Country Acres - November 19, 2022

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Talberg leaves Minnesota home to farm in Wisconsin

BY GRACE JEURISSEN | STAFF WRITER

FREEPORT – Opportunities can arrive at unexpected moments, but for Ryan Talberg, a young farmer from Minnesota, the opportunity to grow his herd and acquire more land has come after a long search for the perfect place to call home.

Throughout the morning of Oct. 28, the entire Talberg family showed their emotions with the wiping of tears as they all kept busy finishing up the last chores before two cattle pots arrived to take their cattle to their new home in Athens.

After several trips back and forth leading up to the move, the day became surreal for Talberg as he finished morning milking.

“This has been my home for almost my entire life; this has been my herd’s home for the last seven years,” Talberg said. “I wish I had an opportunity to stay, but with being landlocked, high land prices and neighbors with far deeper pocketbooks, this was my only option to grow and make my dream work.

PHOTOS BY GRACE JEURISSEN

Dan (from left), Ryan and Stephanie Talberg watch as the first load of cows are walked onto the trailer Oct. 28 near Freeport. For the last seven years, Ryan has been raising cattle at his parents’ farm.

Ryan Talberg milks cows for the last time Oct. 28 in Freeport. Talberg’s next milking was in a 67-stall tiestall barn in Athens, Wisconsin, that he purchased in September.

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NEWS STAFF

Grace Jeurissen, Editor grace.j@star-pub.com

Jan Lefebvre, Writer jan.l@star-pub.com Herman Lensing, Writer herman@melrosebeacon.com Tiffany Klaphake, Writer tiffany.k@star-pub.com

Carol Moorman, Writer carol@melrosebeacon.com

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Story ideas send to: grace.j@star-pub.com

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Talberg from front

Out there I have room to grow not only my herd but maybe someday raise a family on the farm too.”

For the last seven years, Talberg has lived in Freeport, Minnesota, with his parents, Dan and Stephanie Talberg, to pursue his dream of running a dairy farm. Talberg said they have been more than supportive since the beginning, having dairy farmed themselves until 2001 when they dispersed the herd.

“I’ve been looking for a few years for a site to purchase because I’m landlocked here at my parents’ place, and I don’t have enough acreage to accommodate my herd,” Talberg said.

Talberg began farming at the age of 17 and had a longing to raise his own registered Holsteins.

“I found a picture of my dad’s cows when I was in the fourth grade, and I knew immediately that I wanted to raise dairy cattle,” he said. “I keep that photo in the milkhouse as a reminder to myself of how far I’ve come.”

That photo sparked a passion in Talberg that gave him the drive to pursue dairy in any way possible, from participating in dairy knowledge bowl, attending the National 4-H Dairy Conference and purchasing his own herd.

Talberg also made connec-

tions with industry professionals for guidance. He credits Jim Salfer from the University of Minnesota for keeping his hopes high in times of volatile milk prices and providing insight on grants and advice on financing through the Minnesota Dairy Initiative.

In 2013, Talberg purchased his first three cows from Art Stumpf of Pierz, Minnesota. Then in 2015, Talberg’s parents purchased 15 head from Mark and Natalie Schmitt of Rice, Minnesota. Talberg bought his parents out a few years later.

Talberg said the Schmitts

have been close friends and mentors for him from the beginning, even arriving at the farm the evening of Oct. 26 to say goodbye and toast Talberg’s future in the dairy industry.

Once Talberg established his herd, the next step was to slowly grow. In Minnesota, he milked in a 35-stall tiestall barn on his parents’ farm and had 15 tillable acres to use toward feeding his herd.

As he looked for a possible farm to purchase, Talberg said he wanted a turnkey operation and something that was beautiful to look at. For him,

the farm needed to have the ability to invite technology as he hopes to implement a robotic milking system.

On Sept. 16, Talberg visited the farm in Athens and felt a connection with the farm and the previous owners. Talberg’s offer was accepted, and by Oct. 13, he closed on the farm. The site includes a calf barn, 67-stall tiestall barn, heifer barn, machine shed, enough storage for feed and double the tillable acreage he had in Minnesota.

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Talberg page 3

PHOTOS BY GRACE JEURISSEN

Cows walk toward the loading chute the morning of Oct. 28. A four-hour drive to Athens, Wisconsin, brought the cows and Ryan Talberg to their new farm.

Dan Talberg moves a chute the morning of Oct. 28. Ryan Talberg’s herd was loaded into two cattle pots and a 32-foot gooseneck cattle trailer

journey to Athens, Wisconsin.

“I have more acreage to feed my cows,” Talberg said. “With the additional acreage and current feed prices, I won’t have to purchase as much feed, which will help lower my costs now that I have a mortgage to pay for.”

