AGMag Mag September 27, 2017
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: • STRAWBERRY FIELDS PAGE 2 • DODEL HOLSTEINS, INC. PAGE 4 • GALLAGHER FARMS PAGE 10
WWW.THESHOPPERSWEEKLY.COM
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Ag Mag • The Shoppers Weekly Papers
September 27, 2017
Strawberry Fields Farm
First Generation Farmer Bentlee Walton Has A Bright Future In Farming
C
By Rosanna Walton
orn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green b e ans, b anana peppers, onions, red and green peppers, tomatoes, squash and watermelon is what Bentlee grew this year in his garden. Bentlee is the son of Rosanna and John Walton. Rosanna is a marketing consultant at The Shoppers Weekly Papers. Bentlee is a first generation farmer and he's off to a great start. Every great
farmer starts somewhere and Bentlee has really taken pride in his accomplishment of fresh veggies. Bentlee worked every day on making sure the garden was watered, maintained and love went into the farming process. Bentlee says there are ways to know when you have a good crop. "Corn needs to be knee high by the 4th of July. Wait for the flowers to bloom on
Bentlee Walton
An attentive farmer always makes sure his crops are doing well.
the potato plants, when the flowers fall potatoes are ready." Bentlee also stressed the importance of "having a biiiiig picking bucket, because there's a lot of veggies!"
Bentlee will be expanding to pumpkins next year. He said his favorite thing about being a farmer is "growing something with my Nana on the farm." â–
Bentlee gets a little help from Mom and friend, Charlotte Carter.
Bentlee is proud of the first pick of the season!
September 27, 2017
Ag Mag• The Shoppers Weekly Papers
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Ag Mag • The Shoppers Weekly Papers
September 27, 2017
D O DEL H OLSTEINS, INC. HARD WORK AND DEDICATION
Jason and Dena Brammeier
A
lthough it was only about 75 degrees outside when I shook Jason Brammeier's hand, I noticed the sweat on his brow. He was dressed in his denim overalls and there was a tractor running a few yards away. It was obvious he had already been outside working on his dairy farm. I sat down with Jason and his wife, Dena, and we chatted a bit about their life, the farm, how it got started and what their days are like. They have three children: Adrienne who is 23 years old and about to graduate from Edwardsville SIUE; Their son, Jackson, is 14 and a freshman at Carlyle High School; and their youngest, Daisy, is 11 and attends Carlyle Junior High. Jason's grandfather
By Peggy Johnson bought the dairy farm, which sits in the Eastern part of Clinton County, in the early 1940s. In 1975, his parents bought their first registered cattle, a couple of heifers, from his mother's parents in Hoyleton. I found it interesting that Jason and Dena have some cattle that actually trace back to those first registered heifers. In 2003, his parents incorporated DoDel Holsteins, Inc. and that's when Jason bought in to it. Jason and his wife run the farm now. They have 220 head of cattle. One hundred are milking cows and the remaining 120 are replacement heifers. They also farm 400 acres of crops. Since I am clueless about running a dairy farm and what it's all about, I
needed them to explain how it all works. When the heifers are about 15 months old, they breed them, all by which are through artificial insemination. Then they milk the cow for about a year. The goal is to get them pregnant again, so that they are having a calf once a year. The y showe d me around the farm and the first place we visited was the calf huts. There were six cute little calves sticking their heads out of their little houses. Jason said the first three were actually triplets that had the same mother and father but each had a different surrogate mother. He said that they only do this with their very best cows. They went on to tell me
that when a calf is born, she is taken from her mother and put in a hut where she will live for the next two months. She is given her mother's milk through a bottle for the first four days. After the four days, she will be fed a special formula through the bottle but will also get water, grain and hay. This is one of the chores that Dena takes care of. She bottle feeds all the calves twice a day, giving them half a gallon at each feeding. They led me on to the barns where the cows were kept. Jason has about 100 cows that are pregnant. He keeps them, in a separate fenced area. He said 13 are due in the next two weeks. We then walked over to another big barn where more cows were eating the grain mix. I was only kidding when I asked them if they named all their cows. To my surprise, they both said yes! "They all have a name and Jason knows each one and who's who," Dena told me. Jason pointed out a really big, black cow, "That's Jane. My daughter calls her Big Mamma. She recently won first place at the Clinton County Fair." Next, they showed me their milking house. It has six milkers on each side in the parlor so they can milk (continued on page 6)
September 27, 2017
Ag Mag• The Shoppers Weekly Papers
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(continued from page 4) 12 cows at one time. "They know when it's time for milking," Dena told me. "There are certain ones that will get in line first at the holding area because they want to get milked first. Then, there are others who want to be last. They definitely have their own per-
Ag Mag • The Shoppers Weekly Papers
sonalties and if you mess up their schedule, they'll get all crabby and won't cooperate with you." They milk their cows twice a day. Jason said it takes about two and a half hours in the morning and two and a half hours again in the evening. After the milk is collected in a 2,000 gallon tank, Prairie Farms comes about every other day and empties it. I asked him what he would do if he didn't have the milking machine. He laughed and said if he had to do it by hand, he probably wouldn't do it. He told me his milk cows each eat 100 lbs. of feed per day. "We keep them fed 24 hours a day." The feed
September 27, 2017
“
You pretty much have to love it to do it. It's 14 hour days, 365 days a year. I don't know what else I'd do if not this.
