Dairy Star • Tuesday, January 31, 2015 • Page 3
It’s all inside... Whitten retires after 30 years as a veterinarian Pages 2 -3 Third Section
Kids Corner: The Lindahl Family
Engelmeyers eliminate stray voltage, keep stalls clean for a 85,000 SCC
Pages 14 - 15 Third Section
Pages 18, 20
Pronschinskes bring in goats as another source of milk income on dairy
Dairying Across America: California Pages 14 - 15 Second Section
Pages 6 - 7 Second Section
Kvamme retires from Midwest Dairy Beef Quality Assurance, MN Beef
Dairy’s Star Youth: Vanessa Ponterio Page 16 Third Section
Pages 8 - 9 Third Section
Heiman family works together to improve family farm
High incidence of ketosis can be controlled
Page 10 - 11
Page 19 Second Section
Women in Jeans: Heather Moore
Alexandria
Page 37
Melrose
Morton
Contents FIRST SECTION Pages 1, 5 Hartwig making hybrid dairy farm work Page 12 Dairy Letters Page 13 Better cow management leads to higher fertility rate Pages 15 - 16 From Our Side of the Fence Pages 22 - 25 Dairy Calendar Page 26 Meeting on new farm equipment road regulations Page 28 Update on dairy barn tube systems Page 29 Is 150 RFV good enough today? Page 30 On the Mark Page 35 Northeast Iowa Community College adopts 100 percent no-till, cover-crop practices Pages 38 - 39 Best-yielding corn varieties tested in four Wisconsin regions SECOND SECTION Page 10 The “Mielke” Market Weekly
Mlsna family builds new facilities, boosts cow numbers
Lindstrom
Page 1, 6 - 7
Neillsville Arlington
Melrose Rushford
Page 11 Dairy Markets Page 12 Area Hay Auction results Page 13 Dairy in the Suburbs Page 18 Dorcey stresses importance of starting calves right Page 20 A different approach to treating diseases Page 23 Mid-American Hay Auction results Pages 26 - 27 A new whey to boost health Pages 30 - 31 Dairy Recipes THIRD SECTION Pages 4, 7 Wickstrom brothers milk 8,600 cows on three Calif. farms Pages 10 - 11 Dairy steers could be a good t on more farms Page 18 September mailbox prices higher again in all reporting areas Pages 19 - 21 Some Udder Stuff Pages 22 - 26 Classieds
Cashton Mabel
Kuhns build new calf barn with automatic feeders Pages 3, 8 Second Section
Maquoketa
Columnists Ag Insider Pages 8-9
The Next Generation Page 33
Just Thinking Out Loud
Nutritionist Page 34
Page 32
Getting Kerry’d Away
Rambling from the Ridges
Page 27
Page 31
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AMPI names co-presidents, CEOs Page 8 • Dairy Star • Saturday, January 31, 2015
Associated Milk Producers, Incorporated has named Donn DeVelder and Sheryl Meshke as copresidents and CEOs. The pair has been in that role since former CEO Ed Welch unexpectedly retired in December. AMPI Board Chairman Steve Schlangen says a team approach makes sense for the dairy cooperative. “This only works if you have the right people and you can’t have either one of them with an ego,” said Schlangen. “These two complement each other in so many ways and it’s not about either one of those two, it’s all about the co-op.” DeVelder and Meshke were executive senior vice presidents at AMPI before being named acting co-presidents and CEOs. DeVelder has been with AMPI for more than 30 years and has been responsible for uid marketing and member services. Meshke has been with AMPI for 25 years and has served as the vice president of public affairs and strategic planning.
Many dairy farmers take higher level of MPP coverage More than half of the dairy farmers enrolled in the new Margin Protection Program chose a higher level of coverage. In Wisconsin, 54 percent of dairy farmers enrolled in MPP. From that total, 55 percent are enrolled in a higher level than the basic coverage. For Minnesota, 69 percent of dairy farmers enrolled in MPP. From that total, 73 percent elected to buy a higher level of coverage. Sixty-nine percent of California dairy farms are enrolled. From that group, 35 percent bought up their coverage. Peterson surprised House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson is somewhat surprised more dairy farmers didn’t buy a higher level of Margin Protection Program coverage. “Whenever you have a new program it takes a while, but the other thing was they
had such good prices and there were projections that they would have $17.50 milk in 2015 and I think some people looked at it and said Ag Insider they’d do the $100 (basic) level and I won’t buy up; I think that was a mistake.” Peterson said the dairy market is very dependent on exports, making dairy farmers vulnerable to a collapse in milk prices. Peterson, who advocated for the program’s inclusion in the 2014 Farm Bill, said he hopes that USDA will continue their outreach and By Don Wick education efforts so more Columnist producers can learn about the program. USDA said more than 23,000 operations have signed up for the risk management program. Milk production rises In the 23 major dairy states, milk production totaled 16.2 billion pounds. That’s up 3.2 percent from December 2013. Wisconsin milk production increased just over three percent. In Minnesota, milk output was up 2.3 percent. California milk production decreased less than one percent. Selenium in milk may reduce tumor progression University of Guelph researchers have discovered that dairy cows fed diets including selenium produce milk that may help reduce the progression of human breast cancer tumors. Selenium is an antioxidant and plays a critical role in metabolism, reproductive health, DNA synthesis and the body’s natural defense system. Ag has a part in cutting methane emissions The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed plans to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas industries by 40 to 45 percent in the next ten years. Agriculture is not included in this announcement, but remains part of the overall climate change plan. Dan Utech, who is a special advisor to the President, said agriculture has a role in this issue. “The Department of Agriculture, along with the EPA and the Department of Energy in partnership with the dairy industry, released a biogas opportunities roadmap highlighting voluntary actions and potential new submissions through greater use of biodigesters.” DBA elects new ofcer team Gordon Speirs, who operates a dairy farm at Brillion, Wis., is the new president of the Dairy Business Association. Speirs is a Saskatchewan, Canada native who built a new dairy in Brillion in 2003. Mike North of Commodity Risk Management Group was elected vice president. North is one of three corporate members of the DBA board and the rst to serve as DBA vice president. Tom Crave of Waterloo, Paul Fetzer of Elmwood, and Jennifer Keuning of Green Bay were also elected to the board. DBA honors Brooks The Dairy Business Association has honored State Representative Ed Brooks with its Legislative Excellence Award. Brooks, a Republican, is a fourtime representative from Reedsburg. DBMMC re-elects Pagel Kewaunee, Wis. dairy farmer John Pagel has been re-elected as the president of the Dairy Business Milk Marketing Cooperative. Pagel is a founding Turn to AG INSIDER | Page 9
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