Talberg said he will miss the companionship he has in Freeport. Having made friends with neighbors and area farm families, he is leaving most of his dairy connections in Minnesota.

“It’s scary to basically be starting new, but like I’ve been telling everyone, I’m only a phone call away,” he said.

Though Talberg smiled as he talked about the future of his herd, he said he had few hours of sleep during the week leading up to the move because he had nerves that echoed fear of the unknown. Talberg said the change is scary, but he knows this was the right choice for his herd and himself.

When he stepped foot on his new place in Athens, a sense of peace and home welcomed him into his next chapter. His milk will now be sent to Mullins Cheese in Mosinee.

“I’m slightly elevated on my new site,” Talberg said. “I wanted a site that, when you drive by, it’s picturesque. I drive down the road and think, ‘Wow, this is mine.’”

For Talberg, turning on the vacuum pump in the barn for the last time in Minnesota made him reflect on the many memories and growing pains he has had on the farm. Remembering the first time milking 10 Holsteins he purchased to start his herd, he laughed.

“The first time I turned on the pump in the barn, the power went out,” Talberg said. “I’ve had my ups and downs, but I’ve always found a way to make it work.”

As the first truck left with a portion of the herd, the family watched as the future approached. Talberg, though grateful for his dairy career in Minnesota, is ready to take the next step.

PHOTO BY GRACE JEURISSEN

A semi backs up to the Talbergs’ barn for loading. Talberg is grateful to have started his dairy career in Minnesota.

PHOTO BY DANIELLE NAUMAN

Ryan Talberg’s new farm site has 30 acres and a 67-stall tiestall barn with additional heifer buildings. He purchased the farm after seeing the potential it had to grow his herd.

back in time

Paffraths maintain log cabin from 1830s

BY BEN SONNEK

STAFF WRITER

NEW LONDON

Paffrath cabin

One has to turn off a tar road and drive on gravel a ways before taking a path

deeper into the woods. At the end of the path is a well-hidden and preserved homestead built in the early 1830s – and it is still used today as a home away from home.

Jeff Paffrath refurbished the cabin 50 years ago and

keeps it maintained in its simple, yet livable condition as it approaches its 200th construction anniversary.

“It’s going to stay here,” Jeff said. “It’s going to be a legacy for our family for all time.”

It started when the Paffraths’ father, Lowell Paffrath, bought a 150-acre homestead around 1960, when Jeff was about 11 and Todd Paffrath, his younger brother, was about 8.

“We were all sitting down

at the kitchen table in our home in Willmar, and (my dad) said, ‘I bought a farm,’” Todd said. “My mom got up, bawled her eyes out and ran

PHOTO BY B EN S ONNEK

Members of the Paffrath family – (front) Gus Czesnakowicz; (back, from left) Nick Czesnakowicz, Jeff and Todd Paffrath and Abby and Poppy Czesnakowicz – stay at Jeff ’s log cabin Nov. 3 near New London. The cabin was originally built in the 1830s and was refurbished by Jeff in the mid1970s.

into the bedroom; ‘We have to feed five kids; what are you buying a farm for?’ she said. But for us, it’s a legacy. It’s the best thing he ever could’ve done for four boys and a girl.”

From there, the family expanded its land, eventually, in 1965, taking in the land where the log cabin stands. The previous owner used the cabin and its 100 acres to raise a couple of dairy cows and enough crops to support them.

The cabin was built around 1830 by a Mr. Thompson, and the Paffraths believe this makes it the oldest existing log cabin in the state, if not the country. Their claim has weight to it; the oldest cabin on record in the state is the Endresen Cabin, preserved as a museum near Willmar, and that was built in 1858. Another factor that sets the Paffrath cabin apart is its height, as a two-story log cabin was an unusual structure for the period.

The four Paffrath boys – Todd, Jeff, Joel and Ted – each have acquired and worked on their own cabins. Jeff got the 1830s cabin in the early 1970s and began renovating it soon afterward. At the time, the cabin itself had pink plaster walls covering the wood, and hay bales around the outside helped keep it warm in the winter. Jeff had the plaster torn down to reveal the underlying dovetailed oak logs.

“They hand-hewed it,” Jeff said. “They milled all the oak logs, and they did it right here, real close by.”

Jeff noticed the cabin’s southeast corner was falling down due to the land settling, so he put a foundation under the whole building. He also added new

PHOTOS BY BEN SONNEK

Deer mounts, collected in the area, decorate the walls of the living room in the Paffrath cabin Nov. 3. The cabin is the Paffraths’ home away from home.

Shirlee Paffrath, Jeff and Todd Paffraths’ mother, painted the Paffrath cabin picture that hangs on the wall of the cabin.

