LOOK INSIDE FOR OUR CENTRAL PLAINS DAIRY EXPO PREVIEW EDITION!
DAIRY ST R “All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 20, No. 2
March 10, 2018
“I’m leaving with no regrets and with the dairy in good hands.” – Jerome Salzer How economic indicators are inuencing Terminal illness dairy’s future leads Salzer to
One last milk check
By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
Editor’s note: This is the rst of two articles on Dr. David Kohl’s presentation, “Positioning for success in cyclical economics,” hosted by Ridgewater College Farm Business Management Programs on Feb. 21 in Willmar, Minn. WILLMAR, Minn. – The agriculture industry has entered another year of troubling market conditions, and dairy farmers are holding their breath waiting for the next turnaround. “We have this elongated cycle that I call the grinder. It’s a grinder on nancials and emotions. Throughout the cycle, you redene success, and that will look differently for all of us,” said Dr. David Kohl, Professor of Emeritus at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. Whether success is nancial stability, peace of mind or even certain family matters, there are several obstacles in reaching success for dairy farmers. In Kohl’s presentation, he spoke of the many national and international economic indicators inuencing the dairy industry, and ultimately, every farmer’s version of success. The markers can be broken into ve categories – international partnerships and trade agreements, the U.S. dollar and general economy, the Federal Reserve System, weather and consumer trends. As the industry sits in a surplus-type of environment, international trade agreements will become more critical over the next six months. Last year, President Trump ended the United States’ partnership with nations in the Trans Pacic Partnership (TPP), and is currently negotiating trade deals with Canada and Mexico as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Turn to FUTURE | Page 5
sell cows
By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – After 39 years of dairy farming, Jerome Salzer will soon receive his last milk check. On March 7, Jerome and his family – wife, Jean, and son, Terry – sold their 130 milking cows and close-up heifers as part of the partial herd dispersal of their farm near St. Joseph, Minn. “The timing is not right, but I was diagnosed with cancer Dec. 18 and decided to sell the cows,” said Jerome, who will turn 66 years old in June. Jerome’s fate was known only a week before Christmas. Turn to SALZER | Page 10
JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
Jerome Salzer holds up a picture of his family Feb. 27 while at his home near St. Joseph, Minn. Salzer sold 130 milking cows and close-up heifers March 7 because he is terminally ill with liver cancer and cirrhosis.
Agropur expands its Lake Norden cheese plant
85,000 cows needed to meet facility’s capacity By Jerry Nelson
jerry.n@dairystar.com
LAKE NORDEN, S.D. – Agropur held a groundbreaking ceremony on Feb. 27 for a $250 million expansion of its cheese plant in Lake Norden, S.D. The expansion project, with expected completion in early 2019, will triple the plant’s processing capacity from 3 million pounds of milk per day to 9 million pounds of milk per day. This increase will demand milk from approximately 85,000 additional dairy cows in order to supply the plant’s needs. “Agropur is committed to
JERRY NELSON/ DAIRY STAR
Doug Simon, Agropur President of U.S. OperaƟons, addresses a gathering of industry and business leaders during a groundbreaking ceremony Feb. 27 at Agropur’s cheese plant in Lake Norden, S.D. continuing its development in the North American market. This announcement is very
good news for the growing dairy industry and dairy farmers in the region,” said
René Moreau, president of Agropur. Agropur Inc. is a subsidiary of Agropur Cooperative, which was founded in 1938. Agropur’s headquarters are located in Saint-Hubert, Québec, Canada. Davisco Foods International constructed a mozzarella cheese plant in Lake Norden in 2003. Agropur purchased the facilities from Davisco in 2014. “The Lake Norden project is an important part of our longterm business strategy, which targets continued expansion through acquisitions as well as organic growth. We are eager to get to work on this new and important project,” said Robert Coallier, CEO of Agropur. Work on the expansion began several months ago. The Turn to AGROPUR | Page 6
Page 2 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018
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 (ofce) 320-248-3196 (cell) 320-352-0062 (home) Ad Composition Nancy Powell 320-352-6303 nancy.p@dairystar.com Amanda Thooft 320-352-6303 amanda.t@dairystar.com Consultant Jerry Jennissen 320-346-2292 Editorial Staff Andrea Borgerding - Associate Editor (320) 352-6303 • andrea.b@dairystar.com Krista Kuzma - Assistant Editor (507) 259-8159 • krista.k@dairystar.com Jennifer Coyne - Assistant Editor (320) 352-6303 • jenn@dairystar.com Ron Johnson (608) 874-4243 ron.j@dairystar.com Ruth Klossner (507) 240-0048 cowlady@centurylink.net Brittany Olson (320) 352-6303 brittany.o@dairystar.com Danielle Nauman (715) 245-6848 danielle.n@dairystar.com Maria Bichler - Copy Editor 320-352-6303 Advertising Sales Main Ofce: 320-352-6303 Fax: 320-352-5647 Deadline is 5 p.m. of the Friday the week before publication Sales Manager - Jeff Weyer (Northern MN, East Central MN) 320-260-8505 (cell) jeff.w@dairystar.com Mark Klaphake (Western MN) 320-352-6303 (ofce) 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 Lori Menke (Eastern Iowa, Southern WI) 563-608-6477 • lori.m@dairystar.com Megan Stuessel (Western Wisconsin) 608-387-1202 megan.s@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 nal 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 ofces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246.
