesday and bred on Thursday. Cows are pregnancy checked at 30 to 36 days, and if one is open, she’ll get a GnRH shot and get checked again in the next week. If she has a corpus luteum, she’ll resume our OvSych protocol. The heifers are all bred natural and get caught with the activity monitors. Very seldom, we’ll give a Lutalyse shot to bring one in heat.
Describe your breeding philosophy. We look for sustainability. We want them to keep going in our herd, and in order to do that, they have to be on a good set of feet and legs and have a decent udder. We did run into the problem of getting the legs too straight. We found out they just don’t make it in a freestall facility on concrete. Now we watch for posty legs and try to stay away from them. Bull selection is based off of net merit, and then we work down from there. We want them to be a plus on udder, a plus on milk
KATE RECHTZIGEL/DAIRY STAR
The Hyde Park Holstein employee management team – (front, from leŌ) Nick, Eric and Dan Hanson – and owners – (back, from leŌ) Kevin and Kerwin Siewert – milk 670 cows at near Zumbro Falls, Minnesota. and a plus on feet and legs. Then, we watch to make sure their legs are not too posty. What guidelines do you follow to reach the goals for your breeding program? Staying diligent with our shots, making sure the shots are given on time and on the right day, and being among the cows helps. With our OvSynch cows, we get a fair number of them who will
show heat on Wednesday, the day before they are due to be bred, and then we’ll go ahead and breed them that afternoon. What are the top traits you look for in breeding your dairy herd, and how has this changed since you started farming? We still go by net merit. It used to be a lot toward type, but now we are breeding more for health traits and net
merit. We also watch combined fat and protein, which is different because before we weren’t concerned about that. We’d look for cows that milked. What are certain traits you try to avoid? Posty legs. The cows get up on their toes, and those feet go bad in a hurry.
Turn to BREEDING | Page 20
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Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022 • Page 19
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Page 20 • Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022
ConƟnued from BREEDING | Page 18
What is the age of your heifers at rst service? 14 months, so they calve at 23 months.
Describe the ideal cow for your herd. An ideal cow for us gets around on a really good set of feet and legs and has an above average udder, because those are the cows that last in our herd. We also want her aggressive at the feed bunk, because if she’s aggressive there, odds are she’s going to milk. We are not concerned about size because we have had all sizes of cows milk well for us. What role does genetics have in reaching the goals of your farm? They are huge, because we are always trying to jump that genetic bar. We have used embryos. We don’t any more, because we wanted to try and bring up the bottom end of the genetics in our herd. We’ve also used pre-release semen in the past to try and get a jump on genetics. Right now, our biggest change is the environment. We are on sand, which has helped keep the cows healthier and has boosted our reproduction and milk production. So, the cows’ environment is good, and now genetically, we just keep climbing because that is what’s going to drive our herd. What percentage of your herd is bred to sexed, conventional and beef semen? We are all conventional in the tank right now. The only sexed semen we use is if a bull stud only carries sexed semen on that particular bull that we want. There’s no beef semen. We are calving out the last of the embryo transfers
How does your heifer inventory affect your breeding program? It doesn’t. For the foreseeable future, we plan to stay with conventional semen. We haven’t seen the reason for adding any sexed or beef semen to our operation as we have been slowly expanding for the last ve years. We’ll take the extra heifers because we are building from within. We haven’t bought any cows since 2004.
KATE RECHTZIGEL/DAIRY STAR
The team at Hyde Park Holsteins breeds for cows that have a good set of feet and legs and an above average udder. They have a pregnancy rate of 30%. that we had. We went away from that because we were having issues getting them pregnant. What is your conception rate? How does this differ with different types of semen? The cows are at 48%. The heifers are at 54%, and they still had some of the ETs factored in. The ETs were at 33% for conception and the standings at 63%. What is the greatest lesson you have learned through
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your breeding program? The biggest lesson in the past few years has been posty legs. Net merit is a great number, and the feet and legs score is a good number, but for a while, a posty leg was helping her feet and leg score. So, we were taking these really high feet and leg scores and thinking we were xing the problem and we actually weren’t. As far as the breeding program, it helped the older cows when we put that second Lutalyse shot in our OvSynch
program. We went up about 5% or 6% on conception rate. The heifers, we found, are virtually the same whether you do two Lutalyse shots or one. Our activity monitors, however, helped with the heifers, because not everybody is going by there all the time. Five years ago, some were getting missed, and now the activity monitors can pick them up. And, same with the cows. During the day, we would catch cows, but over the weekend, we’d miss a lot.
Tell us about your farm. We milk a fair number of cows, but it’s still got a family farm feel to it because Kevin and Kerwin are very involved, and all of the management team is related; Eric, Dan and Nick are brothers and Cam is a cousin. Everything is bedded with sand, so we have a settling land and reclaim all of our sand. Most years we can also get by without buying any new sand; however, this year we did because we put a new building in and are using more sand. We also run around 1,380 acres of corn and 845 acres of hay, with 15 acres of new seeding. Next year, we will plant more new seeding, and then, we’ll have 650 acres of hay and 200 acres of new seeding. Then, we’ll probably cover it with winter rye which we chop and feed back to the heifers. All the crops go back to feed the cows, and the harvesting is done by us. We don’t hire anybody.
Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022 • Page 21
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COMBINE PLATFORMS Case IH 3020-25 2013, 25 ft., Flexible, #535860 ..............................................................$27,900 Case IH 3162-40 2014, 40 ft., Draper, #191979................................................................$41,000 JD 630F 2010, 30 ft., Flexible, #532667.............................................................................$25,000 JD 630F 2013, 30 ft., Flexible, #276370.............................................................................$33,900 JD 635F 2009, 35 ft., Flexible, #191014.............................................................................$15,250 JD 635F 2013, 35 ft., Flexible, #188774.............................................................................$17,500 JD 635F 2011, 35 ft., Flexible, #532567.............................................................................$19,900 JD 635F 2009, 35 ft., Flexible, #191019.............................................................................$19,900 JD 635F 2010, 35 ft., Flexible, #533569.............................................................................$20,900 JD 635F 2012, 35 ft., Flexible, #533446.............................................................................$22,900 JD 635F 2013, 35 ft., Flexible, #187514.............................................................................$26,500 JD 635F 2016, 35 ft., Flexible, #191984.............................................................................$32,500 JD 640FD 2012, 40 ft., Flex/Draper, #533070 ....................................................................$51,000 JD 640FD 2012, 40 ft., Flex/Draper, #189742 ....................................................................$54,000 JD 640FD 2012, 40 ft., Flex/Draper, #187230 ....................................................................$58,500 JD 640FD 2015,40 ft., Flex/Draper, Flip Over Reel, #191020 ..............................................$60,000 JD 640FD 2013, 40 ft., Flexible, #533071 ..........................................................................$61,000 JD 640FD 2015, 40 ft., Flex/Draper, Flip Over Reel, #276035 .............................................$64,900 JD 640FD 2017, 40 ft., Flex/Draper, Flip Over Reel, #524731 .............................................$75,000 JD 640FD 2017, 40 ft., Flex/Draper, Flip Over Reel, #273817 .............................................$75,900 JD 640FD 2018, 40 ft., Flex/Draper, #275555 ....................................................................$82,900 JD 640FD 2018, 40 ft., Flex/Draper, Flip Over Reel,#531229 ..............................................$85,900 JD 640FD 2018, 40 ft., Flex/Draper, Flip Over Reel, #191824 .............................................$86,500 JD 645FD 2017, 45 ft., Flex/Draper, Flip Over Reel, #276167 .............................................$79,900 JD 645FD 2018, 45 ft., Flex/Draper, Flip Over Reel, #274892 .............................................$87,900 JD 745FD 2020, 45 ft., Flex/Draper, Flip Over Reel, #191084 .............................................$95,500
COMBINES Case IH 7088 2010, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 3175 hrs., 2476 Sep. hrs., #531665 .........$99,000 JD 9500 1993, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Singles, 5698 hrs., 3476 Sep. hrs., #531747....................$22,000 JD 9500 1993, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 4730 hrs., 3072 Sep. hrs., #531515 ......................$27,000 JD 9600 1992, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 4764 hrs., 3192 Sep. hrs., #524471 ......................$22,000 JD 9560 STS 2005, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Singles, 3291 hrs., 2065 Sep. hrs., #531329 ..........$82,900 JD 9650 STS 1999, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 5395 hrs., 3467 Sep. hrs., #276232 ...............$34,900 JD 9670 STS 2011, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 3677 hrs., 2503 Sep. hrs., #188158 ...............$99,900 JD 9770 STS 2009, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 4550 hrs., 3172 Sep. hrs., #190521 .............$81,000