Paffrath

windows and a deck, got rid of a few spots of wood rot and sandblasted the entire interior. The ceiling beams and floor planks, while they look new, are original 1830s wood. Gutters and a tin roof were also added, and because the cabin had electricity but no plumbing, Jeff added the latter system along with an indoor bathroom. Many of the pipes run through the house’s cellar, still accessible through a trapdoor in the kitchen floor.

“The old story goes that the Indians didn’t realize you could be underground,” Todd said. “So, if they came, (the occupants) would hide in the cellar.”

Closets were another handy addition for the cabin.

“Back then, they lived with no

closets,” Jeff said. “All they had in here was maybe one or two pairs of overalls, and that was it. That was how they lived.”

For heating, Jeff removed the cabin’s gas burner and installed a central wood stove in the living room. While it is not the house’s original stove, it keeps the whole building nice and warm. In spite of all the work, Jeff does not think he had to sink that much money into the cabin to get it refurbished and livable.

Inside, the cabin’s décor includes many deer mounts, all of which were claimed around the cabin’s property. Lamps are made out of deer antlers,

Paffrath page 7

PHOTOS BY BEN SONNEK

Todd Paffrath opens a kitchen floor trapdoor to the cellar Nov. 3. In the past, the cellar could have been used as a hiding place, but today it contains the cabin’s plumbing.

A drawing of the cabin, made by Shirlee Paffrath, sits by the window Nov. 3 near an antler lamp in the Paffrath cabin.

living room of the Paffrath cabin

wood stove.

cabin’s

stove,

heats

entire house.

also collected on the land, as well as several pictures of the cabin drawn or painted by the Paffraths’ mother, Shirlee Paffrath. She also contributed many of the antique pieces of furniture which she collected over the years.

The land has a conservation easement on it in perpetuity, so the cabin and its property will remain undisturbed. The Paffraths’ brother, Ted, and their parents are also buried in an apple orchard not far away.

“Unbeknownst to us, (our dad) made that orchard for two reasons: If the world got bad, there would be apple trees, and he wanted to be buried there,” Todd said.

Jeff lives in Breckenridge, Colorado, while Todd lives in Spicer, Minnesota. Todd is therefore able to keep an eye on the cabin throughout the year, and he and his son sometimes harvest wood from the area for their boilers.

Mid to late autumn is the cabin’s busiest time of year because that is when family comes to stay on vacation. The Czesnakowicz family, Jeff’s daughter and son-in-law, live in Jackson, Wyoming, and they love staying at the cabin when the air is cool and the leaves are colorful. Jeff is glad his children and grandchildren enjoy it so much because odds are they will be the third and fourth generations to own the

nearly 200-year-old cabin.

“The kids from Jackson love this so much that they come out every year,” Jeff said. “They’re going to caretake it when I’m gone.”

Thanks to the surrounding forest and hills, the cabin’s land is great for hunting and hiking, and a snowmobile trail also runs through the area.

“Because the glacier went through, you have all these ravines,” Todd said. “You have ups and downs and all the hardwoods.”

For Todd, whenever he makes the drive from tar to gravel to path, it is like a trip back to the past – especially when it is wintertime with snow coming down, a light in the window and the smell of the running stove.

“It just takes you back in time,” Todd said. “We think we have it tough today; we don’t. They had it tough back then, but it was a simple life, so much more simple.”

Jeff likes how the dead-end road is a welcome retreat from the business of the outside world.

“You come in here, and you’re all alone,” Jeff said. “You don’t see anybody, and you get in the ambiance of the inside of this thing with the stove crackling; there’s nothing like it.”

Paffrath from page 6

PHOTOS BY BEN SONNEK

The Paffrath cabin kitchen features an antique stove and a variety of castiron skillets.

The upstairs of the Paffraths’ log cabin has bedrooms. It is an unusual feature for a mid1830s log cabin to have a second floor.

Thanksgiving full circle

Growing up on the farm, Thanksgiving was a big time for the Jeurissen family. The holiday meant everyone was under one roof, filling freezers before winter.

Grandpa Bernard’s garage turned into a butcher shop during the weekend of Thanksgiving. My favorite recollection of the happenings was of Grandpa sitting on his stool, telling everyone what to do for an hour or so. Then he went inside and watched WWE until he fell asleep for his afternoon nap.

As the youngest besides my brother, my tasks were limited to coloring on the meat packages, practicing my smiley faces and name, G R A C E, in all fonts and colors. The cousins closest in age to me spent the afternoons playing videogames and watching “Beavis and Butt-Head” while scarfing down snacks and drinking too much Mountain Dew.

Leading up to Thanksgiving was a little rough for a second grader (me) who had an undying love for all fuzzy four-legged creatures, pigs included. I remember crying as I heard the 22-caliber rifle, which meant the first of three steers had started the Thanksgiving festivities.