From the editorial team
Dairy Prole brought to you by your
North America dealers.
We say goodbye to one of our founding owners The end of February marked an important milestone for Dairy Star. We are now in our 20th year producing a paper with dairy-specic news for dairy farmers in the Upper Midwest. It is amazing what has changed in 20 years. From new technologies and evolving management styles, the look of many dairy farms has changed over two decades. That rst issue certainly did not feature any dairies that had recently installed robots. In fact, that rst Dairy Star in 1999 looked very different than it does today. At its beginning, Dairy Star came out as a one-section, 12-page paper for producers in Stearns County in central Minnesota. Our coverage area has expanded quite a bit in the years to follow. After many expansions, we now have become an information source for four states – Minnesota, western Wisconsin, northern Iowa and eastern South Dakota – and have a circulation of over 16,000. Plus, the paper is a mailbox ller with three sections, many times numbering over 100 pages. The staff has also grown and changed over the years, and the paper became a part of Star Publications. One of the most recent and unexpected changes in staff came when we laid to rest one of our founding owners, Dave Simpkins, who passed away on Feb. 23. Although Dave never had much of an agricultural background, he had such a zeal and enthusiasm for telling the stories of those around him. That is one part of Dave that will live on and one goal that has never changed at the paper: we continually strive to write and tell stories directly from the source and the people who live the life every day – dairy farmers. Whether sitting around a kitchen table or walking among rows of cows in a barn, we want to tell the authentic truth about what happens on dairies in our surrounding communities. If there is a dairy connection, we want to tell the story. Of course, in order to tell those stories and keep the paper circulating, we need our loyal advertisers. Without them, we would not be able to keep the paper free when it hits mailboxes. As you sit down to read this issue – or lean against the bulk tank or stand at a desk or wherever it is you read the paper – know that the staff of Dairy Star is working to publish a paper dairy farmers want to read. Don’t see a topic you want to know about? Know of someone with an interesting hobby? Want to give us feedback? Please call or email us. We would love to talk with you and chat about what is going on in the dairy community in your area. This is a paper for the dairy farmers, and we want to continue to be a valuable information source for the industry for many decades to come.
– The Dairy Star Editorial Team
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018 • Page 3
It’s all inside... Columnists Ag Insider
Rock
Nobles
Redwood
Nicollet
Brown
sey
Lewiston
Goodhue
Rice
Martin
Faribault
Third Section: Pages 2-3
Wabasha
Cottonwood Watonwan Blue Earth Waseca Steele Dodge Olmsted Jackson
Byingtons paint one-ofa-kind sign on barn
Dakota
r
Murray
Scott
Sibley
eu
rse
McCook Minnehaha
Lincoln
n nso
Moody
Hennepin Carver
Second Section: Pages 3, 7
Freeborn
Winona
Fillimore
Mower
Houston
Hutchinson
Turner
Bon Yankton Homme
Lincoln Clay
Union
Lyon
Osceola Dickinson Emmet
Sioux
O’Brien
Clay
Palo Alto
Kossuth
Winnebago
Worth
Hancock
Cerro Gordo
Mitchell
Floyd
Howard
w
sa
ka
ic Ch
Bremer
Plymouth
Zone 1
Castalia
Dairy Prole: Doug Lyons
For additional stories from our other zone, log on to www.dairystar.com
FROM OUR SIDE OF THE FENCE:
Black Hawk
Fayette
Why do you attend winter seminars and workshops?
