“All
A generational expansion
A real-life survivor series
Crop season 2024: the good, bad and ugly
By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
The weather this summer has presented challenges for many Wisconsin farmers. Across central Wisconsin, many elds have been left unplanted and hay harvests have fallen behind schedule.
“We nished rst crop haylage last week and we’re still working on baling dry cow hay,” Ben Seehafer said. “Our second crop is ready to cut now too.”
Seehafer operates Seehafer’s City View Dairy near Marsheld. They milk 270 cows on his Marathon County dairy farm, located near the Wood County line, and farms 600 acres.
Seehafer admits he has lost track of how much rain has fallen at his farm since the abnormally wet weather began in late April, noting that the nearby Marsheld Research Station in Stratford
documented 18.82 inches from April through June.
According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, Marathon County received 16.89 inches of rain from April through June, making 2024 the third wettest April-June in the past 130 years. Neighboring Wood County received 18.58 inches during the same time period, making it the wettest AprilJune period in the past 130 years for that county. A local television station reported that the Marathon County city of Wausau saw 5.87 inches of rainfall in July, nearly two inches more than average. August 1, Seehafer said he measured four inches of rainfall at his farm and heard reports of as much as seven inches received only a few miles away. Signicant rainfall was expected to impact the area again on Aug. 5.
“It’s such a kick in the butt, every time it rains, it’s nearly an inch or more,” See-
hafer said. “Going in, it was dry, scary dry. We had a busy spring. We hosted a tour for the local technical college and the local FFA alumni dairy breakfast in June. I thought we were going to hit it hard. I remember thinking, ‘I bet we’ll be done with rst crop before the breakfast.’”
Reality was different.
“We didn’t start planting corn until June 10,” Seehafer said. “The last corn I planted this year was July 20. That breaks my previous record of July 17. We didn’t get everything in we wanted, but mainly what didn’t get done was hay elds we had planned to terminate after rst crop. We just left those in hay. We planted around 300 acres of corn and had to replant over 30 of those.”
Seehafer’s corn crop this year runs the gamut from corn that looks exceptional to corn that has barely sprouted.
Abels double in size to secure farm’s future
By Stacey Smart stacey.s@dairystar.com
EDEN, Wis. — Fifthgeneration dairy farmer, Steve Abel, is looking forward to bringing his son, Nate, into the operation as a sixth-generation owner one day to continue a tradition started nearly 170 years ago. This desire to bring on the next generation drove a recent expansion at Abel Dairy Farms.
In a project that more than doubled the size of their herd, the Abels grew from 1,800 cows to 4,400 cows while building new facilities that emphasize cow comfort. Two new freestall
barns, a rotary parlor and a manure digester were the highlights of the expansion.
The family showcased the end result June 23 when they hosted Fond du Lac County’s Breakfast on the Farm, welcoming more than 4,400 people to the dairy.
“This was a generational expansion,” Steve Abel said. “My dad expanded 25 years ago, and he did it for the next generation, too. We didn’t want to be a terminal dairy. My family has been here since 1857, and we didn’t want my generation to be the last to farm here.”
Abel farms with his father, Allen, and his brother, Bill. Nate works on the farm while also attending college, and Abel’s wife, Deb, is the ofce manager. The Abels milk 3,850
Turn to ABELS | Page 6
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Bill (from le ), Allen, Steve and Nate Abel gather in their milking parlor Aug. 3 at Abel Dairy Farms near Eden, Wisconsin. The Abel family milks 3,850 cows on their farm that was founded in 1857.
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR Water covers nearly two-thirds of corn plants in a Wood County eld Aug. 1 near Marsheld, Wisconsin. Nearly six inches of rain fell near the Wood, Marathon and Clark County lines.
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“Everywhere you go there is corn that looks bad — corn that should be twice as tall as it is and brown spots everywhere,” Seehafer said.
Nearly 26 miles due north, Bruce Gumz and his family milk 60 cows at Tri-G Farms near Dorchester in Marathon County.
Gumz farms 1,000 acres and has had about 26 inches of rain so far this growing season. Gumz said nearly 25% of his planned corn acreage — over 100 acres — remains unplanted. Also, he only has 30 acres out of a planned 500 acres of soybeans planted.
“What we got in is up and down,” Gumz said. “It’s green but you can see it is really suffering from compaction, it’s just not doing well. It’s about two-thirds the size it should be, some is about three feet and some over six, all pushing tassels. I would say about 40% of what is planted is maybe okay. Our (brown midrib) corn for chopping looks rough. If we get an early frost, it’s going to be bad.”
Gumz said the lack of stalk height will affect tonnage, and, at this point, he’s hoping what is there will put on good ears.
“Even if it’s short but puts on good cobs, the starch might be okay,” Gumz said. “We won’t know that until we start chopping.”
Both farmers said they feel con-
Corn less than knee-high and bare spots show Aug. 5 in a eld near Auburndale, Wisconsin. Excessive rainfall this growing season is crea ng a myriad of eld and crop issues.
dent that between the remaining feed stores from 2023 and the high volume of rst crop, they will have sufcient feed for the upcoming winter.
“We had a good stock of both corn silage and haylage from previous years,” Gumz said. “We’re just nishing up feeding up corn silage from two years ago. We’ve got plenty of feed
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“The quantity is good, but the quality is short,” Seehafer said. “Some of the tests are coming back at 16% protein, which is better than I had thought it might be. I’m mixing it with last year’s third crop. We’ll be chopping every bit of our corn this year — we won’t even get the combine out. I have more round bales made than I ever have before.”
Both farmers say that while they had an abundant yield of rst-crop hay, their second crop came in signicantly lighter.
“It’s only about 60% of what it should be; every wheel track is stunted,” Seehafer said. “Five, six days after it was cut, you can see all the brown areas — it should be getting green again. I wish I would have waited with more of my rst crop. It probably would have dropped down close to 13% but with less damage to the elds and there would have been more second crop coming back.”
“The corn came out of the ground and looked okay, then it just turned yellow and died, Gumz said. “MidMay, the soil just died. We’re basically starting over with soil health — the tracks, the compaction, the anaerobic state. How do you start over with alfalfa when the soil is wrecked?”
Seehafer agreed.
“There is so much damage in the elds from trying to make hay,” Seehafer said.
“This was all new seeding last year, with peas and triticale as a cover. It was the most beautiful seeding I have ever seen, partly, I think, because it was so dry last year. It was so rich and thick, with zero weeds. Then the rain wouldn’t stop, and we couldn’t make it. By the time we did make it, we ruined it. You can see how uneven it is, nothing much is growing on the headlands.”
This year has been a rough one for farmers, Gumz said.
Gumz’s experience is similar.
“Second crop was super light and we had lots of issues with wheel tracks and ruts,” Gumz said. “The second crop was maybe half of normal, while the rst crop was double normal. We ended up square baling and wrapping a lot of it, hoping to blend rst crop from the silo with second-crop bailage in the mixer.”
The biggest fear that Gumz and Seehafer share is the long-term damage that has occurred to the health of the soil.
“It’s depressing, it’s the only thing people talk about,” Gumz said. “You can’t get away from it, it’s in your face, all the time. You pull out of your yard and there’s your lousy crop. You go the other way and it’s bare elds.”
Seehafer agreed.
“It’s such a mental battle,” he said. “You’re sitting here — you know it needs to be cut, it’s getting old, falling down. Then you walk out into the eld and the water squishes around your boots, and it just keeps raining. You keep telling yourself next week will be better, but it hasn’t been.”
Bruce Gumz Dairy farmer
cows and farm about 3,000 acres while also buying crops off another 2,000 acres from local growers.
The rst milking in the Abels’ new 80-stall GEA T8800 rotary milking parlor took place Feb. 14, 2023. Cows are milked three times a day at a rate of 550 cows per hour. Each rotation lasts 7 minutes, and a cow gets on the platform every 5.3 seconds.
“The biggest challenge is getting them off,” Abel said. “They like to ride it, but they can’t go around a second time. At one point, the rotary was stopping over 100 times an hour. We had to make some changes, and now it never stops unless an employee pauses it.”
Previously, cows were milked in a double-20 parallel parlor.
“The parlor was very old and tired and needed to be replaced,” Abel said. “Cow ow and cow comfort in the rotary is awesome. The employees like it and requested to go from 8-hour shifts to
12-hour shifts. It was more practical, and their bodies are not as sore.”
Employees work within different stations in the parlor: pre-stripping, running the teat scrubber, drying, attaching units and post-dipping.
“We will be automating some processes in the future,” Abel said. “But labor is not a weak point for us, so with everything being equal, we lean towards labor right now.”
Cows are averaging 104 pounds of energy-corrected milk per day.
“We bought over 2,000 cows with this expansion and after a year, we are back to our pre-expansion production,” Abel said.
The milking parlor also includes a visitor center with viewing windows of the rotary.
As part of the expansion, the family built two new barns and added onto another. The 8-row barns are tunnel ventilated and feature four feeding areas – one
on each of the outer sides and two in the middle.
“The cow-to-headlock or feed bunk space ratio is better than our old barns, offering more linear feet per cow,” Abel said. “Cows can eat on either side of the pen.”
Each barn holds 1,100 head split between two pens with four rows of stalls in each pen.
“I really like this design,” Abel said. “We toured a lot of barns but couldn’t go as long as we wanted because of the wetlands on our property, so we chose this design. Our employees like it, and the cows like it.”
When adding onto one of the original freestall barns, the Abels also remodeled pens in the older part of the building to bring the barn up to date.
“We looked at everything in our old barns and said, ‘Let’s do this’ or ‘Let’s not do this,’” Abel said. “Cow comfort is extremely important, and this allowed us to build in all the things in the new barns that we wish we had in the early barns.”
One challenge Abel said they faced was underestimating the number of systems that needed to change on the farm — from feeding to pregnancy checks to breeding to sorting.
“Those all had to get adjusted, but we have a great team, and we gured every one of those areas out,” he said.
The Abels employ approximately 50 people and expanded their team as they expanded the dairy. It was necessary to hire more people for certain areas, such as special needs, milking and feeding.
“This is the largest expansion we’ve ever done,” Abel said. “With certain expansions, you just work harder. For this one, working harder and longer was not the answer. This expansion required changes on the management side of things. We had to sort through how to get things done and nd out what employees needed to do their jobs.”
Housing for youngstock was not a concern during the expansion since calves are sent to a custom heifer grower
as newborns and do not return until 6 weeks prior to calving. Calves are raised in Kansas until 6 months of age and then sent to Nebraska. The Abels own Oshkosh Heifer Development — a heifer ranch in western Nebraska — with seven other Wisconsin dairy farms.
“We made that change in heifer raising 10 years ago for health and nancial reasons,” Abel said. “Not having youngstock allows you to specialize.”
Once construction was completed, the Abels switched from bedding cows with recycled sand to bedding with biosolids made from raw manure. Since ring up their digester May 1, the Abels now get their biosolids from the digester, which is owned and operated by Northern Biogas.
The system holds 21 days’ worth of manure within three digester tanks. The digester produces renewable natural gas that is directly injected into a pipeline, and Abel Dairy Farms receives a percentage of the prots.
Working on upgrades to the dairy is ongoing, and the family is currently in the process of building a new hoof trimming center. Abel said they will eventually need a new maternity barn as well and possibly a new feed center.
“We continue to upgrade as cashow allows,” Abel said. “You can’t do it all at once.”
Heading in a direction of growth has always been the philosophy of Abel Dairy Farms. When Abel’s dad expanded in 1996, the family was milking in four stanchion barns. The Abels built a parlor and a freestall barn while increasing to 600 cows. In 2000, the family expanded again and slowly built cow numbers. By planning for the future, the Abels said they spur success for a new generation.
“It’s never been about milking 4,000 cows,” Abel said. “This expansion was more about efciency and sustainability. Nate plans on coming back, and with another generation coming in, I said, ‘Let’s do it right.’”
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Cows ride the 80-stall GEA T8800 rotary parlor during milking at Abel Dairy Farms near Eden, Wisconsin. Cows are milked three mes a day at a rate of 550 cows per hour with a cow ge ng on the pla orm every 5.3 seconds.