Being I was still young yet, I didn’t quite understand the full circle of life on the farm.

I, at the time, thought every cow needed to be in the barn and every cat needed to be fed, bathed and clothed. Come to realize now, that isn’t the way the world gets fed, and that isn’t the way our small farm could survive.

Even though I cried when they put down the steers and pigs, you bet I was eating bacon the next morning.

Being the second youngest of 17 cousins, not including spouses, meant most of the family was old enough and strong enough to help my dad and uncles tote the carcasses in from the cooler. After placing the quarter of beef on the table, the aunties and some of the older cousins would go to work, cutting the meat from the bone.

Food is at the center of many of holidays, especially Thanksgiving, so it was fitting for my family to be processing our future meals around this time. In total over a four-day weekend, we butchered 6 to 8 hogs and 3 to 4 steers, made sausage, smoked hams and bacons, made specialty cuts of meat, all while running a fully operational 45-cow dairy farm.

Touch of Grace by Grace Jeurissen

Everyone was part of the organized chaos. Like they say, “many hands make light work.”

There was beer drinking, laughing and work being done, but once lunch rolled around, everyone sat down at the multiple folding tables and broke bread. We had 4 to 5 meals together as a huge extended family, which included some unofficial family members like Nick, a family friend we call Pickle Nickle.

Not so traditionally, Grandpa Bernard would order buckets of fried chicken from KFC, and the aunties would make potatoes and gravy, stuffing, ham and turkey. It may seem like a lot of food, but my family is large, and their appetites are larger.

The camaraderie of the Thanksgiving weekend is what makes me miss the way things used to be. Like all things, time changes family gatherings and life tends to take its own road.

In 2009, my family relocated our dairy farm and expanded the herd to accommodate the future of our, at the time, young family. This meant we could no longer participate in the camaraderie of Thanksgiving butchering with the entire Jeurissen side.

My dad, knowing how much cheaper processing our own meat was, took to investing in equipment, and to this day we still do our own meat processing.

I can already tell that in the future those memories of drawing on meat packages will be part of my own children’s memories, and hopefully someday they too will be able to appreciate life on a farm, full circle.

Tic Tac go? Where did

Esca

Escaped horse inspires children’s book

BY JAN LEFEBVRE | STAFF WRITER

BY J AN L

PENNOCK – When Tic Tac the horse decided to escape her pen and trot around her farm and neighborhood, she had no idea she would inspire a children’s book. Her owner, Tammy Rudningen, did not know either until she discussed Tic Tac’s escape with her husband, Scott, who asked an innocent question.

“Well, where did she go?” he said.

“I don’t know,” Tammy said. “She didn’t say.”

That exchange got Tammy’s imagination flowing. She sat down with a pencil and notebook and jotted down where she thought Tic Tac might have gone, even sketching a few pictures to go along with the words. Less than an hour later, she had a complete story.

Today, Tammy can hold her published book in her hands.

“Tic Tac Takes a Tour” tells the story of Tic Tac’s adventures that day

“Each page is a place where I thought she might have gone,” Tammy said. “At the end, she comes back to home sweet home and her friends.”

The forest, pond, prairie and other locations Tic Tac visits in the book are real places on the Rudningens’ farm, Star Quality Quarter Horses near Pennock.

Tammy has had horses in her life going back to when she grew up on her family’s hobby farm near Brainerd.

“We did 4-H and the local horse shows in northern Minnesota,” Tammy said.

“I’ve been competing since I can remember.”

Her favorite competition always was and still is barrel racing. Tammy races in competitions around Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa. The only time she took a break from racing was when she was a college student at Bemidji State University.

“I had to take a step back from competing because I was on a college budget,” Tammy said.

Once Tammy accepted a teaching job in Willmar, she began to buy her own horses and equipment.

“Eventually I saved up enough

money for a starter horse trailer and all of that,” Tammy said.

By the time she married Scott and they bought his family’s farm near Pennock, she was able to bring two horses to the marriage.

Until the late 1980s, beef cattle were raised at the farm site. Now it became a place for quarter horses, which are horses known for their speed and agility in sprinting. Tammy and Scott eventually bought more horses and the necessary things to keep them. Scott even built a red horse barn himself.

“Scott doesn’t ride, but he is very supportive,” Tammy said. “He helps me with all of it.”

Tammy remembers some of the first horses she ever rode. Her parents borrowed a pony named Fritzy for her to ride. Then, for her sixth birthday, they bought her a pony named Dominic for $30.

PHOTOS

SUBMITTED Tammy Rudningen’s children’s book, “Tic Tac Takes a Tour,” was published in 2019 by Newman Springs in New Jersey. The story is about what Rudningen imagined her horse might have done when it escaped its pen.

