The Great Christmas
See pages 24 and 25 of this section for details!
“GRAND” PRIZE
GIVEAWAY
DAIRY ST R
Health insurance: what to know before enrolling By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Dairy farming is one of America’s highest risk occupations, yet dairy farmers are also among the highest rate of uninsured individuals for health insurance. In the United States Department of Agriculture’s most recent study of health insurance coverage, it was reported that more than 40% of dairy household members were uninsured in 2015, compared to 10.7% of all farm household members. “I’ve had a few farmers drop their coverage this year and that scares the heebie jeebies out of me,” Char Vrieze said. “With this profession and other supporting businesses in agriculture, you’re naturally at a higher risk. You’re not invincible. … It’s too dangerous to go without coverage.” Vrieze is the executive director of 40 Square Cooperative Solutions and has more than 20 years of experience in the health insurance eld. Most Americans receive coverage from an employeebased plan, including farm households; however, dairy farm families continue to be an exception with only 36% of dairy household members being covered by employee-based plans in 2015, according to the USDA. “If you can get employee sponsored insurance, then that’s your best option,” Vrieze said. “Nobody is paying the full freight, but you’ll be better off cost-wise than any other coverage plan.” For those who do not qualify for an employee-based plan, there are coverage options available to meet the needs of farmers and their families. “Basically, it comes down to income level and if you qualify for federal subsidies on the exchange,” Vrieze said. As the structure of health
November 23, 2019
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 21, No. 19
A bittersweet hunting season for Millers Family remembers avid outdoorsman son, brother By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
KELLOGG, Minn. – Opening morning of deer hunting season has always been an exciting time for the Miller family. This year was different. “It was tough this year,” Dan Miller said. “The excitement wasn’t there like it normally was.” That is because Dan and Karen Miller’s son, Aidan, was not there with the family to don the blaze orange clothing and watch for the perfect buck from a stand on their family’s 70-cow dairy near Kellogg. At the age of 16, Aidan passed away July 22 from a cardiac arrhythmia. “It (opening morning) was
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Karen and Dan Miller hold a picture of their 16-year-old son, Aidan, who passed away from a cardiac arrhythmia July 22. Aidan loved hunƟng with the family on their 70-cow dairy farm near Kellogg, Minnesota.
one of Aidan’s favorite days, even over Christmas and other holidays,” Karen said. Despite the emotions that came with deer opener morning Nov. 9 this year, the family – Dan and Karen along with their other children, Blaine, 28, Garret, 26, Mary Kate, 25, Ellie, 19, and Avalin, 10 – still gathered to hunt, remembering Aidan by attaching patches with his name to their stocking hats and hunting jackets. They progressed with the day as they have in years past. “We always adjust our milking schedule for hunting season,” Dan said. The family started doing chores at 3:30 a.m., 2.5 hours earlier than normal. “We want to be in the woods before the sun comes up in the morning,” Dan said. “Then we come in for breakfast. Karen
Turn to MILLERS | Page 7
Teaching is a part of farming for Mirons
Washington County dairy family awarded producer of the year By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
PHOTO SUBMITTED
The Miron family – (front row, from leŌ) James, Warren, Mary Ann holding Autumn, and Fran holding Landon and Amelia; (middle row, from leŌ) Mike, Severine, Wendy, Mark holding Carter, Kristy and Paul holding Joy; JusƟn Crowley, KaƟe Crowley, Ann Tauzell, Brian Tauzell, Stacey holding Levi, and Andrew – are the 2019 Minnesota Milk Producer of the Year. Fran and Mary Ann farm together with their sons, Paul and Andrew, and milk 125 cows on their dairy in WashTurn to INSURANCE | Page 6 ington County near Hugo, Minnesota.
HUGO, Minn. – For the Miron family, teaching is a part of farming. “Education is deeply rooted in our family,” Andrew Miron said. “We take a passion in showcasing that. A lot of it comes back to what we do on the farm and being able to show the public a little bit about what that is.” The Miron family will continue teaching others about dairy as the recipient of the 2019 Minnesota Milk Producer of the Year award. Fran and Mary Ann Miron farm together with two of their sons, Paul and Andrew; Paul and his wife, Kristy, have three kids, James, 5, Josephine, 3, and Joy, 11 months; Andrew Turn to MIRONS | Page 5
Page 2 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019
DAIRY ST R www.dairystar.com
ISSN 020355 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave. Sauk Centre, MN 56378 Phone: (320) 352-6303 Fax: (320) 352-5647 Published by Dairy Star LLC General Manager/Editor Mark Klaphake - mark.k@dairystar.com 320-352-6303 (ofďƒžce) 320-248-3196 (cell) 320-352-0062 (home) Ad Composition Nancy Powell 320-352-6303 nancy.p@dairystar.com Consultant Jerry Jennissen 320-346-2292 Editorial Staff Krista Kuzma - Editor/Wisconsin (507) 259-8159 • krista.k@dairystar.com Andrea Borgerding - Associate Editor (320) 352-6303 • andrea.b@dairystar.com Jennifer Coyne - Assistant Editor (320) 352-6303 • jenn@dairystar.com Danielle Nauman (608) 487-1101 danielle.n@dairystar.com Stacey Smart - Staff Writer (262) 442-6666 • stacey.s@dairystar.com Maria Bichler - Copy Editor 320-352-6303 Advertising Sales Main Ofďƒžce: 320-352-6303 Fax: 320-352-5647 Deadline is 5 p.m. of the Friday the week before publication Sales Manager - Joyce Frericks 320-352-6303 • joyce@dairystar.com Jeff Weyer (Northern MN, East Central MN) 320-260-8505 (cell) jeff.w@dairystar.com Mark Klaphake (Western MN) 320-352-6303 (ofďƒžce) 320-248-3196 (cell) Laura Seljan (National Advertising, SE MN) 507-250-2217 fax: 507-634-4413 laura.s@dairystar.com Jerry Nelson (SW MN, NW Iowa, South Dakota) 605-690-6260 jerry.n@dairystar.com Mike Schafer (Central, South Central MN) 320-894-7825 mike.s@dairystar.com Amanda Hoeďƒ&#x;er (Eastern Iowa) 320-250-2884 • amanda.h@dairystar.com Julie Barnes (SE WI and Northern IL) julie.b@dairystar.com Megan Stuessel (Western Wisconsin) 608-387-1202 • megan.s@dairystar.com Ashley Curry (Northeast WI and Upper MI) 920-539-7268 • ashley.c@dairystar.com Deadlines The deadline for news and advertising in the Dairy Star is 5 p.m. Friday the week before publication. Subscriptions One year subscription $35.00, outside the U.S. $110.00. Send check along with mailing address to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378. Advertising Our ad takers have no authority to bind this newspaper and only publication of an advertisement shall constitute ďƒžnal acceptance of the advertiser's order. Letters Letters and articles of opinion are welcomed. Letters must be signed and include address and phone number. We reserve the right to edit lengthy letters. The views and opinions expressed by Dairy Star columnists and writers are not necessarily those of the Dairy Star LLC.
The Dairy Star is published semi-monthly by Dairy Star, LLC, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246. Periodicals Postage Paid at Sauk Centre, MN and additional mailing ofďƒžces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246.
A glance at what’s inside With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, there are many things we can all be grateful for. For Jimmy Johnson, it is his family. Johnson, who milks 60 cows in Grey Eagle, Minnesota, was diagnosed with stage 2 colon cancer in October, and has relied on his entire family – parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews – to keep the dairy aďƒ&#x;oat. Read about Johnson’s immense support system in the ďƒžrst section on pages 10-11. Feed is a signiďƒžcant part of dairy farming, including the Westra family, who hosted an I-29 Moo University ďƒželd day Nov. 13 on their 800-cow dairy, Summit Dairy, near Primghar, Iowa. They shared their experiences of how they made changes to their bunker silos in order to decrease spoilage and increase feed efďƒžciencies. Dr. Hugo Ramirez from Iowa State University and Connie Kuber from Connor Agriscience also spoke during the ďƒželd day about bunker management and safety. Turn to pages 2-3 in third section to read more about the event. Second Look Holsteins, a 1,000-cow dairy near Eden, Wis., also recently hosted an on-farm event as part of a Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin tour focused on feed management, storage and tracking. The Hodorffs, who own the dairy, shared how they switched to a higher corn silage ration over the years and how they have managed the feed in both bunkers and piles. A feed tracking program also helps them receive real-time information about the ration they are feeding their herd. Read more about it on pages 12-13 in ďƒžrst section. This issue’s “From our side of the fenceâ€? feature asks FFA members about their leadership and experience within the organization. They told us about their chapter’s most popular fundraiser, how their FFA experience will beneďƒžt them in the future and how they have personally grown from the organization. Read the responses from these high schoolers on pages 15-16 in ďƒžrst section. Unlike many farmers, Jason “Tazâ€? Lehman does not have a rich family history of dairying. In fact, his start began in high school when he milked for a neighbor, and now, Lehman and his family milk 115 cows near Sherrill, Iowa. To read about this young family’s start in the industry and how they have built a herd they are proud of, turn to pages 3-4 in second section. November is National Diabetes Month to bring awareness to the disease that affects 30 million Americans who deal with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Eric Hilke, a dairy farmer from Altura, Minnesota, talked about how he has dealt with Type 1 since the age of 6 while Bob Pierce shared his experience of having Type 2 since being diagnosed over one year ago. Turn to page 5 in second section to read their story and how the disease affects their every day life. As harvest ďƒžnally nears its end, we caught up with Tony and Marc Clasemann for our “Day in the Lifeâ€? feature. The father-son duo spent Nov. 15 combining high moisture corn, along with other routine tasks on their dairy farm near Long Prairie, Minnesota. Their story and photo spread can be found in second section on pages 16, 18-19. We wish you all a blessed Thanksgiving.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019 • Page 3
It’s all inside... Columnists Ag Insider
Pages 8-9 First Section
FROM OUR SIDE OF THE FENCE:
Hutchinson
Turner
Bon Yankton Homme
ln
co
Lin
Clay
Osceola O’Brien
Sioux Plymouth
Clear Lake
Dairy’s Star Youth: Cole Knutson
FFA members: What is your biggest accomplishment?
Lyon
Clay
Palo Alto
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Ida
Monona
as
nt
ho
a oc
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Fre
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Mon
Page
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Kanabec Worth
Mitchell Howard
Hancock Cerro Gordo
t
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mb
Hu
Floyd
Bremer
Wright Franklin Butler
Greene Guthrie
Boone
Dallas
Polk
ll
ha
Story
rs Ma
Jasper
Fayette
Black Hawk
Tama
Third Section: Pages 8 -10
Houston
aw
as
ick
Ch
Grundy un Webster Hamilton Hardin
Au
e war Dubuque
an
ch
Bu
Clayton
an
Benton
Dela
Jones
Linn
Iowa
Jackson Clinton
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Jo
Scott
Muscatine
n
Pottawattamie Cass Mills
go
eba
Kossuth
Fillimore
Mower
lho
Ca
Crawford Carroll
Harrison Shelby
First Section: Pages 15 - 16
Zone 1
n inso Emmet
Dick
Freeborn
Faribault
Martin
ke
ro
e Ch
Woodbury
Third Section: Page 7
Jackson
e
Charles Mix
Nobles
Kids Corner: The Luehmanns
Winona
iek
Douglas
Gregory
Rock
Cottonwood Watonwan Blue Earth Waseca Steele Dodge Olmsted
ake
Tripp
McCook Minnehaha
Murray
Wabasha
sh
Todd
Moody
Lewiston
Goodhue
Rice
am
Mellette
on
ns
Ha
Lake
Nicollet
Brown
All
Aurora
Miner
Redwood
ne
Brule
Sanborn
Brookings
Adair
Adams Taylor
Madison Warren Marion Mahaska Keokuk
Union R
g ing
old
Clarke
Lucas
Decatur Wayne
Monroe Wapello
A
n ppa
e oos
Davis
gto
Lyman
Jerauld
Kingsbury
Dakota
Scott
Sibley
Lyon
W in
Buffalo
Beadle
hin
Hamlin
Hand
on
rs ffe
Je
Louisa
Wa s
Hyde
Carver
iek
Jones
Hughes
Hennepin
McLeod
Renville
Yellow Medicine
sh
Stanley
Deuel
Anoka
Wright
Meeker
Chippewa
Lac Qui Parle
Codington
Clark
Kandiyohi
Isanti
Washington
Sully
Swift
Grant Spink
Sherburne
ms ey
Faulk
Potter
Day
Benton
Stearns
Pope
we
Fall River
Pages 10 - 11 Shannon Bennett Second Section
Dewey
Edmunds
Stevens
Big Stone
Ra
Brown
Pine
Mille Lacs
Morrison
Douglas
First Section: Pages 18, 20
Carlton
Po
The “Mielke” Market Jackson Weekly
Roberts
Marshall
McPherson
Aitkin
Crow Wing
Todd Grant
Cow monitoring system helps Mehrkenses with reproduction
go
Haakon
Sargent
Otter Tail
Mazeppa
isa Ch
Meade
Dickey
Richland
Cass
eu r
Campbell
Corson
Becker
Clay
Ransom
LaMoure
McIntosh
Sioux
Walworth
Pennington
Cass
Emmons
Page 33 First Section
Custer
Bames
Su
Grant
Dairy Good Life Ziebach
Lawrence
Stutsman
Logan
Perkins
Butte
Kidder
M
Cook Lake
Itasca
Hubbard
Burleigh
en
om ahn
Wadena
Oliver
Just Thinking Adams Out Loud
Polk
Trail
Steele
Norman
Morton
Page 32 First Section
Harding
Griggs
First Section: Page 39
Koochiching
Le
Bowman
Hettinger
Foster
Wilkin
Something Mercer Dunn to Ruminate On
Wells
Sheridan
Dairy Prole: Joel Suhr
St. Louis
Red Lake
Eddy
McLean
Beltrami
Pennington
Grand Forks
Mantorville
Teaching is a part of farming for Mirons
Lake of the Woods
Marshall
Benson Nelson
Roseau
Tra ver se
Slope
Walsh
Ramsey
McHenry
Ward
Kittson
Lincoln
Page 30 First Section
Pembina
n
Pierce
Page 31 Stark First Section
Golden Valley
Cavalier
Towner
Pipestone
Billings
Rolette
n
McKenzie
Bottineau
First Section: Pages 1, 5-6
io
Williams
Renville
Dear County Agent Guy Mountrail Burke
First Section: Pages 22 - 23
Second Section: Pages 14 - 15
Da vi so n
Divide
Hugo
Hagfors builds dairy delivery business
bo
First Section: Pages 10 - 11
Page 26 First Section
St. Cloud
New York farmers gain insight from Minnesota dairies
Un
FSA News & Notes
St. Cloud
du
Johnson relies on family during cancer diagnosis
Clearwater
Grey Eagle
Van Buren
Henry Des
Moines
Lee
Zone 2 Sherrill
Lehman reaches goal with farm purchase Second Section: Pages 3 - 5
Primghar
For additional stories from our other zone, log on to www.dairystar.com
Field Day held at Summit Dairy
Third Section: Pages 2 - 3
Wilton
Women in Dairy: Laura (Leazer) Jones First Section: Page 36
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019 • Page 5
ConƟnued from MIRONS | Page 1
Trust the experts Future success starts with today’s nutrition At Famo Feeds, we strive to provide the best support for your operation and work to accommodate your specific needs.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
An aerial photo shows the Miron family’s farm when they hosted a breakfast on the farm Sept. 7 as part of the Washington/Ramsey County Farm Bureau 100year anniversary celebraƟon. and his wife, Stacey, have one son, Levi, 4 months. The Mirons milk 125 cows on their dairy in Washington County near Hugo. Fran and Mary Ann said an important part of making the farm what it is today are their four other children and their families who do not farm. All four are teachers, with three of them teaching agriculture. They include their son, Mike, his wife, Severine; their son, Mark, his wife, Wendy, and kids, Landon, 4, Carter, 2, and Autumn, 1; their daughter, Ann Tauzell, her husband, Brian and their kids, Warren, 6, and Amelia, 4; and their daughter Katie Crowley, her husband, Justin, and their daughter, Elizabeth, 2 months. “It’s a wonderful recognition for us, but I think it just adds to the recognition of the importance of agriculture, and in particular dairy, to our community, our county and our state,” Fran said about receiving the award. “It’s really a privilege to be able to be part of that because of that broader recognition of the importance of farmers and dairy.” Urban sprawl from the Twin Cities metro area has grown the town of Hugo from about 3,000 people in 1989 to now nearly 16,000 people and decreased the number of farmers in the area, said Fran. “A lot of that [growth] is urbanites that are multiple generations removed from agriculture,” he said. That makes the teaching aspect of their dairy that much more important. Fran has been able to teach others while serving roles in local government for 30 years, including as the mayor of Hugo and during the last seven years while on the
Washington County Board of Commissioners. Several members of the family are also involved in leadership roles with the Washington/Ramsey County Farm Bureau. On Sept. 7 as part of the county organization’s 100-year anniversary, the Mirons hosted a breakfast on the farm for just over 2,000 people in the community. The event allowed the Mirons to showcase what happens every day on a dairy farm. “People are interested but don’t know how to see what’s going on at a farm,” Andrew said. “They had that opportunity, and being able to share what we do with the community is an important thing for us, too.” The Mirons farm by the motto, “Caring for the family, livestock and the land for over a century,” which the family developed in 1987 when the farm celebrated a milestone as being in the family for 100 years. With the way the dairy economy has been the past few years, this has meant cautious investments, Fran said. “We have to be sure the investments we’re making really provide resources for quality animal care and for quality resource retention on the farm to make sure the farm is sustainable long into the future,” Fran said. “And that we’re not overextending ourselves.” Andrew has been able to secure two Livestock Investment Grants to help cover costs of recent farm upgrades. This year’s improvement project is converting their bedded pack barn into a freestall barn. The
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Page 6 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019
ConƟnued from INSURANCE | Page 1
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insurance has changed over the years, provider networks have narrowed and monopolized the industry. Across the Midwest, state governments have created subsidy programs to help offset the cost of medical expenses. For example, in Minnesota in 2018, a reinsurance program was established to pay insurers a corridor of risk at 80% of medical expenses exceeding $50,000 up to $250,000. Similar programs are available in Wisconsin and Iowa. “Because money was not being used with companies, they took the unused money and pooled that into the premium pot to lower individual premiums,” said Vrieze, who mentioned Minnesota has seen a near 20% reduction in insurance prices compared to what they could be because of this program. Minnesota’s program will expire at the end of 2019 until it is reauthorized by legislation. Subsidies are based on income, not assets. They allow individuals to purchase coverage on the individual or small group market at a fraction of the cost. “In the dairy world, that’s both good and bad,” Vrieze said. “It’s good because right now it means dairy farmers are potentially eligible. It’s not good because that means their income is down.” Aside from income, farmers should also consider the structure of their dairy business. Those who offer insurance to their employees need to look at plans as a whole, not simply the cost. “Find out [what your employees] need. Find out what doctor or network they are able to use,” Vrieze said. “You can buy insurance all day long, but if they can’t get to the doctor, it doesn’t matter.” If the farm is a self-proprietor, individuals may be able to sign up for a Section 105 plan, which allows the business to deduct health insurance premiums for eligible employees. Other non-traditional coverage options include Christian health plans and cooperative plans. Both alternative options typically have lower costs as monthly premiums are pooled and redistributed to members. Yet, there are also certain limitations for
enrollment qualications and coverage. “Make sure your insurance plan will provide 24 hour coverage,” Vrieze said. “If you get hurt on the job, some plans won’t cover it. And, in agriculture, it’s not required for employees to carry workers comp unless they’re a certain size.” Individuals should also consider how convenient their provider might be. For example, offering telemedicine. “As a dairy farmer, you can’t easily get off the farm because your milking cows,” Vrieze said. “It’s probably important to you to have a plan that allows you to have access to talk to a doctor without leaving the farm.” Individual and family health priorities should also be considered when choosing a provider. If a certain doctor is important, then nd a network that works with that physician. If children need to be covered, but are away at college, nd a network that will meet their needs elsewhere. “Before choosing a plan, know how your business and family will be covered,” Vrieze said. Vrieze encourages farmers to consider opening a health savings account to use with a high deductible plan and as a tax advantage. “And, HSAs are not dependent on where you’re working,” she said. “If you get out of dairy, you can still use it if you work in town.” The healthcare expert also said to think unconventionally. Before scheduling an appointment, call the provider’s nancial department to see if there is a discount to pay for the services with cash in certain locations. “Healthcare is the only industry we don’t ask about the price or we leave an appointment and don’t know the cost,” Vrieze said. “That money comes out of your pocket until you meet the deductible, so by asking you can feel you have some control or choice in the matter.” With enrollment now open, individuals should work with a local broker agent to nd the best option. “Insurance is overwhelming,” Vrieze said. “But it is so important to take care of yourself for you, your family and your business.”