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
The new facili es which include a rotary milking parlor and two freestall barns that each hold 1,100 head stand Aug. 1 at Abel Dairy Farms near Eden, Wisconsin. The Abels more than doubled the size of their herd growing from 1,800 cows to 4,400 cows.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
The manure digester owned and operated by Northern Biogas shines at Abel Dairy Farms near Eden, Wisconsin. The system holds 21 days’ worth of manure within three digester tanks and produces renewable natural gas that is directly injected into a pipeline.
Making their mark
Oberholtzers recognized with National Herd of Excellence award
By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com
HILLSBORO, Wis. — Kurtis and Valerie Oberholtzer value good, functional cows that make a lot of milk. Their dedication to this type of cow has been recognized by Holstein Association USA Inc. as they were one of six winners of the Herd of Excellence award this year.
“It came as a surprise,” Kurtis Oberholtzer said. “It’s not like we’ve been working hard for the last 17 years hoping to win this award.”
Kurtis and Valerie, with their ve children, milk 50 cows near Hillsboro. They have a rolling herd average of 35,363 pounds of milk, 1,477 pounds of butterfat and 1,131 pounds of protein. Their average classication score is 85.8.
The couple has been farming together for 17 years. They have consistently won milk quality awards and the Progressive Breeders’ Registry award. But this is the rst time they have won the Herd of Excellence award.
To be eligible for the award, the herd must have classied within the last year and have an age-adjusted classication score of 83 points or higher. As well, at least 70% of the herd must be homebred and enrolled in the association’s TriStar program. Production criteria are scaled for different-sized farms in three divisions: 10-99 cows, 100-499 cows and 500plus cows. The Oberholtzers’ division required 25% of the herd to be above breed average mature equivalent for milk, fat and protein.
“This is like the award of awards,” Valerie said. “It’s rewarding for all the time we put into it.”
Valerie grew up with registered cattle and learned how to mate cows from her dad, Dean Good. When making breeding decisions, Valerie looks for a lot of milk, good components and sound feet and legs.
The couple ships milk to Grassland Dairy Products where all their
milk is made into butter. Because the creamery pays a high premium for butterfat, Kurtis and Valerie have focused on breeding for components. This has paid off in the milk check, Valerie said. They normally receive a $3 per hundredweight premium on butterfat alone, and another $1 to $2 for protein and somatic cell count premiums, which helps to offset the cost of trucking.
“It’s what keeps you rolling,” Valerie said. “We’re paying for our farm by milking cows. You can have a fancy cow in the barn but if she won’t make a good milk record, we can’t pay the bills.”
Valerie pays attention to the genomic Total Performance Index, but also likes to see a family history of production instead of relying on one good genomic score. If a bull has a good genomic score but lacks a family history of high production and components, Valerie remains skeptical. In her dad’s herd and the one she owns with Kurtis, she has seen a good heifer can come out of a cow family that she does not want to breed from.
“For all those years my dad taught me, we were following good cow families and tapping into other people’s good cow families and that is what we were breeding on,” Valerie said. “I will not move away from that, ever, because good cows make more good cows.”
Kurtis and his sons do all the feeding and crops on the dairy. They feed a total mixed ration of corn silage, haylage and high-moisture corn. They also use a protein mix and a microbial supplement. Kurtis said consistency is important.
“We try not to make big switches,” Kurtis said. “We always feed corn silage and haylage and high-moisture corn. So, if we’re short on haylage we ration it to make sure we always have that.”
Kurtis also pulls feed samples at least every four weeks. Feed is chopped and stored in silos and bags.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
The Oberholtzer family—Malachi (from le ), Philip, Lana, Valerie, Kur s, Jeriah and Samuel — takes a break on their farm near Hillsboro, Wisconsin. The family was recognized by Holstein Associa on USA Inc. as a Herd of Excellence.
ABBY WIEDMEYER/DAIRY STAR
Kal-side A erburner Bonnie EX-92 rests in her e stall July 3 at Kur s and Valerie Oberholtzer’s farm near Hillsboro, Wisconsin. Bonnie was named the state’s top protein-producing cow in 2023 by Holstein Associa on USA Inc.
The couple started the herd with a few cows Valerie brought from her dad’s farm, some purchased cows from her dad’s friends and a group of 12 cows from Lancaster. Three of the cows owned with her dad carried his prex, as do their descendants. Thus, 94% of the current herd is homebred and carries the Kal-side prex.
Besides the Herd of Excellence award, the couple has recently received recognition for three cows that won state records last year. One of them, Bonnie, was the state’s highest protein-producing cow and the others were among the top 10 fat-producers. They also have a heifer that has scored high enough to gain attention. They have started in vitro fertilization to breed a bull for ABS Global or SEMEX.
“We wanted to raise our children on a farm, just as our parents and grandparents did,” Valerie said. “We would like to give God the credit for giving us the blessing of farming with our children here. This has been a great blessing from the Lord.”
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No apologies
The House Committee on Agriculture hosted a hearing on farm nancial conditions before breaking for the August recess, but the session started with a spirited exchange over the farm bill. Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson defended the farm bill that passed out of his committee in late May. “I would not apologize for advancing a bill that seeks to put the farm back in the farm bill and I also won’t apologize for advancing a bill that was written by every member of this committee,” Thompson said. “Forty provisions that were put into this that were just led by my Democratic colleagues and I don’t put things in legislation just to buy a vote, I put it in there because it was great legislation.” Thompson also challenged Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow to unveil her farm bill text and not what he called “a partisan 90-page summary.”
Flu vaccination recommended for livestock workers
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is stepping up efforts to vaccinate livestock workers against the seasonal u. The CDC is worried that someone could be infected by the seasonal u and the H5N1 and develop an entirely new virus. States will split $2 million for the vaccine and $3 million to implement the program. Another $5 million will be spent on educating farm employees about the importance of biosecurity and the use of protective gear.
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By Don Wick Columnist Ag Insider
Scott renews criticism of ag committee farm bill House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member David Scott followed Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson’s opening statement with criticism. In particular, Scott argued the pending farm bill eliminates the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ability to use Commodity Credit Corporation funds to support farmers. “Secretary (Sonny) Perdue used approximately $23 billion in CCC funds for the coronavirus assistance program and this helped our farmers survive lower prices that were arising as a result of COVID 12. We didn’t restrict the CCC when my friend Sonny Perdue was agriculture secretary and we must not do it now.”
‘Dead in the water’
The hope for a timely passage of the farm bill is waning. “It’s dead in the water right now,” said former House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson. “People are hoping that the election will change things, but I’m not sure that’s the case.” If the legislation isn’t passed in a lame-duck session, another one-year farm bill extension will be needed. “I’m guessing that’s what will happen, but who knows? The politics are so crazy now.”
Signicant investment needed in the farm safety net
Combest Sell and Associates Managing Partner Tom Sell remains optimistic a farm bill can be done this year. There is a sense of urgency surrounding the farm safety net. “Title I and Title IX crop insurance, we’re spending less money right now (on these programs) than we have in the recent ve, 10, 20, 25 years,” Sell said. “It is time for an infusion in these programs that help create the safety net so that family farmers can remain independent.”
National Milk Producers Federation welcomes Federal Milk Marketing Order recommendations
The USDA released its recommendations for modernizing the FMMOs in early July. Stephen Cain, senior director of economic research and analysis for the NMPF, is pleased with USDA’s recommendations to modernize the FMMOs. “Fundamentally, USDA agreed with our premise and methodology for all the changes we were asking for. They didn’t do it exactly the way we had hoped for, but in general, we’re very pleased with how USDA has come out with the recommended decision here.” Cain is surprised USDA removed barrels from the Class III formula. “In the long run, that’s going to be very supportive of dairy farmer revenue over the next few years and the future.”
Avian Inuenza Research and Response Act introduced
A bipartisan group of House members has introduced legislation to help dairy farmers impacted by avian inuenza. It codies the USDA rules that compensate dairy farmers for milk production losses due to the virus. It also prioritizes research for H5N1 and calls on USDA to create a dairy biosecurity education and training program.
A Class III market reversal
The dairy market has seen a remarkable reversal higher since last winter. AgResource Company President Dan Basse said several factors are driving the change. “We’re still trying to decipher the impact on production relative to avian u, but longer term, there is optimism as European and southern hemisphere production is down and we start to see dairy markets improve in Class III prices, likely making it to the $21, $22 level as we go into the fourth quarter.”
Dairy herd expansion may be delayed
Class III milk prices have been stronger lately. “It’s much better than what we were facing earlier in the year,” said Mike North, producer division president, Ever Ag. With falling feed costs and rising milk prices, protability may be on the horizon. Despite that, North said expansion may be slow to happen. Rising interest rates, the cost of capital and the interest in beef-on-dairy are cited as reasons. “We also have HPAI that’s been found in dairy animals and reduced milk production and supplies so that’s taken away from it.”
Risk management advised
Prices for beef and dairy cattle are favorable and likely will remain strong for quite some time. Independent consultant Nevil Speer said the market versus prices will remain through the rebuilding of herds, whenever that might be. Dairy heifers are of especially low supply and high demand while milk prices are also favorable. Speer says risk management during the good times is important to protect yourself during the bad times. “Typically, when we talk about risk management, producers turn to futures and options. The other tool that’s really important is livestock risk protection.” Speer notes basic business risk management is also important during favorable times. “Let’s try to reduce our debt service from year to year and let’s try to build up some working capital reserves.”
New cheese processor at Chilton
Grande Cheese Company broke ground on a dairy processing facility in Chilton. The site will undergo 20,000 square feet of renovations and 60,000 square feet of new construction. The project is expected to be completed in 2026. Grande Cheese is well known for its production of Italian cheeses.
Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin executive committee elected
For the third consecutive year, Janet Clark of Rosendale will serve as chair of DFW. Gail Klinkner of Viroqua was elected vice chair. The secretary is Sandy Madland of Lyndon Station and the treasurer is Mark Crave of Watertown. The executive committee will also include Andrew Christenson of Amery, Jonathon Hallock of Mondovi, Kay Zwald of Hammond and Jeff Betley of Pulaski.
Trivia challenge
September 18 is National Cheeseburger Day. That answers our last trivia question. McDonald’s sells more cheeseburgers than any other fast-food restaurant. For this week’s trivia, what fast food chain is second on that list? We’ll have the answer in our next edition of the Dairy Star.
Don Wick is owner/broadcaster for the Red River Farm Network of 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 sons, Tony and Sam, and ve grandchildren, Aiden, Piper, Adrienne, Aurora and Sterling.
Enjoying America’s favorite pastime
farms 250 acres.
Adams a Milwaukee Brewers season ticket holder for 20 years
By Stacey Smart stacey.s@dairystar.com
ELKHORN, Wis. — Ever since he was a kid, Rick Adams has been in love with baseball. With a glove in hand, Rick’s youth was spent playing ball with family and friends. He also played base-
ball in high school until his dad told him he had to quit as a sophomore because there was hay to do.
“I was a left-handed pitcher,” Rick said. “The neighbor kid and I played every day that we could in the summer. We played until we couldn’t see the ball at night. We rode our bikes to Lake Geneva and played on the baseball elds until our parents came and picked us up.”
As an adult, Rick nds there is no better time spent off the farm than at a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game.
Turn to ADAMS | Page 12
We are pleased to announce
Amy Loeschke has accepted the role as General Manager at Minnesota DHIA, effective August 1, 2024.
Loeschke has had over 20 years of varied experience in leadership, research, education, and service to the dairy industry. She most recently has served as Director of Services and Support at Minnesota DHIA, where she has spearheaded a variety of projects that provide value for the organizations’ 1,000 plus members in the upper Midwest. Prior to that, Loeschke was a project leader and product consultant for an international dairy genetics organization.
Loeschke is a Minnesota native, having grown up on a dairy farm near Lanesboro. This was the foundation for her interest in dairy cattle and more specifically, dairy data and genetics. Amy brings with her to the position, PhD and Masters degrees in applied dairy breeding and a B.S. degree in Animal Science, all from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. During those years, she also led a one-ofa-kind genetic field study, allowing her to collaborate with commercial dairy farm owners and gain experience in navigating the dairy data stream both in the US and globally. Amy’s experiences have sparked her passion for innovative problem solving and knowledge transfer.