Tic Tac the horse stops to view the pond on her farm near Pennock as her owner, Tammy Rudningen, takes a photo of Tic Tac’s view. Rudningen calls these photos through-the-ears shots.

Tic Tac stands in the horse barn that Scott Rudningen built on Star Quality Quarter Horses farm near Pennock. Scott’s wife, Tammy, enjoys barrel racing with Tic Tac.

Tic Tac

from page 10

“They even splurged and bought the bridle for $2,” Tammy said. “That was quite a present at that time. They didn’t buy the saddle because they wanted us to learn how to ride bareback.”

The first horse Tammy competed with was named Dizzy. He was blind in one eye. Tammy

said she looks back on that horse with amazement.

“We competed on all those events and won all kinds of awards,” she said. “He was blind in one eye, and he trusted a kid. We went fast. As an adult looking back, I think, wow, he had a high level of trust in his girl.”

In 2016, Tammy began looking for an additional horse.

“For Christmas,

Scott had given me a homemade gift certificate to purchase a horse,” Tammy said.

A friend told her about a horse she might like that came from Canada. Tammy decided to buy her.

“She was young, 5 years old, and kind of a free spirit,” Tammy said.

Tic Tac page 13

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Tammy Rudningen and her horse, Tic Tac, barrel race in September at Tuff Arena in Litchfield. Rudningen barrel races every year from spring until fall at various competitions in Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa.

Tic Tac

from page 13

her natural teaching instincts kick in.

“I knew about teachers having guests come to their classrooms, so I was able to do that about one day a week, going to area schools to read (the book),” she said.

Tammy also made her readings into multi-subject lessons.

“Once a teacher, always a teacher,” she said.

Tammy brought a purple pail along to her readings. Inside were horseshoes, nails, a hoof pick, brushes and other horse-care objects.

“Suddenly we were talking about horseshoes and math such as how many nails does it take the farrier to shoe the horse – which also became a vocabulary lesson because of the word farrier,” Tammy said. “With the horseshoes, I did a little lesson called ‘Where will your shoes take you?’ And, we would talk about the kids’ aspirations and dreams.”

The coronavirus pandemic put an end to Tammy’s school readings, but Tic Tac’s story was catching on.

“My favorite part of the whole thing is when I’m out barrel racing

with Tic Tac and a little girl realizes that my Tic Tac is the Tic Tac from her book,” Tammy said.

“(Kids’) eyes light up, and they want to meet her and pet her. Tic Tac just soaks it all up.”

Tammy has taught Tic Tac a few tricks, such as bowing, for moments like that to make childhorse meetings even more special. The kids often take pictures with Tic Tac.

They also ask Tammy to sign their books, which she does, using the

pen name she selected when the story was published: T.R. Star. The “T” and “R” are her initials.

“Star” stands for Scott, Tammy and Rudningen turned into an easy word for kids to read and spell.

It also gives a nod to Star Quality Quarter Horses.

“Star is a positive word,” Tammy said. “It’s always a happy word.”

PHOTOS SUBMITTED

Tammy Rudningen shows her horse, Tic Tac, the children’s book she wrote about her. Rudningen said Tic Tac enjoys the attention she receives from children who have read the book and want to meet her.

Tic Tac the horse greets one of her fans, Chesney, at the R and J Arena and Event Center in Verndale. Tic Tac’s owner, Tammy Rudningen, who wrote a children’s book about the horse, said Tic Tac loves meeting her young fans.

Tic Tac

from page 14

Although Tammy loves barrel racing with Tic Tac, she also loves riding her around the farm, most likely visiting some of the same places Tic Tac visited during her escape tour six years ago. On their rides, Tammy likes to stop and snap photos in ways that give the horse’s viewpoints. She calls the photos her through-the-ears shots.

Because Tic Tac brought so much joy to the farm, Tammy decided to purchase Tic Tac’s paternal sister, Chicklet. This past year, Chicklet foaled a filly named Tinger.

Looking back, both Tammy and Tic Tac have taken each other on an enjoyable ride.

“It’s been a fun adventure,” Tammy said. “She’s my girl.”

PHOTO

Chicklet stands with her filly, Tinger, at Star Quality Quarter Horses. Chicklet is the paternal sister of Tic Tac, the quarter horse characterized in Tammy’s children’s book, “Tic Tac Takes a Tour.”

Tammy Rudningen reads her children’s book, “Tic Tac Takes a Tour,” at an elementary school. Rudningen likes to turn the readings into multi-subject lessons with math, vocabulary and other concepts integrated.

PHOTO S UBMITTED

Ricky the raccoon was abandoned and brought to a farm. She hangs out with the kitty’s and kids. She has been at the Grebinoski farm since May of 2021. She hibernated in the hay shed, and comes to the main barn whenever she wants to eat or get a little attention.