ConƟnued from MIRONS | Page 5
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Mirons said they hope it will increase cow comfort, and improve milk quality and cow cleanliness. But bedding played a big role in the decision to covert the barn, especially the expense and the availability. “We bed a lot with corn stalks,” Fran said. “Last year was tough to get dry cornstalk bales made. This year, we don’t have corn acres to have cornstalk bales because we had 150 acres of prevent plant corn and we chopped most of our corn we were able to plant for forage.” To help alleviate these issues, the Mirons searched for alternatives. For the last three years, they have partnered with a landscaper who gives the Mirons leaves he has collected from lawncare maintenance. The Mirons use this as bedding in the fall to save on cost. Another way the Mirons alleviate cost on the dairy is working with the local food shelf and taking food past the best-by date to give to the youngstock. The family is also looking at working with a brewery in the future to use its spent brewers’ grain for feed. “I think we have to get creative at times with coming up with ways to help supplement the poor farm economy we’ve had,” Andrew said. “We do our best to nd different ways in the community to help better use resources.” When Fran and Mary Ann started farming in the mid 1970s, they never imagined being able to pass it onto their kids.
“It (bringing in the next generation) creates challenges, but it’s also exciting because there are some things going on at the farm today that if there wasn’t another generation interested, we would not be doing it,” Fran said. Now transitioning the farm will be one of the next steps for their farm as Paul and Andrew work towards full ownership. “It would be hard for Paul and I to start an operation from scratch if we wanted to dairy farm,” Andrew said. “But the possibility to come back home to work and transition in really gives us an opportunity to do what we love. We couldn’t be more grateful for that.” Paul agreed. “I like being able to work every day with my brother,” Paul said. “The same with Mom and Dad. I like being able to work with them. Both parents have helped us in different ways, and we appreciate all they’ve done.” Fran and Mary Ann feel thankful they were able to teach their children a love and appreciation in agriculture. “It’s really neat to experience Paul and Andrew doing the same thing four generations before them have done,” Fran said. “We’ve always had dairy. So dairy has been the mainstay of our farm operation over all those generations.” And Paul and Andrew are ready to continue living the farm’s motto while teaching others in the community about agriculture in the process.
ConƟnued from MILLERS | Page 1 always makes egg bake. We eat light enough to hunt,” Dan said. quick and away we go.” “Whoever shoots one rst kind Deer hunting has been a tradi- of gets the short end of the stick tion for Dan since he was a kid. and has to do chores.” “Dan used to get much more Aidan gladly spent many excited about deer hunting when evenings last season in the barn he was younger,” Karen said. so the rest of his family members Although the thrill of the could fulll their hunt. It was all yearly event lessened, Dan’s ex- part of his caring personality, citement returned once the family said Karen. got involved. “He was just a good kid,” “I kept the excitement for she said. “We never had to worry the kids,” he said. “Aidan was at about him taking the wrong road. the age where he was so excited He didn’t hang with the bad about the hunt. I got excited that crowd. He’d watch out for the he was so excited.” underdog. He’s the type that The Millers have trail cam- would pick anyone up if they eras on their land to help them were down.” track deer. Aidan followed one This was evident to more than particular buck since last year. his family. Shortly after sunrise on open“It was a terrible thing to ing morning, a buck came into lose him but the stories we got Dan’s sight. to hear after he passed away, we “I had seen a lot of deer out probably wouldn’t have known if there this year,” he said. “After I he hadn’t,” Karen said. shot him, I knew it was a big buck, They ranged from befriendbut didn’t even realize it was the ing a new kid at school to helpone Aidan had been following ing younger students on the bus until I got to him.” among many others sharing his It was almost as if Aidan had good deeds and kind gestures. a part in the family hunting that At home, Aidan liked being morning after all, said Dan. outside doing chores. “I wasn’t expecting that,” “He was my right hand man Dan said, getting choked up. “It on the farm,” Dan said. “We was bittersweet. It was nice to get worked side by side every day. him, but I wish Aidan would have He knew the system and was just been the one to get him. Had he starting to get to the age where he been here, I’m guessing he’s the could start or do chores without one who would have gotten it.” us. He was so dependable.” Dan was sitting in the same Milking was bonding time stand Aidan used last year when for Dan and his son. he shot an 8-point buck opening “He talked to me about evmorning. Since he already lled erything in the barn, and I would his tag, Aidan insisted on Dan talk to him about everything,” going back to the woods to get his Dan said. “We had some great own buck for the season. conversations.” “Since we milk early in the Both in the barn and in the morning, evening milking has to woods were two places Aidan felt be done early, too, when it’s still most comfortable.
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019 • Page 7
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
The Miller family – (front row, from leŌ) Avalin, Karen, Dan and Mary Kate; (back row, from leŌ) Blaine, Garret and Ellie – remembered their son and brother, Aidan, while going about this year’s annual Miller family hunƟng tradiƟons on their farm near Kellogg, Minnesota. “He wasn’t the kid to sit inside and play video games,” Dan said. “He was outside doing chores, out shing and hunting.” In fact, the night Aidan died, he nished chores for the evening and was shing with friends. “They had been out near the pond [where they were shing],” Dan said. “He had been wrestling with his buddies. They said he walked away, took a knee and a couple deep breaths and just tipped over and his heart never beat again.” The friends who were with him immediately started CPR until the paramedics arrive, but
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tion knowing it wasn’t an accident,” she said. “I felt relieved he wasn’t scared or in pain, it wasn’t something he did or somebody else did that would have to live with regret. I was so thankful for that. To me, that was a huge comfort.” And although deer hunting season will never be the same for the family, they take comfort in knowing they can share happy memories they have together with Aidan doing one of their favorite family hobbies.
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Dean Foods seeks bankruptcy protection Page 8 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019
Dean Foods has received approval USDA adjust milk production upfrom the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the ward In the latest supply demand reSouthern District of Texas, granting acport, USDA revised milk cess for up to $475 million Ag Insider production upward. For to continue day to day op2019, milk production is erations. Dean Foods Presforecast at 218.6 billion ident and CEO Eric Berpounds. That is up 400 ingause praised the action million pounds from the of the court, saying it will October report. The 2020 allow the company to conforecast increased 800 miltinue to operate as normal, lion pounds to 222.4 bilpaying employee wages lion pounds. The increase and payments to suppliwas due to the likelihood ers, as it moves through the of bigger gains in milk bankruptcy process. Dean production per cow and an Foods led for Chapter 11 increase in cow numbers. bankruptcy protection after By Don Wick A stronger cheese market losing 80% of its stock valColumnist bumped the price forecast ue in the past year. Dairy for Class III milk. Farmers of America is reportedly in advanced discussions with Dean Foods about the purchase of Dean Stronger milk prices provide hedging opportunities Foods’ assets. November Class III Milk futures DMI responds to bankruptcy an- moved above $20 per hundredweight. Kluis Commodities market analyst nouncement Responding to the Dean Foods Jacob Burks sees that $20-plus price bankruptcy ling, Dairy Management as a psychological level for dairy proInc. released a statement about the ducers. “This has been too little, too state of the dairy industry. “The U.S. late for some of these dairies,” Burks dairy community remains a strong and said. “There have been tough times in diverse sector, achieving consistent the dairy market.” Burks said it is good growth in per capita consumption for to see some black ink for dairy produc25 years in retail category worth over ers, with hedging opportunities through $100 billion. In fact, domestic dairy 2020. sales are up 2.5% as of August 2019. Cheese and butter are at all-time con- Labor challenges discussed at NMPF sumption highs.” With plant-based meeting At the National Milk Producers beverages gaining traction in the marketplace, DMI emphasized uid milk Federation annual meeting in New continues to be a staple in 94% of U.S. Orleans, dairy farmers were chalhouseholds. DMI said the U.S. dairy lenged to take a proactive role in farm industry will continue to successfully policy. NMPF Milk Chairman Randy navigate the current economic environ- Mooney, who farms in Missouri, adment.
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dressed the immigration issue. “Immigration is not a large farm issue; it’s not a small farm issue; it’s a dairy farm issue,” Mooney said. “I had the worst year on my farm last year that I ever had. It wasn’t necessarily about economics. I had a labor problem and economics don’t make a bit of difference if you don’t have anybody to do the work.” Mooney advocated for an immigration bill that is moving through Congress. In addition to the NMPF, this meeting included the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board and the United Dairy Industry Association.
Peterson to announce 2020 plans after Jan. 1 House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson does not plan to announce his intentions for the 2020 elections until after Jan. 1. The decision may hinge on the next farm bill. “I can win; I’m not worried about that,” Peterson said. “The issue is if I want to stay around to do another farm bill because basically I’d have to stay three more terms if I want to do that.” The makeup of the congressional district will also change after reapportionment in 2022. “It could be that just about everybody from farm districts are Republicans. We (Democrats) could still have the majority and we’d have an ag committee with no one from farm districts except me and that’s what I have to gure out.” There are ve Republican candidates who have announced plans to run for Minnesota’s seventh congressional districts. Cost control is the key to protability There are big differences between the farmers who are protable and those who are not. Dale Nordquist is the associate director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Farm Financial Management and spoke at the American Bankers Association Ag Bankers Conference. Nordquist said younger farmers are generally doing well. “There may be some help from the older generation, but beginning farmers are not a problem area. It’s also not size-related; we see struggles with smaller producers and larger producers.” Cost control is the biggest difference. “They’re paying less for seed; they’re paying less for fertilizer and less for nearly every input, including rent. When you start adding it up, it amounts to hundreds of dollars per difference per acre.” Walz recognizes economic challenges in agriculture Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has requested a secretarial disaster designation for a dozen counties in the north-
west corner of the state. Walz said the crop losses are a signicant issue this fall, but the problem will likely extend into next spring. “We are going to see ooding, that’s two seasons back to back where it will be very challenging.” The current farm situation differs from the 1980s, but Walz recognizes many farmers have renanced operating loans for multiple years. Will lenders be asked to consider loan forbearance? “We have not ofcially asked that question,” Walz said. “A group of ag lenders showed me that on some farms farmers aren’t going to breakeven at $5.10 corn; others can make it at $2.65. This year, that band of those who can make it is getting narrower and more difcult.” Walz spoke at the Minnesota Ag & Food Summit Nov. 14 in Minneapolis.
AgriGrowth honors for Torgerson Minnesota AgriGrowth has presented its Distinguished Service Award to Dave Torgerson. Torgerson retired in March after 30-plus years as the executive director of the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers and Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council. For those who know Torgerson, it was not a surprise when he gave the credit to others. “I don’t think I personally deserve (the award), but to me it is a reection of all the board members who gave their vision, dedication and commitment; and for all the staff who worked for growers to serve and make a difference.” Hall of fame honors The National Association of Farm Broadcasting inducted the 2019 class to its National Farm Broadcaster Hall of Fame. The honorees are Max Armstrong of ‘This Week in Agribusiness’ and Farm Journal and Tom Steever of Browneld. MFU membership and outreach director passes Minnesota Farmers Union Membership and Outreach Director Bruce Miller passed away Nov. 9. Miller joined the MFU team in 2007. He grew up on a dairy farm in central Minnesota and had a passion for family farmers and rural communities. In a statement, MFU President Gary Wertish said Miller dedicated his life working for social justice and building relationships across Minnesota, and he will be deeply missed. U of M wins NAILE dairy contest The University of Minnesota won Turn to AG INSIDER | Page 9
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019 • Page 9
ConƟnued from AG INSIDER | Page 8 the dairy judging contest at the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky. Emily Annexstad of St. Peter was the top individual judge. Trivia challenge A gallon of milk weighs 8.6 pounds. That answers our last trivia question. For this week, how much butterfat is required in U.S. butter products? We’ll
have the answer in the next edition of Dairy Star. Don Wick is owner/broadcaster for the Red River Farm Network, based in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Wick has been recognized as the National Farm Broadcaster of the Year and served as president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Don and his wife, Kolleen, have two adult sons, Tony and Sam, and ve grandchildren, Aiden, Piper, Adrienne, Aurora and Sterling.
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Page 10 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019
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Jimmy Johnson (center) stands among other members of the Johnson family – (from le�) Clayton, Mitch, Gavin, Art, Jeff, Devon and Peyton – who have been helping him with milking and eld work for the past few months when he fell ill. Johnson milks 60 cows near Grey Eagle, Minnesota. Not pictured are Jim and Virginia Johnson.
Johnsons band together to help brother, uncle with chores during treatment
as well as harvesting 700 acres of corn, soybean and alfalfa on his farm near Grey Eagle. “We all grew up coming to Uncle Jim’s to help out,” said Mitch Johnson, a nephew. “When we were kids, coming to the farm was part of growing up.” Jimmy began feeling sick in June. He was initially diagnosed with diverticulitis and given medication. By Andrea Borgerding As soon as the medication ran out, Jimmy began feelandrea.b@dairystar.com ing ill again. “The second time I went off meds, I crashed,” GREY EAGLE, Minn. – In his entire 51 years, Jimmy said. “I knew something was majorly wrong.” Jimmy Johnson has never thought twice about being On Oct. 1, knowing something more had to be there for his family. As a single farmer living alongdone, Jimmy got a second opinion from another docside his parents, Jim and Virginia Johnson, most of tor. his life, Jimmy served as the go-to when his family “That is when they found the cancerous tumor in needed a caretaker or mentor. Jimmy’s dairy farm my large intestine,” Jimmy said. naturally became the place for nephews and nieces to During surgery, the tumor ruptured causing an ingather and learn life lessons. fection in Jimmy’s intestine. A portion of the intestine Now, it is the family’s turn to be there for Jimmy. was removed but not before infection spread through“It feels really good to have them all back me,” out his body causing him to go into septic shock. JimJimmy said. my spent 10 days in the hospital. In October, Jimmy was diagnosed with stage 2 co“The doctors told me there were 24 hours where lon cancer and has been undergoing treatment since. it could have gone either way,” Jimmy said. His sudden illness and ongoing treatment have set his While his sisters and mother stayed vigil at his family into overdrive to keep the 60-cow dairy going, bedside, Jimmy’s brothers, Art and Jeff, nephews, Mitch, Devon and Peyton, along with numerous other family members and neighbors, stepped up to keep the farm going. Without guidance from Jimmy, the family managed to milk the cows and continue harvest. A neighbor who does custom harvesting combined the soybean acres. One retired neighbor helped feed calves. Art, Jeff, Mitch, Devon and Peyton coordinated work schedules, school and school activities to make sure both milkings were done every day. “Mom and Dad were helping every day, too,” Jimmy said. “They are in their 80s, and Mom fed calves every day and Dad did eldwork. I didn’t ANDREA BORGERDING/DAIRY STAR have to say a thing and Peyton Johnson a�aches a milking unit to a cow Nov. 13 on his uncle’s, Jimmy Turn to JOHNSON Johnson, dairy farm near Grey Eagle, Minnesota. | Page 11
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019 • Page 11
Con�nued from JOHNSON | Page 10
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Jeff Johnson (from le�) and his sons, Devon and Peyton, visit during evening milking Nov. 13 at Jimmy Johnson’s farm near Grey Eagle, Minnesota. The three have been doing chores with other family members while Jimmy recovers from stage 2 colon cancer. everyone stepped up.” Even with family and neighbors pitching in, maintaining the daily routine was challenging. “We didn’t go four days without a cow freshening,” Art said. “Not a big thing, it’s just that we are all trying to get to work and it takes extra time to work with a fresh cow.” The wet fall and cold temperatures also added to the already challenging harvest for the ll-in crew. Jimmy returned home Oct. 10. He is limited to the amount of activity and work he can do. In the last 10 days, he has eased his way to the eld to drive truck and haul grain.