JD 9770 STS 2010, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Singles, 3620 hrs., 2851 Sep. hrs., #533838 ........$107,500 JD S660 2012, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 1700 hrs., 900 Sep. hrs., #539380 ......................$185,000 JD S660 2014, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1555 hrs., 1181 Sep. hrs., #532082 ..................$189,500 JD S670 2013, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 2765 hrs., 1916 Sep. hrs., #191646 ....................$139,900 JD S670 2014, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 2229 hrs., 1622 Sep. hrs., #531781 ....................$155,000 JD S670 2014, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 2590 hrs., 1673 Sep. hrs., #191790 ..................$167,000 JD S670 2016, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1372 hrs., 820 Sep. hrs., #531783 ....................$259,995 JD S670 2015, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Floaters, 1000 hrs., 750 Sep. hrs., #531784 ................$279,900 JD S680 2012, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 2575 hrs., 1817 Sep. hrs., #524875 ....................$132,500 JD S680 2012, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 2300 hrs., 1600 Sep. hrs., #532046 ....................$150,000 JD S680 2015, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 2755 hrs., 2048 Sep. hrs., #524469 ....................$165,900 JD S680 2014, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 2653 hrs., 1525 Sep. hrs., #541179 ..................$169,000 JD S680 2015, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Singles, 2433 hrs., 1762 Sep. hrs., #190078................$191,000 JD S680 2014, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 2248 hrs., 1668 Sep. hrs., #531966 ..................$195,000 JD S680 2014, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Singles, 2352 hrs., 1713 Sep. hrs., #276314..................$219,900 JD S680 2016, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1842 hrs., 1250 Sep. hrs., #532830 ..................$249,000 JD S680 2017, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1487 hrs., 1053 Sep. hrs., #273646 ..................$254,900 JD S680 2017, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1942 hrs., 1362 Sep. hrs., #191923 ..................$271,000 JD S680 2017, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1538 hrs., 1084 Sep. hrs., #541254 ..................$278,000 JD S690 2017, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 3100 hrs., 1945 Sep. hrs., #535149 ..................$165,000 JD S770 2018, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 1411 hrs., 1051 Sep. hrs., #421313 ....................$277,000 JD S770 2021, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 293 hrs., 200 Sep. hrs., #532535 ........................$524,900 JD S780 2018, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 1080 hrs., 700 Sep. hrs., #531873 ......................$319,900 JD S780 2018, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1598 hrs., 1130 Sep. hrs., #276170 ..................$329,900 JD S780 2019, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1352 hrs., 750 Sep. hrs., #191164 ....................$368,000 JD S780 2019, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Floaters, 1272 hrs., 888 Sep. hrs., #275242 ................$369,900 JD S780 2018, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 996 hrs., 772 Sep. hrs., #523885 ......................$379,000 JD S780 2019, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 800 hrs., 650 Sep. hrs., #542133 ......................$389,900 JD S780 2020, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 639 hrs., 373 Sep. hrs., #181757 ......................$429,900 JD S780 2020, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 880 hrs., 633 Sep. hrs., #531647 ..................... $439,900 JD S780 2020, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 793 hrs., 596 Sep. hrs., #188309 .....................$454, 900 JD S780 2020, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Singles, 658 hrs., 473 Sep. hrs., #532549....................$465,000 JD S780 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 290 hrs., 217 Sep. hrs., #191047 ......................$504,900 JD S780 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 217 hrs., 168 Sep. hrs., #191048 ......................$507,900 JD S780 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 387 hrs., 310 Sep. hrs., #191065 ......................$509,900 JD S780 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 115 hrs., 79 Sep. hrs., #191064 ........................$518,900 JD S780 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Singles, 342 hrs., 281 Sep. hrs., #191053....................$528,000 JD S780 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 277 hrs., 161 Sep. hrs., #191038 ......................$529,000
JD S790 2018, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 1241 hrs., 914 Sep. hrs., #273973 ......................$334,900 JD S790 2019, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1390 hrs., 1110 Sep. hrs., #532032 ..................$359,000 JD S790 2020, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1148 hrs., 864 Sep. hrs., #275917 ....................$429,900 JD S790 2020, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1090 hrs., 684 Sep. hrs., #274274 ....................$449,900 JD S790 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 565 hrs., 439 Sep. hrs., #531357 ......................$488,000 JD S790 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 517 hrs., 382 Sep. hrs., #276139 ......................$524,900 JD S790 2021, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 447 hrs., 316 Sep. hrs., #533167 .....................$529,000
CORN & ROW CROP HEADERS JD 1293 2000, 12 row, 30” Spacing, #191275 ....................................................................$19,900 Geringhoff 1822/b 2009, 18 row, 22” Spacing, StalkMaster, #187697.............................$46,000 Case IH 2608F 2006, 8 row, 30” Spacing, StalkMaster, #531346 .......................................$19,500 Harvestec 5308C 2011, 8 row, 30” Spacing, StalkMaster, #531666 ..................................$24,500 JD 608C 2014, 8 row, 30” Spacing, StalkMaster, #190633 ..................................................$45,900 JD 612C 2013, 12 row, 30” Spacing, StalkMaster, #275887 ................................................$37,900 JD 612C 2013, 12 row, 30” Spacing, StalkMaster, #531354 ................................................$42,900 JD 612C 2015, 12 row, 30” Spacing, StalkMaster, #275886 ................................................$44,900 JD 612C 2013, 12 row, 30” Spacing, StalkMaster, #532760 ................................................$48,900 JD 612C 2014, 12 row, 30” Spacing, StalkMaster, #191963 ................................................$59,900 JD 612C 2015, 12 row, 30” Spacing, StalkMaster, #276067 ................................................$62,900 JD 612C 2016, 12 row, 30” Spacing, StalkMaster, #275631 ................................................$73,900 JD 612C StalkMaster 2010, 12 row, 20” Spacing, #532117 .............................................$30,900 JD 612FC 2017, 12 row, 30” Spacing, StalkMaster, #524915 ............................................$105,000 JD 618C 2012, 18 row, 22” Spacing, StalkMaster, #191869 ................................................$74,900 JD 618C 2013, 18 row, 22” Spacing, StalkMaster, #191818 ................................................$89,900 JD 618C 2014, 18 row, 22” Spacing, StalkMaster, #191011 ................................................$92,000 JD 618C 2014, 18 row, 22” Spacing, StalkMaster, $191015 ..............................................$119,000 JD 712FC 2019, 12 row, 30” Spacing, #532937 ................................................................$109,900 JD 712FC 2020, 12 row, 30” Spacing, StalkMaster, #191025 ............................................$159,000 JD 718C 2019, 18 row, 22” Spacing, StalkMaster, #190232 ..............................................$177,000 JD C12F 2021, 12 row, 30” Spacing, StalkMaster, #276138 ..............................................$172,900 JD C12F 2021, 12 row, 30” Spacing, StalkMaster, #534411 ..............................................$173,500 JD C18R 2021, 18 row, 22” Spacing, StalkMaster, #191067..............................................$204,900 Geringhoff RD600 2010, 6 row, 30” Spacing, #273931 ....................................................$19,900 Geringhoff RD800 2004, 8 row, 30” Spacing, StalkMaster, #531020................................$21,500 Geringhoff RD800 2011, 8 row, 30” Spacing, StalkMaster, #191648................................$39,900 Drago S18TR 2009, 18 row, 22” Spacing, StalkMaster, #532808 .......................................$38,900
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Page 22 • Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022
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Show preparations
According to a young Stearns County native, the Stearns County Fair in Minnesota is at the end of this month. That means if you haven’t trained your calves yet, you better get to halter breaking. This will be my rst time visiting Minnesota’s largest dairy county’s exhibition. Also on the schedule for the Stearns County Fair is the District 8 Holstein Show. I am excited to see the caliber of cow quality aunting through the show ring July 27. I contemplated entering my two beef heifers in the open class division for the Stearns County Fair, but due to my busy schedule and By Grace Jeurissen lack of time at the farm, they Staff Writer have less than adequate hair and need some diet changes to dial them into proper condition. They should be ready for the McLeod County fair in mid-August for my brother to show. Speaking from personal experience, here are a few things I consider before my calf’s showcase. Cattle should be exposed to at least one show ring before their destination show; either enter them in a different show or walk them in the ring before show day. This not only gets them accustomed to a new environment, but it gives the showman a chance to observe their heifer’s behavior in and out of the ring. I may be preaching to the choir in this instance, but I would love to share my observations with our readers. I know I mentioned beef heifers, but other than the diet and way we show the two variations of bovine, they are very similar. The best ways I have prepared a heifer for a show has been by starting early. My two heifers were started on the halter last September and have attended one show. Some other things to take into consideration are heat abatement, hair growth and standing time. Let’s start with heat abatement. I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep fans moving the heat off their backs. There is nothing worse than standing in 90-degree sweltering heat with no air movement. For hair care and growth, rinse your calves with cold water in the mornings and evenings. Always make sure to blow them completely dry. Water left on cattle’s skin will absorb their heat and hold it there having the opposite effect you desire. Don’t wash them with soap but once or twice each week. Using cheap soap sparingly will strip the natural oils from their skin leaving it vulnerable to dandruff. I use Suave. I’m sure you know someone who has gorgeous, long, luxurious hair. I will bet money they use conditioner. Products like Revive Lite and ProPolish are great to condition the hair and hide of cattle. In the show ring, appearance is 9/10 of the law. A judge is more likely to be drawn to a glistening, healthy looking heifer over a mangy, dusty looking one. A proper diet also helps with hide and hair. Now, let’s talk bratty heifers. We’ve all dealt with at least one. Cattle stand in the chute for 20 minutes to up to an hour before they get to go in the ring, sometimes even more. Time the rst few classes of the morning. I usually predict 3-5 minutes for a class of ve animals. Try to time your tting so your heifer isn’t standing too long before your class. When you are preparing your heifers at home, tie their heads up for a while. I start with 30 minutes and increase to about 2 to 3 hours by the end of summer. They need to get comfortable with standing. I want my heifers to be comfortable getting shown for upward of 20 minutes because of how long showmanship is. This isn’t the only way to prepare your cattle for shows. There are a lot of systems that work. I have tried many ways, and this is what I have found the most success with. I wish good luck to all junior showmen this summer as county fairs across the Midwest start gearing up for their exhibitions. Don’t forget to have fun, make a new friend and eat lots of cheese curds.
Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022 • Page 23
PRINCESS KAY FINALISTS
Choosing dairy Frericks’ passion leads to role as nalist By Maggie Molitor Staff Writer
ALBANY, Minn. – Gripping the halter of her rst show calf, Hopscotch, Hailey Frericks stepped into the show ring for the rst time and instantly fell in love. At the tender age of 6, Frericks decided dairy was a passion she would pursue. “My involvement in dairy was completely my choice,” Frericks said. “I couldn’t just walk out my front door and see cows. I had to make the effort to go to a farm to see them.” Frericks’ decision as a young girl has led her to advocate for the dairy industry as a county dairy princess and now as a Princess Kay of the Milky Way nalist. She will be competing against nine other women from across the state of Minnesota, including her identical twin sister, Kallie Frericks, for the title of 69th Princess Kay of the Milky Way. Frericks, the daughter of Steve and Tammy Frericks, hails from Stearns County near Albany. The 19-year-old grew up
immersing herself in the dairy industry despite not growing up on a farm herself. She began leasing cattle for 4-H to show at the county fair and state fair. To learn more about the dairy project beyond the show ring, she became involved in the Stearns County dairy judging and project bowl teams. Showing at the Minnesota State Fair and watching the Princess Kay coronation on the eve of the state fair every year inspired Frericks to run for Princess Kay and represent Minnesota’s dairy industry as the state’s goodwill ambassador. “Year after year, I would go to the coordination and go to the butter booth to see the sculptures of the nalists,” Frericks said. “I knew I wanted to be one of the nalists and ultimately would like to be Princes Kay.” As Frericks grew older, she expanded her interest in dairy by becoming involved in FFA and the Minnesota Junior Holstein Association. She has served on the MJHA board of directors for the past three years which has encouraged her to show at higher caliber shows like the Minnesota Holstein State Show and even World Dairy Expo. “Showing has really broadened my exposure to
MAGGIE MOLITOR/DAIRY STAR
Hailey Frericks represents Stearns County as a nalist for the 69th Princess Kay of the Milky Way. Frericks is the daughter of Steve and Tammy Frericks of Albany, Minnesota. dairy,” Frericks said. “I have met so many incredible people and have been able to really become a part of the dairy community. I am no longer an outsider looking in but an insider looking out.” The more Frericks became involved in dairy, the more she was passionate about the in-
dustry. She decided to become a dairy princess in hopes of using her indirect connection to dairy as a way of relating to consumers. “I have a different avenue to dairy, but that allows me to connect with people in different ways,” Frericks said. “My view point is valuable. I can
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Page 24 • Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022
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Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022 • Page 25
ConƟnued from FRERICKS | Page 23
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Hailey Frericks pets a calf at CO-JO Dairy near Grove City, Minnesota. Frericks is a nalist for Princess Kay of the Milky Way. in her career. “I have gained skills like public speaking, condence, being able to maintain a level of professionalism and much more,” Frericks said. As Frericks prepares for interviews later this summer, she is busy attending parades and princess events, helping her parents at their family’s strawberry patch, Strawberries Galore and More, showing in her last year of 4-H and interning with the Minnesota Holstein Association. Frericks is a sophomore at South Dakota State University studying agriculture business and marketing. She is involved in the dairy club where she is the secretary and the new editor of the
Dairy Digest. The advocate enjoys combining her hobbies of graphic design and photography with advocating for dairy. If crowned Princess Kay, Frericks hopes to use her skills to broaden the program’s social media outreach. “You’re not going to reach everyone face to face,” Frericks said. “Social media allows us to connect with more people than ever and expose us to a new audience.” With a full summer ahead for Frericks and the chance to represent the state’s dairy industry as Princess Kay, she has come a long way since rst stepping into the show ring.
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Page 26 • Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022
PRINCESS KAY FINALISTS
Learning is part of the job Lickfelt advocates while seeking out educational avenues By Grace Jeurissen grace.j@star-pub.com
HUTCHINSON, Minn. – Growing up in rural McLeod County gave ample opportunity for young Kiley Lickfelt to be involved in the dairy community. Often, she would look forward to spending her days at her uncle’s farm which was just down the road. “I loved going to my uncle’s farm to work with Grandma,” Lickfelt said. “Even though I didn’t live there, it was my second home and the place where my passion for dairy really started.” Lickfelt is the daughter of Trudy Graves and Ryan Lickfelt. She will be vying for the title of 69th Princess Kay of the Milky Way in August. She grew up immersed in the dairy industry, from spending days at her uncle’s farm to participating in 4-H and FFA while in school. Now she spends her time raising dairy heifers, helping at a neighboring farm and advocating for the industry. “I’ve had so many experiences; all of different avenues working in the dairy community,” Lickfelt said. Lickfelt is attending the University of Wisconsin-River Falls for agribusiness with a minor in dairy science. One of her favorite things to do is research topics related to dairy. She learned how to develop her own ra-
tions for her show cattle, which has helped expand her understanding of how diet and comfort affect success in the barn and show ring. Lickfelt said she is proud of the knowledge she has gained while raising her heifers. There is nothing that can pull Lickfelt from her love for agriculture. Even the challenges of being a public gurehead do not slow her desire to represent farms across the state. Recently, while in sash and crown, Lickfelt was approached by a consumer who spoke strongly of consuming raw milk. She realized how little she knew of that particular topic because of its non-traditional use in the industry, so she sought out information. “When the woman came up, she tried to argue with us, but we were trying to explain how glad we were that she was at least consuming dairy,” Lickfelt said. “It was denitely a difcult experience to navigate. So, … I went searching for information because I was curious if it was a more common practice than I thought.” Lickfelt’s many years as a McLeod County dairy royalty have conditioned her for such interactions. She remembers a time when she was far too shy and afraid to seek out conversations with consumers and credits the program for pushing her out of her comfort zone. She now looks forward to events where she can converse with consumers. Lickfelt said her favorite events involve children. The younger demographic is impressionable, she said, which makes them the perfect people to bring valuable information and experiences to their homes.
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Kiley Lickfelt, daughter of Trudy Graves and Ryan Lickfelt, is a Princess Kay of the Milky Way nalist represenƟng McLeod County. Lickfelt is an agribusiness and dairy science student at UW River Falls. “I love watching the light bulb go ers by getting a job in the agricultural off in their heads,” Lickfelt said. “You industry that works with farmers and can always tell when they understand consumers. what we are talking about.” “Dairy is one of the purest options Growing up around dairy, Lickfelt on the supermarket shelf,” she said. “I realized how little others understood want my time as a dairy princess and about life on the farm. Using the dairy young professional to reect the pure royalty program as a direct door to goodness that comes from a glass of consumers, she is available for people milk or cup of yogurt and the work who want to learn more. that went into making it.” Lickfelt said farmers often do not have the time to attend community events to promote dairy, which is where dairy royalty across the state come into play. Each of the county princesses and ambassadors play an important role in sharing the dairy story. Lickfelt is excited to serve alongside the other nine nalists this year. She said they all have differing stories to share but have the same goal: to inform consumers about the wholesome, pure and local products derived from farms. For Lickfelt, nothing beats the effectiveness of one-on-one conversation. Lickfelt said she looks GRACE JEURISSEN/DAIRY STAR forward to sharing the knowledge Kiley Lickfelt mixes her heifer’s raƟon July 1 at her home she is gaining in near Hutchinson, Minnesota. college with oth-
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Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022 • Page 27
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Rod Meier (front leŌ) explains his grazing pracƟces to pasture walk aƩendees June 23 on his farm near Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Meier milks 69 cows with a DeLaval roboƟc milking system and rotaƟonally grazes his caƩle.