The flock will flourish

Klaphake turkeys strong despite set backs

BY GRACE JEURISSEN STAFF WRITER

MELROSE – With a national holiday designated to gratefulness around the corner, producing the main course for many family feasts during Thanksgiving is an honor the Klaphake family of Melrose has held for three generations.

“We are really blessed to have a national holiday that showcases our product,” Pete Klaphake said. “We work hard to promote turkey as a yearround source of protein, but it’s great to see turkey as the main dish on tables during big holidays.”

As trends in the agriculture industry change, turkey production in Minnesota has stayed strong. Minnesota has been ranked No. 1 for turkey production nationally since the 1930s, according to the Minne-

most turkey nationally, though

an impressive feat, has its own challenges. Raising large numbers of birds means needing to take precautions for biosecurity.

In order to match demand, the turkey industry embraces enclosed housing systems.

In 2015, the industry had a significant decline

left) Isaac, Brenda, Wyatt and Pete

birds that carried the disease across the country.

The U.S. poultry and turkey industries leapt into action by researching and defining protocols to mitigate the spread of the virus. Then this spring, another strain of avian influenza swept the industry once again.

“We do our best to lower the chances of something coming into our barns,” Klaphake said. “We like to minimize exposure for the birds, meaning we make sure to cover boots, keep employees working certain farm sites, and lower the number of times we need to go in and out of the barn. We can try to be 100% perfect, but there isn’t a way to fully achieve that so we do our best.”

Klaphake said he thought the avian influenza in 2015 was challenging, but this year’s virus further complicated production for himself and their farm.

in production due to an avian influenza outbreak. Despite already strict biosecurity protocols, the virus was traced to wild

“This year was one of the most stressful because we had two barns

PHOTO SUBMITTED The Klaphakes –Abby (from

– run a turkey farm near Melrose. Pete is the third generation in his family to raise turkeys.

sota Turkey Growers Association. On an annual basis Minnesota raises around 40 million birds. Producing the

Klaphake

that had a highly pathogenic outbreak,” Klaphake said. “Once those barns tested positive, we had to control the situation, and you could see how much it hurt the employees that work those barns, because they care about what they do and the birds they tend to.”

The response from the Minnesota board of animal health, United States Department of Agriculture and producers was quick, according to Klaphake. He said he feels proud of the collaboration that has happened in the industry to control avian influenza.

“I feel confident in the turkey industry’s ability to respond to challenges quickly,” he said. “The industry does what they think is right to keep growers raising turkeys and feeding the population.”

The turkey industry has a quick response to supply and demand due to the quick growing period of turkeys, which is about 115 days.

Klaphake’s target weight for finished turkeys is between 18-20 pounds. He raises hens which are fed to two weight ranges, 12-14 and 18-20.

“If you see a whole turkey in a bag, they are usually hens,” Klaphake said. “Toms are raised to about 40 to 50 pounds and processed for different products like Deli meats, ground turkey, retail/ food service cuts and other further processed products such as smoked sausage and hotdogs. Our turkeys, because of the quality grade we receive, tend to go for breasts or

Once the remodeling is done in this barn, the Klaphakes will be able to raise four flocks of turkeys annually. Much of the turkeys the Klaphakes raise go for breasts or whole birds at market due to their high quality grade.

whole birds.”

It is possible Klaphake’s turkeys will make an appearance at local family dinner tables over Thanksgiving because many processing plants are in Minnesota.

The Klaphakes have multiple farms and each farm raises four flocks of birds each year which equates to 1.7 million birds. Those turkeys yield 31 million pounds of meat.

Because the turkeys are raised in enclosed barns, Klaphake pays proper attention to ventilation. His barns are equipped with exhaust fans and curtains/doors for a natural, cross ventilated system.

Klaphake page 18

PHOTO S S U B MITTED

Renovations are being made in an existing turkey barn to more efficiently accommodate birds with better ventilation. The Klaphakes are always looking for ways to improve turkey health and biosecurity at their farms.

Klaphake

from page 17

“In the winter, all of the turkey barns have steam coming out of them because we are heating the barns all while running the ventilation fans to replace the bad air,” Klaphake said.

Waterers in the turkey barns are cleaned regularly, and the Klaphakes source their feed from their family’s feed mill, Klaphake Feed Mill Inc. The ration consists of soybean meal, corn and minerals to balance a diet for growth.

“I remember the first flock I raised on my own after coming back to the farm,” Klaphake said. “It

felt really good getting a high grade and seeing those birds move out of the barn. Our goal as growers is always to give the bird a quality life and to do our best to create a quality protein for consumers to buy.”

PHOTOS SUBMITTED

Turkey poults fill a barn on the Klaphakes’ farm. They will grow to be 18-20 pounds when sent to market.