Loeschke is excited to expand the services and value that Minnesota DHIA offers to dairy producers while providing collaborative leadership to the organization’s dedicated field technicians and staff.
DHIA: Now MORE than ever
CowScout works 24/7 to monitor cow activity by identifying neck movements, such as snif ng and chin resting that indicate if a cow is in heat. With this real-time data, cows in heat can be properly identi ed, allowing for improved insemination results, higher pregnancy rates, shorter calving intervals and reduced insemination costs – all with lower labor inputs.
• Constant heat monitoring and display of the optimal insemination time
• Noti cation of reduced eating and rumination times to enable early detection of health problems
• Reliable animal identi cation in the milking parlor
• Clear, easy to understand graphical displays of activities, eating times and lactation phases in the web portal
• E-mail alerts for you and your staff or insemination technician
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Rick Adams holds his autographed picture of Brandon Woodruff July 11 on his farm, Sugar Creek Dairy, near Elkhorn, Wisconsin. Rick has been a Milwaukee Brewers season �cket holder since 2004, and with his wife, Marleen, milks 560 cows and
“We don’t have a lake house or a boat,” Rick said. “Instead, we go to Brewers games.”
Rick and his wife, Marleen, own and operate Sugar Creek Dairy near Elkhorn where they milk 560 cows and farm 250 acres. Their registered Holstein herd is housed in free stalls and milked in a double-12 herringbone parlor. The couple is focused on quality genetics and sells show calves.
The Adamses farmed with Rick’s family until moving to their current location in 1997. Rick and Marleen have two grown children who work off the farm.
“We built this farm from the ground up,” Marleen said. “We started with a partner and later bought him out. We also have a heifer farm nine miles away. We have two locations to t everything in, but we’re still handson.”
Rick has been a Milwaukee Brewers season ticket holder since 2004. He has a partial season package that includes 21 games plus playoff games, which equates to about three games per month at American Family Field, formerly known as Miller Park.
“It’s a nice park,” Rick said. “The Brewers are friendly, staff is friendly and people are always nice.”
Rick never misses Opening Day.
“We do a lot of tailgating before the games, but this year was the rst time we didn’t tailgate on Opening Day because it was too windy,” Rick said.
His seats are on the rst level behind home plate in section 118, row 15. He sits among the players’ families as well as baseball scouts equipped with stopwatches and radar guns.
“I’ve been there long enough that I know the people around me,” Rick said. “I have a good friend who sits a few seats behind me.”
Twenty years of exciting ball games and unique experiences are etched into Rick’s memories.
“Watching Rickie Weeks, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder play together in 2015 and 2016 was a lot of fun,” Rick said. “I’ve caught a couple of foul balls too. I caught one on the y once, and everyone thought I was hurt. I had ball stitches in my hand.”
Rick said he especially enjoys post-season games.
“The playoffs are exciting,” he said. “The crowd is into every pitch. It’s electric. Seeing Prince Fielder hit a home run in a playoff game is something I’ll never forget.”
Marleen joins for a few games each year, but oftentimes, Rick brings along a friend or people he does business with.
“It’s a boys’ night out for Rick,” Marleen said. “Everyone needs a boys’ night out.”
When Rick is at a game, he knows the farm is in Marleen’s capable hands. When husband and wife attend a game together or leave the state for spring training games in Arizona, their employees keep everything running smoothly.
Rick Adams (le ) and his grandkids, Calvin (front from le ) and William; his daughter-in-law, Ashley (back from le ), his wife, Marleen, and his son, Ryan, pause for a photo June 16 in front of American Family Field when a ending a Brewers game on Father’s Day in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Rick’s seats are on the rst level behind home plate.
“We have people here who we trust to handle daily cow care,” Rick said. “Some of our staff have been with us for 20 years. The park is only an hour
from the farm, and I always drive back after the game. When we attend spring training in March, we’re not in the elds yet, which makes it easier to get away.”
Rick and Marleen have gone to spring training nearly a half dozen times, making their most recent trip this past spring.
“It was wonderful,” Rick said.
The avid fan speaks baseball and can rattle off player names and stats as easily as he can talk pedigrees of his prized cow families. When he’s not watching a game live, Rick tries to watch the game on TV.
“The Brewers are fun to watch,” he said. “They don’t give up. Our defense is so good right now, which saves on pitching. Great defense and pitching win playoff games. We don’t have all the strikeouts we used to have. We put the ball in play.”
Rick has collected a variety of Brewers memorabilia, including signed prints of Brandon Woodruff and Josh Hader, as well as autographs of Ryan Braun, Yovani Gallardo and Robin Yount. He also has the signature of Joe Attanasio, the dad of the Brewers’ owner, Mark Attanasio.
Being part of a special moment in baseball history in 2010 is a cherished memory Rick said. When All-Star closer Trevor Hoffman was trying to get the record number of saves, Rick made sure he was there to see it.
“It was the end of the season on a Monday night, and he was on schedule to get his 600th save,” Rick said. “I told Marleen, ‘You’re going to see history.’ ... They played Hoffman’s warm-up song,
ff games, and he never misses Opening Day.
‘Hells Bells’ when he came out, and he did get the save that night. After the game, he got an award. It was pretty special, and I saw it all.”
Rick has family ties to the big leagues as his niece is married to former major leaguer, Khris Davis. Davis played with the Milwaukee Brewers from 2013 to 2015 and led Major League Baseball with 48 home runs in the 2018 season with the Oakland Athletics.
Although he never went to many games growing up, Rick is a lifetime Brewers fan. His favorite all-time player is Josh Hader, who played for the Brewers from 2017 to 2022 before being traded to the San Diego Padres.
“I was really upset about that trade,”
Rick said.
Currently, Rick’s favorite player is Christian Yelich.
“He has the best swing in baseball,” Rick said. “He has an amazing work ethic, and he can run. When he’s at bat, don’t leave your seat. That’s how good he is.”
When looking at the remainder of the Brewers season, Rick is optimistic.
“This team is young and hungry,” he said. “They’re in rst place, but they probably need another bat if Yelich doesn’t stay healthy. When he’s healthy, he can be deadly. But without him, it’s hard to hold up over time against other teams. You might win one game, but you’re not going to win three. Still, I like their chances.”
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Rick Adams (le�) and his son, Ryan, smile April 2 on Opening Day at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Rick has a par�al Brewers season �cket package that includes 21 games plus playo
from our side our side OF THE FENCE
How has the rainfall in your area affected your crop production?
Eric Seiler Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
Columbia
County 600 cows
What crops do you produce? We grow 1,300 acres of corn, 1,000 acres of alfalfa and 100 acres of soybeans.
Since April 1, how many inches of rain have you received? 26 inches.
How has the rainfall in your area affected your crop production? Our crops are either looking extremely good or they are dead. It’s either 100% or 0%. There is nothing in the middle. The low spots have been ooded out, and there’s nothing there for both corn and alfalfa. The 4.5 inches of rain we had a few weeks ago drowned out small pockets of alfalfa. The corn was already dead in the wet spots from a wet spring. I would say about 7% of our corn is affected, while the rest looks really good.
What is a challenge with eldwork you’ve faced this year? Planting went fairly easy but trying to get hay made between the rains was a little more difcult. It takes longer to get hay off the eld. The rst crop took 13 days. For the third crop, we didn’t have to stop for rain and got it done in three days, nishing a week ago. Every crop of hay has been very good.
For this growing season, what was the biggest rain event? We received 4.5 inches of rain a couple of weeks ago. Some of our land didn’t get any rain while our land further north got 3.5 inches in 15 minutes. The rain this year has been really spotty. We were lucky that we didn’t get those huge rains in the spring. Some people got 5-6 inches of rain in one day, but I don’t think we’ve had any events like that.
Besides crop production, how has the rainfall affected your dairy farm? There’s been some washing in the driveways, but other than that, the only other concern is the spots in our elds getting drowned out.
How does this summer’s precipitation and temperature compare to others? I would say the temperature is normal, but rainfall is above average. Last year was the complete opposite. Our corn only had 0.4 inches of rain from planting to tassel, and then we nally got some rain.
Tell us about your farm. Seiler Farms Inc. is owned by my brother, Todd, our cousins, Brad and Brian Seiler, and me. We are the fourth generation on the farm. We milk three times a day in a double-14 herringbone parlor and ship our milk to Grande Cheese Company. We raise youngstock until 6-8 months of age before sending heifers to a custom raiser. They return to the farm three weeks before calving.
Wabasha County
550 cows
What crops do you produce? Corn: 1,000 acres; soybeans: 400 acres; hay: 350 acres; and oats: 60 acres.
Since April 1 how many inches of rain have you received? Not sure of the exact amount, but somewhere around 20-plus inches.
How has the rainfall in your area affected your crop production? The excessive rain has been hardest on our late-planted corn following rye. We struggled getting the soil dry enough to plant after injecting manure on it. It is a couple of weeks from tasseling yet.
What is a challenge with eldwork you've faced this year? We started off the planting season great. Oats were seeded early March. Most of the corn was in by the rst week of May. We then struggled getting 300 acres of rye harvested for feed. We had 100 acres laid in rows for almost three weeks before getting it baled for bedding. We changed our plan of planting soybeans on that ground to alfalfa. Our hay yields have been exceptional, and we have been lucky with the hay harvest.
For this growing season, what was the biggest rain event? The biggest rain event was 6.5 inches. We no-till all the soybeans and some corn. With that much rain in an hour, it still erodes.
Besides crop production, how has the rainfall affected your dairy farm? It has been a real struggle keeping all the cows and their pens clean and dry. Our 3-million-gallon manure pit has lled a month earlier than normal, so we will have to nd a place to haul before corn silage.
How do this summer's precipitation and temperature compare to others? Last year's drought was like having a vacation every day. We hardly bedded, and if we cleaned cow lots, we scraped up piles of dry manure. We think the temperature hasn't been that much different, but the humidity and excessive rain have been the most challenging.
Tell us about your farm. We are a family farm of three brothers—Raleigh, Eric and Jon—along with each of our families. We milk 550 cows three times a day in a double-12 parlor. Our milk is shipped to Associated Milk Producers Inc.
Brock Herman Manchester, Iowa Delaware County 40 cows
What crops do you produce? We have 200 acres of corn, 20 acres of oats, 40 acres of alfalfa and over 100 acres of soybeans.
Since April 1, how many inches of rain have you received? 23 inches
How has the rainfall in your area affected your crop production? We got the oats in late this year, but we had them in by the end of April. The corn planting drug on for a long time and we broke down. I was hoping to be done by May 5, but it was June before we nished with the corn and soybeans. The alfalfa has been hard to get harvested as well. Cuttings have been delayed due to all the rain. It’s been a good crop, but not a good quality crop. We bale it all in small squares and round bales. Since it kept raining, there weren’t enough dry days to get it harvested. Our oats are lying in the windrow, not combined now because we have had rain every day.
What is a challenge with eldwork you've faced this year? We just waited it out since we do a lot of it no-till. The conditions had to t for us to plant.
For this growing season, what was the biggest rain event? We received 11 inches in an 8-day time frame in May. There was standing water in the elds. We just had to wait it out and keep going.
Besides crop production, how has the rainfall affected your dairy farm? The crops look good now. We did have to add extra nitrogen because so much of it leached away. We did it three weeks ago, but we usually do it sometime in June. The pastures were muddy because of the excessive rain. We also had to move our calf hutches more to keep them clean.
How does this summer’s precipitation and temperature compare to others? I would say this is the wettest year I have seen. It’s not big oods but it has continuous rainfall making it wet all the time. This year not a whole lot of it ran off so it is just staying so wet.
Tell us about your farm. I took over from my dad in 1973, so I have been farming for 50 years. I milk my cows in a tiestall and stanchion barn. I ship my milk to Dairy Farmers of America. On the farm, my brother, Mark, and my daughter, Becca, help as well.
Mehrkens Family Farms Raleigh, Jon and Eric Mehrkens Lake City, Minnesota
Deveni Rowley
Loyal, Wisconsin Clark County 90 Cows
What crops do you produce? We crop 315 total acres including 126 acres of hay; 115 acres of corn (normally 130 acres); 30 acres of soybeans and 25 acres of oats.
