BOTTOM LINE Thursday, July 16, 2020 SECTION E
Sharing ideas, solutions, resources and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.
TO YOUR HEALTH
Safe highway travel imperative
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PURDUE UNIVERSITY
The reason roadway safety is so crucial is because it’s an issue that crosses into the public domain.
arm safety is hardly a new topic. I have old safety-related literature in my files from almost 100 years ago. It’s fun to go into my dad’s old collection of antique-tractor operator’s manuals – it dates back to the 1930s. JOHN Interestingly it’s SHUTSKE common to see that 10 to 15 pages of each manual are dedicated to the topic of safety. Yet agriculture remains our country’s most dangerous industry, with a per-capita death rate seven times greater than the average in the non-agricultural industry. Despite farm safety being a mature subject, there’s one issue
that still doesn’t receive adequate attention – roadway safety. When we think about farm safety we may worry about rolling over a tractor and being crushed underneath. Or we worry about being entangled in moving parts such as belt drives and power take-offs. The reason roadway safety is so crucial is because it’s an issue that crosses into the public domain. In many of the cases that involve death or serious injuries on a public highway, it’s the nonfarmer who’s the victim. Farm equipment is massive relative to passenger vehicles so crashes often have deadly outcomes. Such events are costly in a financial sense as well as emotionally. It’s always a tragedy when someone dies in a preventable collision. In recent years a few states have
updated state requirements and statutes. In the past decade Wisconsin updated its state-based requirements to account for changes in farm equipment, including farms operating larger and heavier equipment as well as different lighting and marking technology. The state also wanted to account for the additional travel on roadways necessary for farm managers whose fields are more spread out. There’s another issue not widely discussed within the industry. Then-President Barack Obama signed a law in 2012 containing the Agricultural Machinery Illumination Safety Act. In 2017 the act required all agricultural equipment manufactured on or after June 22, 2017, to be equipped with roadway Please see SLEEP, Page E2
Farmers share solutions working together ERICA OLSON
Producer-led watershed-protection grants are awarded to groups of farmers each year to assist in collaborative goals to protect water quality, given by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. The program began in 2016 and has gained increasing momentum during the past few years. It creates posiOlson tive interactions among farmers as they join forces for water-quality solutions. To further the connection and idea-sharing among farmers, the ag department along with the University of Wisconsin-Division of Extension’s Discovery Farms program began a producer-led webinar series called “Planting New Ideas, Growing Conservation.” Webinars take place the second Tuesday of each month. Each features a farmer-member of a producer-led watershed group who shares his or her experience, and answers questions about conservation practices. Tony Brey was interviewed May 12 about growing alternative forages on his dairy farm, by Barry Bubolz with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. Brey and his brother Jacob Brey and their families own and operate Brey Cycle Farm, a dairy farm in southern Door County, Wisconsin. Tony Brey is a member of Peninsula Pride Farms; the farm is part of
PEOPLE PERSPECTIVE
True leaders train next leaders
PDPW PHOTOS
A September field-day demonstration showcases manure injection into the field of a participating farmer.
Jacob Brey shows a partially harvested triticale field. He and the other partners at Brey Cycle Farm have found a good way to start is to plant rye and triticale after a small grain like wheat or barley. the Door-Kewaunee Demonstration Farms Network. “Peninsula Pride Farms was started to address water-quality concerns in relation to shallow soils in our area,” Brey said. “We come together and talk about management solutions to challenges.” The family has been growing alternative forages for five years for their young stock. They double-crop sorghum sudangrass, triticale and rye, which they ensile as quality feed for their young
stock. The protocol provides environmental benefits and aids in their nutrient management by creating opportunities to spread manure. In addition the alternative-cropping system keeps their soils covered all year; it’s reducing erosion and improving infiltration. “We used a rainfall simulator and found that the sorghum took up more water than a three-yearold hay field,” Brey said. With the more than-average rainfall received in the 2019 crop-
ping year, the sorghum sudangrass helped fields recover from rut damage. Triticale and rye are planted in early September and harvested mid-June. Sorghum sudangrass can be planted immediately after harvest with a notill drill or planted shortly after a manure application. The Breys harvest the sorghum sudangrass in September and store the feed in bunker silos. Though sorghum sudangrass could be harvested twice, the Breys have opted to take just one cutting in September. They believe one cutting will yield more tonnage with less expense than if they ran equipment twice, Brey said. They also believe the crop can be used as part of a milking-cow diet when harvested at the appropriate time. Cost-sharing is available to Peninsula Pride farmer-members for the practices they’re implementing. “It has helped to get people to try something new,” he said. “We have found farmers are using these practices on many more acres than just those that are cost-shared. We see conserva-
tion-management practices implemented by farmers in our area such as planting green, growing cover crops, improved waterways and low-disturbance manure injection. Driving through the watershed it’s obvious the message is spreading.” He was asked what advice he’d give someone looking to start a producer-led watershed group. “It takes a committed group of farmers of all sizes, interests and types,” he said. “Work with the people around you and tap into resources at the Natural Resources Conservation Service, land-conservation departments, the UW-System, and (the Wisconsin) Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. The sharing of ideas and collaboration has helped our groups and brought about better management practices in our area.” Visit bit.ly/3et2Los for more information. Erica Olson is the farmer network and communications coordinator with the University of Wisconsin-Discovery Farms. Email erica. olson@wisc.edu to reach her.
“Gets 2-year-olds ready to reach their potential.” — Keith Beer
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ost people in agriculture will agree a farm is a great place to raise a family. Young children are able to spend extra time with parents and siblings. HANK Yes I unWAGNER derstand sometimes it may not seem like a blessing. But when we travel far enough ahead in life to look back on our childhoods, most people Please see LEADERS, Page E2
BEER CATTLE CO, BERNE, INDIANA, Max and Karen and sons Keith (right) and Craig Beer 2020 Indiana Master Farmers Calving 200 to 250 two-year-olds monthly, milking only fresh heifers, SCC 150,000 “Getting udders softer, faster for more milk is why we use Udder Comfort™ for our 2-year-olds over the past 5 years. The proof is in our comparisons. We see softer, more pliable udders with better flow and a 3- to 4-pound production increase by 14 days in milk, along with a Quality Udders Make Quality Milk lower collaborative SCC. This gets 2-yr-olds ready to reach their potential,” says Keith Beer. He and Craig and parents Max and Karen raise and sell fresh heifers, calving 200-250 heifers monthly at Beer Cattle Co., Berne, Ind. They were announced as 2020 Master Farmers in June. “We continue to find ways to supply dairies with quality heifers that make milk. Udder Comfort is part of that, and the tools make it easy to do groups. “We like the Udder Comfort Backpack Sprayer for pre-fresh heifer groups in the barn and the Spray Gun for post-fresh in the parlor. For us, a combination is ideal.
MOSES
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Solving problems on their own gives kids more self-confidence and helps develop them into better leaders for their future.
“We apply Udder Comfort 1x/day for 2 days before and 2x/day for 3 to 5 days after calving. Our guys are proud to use it. One pass delivers the spray to the bottom of the udder and up a few inches, the critical area to overcome edema around teats and suspensory ligament, getting udders ready to accept volumes of milk. We find 5 gallons covers 200 heifers for all 12 to 14 applications.” https://wp.me/pb1wH7-aS
Maximum Results Minimal Cost Call to locate a distributor 1.888.773.7153 uddercomfort.com
For external application to the udder only, after milking, as an essential component of udder management. Always wash and dry teats thoroughly before milking.