”
is planted and harvested by Jason. All 400 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat and silage. He then uses TMR (total mix ration) which is a method of feeding cows that combines all the forages, and grains into a single mix. I asked them if dairy farming is something they love doing. Dena laughed and said, "Some days yes, and some days no." "You pretty much have to love it to do it. It's 14 hour days, 365 days a year. I don't know what else I'd do if not this," said Jason. Dena said the hardest part was the planting and harvest seasons." Jason will go from 14 hour days to 18 – 19 hour days. He gets pretty crabby," she laughed.
I asked them about their time together and working together. Dena said they only see each other in the milking parlor and at night when they go to bed. "And we only get to get away one weekend out of the year." Dena also works a second job. She is the director/teacher at the Bethlehem Lutheran Preschool in Ferrin three mornings a week. Between this job and all the kids' sporting events, she said Jason gets stuck at the farm by himself a lot. I enjoyed talking with Jason and Dena. It sure sounded like a lot of work to run a dairy farm. I learned to appreciate hard working farmers like Jason and Dena even more than before. I don't know what we would do without the sweat on a farmer's brow. ■
September 27, 2017
Ag Mag• The Shoppers Weekly Papers
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As we roll into the Fall harvest season...
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Ag Mag • The Shoppers Weekly Papers
AREA YOUTH RAISES FUNDS FOR MARION COUNTY 4-H
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arion County 4-H representative Adrian Austin won the swine division of the 2017 Master Showmanship Contest at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Recently, she demonstrated her commitment to 4-H. “Trying to put my 4-H experience into words is a difficult task because of the great impact the organization has made on my life,” Adrian Austin shared as she addressed the crowd at the Marion County Youth Livestock Auction. In the final auction of her 4-H career, Adrian donated her barrow to raise funds for
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Adrian Austin displays her skill during a competition held at the Marion County Fairgrounds.
The money raised that evening actually became the seed money to start a 4-H Foundation in Marion County. The Foundation will meet four times a year and is seeking new members, so
any alumni or community members who are interested in getting involved can call the Marion County U of I Extension Office at 618-5481446 and talk to Kara. ■
NATIONAL 4-H WEEK IS OCTOBER 1-7
ocal 4-H youth are joining the more than 6 million 4-H members across the nation in celebration of National 4-H Week Oct. 1-7. “4-H’s learn by doing philosophy encourages youth to experiment, innovate, and think independently, said Liz Miller, University of Illinois Extension Youth Educator for Bond, Clinton, Jefferson, Marion and Washington Counties. “4-H grows confident kids who tackle issues that matter most in their communities.” 4-H members determine their own path in 4-H. “Youth
J
Marion County 4-H. “This was my way of attempting to give back to the organization, and I was so overwhelmed with the support we received. The barrow sold for $4,300, but the generous donations that were made by the crowd didn’t stop with the sale of my pig. Ultimately, we were able to raise over $16,000 in donations for Marion County 4-H.” “Thank you to everyone who made this possible, but also to all those who made my 4-H experience truly life changing! Our program here in Marion County will always hold a special place in my heart!"
September 27, 2017
have a strong voice in 4-H clubs and are actively determining the programs and activities in their clubs,” said Dr. Lisa Diaz, assistant dean and director of the Illinois 4-H program. “4-H gives youth skills to be independent masters of their future by giving them real-life experiences in teaching others, providing youth voice on planning committees, advocating for positive change in their communities and gaining much-needed skills for the workplace.” Illinois 4-H members prepare for their future by studying careers related to
their 4-H project. “They choose from more than 100 projects to study,” said Miller. The topics range from rocketry, GPS, computer game design, and public speaking to photography, animal science, nutrition, and more. “The project work builds a youth’s leadership, communication, organization, and decision-making skills,” said Miller. “4-H also instills a generous spirit in youth,” Diaz said. 4-H members are encouraged to help others in their communities through the hundreds of service proj-
ects conducted by Illinois 4-H clubs. During National 4-H Week be sure to listen for 4-H members promoting 4-H on your local radio station. You will see 4-H window displays put up in local businesses throughout the county, and 4-H members will be wearing their 4-H t-shirts to school. One out of every seven adults in the U.S. is a former 4-H member. Learn more about joining 4-H at https://4h. extension.illinois.edu/ or call your local U of I Extension Office for more information. ■
JEFFERSON COUNTY 4-H OPEN HOUSE OCTOBER 4
efferson County 4-H will host and open house on October 4 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the U of I Extension Office, 4618 Broadway in Mt. Vernon. Guests will be able to view member projects from last year, try some cool project activities, and enroll in 4-H for the 2017-2018 year.