Meier highlights management system at pasture walk By Maggie Molitor Staff Intern
SAUK CENTRE, Minn. – Like his father before him, Rod Meier has found success grazing cattle on his dairy farm. While the generational farm has been grazing for decades, Meier has worked to adapt their grazing operation to be more efcient with the addition of a robotic milking system. “I’ve been more efcient with my time,” Meier said. “I’ll tell you, I’m not going back to milking without robots.” The Meiers explained their management practices of rotational grazing in conjunction with their robotic milking system during a pasture walk June 23 at their dairy farm in Stearns County near Sauk Centre. Graziers alike gathered to learn about the Meiers’ operation and discuss how to optimize their pastures at the event which was sponsored by the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship and Sustainable Farming Association. Meier and his wife, Ruth, are organic dairy farmers. They milk 69 cows with a robot and have 290 acres of farmland, half of which is pasture. The Meiers’ son, Ryan, has returned to the family farm and will take over after his father’s retirement. Seven years ago, Meier began using the robotic milking system. He has since mastered how to effectively graze while allowing the cows to be milked when wanted. Meier grazes his cows during the day. When a cow decides she wants to be milked, she enters the barn through a one-way gate from the pasture. Once she enters the barn, she is not allowed to leave until she goes through the robot. In the robot, the cows receive 7 pounds of grain. “Cows want to go back out to the pasture so they will push themselves to the front of the line to get out and eat,” Meier said. “They’ve learned not to come up in big groups and to naturally rotate, so they don’t have to wait very long in the barn.” Meier has little to no issue having to fetch cows that do not go through the robot. Cows are milked about twice a
day in the summer and 2.4 times a day in the winter. Meier is looking to update his current robot with a newer DeLaval model that uses cameras instead of lasers to locate the cows’ teats. At nights, Meier keeps his cows in the barn. “The mosquitoes chase them home,” Meier said. Meier has 12 paddocks that he rotates his milking cattle through. He never grazes one paddock for more than three days in a row. However, he will do shorter intervals as the summer progresses and pastures become drier. Over time, Meier’s pastures have developed into native grasses. He is working to reseed his pastures one at a time per year in order to create more plant diversity. His pasture mix consists of white clover, ryegrass, timothy, orchard grass, long fescue and others. “I believe the more variety out there, the better it is for the animal,” Meier said. “I had a mentor tell me once that animals should be eating 100 different plants whether that’s fed to them, or they nd it on the fence line. There is value in every plant.” In his milking herd, Meier tries to maintain 40%-50% dry matter intake. With his dry cows and youngstock, he aims for 80%-90%. Meier uses some of his wet ground acreage by grazing his dry cows and youngstock on it. He has found less issues grazing them versus his milk cows because they are not actively milking, and he does not have to worry about the exposure of bacteria that may be found in the standing water. Meier grows all of the feed for his cows. He grows corn, alfalfa, oat, pea and sorghum. While Meier has been certied organic for 18 years, he has been farming organically for the past 33 years. “I was encouraged to stay away from herbicides when I started farming,” Meier said. “I used them for three years in the early ‘80s and still regret it today. What is the point of using herbicides and pesticides if I can farm without them?” Meier credits adapting to his environment and creating his own grazing practices for his success. “I have learned that reading the back of the bag will only get you so far,” Meier said. “Most of the time, you have to try it out for yourself, experiment and see what works for you.”
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Women In Dairy Kitt Hernandez Tomah, Wisconsin Monroe County 50 cows Family: My husband’s name is Jose, and our three boys are Aidan, 12, James, 9, and Jax, 6. My parents are Kurt and Kathy Westpfahl. Tell us about your farm. Our farm is around 260 acres, about half of which is tillable. We grow alfalfa and corn. We have always been Holstein and Red and White Holstein, and now we are crossbreeding with Milking Shorthorn and Jersey. I am a fourth-generation dairy farmer here, and my kids will be the fth. The original Westpfahl farm is just over the hill. What is a typical day like for you on the dairy? A routine day is waking up before the sun, feeding cows, milking cows and cleaning barns. Depending on the season, between milkings we do crops and work cattle; we vaccinate and move cattle to different pastures. We just started branding this year for better ID purposes. Our brand is an anchor to honor my time in the Navy. And, we are always working on projects. What decision have you made in the last year that have beneted your farm? The biggest change I made was two years ago when we went from feeding out of silos to feeding out of bags and using a total mixed ration. My dad had a heart attack in 2019 after climbing the silo and pitching out spoiled feed. He spent two and a half weeks in the hospital; that was my baptism by re of running the farm by myself. Now it only takes us half an hour to feed cows. Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. I have always had safety drilled into my head. We have all had our share of accidents, but when my uncle passed away from a farming accident, we were especially focused on safety. But the day I got attacked by a bull was the most memorable for me. I could tell you everything about it except how I got out. I remember everything about getting knocked over and pinned to the ground and the next thing I remember was climbing over the gate and getting away. What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? Being my own boss and working with my family. I like being able to be a mom and take my kids anywhere with me. My dad always told me if you don’t want someone on your farm, you can tell them to leave. What is your biggest accomplishment in your dairy career? Without sounding arrogant, the fact that I am still here. I have watched so many farms around me close up shop. My parents and other farms have taught me how to survive in bad years. I bought the farm in 2018 which was right in the middle of the tariff wars. It taught me to be a better businessman and how to better manage nances. What are things you do to promote your farm or the dairy industry? I try to spread knowledge by talking with people. So many people have misconceptions about agriculture and their food. I also educate my kids so their friends learn from them.
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What advice would you give another woman in the dairy industry? Stay strong. Have some grit and stick to it. I have come against a lot of discrimination in my career, and I have used peoples’ negativity and changed it to motivation. People have always underestimated me, and it feels good to prove them wrong. When you get a spare moment, what do you do? I exercise. It doesn’t happen every day, but I try to take an hour to work out. It has beneted me so much with mental health, stress relief and easing my back pain. I do workouts off of YouTube at home.
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Page 30 • Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022
A bag to fulll the need
Lewiston-Altura FFA supports dairy farmers, educates consumers By Kate Rechtzigel kate.r@dairystar.com
LEWISTON, Minn. − When the dairy industry struggled in spring 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Lewiston-Altura FFA Chapter found an avenue that brought awareness to the industry’s farmers and helped move dairy products. The chapter, which includes 45 members – 10 from dairy backgrounds – created an event June 14 where they handed out dairy bags to support their local creameries
and farmers. “Growing up on a dairy myself and seeing how prices were affecting the dairy industry really struck home for me, and I knew that I wanted to do something about it,” Katie Ketchum said. Ketchum is a graduating senior in the chapter and is serving as the region eight vice president. She started the event two years ago and is involved in the marketing, ordering and coordinating of event help. “I really enjoyed answering phone calls when people were ordering and hearing them say, ‘Oh, I was expecting to talk to an adult not a student,’” she said. Ketchum also competes in dairy judging and is active on her family’s dairy farm where they milk 100 cows near Utica. “This event really helps dairy farmers by getting their name out there,” Tyler Steele said. Steele is the vice president of the chapter, does gen-
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eral livestock judging and shows sheep, cattle and pigs. His family previously milked cows. Steele enjoyed packing bags during the event. The bags included 1 pound of butter, a 1-pound block of cheddar cheese, 1 quart of vanilla gelato, a 5-ounce bag of ranch avored cheese curds, a 5-ounce bag of plain cheese curds, a six pack of string cheese, a 16-ounce package of French onion dip, a package of vanilla protein mix, a 16-ounce squeezable pouch of sour cream, an 8-ounce bag of shredded mozzarella cheese, a small package of cheddar cheese cubes and a half gallon of milk. “It’s fun to try different products and learn that they are actually dairy products,” Ketchum said. Their advisor, Kaleb Stoppelmoor, agreed. “When people think of whey protein, they don’t often think of dairy,” he said. “It’s really nice to have these kids that understand what the importance of a dairy farm is and where their products come from.” Two years ago, the event’s purpose was promotion and awareness. Today, it has evolved into a fundraiser for the chapter while also bringing awareness to the dairy industry. “The event really helped us before we sold to get our name out there, and it just shows people that their food doesn’t always come from a store,” Austin Kreidermacher said. “A few years ago, we gave a tour, and people were all surprised at how milk was made because they were just expecting that it came from a store.” Kreidermacher is a freshman in the chapter and judges dairy cattle. He works on a former dairy farm near Altura. Kreidermacher enjoyed handing out bags during the event. To get the word out and help with the ordering process, Ketchum posted a link and phone number on social media. “After the rst year, I kept getting asked if we were going to do it again,” she said. The bags also included a coloring book with recipes, dairy jokes, fun facts, pens and dget spinners. They were all sold for half of the retail price. “It helps families have a nice meal at home,” Kreidermacher said. “Milk has always been a part of my family, so being able to have that at the dinner table every night really helps.” Steele agreed. “The community also likes it because you get all this product for half of what it’s supposed to be,” he said. To get the product, Ketchum made calls to local creameries, such as Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery, Elba Cooperative Creamery, Metz’s Hart-land Creamery, and went to Hy-Vee to purchase Land O’Lakes products. “We wanted to support the dairies in our area, specically, so we tried to buy from creameries that they sold their milk to,” Ketchum said. The group started packing the bags on the night of June 13 and stored them in the kitchen cooler inside the school’s cafeteria overnight. They packed 350 bags in two hours. The next day, each of the students who were helping arrived at the school a half hour early to start setting up for the event. “There were people already waiting in line,” Kreidermacher said. All bags were preordered, and to get their bags, each car followed a three-stop process: one stop for checking people in and making sure they were on the list, the second for paying and the third for picking up the bags. Each of the students were involved; Ketchum checked people into the event, Kreidermacher took the money and later switched to handing out bags, and Steele handed out bags and brought out more products. “Whoever helps that day gets to meet the people in our community, and the community gets to meet them,” Ketchum said. Stoppelmoor agreed. “I like having kids who are excited about dairy and helping out the dairy farmers,” he said. The chapter also had help from adult volunteers. They had 150 cars attend the event and plan to use the funds for new ofcer markers or trips such as ofcer retreats, national convention, state convention or other judging contests. The chapter plans to continue the event again next year and hand out up to 400 bags. “It’s something that is different and makes our FFA chapter stand out,” Ketchum said. Stoppelmoor agreed. “It’s fun to let the kids take over, run the show and explain these dairy products to adults,” he said. “It lets them grow as leaders and individuals.”