Since April 1, how many inches of rain have you received? We have received around round 25 inches of rain from April 1 through August 4. We also had an additional 5 inches of snow in April.
How has rainfall in your area affected your crop production? In March, the thought of planting corn in July never crossed my mind. Then April rolled around and Mother Nature had other plans. I wasn’t worried in April, but the rain continued to fall, not allowing much time for letting the acres dry in May. June rolled around with a couple of nice days to start scratching some acres. I planted about 60 acres of corn in June, hoping for the seed to pop out and start growing, but with more rain hitting the ground it led to kernels rotting and the population to decrease by 45%. Into July, we hoped the rain would stop. A couple more nice days and hot weather really improved the mood, and the rest of the corn was planted. That July-planted corn has turned out to be our most populated acres this year. The rst crop of hay nally hit the ground in July. It’s not the optimal quality, but the quantity was there. Drier conditions left us with barely any damage to our hay ground and second crop started growing back nicely. The hot weather in July had the early crops starting to improve for what acres did grow.
What is a challenge with eldwork you’ve faced this year? Most of the challenges this spring and summer have been due to the amount of rainfall. The couple of nice days we had, we tried to start to scratch land in order for it to start drying. Most elds we worked were one at a time, just to try to get some seed in the ground before the
Ted Filk Hutchinson, Minnesota McLeod County
80 cows
What crops do you produce? We currently have 170 acres of corn, 85 acres of spring wheat, 85 acres of soybeans and 70 acres of alfalfa.
Since April 1, how many inches of rain have you received? We have had 27 inches since April 6 when I seeded my small grain.
How has the rainfall in your area affected your crop production? Explain. Our corn is quite uneven, and spraying was a challenge for the co-op. Other than that, it went smoothly. We chopped the rst- and second-cutting hay and started chopping third and are waiting to nish. The soybeans look really good.
next rainfall. Lots of patience was needed to overcome the amount of rain, but we can’t control Mother Nature and I’m thankful we had a couple of small windows to start eldwork.
For this growing season, what was the biggest rain event? The last couple days of June is when we saw the most rainfall. Within 32 hours we had roughly 4.5-6 inches of rain. Due to the rainfall, we saw a decrease in plant population, which most farmers don’t enjoy seeing. Although it was stressful to watch your kernels rot in the ground — doing the endless hours of work just to watch it get washed down the drain — I know that I can’t control the weather and just have to be grateful for the crops that have grown. The rain has truly made it feel like we have been doing eldwork all summer long.
Besides crop production, how has the rainfall affected your dairy farm? The rain was not the only issue on the dairy. Due to strong winds, I have had minor damage to the calf barn, many down trees on elds, and plenty of mud in the pasture for our cows. We were lucky that we didn’t see much damage, noting we were miles between a couple of tornadoes this June. Although, we had mud in the pasture for our heifers and cows, they had a free stall to relax in. It was a hard and stressful time, but we are grateful that I have extra dry corn in storage to get us through the following year.
How does this summer’s precipitation and temperature compare to others? The temperature hasn’t been that much of a change, but precipitation sure rained on our parade. So far it has been the third wettest season on record, showing just how wet this season has been.
Tell us about your farm. I am lucky enough that I get to work alongside my parents, Donnie and Brenda Rowley. Our family farm is located in Loyal, Wisconsin, in Clark County. We run about 315 acres, milk 90 cows and raise 110 head of youngstock. The youngstock transition from a calf barn to a heifer freestall barn and a pasture with access to a freestall barn. Once they freshen, they go into our 70-stall tiestall barn with access to the pasture. We milk twice a day with DeLaval milkers. The milk produced is picked up every other day and hauled to Lynn Dairy. I currently own about 40 animals which include registered Holsteins, Jerseys and Milking Shorthorns, along with a few head of British White beef. My goal is to have mostly all registered Jerseys down the road. We also are lucky enough to have my brother and grandpa help us out with tractor driving and the maintenance of our machinery.
What is a challenge with eldwork you’ve faced this year? Trying to get things done in a timely fashion. Planting and spraying the corn was really challenging.
For this growing season, what was the biggest rain event? We really didn’t have excessive rain but it seemed like it rained every day for a while. We would get three-fourths of an inch, an inch and then 2 inches, it was more of a cumulative amount than one event.
Besides crop production, how has the rainfall affected your dairy farm? We were going through excessive bedding indoors and outdoors. Also, with the growing crop we have nowhere to go with our pack manure that will go on our small grain elds when we get better weather. The cows are doing quite well because it hasn’t been excessively hot.
How does this summer’s precipitation and temperature compare to others? The last three years we were on the verge of a drought and last year, specically, if we didn’t have the snowfall, the crops would have suffered. It’s hard to comprehend how we can go from so dry to so wet in one calendar year.
Tell us about your farm I farm here with my wife, Bobbi, and our son, Zachary. Our sons, Jacob and Joshua, and daughter, Ella, help on the farm when they can. We milk in a tie-stall barn and our milk goes to the First District Association in Litcheld. I am the fth generation on this farm site.
Describe your farm and facilities. We milk 700 registered Holstein and Jersey cows in a double-12 parallel parlor. The cows are housed in a modern, naturally ventilated, sand-bedded free-stall barn. We crop 2,000 acres, custom hiring all our crop work done; I manage all the inputs, spraying, seed selection, etc. The farm is owned by myself, my father, Matt Lippert, and my brother, Carl Lippert. Later this month, we are looking forward to hosting two on-farm events: a Professional Dairy Producers Agricultural Community Event Twilight Meeting August 27 and a second Twilight Meeting for the Wood Area Holstein Breeders August 30. We appreciate hosting events like this to help build community relationships and share our farm with the public as well as to offer our fellow dairy cattle enthusiasts an opportunity to socialize and network. Both events will be hosted at our recently renovated heifer facility.
What forages do you harvest? We harvest corn silage, snaplage, small grain forages like triticale, and haylage — alfalfa, grass and red clover. This year we will have some Yield Max Cocktail Mix of summer annuals like sorghum Sudan grass and Italian ryegrass. We also utilize some pasture.
How many acres of crops do you raise? We crop 2,000 acres — 700 acres of corn for silage, 300 acres of grain corn or snaplage, 200 acres of
soybeans and the balance is hay of some sort.
Describe the rations for your livestock. We try to feed as much forage as possible without sacricing milk
production, so it is a high corn silage diet. Right now, it is 25 pounds of corn silage dry matter and another 8 pounds of haylage. Currently, we are feeding straight triticale and corn silage; there is not any legume in the
ration – which is not the normal. The triticale has really saved us this year. There was a lot of rst crop but it was
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
Paul Lippert offers a handful of corn silage to a Jersey cow Aug. 5 on his family’s 700-cow Grass Ridge Farm near Pi�sville, Wisconsin. Lippert believes growing and harves�ng high-quality forages are a cornerstone of a successful dairy farm.
“We’ve used Udder Comfort™ over 10 years: Blue spray on fresh animals and lotion with massage for any flareups. We tried others but always came back to this product because it works,” says Staci Sexton. In 2013, she started Schoene Kuh Dairy, today milking 60 registered Holsteins and Jerseys with a genetic focus on production, health traits, and components. Along with the Irish Ridge herd of her parents and brother, where she helps with herd work, 125 cows are milked at the Millville, Minnesota dairy farm that has been in the family over 160 years.
Schoene Kuh is German for ‘beautiful cow.’ Staci loves working with cows and genetics, earning progressive breeder and milk quality awards. Her 9th AI bull in 10 years is a homozygous polled, high cheese merit bull named King Kong.
“It’s exciting to breed, flush, and wait nine months hoping to get something great,” she says, and when it comes to first calvers “we use Udder Comfort to reduce swelling. Fresh heifers are comfortable with better, faster milkout. It’s easy to use and helps keep our SCC low.”
— Staci Sexton
Staci Sexton (left) with Virginia
poor quality. We would rather not feed our rst crop to our cows if we can help it. Otherwise, the ration has some canola, corn gluten and a protein mix that is a little bit of Exceller, soybean meal, all our vitamins, some palm fat and dry grain corn. In the winter we feed snaplage and in the summer we feed dry grain corn. Our heifers are fed a very high-forage diet of corn silage, haylage and a touch of protein.
What quality and quantity do you harvest of each crop? We shoot for the highest quality forages we can make. When we do not succeed at that, hopefully we can feed it to dry cows and heifers. This year, we will be feeding a lot of rst crop to heifers. Other years we are making oatlage or elds we never get in rst thing in the spring to the heifers. Last year was a drought year; it was a whole different story. For corn silage, we aim for 20 to 24 tons per acre. We grow brown midrib on our better acres; not all of our silage is BMR but at least 50% is, usually. We end up cutting the grass, alfalfa and red clover on the same schedule, except on a year like this
year, where they get out of whack and then we’ll have the grass on a slightly more accelerated schedule. I told my custom guy that basically, we will just be making haylage every week for the next six weeks.
Describe your harvesting techniques for alfalfa and corn silage. Our harvesting technique is not fancy. Corn silage is chopped with a CLAAS chopper and run through a shredlage processor. Alfalfa is mowed with a triple mower, merged and chopped.
What techniques do you use to store, manage and feed your forages? Everything is stored in drive-over piles. Our haylage, if it is of good quality, we don’t make into new piles; we just open the end and keep adding so the cows can gradually transition from one crop to the next. We do not have the room to have that many piles, and in a year like this , it would just be an insane number of piles. We use an inoculant on everything.
How do quality forages play into the production goals for your herd? They are at least 50% of the equation.
If you don’t have quality forages for your cows, you have problems. Quality forages also really help hold costs down. If you can make good haylage and good, well-processed corn silage at the right moisture — nothing beats highly digestible, high-starch corn silage for cow feed. It can make or break you, I would say.
What are management or harvesting techniques you have changed that have made a notable difference in forage quality? Leaning on our custom guy to have big enough equipment to always get things done quickly has helped increase the quality and consistency of all our forages. Now that we are doing some of the winter small grains, having a tedder available in the spring is huge – you can’t hardly make good triticale without tedding it in May — it just does not dry down fast enough. As far as management, just really being in tune with soil fertility is important — getting lime where it needs to be, getting the pH where it needs to be. We had a really big focus on lime and tiledrainage and fertility. We have been doing a lot more low-disturbance and
no-till tillage, drag-lining manure whenever possible — really trying to reduce compaction by having less passes over the elds, less manure tankers out there. We also try to ensure having a cover crop of some sort out there all the time as well. Healthy soil makes healthy forages. We really tried hard this year with how wet it was to keep the passes of tillage to a minimum, and we really tried to stay out of wet spots. We have enough acres and a good enough rotation that we can be nimble in wet years, and I think that it is a really good position to be in. A good rotation helps us be in a better place — it spreads the risk out.
Describe a challenge you overcame in reaching your forage quality goals. In our location, drainage is huge, and so is trying to get fertility where it needs to be. We have some relatively low fertility ground in this area. Trying to reduce compaction by using fewer tankers, investing in tile and managing grass waterways are all big things we have been focusing on.
560M 2020, 9462
#567629
JD 560M 2020, 3950 BC, #574425
JD 560M 2019, 17,500 BC, #575405
JD 560M 2019, 13,791 BC, #582581
JD 560M 2019, 6500 BC, #567208
JD 560M 2018, 8000 BC, #574492 ..................................................
JD 560M 2018, 2550 BC, #574158
566 1999, #578058 ......................................................................
567 2006, 16,700 BC, #584096
568 2008, 33,640 BC, #582414
A-Star Services
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Fax (218) 346-4684
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IOWA
Prairie Land Ag Supply Inc.