“They say it’s a miracle the way I quickly recovered. Hopefully we have the worst behind us.” JIMMY JOHNSON, DAIRY FARMER
“I have to do something,” Jimmy said. “If I sit down and think, my anxiety kicks in.” Jimmy is not allowed to be in the barn so Art, Jeff, Mitch, Devon and Peyton continue to milk. Devon, 20, and Peyton, 17, have more recent experience doing chores and have been an enormous help in managing the dairy herd. “It’s been hard on them all,” Jimmy said. “They all have jobs. Peyton
played high school football. Devon is going to college and working. They’ve all stepped up to the plate.” Jeff also has two daughters Kailee, 13, and Avery, 8, who pitch in. Art and his wife, Cindy, along with their grown children, Mitch, Bridget and Amanda, and her husband, Luke Fuechtmann, have all helped. Mitch’s children, Gavin, 10, Clayton, 8, and Abby, 4, have also been able to help on Great Uncle Jimmy’s farm. Jimmy’s ordeal is not over, but according to his medical team, the cancer is easily treatable. He is scheduled for preventative chemotherapy treatments this winter and will have a scan to determine whether the cancer has spread to other parts of his body. “They say it’s a miracle the way I quickly recovered,” Jimmy said. “Hopefully we have the worst behind us.” Doctors are encouraging Jimmy to discontinue farming, but the Johnson family is determined to keep Jimmy farming as long as he wants to. “I’d like to keep farming,” Jimmy said. “Hopefully one of these boys will stick around and keep helping. But if we get bad news, we will discuss the next step.” Jimmy cannot even begin to start thanking those who came to help on the farm. Jimmy hopes he will fully recover so he can return the favor someday. “He doesn’t need to repay us,” Mitch said. “We’re family.” The sentiment is mutual for all family members. “We have a family motto,” Art said. “Nobody in this family ghts alone.”
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Silage diet successful for Second Look Holsteins Switching to cornbased ration cuts costs By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
EDEN, Wis. – Can a farm be successful feeding milk cows a diet dominated by corn silage? The farm owners at Second Look Holsteins, who feed a 75%-80% corn silage ration, say yes. The move from less haylage to more corn silage began three years ago as a way to cut costs on the 1,000-cow, 1,300-acre dairy farm owned by Clint Hodorff, Corey and Tammy Hodorff, and Doug and Linda Hodorff of Eden. “Haylage is expensive to produce,” Corey said. “Switching to a diet heavy in corn silage was a way for us to control expenses because there are other things you can’t control, like milk prices. We also we get more tonnage with corn silage.” Second Look Holsteins welcomed dairy producers and industry professionals to its farm Oct. 24 as part of a Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin tour focused on feed management, storage and tracking. Brothers Corey and Clint gave visitors a rsthand look at the dairy’s feed storage and tracking systems while sharing details about its shift to a high corn silage diet. Corey said they gradually increased the amount of corn silage fed to the cows over two years. In addition to corn silage, the ration includes dry alfalfa hay, ground corn, cottonseed, and a protein mix contain-
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Corey Hodorff (right), one of the owners of Second Look Holsteins, talks to dairy farmers and industry professionals about his farm’s feed storage and tracking systems during a PDPW tour Oct. 24 near Eden, Wisconsin. The Hodorffs milk 1,000 cows and farm 1,300 acres. ing soybean meal and micronutrients. Milk production and components have remained steady with the new meal plan as cows continue to average 85 pounds of milk per cow per day. Dry matter intake has also remained strong. The farm’s nutritionist, Steve Woodford, said the cows are doing well
on the ration. “Hodorffs’ ration is really consistent, and cows do very little sorting,” Woodford said. “The diet is dialed in and doesn’t change much day to day.” The farm has decreased its acres of hay, down from 450 two years ago to 70 acres today. The reduction in alfalfa
has allowed Second Look Holsteins to produce additional income by growing other crops like winter wheat and 200 acres of soybean. The Hodorffs abandoned bunkers in favor of feed piles, building a feed pad in two phases that measures 470 feet by 590 feet. They built the pad in 2013 and expanded it to the south in the spring of 2019. The pad is sloped to the middle and collects 100% of runoff. Drainage is channeled into a 6,000-gallon, 8-foot deep lagoon. The feed pad is made of 7-inch watertight concrete with a 6-inch PVC water stop to prevent water from entering through cracks. “We cover the feed in sections – 60 feet at a time,” Clint said. “The piles are protected with a vapor barrier, black and white plastic, and an inoculant to help fermentation.” Corey said bunkers worked better when they had fewer cows. Corn silage piles are as large as 9,500 tons, and the farm has ve to six months of carryover. “We use a facer for the feed and take down what we need for that feeding,” Corey said. “The piles feature a big face to get more consistent feed along with better packing and less shrink.” Second Look Holsteins has a comprehensive nutrient management plan in place and is devoted to environmental practices such as vertical tillage, precision planting, cover crop rotation and manure injection. Corey said in the last two years they had two major rainfall events in which they received more Turn to SILAGE | Page 13
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019 • Page 13
Con�nued from SILAGE | Page 12
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Clint Hodorff discusses how the feed pad is designed to collect 100% of runoff. than 5 inches of rain in one day but had no erosion. “We’ve implemented technologies that allow us to get more corn silage tonnage without adding more acres,” Clint said. “We used to have two sixrow corn planters. Now, we use a precision planting dual hybrid planter which allows us to use a specic hybrid in low or dry spots. It also plants seeds at the perfect depth and can adjust row spacing from 30 inches down to 20 inches.” Clint said the result is a bigger, healthier corn stalk that requires less herbicide. The farm uses a custom chopper and yielded 19.7 tons of corn silage in 2019 – a 3-ton increase from last year. The Hodorffs planted three types of corn this year – BMR, dual hybrids and HDS (highly digestible silage). “We plant HDS in the good spots and dual hybrids in harder spots,” Corey said. “Dual hybrids have been the best kind, giving us good quality and tonnage.” For 15 years, Second Look Holsteins has used a feed management program called FeedWatch® to track feed inventories, dry matter intake and ration changes, putting real-time information into the Hodorffs’ hands. “We know exactly how much feed we have and how much feed we need,” Corey said. “We know precisely how much feed and forage is coming in, going through the mixer and being fed to cows. We can calculate shrink easily, and we look at that often. FeedWatch is a good tool for tracking shrink. In the last ve years, we have really focused on that and reduced shrink by 3% through monitoring inventory and training employees that feed has a dol-
lar value attached to it.” Error reports are reviewed with feeders on a weekly basis. Each ingredient is assigned a dollar value, and feeders can see exactly how much it costs to overmix by a certain amount. The farm is also aware of how much moisture is in the feed and the total tonnage coming off the elds. Moisture this year measured between 63%70% but most was between 65%-68%, Corey said. The Hodorffs also monitor pile densities and face temperatures to ensure a quality feed product. “We want to be more efcient and get all of our feed on one side of the road,” Corey said. “Right now, we’re on two. Efciency is not as good as it could be because we have three areas where we get feed.” The Hodorffs plan to build a commodity building in the future to solve this problem. The fully enclosed structure would place all feed under one roof with mixing taking place there as well. The Hodorffs estimate the payoff of that building to be ve years. “We’re always looking to be better and more efcient,” Corey said. Feeding corn silage instead of haylage has been successful for Second Look Holsteins, who, this year, also experimented with a sunower and corn silage mix and have two small piles they plan to feed. The Hodorff brothers encouraged other dairy farmers to consider new ration possibilities and ways to store, track and manage feed. “Don’t be afraid of technology or change,” Clint said. “What makes you uncomfortable is sometimes the best thing for you.”
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FFA members: What is your biggest accomplishment?
Valerie Gall 16 years old Parents: Scott and Stephanie Gall Pierz, Minnesota Morrison County Pierz FFA Chapter When did you join FFA and why? I joined FFA at the end of my sophomore year. I joined FFA because my FFA advisor is one of my favorite people in the world. I wanted to compete in competitions. I knew that if I was in FFA, I could actually go out and do stuff for FFA and make myself useful. What is your favorite activity or event during the year? Doing the career development events are a very enjoyable experience for me. I had done the soils and the dairy evaluation CDE this year. I learned a lot from doing them. The people were fun to talk to on the bus ride home from dairy evaluation, and the instructors were super nice during both competitions. Tell us about your most popular fundraiser. Selling fruit. We use Minntex and sell the weekend before MEA and stop selling in early November. One other popular fundraiser is our FFA ice cream machine. The machine was donated, and we use it at the basketball games to sell to the fans. What is your biggest accomplishment as a FFA member? Getting new people to join. Some people in my class and even younger kids have joined. It’s fun when people say, “I didn’t know you were in FFA, Val. Do you like it?â€? I always say, “Yes. You should join, too.â€? It is fun seeing the new members at the meetings. It’s been one of my goals to have some people look up to me. How do you feel your time in FFA will beneďƒžt you in the future? FFA has helped me get out there more. It has helped me start talking to people I don’t know, and it has helped me to start working on projects by myself. FFA gives me a sense of responsibility to get something done in a certain amount of time. This will beneďƒžt me in the future because what I’ve been doing to help in FFA has been making me less shy to talk to people and express my opinions. How have you grown personally because of FFA? I have grown a lot since joining FFA. It has given me a sense of purpose to do things, and it has gotten me out of my comfort zone. I’ve been a lot happier since I joined. When I talk to the people in FFA, they are all nice and it makes it more enjoyable for me. Tell us about your chapter and what sets it apart from others. Our chapter has 32 members. We get together every month to play games and have a meeting. We also get together every Thursday. The ofďƒžcers have meetings every Tuesday. We talk about what we need to do and how our chapter has been doing. One thing that sets us apart from other chapters is we do ďƒ&#x;ag folding at the Veterans Day program.
Amanda Sauder 18 years old Parents: Stan and Amy Sauder Pine Island, Minnesota Dodge County Pine Island FFA Chapter When did you join FFA and why? I joined FFA during my freshman year of high school. I am a third generation FFA member and joined, not only to continue my family’s tradition, but also because FFA provides the opportunity to meet others with my similar interest in agriculture. What is your favorite activity or event during the year? My favorite FFA activity is showing animals at the Minnesota State Fair. I love to show dairy, and the fair is a great place to meet other FFA members. One of my favorite parts of the fair is talking to fairgoers who come through the livestock barns and sharing information about the dairy industry. Tell us about your most popular fundraiser. Our FFA fruit sales. I have enjoyed getting to meet people in my community while selling fruit for the past few years, and everyone appreciates getting their orders around Christmas. The proceeds help fund FFA camps, conferences and service projects throughout the year. What is your biggest accomplishment as a FFA member? As a freshman, I set a goal to receive my State FFA Degree. After many hours of working at my family’s farm, keeping track of records, and with the help of my advisor, Mr. Erickson, and my parents, I was able to achieve this goal. I learned so much along the way and hope to apply for my American FFA Degree in a few years. How do you feel your time in FFA will beneďƒžt you in the future? I plan on using the skills I have learned in FFA as I enter college and beyond. However, the biggest way FFA has impacted me is through all of the connections I have made. Because of FFA, I have met individuals from all across the nation, and I hope to stay in touch with those people long after my years in the blue jacket come to an end. How have you grown personally because of FFA? FFA has helped me build conďƒždence in myself and has given me a desire to pursue my interest in agriculture when I begin college. I cannot imagine where I would be without FFA, and I am a better person because of it. From going to my ďƒžrst FFA camp to ďƒ&#x;ying to Washington, D.C. by myself, FFA has pushed me out of my comfort zone and given me a place to grow. Tell us about your chapter and what sets it apart from others. Our chapter enjoys being involved within our community, and we have several events throughout the year with other organizations in Pine Island. This year, we opened our chapter enrollment to seventh and eighth graders and have seen an immense growth in our chapter since then. I am so excited to see what our younger members achieve while in the blue jacket. I see a bright future ahead for Pine Island FFA.
Alyssa Strassburg 17 years old Parents: Jeff and Jeni Strassburg Bowler, Wisconsin Shawano County Bowler FFA When did you join FFA and why? I joined FFA in seventh grade because I live on a dairy farm and wanted to learn more about agriculture. Also, my family has been involved in the FFA and the FFA alumni for years. I wanted to be a part of it as well. What is your favorite activity or event during the year? One of my favorite FFA events to attend is state convention because I like meeting people from other chapters and seeing all the accomplishments from around the state. Tell us about your most popular fundraiser. Our annual fruit, peanut and poinsettia sale. This year, we also tried something new by adding fudge to the sale. We also have a handy helper auction, where all of the FFA students are auctioned off for an eight-hour day of work. This has been a great way to connect with people and businesses in the community. What is your biggest accomplishment as an FFA member? Receiving my Wisconsin FFA State Degree last June. This was a huge accomplishment for me because only about 1.5% of the FFA members in Wisconsin are able to achieve this award. How do you feel your time in FFA will beneďƒžt you in the future? Showing swine and beef, being active on our dairy farm and taking part in my own supervised agricultural experience has helped me realize my desire to continue in the footsteps of the ďƒžve generations in my family before me and continue on our family’s farm. I believe FFA has helped me realize the importance of giving back to your community and has helped me to grow to be a better person. How have you grown personally because of FFA? FFA has helped me become a better public speaker and be more conďƒždent speaking about and promoting agriculture. Through my FFA activities, I have grown personally, learning to work with others, to lead and organize events and activities as well as help my chapter continue to grow. Tell us about your chapter and what sets it apart from others. Our chapter this year has 60% of the school as members of the Bowler FFA chapter, which shows a renewed interest in the organization. Our chapter has also been active at the district, state and national levels, participating in competitions such as leadership development events, career development events, attending state convention, attending national convention and other activities. We also stay active in our community by helping maintain the school forest, helping with the Adventures in Dairyland program in the elementary classrooms and helping educate elementary students about tractor safety.
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Page 16 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019
ConƟnued from OUR SIDE | Page 15
Audrey Kamps 17 years old Parents: Dean and April Kamps Hamburg, Minnesota Sibley County Norwood Young America FFA Chapter When did you join FFA and why? I joined FFA my freshman year of high school, because I was involved in 4-H, and I had some friends who were involved in FFA that made it seem like a lot of fun. I live on a 40-cow dairy farm, and my dad was involved in FFA when he was in high school. What is your favorite activity or event during the year? My favorite activity or event during the year is the fair. I enjoy being able to show my Guernsey animals and connect with the public as they walk through the barn. Tell us about your most popular fundraiser. Our most popular fundraiser is our pork burger stand at the Carver County Fair. What is your biggest accomplishment as a FFA member? One of my biggest accomplishments has been organizing the lunches we packed to give to farmers in the eld during our corn drive. How do you feel your time in FFA will benet you in the future? FFA will benet me in the future, because I am learning skills I would have never learned if I hadn’t joined FFA, and I am getting to meet people from all over. How have you grown personally because of FFA? My leadership skills have grown by joining FFA. I have taken on more responsibilities that force me to be organized and communicate well with others. I am also learning how to connect with people of all ages. Another skill I have improved is my time management. Not only am I involved in FFA, but I am also a threesport athlete involved in National Honor Society and other clubs, and I strive to do well in school, so spending my time wisely and being efcient is important with my schedule. Tell us about your chapter and what sets it apart from others. Our chapter is unique, because we have alumni who enjoy coming back to talk to us and help us if needed. We have members interested in all different topics ranging from traditional agricultural to small animals and wildlife.
Bethany Groos 18 years old Parents: Sean and Linda Groos Howard Lake, Minnesota Wright County Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted FFA Chapter When did you join FFA and why? I joined FFA in my freshman year of high school. All of my siblings were involved in FFA. Growing up on a dairy farm, I have a passion for agriculture. What is your favorite activity or event during the year? During the rst meeting of the year, our chapter plays messy kickball. It is always a blast to start out the year on a high note and to meet the new members. Tell us about your most popular fundraiser. Our fruit fundraiser. Every year, our chapter sells pears, oranges, apples and grapefruit during the winter. It is a great way for community members to get high-quality fruit in the offseason. What is your biggest accomplishment as a FFA member? In my freshman year, I was a nalist in creed speaking. How do you feel your time in FFA will benet you in the future? Being in FFA will open up paths for me in regards to potential internships and scholarships. How have you grown personally because of FFA? Being in FFA has taught me the importance of being efcient, managing my time and holding myself accountable for my work. Tell us about your chapter and what sets it apart from others. My chapter has 122 members, and I would consider it to be one of the best chapters in the state. The FFA program is involved in our school as we not only help to landscape around the school but we also hold agricultural classes for kids to take. We also understand the importance of studying hard for our contests and have seen a signicant amount of success at both the state and national levels.
