Sign up for our Newsletter
Dairy St r Milk Break
Email maria.b@dairystar.com to sign up.
DAIRY ST R
January 29, 2022
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 23, No. 23
Improving for the future
Two Twardokus generations make plans to farm together By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
HARTFORD, Wis. – Nathan and Jessi Twardokus always knew they wanted to farm. Deciding which farm to go to – his parents’ or her parents’ – was what they had to gure out. The young couple found the perfect arrangement with Nathan’s parents but not in the traditional sense. They would farm together but at two separate locations at rst. Managing the farm owned by his uncle, Ron Twardokus, Nathan and Jessi milk 97 cows near Hartford, a mile down the road from Nathan’s parents, Dean and Carrie, who milk 75 cows. The plan is that within the year, the two herds will merge into one. A freestall barn is going up that will contain 180 stalls, and when the barn is nished, work will begin on a milking parlor. The new facilities at Ron’s farm will allow the two Twardokus herds to unite. “It will be great to combine herds and get all of our milking
cows in one facility,” Jessi said. Nathan agreed. “It will simplify chores a bit,” he said. “We hope to have the barn nished by April, and at that time, we’ll bring over rsttime heifers from my parents’ farm so they have a fresh start in a new setup.” The freestall barn and milking parlor will be the rst of their kind built on the property. Currently, cows are housed and milked in a T-shaped tiestall barn containing 45 stalls in the original part and 53 stalls in the addition built in 1976. Nathan’s parents also milk in a tiestall barn. “We don’t want to milk everyone here until we build a parlor,” Jessi said. “Hopefully we can start it this spring.” The plan is to put in a pit parlor in the 53-stall area of the barn that will either be a double-12 or double-14 swing style. The Twardokus couples will be milking about 180 head when they combine herds. “We don’t plan on going over 200 cows because between the four of us, 200 is enough,”
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Nathan and Jessi Twardokus milk 97 cows and have been farming together since September 2019 near Harƞord, Wisconsin. The couple is in the process of building a freestall barn to combine herds with Nathan’s parents. Nathan said. “We want the farm to be manageable for four people.” The Twardokus family farms 1,200 acres of corn, silage, soybean and alfalfa along with
sweet corn for a canning factory. Nathan, Dean and Ron handle most of the eldwork. Carrie and Jessi help when needed but are focused more on the animals. Both couples milk morning and
night at their respective farms. Dean and Carrie built a calf barn in 2012, and all calves are housed at their place. Jessi and Turn to TWARDOKUS | Page 7
Exports expected to result in banner year for industry
USDA forecasts $200 million more in dairy sales By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com
MADISON, Wis. – The United States is expected to see record results for international trade from 2021, and the dairy industry is no exception. “2021 is going to be a record,” Clay Hamilton said. “Our treasury is always about six weeks behind. What we are forecasting for exports for 2021 is $175.5 billion. That’s $25 billion more than the year before which is fantastic.” Of that $175.5 billion in exports, dairy’s share is approximately $7.7 bil-
lion; a $200 million increase from 2020. Hamilton is the associate administrator for the United States Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service. He and Dana Coale, deputy administrator for the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service Dairy Program, spoke of last year’s dairy market in the presentation, “USDA Domestic and International Dairy Update,” at the Dairy Strong conference Jan. 20 in Madison. The demand for dairy exports is strong with many countries using dairy byproducts. Wisconsin, in particular, is a powerhouse for exports, contributing 28% of product moved in Canada, Mexico and China, Hamilton said. “Now, Wisconsin you should be proud,” he said. “That’s not just uid milk and basic products, but that’s also products that you processed here in
Wisconsin. And, we are doing everything we can to try to make sure that you can continue to do that.” Hamilton and his staff monitor policy to make sure export regulations do not hinder farmers’ potential to move products internationally. “We have a very delicate balance,” Hamilton said. “There are countries that have certain things that they want to see whether it’s a trace back to the systems or certications or approvals.” For example, Hamilton and his team work to ensure Canada was following compliance with the United StatesMexico-Canada Agreement. “We were very pleased to hear a couple weeks ago that the panel came back in our favor, and now we’re working with Canada to try to nalize it so that we can come up with an agreement that supports your ability to export products
to that market,” Hamilton said. China is another country the United States is focused on maintaining presence in for exporting dairy products. “They really believe in self-sufciency, and there are some other issues going on outside of agriculture,” Hamilton said. “So, while we do want to preserve that market as much as we can, we are also working with organizations to help companies identify alternative markets.” Alternative dairy export markets include tapping in to Asia, Africa and Latin America. “We are here to talk to the producers to see what their ideas are and how we can support them,” Hamilton said. “Our ofces are always happy to have people come in and talk about the opportunities.” Domestically, the dairy industry Turn to DAIRY EXPORTS | Page 6