Rock Valley, IA 712-476-9290
United Dairy Systems, Inc. West Union, IA 563-422-5355
Monticello, IA 319-465-5931
WISCONSIN
Advanced Dairy Spring Valley, WI 715-772-3201
Bob’s Dairy Supply Dorchester, WI
715-654-5252
Ederer Dairy Supply Plain, WI
608-546-3713
DeLaval Dairy Service Kaukauna, WI 866-335-2825
Joe’s Refrigeration Inc. Withee, WI 715-229-2321
Mlsna Dairy Supply Inc. Cashton, WI 608-654-5106
Professional Dairy Services Arlington, WI 608-635-0268
Redeker Dairy Equipment Brandon, WI 920-346-5579
The Scharine Group Inc. Whitewater, WI 800 472-2880 Mt Horeb, WI 800-872-3470
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USDA releases proposed changes to Federal Milk Marketing Orders
Economic experts weigh in on proposals
By Stacey Smart stacey.s@dairystar.com
Editor’s Note: This is part one of a two-part series discussing recommendations resulting from the Federal Milk Marketing Order hearing process.
MADISON, Wis. — On July 1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued their recommended decision on the Federal Milk Marketing Orders hearing process. From August 2023 to January, the USDA considered 22 proposals during 49 hearing days.
To help dairy producers and other industry professionals understand what was proposed, Professional Dairy Producers invited three economic experts to participate in a Dairy Signal webinar July 10: Dr. Charles Nicholson from the Department of Animal & Dairy Sciences and Agricultural & Applied Economics at the University of WisconsinMadison; Christopher Wolf, E.V. Baker Professor of Agricultural Economics and Director of Land Grant Affairs at Cornell University; and Mark Stephenson, retired from UW-Madison as Director of Dairy Policy Analysis.
The recommended decision included ve categories of amendments: milk composition factors, barrel cheese price, make allowances, base Class I skim milk price, and Class I and Class II differentials. Participants can comment on the proposed amendments by Sept. 13, and the USDA will consider those comments and possibly make changes
before the nal amendment is released.
Wolf said the USDA proposes to update milk composition factors to bump up closer to the average for milk production in the U.S. This would equate to 3.3% for protein and 6% for other solids, totaling 9.3% non-fat solids. Currently, it is at 9% non-fat solids.
Secondly, the USDA proposed removing the 500-pound barrel cheese and using only the 40-pound cheddar block to determine the monthly average cheese price when deciding component values.
“Right now, we have a weighted average split between barrels and blocks and there’s been some volatility in recent years,” Wolf said. “When it was originally proposed, there was the idea the barrels would usually be about 3 cents a pound discount to the blocks. Some of those relationships have moved around, sometimes in unexpected ways, for people in the last few years.”
An increase in make allowances was also proposed. The make allowance accounts for the manufacturing costs of turning milk into various products. The proposal increases cheese from 20 cents to 25 cents per pound, butter from 17 cents to 22.5 cents, non-fat dry milk from 16.8 cents to 22.7 cents and dry whey from 20 cents to 26.5 cents. The last time make allowances were changed was in 2008.
“The reason farmers care about this is that if everything else stays the same, increasing that manufacturing allowance is going to lower the component price, which is the milk price,” Wolf said. “What specic effect it’s going to have depends on where you’re located, the current situation with premiums, what products we’re talking about and the length of run.”
Wolf shared an example of the butterfat price
when comparing the proposed make allowance to the old make allowance. If the butter price is $2 per pound, and the yield is 1.211, under the old make allowance the butterfat price would be $2.21 per pound. Under the new make allowance, the butterfat price would be $2.15 a pound.
“If we were to multiply that through by your butter yield right now, then we’d be talking about possibly a quarter per hundredweight, but that’s assuming that nothing else is changing in the base part of your price,” Wolf said.
Stephenson said the make allowances are being used to back calculate the value of milk brought into a plant.
“If you don’t change this make allowance at all over time, you end up not being able to recapture the margins needed to pay for the milk,” Stephenson said.
The industry had reached that point, he said, and that was part of what was seen with much of the de-pooling that was occurring. A manufacturing plant is not required to be pooled or participate in federal orders. If they cannot recover milk costs with their product prices, then some might choose to opt out of the federal milk marketing order.
“Bringing these make allowances back up takes you in the right direction,” Stephenson said. “They have been updated to probably current average costs but not all the way. Over the last decade, we’ve seen premiums erode between processors and farms. That’s an indication we’ve got a problem with our pricing formulas. Hopefully this price increase gives us a little bit more margin where we can begin to see premiums grow again.”
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In the base Class I skim milk price category, Wolf said the proposed change is to essentially undo what was changed in the 2018 farm bill that went into effect May 2019.
“They moved away from the ‘higher of’ for the Class I, Class III and Class IV to make an ‘average of’ plus 74 cents,” Wolf said. “The new proposal goes back to the higher-of and that’s certainly something producers have paid a lot of attention to in the last few years as we’ve seen Class III and Class IV diverge in such that higher-of would have been a higher base Class I skim milk price.”
A lot of discussion during the hearing focused on use of or potential use of risk management by uid processors and the growing extended shelf-life marketing Class I, Wolf said. Class I processors want to think about longer-term agreements and want the ability to know what that was going to be further out so they could assign a three month or a six month or longer contract.
“USDA did what I think is a clever solution,” Wolf said. “For extended shelf life, they changed the base Class I milk price to be a 24-month rolling average with a 12-month lag so that extended shelf-life processors will have some idea what that price is going to be, and they can think about using that for risk management.”
For Class I and Class II differentials, USDA proposes keeping the $1.60 base differential and adopting modied location-specic Class I differential values.
“They’re proposing for Class I
differentials based on location across every county in the U.S.,” Wolf said.
Nicholson believes USDA recognized they are taking money out of the hands of farmers to some extent with the increase in make allowances, however, he said raising the Class I differential side is a way of trying to perhaps put money back into the pools shared among dairy farmers by charging the beverage milk processors more for the farm milk used in their products.
“At the end of the day, this isn’t something USDA just says, ‘OK we’re going ahead and doing this,’” Nicholson said. “This is something producers and co-ops are going to have the opportunity to vote on. But if you don’t agree to these changes, then essentially you end up in a situation where there’s no price regulation for your particular area at all. Ultimately, the decision is in the hands of dairy producers and their co-ops.”
Wolf recommends dairy producers have discussions with their coop board or processor to gauge their thoughts on the proposed amendments and potential impacts of those amendments.
Stephenson said if a person does not like the changes, reverting back to the previous federal orders is not possible.
“Either you accept all these changes, or you don’t have a federal milk marketing order,” he said. “Your vote needs to be thinking about, am I better with this modied order or having no order at all?”
Peck embraces work as voice for dairy, ag
By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. — As a child growing up on his family’s Chippewa County dairy farm, Jeff Peck frequently found himself tagging along with his grandfather to farm-related meetings and events. Those experiences cemented in him the desire to be proactively involved in his community and the industry in which he chose to make his livelihood.
“My grandpa was very involved (in) everything from local government, (to) the electric co-op board, (to) the testing co-op board,” Peck said. “He felt it was really important to do that, and it became a normal part of my upbringing to go to those meetings with them.”
Today Peck is the fourth generation on his family’s farm near Chippewa Falls, where he milks 210 cows and raises his youngstock.
“My grandpa was friendly; he made friends with everyone,” Peck said. “He always told me that no matter who was asking — a news reporter, whoever — you have to say
Our story to tell
a degree in agriscience before enrolling in the farm business and production management program at the local tech school. After nishing the farm management program, Peck said he joined a dairy peer group that turned out to be a valuable resource.
“There is a variety of sizes of farms in the group, but when you get down to it, we all have pretty much the same structure and same basic problems,” Peck said. “Hearing from people who are similar to your operation, you can really ask questions and solve problems. There is nothing like having a group of peers to bounce things off. The thinking part of farming is always evolving.”
As he became more involved with the farm, Peck chose to continue his grandfather’s tradition of both civic and industry involvement. He is a member of several groups, including the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation and Wisconsin Farmers Union.
yes. Someone has to tell your story. Who better to talk for you, than you?”
Growing up, Peck witnessed his family play host to a bevy of political candidates, sitting legislators and media alike. Among them, in 1992, was then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton.
With those early life lessons implanted in his mind, Peck has lived his life following those footprints. It started by joining the local re department and then enlisting in the U.S. National Guard for six years, which included a year deployment in Iraq.
After his deployment, Peck returned home and joined his grandfather, father and uncle on the family farm. He also nished school and earned
“The one thing I love about farming is that it is not left and right,” Peck said. “A lot of people are so biased with their personal politics, but it’s really not like that. Every one of us needs to eat — food security is a national issue. There is so much more that unites us than divides us.”
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
The Peck family — Franklin (front, from le�), Henry and Charlo�e; (back, from le�) Claire, Stefanie, Jeff and Aubrie — stand in a eld on their farm June 28 near Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Jeff is the fourth genera�on of his family to operate the farm.
h genera�on of his family to live on their farm.
During his career, Peck has made multiple trips to Washington, D.C., to visit with legislators and industry organizations, including Land O’Lakes Inc, Cooperative Network, Farmers Union and National Milk Producers Federation.
“Each time I have gone to Washington, the lobbyists employed by those groups all say the same thing,” Peck said. “They would love it if they could have a farmer with them every single time they went to Capitol Hill because it would make their jobs so much easier, to have an authentic person tell that story.”
Peck has invited legislators from both sides of the aisle to his farm to educate and inform.
“I’ll have politicians — Republican, Democrat, it doesn’t bother me at all,” Peck said. “They’re still an intelligent person who has inuence. If I have the chance to tell them why family dairy farms are important, I’m going to take it. These legislators are almost always hearing from the side that is against us. As the old adage goes, ‘If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.’ There’s a lot of truth to that.”
Peck recounted an experience that he feels positively impacted the dairy industry through sharing his story.
“I visited Representative Derrick Van Orden, who serves on the ag committee ... and told him that I was a smaller-than-average dairy farmer in his district and that I max out the (Dairy Margin Coverage),” Peck said. “Shortly after that visit, he came out with legislation that proposed to change from 5 to 6 million pounds of milk.”
After serving as an elected delegate for several years, Peck ran for and was elected to the Land O’Lakes board of
directors. At both levels, he has served on policy and resolutions committees. As a director, he also serves on the audit and risk committees.
“What I love about this board is that it’s not just dairy farmers and it’s not regionalized,” peck said. “Land O’Lakes is not just a dairy foods company — it’s also really big in animal feeds, agronomy and sustainability. It can’t be big versus little, dairy versus something else, east versus west. It encompasses everything.”
The involvement comes with a price, Peck acknowledged.
“Leaving the farm is hard; farmers feel like every time they go out that driveway to leave the farm, something is going to go wrong,” Peck said. “There is some truth to that. You’re the owner, the one who is passionate about your farm. There will always be little stuff that will happen. But I’ve made it a part of my life, that I have to go to do my part by sharing my story.”
Peck said he is fortunate to have a village of people who will provide backup and assistance on the farm.
“I have great, long-term employees,” Peck said. “They can send photos of any issues, so I know who to call. My dad helps and I have friends who are able to help with a wide variety of problems that might arise.”
Despite the challenges, Peck remains committed to sharing his story.
“It’s our story to tell and no one else can tell it like we can,” Peck said. “We have to tell why we’re important to our local communities. My wish for agriculture is that more people can see how it really is — that it’s not a partisan industry for the most part — and that we can re-frame the conversations and work together.”
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
Ten-year-old Franklin Peck sprays pre-dip on a cow June 28 on his family’s farm near Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Franklin and his siblings make up the �
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
Calves relax in the Pecks’ recently built calf barn June 28 near Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Jeff Peck credits the �me he invests in a dairy peer group with helping him make management decisions, such as raising his own youngstock.
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A day at the Wisconsin State Fair
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Bradin Brown (from le ), Carol Brown, Laney Brown and Caylee Brown of Oconto County eat ice cream Aug. 1 at the Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis, Wisconsin. The Browns milk 500 cows near Gille .
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Ana Mikkelson of Dane County milks her Jersey junior 3 year old Aug. 1 at the Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis, Wisconsin. This is Mikkelson’s third year showing at the state fair.
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Allyson Judd washes her winter heifer calf Aug. 1 at the Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis, Wisconsin. Judd, who has been showing for nine years, shows animals for Trent-Way Gene cs near Blanchardville.