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Lydia Greden 17 years old Parents: Ross and Victoria Greden Altura, Minnesota Winona County Lewiston-Altura FFA Chapter When did you join FFA and why? I joined FFA in ninth grade because my two older siblings had joined before me. I thought it would be fun and it is. My grandparents were also in FFA. My grandmother was the chapter sweetheart, and my grandfather was the state vice president, so I think it is cool I am a part of what they were a part of in high school. What is your favorite activity or event during the year? Donkey basketball. The FFA parents and my high school teachers ride donkeys on the gym oor and play basketball. It is a super fun event to watch because about every three seconds someone falls off their donkey and cannot get back on. Tell us about your most popular fundraiser. The fruit sales fundraiser because many families and relatives love the fruits, cheeses, meats and variety of other items we sell. We do this fundraiser at the beginning of November so the ordered items can be given as Christmas gifts. What is your biggest accomplishment as a FFA member? Being on the ofcer team for two years because multiple people are interviewed for ofcer positions, but not all of them are given the opportunity to be an ofcer. How do you feel your time in FFA will benet you in the future? My time in FFA has allowed me to widen my career opportunities. Ever since I was a freshman, I have been surrounded by the agricultural eld in school, broadening my future career possibilities. FFA has re-opened my mind about agriculture because I have decided to go to college for a minor in agricultural nance. With that minor, I can take over the nances of my family’s farm once I graduate college. How have you grown personally because of FFA? I have become a better person. I have better social, communication and speaking skills. Being an ofcer, I have duties that require me to interact with farmers and community members, and to do that I need social skills. As I talk to farmers during our chapter’s Corn Drive, I am furthering my skills by communicating about that year’s crop or how well their farm is doing. These skills are crucial in life, and being an FFA ofcer has helped me obtain those skills. Tell us about your chapter and what sets it apart from others. The members of my chapter are involved and enjoy being members of the FFA organization. We do several fun events: a corn drive, donkey basketball, national and state convention,
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Grady Moorse 17 years old Parents: Greg and Becky Moorse Minneota, Minnesota Lyon County Minneota FFA When did you join FFA and why? I joined FFA in seventh grade. I joined because my brothers and their friends were in it. Before I was old enough, I would join in with them on judging practices. What is your favorite activity or event during the year? Explain. My favorite event is dairy judging. I like it because I love the dairy industry, and enjoy looking at and judging dairy cattle. Tell us about your most popular fundraiser. Our most popular fundraiser is our annual wafe feed. We hold it the rst weekend of National FFA Week. We have others from our community come enjoy breakfast, which is served by FFA members. What is your biggest accomplishment as a FFA member? My biggest accomplishment was winning back to back the Region 5 dairy judging contest as an individual. How do you feel your time in FFA will benet you in the future? Being a member of FFA has helped me see all the different ways I can be involved in agriculture. How have you grown personally because of FFA? FFA has helped me grow by enabling me to make new friendships. I have a lot of new friends because of my involvement with FFA. Tell us about your chapter and what sets it apart from others. The members of my chapter are super close. We have been friends for a long time and all know each other very well.
FFA week and state fair among others. My FFA chapter is like a second family to me because we are small. Everybody knows everybody, which makes it more enjoyable. Without my FFA chapter, not many kids would want to further their careers in the agriculture eld in their future, resulting in fewer numbers of farmers; without these future farmers in my FFA chapter, the farming industry would decrease due to the lack of interest. Without the help of my extraordinary advisor, my chapter would not be as big as it is right now; she does a lot of recruiting alongside the ofcers, increasing the amount of interested high schoolers.
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Visit Bobcat.com/Offers or stop by today for details. *Offer ends 12/31/2019. Available at participating and eligible dealers only. Offer may vary by product type, series, model and select units in dealer’s current inventory. Must take delivery from dealer stock by 12/31/2019. Offers available on new equipment in US and Canada only. Some restrictions apply. Length of contract may vary. Prior purchases not eligible. See dealer for details. Financing provided on approval of credit by authorized Bobcat finance providers to well-qualified buyers. Administrative fees may apply. Offer not available to government accounts, national accounts and municipal/utility bid customers. Non-commercial customers may not be eligible for low rate financing. Bobcat Company reserves the right to extend or discontinue any of these programs at any time without prior notice. Bobcat®, the Bobcat logo and the colors of the Bobcat machine are registered trademarks of Bobcat Company in the United States and various other countries.
WISCONSIN
Bobcat of Janesville Janesville • 608-756-0000
Carter & Gruenewald Co., Inc. Brooklyn • 608-455-2411 Carter & Gruenewald Co., Inc. Juda • 608-934-5201 Komro Sales & Service Durand • 715-672-4263 Komro Sales & Service Whitehall • 715-538-1495 Tri-State Bobcat Hudson • 715-531-0801
Page 18 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019
Repro Leaders
Cow monitoring system helps Mazeppa Valley Dairy with reproduction Ted, Sheila, Colby and Kyle Mehrkens Mazeppa Valley Dairy Mazeppa, Minnesota Wabasha County 170 cows
What is your voluntary waiting period for cows? For heifers? We breed our heifers at 13 months old, and for cows, we start breeding at 60 days in milk.
What was your pregnancy rate average last year? Last year, our average pregnancy rate was 30%. Our current pregnancy rate average is 31%.
What is your rst service conception rate? 49% What is your reproduction program? Do you use a synchronization program? We do not use a synchronization
KRISTA KUZMA/DARY STAR
The Mehrkens family – (from leŌ) Ted, Sheila, Kyle and Colby – milks 170 cows that are averaging a pregnancy rate of 31%. They dairy near Mazeppa, Minnesota.
KRISTA KUZMA/DARY STAR
An Angus crossbred calf stands among its Holstein counterparts on the Mehrkens family’s dairy near Mazeppa, Minnesota.
program. We follow a double lutalyse protocol if the cow has had twins or is having trouble cleaning. This means two shots of prostaglandin that are two weeks apart. We also do that if she is showing no heat after 100 days, but that is rare.
How do you observe for heat? We use a heat detection monitor called CowManager. Before that, we used heat detection stickers on the cows’ backs and watched a few times a day. The monitors have been as much help with health as breeding. When we see a cow
Farmer’s Co-op Creamery has much to be thankful for during this Thanksgiving Season!
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has low activity, we have been able to catch illness faster before other symptoms show up. How do you conrm pregnant or open cows? Once a month, our veterinarian, Dr. Turn to MEHRKENS | Page 20
Foreston Farmer’s Co-op Creamery wishes everybody a safe and bountiful Thanksgiving Holiday. We appreciate your patronage and loyalty no matter how big or small
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019 • Page 19
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TRIPLE-T FARM, NORTH LEWISBURG, OHIO Nathan and Jenny Thomas, 40 cows, 100 youngstock Reg. Holsteins and Jerseys, SCC below 100,000 “We let cows be cows, and cows love Udder Comfort.™ So do we. Every fresh cow gets it,” says Nathan Thomas, Triple-T Farm, North Lewisburg, Ohio, home to some top cows from 2019 World Dairy Expo. Nathan and Jenny Thomas both grew up showing. Today, their niche pursuing genetic excellence allows them to raise their children in this life they love, milking Holsteins and Jerseys and caring for youngstock.
Quality Udders Make Quality Milk
Among them is Meadow Green Abso Fanny-Red EX96 with fans worldwide, owned by Triple-T with Frank and Diane Borba, Frank and Carol Borba, T&L Cattle Co. and Mike Berry. At 9 years old, just 40 days fresh with twins in 6th lactation, Fanny was reserve grand champion Red and White at Expo in October. She was grand in 2017. Triple-T is also home to the top Jerseys of WDE 2019, owned by Vierra Dairy, Hilmar, California.
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“We use a lot of Udder Comfort on fresh cows at home, and we use it before and after showing. It’s the best for comfort, to reduce swelling, and to get texture and quality back into udders faster,” Nathan explains. “It also helps us keep that low SCC. We can’t afford not to use it.”
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For external application to the udder only after milking, as an essential component of udder management. Always wash and dry teats thoroughly before milking.
Page 20 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019
ConƟnued from MEHRKENS | Page 18 Sarah Mehrkens, comes to pregnancy check by palpating. What is your breeding philosophy? How do you select bulls? What traits do you focus on? Does fertility play a role in bull selection? We usually select bulls with a net merit score over 900 from the elite young sires list. We let Kim Defrang from Select Sires mate them according to pedigree. We select for components, milk, medium size stature, rear teat placement and daughter pregnancy rate. Yes, fertility plays a role. We will not use bulls with negative fertility scores. How are cows and heifers bred? Do you have a different philosophy for breeding both? We use the same breeding philosophy for both cows
and heifers. We have been genomic testing all our animals for the past six years. Any animal that has a net merit score over 550 will be bred using sexed semen. Any animal under 550 is bred to Angus. This ends up being about a 50/50 split. What do you do to settle hard breeders? It is pretty rare if we cannot get one to settle. We are not afraid to sell the ones that do not settle as we have plenty of replacement heifers. How many times do you try to breed a cow before you sell her? We will breed a cow about three or four times before we sell her, unless she is an exceptional cow in our herd. In this case, we use our best judgement.
KRISTA KUZMA/DARY STAR
A double-10 parabone parlor is used to milk the herd at Mazeppa Valley Dairy owned by the Mehrkens family near Mazeppa, Minnesota.
KRISTA KUZMA/DARY STAR
The milking herd at the Mehrkens family’s dairy rests in the freestall barn where stalls are bedded with sand. Is there anything you have done or changed that brought about a signicant improvement in your reproductive program? We added the CowManager cow monitoring system in November 2012. I (Colby) pushed to get this for the herd. I never wanted the collars because we do not have headlocks in our barn so once the system came out with ear tags, we purchased it. We had talked to other dairy farmers who had the system. They said (and we now agree) it is one less job for us to do and it pays back pretty quickly. We now ask ourselves how we did it without the system.
Maximize Your Harvest Nutrition
Tell us about your farm. I (Colby) farm together with my parents, Ted and Sheila, and older brother, Kyle. Our herd is milked twice a day and housed in a freestall barn with sand bedding. We raise our replacement heifers. We also run 100 acres of silage corn, 100 acres of grain corn, 100 acres of hay, 50 acres of soybean and 40 acres of oat. My grandpa, Walter, bought the farm in 1954, and raised pigs, chicken and cows. In 1964, he put in a double-4 herringbone parlor. At the same time, he took down the silo and made a bunker silo, which was the rst of its kind in our area at the time. People thought he was crazy.
Both the bunker and parlor are stilled used today; however, we retrotted the parlor twice – into a double-6 in 1996 and then into a double-10 parabone parlor ve years ago. In September, we started using our newly built calf barn. We keep calves in group pens, and they are fed with a milk bar. Now that we have more space, we are contemplating raising our beef calves until they are weaned. I returned to the farm in 2012 after earning a degree in ag business at Western Technical College in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Kyle returned the same year after going to college and then working off the farm a few years.
HAPPY COWS – NEW ZEALAND A customer with a large rotary in New Zealand milking with CoPulsation™ has learned that the pulsation you use to milk with makes a real difference in cow comfort and milking performance. JULIE WENDELGELST - “It’s a shame the industry as a whole doesn’t listen, or more to the point, understand what their milking machines are doing to the cow. A lot of cows would be a lot happier if milking machines were manufactured with the understanding of how milk should flow from the cow to the vat.” There are herds around the world milking with CoPulsation™ that enable cows to milk in comfort, providing a solution to animal welfare in the parlor. Gentle, fast milking yielding high quality milk is something we do on herds large and small for cows, goats and sheep.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019 • Page 21
See our complete inventory with pictures and descriptions at at:
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ARARTICULATED 4WD TRACTORS 11 JD 9570R, ‘18, PS, Duals; PTO, 246 hrs, #147190 ...... $389,500 15 JD 9560R, ‘14, PS, Duals, 4495 hrs., #158665 ........... $179,500 15 JD 9560R, ‘14, PS, Duals, 5142 hrs., #158666 ........... $165,000 16 JD 9560R, ‘14, PS, Duals, 2831 hrs., #159510........... $217,400 14 JD 9620R, ‘15, Triples, HydraCushion Axle, 2344 hrs., #161422 . $283,900 15 JD 9620R, ‘16, PS, Duals, 2604 hrs., #161527........... $279,900 14 Ford Versatile 9680, ‘95, Syncro, Duals, 6873 hrs., #161602 ... $49,400 15 JD 9530, ‘07, PS, Duals, 4340 hrs., #161774 ............. $152,400 1 JD 9630, ‘11, PS, Duals, 4220 hrs., #162597 ............. $141,900 16 JD 9620R, ‘17, PS, Duals, 1409 hrs., #163225........... $319,500 17 JD 9530, ‘09, PS, Duals, 3073 hrs., #163522 ............. $149,500 5 JD 9400, ‘99, Partial PS, Duals, 6460 hrs., #163523 .....$69,500 5 JD 9570R, ‘17, Duals, 705 hrs., #163754 .................. $319,900 1 JD 9560R, ‘12, Duals, 3000 hrs., #163796 ................ $197,500 CHISEL PLOWS 14 CIH Flex Till 600, ‘11, 61’, 5-Section Folding, #160261$46,400 8 JD 2410, ‘10, 28’, 3-Section Folding, #161403 .............$34,900 17 Krause 4814, 17’ Rigid, #161625 ................................$10,900 7 White 445, ‘95, 14’ Rigid, #163317 ...............................$9,500 5 Wil-Rich 657 DCR, ‘13, 28’, 3-Section Folding, #163557 $32,900 16 Sunflower 4233-23, ‘10, 23’, 3-Section Folding, #163583$28,500 COMBINES 4 JD S660, ‘16, 2WD, Dls, 657 hrs., 478 sep hrs., #143510 $199,500 4 JD S670, ‘15, PRWD, Dls, 1410 hrs., 1014 sep hrs., #143718 $234,900 2 JD S670, ‘12, PRWD, Dls, 2319 hrs., 1834 sep hrs., #143860 $149,500 11 JD S670, ‘14, PRWD, Dls, 1759 hrs., 1218 sep hrs., #144313 $164,900 17 JD S680, ‘13, PRWD, Dls, 1426 hrs., 1013 sep hrs., #144322 $169,500 15 JD S680, ‘15, PRWD, Dls, 1954 hrs, 1153 sep hrs., #144328 .194900 3 JD S690, ‘14, PRWD, Dls, 1913 hrs., 1317 sep hrs., #145222 $189,500 7 JD S670, ‘13, 2WD, Dls, 1462 hrs., 998 sep hrs., #145812 . $18,500 16 JD S670, ‘17, 2WD, Dls, 257 hrs., 186 sep hrs., #146346 .$349,500 11 JD S670, ’17, 2WD, Dls, 979 hrs., 496 sep hrs, #146349 .$269,500 5 JD S680, ‘14, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 2004 hrs., 1248 sep hrs., #147716 ....................................................$209,500 8 JD S670, ‘16, 2WD, Dls, 633 hrs., 422 sep hrs., #148148 $279,500 17 JD 9660 STS, ‘04, 2WD, Duals, 3731 hrs., 2670 sep hrs., #150873............................................................................ $49,500 17 JD 9660 STS, ‘05, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 3538 hrs., 2331 sep hrs., #151601 ...................................................... $49,500 11 JD S680, ‘12, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, Yield Monitor, 2371 hrs., 1529 sep hrs., #152167 ....................................................$149,500 14 JD S690, ‘14, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 2101 hrs., 1446 sep hrs., #153332 ....................................................$194,000 6 JD S670, ‘14, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 1903 hrs., 1260 sep hrs., #153514 ............................................. $192,900 16 JD S780, ‘18, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 406 hrs., 295 sep hrs., #154461 ............................................... $425,000 16 JD S780, ‘18, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, Spreader, Yield Monitor, 547 hrs., 327 sep hrs., #154560 .......... $419,500 1 JD S680, ‘12, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, Spreader, Yield Monitor, 2262 hrs., 1739 sep hrs., #154637 ...... $184,000
