Sign up for our New Newsletter
Dairy St r Milk Break
Email andrea.b@dairystar.com to sign up.
DAIRY ST R “All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 21, No. 17
October 26, 2019
Dairy has always New technology for been the answer the next generation for Swensons
Nicollet County Farm Family of the Year presses forward with sixth generation By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
NICOLLET, Minn. – Knowing their career path has never been a question for the Swensons. “I’ve never gotten up in the morning wondering why I was a dairy farmer,” Paul Swenson said. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. It’s a blessing I’ve been able to do it my whole life.” This commitment is just one reason his family – wife, Cindy, their daughter, Ashley, and son-in-law, David Hanson – were chosen as the 2019 Nicollet County Farm Family of the Year. “It’s a humbling experience to know people respect your family for what you’re doing,” Paul said. The Swensons milks 240 cows with four robotic milking units on their dairy near Nicollet, Minn. Everyone in the family has their area of expertise on the farm. Paul and David share the day-to-day operations of the dairy herd along with genetic selection and mating, while Cindy is in charge of calves and bookkeeping. Although Ashley works off the farm in her own practice as an embryo transfer veterinarian, she spends the rest of her time dedicated to the herd’s cow care and reproductive success. Ashley’s work in embryo transfer intertwines with her family’s dairy with registered cows. Although the Swensons have a strong tie to Holsteins – Forest-Lawn Holsteins is the oldest registered herd in the state and the oldest continuously registered herd in the country – they branched out to Brown Swiss about 15 years ago. Their herd also includes a few Ayshires owned by Ashley and David. It keeps them connected to the breed David grew up with, and his family still milks the red and white animals. Regardless of color, the cows on the Swensons farm must live up to certain standards, Ashley said. Cows with better genetic po-
Turn to SWENSONS | Page 5
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Paul and Cindy Swenson (leŌ) along with their daughter, Ashley, and her husband, David Hanson, milk 240 cows on their dairy near Nicollet, Minn. They were named 2019 Nicollet County Farm Family of the Year.
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
The Reitsmas – (from leŌ) Joe, Carolyn, Paul, Mitchell and KaƟe – milk 220 cows with four robots on their dairy farm in Stearns County near Sauk Centre, Minn. Paul and Carolyn wanted to add the technology to allow their sons to return to the farm.
Reitsmas add robots to keep farm about family By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
SAUK CENTRE, Minn. – Paul and Carolyn Reitsma were at a crossroads in their dairying career. Their two sons expressed interest in returning home to the farm, but the dairy as it was – 100 cows in a tiestall barn – could not support three families. “We knew we had to add more cows,” Paul said. “And reality is the horror stories hired help can be. We wanted to do more, but keep it in the family.” The Reitsmas with three of their six children – Katie, 23, Joe, 21, and Mitchell, 20 – began milking cows with four DeLaval VMS milking system V300 robots May 20 on their Stearns County dairy farm near Sauk Centre, Minn. Today, the family runs 220 cows through the robots with the system having the capability to milk upwards of 300 animals. The cross-ventilated barn is designed with 265 free stalls; all of which have access to any of the four robots. On the northeast side of the barn, a 17-stall freestall area is designated for fresh cows. These cows must go through one robot and then are redirected to the fresh pen with activity collars and smart gates. “I feed three feedings of colostrum to ev-
ery calf, so it’s very important we collect that,” Carolyn said. “Each fresh cow is kept in that pen for two milkings.” A hospital pen is directly south of the fresh pen, and includes a bedded pack and headlocks for manual milking. Those cows, too, have access to one robot and then are redirected to the bedded pack. Every family member has an active role on the farm. Mitchell manages the milking herd while also nishing his last year at Ridgewater College in Willmar, Minn. He keeps track of animal health data and monitors the milking information coming from the robots. Joe takes care of all the feeding and works part time off the farm at Belgrade Co-op in Belgrade, Minn. Paul oversees the dairy and feeds the cattle when Joe is not available, and Carolyn works with all the calves and youngstock. Katie returned home following college graduation to help the family transition into the new facilities. On a day-to-day basis, she works with the cows and keeps them cycling through the robots. “We want to make sure everyone has a role here, and they take that role seriously and do their best at it,” Paul said. Turn to REITSMAS | PAGE 6