Dairy prole
Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022 • Page 31
Michelle Popp Unity, Wisconsin Clark County 22 cows, 50 heifers
husband continues to work off the farm and helps me more than he could before. So far, we have no problem working together at home in our small little barn.
How did you get into farming? I grew up farming and married right into it after high school.
What do you enjoy most about dairy farming? I am so thankful I was able to be a stay-at-home mom all these years and bring my children up with good work ethics and nancial understanding. I also love seeing miracles happen all the time when the next generation of calves are born.
What are your thoughts and concerns about the dairy industry for the next year? The biggest concerns for the dairy industry are cost of inputs (supplies, fuel, feed, etc.) and labor. The milk price is up now, but if it would fall and inputs would still be high, it could bring major devastation. Labor is something I don’t have to deal with, but I certainly understand the challenge for farmers who hire labor. I don’t see that improving no matter what until everyone that can work will work. Then, it’s hard to beat the wages they are paid in town. What is a recent change you made on your farm and the reason for it? Last year, I began leaving my calves on the cows during good weather months of the year. I was impressed with their growth, how healthy they were and all the labor it saved me. I will admit the calves are crazy and wild when I wean them, simply for the fact they aren’t physically handled by me daily. But as heifers, I can’t tell the difference in personality from the calves raised in hutches. I saved a ton on straw for bedding because they were on pasture all the time. They also ate way less calf grain. I noticed less ies in our yard last year which I credited with not having calves in hutches. I do a pour-on for my cows, and that seemed to protect the calves plenty from ies.
What advice would you give other dairy farmers? The best advice for dairy farmers is to be open to change. Very few farmers farm the same as their grandparents did. Change is sometimes hard and sometimes exciting, but we must be willing to change to survive. Tell us about a skill you possess that makes dairy farming easier for you. I like to think I have good cow care. I try to catch problems way before they explode. I also do well with heifers, but calves can stump me at times. That is why leaving the calves at cow-side in the good months is a great t for me just because they are healthy in the pasture.
foundation, or I just crumble and fail and get frustrated. My family has helped me so much over the years. I can’t even begin to thank them enough. A skid loader saves me a lot of hard physical work that I used to do by hand. It is so handy for unlimited jobs. My famous saying when I work with family is, “Should I get the skid steer?”
What is the best decision you have made on your farm? The best decision I have made was putting in a feedline to feed my cows and heifers. It has headlocks and that helps with herd health, vaccinating, tagging and breeding.
What strategies do you use to withstand the volatile milk prices? The two strategies I use are Dairy Margin Coverage and trying to watch my inputs.
What are three things on the farm that you cannot live without? First, I couldn’t do any of this without God and lots of prayer and thanksgiving. Second, I couldn’t do this without my family, and third, a skid loader. God must be my
How do you maintain family relationships while also working together? Up until a couple months ago, we always had two farms, one for me and one for my husband. We had gotten married later in life and both had our own herds. We sold his farm and his herd in April. Now my
What are your plans for your dairy in the next year and ve years? My plans are to stay the same size as I currently am. That has not always been the case, but things change and opportunities appear. I have started a value-added business on the farm, Jersey Girls lotion, that I am excited about and want to continue to expand. I will continue to sell replacement cows and heifers to t into my small 26-stall barn and not have to switch milk cows. How do you or your family like to spend time when you are not doing chores? I enjoy time together with family and friends. I also enjoy ying out of here to be on a vacation, which we rarely do, but I would like to do more often. Even driving away for a day trip knowing I don’t have to milk cows that night is a real treat.
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www.extension.umn.edu/dairy
Effects from individual genes versus interaction of genes Each spring semester, I teach a full semester course on dairy cattle genetics. The course has three sections. First, we review general genetic principles to bring all students to the same level of understanding. The second section covers the ranking of individual male and females based on Predicted Transmitting Abilities. The nal section reviews mating systems; which bull is mated to which female. For many reasons, the most critical take-home message from the course is covered in the rst section on general genetic principles. That message is separating the types of gene action – the effects of individual genes versus the interaction of genes. Nothing seems to create more confusion among dairy producers, and people who provide services to dairy producers, than the difference between these two types of gene action. The PTA for individual traits, composites or comprehenBy Les Hansen sive indexes all reect the effects of individual genes. They University of aren’t meant to include the effects of interaction of genes. They Minnesota include only single gene effects added up across all 30 pairs of chromosomes of each dairy bull or female. The effects of individual genes (the additive effects) usually are the most important genetic effects, especially for traits that haven’t historically been important for survival of a species. These traits include things like production and type traits for dairy cattle, because they had little impact on the survival of the bovine species. After all, it required little milk to feed a single calf before we turned modern dairy cows into athletes to produce vast quantities of milk. Also, today’s type traits such as udder conformation weren’t historically critical for cow survival. However, traits that have historically been important for survival of cows include fertility, health and mortality, and these functional traits usually are heavily inuenced by the interaction of genes at the same location on the pairs of chromosomes. In other words, genetics is complicated for the functional traits of dairy cattle. One of the 30 pairs of chromosomes of dairy cattle determine the sex of an animal, but the other 29 pairs of chromosomes each have two genes at the same location across all pairs of chromosomes. The interaction of genes at the same location on the pairs of chromosomes determine the dominance effects (versus the effects of individual genes acting independently). Dominance effects come into play when one of the two genes at a single location on a pair of chromosomes is permitted to dominate over the other gene at the same location. This is a possibility for each of the paired genes across the chromosomes. We often talk about recessive genes, which aren’t expressed for an animal if they are masked by a dominant gene on the other chromosome at the same location. Therefore, a recessive gene with a potential negative impact is of no consequence if it is dominated over by another gene at the same location on the other chromosome of an animal. A problem arises, however, if an animal has two recessive genes at a single location on the chromosomes (inherited from both parents) without the opportunity for a dominant gene to mask the negative effect of the two recessive genes. The recessive genes are then expressed for an animal. Most recessive genes have a modest negative impact on an animal, but the expression of some recessive genes can be of major consequence, such as an enzyme deciency that is critical for life. In that case, an embryo or an animal can’t survive.
The third section of my dairy cattle genetics course is about mating systems. The interaction of genes (dominance effects) come into play based on the genetic relationships between the potential mating of alternative bulls with a female. If a bull and a female (a heifer or cow) are closely related to each other, the likelihood of doubling up on recessive genes at the same locations across the chromosomes increases. The negative consequences of more recessive genes being expressed results in inbreeding depression. The genomes of all species of animals have a huge number of recessive genes across their genomes, and doubling up on these recessive genes depresses performance, at least to some extent, for individual traits. The doubling up of a single recessive gene that is lethal on both chromosomes results in the loss of the individual as an embryo, as a stillborn calf or as a sterile heifer, as examples. For this reason, we avoid mating of close relatives. On the other hand, mating of a bull with a female that is very distantly related (perhaps, from two different breeds) greatly decreases the likelihood of doubling up on recessive genes at the same location across the chromosomes. This phenomenon is known as hybrid vigor. All breeders of food-producing animals other than dairy cattle have fully embraced hybrid vigor from the crossing of breeds or inbred lines for at least 50 years to improve the fertility, health and survival of their animals. That hasn’t been the tradition for dairy cattle. However, crossbreeding continues to grow in popularity, especially by large commercial dairy operations who often are more willing to embrace nontraditional approaches that result in more protable cows.