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17 JD S660, ‘12, 1342 hrs., 1025 sep hrs., #155239 ....... $178,000 15 JD S660, ‘14, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Singles, Spreader, Yield Monitor, #155345 ............................................ $189,500 14 JD S770, ‘18, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Singles, Chopper, 335 hrs., 199 sep hrs., #155380 ................................. $389,500 8 JD S670, ‘14, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, Spreader, 1665 hrs., 1265 sep hrs., #155388 ............................. $210,000 5 JD S660, ‘14, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, Chopper, 769 hrs., #155826...................................................... $230,500 14 JD 9750 STS, ‘00, 7685 hrs., 5021 sep hrs., #155851 ...$39,500 17 JD S770, ‘18, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, Chopper, 243 hrs., #156063...................................................... $329,500 15 JD S680, ‘14, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, Chopper, 1745 hrs., 1361 sep hrs., #156460 ............................. $205,500 7 JD 9400, 1989 hrs., Corn/Bean, 2WD, Singles, Chopper, 6793 hrs., 4198 sep hrs., #156978 .................$18,995 7 JD 6620, ‘81, 4500 hrs., 4500 sep hrs., #156979............$8,500 17 JD S660, ‘15, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, Chopper, 788 hrs., 545 sep hrs., #157075 ................................. $229,500 1 JD S780, ‘18, PRWD, Dls, 324 hrs., #157910 ............. $425,000 16 JD S780, ‘18, PRWD, Dls, 546 hrs., 283 sep hrs., #157911 $420,000 10 Pickett Twin Master, ‘14, Chopper, #159226...........$148,500 16 JD S680, ‘14, PRWD, Duals, Spreader, 2431 hrs., 1781 sep hrs., #159509 ............................................. $187,400 7 JD S780, ‘18, Corn/Bean; PRWD; Duals; Chopper, 600 hrs., 268 sep hrs., #159539 ............................................... $421,900 4 JD 9870 STS, ‘08, PRWD, Duals, 3262 hrs., #160885 $101,900 7 JD 9650 STS, ‘02, PRWD, Duals, 5002 hrs., 3459 sep hrs., #161213 ................................................$44,900 16 JD 9870 STS, ‘10, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, Chopper, 3242 hrs., 2400 sep hrs., #161419 ................................$99,500 14 JD S690, ‘14, PRWD, 2106 hrs., 1480 sep hrs., #161532 $217,400 16 JD S680, ‘14, PRWD, Dls, 12 hrs., 671 sep hrs., #161645 $259,500 16 JD S670, ‘13, PRWD, Dls, 1584 hrs., 1190 sep hrs., #161854 .................................................................... $180,400 10 JD S680, ‘14, PRWD, Dls, 1640 hrs., 1251 sep hrs., #161855 .................................................................... $209,500 7 JD S680, ‘13, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, Chopper, 2818 hrs., 1871 sep hrs., #161858 ............................. $169,500 7 JD S680, ‘13, PRWD, Dls, 2112 hrs., 1391 sep hrs., #162070 .................................................................... $196,400 4 JD 9770 STS, ‘09, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, Spreader, 1878 hrs., #162933.......................................................$95,000 6 JD 9670 STS, ‘08, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 2668 hrs., 1748 sep hrs., #163474 ................................................$81,400 5 JD 9610, ‘99, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, Chopper, 4965 hrs., 3424 sep hrs., #163535 ................................$29,900 1 JD 9660 STS, ‘04, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 2309 hrs., 1562 sep hrs., #163577 ................................................$74,000 6 JD 9610, ‘98, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Singles, Chopper, 4619 hrs., #163581.......................................................$17,900 11 JD 9600, ‘96, 2WD, Duals, Chopper, #163655 ..............$19,400 1 JD 9500, ‘92, 2WD, 4246 hrs., 2850 sep hrs., #163670 $19,500
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3 JD 9870 STS, ‘09, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, Chopper, 2360 hrs., 1580 sep hrs., #163675 ............................. $109,500 15 JD S680, ‘12, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, 2486 hrs., 1881 sep hrs., #163765 ............................................. $159,400 4 JD S760, ‘18, Corn/Bean, 2WD, Duals, 572 hrs., 500 sep hrs., #163861 ............................................... $289,500 7 JD 9760 STS, ‘05, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, Chopper, 3753 hrs., 2497 sep hrs., #164199 ..............................$67,900 1 JD S680, ‘13, Corn/Bean, PRWD, Duals, Yield Monitor, 1150 hrs., 815 sep hrs., #164375 ............................... $209,000 5 JD 7720 Titan II, 1988 hrs., Corn/Bean, 2WD, Singles, Chopper, #164617 ..........................................................$9,500 DISKS 16 Wishek 862NT, ‘12, 30 ft, #144471 ............................$49,500 14 EZEE-ON 8700, ‘10, 42 ft, #145714 .............................$21,900 4 JD 2623, ‘13, 33 ft, #149511........................................$39,500 5 JD 2625, ‘13, 42 ft, 11” spacing, #151841 ....................$38,500 9 Sunflower 1434, ‘02, 35 ft, 9” spacing, #157886 ........$22,000 11 Sunflower 1830, ‘12, 30 ft,, 11” spacing, #161784 .....$29,400 14 JD 862NT, ‘09, 16 ft, Rigid, #162924............................$21,900 3 Wishek 862-NT, ‘09, 33 ft, 3-Section Folding, #163465 .$30,000 15 JD DH1176, ‘15, 6 ft, Rigid, 11” spacing, #164612.........$1,100 RIPPERS 11 JD 2730, ‘15, #143523 ................................................$79,500 4 JD 2730, ‘16, #143847.................................................$59,500 15 Case IH 875, ‘14, #150892..........................................$51,900 17 JD 2700, ‘07, #151561.................................................$17,900 1 JD 2730, ‘15, #152025 ................................................$87,205 10 KRAUSE 4850-18, ‘07, #152120 .................................$16,900 8 KUHN 4850, ‘15, #154000 ..........................................$34,900 3 TEBBEN DT7M24, ‘16, #155258 ................................$10,995 8 JD 2720, ‘14, #155362.................................................$37,900 14 CASE IH 870, ‘13, #160533 .........................................$46,400 5 CASE IH 870, ‘12, #160721 .........................................$43,900 8 JD 2720, ‘13, #161404.................................................$34,900 1 JD 2720, ‘13, #162185 ................................................$29,900 5 JD 2700, ‘12, #162338.................................................$20,900 11 CASE IH 9300, ‘03, #162470 .......................................$18,900 7 CASE IH 870, ‘12, #163215 .........................................$40,400 1 KRAUSE 4850-15, #163794 ......................................$15,900 TRACK TRACTORS 5 JD 9510RT, ‘14, 36-inch tracks, 1735 hrs., #142684 .... 229500 2 JD 9520RX, ‘16, 36-inch tracks, 1348 hrs., #143518.....359500 16 JD 9570RX, ‘17, 36-inch tracks, 596 hrs., #150666.......439500 3 JD 9560RT, ‘14, 36-inch tracks, 2191 hrs., #153954 .....229500 17 JD 9520T, ‘02, 6337 hrs., #155678..................................89500 16 Case IH Steiger 620 Quadtrac, ‘17, 36-inch tracks, PTO, 425 hrs., #161650 ..................................................409500 15 JD 9570RT, ‘17, 36-inch tracks, 1777 hrs., #162060 .....329900 7 Case IH STX450Q, ‘02, 36” tracks, 5918 hrs., #162188 .$95,900 14 JD 9630T, ‘10, 760mm/30” tracks, 3730 hrs., #163509$153900 4 JD 9520RX, ‘18, 36-inch tracks, 916 hrs., #163838.......374900 4 JD 8320RT, ‘18, 450mm/18” tracks, 869 hrs., #163845 $269,500 16 JD 9570RX, ‘18, 36-inch tracks, 397 hrs., #164362... $485,000
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Page 22 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019
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Contact one of the following dealers to learn more: IOWA Kramer Bros. Monticello, IA 319-465-5931 Prairie Land Ag Supply Inc. Rock Valley, IA 712-476-9290 United-Suckow Dairy Supply West Union, IA 563-422-5355 Postville, IA 563-864-7417
WISCONSIN Advanced Dairy/Bob’s Dairy Supply Spring Valley, WI 715-772-3201 Ederer Dairy Supply Plain, WI 608-546-3713 Joe’s Refrigeration Inc. Withee, WI 715-229-2321 Mlsna Dairy Supply Inc. Cashton, WI 608-654-5106 Professional Dairy Services Waunakee, WI 608-849-5043
Mondovi Dairy Systems Inc. Mondovi, WI 715-926-5777 West Salem, WI 608-769-2113 The Scharine Group Inc. Whitewater, WI 800 472-2880 Mt Horeb, WI 800-872-3470 MINNESOTA & SOUTH DAKOTA D&D Ag Supply Pennock, MN 320-599-4466
East Central Dairy Supply Mora, MN 320-679-1029 Farm Systems Melrose, MN 320-256-3276 Watertown, MN 605-886-7401 Sioux Falls, SD 800-284-0015 S&S Dairy System LLC St. Charles, MN 507-932-4288 Professional Dairy Systems Wadena, MN 218-632-5416
is a registered trademark of Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A. and “DeLaval” is a registered trade/servicemark of DeLaval Holding AB © 2019 DeLaval Inc. DeLaval, 11100 North Congress Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri 64153-1296. All facts and figures are the result of data collected on test farms and pilot farms. Data compared to DeLaval Champion. Results may vary and are not guaranteed. www.delaval.com
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Advocacy has never been more important for the dairy industry than at a time when the sector’s success hinges on consumer trust and condence. For dairy farmers in New York, they took to Minnesota to nd new ideas to showcase farming. “Ultimately, we’re doing the same thing – all producing milk – although it looks differently from farm to farm and state to state,” Hannah Bush said. “This is a great opportunity to see how other people are doing things, and network with people from New York and Minnesota.” Bush’s family milks 50 registered Holsteins in Elmira, New York, while she herself is a Farm Service Agency loan ofcer. The New York resident toured Minnesota dairy farms and industry businesses Nov. 11-14 as part of the New York Animal Agriculture Coalition’s All-Star Advocates program. A dozen other dairy farmers and industry partners joined Bush on the trip. Participants applied to be a part of the program, which was funded through dairy check-off dollars. “Our goal [with this program] is to take dairy farmers and inspire them to continue to be advocates for the dairy industry,” Eileen Jensen said. Jensen is NYAAC’s director of promotion and outreach. The purpose of the non-prot organization is to provide resources and tools for dairy farmers to communicate with consumers about their livelihood. Each participant – both men and women ranging in age from 24 to 60 years old – came on the tour with hopes of improving their own advocacy efforts, whether further developing a plan already in place or nding a new way to talk about dairy farming. “There have been a lot of a-ha moments, and I hope that helps open their eyes to new perspectives in knowing there’s not always the same way, but there’s the right way,” Jensen said. “I want them to challenge the status quo and encourage them to think differently when they see these different avenues of dairy farming.” The tour began at Milk Specialties Global in Eden Prairie to learn about the company’s whey production and the international dairy market. They then received a tour of a Culver’s restaurant before arriving at Zweber Farm in Elko New Market. The rst farm tour showcased how an organic farm is interacting with consumers and telling their story. Every spring, Emily Zweber invites six people into her home to have breakfast with her family. “Every tour guide we met reiterated the importance
Turn to TOUR | Page 23
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019 • Page 23
Con�nued from TOUR | Page 22
of telling a story of agriculture,” Jensen said. “You have nothing to hide. You believe in everything you’re doing, and you’re doing it right for yourself, your employees, your cows and your community.” The New York group continued their trip through Minnesota’s rich dairy country, stopping at Redhead Creamery in Brooten, Riverview LLP in Morris, Carlson Dairy in Pennock and the Bonnie Mohr Studio in Glencoe. Before their ights home, the New Yorkers also had lunch at Bongards Creamery in Bongards and learned about the CHS Miracle of Birth Center at the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul. Each stop was unique in its place in the industry and gave the dairy farmers inspiration for their
own industry in the Empire State. For 33 years, Julia Robbins and her family have operated an agritourism business alongside their 1,200-cow dairy farm near Sackets Harbor, New York. Robbins participated in the All-Star Advocates program to improve her work on her family’s farm. “Advocacy is a part of my daily job,” she said. “This is an opportunity to learn about advocacy from people who are just as passionate as me, and get ideas from another state on how they reach the public.” The goal of the trip was for the farmers to bring an idea home to their local communities. “Try something new, try something that failed once and try it again differently,” Jensen said. “Ultimately, build that net-
PHOTO SUBMITTED
New York All-Star Advocates – (front, from le�) Julia Robins, Casey Porter and Courtney Bailey; (second, from le�) Hannah Bush, Terri DiNi�o, Chris�na Geary and Rachel Holtz; (third row, from le�) Emily Chi�enden, Rhonda Lindquist and Ann Presco�; (back, from le�) Quade Kirk and Brian Aukema – visit Riverview LLP Nov. 13 near Morris, Minnesota. The group toured Minnesota dairy farms to learn about different ways to advocate.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Bonnie Mohr (from le�) speaks with New Yorkers Terri DiNi�o, Ann Presco� and Quade Kirk in her studio Nov. 14 near Glencoe, Minnesota. work of advocates for New York dairy.” Quade Kirk agreed. “I understand how important [advocacy] is, but also how it gets pushed off,” he said. “It’s hard to do when you work 80plus hours a week. … This is a refresher to remind me how important this is.” For Kirk, he also looked to the trip to learn more about dairy production. He is the heifer manager at Ideal Dairy Farms, a 2,500-cow farm near Hudson Falls, New York. “Even though this whole trip is all about advocacy, I like looking at the production side of the farms; I’m looking at the management,” he said. New York’s dairy industry is similar to that of Minnesota in the way that there are several
100-cow dairies scattered across don’t have to face them alone.” the state. There are also larger Bush agreed. farms but not to the scale of Min“It is oddly comforting to nesota. When choosing a tour location, the North Star State was both convenient and unconventional. “We encourage people to think differently, so we wanted to HANNAH BUSH, NEW YORK DAIRY FARMER think beyond Wisconsin and California to do someknow that even thousands of thing different,” said Jensen, who miles apart, agriculture faces has several personal and profes- many of the same challenges sional connections to Minnesota. here in Minnesota as we do in “In New York, we have the same New York,” she said. challenges and opportunities in Minnesota, which means we
“It is oddly comforting to know that even thousands of miles apart, agriculture faces many of the same challenges ...”
Page 24 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019
+
DAIRY ST R
The Great Christmas “GRAND” PRIZE
GIVEAWAY 2019
Grand Prize Drawing Will Be Held Thursday, December 12, 2019 THE WINNERS WILL BE POSTED ON WWW.DAIRYSTAR.COM, MILK BREAK NEWSLETTER AND ON FACEBOOK.
ADULT “GRAND” PRIZE
2) $1,000 CASH GIFTS! 17 & UNDER “GRAND” PRIZE
“Grand” Prize Heifer Calf:
GRABER MAID-RITE STELLA Born: October 18, 2019
Dam: Graber Listowel Sophia-P Sire: Sunset Canyon Maid-Rite-ET Granddam: Graber Eclipses Sadie-P Grand Priz Calf come e from Grab s Jerseys In er c. Parker, SDin
J and Cal Graber, pictured with Graber Jay M Maid-rite Stella heifer calf that will be given a away in the Great Christmas Giveaway drawing.
REGISTER FREE AT ANY OF THE PARTICIPATING BUSINESSES FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019 • Page 25
IOWA
REGISTER AT THESE PARTICIPATING BUSINESSES:
ALLAMAKEE COUNTY • Bodensteiner Implement Waukon • 563-568-3463 • Equity Livestock Waukon • 563-568-4501 • Innovative Ag Services Waukon • 563-568-3455 • Waukon Veterinary Services Waukon • 563-568-2487 BREMER COUNTY • ViaÀeld Sumner • 563-578-3214 BUCHANAN COUNTY • Bodensteiner Implement Rowley • 319-938-2222 • ViaÀeld Winthrop • 319-935-3336 CHICKASAW COUNTY • Ag-Land Equipment New Hampton • 641-394-4226 • Bodensteiner Implement New Hampton • 641-394-3061 CLAYTON COUNTY • Bodensteiner Implement Elkader • 563-245-2470 • Innovative Ag Services Elkader • 563-245-1230 Monona • 563-539-3501 DELAWARE COUNTY • Edgewood Feed Mill Edgewood • 563-928-6405 • Manchester Livestock Auction Manchester • 563-927-2540 DUBUQUE COUNTY • Bodensteiner Implement Dyersville • 563-875-2724 • Brunkan Equipment Worthington • 563-855-2434 • Cascade Livestock Auction Cascade • 563-852-3533 • Eastern Iowa Dairy Systems Inc. Epworth • 563-876-3087 • Helle Farm Equipment Dyersville • 563-875-7154 • Innovative Ag Services Cascade • 563-852-7245 Farley • 563-744-3337 • New Vienna Ag Automation New Vienna • 563-921-2896 • Skip Breitbach Feeds Balltown • 563-552-2393 • Scherrmann’s Implement Dyersville • 563 875-2426 • Ungs Shopping Center (IAS) Luxemburg • 563-853-2455 FAYETTE COUNTY • Bodensteiner Implement Clermont • 563-423-5206 Oelwein • 319-283-4371 • ViaÀeld Arlington • 563-633-3415 Elgin • 563-426-5566 Maynard • 563-637-2285 FLOYD COUNTY • Livestock Systems Charles City• 641-220-5257 HOWARD COUNTY • Bodensteiner Implement Cresco • 563-547-2152 • Farmers Win Coop Cresco West • 563-547-5660 JACKSON COUNTY • Innovative Ag Services Andrew • 563-672-3228 JONES COUNTY • Bodensteiner Implement Monticello • 319-465-3515 O’BRIEN COUNTY • Associated Milk Producers Inc. Sanborn • 712-729-3255 SIOUX COUNTY • Rock Valley Hay Auction Co. Rock Valley • 712-476-5541 • Sioux Dairy Equipment, Inc. Rock Valley • 1-800-962-4346 WINNESHIEK COUNTY • Bodensteiner Implement Decorah • 563-382-2961 • Brynsaas Sales & Service Decorah • 563-382-4484
• Farmers Win Coop Burr Oak • 563-735-5427 Ridgeway • 563-737-2244 • Franzen Sales & Service Fort Atkinson • 563-534-2724 • Langs Dairy Equipment Decorah • 563-382-8722
MINNESOTA
BECKER COUNTY • Adkins Equipment Inc. Detroit Lakes • 218-847-3131 BENTON COUNTY • Arnold’s of St. Cloud Sauk Rapids • 320-251-2585 • First National Bank of MilacaGilman OfÀce • 320-387-2233 • Gilman Co-op Creamery Gilman • 320-387-2770 BROWN COUNTY • Associated Milk Producers Inc. New Ulm • 507-233-4600 • New Ulm Regional Vet Clinic New Ulm • 507-233-2520 CARVER COUNTY • Bongards’ Bongards • 952-466-5521 • Lano Equipment of Norwood Norwood/Young America 952-467-2181 • Storms Welding Cologne • 952-466-3343 DAKOTA COUNTY • Werner Implement Vermillion • 651-437-4435 DOUGLAS COUNTY • Nelson Creamery Nelson • 320-762-0115 • Osakis Creamery Assn. Osakis • 1-800-584-9236 • Pro Ag Farmers Co-op GarÀeld • 320-834-2271 FILLMORE COUNTY • Farmers Win Coop Rushford • 507-864-2161 GOODHUE COUNTY • Ag Partners - Grain Site Bellchester • 651-923-4453 Wanamingo • 507-824-2231 Wanamingo-Agronomy Location 507-824-2215 • Ag Partners Farm Store Cannon Falls • 507-263-4651 Goodhue • 800-732-1439 Pine Island • 507-356-8313 • GB Feed and Supply Bellechester • 651-923-4425 • Midwest Livestock Systems Pine Island • 507-356-8349 HOUSTON COUNTY • Farmers Win Coop Caledonia • 507-725-3306 Houston • 507-896-3147 Spring Grove • 507-498-5321 KANABEC COUNTY • East Central Dairy Supply Mora • 320-679-1029 • Fluegge’s Ag Mora • 320-679-2981 KANDIYOHI COUNTY • D&D Ag Supply & Construction Pennock • 320-599-4466 • Farm-Rite Equipment Willmar • 320-235-3672 LE SUEUR COUNTY • Ag Partners - Agronomy Le Center • 507-357-6868 • Ag Partners - Agronomy Le Sueur • 507-665-6277 • Ag Partners - OfÀce Le Sueur • 507-665-6270 MCLEOD COUNTY • Arnold’s of Glencoe Glencoe • 320-864-5531 • Leedstone Glencoe • 320-256-5575 • Mueller Sales & Service Dairy Equipment Glencoe • 888-205-0974 MEEKER COUNTY • Farm-Rite Equipment Dassel • 1-888-679-4857
