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DAIRY ST R “All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 20, No. 16
Federal policy update zeroes in on trade, farm bill votes
October 13, 2018
How sweet it is
By Sherry Newell Contributing Writer
A lobbyist for Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative said congressional passage of the newest trade agreement, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, is not a walk in the park, but pointed out the importance of what it represents. “All of us have been uneasy [about trade],” said Michael Torrey, whose rm, Michael Torrey Associates, lobbies for Edge in Washington, D.C. “But if there’s one sentiment I’ve picked up in D.C., there’s more uneasiness there. … All of us in ag agree: We just need to get markets back.” Torrey’s analysis was part of a federal policy update presented by Edge that attracted more than 40 people Oct. 5 during World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis. The timing of the next farm bill’s passage, workforce issues and food regulations were also discussed. Torrey said the economic analysis of the trade deal has already started, but called its passage before the end of the year logistically near impossible. He projected House and Senate votes in February or March of 2019. Still, the lobbyist said discussions underway with Japan, India and South Korea are positive indicators on the trade front and that talks with the European Union are also moving forward. Edge, which represents more than 750 dairy farmer members in nine Midwest states, provides milk Turn to TRADE | Page 5
SHERRY NEWELL/DAIRY STAR
Michael Torrey tells Edge Dairy Farmer CooperaƟve members he believes Washington, D.C. is uneasy with the current trade situaƟon during a meeƟng Oct. 5 at World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis.
PHOTO COURTESY OF DAIRY AGENDA TODAY
Associate judge Carla Stetzer congratulates Ashley Brandel as Maple Fudge of 12 Oaks wins her third youth show championship at the World Dairy Expo.
Maple Fudge, Brandel win WDE champion accolades By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
MADISON, Wis. – A last-minute decision to raise her hand to bid on the last calf selling in the Wisconsin Dairyland Milking Shorthorn Sale on a late April day in 2014 turned out to be a wise one made by an 8-year-old, buying her rst calf with her own money. Fast-forward 4.5 years to the 2018 World Dairy Expo, and 12-year-old Ashley Brandel of Lake Mills, Wis., and 4-year-old Maple Fudge of 12 Oaks have been on the ride of a lifetime. The ride started Oct. 3, when after winning her class Maple Fudge received her third grand championship banner in the WDE youth show and culminated when judge Brian Behnke selected her as his overall grand champion Milking Shorthorn. While she stood in the middle of the ring waiting for Behnke’s nal selections, Ashley admits she did not know what to think. “I was getting a little confused,” Ashley said. “They kept telling me to go back in. At rst I didn’t know what I was going back into the show ring for, but then I gured it out and I thought, ‘Oh boy, I don’t think we can win this, but that’s OK as long as I keep trying my best.’” Stealing a glance at her family, Ashley said she saw lots of hugging and excitement going on following each high-ve she received from Behnke. “I couldn’t believe that she had won the whole entire show,” Ashley said. In his reasons upon selecting Maple Fudge as the grand champion of the International Milking Shorthorn Show, Behnke said, “I get emotional when it comes to good cows, and it’s pretty cool to make a little girl
grand.” Ashley is the daughter of Matt and Tracy Brandel, and along with her brothers, Colton, 14, and Justin, 9, and sister, Katie, 10, she works on the family’s 220cow farm in Lake Mills, Wis. Ashley, a seventh-grader at Lake Mills Middle School, now owns Maple Fudge with Colton, but the entire family acknowledges that Maple Fudge is a one-girl cow. “The kids (Colton and Ashley) did nightline last night,” Tracy said Oct. 6 during the family’s preparations for the supreme champion parade where Ashley would become the youngest exhibitor and one of only three juniors to ever present a cow under the spotlights in the open show ceremony. “When I went to the camper to get them up, Colton told Ashley if she didn’t get out of bed, he was going to show Fudge, but Ashley just reminded him that Fudge only likes to lead for her.” Ashley agreed. “Fudge denitely knows when I’m leading her,” she said. While Ashley had shown Maple Fudge at the Jefferson County Fair as a heifer, it was not until she calved as a 2-year-old that she came into her own. Maple Fudge rst began to gain notoriety with wins at the Wisconsin State Fair in 2016. She followed that up with a class win in the junior 2-year-old class at World Dairy Expo, winning her rst youth division championship that year. Last year, Maple Fudge continued her winning ways, nishing with a third-place nish in the junior 3-year-old class and picking up another youth division championship. After nally having a heifer calf in June, Maple Fudge got her show season off to a bang, being selected as the supreme champion at the Wisconsin State Fair in August, another accolade that Ashley never expected. Coming full circle to her wins at World Dairy Expo, Ashley was trying not to get nervous for the parade. “There are so many butteries, it’s very nerveTurn to BRANDEL | Page 7