Dana Adams, adam1744@umn.edu 320-204-2968
Brad Heins hein0106@umn.edu 320-589-1711
Joe Armstrong armst225@umn.edu 612.624.3610
Nathan Hulinsky huli0013@umn.edu 320-203-6104
Luciano Caixeta lcaixeta@umn.edu 612-625-3130
Kevin Janni kjanni@umn.edu 612-625-3108
Gerard Cramer gcramer@umn.edu 612-625-8184
Karen Johnson ande9495@umn.edu 320-484-4334
Marcia Endres miendres@umn.edu 612-624-5391
Emily Krekelberg krek0033@umn.edu 507-280-2863
Joleen Hadrich jhadrich@umn.edu 612-626-5620
Claire LaCanne lacanne@umn.edu 507-332-6109
Les Hansen hanse009@umn.edu 612-624-2277
Brenda Miller nels4220@umn.edu 320-732-4435
Erin Royster royster@umn.edu Isaac Salfer ijsalfer@umn.edu 320-296-1357 Jim Salfer salfe001@umn.edu 320-203-6093 Mike Schutz mschutz@umn.edu 612-624-1205 Emma Severns sever575@umn.edu 507-934-7828 Melissa Wison mlw@umn.edu 612-625-4276
Shade is a valuable tool for reducing heat stress
Almost every article about hot weather heat stress recommends providing shade to reduce the heat load from sunshine. Cows housed in barns or access to open front sheds, hoop structures or buildings with mono slope or gable roofs will have shade. There are also feedlot shade structures designed to provide shade. Solar collectors that generate electricity can also provide shade in a grazed paddock or pen. Shade impacts Shade reduces the amount of heat absorbed by a cow’s coat. A high-producing cow generates 3,840 British thermal unit/hour or more of metabolic heat. A cow without shade can By Kevin Janni absorb slightly over 3,000 Btu/hour of solar radiant heat on University of a sunny day at solar noon. This sunshine nearly doubles the Minnesota heat load high-producing cows need to get rid of to avoid heat stress. If a cow has shade, she does not need to breathe as rapidly or sweat as much to manage her heat loads. Research at the University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center found that grazing cows in a paddock with shade from a 30 kw photovoltaic solar collector system had body temperatures about 0.4 degrees lower than cows without shade during daylight hours. At night, the cows had similar body temperatures. The study period had only mild heat stress based on the temperature humidity index values, but the sunshine increased cow body temperatures enough to increase the heat stress level. Results from a thermal balance model for high-producing lactating cows indicates that shade can reduce a cow’s body temperature by 1.6 degrees compared to a cow out in the sun; from 103.8 degrees to 102.2 degrees. The respiration rates at solar noon when the air temperature was 92 degrees and the THI was 79, was 90 breadths per minute for cows without shade and 56 bpm for a cow with 100% shade. These results indicate that shade can move a cow from a moderate-severe heat stress level down to near the threshold stress level. Table 1 lists respiration rates and rectal temperatures for four heat stress levels. Small body temperature changes have big impacts. Heat-stressed lactating cows have reduced dry-matter intake, milk production and pregnancy rates and increased lameness, days open and death rates. Heatstressed dry cows have shorter gestation periods, calves with lower birth weights and lower milk production after calving. Heifer calves from heat-stressed cows also produce less milk after growing up and freshening. Shade can reduce the heat stress levels and improve cow performance. Shade structures and design considerations Shades in pens and feedlots are recommended to be sized to provide 40-squarefeet or more per animal. Less shade leads to crowding and reduced airow past cows bunched together. Airow is another important way cows stay cool. Many shade structures are xed and not movable (e.g., barns). Fixed structures need to be managed to avoid manure accumulation, soil compaction and wetness. Movable shade structures can be moved to distribute manure and urine from the animals on pastures or in pens. Long and narrow rectangular shades oriented with the long axis in a northsouth direction can maintain drier pen or pasture surfaces as the shadow moves with the sun each day. Shades oriented east to west have drier pen surfaces if they have openings in the shade to avoid having pen areas that never receive sunshine. Shade structures can be built using metal roong or shade cloth. Shade cloth materials come in various colors, densities, strengths and expected useful life. Shade cloth materials can be damaged by wind unless sufciently tensioned. Shade cloth materials can be removed in the fall and reinstalled in the spring to avoid snow issues and allow sunshine into the pen during cold weather. Taller shades provide better ventilation, but they must withstand higher wind loads. Consider equipment that might be used under the shade when setting shade height. Twelve feet is a common minimum recommended shade height. Shade size and slope impacts the wind and snow loads the shade must withstand. Mono sloped shades have more airow compared to at shades. Shade slope and orientation impact where rain and snow accumulate. Provide drainage to avoid creating wet areas that become muddy and compacted by animals after wet periods. Whatever structure is used to provide shade, it is important to be designed and constructed to be structurally sound to withstand wind loads and snow loads. Wind and snow loads depend on the roof or shade slope, size and height. The roof or shade can generate either a downward load or a lifting load depending on wind direction and structure slope. Make sure that cables are well connected to provide adequate tension when using shade cloth. Heat stress level
THI
Respiration rate (bpm)
Rectal temperature (F)
None
< 68
Threshold
68-71
> 60
> 101.3
Mild-moderate
72-79
> 75
> 102.2
Moderate-severe
80-89
> 85
> 104.0
Severe
90-99
120 - 140
> 105.9
Table 1. Dairy cow stress based on THI and corresponding respiraƟon rates and rectal temperatures based on Renaudeau et al. (2012)
Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022 • Page 33
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Those 6 inches
“Man – despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication and his many accomplishments – owes his existence to a 6-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains.” This is a quote I’m From the Zweber Farm sure you’ve seen or heard by Paul Harvey who was famous for telling us the rest of story. Even if you’re too young to have heard his radio broadcasts, you’ve undoubtedly heard his speech at an FFA gathering in By Tim Zweber 1978 entitled, “So God Made a Farmer.” If Farmer & Columnist you haven’t heard that speech, look it up. It’s worth the read, because, much like that quote, it sums up agriculture and those who choose to take on the occupation of growing food well. Despite my last article talking about the inevitability of rain falling on that 6-inch layer of soil as soon as we start cutting hay, very little has fallen on our farm since before rst crop hay. Thankfully, this isn’t a widespread drought like last year which resulted in crop failures in much of northwestern Minnesota and the Dakotas. Even our rented pasture land 15 minutes from home has gotten enough moisture to keep growing, if not well, at least sufciently to keep the cattle fed there without having to truck some home. Somehow, we’ve gotten into a pattern of storms either breaking up before they get to us or splitting and raining all around us. I’m glad I bought a fair amount of hay last year anticipating a possible dry summer again this year seeing how much moisture was being pulled out of the previously waterlogged soil last summer. We’re going to start cutting second crop hay as soon as we enjoy some Fourth of July parties and take a day to wander a state park with the kids. Time to get the equipment back out of the sheds. It seems I just parked it after an extended rst crop thanks to buying standing hay from other farmers to put up for the dry cows and heifers after we nished all of ours up. As my wife, Emily, likes to say, it seems like I spend all summer doing hay. With the limited rainfall we’ve received, this crop won’t take very long to put up. Our hay elds are a mix of grasses and legumes, mainly alfalfa but some red clover, too, because we mostly do haylage. I’m not worried about drying time. Research I’ve read shows the proteins in clover are broken down differently than alfalfa mak-
I’ glad I’m l dIb bought h a ffair i amount of hay last year anticipating a possible dry summer again ... ing a better ration for grass-fed dairy cows. Grasses and red clover like a lot more rain than the alfalfa, so there’s quite a bit less tonnage out there than there should be for second crop. We’ve also chosen to put up a temporary fence around 36 acres of hay to graze so we don’t overgraze our permanent pastures that are waiting on rain to get them growing again. This morning, we received around one-half inch of rain. Hopefully that will get the shallow rooted grasses in the pastures to come out of dormancy, and we will continue to get some timely rains. Perhaps cutting second crop will attract a shower or two. Need to keep that cow chow growing so we can keep producing high-quality milk to feed all those people who owe their cool glass of milk with their strawberry pie to that 6 inches of topsoil and the rain I wish was falling a bit more often right now. Until next time, don’t forget to enjoy some of those summer delicacies that grow thanks to the soil we steward and rain that falls. It’s wild raspberry season so check out those patches on the edges of the elds and in every fence line. Tim Zweber farms with his wife Emily, their three children and his parents Jon and Lisa by Elko, Minnesota.
