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DAIRY ST R “All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 20, No. 17
October 27, 2018
Striving for responsible antibiotic usage
Schultze wins national recognition for Maple Ridge Dairy By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
STRATFORD, Wis. – added twice a week, and the Taking care of cows is not stalls are completely cleaned something Jami Schultze takes out and re-bedded twice a year. The farm’s BI representalightly in her position as herd manager at Maple Ridge Dairy, tive, Rebecca Gotham, rst informed Schultze of the award, LLC, in Stratford, Wis. That attention to detail encouraging her to submit an earned Schultze the top distinc- application. The contest retion from over 100 applicants quired her to answer essay in Boehringer Ingelheim’s Pro- questions, discussing responducers for Progress Recogni- sible use of antibiotics and retion Program, celebrating dairy lating with the consumer. “We have customers and producers for their judicious use of antibiotics in their herds. they need to be assured of our Schultze manages the good practices and what we are 1,650-cow herd at Maple Ridge doing to producer their food,” Dairy, which is owned by Brian Forrest said of the importance Forrest. The herd is milked in he places on his herd managetwo facilities on the farm, with ment team’s focus on reducabout 720 head being milked ing drug usage on the farm. in a double-12 parallel parlor, “Sadly, most consumers are rewhile the remainder of the herd moved from the farm by three is milked in a double-16 paral- or four generations. We need to lel parlor. Cows are housed in continually communicate our sand-bedded freestall barns, dedication to our animals and which are groomed several times per week. New sand is Turn to MAPLE RIDGE | Page 7
PHOTO COURTESY BEV BREY
Jami Schultze spends a great deal of Ɵme assessing the health and performance of the Maple Ridge Dairy herd near Straƞord, Wis.
Hurricanes devastate farmland across naƟon Austins, Nances now dealing with storms’ aftermath By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
PHOTO SUBMITTED
A storage barn on Meghan and Brad AusƟn’s farm site is destroyed aŌer Hurricane Michael made landfall Oct. 10 near Marianna, Fla.
MARIANNA, Fla. – Life throughout the South Atlantic is slowly returning to normal after two hurricanes made landfall this fall, bringing about heavy rains and immeasurable damage to dairy communities in the southern United States. In September, Hurricane Florence swept across the Carolinas, and a short month later, Hurricane Michael arrived in the Florida Panhandle. “We’ve been able to take care of ourselves because of the outpouring of support from our fellow farmers,” said Meghan Austin of the Florida dairy in-
dustry. Austin and her husband, Brad, milk 300 cows in Jackson County near Marianna, Fla. The couple is one of many displaced with the aftermath of the fall storms. In the weeks following the hurricane’s landfall Oct. 10, the Austins have spent their time clearing debris and large trees from their farm property. “Our house is OK, but the yard looks like a bomb went off,” said Austin of her home located 10 miles from the farm site. “It’s defeating to know this is all gone, and it takes everything I have not to burst into tears every time I see it. Everybody around us is in the same boat.” The Austins’ 500-acre property was comprised of pastureland and hardwoods. “It’s not the most ideal place to Turn to HURRICANES | Page 5