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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
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 25, No. 21
The land is their legacy Noll family recognized with 2023 Wisconsin Leopold Conservation Award By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com
ALMA, Wis. — On top of a 500-foot bluff with spectacular views of the Mississippi River, the Noll family manages their 100-cow dairy farm. Farming on a bluff is an art that has been passed down for generations and has now earned the family the 2023 Wisconsin Leopold Conservation Award. The award was presented Dec. 3 at Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting in Wisconsin Dells. Scott Noll operates the dairy, while his dad, Curt, and uncle,
Mark, manage the cropland. The dairy is named Five-Star Dairy Farm LLC for Scott’s ve children: Axel, Finley, Nessa, Lincoln and Magnus. The farm was established in 1929 when Scott’s great-grandparents, Louis and Elizabeth, bought the rst acreage near Alma. The farm is now comprised of 735 acres, of which 400 is cropland. Scott said their family’s conservation efforts are part of a goal to keep the legacy of the farm alive. “The farm itself will be 100 years in our family in 2029,” Scott said. “I’m hoping that the next generation can carry on what we’ve done since 1929.” Contour strips were rst used on the farm in 1954. The 400 acres are divided into 121 elds, with the average eld Turn to NOLLS | Page 5
ABBY WIEDMEYER/DAIRY STAR
Axel (leŌ) and ScoƩ Noll take a break Dec. 8 at their dairy farm near Alma, Wisconsin. The Nolls were recognized with the 2023 Wisconsin Leopold ConservaƟon Award.
Santa drives a truck, trailer Borchardt wins calf in Dairy Star’s Christmas giveaway By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
Derek Breyer (front, from leŌ) and Abby Borchardt; (back, from leŌ) Dillon Breyer, Doug Breyer, Cindy Breyer and Mike Borchardt stand with Townlineacres Rosalie-Red-P Dec. 16 at the Breyers’ farm near Birnamwood, Wisconsin. Abby won Rosalie in Dairy Star’s Great Christmas Giveaway.
BIRNAMWOOD, Wis. — When Abby Borchardt’s father hooked up the truck and trailer the morning of Dec. 16, she did not realize she was climbing into her own version of Santa’s sleigh, heading off to a day she will not soon forget. Abby is the 17-year-old the daughter of Mike and Barbara Borchardt. Her name was drawn Dec. 13 as the winner of Dairy Star’s Great Christmas Giveaway’s top prize — a registered Red & White heifer calf named Townlineacres Rosalie-Red-P. The Borchardts milk 45 cows on their family’s Marathon County dairy farm in Edgar, where Rosalie will now reside. The herd is comprised primarily of Holsteins, with a few Milk-
ing Shorthorns that Abby enjoys showing. “My dad told me we were going to go look at some calves and see what we thought, and we should probably take the trailer in case we bought one,” Abby said, laughing after the surprise was revealed to her. “I didn’t even know my dad had signed me up.” Mike, who signed up his daughter for the contest at Brubacker Ag Equipment LLC in Curtiss, said he was uncertain how he kept the secret from Abby for four days. “I got a phone call from a Minnesota number that came up as ‘potential spam’ on my phone, so I ignored it,” Mike said. “The same number called back a few minutes later. I remembered thinking I’d signed up for a hunting trip and thought maybe I’d won that, so I answered.” Once he answered the call, Mike learned that it was his daughter who was the lucky one in their family, and he beTurn to CHRISTMAS CALF | Page 2