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Kayla Trustem (le ) of Rock County and Payton Calvert of Lafaye e County t a summer yearling heifer Aug. 1 at the Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis, Wisconsin. Calvert was showing the heifer the next day in the junior show.
Goal setting
Reection occurs throughout everyone’s lives. Whether it is after a test in fourth grade, across from a spouse at the altar, or with your banker at the end of the scal year, reection is constantly occurring. Reection can be leveraged on the farm to allow movement and progress toward big goals. This article will review “SMART” goals, why to bother, and encourage producers to be exible enough to both stay true to the goals and embrace pivoting to confront new situations.
Many producers use winter snowstorms or the glimmer of a sparkling new year to make goals. Frequently, goals are mental goals made on long car rides, but occasionally they are recorded in a phone voice-to-text note and tucked away. To get the most mileage out of goal setting, consider following the SMART goal format: specic, measurable, attainable, relevant and timebound. Following this format will allow the goal-setter to know where they have been so they can acknowledge progress towards their goal.
into smaller tasks. What is validating for all members of the farming enterprise regarding goal setting is the sense of accomplishment when goals are completed promptly. This acknowledgment of success creates a perfect time to reect on progress and the relevancy of the big goal to the operation.
By Dana Adams University of Minnesota
Goals rarely spontaneously happen. They are typically a conscious effort achieved by reecting on what is needed. Progress towards completing goals can include organizing tasks to complete the goal, setting aside time to focus on the task and tracking progress. Reection during and after allows farms to tailor what they do to achieve the most success.
Big goals are frequently aspirational and can be daunting to address. Just like how a parent will cut up a hot dog into little pieces for youth to eat, big goals can be more manageable when scaled down
Another secret to tackling SMART goals is to make them with others (friends and family), thus removing a barrier. The purpose of this is to hold yourself and consequently the operation accountable for goals. Incorporate goals into meetings and agree to bring it up when gathering as a farm. Anticipating challenges will remove the lonely, heavy burden frequently associated with goals. This creates a support system, sharing successes and reecting on how to conquer possible hurdles. Visualizing your achievement can
be another tool for completing SMART goals. Several ways to visualize include reecting on what the situation was before goals and how it will feel to complete the goal. Both can motivate progress and remind those impacted why the goal matters. Many people have positive memories of receiving rewards after completing goals. Examples of effective reward systems can be a children’s pizza party after completing a reading list or rafing gift cards to farm staff for consistently following safety protocols and reporting hazards. Rewards are positive reinforcement highlighting progress and positive change. The reward doesn’t have to be after the big project is completed, it can be to celebrate progress, incentivizing advancement.
After goals are generated, written down, and shared, the goal is not done. The next steps include monitoring progress and nally completing the goal. That last letter of SMART, time-bound, ties all parties, both the goal setters and those accountable to the completion of the goal. Something that should repeatedly be evaluated is if the goal is still relevant. Nothing is wrong, but it’s oddly beautiful to acknowledge that the goal or priorities have changed. It’s based on an understanding of the core mission of the goal and recalibrating to answer the need.
An example of goal setting that
Dana Adams adam1744@umn.edu 320-204-2968
Joe Armstrong armst225@umn.edu 612.624.3610
Luciano Caixeta lcaixeta@umn.edu 612-625-3130
Gerard Cramer gcramer@umn.edu 612-625-8184
Marcia Endres miendres@umn.edu 612-624-5391
Les Hansen hanse009@umn.edu 612-624-2277
Brad Heins hein0106@umn.edu 320-589-1711
Nathan Hulinsky huli0013@umn.edu 320-203-6104
Karen Johnson ande9495@umn.edu 320-484-4334
Emily Krekelberg krek0033@umn.edu 507-280-2863
many dairy farmers may resonate with could be “create a transition plan for Alex to join the dairy”. A SMART iteration of that goal could be: by December 31, 2024, generate a written plan for Alex to over ve years transition to primary operator of Adams Dairy Farm. This will be discussed monthly at family dinner on the rst Sunday of every month and notes will be shared with the farm’s loan operator. Maintain accountability by celebrating on holidays when the immediate family gets together. A way to prioritize reection and evaluation is to either include in the goal when re-evaluation will occur or to assign a team member to prompt that reection. Either way, avoid becoming so focused on completing the goal that the desired impact is lost. Reect on achieving the desired outcome and if the goal is relevant.
Goals are a tool that can be used to focus energy on moving a farm forward. They don’t need to be unique but are based on simply wanting to improve. Utilize SMART goal formats, write it down, tackle manageable pieces, set aside time to make progress and celebrate success. Finally, reect on relevancy and change goals to meet the current need. Progress toward a goal is a worthwhile marathon for teams to tackle, not sprints to struggle through alone.
Claire LaCanne lacanne@umn.edu 507-332-6109
Brenda Miller nels4220@umn.edu 320-732-4435
Isaac Salfer ijsalfer@umn.edu 320-296-1357
Jim Salfer salfe001@umn.edu 320-203-6093
Mike Schutz mschutz@umn.edu 612-624-1205
Melissa Wilson mlw@umn.edu 612-625-4276
Isaac Haagen hagge041@umn.edu 612-624-7455
Michael Boland boland@umn.edu 612-625-3013
Sabrina Florentino slpore@umn.edu 507-441-1765
Managing alfalfa weevils
Alfalfa weevils were present in seemingly unprecedented numbers in some parts of the state this spring. I spoke to several growers in south central Minnesota who told me they have never experienced weevil populations like this in all their years of farming. Many farmers took yield hits. There is not much to do to address what has already happened this year, but there are a few things to think about to prepare for the future and possibly help us manage alfalfa weevil populations.
damage and the newly developed adults enter a period of dormancy over the summer. This means insecticide treatment is no longer effective past the larval stages.
By Claire LaCanne University of Minnesota
Alfalfa weevils overwinter in Minnesota as adults and go through one generation per year. Larvae are the most damaging stage that can skeletonize leaves where only leaf veins or holes remain. The 2023-2024 winter was warm and mild, which likely led to greater winter survival for several overwintering insect pests. Scouting should begin fairly early in the year. Ideally, you should begin scouting in early- to mid- May and continue through June. Use a sweep net to determine if larvae are present. Generally speaking, we tend to see feeding become an issue around Memorial Day.
If larvae are present and easily found in sweeps, then you will want to do some additional assessments to determine if populations are high enough to justify management. One method is to conduct a stem count. To do this, select and cut 30 plants across the eld at ground level. Record each plant’s height and shake in a 5-gallon bucket to determine the average number of larvae per stem in the eld and if weevil counts exceed economic thresholds.
Another method involves monitoring tip injury. To use this method, collect 50-100 alfalfa stems (10-20 randomly selected stems from ve locations). Examine whether they show obvious feeding damage in the growing tip leaves and leaf buds. Divide the number of stems with recent tip injury by the total stems collected to convert it to a percent. Consider treating before rst cutting when 35% of tips (weak stand) or 40% of tips (vigorous stand) show feeding and there are two or more living larvae per stem. You will want to consider cutting if the alfalfa is near the bud stage, or if you plan to mow before the preharvest interval.
After the rst cutting is off the eld, scout your stubble and keep track of regrowth. Examine 20 samples which should include four randomly chosen, one-square-foot samples from ve locations. Because harvesting often concentrates weevil larvae in the windrow areas of the eld, it may be useful to sample from windrows rst. Consider insecticide treatment if you nd eight or more larvae per square foot (six per square foot on sandy soil), or larvae are suppressing regrowth. When regrowth after harvest is long enough to make square-foot counts difcult, use the plant sampling methods instead. Remember, once larvae develop into pupae (in small white cocoons), they are no longer causing feeding
Alfalfa weevil is typically the rst pest that we encounter during the growing season, and how we manage it can inuence how we manage our other insect pests and can impact benecial insects as well. Parasitoid wasps and other natural enemies help suppress alfalfa pest populations, but they are insects, meaning they are also susceptible to insecticides. There can be are-ups of alfalfa weevil or other pests such as pea aphids after applying insecticides.
In addition to reducing natural enemy populations, multiple insecticide applications in a eld can also increase the likelihood of alfalfa weevil becoming resistant to those insecticides. In fact, we have been getting anecdotal reports of pyrethroid failures for alfalfa weevil control, and though these are not conrmed cases of resistance in Minnesota, there has been conrmed pyrethroid resistance in some western states. Current recommendations for resistance management are to wait three years between using the same class of insecticides again on an alfalfa eld.
Several principles of integrated pest management should be implemented to have a chance to successfully and holistically manage alfalfa weevil.
First of all, simply cutting alfalfa is an effective management practice that doesn’t rely on insecticides and is cost-effective as well. Harvesting removes the food and shelter source for weevils. Consider taking this approach and even harvesting early, once plants are at least 16 inches tall. You will want to consider whether early harvest makes sense in terms of your other goals, including feed value. If you choose to manage weevils by harvesting, you will want to scout the stubble for the presence of larvae or delayed regrowth of alfalfa.
Another management tactic is to transition away from planting stands of pure alfalfa. Mixes with alfalfa and grass can help reduce weevil densities. Of course, your ability and willingness to use this option is probably dependent on the needs of your livestock. Altering the environment to make it less ideal for a pest is a tool that ts well into a framework of integrated pest management.
Overall, this 2024 growing season can serve as a reminder for us to be conscious of mild winters and think about what that means for our local pest populations. Scouting early and often can help us keep early mowing in our toolbox as a management option, and we can think about the feasibility of adding grasses to our alfalfa stands to make them less attractive to weevils in the future. This year may have also caused us to consider how to utilize insecticides most strategically, considering that we have other pests we may need to manage in alfalfa including pea aphid and potato leafhopper.
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How did you get into farming? My dad, Harold, farmed before me. My brother, Paul, and I bought the cows in 2015 and have been running the farm since.
What are the most signicant ways your farm has changed since you started farming? We added a freestall barn along with putting up some other new buildings and buying some new equipment. We upgraded to a double-9 parlor from a tiestall barn in 2008.
What was a challenge you faced in your dairy farming career and how did you overcome it? The biggest challenge is the price of milk and the ups and downs that come with it. The price of everything else has come up, so we just trying to stay ahead of what is going on and budget more.
What is the best decision you have made on your farm? We have put in a cow monitor system. It tells us when they are in heat as and gives us health and rumination information. I would say that is the biggest thing that has helped us out. Now we can catch the cows in heat
DAIRY PROFILE
when normally we would miss them because we never saw any signs.
What three things on the farm can you not live without? Explain. The rst is my skid loader. We seem to do everything with a skid loader.
What are your thoughts and concerns about the dairy industry for the next year? The biggest concern I have for the dairy industry is price. We never know what the price is going to do and the cost to keep the farm going is not getting any cheaper.
What strategies do you use to withstand the volatile milk prices? We try to forward contract some of our milk. That has been the biggest help for us. I try to contract 50% or more if I can; that is my goal.
How do you retain a good working relationship with your employee(s)? Or, how do you maintain family relationships while also working together? I farm with my brother and we get along pretty well. We try to discuss everything before we do it so that everyone is on the same page. We do not make many decisions alone. His kids and our parents, Harold and Julene, help out as well.
The second would be technology. Our record-keeping is all done that way now. Finally, I have a shop that is nice to work in when it is rainy or cold.
Stephen Ley Little Falls, Minnesota | Morrison County | 110 cows
EMILY BRETH/DAIRY STAR
Stephen Ley stands in the parlor Aug. 5 at his family’s farm near Li le Falls, Minnesota. The Ley family milks 110 cows.
What do you nd most rewarding about dairy farming? Being able to do my own thing every day. Dealing with cattle changes everything. I just enjoy being around the cows on a day-to-day basis.
Tell us something special about your farm. We are a generational farm. It has been in the family for a long time. Most of the family has been here and worked here, which is special to me.
What are your plans for your dairy in the next year and ve years? Next year we would like to put up some kind of pad for our feed. In ve years, we would like to expand a little more and probably add some more heifer and cow facilities. We also would like to upgrade our parlor. We just want to grow the farm in general.
Stephen Ley feeds the calves grain Aug. 5 at his farm near Li le Falls, Minnesota. Ley is hoping to be able to expand the dairy herd within the next ve years.
