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Volume 18, No. 24
Producers converge at the Capitol
MMPA hosts annual day in St. Paul to talk with legislators By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
ST. PAUL, Minn. – More than 60 people, including over 50 dairy producers, from across the state gathered Feb. 1 in St. Paul for the annual Dairy Day at the Capitol hosted by the Minnesota Milk Producers Association. Throughout the day, small groups had individual meetings with 65 legislators in addition to meetings with Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner John Linc Stine. Dave Buck, MMPA president, and Marin Bozic, assistant professor in dairy foods marketing economics at the University of Minnesota, each testied in front of the House and Senate agriculture committees, where they handed out milk and cheese to members. Buck said the day went well and producers were given ample time to talk with legislators. Although MMPA has a lobbyist working on behalf of dairy farmers nearly every day at the Capitol, Buck said the annual day in St. Paul is important for dairy farmers to meet with state leaders. “We get dairy farmers from all across the state to come in to meet with legislators. I think the
legislators really appreciate that because they’re talking to normal people who are out there doing the work, and they like to hear from them even more so than hearing from a lobbyist,” Buck said. Throughout the day, there were ve main issues the producers discussed with legislators.
An exception for milk trucks Currently, there is an 80,000-pound load limit on interstates in Minnesota; however, not having any wiggle room for milk trucks creates a problem. If a truck is near capacity for milk and all the farms on the routes are up in production on the same day, it may cause the trucker to go over the weight restriction and receive a ne. “We want to be sure our milk trucks can stay on the roads and carry as close to full weight as possible, so they can be both economically and environmentally efcient,” said Lucas Sjostrom, MMPA executive director. Minnesota’s 80,000-pound limit is lower than the surrounding states. A legislative change could help alleviate challenges because of that. “It affects both those of us at farm level because our costs could go higher and also the co-ops, since they are affected as they cross state lines,” Sjostrom said. “The receptiveness is Turn to CAPITOL | Page 7
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
A group of dairy farmers meet with Lt. Gov. Tina Smith (center) to talk about dairy issues during Dairy Day at the Capitol on Feb. 1 in St. Paul, Minn.
February 11, 2017
Innovation provides family’s future
JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
Mike and Linda Hanson milk 102 cows near Goodridge, Minn., with their sons – David, and his wife, Ashley, MaƩhew (pictured) and Steven. This fall, the family installed two milking robots and a mixing and feeding robot.
Hansons automate milking, feeding on dairy By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
GOODRIDGE, Minn. – When Mike Hanson was a young boy helping on his family’s dairy, he was mixing and delivering feed to the milking herd with a shovel and pails. Now, Mike has not touched a shovel for feed in ve months. “Leave it to the farmers to get innovative,” Mike said. “They’re always thinking; there’s always someone pushing the envelope.” Mike and his wife, Linda, milk 102 Ayrshires and Holsteins near Goodridge, Minn., in Pennington County with their three sons – David and his wife, Ashley, Matthew and Steven. They also run 3,000 acres of cropland. This fall, the Hansons began milking with two Lely robots and feeding with a Lely Vector – one of the rst autoTurn to HANSONS | Page 5
JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
A claw reaches down into a bale of dry hay to add to the raƟon. The robot mixes feed 15 Ɵmes in 24 hours for the Hansons’ lactaƟng and dry cows.