Klaphake page 19

Turkeys gather around feeders at one of the Klaphakes’ barns. Barns are cross and naturally ventilated.

Turkey poults are raised together then sent to a finishing barn. On average, the Klaphakes finish 1.7 million turkeys in a year

Klaphake

At the heart of the farm is the people who care about the animals and their role in raising them. Klaphake said he is blessed to have a great family and team of employees.

Klaphake said he did not intend to farm like

his dad and grandfather before him. To his surprise, after high school, he began to miss the farm.

“It’s in my blood,” he said. “I really thought I was done with turkeys when I graduated, but something kept pulling me back. I’m glad I returned to this life; it is stressful but rewarding.”

Klaphake spent his childhood helping his

dad in the turkey barns. Now that Klaphake has children of his own, he gets to teach them the responsibility of raising turkeys and sees them learn along the way.

“I love being able to do stuff as a family,” Klaphake said. “That is what I love about farming. The reason we chose this life is because we enjoy it.”

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Klaphake Feed Mill, Inc. is part of the Klaphake turkey entity. The feed mill mixes all of the feed for the turkey barns.

Sist s share s love of horses

Broichs ride, compete together

BY TIFFANY KLAPHAKE | STAFF WRITER

SAUK CENTRE – Megan and Miley Broich don’t have much down time between school, sports and riding their horses. The two sisters are each in three school sports and compete in about eight competitions a year with their horses.

Megan 14, a freshman at Sauk Centre Public School, is in cross country, basketball and softball. She has been riding and showing horses competitively for five years through the Stearns County Gopher Prairie 4-H club and Rambling Riders Saddle Club. She started riding horses when she was five-yearsold.

Miley 11, is in the fifth grade at Sauk Centre Public School and is in volleyball, basketball, and softball. She has been riding and showing horses com-

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Megan Broich with her horse, Jenny, and Miley Broich with her horse, Rainy, compete at the Western Saddle Club Association Champion Show Sept. 22-26 at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds in Falcon Heights. Megan and Miley both compete in English, western and games competitions.

PHOTO BY TIFFANY KLAPHAKE

Miley Broich hugs her horse, Rainy, a 26-year-old white leopard Paint. Rainy will be retired this fall and will be donated to the Lee-Mar Ranch in Granite Falls.

At the end of 2020 and the early part of January, 2021, we undertook the creation of a woodland garden (see previous issue). Through the winter, we put in several more days of cutting. Then, on April 6, we rented a wood chipper to turn the many piles of brush into mulch.

The plan for the day was to chip as many of the brush piles in Silas’s garden as the three of us could man-

age.

With temps back down to the 40s, we dressed in light layers. The woods was dry so we didn’t need boots.

Though our plan was to begin taking down trees for the garden last fall, we hadn’t really expected to work on it as much as we did during the winter. We were actually ahead of schedule, with all of the trees intend-

ed to be cut, cut, and all of those to be pollarded, pollarded. Chipping the roughly dozen large piles of small logs and brush and a few smaller ones was going to be a big job.

Ron pulled the rented chipper to the woods with the pickup and then backed it into position near the first pile of brush. He said the chipper was to run and warm up for a few minutes before any material could be fed into the open end. The machine was comprised of a hitch, a gas-powered motor, a blower and chute, a chopper or chipping mechanism, and the heavy drum that pulled the material into the chipper. The mouth, into which the material was fed, was about 4 feet long and provided an element of safe distance between the person feeding the material in and that drum that grabbed whatever was fed into it. Warning signs were plastered all over the machine.

After a few preliminary pieces of wood were fed into the machine and spewed out the chute, it stopped working. The engine died every time Ron tried to engage the chipper. He tried many times, trying to ascertain why it wasn’t working. Eventually, he called the rental guy who said he would come and take a look. Little Falls is a good half-hour drive, so we knew we would be held up for that long, if not longer.

Ron and Silas used that time to cut down the last few designated trees on the west side of the garden.

I went across the trail and cleaned that area as I had in other parts of the woodlot, adding two more piles to my project.

When the rental guy came he poked a large stick down the chute of the chipper and removed a blockage. It didn’t seem that we had put enough material in it to block it, but that was the problem. Once it was clear, we were on the road to chipping heaven.

We chipped the first pile, disentangling the branches and maybe wishing we’d piled the branches with the bigger ends all in the same direction since it was much easier to feed the big end first with the branches pulled in “with the grain.” We took polite turns in feeding the brush into the maw of the machine.

After the first pile was finished, Ron backed the machine closer to the next pile. It was tricky maneuvering the pickup and the machine between the piles, pollarded trees, and the trees on the other side of the trail. We also had to use the lopper and a chainsaw to cut small stumps flush with the ground before driving over them. Puncturing a tire on the chipper or the pickup would certainly have caused more delays, so we were very careful.

