CHECK OUT THE
2020 Dairy Star year in review starting on Page 18 of this section!
DAIRY ST R “All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 22, No. 22
Milk price outlook uncertain for 2021 By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
Without a doubt, 2020 was a challenging year for dairy farmers, and many are wondering what surprises 2021 might bring. BoviNews hosted a webinar Dec. 30, 2020, featuring three top dairy economic experts. Dr. Scott Brown, director of strategic partnerships at the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, began the program looking at the drivers of supply and demand, analyzing the role they play in dairy markets. “The strong cheese and uid demand in 2020 has certainly been important, but whether that lasts into 2021 is a question we have to continue to pay attention to,” Brown said. “Trade is important. We know the Chinese hog herd has been rebuilding, how much whey does that continue to take off the market? On the supply side, dairy cow numbers are moving higher. Too much milk supply can create a much tougher milk price environment.” Brown also talked about how non-market revenue, such as the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program and Dairy Margin Coverage Program, played in farm nances. “Those programs made a difference in the bottom lines of dairy producers,” Brown said. “We had roughly $41 billion in cash receipts in 2019. I think as we entered the worst of it at the beginning of COVID-19, many of us would have thought that would be down. But with nearly $3 billion of CFAP …, we actually increased total revenues to about $43.5 billion. My concern for 2021 is that if we do not see the same level of CFAP payments, or other stimulus, that could make things worse as we look at the bottom line.” Brown said an increase in Turn to MILK | Page 5
January 16, 2021
An education destination
Wichman Farms a site for industry learning By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
APPLETON, Wis. – When the Wichman family built a new barn in 2013, they did so with education in mind. It would be a showplace for robotics and a facility that could be used for teaching purposes. Their plan worked out perfectly as each year the farm welcomes a revolving door of visitors from all over the United States and the world. The Wichmans live to educate – whether it be gradeschool children, hoof trimmers or students from the local technical college. People come to Turn to WICHMANS | Page 10
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
The Wichman family – (from leŌ) Bruce, Mark and Brad – milk around 250 cows and farm 680 acres near Appleton, Wisconsin. The Wichmans are standing in their new calf barn which was built last year.
Fire claims Spindlers’ parlor
Family thankful for help of community in aftermath By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Fire burns the parlor at the Spindler family’s dairy Dec. 22 near Straƞord, Wisconsin. The cows had to be relocate to an empty dairy site nearby.
STRATFORD, Wis. – A barn re can be a great fear for many dairy farmers. The morning of Dec. 22, 2020, Kobey and Trine Spindler endured that fear and learned about the strength of the community around them in nearby Stratford. The Spindlers milk 110 cows and have another 50 to calve in during the next four months. They built a sand-bedded freestall barn, allowing them to retrot the tiestall barn into a at double-6 swing parlor, which they completed May 1, 2020. The re claimed the tiestall barn that housed their new parlor. The only damage to the freestall barn was some curled plastic, which the Spindlers said will be replaced. The siding and roof of their house was damaged from the heat as well. The Spindlers lost one springing heifer and two calves in the re. They consider themselves fortunate that youngstock and dry cows, which had access to the free stalls in an addition on the tiestall barn, remained safe in the pasture. They also lost a tractor and manure spreader and two skidloaders. The silo of corn silage continues to burn, and the hayloft of the barn was full of hay and straw. “We lost the family barn, which had been in the Spindler Turn to SPINDLERS | Page 6