How do you or your family like to spend time when you are not doing chores? I try to get away a little. I
have a buddy who has a cabin, so I try to make it there every now and then. Other than that, I try to hit some of the local events and spend time with friends.
Placenta
Plah-sehn-tah › Retained placenta Retención de placenta
Rreh-tehn-syohn deh plah-sehn-tah
Uterus Útero Oo-teh-roh
EMILY BRETH/DAIRY STAR
Princess memories
I will never forget the feeling inside as I said to myself, “You are walking forward,” as my name was called as a top three nalist for the 66th Princess Kay of the Milky Way. I remember standing there holding hands with my fellow nalists, waiting for who would be the winner. It felt like an eternity, but was mere moments.
One of the most surreal things about being crowned is that you do not know you’re Princess Kay until you physically feel the crown on top of your head. Like just about every other Princess Kay before and after me, my jaw was about on the oor when it happened.
I still count those rst days as Princess Kay as the happiest days of my life to date. It’s cliché to say that I had always dreamed of Princess Kay, but it is true. I remember following the program closely and looking up to the nalists as girls who had reached an almost unattainable height. Each year my sisters and I would be excited for the Dairy Star or other agriculture newspaper to come so we could see who the new Princess Kay was.
After the coronation, they always hold a short time for the media to visit with the new Princess Kay. I remember staff asking me if I was ready to go talk with the media and I remember thinking, “Mock media has always been my lowest score in dairy princess judging, here goes nothing.” Despite not feeling ready, it went just ne.
By Amy Kyllo Staff Writer
Driving that night, I remember turning on the radio to my favorite Christian station just to give myself a sense of normalcy in an utterly amazing and overwhelminglynot-ordinary couple of hours.
The next two days were a whirlwind. From the delights of the butter booth with then-sculptor Linda Christensen to the 23 media interviews two other nalists and I did with print, radio and TV, it was an experience like none other. I remember meeting Gov. Tim Walz, Sen. Tina Smith, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and more. It was utterly unforgettable for this hometown dairy farmer’s daughter.
I would describe myself as somewhat extroverted, at least in the fact that I basically never hit a social wall where I cannot do people anymore. That rst
It was only when my older sister, Annette, was a nalist that I started to believe real girls became Princess Kay nalists and I aspired that just maybe I could do it too.
day, once all the duties and all the people visiting were done, I remember this feeling of just needing to escape. I felt like I could not emotionally process or respond correctly to even just one more interaction with anyone. I’ve never felt that emotional exhaustion before or since.
It was only when my older sister, Annette, was a finalist that I started to believe real girls became Princess Kay finalists and I aspired that just maybe I could do it too.
The new memories and experiences stretched far beyond the Minnesota State Fair. I remember making my rst ever post on social media to the thousands of followers on Princess Kay’s Facebook page. I remember writing columns for the Dairy Star, little knowing I would one day work for that very company.
It was through Princess Kay that my love for public speaking became cemented in my mind. There is no more amazing feeling than to speak to a group of people and feel them resonate and truly hear your message. I remember sharing again and again in speeches and media interviews how I saw my work as a dairy farmer as part of a circle of blessing where I could touch my community through providing healthy food and that my community in turn touched my life through the work they did.
I honestly don’t know if I’d be sitting here writing this today if it wasn’t for Princess Kay. The people and networks I received, the experiences that fed into being able to land internships and later a job, the respect I am given for having held the title, and the knowledge and self-growth I experienced helped me realize that this world of public relations, communication and media is where I want to hang my hat (or rather crown) for the rest of my life.
I am so thankful for the whole experience. It was a privilege to represent the dairy farmers of Minnesota. The saying goes that once a Marine, always a Marine, and I feel the same is true of Princess Kay: I will always advocate for this dairy community and I will never lose sight of the blessing it was to serve in the role.
With the Princess Kay coronation around the corner, I wish all the nalists the very best. For the girl who is privileged to serve as the next Princess Kay, your life will change forever for the better when that crown settles on your head.
Everyone needs water in summer heat
The weather this spring and summer has been surprising us with rain, heat, high humidity and storms. When fog is hanging over the alfalfa eld, I can usually see it will be a high-humidity day. Some mornings the moisture will burn off sooner than later. This humidity is making it challenging for the calves. Though the nights are cool, thick air hangs in the morning and throughout the day.
Watching the heifers breathe as they are resting in their pens and listening for coughs is part of my daily routine. I have used more treatment than I have in the past, and I am hopeful I have caught it before it is a condition they will suffer with throughout their lives. After a few treatments, I will often put them on the watch list, as they might not make it to the loang and breeding pens. It is really hard to cull a heifer calf, especially when they are from really good cows.
By Tina Hinchley Farmer & Columnist
The cows that have had bouts of pneumonia are ones we observe carefully in these high heat and humidity days too. Even though we have foggers and soakers in our barn, the past girls that have struggled with pneumonia are the ones that are not up by the soakers or in an area where the foggers are cooling them. They tend to be more timid and less aggressive around the other cows that are not showing any symptoms of hard breathing. These cows are stressed out and need to be fetched. They are not feeling good and when the information on their milk temperature is high, they are hot down to their core and need to be cooled off. Separating them into a pen with fewer cows and making it easier to get the effects of the fogging and soaker systems along with some medication will bring them around.
I have had a few summer fun programs with children who spend their days at camp throughout the summer. By the end of July and early August, all of the kids are prepared for their adventure and have their water bottles and walking shoes on. They all seem to do very well, as long as they don’t leave their water bottle behind at the last destination on the farm. The counselors are pretty good at reminding them and also refusing to carry the bottles for them. We make regular stops to rell bottles and take breaks in the cool shed. These programs are giving these kids the best opportunities to see Wisconsin, get their swimming lessons in, and work on cooperation skills and managing their behaviors. The counselors on the other hand are guring out if it is really teaching that they would like to choose as their profession. There are many amazing young staff working with these children, but also others that by August are questioning if working with challenging kids is the route they want for their future.
Senior activity groups have all canceled their day at the farm on days with high heat indexes. The groups that came in July drove around in their vans throughout the farm and the barns. Air conditioning is mandatory, and they all enjoy seeing the farm in cool comfort. They missed petting the calves, but loved to see them jump around as the van pulled up. Watching the robots milk the cows invites so many questions. Most often these are from old farmers who are so happy to see cows up close again. They are also happy there is an easier way to milk cows than when they were dairy farming.
Family groups are still rolling in and most from the South think this weather is wonderful. They have heat and humidity that is far worse than what we have. Maybe that is why they don’t have many dairy farms where they live anymore. One farmer from Georgia said she grew up a dairy farm kid, but it was “too hot and too hard to struggle trying to make ends meet with low milk prices, tight margins and very little help.” The trip to Wisconsin with her grandkids was to show them how she grew up. If they were still farming these kids would be doing chores, showing cattle and putting up hay and straw into the mow. She said they had “like 100 cats, six dogs, and a huge garden and they canned all their food.” I remember her grandkids’ eyes glazing over because they heard the story way too many times. Her grandkids were very interested in all the happenings and did say in the end they wished Grandma still had her farm. While I try to book families together so I can make the best use of my time, once in a while I overbook, and we have to really squeeze to all t on the wagon. Either way, a full wagon or a wagon with just two family groups, these families with kids all seem to blend together. In this weather, all the parents are re-
minding the gang of kids to bring their water bottles with them, but often parents are carrying them. The kids become friends and the parents chat like they are old neighbors. It is the best feeling when I am nishing up the tour and the kids tell me that they loved milking Esta, and they wish they could have all of the animals on our farm.
Daisy, our cat, always steals the show. She will follow us around and even allow the most inexperienced cat holders to pick her up. Smokey and Roy, our Bloodhounds, just stand for the kids to pet and wiggle the appy loose skin on their face and neck. Every once in a while, a big gob of drool will ooze from their lips, and make some people giggle while others pull their hand away quickly. When the dogs get a drink from their pails their ears get wet and they will ip their head and splatter water around them. I just wait to see it happen. The kids all love it; parents, not so much.
Sweet and Sour, our piglets, are no longer drinking from bottles. They get their pig feed plus the apples that have fallen from the trees. If the apple is within reach on the branch, then that is a snack for our visitors. If it is on the ground it is a treat for the pigs. I think I have heard in almost every group someone mentioning Apple Smoked Bacon is their favorite. The pigs
have tube waterers with a nipple on it that needs to be lled every day. On the hottest days, I have the kids help put the hose in to ll it up again. All of the animals have access to fresh water. Our visitors are quick to notice empty calf pails. I put their kids to work lling them up with fresh water. If one child gets to ll up a pail of water, then all of the pails in the calf nursery will be lled up. Everyone wants to help, even on the hottest days. I think all of the visitors take something away from the farm experience, whether it is being a better consumer or purchasing more dairy, beef and pork. The kids get to see how fun it could be to live and work on a farm, or how horrible it would be to have to work every day in the heat. For the grandparents, the visit is showing what their stories are about. Cows and cats take on a new view for the children to understand. Even in the heat, it is a good day to visit a farm and learn about something new. Tina Hinchley, her husband Duane and daughter Anna milk 240 registered Holsteins with robots. They also farm 2,300 acres near Cambridge, Wisconsin. The Hinchleys have been hosting farm tours for over 25 years.
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Surviving chaos
Peter’s text to me Friday morning said, “If chaos has a fuel gauge, today it would show ‘FULL.’” He was not wrong.
We had picked the day two weeks earlier to butcher 100 chickens. The weather also aligned properly to be a great day to harvest third crop and haul out manure immediately following. Dust was layering every leaf and petal of the owers lining the driveway. Silage truck and manure tanker trafc was steady all day, in and out of both driveways of the farm. We started butchering around 11:00 a.m.
Once we gured out our sweet spot of the scalding temperature–we had a great system going. Heads littered the ground outside, as is the case when you are butchering birds. Feathers lled the wash bay gutter. Dead, naked birds soon lled the coolers of ice and cold water. By chore time, the wash bay was cleaned up and the birds were chilling out until I could move them to their freezer compartments.
As usual, we had a great team of friends willing to come and have a chicken party with us. Stella and Brynn were vital helpers; after years of turkey hunting, the realization that gutting a chicken is not that much different than a turkey made it easier on them. The guys in the elds were
trying not to have any extra hay down in case rain came, so when they ran out of hay to chop, they went back to cutting the rest. Chopping was done early for the day, and the farm was quiet again by 7:00 p.m.
I entered the farmhouse early Saturday morning and was greeted by the sweet perfume of ripe peaches. I had the kids pick every peach they could reach on the tree earlier in the week and was awaiting this day. They had them spread over every available at surface in the living room to best ripen. It was a bumper crop year for sure. As I mentally went over my plans for the day, I added making fresh peach pies. On the way to the barn, Dad sent a text that Hailey just got pulled out of the sand in pen three and was headed my way. What he did not mention was that he sent her to the parlor to get milked rst. I kept wondering where she was, and when I started walking towards the parlor, I was met by an employee who told me she was down in the return lane. He and I got really lucky. A few scoops of sand and some helpful muscle — she popped up and carried on her journey to the hospital pen. However, he then informed me I had a down cow in pen two.
Cora and I grabbed the halter and IV bucket of supplies
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and trekked over to pen two. Fergie was in the very end stall. With no rm diagnosis beyond some very bloodshot eyes, we gave her the goods and hoped she would perk up in an hour. Only fresh a couple weeks, Dad found a displaced abomasum. She had a not-so-small udder, the kind that is just waiting for her next-door neighbor to catch with a hoof — so no surgery for her. With milking done, we headed back to check on Fergie. She still didn’t have the power. From the barn, I saw my dear friend, Molly, and her family, drive in for a visit en route from Minnesota back to New York. But cows had to be situated before I could get my hugs in. Our power for Fergie was in the form of a skid steer, halter and some extra muscle pulled off the silage pile. She went to the pack to hang out with Hailey.