We worked in our shirtsleeves since the day was pleasantly cool. At 12:15 p.m., we took a lunch break.

Working out –outdoors, that is by Nancy Packard Leasman

Goats bearing gifts

C-R Farm finds joy in dairying

BY JAN LEFEBVRE STAFF WRITER

MURDOCK – Carmen Maus simply could not help herself; a goat was brought up for sale, and she made it hers.

“In hopped this little wether (neutered goat), and he was so stinking cute,” Carmen Maus said. “I bid on him.”

It was a gut reaction to the little guy.

Maus looked over and her best friend, who introduced her to the idea of goats, was grinning.

“My husband was not stopping me, so that was my p ermission,” she said.

That was just the beginning.

Today Maus, along with her husband, Ryan, and that same best friend, Theresa Smith, run C-R Farm, a goat dairy with nearly 80 goats being milked twice each day in a straight-16 parlor. The whole herd numbers 200. The farm’s name is a nod to Carmen and Ryan’s initials but also a welcoming play on words meaning, “See our farm.” The dairy is located on the farm site near Murdock owned by the Mauses where they raised their two children, Faith and Thomas, and reside today.

“We buy the goat,” Maus said. “I hug him and I squeeze him and I kiss him and I call him George. He becomes our gateway goat.”

Maus said she held back on buying more goats for about a year, but then she bought five more.

“They’re like potato

chips,” Maus said. “You can’t have just one.”

That is when goat space became an issue.

“They couldn’t be in the garage anymore,” Maus said.

Maus had never liked goats. The times she fed and milked Smith’s dozen goats when Smith was on vacation, Maus said she did not enjoy it one bit.

“I said that I was never having goats because they jumped all over you,” Maus said. “Then you had to lead them up to the milk stand, tie them up and milk them by hand. It seemed so inefficient.”

C-R Farm now is home to a variety of goat breeds: Oberhasli, Alpine, Nubian, Nigerian, Saanen, Sable, Lamancha, Angora

and crossbreds. Maus calls each individual goat by name.

Around 7% of the dairy’s milk is used on the farm to make soaps and lotions. The rest is picked up twice per week by Stickney Hill Dairy, of Cold Spring, which uses the milk to produce cheese.

“It’s Theresa’s fault we have goats,” Maus said. “I remind her often when they are being naughty.”

Long before she and Ryan bought their farm from her brother, she milked cows for him. He still owns a fifth- generation farm across the road. Ryan worked and continues to work, for CNH Industrial in Benson.

Maus had a back injury in 2002 that ended her milking days. She went to school to earn a degree in counseling and spent 14

years working for the state of Minnesota in outpatient programs.

During that time, the

Maus children were showing cows, heifers and rabbits for 4-H. Smith’s children were

showing goats. A trip that the Mauses and Smith took in 2017 to the local sales barn to sell some rabbits changed Maus’ goat disdain to goat joy in under a minute when little George appeared.

However, the space problem created by George and the other five goats that followed needed to be addressed. The problem was solved when Maus’ brother decided to sell the cows and farm site on which the Mauses lived. They bought the land and buildings but not the cows. Instead, they used the space to grow the goat herd. The barn’s existing milking system was converted for goat milking.

Within the herd, the first kid, Flopsy, was born in 2019. They began to plan for a larger dairy and to eventually create an on-farm creamery. In the meantime, Maus, along with her husband and Smith, learned how to make soaps and lotions and sold the products at farmers markets and craft shows.

PHOTOS BY JAN LEFEBVRE

Carmen Maus stands among some of her goats Nov. 8 at C-R Farm near Murdock. Maus partners with her friend, Theresa Smith, and husband, Ryan, to run the goat dairy, which milks 80 goats and has a herd of 200. (Left) Carmen Maus greets Vega the goat. All 200 goats on the farm have names.

Squirrelly the llama (left) and Ziggy the alpaca stand guard Nov. 8 at C-R Farm near Murdock. Llamas are known to be protective of goat herds, warding off coyotes and other predators.

*Offer ends 12/31/22. Available at participating and eligible dealers only. Offer may vary by product type, series, model and select units in dealer’s current inventory. Must take delivery from dealer stock by 12/31/22. Offers available on new equipment in US and Canada only. Some restrictions apply. Length of contract and rate may vary. Monthly payment subject to change. Prior purchases not eligible. See dealer for details. Financing provided on approval of credit by authorized Bobcat finance providers to well-qualified buyers. Administrative fees may apply. Offer not available to government accounts, national accounts and municipal/utility bid customers. Bobcat Company reserves the right to extend or discontinue any of these programs at any time without prior notice.