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DAIRY ST R
Volume 23, No. 22
January 15, 2022
“All dairy, all the time”™
Farmers reap benets of state grant program Herber, Weyer make improvements to dairy facilities By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
ALBANY, Minn. – Brian and Krissy Weyer had plans to upgrade their milking facility, and with the assistance of a state grant program, the project became more nancially appealing. “Either way, we were going to go through with the project, but this made life a lot easier,” Brian Weyer said. Weyer and his family are one of the 2020 recipients of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Growth, Research and Innovation Program’s Livestock Investment Grant. With the funding, they put a single milking robot in their existing freestall barn. Now, the Weyers milk about 75 cows with a DeLaval VMS 300 on their farm in Stearns County near Albany.
“We applied for the grant in 2019 for a 2020 project,” Weyer said. “I was really happy that we got it.” The Weyers were one of 25 dairy producers who received state funding in 2020; in total, the grant helped fund $772,000 worth of projects across the livestock sector. This past year, 18 dairy producers and their projects were a part of $756,000 in grant funds. In scal year 2022, MDA anticipates awarding up to $1.3 million, some of which has been claimed in the fall round of the Livestock Investment Grant. In February, the state will reopen applications for the funds remaining. “The grant allows producers to stay competitive in the industry and offset the costs of improvements,” said Courtney VanderMey, livestock investment administrator for the Ag Marketing and Development Division of MDA. “The MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR application process is competitive, but Brian Weyer reviews data on the robot Jan. 8 at his family’s dairy near Albany, the funding is attainable.” Minnesota. The Weyers used state funding to help with the robot project. Turn to GRANT | Page 7
Tragedy strikes a Stearns County dairy Heinens lose entire milking herd in early morning re By Mark Klaphake
mark.k@dairystar.com
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Glenn Heinen’s dairy barn was destroyed in an early morning re Jan. 4 on his farm in Stearns County near St. Rosa, Minnesota. The structure, shown Jan. 6, also housed heifers, many of which were saved.
ST. ROSA, Minn. – An early morning barn re took the dairy facility and all the milking cows housed within on Jan. 4 near St. Rosa, Minnesota. Glenn Heinen and his son, Aron, who dairy together, lost their dairy facility and their 48 milking cows in the blaze. “It didn’t really hit me until that night that they were gone, everything was gone,” said Heinen, a dairy farmer for 30 years. “Those cows were my whole life. I feel so sorry for those poor cows. I loved and cared for them all their lives.” Heinen was alerted of the disaster around 5:30 a.m. when a neighbor passing by saw the re. “He called 6 minutes before my alarm went off,” Glenn said.
“I think your barn is on re. The whole kitchen was glowing. I dialed 911 as fast as I could and out the door we went.” When Glenn got out the door there were ames coming out of the hay barn door and the barn was totally engulfed. “I was freaking out,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do. I stood there in shock and thought ‘I have to get my cows, get my animals out’ but not a chain rattled, nothing.” When the re departments of Freeport, Melrose, Albany and Grey Eagle arrived, they found the re was concentrated more to the middle of the tiestall barn but was spreading quickly. Aron, who lives with his dad, helped move six calves, which were about 20-feet from the barn, to a safer place. “That rst hutch was melting already, there was that much heat,” Glenn said. Aron agreed. “I remember grabbing a calf to make sure they were OK and get them moved out of there,” he said. When Aron’s brothers, Turn to HEINENS | Page 6