Cora and I had a great, albeit short, visit with Molly, Bryce and their munchkins. We made lunch for the chopping crew, ate together, grabbed some pictures on the porch with kids, and after enough hugs to try to last until next time, we sent them off towards home. Marion, our intern from France, Cora and I cleaned up the kitchen tornado. I had slipped on my apron and was getting ready to make peach pies as I got a text from Peter about another down cow. Cora headed to nap and Marion to do some schoolwork. I grabbed Henry and his two buddies that come around with their parents when we are chopping. We took the skid steer, halter and IV bucket once again, planning for anything. I slipped through the man pass in pen ve to see Avis, a beautiful (of course) second calf cow down in the alley with warm ears but no fever. I gave her a prod to assess. She lunged forward and her back right leg opped all about. I may have uttered some colorful language, then made phone calls to nd someone to butcher her.
Back at the house, the peaches were still waiting for me. Alexis had arrived to help build some peach pies before she had to feed calves. As we were slicing into our bowls, we heard a shriek from outside. We both listened intently and heard it again. The door ew open and one of the boys made a beeline for the sandbox to grab the other two. The hay wagon lled with grass hay in the new shed was on re. Let’s just say there were the right people in the right place at the right time, and we saved the shed. A tractor, a loader, a bolt, a hose, two re extinguishers and a call to 911 got the re out. Little boys are always watching what big boys do and do not always have the level of maturity to understand the safety aspect. Three boys had a chat with the sheriff and Peter about re safety, but everyone was safe — and it could have been so much worse.
Alexis took Cora to the calf barn with her. She gets pretty worked up about re after watching the shed burn a couple years ago. I took a breath and stared at the bowl of peaches. I had no zip-close bags to build a freezer pie — those were all holding chickens. I grabbed my lard and rolled out a crust, threw the pie in the oven and headed to the barn. I managed to zip down while Marion watched milkers and pulled out a beautiful pie. The neighbors were almost done butchering Avis in the wash bay, and guys were continuing to chop hay. With all the events of the day, making a night meal for the crew was out of the question. I ordered pizzas. The guys nished chopping around 10:30 p.m. and covered most of the pile by midnight when they called it a day.
Perhaps this week the gauge of chaos could oat around “E.” I could handle that.
Jacqui Davison and her family milk 800 cows and farm 1,200 acres in northeastern Vernon County, Wisconsin. Her children, Ira, Dane, Henry and Cora, help on the farm while her husband, Keith, works on a grain farm. If she’s not in the barn, she’s probably in the kitchen, trailing after little ones or sharing her passion of reading with someone. Her life is best described as organized chaos, and if it wasn’t, she’d be bored.
Jacqui Davison Columnist Ramblings from the Ridge
Dog days of summer
By Megan Weisenbeck Veterinary Wisdom
Hello all. I am new here and following in the footsteps of Dr. Jim Bennett for the Veterinary Wisdom column. I am one of six doctors at Northern Valley Livestock Services practicing primarily dairy production medicine. I appreciate the honor of continuing the column and hope to provide information that is valuable for all readers. I don’t know about you, but I love the warm weather of summer. Sometimes the humidity is a tad much, but I much prefer it over the cold winter months. However, cows and calves do not feel the same. Heat stress in adult cows has been well-researched, but calves can be forgotten when it comes to heat and humidity. In Jim Quigley’s most recent Calf Note, he discussed that calves experience a relative loss of water during heat stress in addition to the other detrimental side effects.
There are several important factors to consider regarding heat stress in calves. The rst is the thermoneutral zone. This is the temperature range where the calf does not have to expend energy to raise or lower body temperature. That’s right, it
takes actual energy to lower one’s body temperature. This means that fewer calories will be utilized for growth and immune function. Depending on the reference, the thermoneutral zone for a calf will range from 50-77 degrees Fahrenheit. Another factor to consider is the effective ambient temperature, which accounts for aspects like sunlight or shade. This is the temperature that you, the calf and I experience, but not necessarily the same as the number on the thermometer. Then there is also the temperature humidity index, which considers humidity. Various resources suggest that at a THI of 78 degrees, calves experience moderate heat stress and begin to experience severe heat stress at a THI of 88 degrees.
So how do calves compensate for hot days? Calves lose heat through several behavioral and metabolic mechanisms. These include changing positions, reducing feed intake, redirecting blood ow, respiratory loss (panting) and sweating. In fact, sweating accounts for approximately 80% of heat loss. Cattle accomplish sweating through the many apocrine glands in their skin. From Quigley’s review of research published on water loss in calves during heat stress, he found that calves primarily lose water through respiratory losses and sweating. Take a 110-pound calf for example. At 66 degrees, the respiratory loss of water was about 1 liter and the loss through sweating was about 0.5 liters. However, the water loss for the same calf at 86 degrees was much greater. The respiratory loss was approximately 1.7 liters and the sweat loss was
potentially another 4.4 liters of water.
So, if we add together the loss from panting and sweating, we can estimate how much water a calf might lose on a hot day. On a 90-degree day, like today, some calves may lose up to 6 liters of water. How can we help the calf cope with this loss?
First, always have clean free choice water available for all ages of calves, including very young calves. Milk should not be considered a water replacement for calves. Then consider offering diluted electrolytes in additional feedings, such as a midday feeding. This can be fed via bottle or bucket. This provides both water and electrolytes that may be lost through sweating. Diluting the electrolytes can make it more economical. Consider shade to help reduce heat stress. One way to accomplish this is to put a shade cloth over calf hutches. Last, explore ways to better passively ventilate the calf hutch or pen. Open all windows available in the hutch. Prop open the rear bedding door. Elevate the back of the hutch with a brick or similar object. If you’re lucky enough to be in the market for some new calf hutches, look for styles that have additional port holes or windows for passive ventilation.
Enjoy the dog days of summer and don’t forget to help the future of your herd stay cool.
Megan Weisenbeck is one of six veterinarians at Northern Valley Livestock Services in Plainview, MN. She practices primarily dairy production medicine in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Megan can be reached at meganweisenbeck.dvm@gmail.com.
Fowl, pox and fairs
It’s county fair season and farm kids around the state are showing off the projects and animals they’ve spent many hours working with. Our children and the families that lease cattle from us are busy tting their animals the next couple of days so they will be ready to head to the fair this Sunday. We will have 16 heifers from our farm going to the fair this year. No cows are going because of the potential of someone bringing home highly pathogenic avian inuenza despite many of the kids wanting to take a milking cow to have a better chance at going to the state fair.
It was a hard decision to tell the kids that no one
was bringing cows this year, but after hearing about farms losing almost half their milk production and even some animals to the disease outbreak, it didn’t seem like a risk worth taking. Our herd is 100% grass fed, so our heifers develop great capacity and ribs but just never show the early maturity of frame that wins shows. Our eight-year-old cows still look like three year olds which seems much more useful to me than yearlings that look like three-year-old dry cows. If I was in charge of what dairy heifers were judged on the results of many classes would be considerably different, but I’m not. Even if the kids don’t get a state fair trip with their dairy ani-
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mals, all are also taking poultry projects. Our sons, Jonnie and Erik, raised Pekin ducks again this year to show as well as picking out a pen of Cornish cross broilers from the group being raised for our retail store that they care for every morning. Our daughter, Hannah, has a group of Bantam Rhode Island Red chickens that she loves and planned to show. Unfortunately, her plans were changed by a communicable disease I’d never seen or even heard of, fowl pox. With only heifers to show this year, we gured the kids would have the best chance to get a state fair trip with their poultry. Hannah’s chickens getting fowl pox made that less likely as she now only had broilers to show and judges are rather inconsistent in what size broilers they like. Sometimes they think our birds are too big and sometimes too small despite bringing generally the same-sized birds to the fair. One of the families that leases heifers from us heard about Hannah’s quarantined chickens and offered to give her a pen of extra Bantams they had, which she happily accepted. We now have three tiny chickens with funny mutton chops and feathery feet in a pen in our garage, clucking and crowing. We can’t put them with the quarantined chickens or our ock of laying hens so that’s where they will live until the fair .
Jonnie will be showing two pigs he bought this spring as well. He has a Duroc cross barrow named Yon Yonson and a Spot gilt named Petunia. While we have raised pigs for decades, this is the rst time anyone in our family has shown pigs since Emily and I showed pigs together at the fair when we were dating. We’ve been together for over 20 years, so it’s been a while. It would be a surprise if Jonnie’s pigs that spent the summer living in a broken calf hut and wallowing in a mud puddle most of the day won a trip to the state fair over the pigs people paid crazy money for and worked with daily, but you never know.
Until next time keep living the dream and remember that there are all kinds of different things you’d never expect that can ruin your plans but there are also many wonderful people in the world to help you out when unexpected things happen.
Tim Zweber farms with his wife, Emily, their three children and his parents, Jon and Lisa, near Elko, Minnesota. Editorial
Tim Zweber Farmer & Columnist
From the Zweber Farm
The destruction of delayed decisions
Decision-making. This is something we do constantly on our dairy farms. These decisions range from many, small, daily management decisions to very large decisions that drastically alter the course of our dairy farm. However, the one thing that is often overlooked in the decision-making process is the cost of doing nothing. The decision-making process can be a lengthy conversation weighing the pros and cons and looking at the nancial investment of the decision.
By Megan Schrupp & Ellen Stenger Columnists
The upfront cost is a large factor that has an immense impact on the nal outcome. Oftentimes, it’s the single factor considered in making an investment. However, we need to remember to pause and consider the cost of not taking the action. Not taking an action is operating our dairy as we had in the past. It is comfortable and familiar. Changes can be unsettling, the unknown can add additional stress. We often overlook the aspect of nonaction in the decision-making process because not making a choice often requires very little of us. We also may not see the money that is being lost because it’s not a check that is written, a specic draw from our bank account. That being said, we need to note that the cost of not doing something is not just the simple negative of doing the action, but rather a whole host of ripple effects may enter into the situation.
Let’s consider a few prime and simple examples where the cost of inaction is higher than the initial investment. The upfront investment of installing Alta’s CowWatch system powered by Nedap is quite large, and probably the largest deterrent to purchasing cow monitoring technology. However, when we considered the cost of not installing the technology, inaction, it ended up being a much larger cost to the dairy. There are many gains that occur to the dairy upon installation of the system, but for simplicity, we are going to consider just one; increased reproductive efciency and
reduced days open. The cost of an additional day open on an average dairy can range from $2-$6 — and possibly higher depending on many individual herd factors. This cost is not one readily considered as it is not a physical nancial draw from the bank account that a dairy sees each month. A producer milking 1,000 cows installs the system, reduces days open by 15 days, which are costing the dairy $5 a day, would have a $75,000 nancial impact on the dairy in a year. So not installing the system — inaction — is costing the dairy $75,000. This monetary effect is also just one of the many gains that, when totaled, make inaction a larger cost to the dairy than the upfront investment.
Another example of an action we have recently taken is the installation of Valley Ag Software’s Feed Watch program. The physical cost of the system is a few thousand dollars. Also, feeding cows using a computer program and iPad monitor in the total mixed ration tractor can be intimidating and much slower at rst until the feeder becomes accustomed to a new way of feeding using technology. For our dairy, it was much easier to continue feeding as we had in the past and we felt that we did a great job doing things the way they were. However, the cost of inaction — not installing the system — was actually much higher than what the program, time, and effort learning it cost our dairy. A specific example would be how the program handles our weigh backs. Traditionally, we incorporated weigh back feeds into a new ration mix as a replacement for corn silage for mixing purposes. However, after implementation of the program, as our weigh backs are incorporated into a new mix, the computer not only adjusts the levels of corn silage needed but also automatically adjusts the amount of expensive ingredients needed such as soybean meal, premix and feed additives, which are also in the weigh backs. Not installing the feeding system and taking no action on that decision to implement the program would have been easier. However, it would have cost our dairy an enormous amount of money at the end of the year.
Consider a recent decision you delayed making. What was the cost of the action? Then pause and take some time considering all the costs of no action. Changes can require more effort and investment, but in the long run, not taking an action may cause more destruction and limitations than we think.
Megan Schrupp and Ellen Stenger are sisters and co-owners of both NexGen Dairy and NexGen Market in Eden Valley, Minnesota. They can be reached at Nexgendairy@gmail.com.
The NexGen: Adventures of two dairy daughters
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