It is always ice cream weather June kept me on my toes, and while July is a little bit slower, it’s also National Ice Cream month so there are plenty of reasons to celebrate. I have put on approximately 3,100 miles traveling to many events over the past month, and I’m excited to share about it. I attended the following breakfast on the farm county events: Sibley, Clay, Wright/Carver, Steele, Goodhue and KanaOn the Road with bec/Isanti. I saw unique farms, met more county Princess Kay princesses and handed out dairy goodies to those in attendance. One of the most memorable moments was doing introductions at the Kanabec/ Isanti County breakfast, where I sat in a pickup to deliver my introduction. I also attended the dairy events hosted by McLeod, Crow Wing and By Anna Euerle 68th Princess Kay of the Faribault counties and KNUJ Radio. Activities Milky Way ranged from cow milking contests, custard eating, cattle judging and more. I got in on the festivities while handing out lots of promotional items. This was a fun and unique way to enjoy learning about dairy in a different environment other than a breakfast event. I also attended Taste of the Farm, which was put on by the Waseca County Farm Bureau and hosted at Farmamerica. There were tours of the farm, which included farms from multiple eras. The tours showed how agriculture has changed from so long ago. At this event, I visited with those in attendance, handed out lots of coloring books and cow hats, and went along the tour route to experience it for myself. I spent time at Cub Foods in Minneapolis this month as well. The newly renovated store was hosting
an appreciation day with ice cream sundaes. Joined by the Midwest Dairy ambassadors, we passed out promotional items, ice cream and visited with those coming through to do their shopping. I also traveled to Curdfest hosted by Redhead Creamery. This event happens at the site of the farm and creamery, with many vendors, calf encounters and of course cheese. I participated in the celebrity milking contest and placed second behind one of the farm owners. There was so much to see and do on the farm and some wonderful food to enjoy. I made a stop in Inver Grove Heights to visit with those at a senior residence. After passing out root beer oats, I spent time taking lots of pictures and visiting with those in attendance. One of the employees even dressed up as Daisy the cow to add a little extra fun to the day. I was also at the Norman County Fair on kid’s day. I was stationed in the agriculture education building with Dolly the cow, Kevin the calf and the 1950s style kitchen. Along with cow milking, I spoke with, and handed out cow hats to those who visited the building. I also visited the Hastings Creamery Dairy Store as part of their grand opening. I was in the store handing out samples of milk, cow hats and visiting with everyone who came through the store. Complete with milk, cheese, yogurt and all other goodies you could need, this store truly had it all.
Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022 • Page 35
I spent time on Zoom with 4-H members from across the state. I gave a presentation on my role, took them through a virtual tour of a robotic dairy farm, and we even tried out a fun dairy recipe too. I rounded out the month of June with a summer day care group, where I was able to share a book and a little bit about dairy farms in Minnesota. It was a great end to the month, and the kids were so excited to learn about dairy farming and meet a princess. This past month has been hectic to say the least, but I’m excited to spend some time sharing ice cream with my family and helping in our elds this month. Take time to sit back and enjoy the nice weather and your favorite pint of ice cream very soon. You won’t regret it. Princess Kay of the Milky Way Anna Euerle serves as the Minnesota dairy community’s goodwill ambassador. Princess Kay is very active doing school visits, representing dairy farmers at the Fuel Up To Play 60 activities in conjunction with the Minnesota Vikings, and sharing the importance of dairy farming and dairy foods at appearances across Minnesota. Euerle grew up in Litcheld, Minnesota, working on her family’s dairy farm. She will soon graduate from Ridgewater College in Agribusiness with a dairy emphasis. In her free time she enjoys cooking, baking and being outdoors.
Editorial disclaimer: The views expressed by our columnists are the opinions and thoughts of the author and do not reect the opinions and views of Dairy Star staff and ownership.
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Born to be wild Page 36 • Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022
The way I see it, the entire debacle was the stupid radio’s fault. It happened some years ago, but the incident has been burned deep in my memory circuits. I was tooling along in my pickup, headed to town for parts. Just as I turned off the township gravel road and onto the county highway, the opening strains of “Born To Be Wild” began to waft from the speakers. I immediately reached for the volume control. I had no choice. “Born To Be Wild” is one of those epic rock anthems that must, by federal law, be played at a decibel level on par with a ghter jet taking off on full afterburner. Whose brilliant idea was it to place automotive radios in the middle of the dashboard, at the far edge of the driver’s peripheral vision? I wasted precious
moments fumbling for the volume adjustment as I drove. I messed up the balance and the treble, and all of the preset buttons got changed to the same station. I eventually located the volume control and cranked the sound up to a satisfactory level; that is, loud enough to loosen the llings in my teeth. I sang along with my out-of-tune voice as Steppenwolf rattled the pickup’s windows. “Heavy metal thunder/ Racing with the wind/ And the feeling that I’m under.” I was doing an air drum solo on the steering wheel when I met a car. This was not unusual. I have met as many as three cars on a busy day while traversing this particular isolated county highway. What struck me as odd, though, was that this car had some specialized equipment mounted on its roof.
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Specically, a set of red and blue lights. I glanced at the speedometer and caught my breath. My stomach lled with heavy metal dread as I watched the patrol car in the rearview mirror. Before I could even mutter “Oh, crap,” the cop car had made an abrupt U-turn and was on my tail. He let me sweat for several agonizing moments be- Dear County Agent Guy fore his rooftop lights began to ash. Aw, man. How could this happen to me? And on my highway of all places. It might be true that I hadn’t personally built the road. But my ancestors and I have traveled upon this thoroughfare since the days when it was just a By Jerry Nelson set of wagon ruts cutting Columnist across the barren prairie. This road is mine as much as anyone’s. I pulled over and killed the engine. The entire world became shrouded in gloomy silence. I noticed that the deputy sheriff was taking his sweet time back in his car. Then it dawned on me that he was using his computer to run a background check on me. Would he uncover all of my past sins? Would he dig up how, in second grade, I borrowed that much-coveted fuchsia crayon from my classmate Tommy and lost it among my hodgepodge of crayons? Would he nd a report about that time when I snuck up behind Butch, a playground bully and my perpetual tormentor, and made faces at him when he wasn’t looking? What should I say to the deputy? Something pithy such as, “You’ve found me at last, Javert.” It then occurred to me that the statute of limitations had probably run out on most of those things. I began to feel indignant that he would even bother to investigate someone as nice as me. Doesn’t law enforcement have anything better to do than pester an upstanding citizen whose only crime was stumbling across an excellent rock song on the radio? How can they set speed traps for folks like me and yet be unable to accomplish actual police stuff such as nabbing the Hamburglar? But I didn’t mention any of that. In fact, I was downright deferential as I sat in the cop car and received a lecture about obeying local speed limits, along with a warning ticket. I was trudging back to my pickup when I suddenly realized yet another consequence. This meant I could no longer tease my wife about her stop sign, the one she had just paid for when she received a trafc citation. This was cruel and unusual; I was being punished twice. I climbed back into my pickup and turned the key. The radio instantly began to blare Golden Earring crooning, “I’ve been driving all night/ My hands wet on the wheel/ There’s a voice in my head that drives my heel.” “Oh, shut up,” I snapped as I jabbed the power button. “You’ve caused enough trouble already.” Jerry is a recovering dairy farmer from Volga, South Dakota. He and his wife, Julie, have two grown sons and live on the farm where Jerry’s great-grandfather homesteaded over 110 years ago. Jerry currently works full time for the Dairy Star as a staff writer/ad salesman. Feel free to E-mail him at: jerry.n@dairystar.com.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022 • Page 37
Pentobarbital is a barbiturate drug that causes sedation, induces anesthesia or causes death depending on dosage administered. In veterinary medicine, the most common uses are to induce anesthesia in pets and to euthanize large and small animals. Pentobarbital is administered by intravenous injection. In cattle, it should rarely, if ever, be used for anything other than euthanasia. Pentobarbital has an afnity for fat, so when an animal is euthanized, pentobarbital residues will be found in body fat. For this Veterinary Wisdom reason, any animal euthanized by pentobarbital should not be sent for rendering. Such animals should be composted or buried. States have different requirements for required depth of burials; check with your state for details. Incineration may be allowed; again, check with your state for details. Leaving carcasses in open areas where wildlife or other predators have access is not recommended because of pass through toxicity. Pentobarbital residues in rendered fat have become more common in recent years. For example, according to Kerry Courchaine, director of technical services for Darling International, Darling’s Blue Earth, Minnesota, rendering plant has become the nation’s hot spot By Jim Bennett for pentobarbital residues. This plant accepts cattle and Columnist swine carcasses from southern Minnesota and Iowa. It does not accept horses, sheep or goats. For the period of November 2020 to December 2021, the positivity rate for pentobarbital in vats of rendered fat was over 23%. Each positive vat costs Darling around $10,000. Contaminated fat can be used for biodiesel production, and Darling ships contaminated fat to its biodiesel plant but has to thoroughly clean rail cars after shipping. Darling spent over 2 million dollars cleaning rail cars in the last 12 months. Other Darling rendering plants have been residue hot spots in previous years. Such high positivity rates threaten to make rendering unsustainable, thus risking the loss of a valuable service for livestock producers. Based on interviews with producers that have had pentobarbital residues, Darling is convinced that one of the main causes of residues is the use of pentobarbital for sedation of cattle. However, it is very unlikely that pentobarbital is being used by many veterinarians for sedation because it is a controlled drug, meaning it must be kept under lock and key, and every cc used or disposed of must be accounted for. Furthermore, it is not approved for sedation in cattle, and another sedative, xylazine, is approved, effective and inexpensive. Darling is now asking producers who submit carcasses if their animals have had recent surgery and, if so, what drug was used to sedate the animal. What can one do to prevent pentobarbital residues? First, if you cannot safely compost or bury carcasses, ask your veterinarian to use an alternative method of euthanasia. For example, all the doctors in our practice carry captive bolts for eu-
