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C E L E B R A T I N G
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Y E A R S
DAIRY ST R 25
December 23, 2023
âAll dairy, all the timeââ˘
Volume 25, No. 21
Fellow farmers step in to help Annexstads receive support after barn ďre By Jan Lefebvre jan.l@star-pub.com
ST. PETER, Minn. â For the Annexstad family, the despair that came when their dairy barn was destroyed by ďre Dec. 5 was quickly replaced with gratitude when a rush of community support followed, especially from fellow dairy farmers. Matthias Annexstad woke just after midnight at the familyâs farm near St. Peter to the sound of people pounding on the door. âI wasnât really all the way awake yet, so I walked out on the porch, and sure enough, the barn was on ďre,â Matthias said. âThey were already on
the phone with the ďre station at that point. I ran to see if the ďre was spreading.â Matthiasâ parents, Rolf and Jean Annexstad, and his uncle, Mike Annexstad, own Annexstad Dairy. Matthias works with them full time. The farmâs milking herd consists of 180 cows, and the family raises youngstock. Rolf said the barn that caught ďre was fortunately not housing cows. âWe have the milking parlor and holding area in our old barn (that burned), and the milk cows are in a separate barn about 300 feet away from the milking facility,â Rolf said. âThe ďre started in the haymow of the older part of the barn. There are some loaďng sheds attached to this old barn with dry cows and youngstock, but the ďre never spread to that part.â Turn to ANNEXSTADS | Page 2
PHOTO SUBMITTED
The Annexstads â Jean (from leĹ), MaĆŠhias, Rolf and Mike â stand by their parlor and holding area Dec. 19 on their farm near St. Peter, Minnesota. The Annexstadsâ barn was damaged by ďre Dec. 5.
Statz wins heifer, gains a friend 6-year-old takes home Dairy Starâs grand prize By TiďŹany Klaphake tiďŹany.k@dairystar.com
RICHMOND, Minn. â After seeing Dairy Starâs Great
TIFFANY KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Alyssa Statz hugs the calf she won in Dairy Starâs Great Christmas Giveaway Dec. 18 at her familyâs farm near Richmond, Minnesota. This is the ďrst year Statz registered for the annual contest.
Christmas Giveaway advertised in the paper, Alyssa Statz asked her dad, Jeff, how to register. âIf I won that calf, I would read it a book every night, take care of it and brush its hair,â Alyssa said. Alyssa will need to start collecting books to read to Sunkist Rompen Layla-Red, the Red & White Holstein calf she won as the grand prize winner in the annual holiday contest. Alyssa, 6, and her 4-yearold brother, Brody, help with
calf chores as often as they can at their familyâs century farm near Richmond. Alyssaâs parents, Jeff and Catherine, along with Jeffâs parents, Ron and Marlene Statz, milk 220 Holsteins in a double-10 parallel parlor. Jeffâs brother, Mark, helps on weekends and during harvest. Together, they farm 550 acres of corn and alfalfa and upland grass hay. Jeff said this was the ďrst time his children had registered for Dairy Starâs annual contest. Jeff and Catherine kept it a surprise that Alyssa won until they arrived at Sunkist Acres near Glencoe, owned by the Donnay family, to pick up the prize. âI told the kids we are going to go look at an animal,â Jeff said. âWe all jumped in the truck and didnât tell the kids until we got to the Donnay farm.â Once they arrived, Nate
Donnay had Layla haltered and ready for the surprise. Jeff and Catherine told Alyssa that she had in fact won the calf. Jeff said to say Alyssa was happy would be an understatement. âI canât believe I have a calf of my very own,â Alyssa said. âI am so excited. I like that Layla is calm and that she likes me.â Alyssa said she is looking forward to spending lots of time with Layla over Christmas break and after school every day. âMy favorite part of Christmas is spending time with family and those I love,â Alyssa said. âLayla is now part of our family.â
Turn to CHRISTMAS CALF | Page 6