4-H youth development programs provide hands-on learning activities for youth in Illinois and throughout the country. 4-H youth programs focus on leadership, citizenship and life skills. Every county in Illinois has a 4-H program which is operated through University
of Illinois Extension. 4-H club membership is open to youth aged 8 to 18. Each 4-H club decides how often it meets, the location of its meetings and the activities held during the meeting. Members may select from over 100 different project areas to study while they
build leadership, teamwork, cooperation, decision-making and communication skills. If you are unable to attend the open house, and would like more information, contact Ramona Girtman at the Jefferson County Extension Office at 618-2420780. ■
September 27, 2017
Ag Mag• The Shoppers Weekly Papers
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Ag Mag • The Shoppers Weekly Papers
September 27, 2017
GALLAGHER FARMS: A
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horoughbred horses are beautiful, fast and skilled creatures. The bloodlines of these horses run deep and they are a breed that screams "Champion!" Barney and Anne Gallagher of Gallagher Farms, near Walnut Hill, Illinois, take huge pride in their farm. They started Gallagher Farms in 1971, with Barney being in the farrier trade. In 1974 Lone Oak Farm's Earl Rosen gave Barney his first thoroughbred mare in hopes of showing Barney that his skill and talent in the horse business would go past show horses. Barney and Anne have accomplished so much in the last 43 years. Not only are they Gallaghers good people in the community, they are
OF
CHAMPIONS
By Rosanna Walton nationally recognized in the horse world for producing some of the greatest race horses in the country. The farm has foaled thousands of thoroughbreds and has one of the best facilities. Anne gave me a tour of Gallagher Farm and showed many of the inner workings of the farm, including a 24-hour foal monitoring camera system; two foaling barns with 14 x 14 foot stalls; a colostrum bank; a multipurpose barn; multiple pasture; a rehabilitation bay and stalls for just-raced horses; round pens; and 24-hour veterinarian and farrier services. Barney and Anne have over 85 years of combined experience which is why people from all over the nation come to Gallagher Farms. The Gal-
laghers have had horses from Florida, Kentucky, California and other outof-state breeders that rely on their services. The Gallaghers have an amazing reputation for being one of the best in preparing sale yearlings and representing consignments at big sales, such as Kentucky. The clients that have come to Gallagher Farms will agree that the care and time put into the horses have had a positive return and the Gallaghers are proud to have foaled race horses such as Rolling Sea (Asiel Stable); Lady Riss ( Dena Waier); Magnetic Miss (Richard Rudolph and Michael Vranich) and Unreal (continued on page 12)
September 27, 2017
Ag Mag• The Shoppers Weekly Papers
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Ag Mag • The Shoppers Weekly Papers
September 27, 2017
“
The bloodlines of these horses run deep and they are a breed that screams 'Champion!'
Classic Account,
”
Just one of the many successful Thoroghbreds to come out of Gallagher Farms.
(continued from page 10)
Rocket (J.D. Santen & MES Stables) just to name a few. Anne has been part of ITBOF (Illinois Thoroughbred Breedeers and Owners Foundation) for 23 years, Illinois Horse Council for 26 years and a 4-H leader for 11 years. Gallagher Farms has
slowed down recently and is not currently taking any new clients, but talking to Barney, Anne and their daughter Nicky Kimm, the love of horses runs deep. The Gallagher Farm has been recognized for their care and dedication
by being named the TOBA Breeders of the Year in Illinois in 2017. Gallagher Farms is a gem in the community with a long and rich history of excellence in the care of the Thoroughbred breed. ■
September 27, 2017
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Ag Mag • The Shoppers Weekly Papers
September 27, 2017
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The Shopper’s Weekly Inc. Located at 301 E. Broadway, P.O. Box 1223, Centralia Illinois 62801 Telephone (618)533-7283 • Fax (618)533-7284 email: info@theshoppersweekly.com • ads@theshoppersweekly.com website: theshoppersweekly.com Copyright ©2017 • All Rights Reserved.
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September 27, 2017
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Ag Mag • The Shoppers Weekly Papers
September 27, 2017
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