MILLE LACS COUNTY • Foreston Co-op Creamery/ ADM Alliance Nutrition Foreston • 320-294-5711 • First National Bank of Milaca Milaca • 320-983-1333 MORRISON COUNTY • Litke’s Veterinary Service Pierz • 320-468-6666 • Modern Farm Equipment Pierz • 320-468-2161 • Pierz Co-op Pierz • 320-468-6655 • Sunrise Ag Cooperative Buckman • 320-468-6433 Lastrup • 320-468-2543 Little Rock • 320-584-5147 Pierz • 320-468-2168 OTTER TAIL COUNTY • Bongards’ Perham • 218-346-4680 • Farmers Elevator of Fergus Falls & Henning 218-736-3301 • PCCA-Country Store Perham • 218-346-7075 • Perham Stockyards Perham • 218-346-3415 • Pro Ag Farmers Co-op in Henning 218-583-2947 • Pro Ag Farmers Co-op in Urbank 218-267-2401 PIPESTONE COUNTY • Gorter’s Clay & Dairy Equipment Pipestone • 507-825-3271 RICE COUNTY • Ag Partners - Agronomy Morristown • 507-685-2700 SCOTT COUNTY • Ag Partners - Farm Store Belle Plaine • 952-873-4224 • Ag Partners - Coop Tire & Auto Belle Plaine • 952-873-3001 STEARNS COUNTY • A&C Farm Service Paynesville • 320-243-3736 • Ag Venture Feed & Seed, Inc. Watkins • 320-764-9910, 800-779-8910 • Albany Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Albany • 320-845-2801 • Arnold’s of Kimball Kimball • 320-398-3800 • Arnold’s of St. Martin St. Martin • 320-548-3285 • Arnzen Construction/St. Rosa Lumber Freeport, In St. Rosa 320-836-2284 or 1-888-276-1751 • Associated Milk Producers Inc. Paynesville • 320-243-3794 • Centre Dairy Equipment & Supply Inc. Sauk Centre • 320-352-5763 or 1-800-342-2697 • Dairy Star Sauk Centre • 320-352-6303 • Dairyland Supply Sauk Centre 320-352-3987 or 1-800-338-6455 • DHIA Sauk Centre • 320-352-2028 or 1-800-369-2697 • Ecker Feed Service, LLC New Munich • 320-837-5249 • Elrosa Grain & Feed Elrosa • 320-697-5515 • Farm Systems Melrose • 1-800-636-5581 • 1-800-247-0012 • Farm-Rite Equipment St. Cloud • 320 240 2085 • Feed Co. Paynesville • 320-243-3938 • Freeport State Bank Freeport •1-800-252-9856 • 320-836-2126 Greenwald • 320-987-2265 New Munich • 320-837-5297 Melrose • 320-256-7208 • Hartung Sales & Service, Inc. Freeport • 320-836-2697 • Lake Henry Implement Lake Henry • 320-243-7411 • Leedstone Melrose • 1-877-608-3877 • Melrose Implement Inc. Melrose • 320-256-4253 • Modern Farm Equipment Sauk Centre • 320-352-6543 • Nutrien Ag Solutions 320-352-6564
STEELE COUNTY • Ag Partners - Agronomy Owatonna • 507-413-8000 • Northland Farm Systems Owatonna • 800-385-3911 TODD COUNTY • Olson’s Custom Farm Service Staples • 800-477-7059 • Pro-Ag Farmers Co-op Feed Store Browerville • 320-594-2711 • Pro-Ag Farmers Co-op in Clarissa Clarissa • 218-756-2112 • Pro-Ag Farmers Co-op in Eagle Bend Eagle Bend • 218-738-2552 WABASHA COUNTY • Ag Partners Farm Store Lake City • 651-345-3328 Plainview • 507-534-2531 • Beck Implement Elgin • 507-876-2122 • Leedstone Plainview • 507-534-3161 • Wingert Sales & Service Plainview • 507-534-2285 WADENA COUNTY • Aldrich Tractor Inc. Aldrich • 218-445-5430 • Dairyland Equipment of Menahga Menahga • 218-564-4958 • Olson’s Custom Farm Service Verndale • 218-445-5500 Sebeka • 218-837-5749 WINONA COUNTY • Benson Farm Service Lewiston • 507-523-2188 • Elba Coop Elba • 507-796-6571 • S&S Dairy Systems St. Charles • 507-932-4288 WRIGHT COUNTY • Hobert Sales Inc. Cokato • 320-286-6284, 1-800-820-6455 • The Country Store/Munson Lakes Nutrition Howard Lake • 320-543-3517, 800-663-9177 YELLOW MEDICINE COUNTY • Farmward Cooperative Wood Lake • 507-485-3153
SOUTH DAKOTA BROOKINGS COUNTY • W.W. Tire Brookings • 605-696-7400 CODINGTON COUNTY • Midwest Ag Supply Watertown • 605-882-2497 HUTCHINSON COUNTY • Associated Milk Producers Inc. Freeman • 605-925-4234 MINNEHAHA COUNTY • Central Valley Dairy Supply Brandon • 605-467-0812 • Midwest Livestock Systems Sioux Falls • 800-705-1447 ROBERTS COUNTY • Valley Dairy Supply Corona • 605-432-5224
WISCONSIN
GRANT COUNTY • Argall Dairy Systems, West Platteville • 608-348-3385 • Fuller’s Milker Center, Inc. Lancaster • 608-723-4634 • Innovative Ag Services Cuba City • 608-744-2287 • J. Gile Dairy Cuba City • 608-744-2661 • Scott Implement Platteville • 608-348-6565 PEPIN COUNTY • Anibas Silo & Repair Arkansaw • 715-285-5317 PIERCE COUNTY • Ag Partners Grange Hall • 715-647-5002 • Western Wisconsin Farm Store Ellsworth • 715-273-5066 TREMPEALEAU COUNTY • Associated Milk Producers Inc. Blair • 608-989-2535 VERNON COUNTY • Koon Kreek Feeds Coon Valley • 608-452-3838
To view a complete list of participating businesses, log on to www.dairystar.com
*Enter as often as you like. One entry per store visit, please. Winners must be 18 years or older and a Grade A or B dairy farmer for heifer, or 17 years or younger and a son or daughter of a Grade A or B dairy farmer for heifer calf. Winners must also live in the Dairy Star circulation area to be eligible and are responsible for transport of animal.
Page 26 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019
Voting open for county committees This is my nal reminder that enrollment for 2020 Dairy Margin Coverage ends Dec. 13. All producers that locked in for ve years are still required to sign the contract and pay the $100 administration fee prior to this deadline. Producers that did not lock in have until this date to decide if they want to participate and at what coverage levels. Contact a FSA News & Notes FSA ofce to take care of this task. Voting is now open for the United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency County Committee. It is important that every eligible producer participate in these elections By Ryan Brunn because FSA county comStearns Co. Exec. Dir. mittees are a link between the agricultural community and the USDA. County committee members are an important component of the operations of FSA and provide a link between the agricultural community and USDA. Farmers and ranchers elected to county committees help deliver FSA programs at the local level, applying their knowledge and judgment to make decisions on commodity price support programs; conservation programs; incentive indemnity and disaster programs for some commodities; emergency programs and eligibility. FSA committees operate within ofcial regulations designed to carry out federal laws. County committee members are a critical component of FSA operations. Committees should be comprised of members who reect the diversity of producers involved in production agriculture. This means that producers representing underserved groups or communities should be on the committee to speak on behalf of their constituency. Underserved producers are beginning, women and other minority farmers and ranchers and landowners and/or operators who have limited resources. Other minority groups including Native American and Alaska natives; persons under the poverty level, and persons who have disabilities are also considered underserved. To be an eligible voter, farmers and ranchers must participate or cooperate in an FSA program. A person who is not of legal voting age but supervises and conducts the farming operations of an entire farm may also be eligible to vote. County committee election ballots were mailed to eligible voters Nov. 4. The last day to return completed ballots to a USDA service center is Dec. 2. For more information on eligibility to serve on FSA county committees, visit: http://www.fsa.usda. gov/elections. Farm Service Agency is an Equal Opportunity Lender. Complaints about discrimination should be sent to: Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250. Visit the Farm Service Agency Web site at: www.fsa.usda.gov/ for necessary application forms and updates on USDA programs.
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A call for unity to fuel a strong future
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019 • Page 27
Unity and leadership. Dairy industry leaders spoke these two words often and with passion at the 2019 Joint Annual Meeting of the United Dairy Industry Association, National Dairy Board and National Milk Producers Federation in New Orleans. As Midwest Dairy’s chairman and UDIA vice chair, I understand the weight these words carry and how important they are to checkoff’s ongoing success in our regional, national and global efforts to build demand and increase consumer condence. In his opening remarks, Dairy Management Inc. CEO Tom Gallagher told the more than 800 dairy farmers and industry representatives in atBy Allen Merrill, tendance that to thrive in the future, industrywide unity and Midwest Dairy leadership will become more Chairman important than ever. “It’s time to push back on those who will divide us,” said Gallagher as he urged the audience to stand up to animal activist organizations whose agenda is to inltrate consumer trust and to put animal agriculture out of business. As for the naysayers who claim dairy is dead, Barb O’Brien, DMI president, shared data which suggested otherwise. O’Brien explained that collective efforts to implement checkoff’s sevenpronged strategic plan have generated more than $100 billion in annual retail sales. What is more, household penetration of dairy is strong as proven by consumer research showing cheese is in 98% of U.S. homes, and milk is in 94%. “Dairy is alive and well, and in households across the country,” O’ Brien said. Unity and leadership were also on display during a promotion and policy panel discussion with Gallagher, Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of United States Dairy Exports Council, and Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. The panelists highlighted the key role collaboration plays in building demand and driving dairy sales.
F our iindustry For d to move forward into the next decade, it is imperative we stick together as we adapt to meet consumer needs ... Vilsack said checkoff’s investment in exports allows USDEC to deepen relationships in global markets, signicantly expand promotion overseas and build stronger alliances which help provide push back on trade agreements that could potentially negatively impact the dairy industry. Mulhern cited the return of 1% avored milk to school districts as a testament to the importance of working together on a common set of priori-
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ties. As NMPF lobbies to lock 1% avored milk into the Child Nutrition Act, checkoff staff across the nation engage with school districts to communicate the nutritional value of avored milk and other dairy foods in child nutrition. Regionally, Midwest Dairy’s strength in leadership could be seen on the roster of new industry leaders elected at the meeting. deb Vander Kooi, Minnesota, DMI treasurer; Alex Peterson, Missouri, NDB treasurer; Christine Sukalski, Minnesota, National Dairy Council vice chair; Lowell Mueller, Nebraska, American Dairy Association secretary; and I was re-elected rst vice chair of UDIA. In addition to these national board positions, Midwest dairy farmers who attended the meeting all serve on Midwest Dairy’s Corporate Board and their respective division boards. By engaging
in local, regional and national strategic planning, we need to be unied in our efforts to best serve the needs of dairy farmers across the nation, in the Midwest and in our communities. For our industry to move forward into the next decade, it is imperative we stick together as we adapt to meet consumer needs both today, and in the future, that we stand up to animal activists who want to divide us, and we proactively share the true dairy story. As a call to action to my fellow dairy farmers, if someone approaches you with doubts about the future of dairy, or you personally are experiencing challenges on your farm, I encourage you to channel the words of O’Brien, “Dairy is alive and well.” If we stand united, I am optimistic we can maximize our efforts as we work together to build a strong future for the industry.
Page 28 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019 Joe Armstrong armst225@umn.edu 612.624.3610 Luciano Caixeta lcaixeta@umn.edu 612-625-3130 Hugh Chester-Jones chest001@umn.edu 507-835-3622 Gerard Cramer gcramer@umn.edu 612-625-8184 Marcia Endres miendres@umn.edu 612-624-5391 Sandra Godden godde002@umn.edu 612-625-8177 Joleen Hadrich jhadrich@umn.edu 612-626-5620 Les Hansen hanse009@umn.edu 612-624-2277 Brad Heins hein0106@umn.edu 320-589-1711 Nathan Hulinsky huli0013@umn.edu 320-203-6104 Kevin Janni kjanni@umn.edu 612-625-3108 Karen Johnson ande9495@umn.edu 320-484-4334 Claire LaCanne lacanne@umn.edu 507-332-6109 Brenda Miller nels4220@umn.edu 320-732-4435 Kota Minegishi kota@umn.edu 612-624-7455 Erin Royster royster@umn.edu Jim Salfer salfe001@umn.edu 320-203-6093 Mike Schutz mschutz@umn.edu 612-624-1205 M. Scott Wells mswells@umn.edu 612-625-3747 Emily Wilmes krek0033@umn.edu 320-255-6169
www.extension.umn.edu/dairy
A case for small-scale dairies Every farmer has a story of how they or a family member initially staked out a piece of land and became a farmer and thus becoming dedicated to cultivating the land, raising livestock and bringing up a family. Their stories vary, but common among all farmers is the belief that farming, despite its physical hardships and nancial risks, is a meaningful job with an opportunity to exercise self-determination and live life in close-knit communities. Since the time of Western expansion by settlers, the concept of family farms has been a prominent embodiment of self-reliance and the allure of rural life that has captivated the imagination of American society. Today, amid the great abundance of agricultural commodities, small-scale farms are struggling across America – a testing time for whether the aspirations of farming and its rural livelihood can be sustained. Research By Kota Minegishi has shown that the minimum size of operation considered economically necessary has University of MN risen dramatically over the past decades, leaving fewer and fewer families engaged in farming. Recent years have brought particularly serious impacts on rural communities that are home to a number of dairy farms. In a sense, such troubles have been well-predicated in the economic law of commodity markets. The commodity market facilitates the processing and trading of an enormous amount of product delivered to cities across a wide geographical area at great efciency. However, consumers are offered little information about who produced the food they buy, and farmers do not hear from individual consumers about their products. From an economic standpoint, one of the major goals of this supply-chain machine is to reduce the cost of production under its construct of uniform goods, ensuring the endless search of new suppliers operating at the lowest possible cost. A message many farms recognize from commodity markets is all-too-familiar, “Get big or get out.” To allow small-scale farms, and the general aspiration for its way of life, to survive our time and beyond, I suggest a different kind of mainstream market construct, distinguished from commodity markets, may be needed. This system should integrate the value of the holistic relationship between the food, the land and the farmer. Its primary building block is the information, or the data, about multidimensional values of food products. Such data have a market value today because consumers have great interest
in knowing where their food comes from and how it is produced. One example is fair-trade coffee, for which consumers pay premiums in support of small-scale farmers in distant continents. In this sense, it is worthwhile to stop thinking that milk is only milk. It can be more than that if other sets of values were preserved in the supply chain and appropriately presented to consumers. In the case of differentiating dairy products, say using milk from small-scale dairy farms, the two most challenging aspects are marketing and logistics. That is, brand development and marketing require signicant resources from farmers and processors. Then, there are economies of scale with respect to market coordination, including sourcing milk from specic farms, processing through dedicated production lines and distributing to targeted retailers. One new creative idea to overcome these challenges may be through a state-wide initiative that manages local small-scale farm product labels while using the existing infrastructure of the supply chain. Such an initiative can be tasked with developing dairy labels and setting required price premiums; licensing the labels to processors under a revenue-sharing agreement with compensations for pre-determined processing and distribution costs; helping coordinate concerted marketing of the products under its labels; and collecting revenue premiums and redistributing the proceeds among the qualied dairy farms in the state. The incentive for voluntary participation by individual processors would be the prospect of protability, depending on their circumstances such as a product mix, milk sources and distribution networks. Importantly, such a program would benet all qualied dairy farms regardless of their geographical location and relationship with its processor. When the stories of small-scale dairy farms are told, it is the farmer who provides the most compelling narrative of the commitment to family traditions, rural communities, and ethical and sustainable farming. We cannot expect global markets to sustain the legacy of small-scale farms. That legacy may perish without sufcient representation in the market. Most importantly, that legacy matters to the American people, because it represents their connections to the food, the land and the rural community in which many have their family roots, and because it invokes a set of values and idealism with which the people living a self-determined life in the heart of the vast American continent inspire the rest of us in society. Talk to your fellow dairy farmers, and for those who would like to further develop this idea, reach out to myself as a point of contact.
