The Great Christmas “GRAND” PRIZE
GIVEAWAY
See pages 24 and 25 of this section for details!
DAIRY ST R
December 7, 2019
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 21, No. 20
A stray voltage nightmare Nelsons settle lawsuit with electrical company after years of problems By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
SLEEPY EYE, Minn. – Throughout the last nine years, Jill Nelson has had trouble sleeping because of a reoccurring nightmare of cows dying. “There were times I would get up in the middle of the night to check the barn because the dream would be so real,” she said. However, there were many times when Nelson felt like she was living the nightmare, although not as extreme, because the cows on her family’s farm suffered effects from stray voltage. This summer, Nelson and her husband, Brian, agreed to a settlement out of court
RUTH KLOSSNER/DAIRY STAR
Jill Nelson and her husband, Brian (not pictured), have reached a seƩlement out of court aŌer suing the Brown County Rural Electrical AssociaƟon for stray voltage damage on their 150-cow dairy near Sleepy Eye, Minnesota.
after suing the Brown County Rural Electrical Association for damages to their herd from stray voltage on their 150-cow dairy, Olmar Farms, near Sleepy Eye. The couple suspected they had stray voltage in late 2008 in their previous milking parlor and barns, although a test from the power company showed they did not. Other than installing a blocker, the Nelsons did not invest further time and money to research possible stray voltage as they were in the planning stages for a new facility. “We just gured the issue would go away once we built our new barn,” Nelson said. In March of 2010, the Nelsons moved the herd into the new sand bedded, tunnel ventilated and insulated freestall barn. One quarter of the barn is the double-8 milking parlor. This facility had been tested negative for Turn to NELSONS | Page 6
Family is center point at Dockendorf Dairy Stearns County farm humbled to be staple in community By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
The Dockendorfs – (from leŌ) Tyler, Lori and Steve – milk 155 cows in Stearns County near Watkins, Minnesota. The family was named the 2019 Stearns County Farm Family of the Year.
WATKINS, Minn. – Farming has not only given Steve and Lori Dockendorf a means of providing for their family but a way of life they would not trade for the world. “When we think about dairy farming, it’s not a business but a lifestyle,” Lori said. “It’s taught our kids to be responsible, and care for the environment and cows.” The Dockendorfs and their son, Tyler, milk 135 cows with two robots and 20 cows in the original tiestall barn on their farm near Watkins. Steve and Lori’s mentality of farming responsibly for their animals, land and community – and showing their children to do the same – granted them the honor of Stearns County’s Farm Family of the Year. The award was presented at this year’s Farm Fest Aug. 8 in Redwood Falls. “There are a lot of good farmers out there, so it was such an honor to be chosen,” Lori said. “We don’t consider us to be the best; we’re just trying to be responsible farmers.” For more than 150 years, the Dockendorf family has strived to be stewards of the land they live on. Steve’s great grandfather homesteaded the farm site, but Steve grew up at the neighboring farm while his great uncle farmed on the family’s land. Then, when Steve could, he returned to manage the property. “The Dockendorfs have been on this land for 150 years even Turn to DOCKENDORFS | Page 5