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thanizing animals. A captive bolt is a device that uses a penetrating bolt and blank cartridges to penetrate the skull and cause sufcient brain damage to induce unconsciousness. At least one secondary step must be used to cause death following stunning via captive bolt. One option, pithing, can be accomplished by inserting a rod into the hole and rotating to destroy brain tissue. Another option, IV potassium chloride, a paralytic, can be given following captive bolt stunning to cause death by stopping the heart. Second, any time your veterinarian euthanizes an animal, make sure you know what method was used and if the animal is safe for rendering. Third, even though it is extremely unlikely that a veterinarian would use pentobarbital for sedation, if an animal dies after surgery, it is appropriate to ask your veterinarian what, if anything, was used for sedation and if the animal is safe for rendering. Working together, we can reduce pentobarbital residues in rendered tissues. 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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Transition, estate planning Page 38 • Dairy Star • Saturday, July 9, 2022
In my June article, I concluded by asking how we separate business and family; how we set priorities of business prots versus a value system and family life. Generational differences will always be a challenge and hopefully a blessing, especially as we begin to transition our farming operation to the next generation. I have had the privilege of working with farm families and their transitions for more than two decades. During that time, I learned this needs to be a team event with team members including outside, non-biased resources. These might be your farm management instructor, banker, tax accountant and lawyer or other trusted individuals you can use to bounce around ideas. First, transition and estate planning are not the same. In a transition plan, we need to look at transitioning some business assets but also the business management – a skill set, decision-making abilities
and a whole new level of responsibility. Being a son or daughter or employee is a whole different ballgame from managing and owning the business. The next generation is always eager to own more, get paid more and feel like they are in charge until one day when stuff hits the fan and they need to show up, because now they are in charge. Remember, transition is a process and not an event. If at all possible, allow 10-plus years to transition a business. Often in transitioning a dairy, for example, an entity is created – perhaps a limited liability company. This is used to transfer a percentage of the business (shares) to the next generation. The shares can be sold or gifted to the next generation, as management and workload are being transferred. Selling of shares is a taxable event for the owner, but in the case of feed or raised cattle, the tax is due when the seller receives payment. So, a 3 to 5-year contract agreement is a likely choice. The
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downside, perhaps, is that the percentage of the sale that is for purchased capital (equipment or cattle) is taxable in the year of the event/gift regardless of the repayment plan. Depending on the size of the sale, this may cause a shortage of cash. Tax law does not allow us to sell selected parts of the LLC; it is a percentage of all the assets. As a result, gifting is often a great method to use and then rent the land to provide funds for the older generation’s needs. Estate planning is a part of the transition planning process but generally is the plan of how to distribute assets upon passing, often times including From My Perspective the real estate ownership. Beneciaries will receive a stepped-up basis on capital assets upon passing (cattle, machinery and land), which may eliminate a lot of capital gains/ recapture tax that would have been incurred if sold before passing. In terms of the real estate, I suggest the younger generaBy Tom Anderson tion realize the difference Columnist between control versus ownership. A growing dairy may need the control more than the ownership. If the second generation will receive land upon the older generation’s passing (allowing for control now and in the future), then let’s worry more about acquiring other land to grow the business and not tie up cash ow for what will be theirs in the future. I would encourage the older generation to consider and reconsider what the plan means to the next generation. Is group ownership in land is a good thing? Will the plan allow the next farming generation to cash ow? Will the non-farming heirs get paid big dollars while the farming heirs have to pay for land they have been renting for the past 30+ years? Is there a difference between fair and equal? Perhaps the older generation could consider what the land was worth when the last child left the nest? This may help determine the value of inheritance for the non-farming heirs while allowing those who have been farming to get credit for their years of work. If there is a generation with no farming heir, or heirs that don’t want to farm in the future, I think some thoughts could be considered. Selling a home generally is a tax-free event. Selling the homestead while maintaining the right to live there may have little tax implications but allow the seller to take some cash out of the estate. Consider a sale agreement with a young producer for a purchase upon the owner’s passing. The sale agreement can set a sale price or a method to determine the price at the time of passing. This is a great tool allowing the older generation the opportunity to make decisions on their estate and reduce disagreements by the heirs, while allowing the heirs to get a stepped-up basis and eliminating the capital gains tax – essentially getting the heirs more money in the end. I suggest planning succession to the next generation and not leaving it to chance. Farmers should surround themselves with trusted, knowledgeable individuals who are not stakeholders in the operation and have their best interest in mind. A few dollars today have the potential to save a lot in the future while allowing farmers to make the choices they want for their estate. Tom Anderson is a Farm Business Management faculty member at Riverland Community College.
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Cow people versus big data
Cow 1440 stood on the straw pack next to where I was feeding a newborn calf and where I could easily observe her. The cow was gaunt with dull eyes and droopy ears and a very slack udder. She had calved with twins about a week ago, had a difcult birth and wasn’t eating despite being drenched. “She has a DA,” I thought, and mentioned it to Mike. The next day I drove to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for the National Holstein Convention and Dairy Innovations Summit, a rst-time added item to the agenda for the week’s activities, contests, tours and Holstein Association business I was attending as a volunteer to help with Junior Come Full Dairy Circle meetings. Holstein activities. When I returned home, 1440 had undergone DA surgery and was recovering. Did it take an expert cow person to observe she needed care? No. Anyone who works with cows knew she did, so she was diagnosed and treated. I thought about the cow people as I sat at the Data and Innovations Summit listening to the many excellent talks about big data and how it can be utilized on dairy farms of any size. It struck me that the conference was set at the Holstein Convention where the people in attendance probably take far more interest in their cows via registrations, pedigrees, cow family development, sire stacks, embryo By Jean Annexstad transfer and all the marketing activities that are involved. Columnist They are true cow people, I thought, as I remembered the stories I used to write about them. But cow people also know when their animals are sick, in heat or off feed. Perhaps as dairies grow in size, and fewer people have the individual cow skills, more data can be very helpful in making management decisions. Capturing, sorting and analyzing data, called big data or data analytics, can help managers to determine what is best for cow health, comfort, reproduction, milk quality, grouping, feeding and many other day-to-day tasks. The conference did a deep dive into the realm of data and all it entails. Dr. Jeffrey Bewley, Holstein Association USA analytics and innovation scientist, who works with the WKU Smart Holstein Lab, walked us through the types of data and how it could be used. The purpose of the new lab is to gure out devices and what the data means. Technological innovations include cloud computing, robots, sensors, drones, image analysis, visual analytics, GPS, articial intelligence, blockchain technology, genomics, metabolomics and advanced data analytics. The history of cow record keeping and dairy technology has unfolded through the decades, and on-farm records have existed from the beginning of cow milking, Bewley said. Cow activity monitors, where data from cow monitors is communicated wirelessly to evaluate the cow’s status through laptops or smartphones, have existed since the 1990s. “Analytics is the next big scientic breakthrough,” Bewley said. “How we statistically look at data is new. There are external drivers.” Interspersed throughout the conference were video technology introductions of data gathering systems and devices, such as iYOTAH Solutions, VES-Artex, CowManager, SomaDetect, FeedVal and many more. The people marketing and supporting these systems could be accessed at the conference during breaks and discussions were enlightening. Another speaker, Dr. Michael Overton, Zoetis, discussed the do’s and don’ts of interpreting farm data. His point was that data equals bits of information, but that it is not information itself. The data needs to be properly processed, organized and interpreted well. I imagine there is a lack of time to evaluate data or a dedicated data manager on many dairies. He cautioned that mistakes can and do happen in data collection and entry. Did cow No. 202 really have 249 pounds of milk? Outliers change averages and perspectives, Overton said. Other conference talks contained salient points about the need to carefully determine which data points are most useful to management tasks: – The more decisions you can make with a piece of data, the better. – Future success depends on anticipating how data can be used across the operation, and the data providers should be challenged to help you do more with, or extract value from, the data. – You must ask for help from data providers. Getting back to our cow 1440. Let’s suppose that according to her genetic data, 1440 perhaps was not likely to have a DA. So then, because of her twinning and calving troubles, management or environmental factors overwhelmed the genetic-based outcomes for her. She needed extra care and was drenched, given special needs space, etc. Still, she had a DA and that is part of dairying. No matter the data you have to work with to shape the management strategies on your dairy, and no matter how many cows you milk, success likely relies in part on the way you treat cows individually. However, I look forward to tapping into the many new technologies that are now here to help make good and useful cow-related decisions. Jean dairy farms with her husband, Rolf, and brother-in-law, Mike, and children Emily, Matthias and Leif. They farm near St. Peter, Minnesota, in Norseland, where she is still trying to t in with the Norwegians and Swedes. They milk 200 cows and farm 650 acres. She can be reached at jeanannexstad@gmail.com.
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