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Causes, prevention of calf scours
Scours can be caused by many things. We often focus on the infectious causes, which are signicant, but it is important to note there are also non-infectious causes of calf scours. Rotavirus, Coronavirus or Cryptosporidium cause 95% of infectious calf scours cases. These three agents can also be present in combination. All calves are exposed to these pathogens; it is unavoidable. The deciding factor on whether or not a calf gets sick is often dose-dependent, meaning the more pathogens a calf receives, the more likely they are to have scours. Rotavirus: This virus infects cells that are essential for the absorption of nutrients in the small intestine. This reduction in nutrient absorption causes nutritional deciencies for the calf and interferes with the digestive tract’s ability to absorb water. The result is diarrhea with an added complication of missing nutrients for the calf. Coronavirus: This virus infects cells in a similar way to By Joe Armstrong rotavirus. However, instead of just interfering with absorpUniversity of MN tion, the virus actively kills cells in the lining of the intestine. The result is widespread destruction of the lining of the small intestine. The calf cannot absorb any nutrients, the inammation is massive and severe diarrhea occurs. Cryptosporidium: Cryptosporidium, often referred to as crypto, is a protozoan. Protozoa are microscopic animals. The most important thing to remember is that crypto is not bacteria. Crypto implants itself in the wall of the intestine and causes severe inammatory damage to the lining of the intestine. This damage results in diarrhea for the calf. Crypto infections are incredibly painful. Outside of the body, crypto has a thick shell that allows it to survive for long periods in the environment. Poor nutrition is the most common cause of scours. Calves need to eat. They are trying to grow in addition to ghting off any pathogens that could be present. Calves must have energy stored in the form of fat in order to gain weight and still have the energy to develop their immune system. Not feeding enough milk to give the calf the energy it needs to maintain a healthy immune system is the No. 1 cause of scours. It is important to feed calves on a regular schedule. Feeding at inconsistent times causes calf stress and increases the chance of acidosis. Calves should be drinking body temperature milk. A cow’s body temperature is between 101 degrees F and 102.5. Mixing too concentrated milk replacer can cause osmotic diarrhea. If you mix milk replacer with a higher concentration of solids than recommended, you will cause water from the calf’s body to move into the intestine resulting in diarrhea. Preventing calf scours starts even before the calf is born. A healthy cow produces a healthy calf. We can inuence the health of the calf by making sure the cow has a proper body condition score, adequate nutrition (including minerals), and a clean, dry environment. We can also use vaccines to inuence what antibodies a cow puts into her colostrum that are then passed to the calf. By vaccinating at the correct time while the cow is pregnant, we can improve the quality of the colostrum and target specic pathogens. Four quarts of quality, clean colostrum should be fed within the rst two hours of life. Every hour after birth, the calf’s ability to absorb the protective antibodies in colostrum decreases. Managing colostrum correctly is probably the single most inuential thing a farmer can do to improve calf health. Exposure to pathogens starts the moment the calf is on the ground. If the calving pen is not clean and dry, the exposure to pathogens is more likely. Make sure your cows are calving in a clean environment. In addition to a clean calving pen, everything else the calf comes into contact with needs to be clean. As discussed earlier, infectious causes of scours are dosedependent. More harmful bugs mean a higher likelihood of disease. Look at your calf housing and observe what the calves can reach with their mouths. If they can reach it, they will chew on it, and you need to clean it. - Clean and disinfect individual calf housing between each calf use. Clean and disinfect group housing between groups. - Feeding equipment should also be cleaned and disinfected regularly. - Chlorine dioxide is an excellent disinfectant and can be mixed in varying concentrations for applications. Calves need to eat because they need calories. Their energy needs increase when cold weather is also Inadequate nutriPreventing P i calf lf scours starts ationfactor. leads to sick calves that also do not grow. In genereven before the calf is born. al, feed calves a minimum of 8 quarts (2 gallons) per day of either whole milk or high-quality milk replacer (26:20). Timing, mixing and temperature have huge impacts on scours prevention. You should strive to deliver the same product at the same time every day to your calves. Timing and temperature are more straightforward measurements to keep consistent. When mixing milk replacer or when using whole milk, the products can change from day-to-day. - When using milk replacer, weigh all measurements of powder. Humidity, clumping and other factors make the volume an inconsistent measure for a powdered product. - You can measure total solids of your nal mixture, or whole milk, to target a consistent reading. In the order of importance, vaccines given to calves are towards the bottom of the list. Colostrum, nutrition, clean environment, cow health and feeding consistency are all more critical factors. There are products when given at birth under label instructions that can reduce scours, but they are not a cure-all solution. Work with your veterinarian to develop a vaccination protocol.
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019 • Page 29
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Winter driving woes Page 30 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019
Can you believe it? It is winter again already. you have to worry about are the cubes in your piña Winter. That six month (or longer) time of year up colada and your biggest concern is whether or not you here in the northlands when parents sew their kids into are developing tan lines. their long underwear. The season when people hyperI maintain that moving to such a place would be a ventilate whenever they lose sight of their jumper ca- huge mistake. I tell her that folks who live in the north bles, and livestock farmers have to want to live here and wake up in a cold sweat afthus have a much deeper apAn iicy road d iis the h ultimate li ter having nightmares about A preciation for all the little frozen water fountains. antidote to the toxic cocktail things in life, such as sumMy wife often commer. plains about the length and of umbrage and arrogance. Another advantage the severity of our winters. to our chilly climate and our She opines that she would long winters are that they rather live in an exotic tropical locale, the kind of help keep us on an even social keel. The concept of area where a person could spend their days basking road rage is a good example. We hardly ever see vehicular vehemence in this in the sun and listening to a gentle breeze whispering through the palm trees. A region where the only ice region, and for good reason. Winter has a way of rep-
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rimanding overly agitated drivers by smacking him or her upside the head should they decide to DWA – drive while angry. An icy road is the ultimate Dear County Agent Guy antidote to the toxic cocktail of umbrage and arrogance. It does not matter if you are driving a beat-up old rust bucket or a sparkling new Bentley: in the ditch is in the ditch. Winter slashes across all social strata, slamming home the true meaning of the words, “And, the By Jerry Nelson high shall be laid low Columnist and the low shall be made high.” This is especially true if you should come to rest atop a 15-foottall snowdrift. Go ahead and be impatient and see how far that gets you. Honk your horn at that dopey slowpoke in front of you who is doodling along at a speed that is commonly associated with turtle races. Be sure to make an angry gesture at him when you nally get the chance to pass him by. But, who will have the last laugh when, a mile or two later, you spin out of control, blast into the ditch and remove several rods of barbed wire fence with the grill of your shiny new Lexus? And, here is the kicker. The person who is most likely to stop and lend a hand to you would be none other than Mr. Slowpoke. Why? Quite simply because he has been there. He knows how Mr. Get Out of My Way, I’m in a Hurry feels right now. Every one of us living in the Great White North have wallowed in the iniquity of the ditch where we wept, gnashed our teeth and our gears, and prayed for deliverance in the form of a AAA approved tow truck. At a moment such as this, Mr. Hurry Up would gladly sell his soul for the opportunity to become better acquainted with a pokey old farmer and his pokey old tractor. Mr. Slowpoke pulls over to offer help, and Mr. Hurry Up is grateful and, at least for a little while, humbled. In that moment, it ashes upon Mr. Hurry Up that we are all in this together, that we are all brothers and sisters whether we drive a an Americanmade land yacht or an imported roller-skate-sized subcompact. Also, that you should always turn your wheels into a slide or else the road’s surface will not be the only place that will have skid marks. So, this winter, as you travel our snow-packed highways and byways, be courteous to your fellow travelers. Take it slow; arriving a little bit late is better than arriving a lot late with shoes full of slush and cold, wet feet. Stop and lend a hand to those in need. Think of all of those times when you overcorrected and slammed on the brakes and slid off the path of righteousness and into the purgatory of the ditch. And remember to give thanks for this season. Because if it were not for winter, we might soon devolve into a swarm of scurrying, godless lemmings. For as we all know, there is no such thing as an atheist in a snowdrift. Jerry is a recovering dairy farmer from Volga, South Dakota. He and his wife, Julie, have two grown sons and live on the farm where Jerry’s great-grandfather homesteaded over 110 years ago. Jerry currently works full time for the Dairy Star as a staff writer/ad salesman. Feel free to E-mail him at: jerry.n@dairystar.com.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019 • Page 31
A harvest lled with compromise
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smaller quantities can help spread out this cost and may allow some market opportunities. Your feed strategies will vary depending on which feeds have been negatively impacted through harvest. If you have unfermented or partially fermented forages, consider feeding them during the winter months to avoid heating and spoilage issues next spring. If your high moisture corn was too dry, it is benecial to reduce micron or particle size at feeding. Work with your nutritionist to determine which strategies make the most sense for your compromised feeds. Also, determine if alternative feeds or byproducts make sense for your situation. Your cows will appreciate any effort to provide the best quality options despite the difcult harvest season. Barry Visser is a nutritionist for Vita Plus.
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As we look to Thanksgiving next week, we reect on the things we are thankful for. Some of you may have hit an ideal harvest window, but, for many, to say harvest is challenging would be an understatement. Hopefully, you can nd a few silver linings amongst these obstacles. The difculties of 2019 began this spring when corn planting for many happened several weeks later than ideal. Cooler summer temperatures resulted in growing degree Something to Ruminate On lower days and delayed plant maturity. The biggest challenge this fall has been too wet of soil conditions with lateseason rains before and during harvest. Corn silage chopping was a battle in most areas with the introduction of dump carts and safety pulls for many. The result was a By Barry Visser harvest that took more Nutritionist time and expense, whether harvested by the dairy or a custom harvesting crew. Ideal forage dry matter is well-dened, but especially difcult to achieve this year. Waiting for elds to dry, later maturity and subsequent frost resulted in corn silage that, in some cases, was more than 10 points drier than ideal. The harvest challenges also led to unpredicted delays for some harvesting crews and further complicated harvest for some farms. Similarly, but to a lesser degree, we have seen harvest dry matter challenges with earlage and high moisture corn. Dry matter at harvest is the primary driver to successful fermentation. Harvest temperature is generally not a big consideration with fall corn harvest. However, some corn silage and more wet corn has been harvested in conditions at refrigerator and freezer temperatures. Under these conditions, fermentation is not going to happen until temperatures rise above freezing and beyond. Some of you may remember similar situations in 2009 when we also had a late harvest. I recall a client harvesting corn silage in November into bags that fed like fresh-chopped (unfermented) corn silage all winter. The following spring, bags gassed up as temperatures increased and delayed fermentation occurred. There was a period through the midst of the fermentation that we battled some heating and spoilage challenges. Due to the growing season challenges mentioned above, some farms were not able to harvest the tons of corn silage needed to satisfy their annual needs. In many situations, more acres were harvested to reach this goal. The result is a strain on feed inventories. Now is a great time to assess feed inventories. Small adjustments at this time of year can help stretch certain feedstuffs and avoid drastic changes closer to next year’s harvest. Purchasing substitute feeds in
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It is all about family Page 32 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019
We could not make it to World Dairy Expo this year due to the extended harvest season. We started chopping in mid September and nished combing corn in late November. The last corn stalk was gleaned on Sunday night. With above freezing temperatures for the remainder of the week, we hope to nish some fall eldwork. It has been a long and memorable harvest season. The bright spot was when Expo came to us. A group of dairymen and women from the Netherlands, Latvia and Belgium stopped by on their way to Madison, Wisconsin, to talk cows and farming. They took the long, scenic route visiting farms in Minnesota and Wisconsin before they stepped foot on Expo grounds. The group of 15 people arrived as we nished chopping silage and before the combine pulled into the elds for high moisture corn. Fortunately, it rained the day before and prevented us from being in the elds. When we scheduled this visit six
months earlier, we did not know how things were going to shake out. But, it was a perfect time to talk and learn from each other. Questions centered around the future of dairying, regardless of where we farmed. It was amazing to hear how many of the things we are facing here on our farm and industry they are going through, too, several thousand miles and language barriers away. The president of the Latvian Holstein Association is a mother with young children. She is trying to capture the attention of other young kids and cultivate an interest in dairying. She is rounding up young neighbors, cousins and friends to lease animals to show as a way to educate consumers about the dairy industry. She points out that if they do not capture their interest when they are young, they never will. It seems they cannot compete against the computers, social media and sports. We leaned up against their van and talked about how reaching young people is a passion we both
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share. I told her about our Andrew and how he was now a herdsman in southern Minnesota because we pulled him into our family and 4-H. The 4-H and breed leasing programs are great ways to get non-farm kids exposed to other opportunities and careers. Two farmers in the group wanted to know Just Thinking Out Loud what our plans are for the next phase of life. I joked, “There’s a phase after dairying?” The two neighbors both milked cows, but the older one was ready to retire from milking but not cattle. Together they worked out a plan to benet both farms. By Natalie Schmitt The younger one still milks and the older Columnist one raises his replacement heifers. The retired dairyman also converted some facility space for his wife’s and daughter’s passion of horses. A creative way to solve a universal problem. They also asked about government regulations and water quality. They struggle with bureaucrats, legislation and common sense in addressing these issues, too. A young dairyman, about Austin’s age, is the third generation to still be on his family farm because of decisions made during a tragic time. His dad was hurt in a farming accident about 10 years ago. Grandpa was too old to do the daily milking and he was too young. They took a huge step to stay in business by installing three robotic milkers. It was the best thing they did. He could not imagine milking any other way. There was a high learning curve, but the struggle to adjust to the new technology was worth it. Their leap into adapting saved the farm when the future looked bleak. The gentleman who organized this dairy trip is a breeding consultant for these dairymen and women. He works with farmers to select the right type of genetics to t the farmers’ goals. Some farmers are jumping in the genomic pool with both feet, breeding based solely on numbers. Others are standing on the edge of the pool, dangling their big toe in the pool, using genomics and proven cow families. We are on the edge of the pool, too. We dabble with some genomics and ush only a few special animals to keep close to the game, but our real passion is developing cow families. Maybe it is
I iis all It ll about b ffamilies ili iin the h barn and in the house that make this industry go. pride, but there is something special when three generations are standing in the barn together and to work with a cow family over enough years that you can see which strong family traits are passed on to the next generation. It may be a numbers game today, but it is still driven by families. Many in the group agreed. It is all about families in the barn and in the house that make this industry go. Their stories are like many we have read about in the Dairy Star over the years, yet we are farming thousands of miles apart. We are asking the same questions, facing similar circumstances with weather and governments. We are looking for creative solutions from other’s experiences. It is a small world, and we belong to a very special family. Natalie, Mark and his brother Al, farm together near Rice, Minn. They milk 100 registered Holsteins under the RALMA prex. Their four children are grown up and all involved in agriculture with hopes of someone returning to the farm. For questions or comments, please e-mail Natalie at mnschmitt@jetup.net.
Agates and plows
I don’t remember when Glen started collecting agates. But for the past couple years, at least, many of our conversations in passing while working around the farm have started with Glen saying, “Hey, look at this one I found!” Then, with the excitement of a kid on Christmas morning, he’ll open his outstretched hand to show me the newest agate he’s found. Oftentimes, the agates are so small that I wonder how on Earth he managed to spot them while walking around. Sometimes, the agates are so tiny he forgets them in his pockets and I nd them in the washing machine. I even found a couple teeny-tiny agates stuck between the grate and lint lter in our dryer. Glen saves all his agates, but I don’t know Dairy Good Life where. I just set the ones I nd in the wash on top of the dryer and he re-collects them. I’m not sure if he keeps a mental inventory of each agate, but I know there is one he will never forget – that none of us will ever forget. The story of this agate starts with a heifer named Mogen. She gave birth to a heifer calf out in the pasture. Glen brought her into the cow yard with the other close up cows. He sorted Mogen out as the rest of the close up cows went back out to pasture. As soon as Mogen realized she was alone in the cow yard, she went crazy. Glen called for help to get Mogen into the barn, By Sadie Frericks so Monika and I went to assist. But three people Columnist weren’t enough. Ten people might not have been enough. First, Mogen jumped over the barbed wire fence into the grassed waterway. Then, she plowed through three separate electric fences. We managed to get her back into the cow yard, but she pushed two steel freestanding gates apart and escaped. Forty-ve minutes later, we nally got Mogen into the barn. As we were sliding the barn door shut, Glen stopped and said excitedly, “Look what I found!” In his hand was the mother of all agates. Easily the biggest agate Glen has ever found, this gem is almost as large as the palm of Glen’s hand. One facet of the dark red stone has perfect agate lines; another facet has bright white crystals. It is a truly beautiful agate. He said he was in the pasture by the pond, repairing the electric fence dismantled by Mogen, when he spotted the agate in the sand. His contagious jubilance over nding the agate was a much-needed mood booster after the frustration of corralling Mogen. And we really needed that boost, because it took another 30 minutes to get Mogen into a stall. A couple days later, while we were still reveling Agate collecting A ll i iis a ffun h hobby, bb in the discovery of the I suggested that our but the health of our cropland agate, next family getaway should be a trip to the North Shore and the conservation of to go agate hunting. Glen our soil are essential to the didn’t disagree. But, then, Glen met a success of our livelihood. couple of professional agate hunters by happenstance and learned that some of the best agate hunting is right here in Stearns County. “What?” I asked, in disbelief. “Here in Stearns County?” He went on to share what he’d learned: Lake Superior agates were distributed throughout the upper Midwest by the glaciers. The best place to nd agates is where the earth has been disturbed. Historically, farm elds in which the earth has been turned over by a moldboard plow are the best places to nd agates. “But now,” the agate collectors told Glen with disappointment, “farmers aren’t plowing their elds as much anymore.” And, they said, the increased use of rock rollers in elds prevents agates from surfacing. “Well, honey,” I told Glen. “I guess we’ll have to start moldboarding our elds.” He laughed at my joke. I chuckled with him. Moldboard plows might be good for agates, but they’re bad for elds. We haven’t used a moldboard plow in the 15 years we’ve been farming and no promise of agates could convince us to start. Agate collecting is a fun hobby, but the health of our cropland and the conservation of our soil are essential to the success of our entire livelihood. The agate collectors also told Glen about the Cuyuna Rock, Gem, and Mineral Society’s annual spring trade show in Brainerd. They said he could bring his Mogen agate along to have it evaluated. Perhaps we’ll make plans to go ogle over agates there. Sadie and her husband, Glen, milk 100 cows near Melrose, Minn. They have three children – Dan, 11, Monika, 8, and Daphne, 5. Sadie also writes a blog at www. dairygoodlife.com. She can be reached at sadiefrericks@gmail.com.
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019 • Page 33
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Page 34 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019
Annexstad siblings take rst at NAILE dairy judging contests By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Emily Annexstad’s dairy judging career began with family, so it was only suiting her collegiate career ended the same. Emily, 21, was the rst place individual of the collegiate dairy cattle judging contest Nov. 10 at the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky. She received the honor as a member of the winning University of Minnesota team and alongside her twin brothers, Matthias and Leif, 19, who were a part of the rst place 4-H team representing Minnesota. “We all grew up dairy judging, and in some cases were on the same team in the same age division,” Emily said. “It’s pretty awesome to end my time judging with the same people I started with.” The Annexstad siblings and their parents, Rolf and Jean, milk 180 Holsteins in Nicollet County near St. Peter. The siblings’ uncle, Michael, also farms with the family. In addition to placing rst overall, Emily also took top honors in oral reasons and the Holstein breed. Matthias was rst overall, too, and rst in the Brown Swiss breed for his youth contest. The day of competition began in the same showring. Collegiate, post-
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The Annexstad siblings – (from leŌ) Leif, Emily and MaƩhias – showcase their awards from the 2019 North American InternaƟonal Livestock ExposiƟon’s dairy caƩle judging contests Nov. 10 in Louisville, Kentucky. The siblings’ teams placed rst in their respecƟve compeƟƟons, and Emily and MaƩhias were also named rst place individuals for the collegiate and 4-H contests, respecƟvely.
secondary and 4-H participants evaluated the same 10 classes of cows and heifers, and then gave different sets of reasons. Contests results were revealed at a banquet the following day. “Going into the banquet, I was condent my reasons went well,” Emily said. “But when I was comparing my placings with our coaches, we didn’t all have the same, so I really wasn’t sure how it was all going to turn out.” Matthias agreed. “I had never been high individual before,” he said. As the winners of each class were announced, it became clear the Annexstad siblings had a successful day in Louisville. Yet, the results began in alphabetical order and it was not yet evident they were claiming top honors. Emily took second place in Brown Swiss and Guernsey before winning the Holstein breed. “I was so close in those rst two classes, but not rst, so I wasn’t expecting to be rst overall,” Emily said. “It didn’t really sink in until later of how incredible the whole experience was.” When Matthias’ name was called for the 4-H category, he, too, was shocked. “I took fth in reasons,” he said. “I really didn’t know if I could be on the top for overall.” For the Annexstads, they were quick to realize success did not come from one individual but a team effort.
Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019 • Page 35
ConƟnued from ANNEXSTADS | Page 34 Emily’s team included Eva Doornink, of Baldwin, Wisconsin, Sierra Swanson, of Hutchinson, and Kaleb Kruse, of Dyersville, Iowa, and was coached by Dr. Les Hansen, Alicia Thurk Hiebert, Eric Houdek and Gabriella Sorg. The Annexstad brothers 4-H team also included Megan Meyer, of Winona County, and Owen Schefer, of Goodhue County. Tony and Maizie Schefer coached the youth team. Leif was hopeful for a rewarding contest after the Minnesota team claimed the rst three breeds, even though they did not perform well in the Holstein and Jersey classes. “I knew we had a good chance of winning, but Wisconsin took rst in reasons when we took second. It was going to be pretty close for overall,” he said. “I’m happy we pulled through.” As the Annexstads celebrated their wins, they kept their parents informed as they were doing chores at the family’s farm. The siblings texted their mom and dad every time one of them placed. “Mom left her phone in the house while she was out in the barn. She came in to 25 texts from us,” said Emily, laughing. Family is important to the Annexstads. “We really enjoy doing this together as a family and sharing each other’s success,” Leif said. Matthias agreed. “We wanted to share this with our parents,” he said. “They were on the UMN dairy cattle judging team and were the rst to get us involved and supported us.”
NAILE dairy cattle judging results: University of Minnesota: rst team overall; rst team oral reasons; rst team Jersey Emily: rst overall; rst oral reasons; rst Holstein Doornink: rst Jersey Minnesota 4-H: rst team overall; rst team Ayrshire; rst team Brown Swiss; rst team Guernsey Matthias: rst overall; rst Brown Swiss In all the cattle the siblings have evaluated, the reasons they have given and the miles they have traveled to do so, they have also grown personally and professionally. Dairy judging has helped Leif become condent in his decisions and know what he is capable of if he works hard. “It’s a lot of public speaking,” he said. “I’m now able to pull my thoughts together on why I placed a class a certain way. I can be condent in why I believe what I did was right.” As a senior studying animal science and agriculture communications and marketing, Emily is looking forward to taking the skills she has gained in dairy judging to develop a career in the agriculture industry. And, chalking up her judging career alongside family is a moment she will not soon forget.
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PHOTO SUBMITTED
University of Minnesota dairy caƩle judging team –(from leŌ) Kaleb Kruse, Sierra Swanson, Emily Annexstad, Eva Doornink and coach Dr. Les Hansen – take rst place at the North American InternaƟonal Livestock CompeƟƟon’s contest in Louisville, Kentucky. For the fth year in a row, the University of Minnesota placed rst overall in the collegiate dairy cattle judging contest Nov. 10 at the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE), Louisville, Kentucky. The margin of victory was 28 points over second place Oklahoma State. Sixteen four-year universities competed in the contest. University of Minnesota teams have placed rst overall in the Louisville contest in eight of the past 10 years. In addition to placing rst overall, the University of Minnesota team was rst in oral reasons by an 18-point margin and rst in the Jersey breed. Team members were Emily Annexstad, St. Peter, Minnesota; Eva Doornink, Baldwin, Wisconsin; Sierra Swanson, Hutchinson, Minnesota; and Kaleb Kruse, Dyersville, Iowa. Individually, Annexstad was rst overall (by a 12-point margin), rst in oral reasons, and rst in Holstein. Doornink was eighth overall, third in oral reasons, rst in Jersey, and third in Brown Swiss. Swanson was 10th overall, second in oral reasons, and fourth in Jersey. Coaches were Dr. Les Hansen, Alicia Thurk Hiebert, Eric Houdek, and Gabriella Sorg. Team ranking: 1. University of Minnesota, 2. Oklahoma State, 3. Ohio State, 4. UW-Madison, 5. Penn State, 6. UW-River Falls, 7. Purdue, 8. Iowa State, 9. Tarleton State, 10. Michigan State, 11. University of Georgia, 12. Cal Poly, 13. South Dakota State, 14. North Dakota State, 15. Colorado State, 16. West Virginia.
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Page 36 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019
Women In Dairy Laura Jones Wilton, Iowa Cedar County 55 cows Family: I have been married to Jared Jones for 12 years. We have three kids: Hunter, 9, Elizabeth, 7, and Gunnar, 4. Tell us about your farm. We farm 315 acres and grow primarily corn, soybeans and hay, and rye for a cover crop and feed. My grandmother’s parents, Fritz and Luise Langbehn, purchased the farm in 1949. Registered Holsteins were introduced to the herd in 1977 by my aunt, Sue Hobby. We milk 55 cows, most of which are registered Holsteins, with one DeLaval VMS robot. We focus on soil fertility and health, and breeding robust and healthy cows. I’m in partnership with my father, Steve Leazer. My 92-year-old grandfather still helps, and we have some part-time help, too. What is the busiest time of day for you? From the time my kids wake up until they are asleep. When you get a spare moment, what do you do? Nap or exercise. Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. My sister won the 4-H grand champion Holstein at the Iowa State Fair with a bred-and-owned cow in 1999.
What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? I enjoy working in the outdoors and seeing the beauty of nature whether it’s a new calf being born or a sunrise. How do you stay connected with others in the industry? This is a tough one for me to uphold all the time, but social media helps and going to events like World Dairy Expo. Who is someone in the industry who has inspired you? Trent and Leslie Henkes and their family. They care tremendously about agriculture, their dairy and helping others. If you could give a tour of your farm to a prominent woman in today’s society, who would it be? Wendy Wintersteen, president of Iowa State University, because she is a tremendous leader for agriculture. She was the dean of the college of ag when I graduated from Iowa State.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019 • Page 37
AGRI Livestock Investment Grant in 10th year State funding available for on-farm improvements By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
ST. PAUL, Minn. – From freestall barns to feeding equipment or the investments of a farmer beginning his or her dairying career, more than $5 million of ďƒžnancial support from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture has helped farmers improve their dairy operation over the past seven years. As the state’s Agriculture Growth, Research and Innovation Livestock Investment Grant accepts applications for 2020 projects, the opportunity to invest in the future of a dairy farm is ever present. “Our goal is to support farmers by strengthening their operations so they can remain competitive in the industry,â€? Courtney Beer said. “It’s a chance for them to modernize or grow their farm.â€? Beer is the livestock investment administrator with the MDA Ag Marketing and Development Division. This year, the state has $768,000 in funding available for farmers as part of the Livestock Investment Grant. Projects must start and end between Jan. 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021. Every year, the grant reimburses farmers for 10% of the on-farm project’s cost, up to $250,000. This means grant awardees receive between $400 and $25,000. While the grant is available for most livestock sectors, the dairy industry has traditionally capitalized on the program. The grant was developed in 2008. Reintroduced in 2013, the grant became a part of the state’s newly developed AGRI initiative. “In the early years of the program, we had two rounds of applications,â€? Beer said. “This is now our 10th year of accepting applications.â€? Since the program’s reemergence in 2013, 280 dairy-speciďƒžc grant applications have been accepted for a total of nearly $5 million in ďƒžnancial support. The support has contributed to $95 million worth of investments on dairy farms, said Beer. Last year alone, the program awarded 104 livestock producers a total of $2.02 million for on-farm projects. Of the 104 grant recipients, 36 were dairy farmers who received $650,000 towards $17 million worth of on-farm investments. Over the nine-year period, an average of $18,000 was awarded to livestock producers. “People want to make on-farm improvements to stay competitive in the industry, help with a generational transfer or adapt the farm to more technology as it becomes available,â€? Beer said. “This grant helps farmers do all of that.â€? Infrastructure is a common project. Many farmers have used the state’s funding to assist with building freestall barns and facilities for all
stages of production, such as calves, heifers, milking and dry cows. “Or, if they’re a new farmer starting fresh or a part of a transition, that’s a big investment and this can help offset that cost,â€? Beer said. The grant also offers opportunity for dairy farmers to rebuild after a natural disaster. “2019 has been an interesting and active weather year,â€? Beer said. “The Livestock Investment Grant will help farmers respond to what’s happened.â€? As the industry has evolved, so has the application process. In 2019, the state included a robotics portion of the application. “In dairy, robotic milking systems, feeders and activity collars are just the tip of the iceberg,â€? Beer said. There are 10 sections in the application. Each portion of the application contributes to the points grant applicants receive towards a total score. Farmers can maximize points by answering the questions that apply to their project. “Many of the scoring criteria relate closely to MDA’s mission of enhancing our quality of life by ensuring the integrity of our food supply, the health of our environment and the strength of our ag economy,â€? Beer said. “We want farmers to have the opportunity to make improvements and comprehensively develop their farms.â€? Over the course of nine years, Minnesota farmers have upgraded their dairies with the ďƒžnancial assistance of the state. As applications are being accepted for the grant’s 10th year, Beer encourages farmers to apply regardless of previous outcomes. Each livestock operation is eligible to receive a lifetime maximum
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“This is a very competitive program, but it is a good opportunity to set goals for projects of any size.� COURTNEY BEER, MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF AG
of $50,000 from this grant program. “If you haven’t reached your limit or were denied in the past, please apply,� Beer said. “This is a very competitive program, but it is a good opportunity to set goals for projects of any size.� In certain cases, applying for the grant may also be enough to move a project forward by securing an operating loan from a bank. “Sometimes, [the grant] gives a more solid plan and may be enough to attract other funding to assist in meeting the goals of the farm,� Beer said. Although available funding is less than previous years, the grant remains attainable, said Beer. Applications are due Wednesday, Dec. 18, at 4 p.m. Farmers who wish to apply can request a paper copy or apply online at https://www.mda.state.mn.us/livestockinvestment.
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Page 38 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019
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Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019 • Page 39
Dairy prole Joel Suhr Mantorville, Minnesota Dodge County 160 cows How did you get into farming? I was born and raised on the farm. After graduating from high school, I attended Ridgewater College and returned to the farm in the spring of 2002. I have been full time since. I farm with my dad, Don. My brother, Jason, works part time on the farm and has a full-time job off the farm as a mechanic. My mom, Terri, also helps on the farm when she can and works off the farm full time. What are your thoughts and concerns about the dairy industry for the next year? I am worried about recent events in the dairy industry, such as the closure of the AMPI plants and Dean Foods ling for bankruptcy. I am also worried about the shortage of forages and hay. We had to take a lot more of our corn this year for silage. We farm a total of 500 acres. What is the latest technology you implemented on your farm and the purpose for it? A few years ago, we started using Nitrate Now through our agronomy cooperative. Before planting, we put down 80 pounds of anhydrous. After planting and the corn is up, we grid sample the elds to see where nitrogen levels are. Then, we side dress a variable rate of nitrogen to the corn’s needs so the crops grow better,
and we do not waste nitrogen. We are not throwing it away on corn that does not need it, and we are not starving the corn that does need it. What is a management practice you changed in the past year that has beneted you? We are feeding canola meal instead of soybean meal. It is less expensive, and we are running a higher component test with it. Right now, our components are at 4.5% butterfat and 3.6% protein. The higher components help pay the bills. What cost-saving steps have you implemented during the low milk price? For the past three years, we have been contracting feed products like canola meal and cottonseed when it is a reasonable price. We do the best we can with what we have. How do you retain a good working relationship with your employees? It is just family here. We try to talk out any problems or concerns, and we try to make it a good working environment. Tell us about a skill you possess that makes dairy farming easier for you. I am usually good at problem solving issues or breakdowns, and we are usually able to x the problem ourselves. What do you enjoy most about dairy farming? I like being my own boss, and I like that I get to see the results of the work I put into the farm.
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What advice would you give other dairy farmers? Watch your debt load and be careful not to get in too deep. What has been the best purchase you have ever made on your farm? We purchased a bale wrapper a few years ago. It is so nice to bale when you do not have to worry about it getting dry, especially the last few years. I also use the bale wrapper to do custom work on the side.
HAY & FORAGE, STALK CHOPPERS New Holland BR7090 Round Baler, 2500 bales John Deere 582 Silage Special Round Baler 4X5, 19,434 Bales Hesston 745 round baler, twine, nice shape Hesston 4755 Baler 3x3 53,000 Bales, Manual Preservative NH 330 big baler, 2013, 3X3, Manual Applicator, 6,200 Bales New Holland BC5060 2012 Small Square Baler w/Thrower Hesston 8200 SP windrower w/14’ auger head Gehl DC2360 9’ Disc Mower Conditioner JD 936 Moco 11’ Mower Conditioner, 2002 w/ñail conditioner New Holland 1431 mower conditioner, 13’, 1998 New Holland 256 bar rake Artsway 240C Stalk Chopper, 2015, 20’ Width, Low Acres Vermeer CPX9000 Bale Processor, 2017, with Twin Blowers
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Hardi Navigator 4000, 2013, 90’ Boom, 120” Axle, ISO Hardi Navigator 4000, 2012, 90’ Boom,120” Axle, 5500 rate controler Hardi Navigator 3000, 60’ Boom, adjustable axle Gleaner S77 Combine, 2012, duals, 1,777 sep, 2,325 E. Gleaner R75 Combine, 2004, Duals, 1982 Sep, 2719 E, very nice Great Plains 13’ solid stand grain drill Melroe 2120-286 14’ Grain Drill with Small Seeds & Fert. Box Gleaner 8000 Flex Head 25’ Lateral Tilt, 2004 Top Air TA112 Sprayer 60’ Boom,ñush and rinse system, raven Case IH 1640 Combine 4,435 hours, 28L-26 singles Geringhoσ Rotadisc 800B Corn Head 8 Row 30”, Gleaner Mounts White 6900 11-Row Splitter Planter, Row Cleaners, Bean Meters GRAIN CARTS & WAGONS Harvestec 4306C Cutter Corn Head 6 Row 30” GL Mounts Meyer 1500 Running Gear with 16.5-16.1 tires, nice shape Harvestec 4308C Cutter Corn Head 8 Row 30” GL Mounts Meyer 1500 Running Gear with 16.5-16.1 tires, nice shape Harvestec 4308C Cutter Corn Head 8 Row 30” GL Mounts, nice Gehl 4-wheel gear, 11L-15 tires Harvestec 4308C Cutter Corn Head 8 Row 30” JD Mount H&S LK-500 Forage Box, 14’ with P&H 4 wheel gear Harvestec 4308C Cutter Corn Head 8 Row 30” Demco 365 Gravity Box w/385-22.5 Truck Tires, Red NH/Case IH Mount ‘08 Ez-Flow 300 Gravity Box w/EZ-Trail 1074 Gear. 12.5-15 Tires SKID STEERS Parker Gravity Box, 400 bu. Case SR220 Skid Steer, Cab, Heat, A/C, 2 Speed, 3200 hrs. Pequea 918 Hay Rack With 10 Ton Pequea Running Gear. Nice Mustang 3300V, ‘12, 1,935 hrs., H/F controls, cab w/AC, 2 spd. MANURE SPREADERS Mustang 2700V, ‘11, 2,000 hrs., pilot ctrls., cab, 2 spd, nice H&S 5126 Topshot, 19LX16.1 tires, 2011 Mustang 2060 ‘96, 6,636 hrs., T-Bar controls, universal mount Kuhn Knight 8124 Side Slinger Spreader TILLAGE/FIELD CULTIVATORS New Idea 3739 Manure Spreader, Hydraulic Drive., Consigned Glencoe SS7400 5-shank chisel plow (excellent condition) GRAIN EQUIPMENT John Deere 3710 8-Bottom Plow Good Selection Of Used Augers John Deere 2600 4-Bottom Plow, Vari-Width MISCELLANEOUS DMI Ecolo-Tiger 730B ,7 shank, Straight Front Coulters, Bush Hog RDTH84 3-Point Finish Mower 7’, 2012, good shape Closing Disc 1500 gallon round ñat bottom tank Case IH 335 VT, 2015, Serial # YFDO79444, 28’ 1350 gallon round ñat bottom tank Wilrich 357 5-Shank Ripper With Cart, 2014 HLA 9’ Snow Pusher, Bucket Edge Mount, Steel Trip Edge Wilrich 657 11 Shank Chisel/ Ripper Combo, 2014 Farm King 3-Point Blade, 7’ cat. 2., consigned Wilrich 657 11 Shank Chisel/ Ripper Combo, 2012, Virnig 96” Hydraulic Angle Broom. New Brushes. 2 Bar Coil & Basket Berlon 3 prong bale spear Virnig 4 Prong Bale Spear, round tapered shaft, #101939
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What has been your biggest accomplishment while dairy farming? We constructed new facilities for cows and youngstock. In 2003 into 2004, we built a new freestall barn. In 2005 and 2006, we put up a new calf barn and dry cow shed. In 2007 into 2008, we built a new parlor. At the time, it was a lot, but I am glad we did it then.
What are your plans for your dairy in the next year and ve years? In the next year, we plan to stay where we are and not make too many changes. In the next ve years, we will work on transitioning the farm from Mom and Dad so my brother and I can take over and start a partnership. How do you or your family like to spend time when you are not doing chores? I like to visit with neighbors, family and friends.
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Page 40 • Dairy Star • Saturday, November 23, 2019
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