Clayton
n
na
ha
c Bu
First Section: Page 39
Allamakee
Charles Mix
Lake
Lyon
Wright
McLeod
Renville
Yellow Medicine
Anoka
Winneshiek
Douglas
Brookings
Meeker
Isanti
Ha
Da
vis
on
Sa nb
Miner
Chippewa
Pipestone
or n
Kingsbury
Page 29 Second Section
Tra ve
Hamlin
Sherburne
Lake City
Peters family raises Dalmatians as a side business
go
Page 33 First Section
Deuel
Mille Lacs
Benton
Stearns
Kandiyohi
First Section: Pages 4-5
Pine Morrison
Pope
Swift
Lac Qui Parle
Codington
Clark
Carlton
Crow Wing
Douglas
Stevens
Grant
Dairy Good Life
Country Cooking
Grant
Cannon Falls
Weihrouch proposes to Mahoney by clipping question on cow
Aitkin
isa
Roberts
Day
Cass
Todd
Big Sto Stone
First Section: Pages 1, 6
First Section: Pages 12-13
Ch
Agropur expands Marshall its Lake Norden cheese plant
Page 32
Pages 10 - 11 Second Section
Otter Tail
Wilkin
Lake Norden
Itasca
Becker
Clay
Veterinary Wisdom
en
nom
Mah
First Section: Page 23
Dundas
Washington
Norman
First Section: Pages 34-35
Awards presented at GDC banquet
Krekelberg increases herd average over 7,500 pounds in past three years
Kanabec
Polk
Hubbard
Peanut Butter and Milk Festival explores sister cities
St. Paul
Koochiching St. Louis
Red Lake
Hutchinson
Hutjens gives keynote at Carver County Dairy Expo
Lake of the Woods Beltrami
Page 30 First Section
The “Mielke” Market Weekly
First Section: Page 25
Pennington
Dear County Agent Guy
Making Cents of Dairy
First Section: Pages 1, 10
Marshall
Page 26 First Section
Page 31 First Section
First Section: Page 37
Terminal illness leads Salzer to sell cows
Su
FSA News & Notes
Page 27 First Section
NYA
First Section: Page 11 Kittson Roseau
Page 22
The Transition Pen
St. Joseph
Swartz family barn, dairy cows succumb to ames Feb. 16
Le
Second Section: Pages 16, 18-19
Motley
Ra m
Detection key to preventing ketosis development
A day in the life of the Hintzman family
Wadena
On the Road with Princess Kay
Sebeka
New York Mills
Clearwater
Pages 8-9 First Section
are
law
De
Linn
Dubuque
Jones
Pages 15-16
Jackson
New Vienna
Women in Dairy: Traci Klostermann First Section: Page 36
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ConƟnued from FUTURE | Page 1 “Trade is a black swan in agriculture,” Kohl said. Currently, the United States exports one in seven days worth of milk production, and 39 percent of that going into Mexico. With the threat of NAFTA’s termination, the southernbordering country has sought out alternative avenues for milk product and other commodities. “Europe has cheap milk. But with corn, Mexico has looked to Brazil and Argentina. They’ll have another source even if it costs them more,” Kohl said. “If we tweak NAFTA, we’ll be OK. If we toss it, we will be in a deep, deep farm crisis.” Likewise, with the United States leaving TPP, China lled the void of products. Fortunately, Japan has left an avenue for the United States to rejoin if the opportunity presents itself. “We’re export driven with 21 percent of net farm income coming from ag exports,” said Kohl, emphasizing milk’s 14 percent stake in the export market. While trade is certainly an indicator to monitor, Kohl wants to put more emphasis on technology and how it can be affected internationally. “I’m not worried about nuclear capabilities. I’m worried about cyber. The more we move to high technology, the more we become vulnerable to attacks,” Kohl said. “Ask your equipment dealership if they have preventative measures against that. We’ve put a lot of resources into industries, such as banking, but we haven’t done the same for agriculture.” The U.S. dollar was once very strong but has weakened since the start of the new year. While a weakening dollar is benecial in the international marketplace, it brings about woes to the
U.S. economy with ination and higher interest rates. “Currency is a double-edged sword,” Kohl said. “It helps our exports but then makes goods we import and those in a consumer-based economy more expensive.” These factors lead to a booming general economy, and today, the country has entered into its 104th month of economic expansion. “We’re in an asynchronized economy. When the general economy is hotter than a pepper sprout, the ag economies tend to suffer,” Kohl said. Although economic growth is reaching record levels, with 106 months being the second-longest growth period in history, Kohls has concerns with how the economy is growing. “This one is different from others, because it’s on the backs of the Federal Reserve. They basically articially created economic expansion,” Kohl said. “But does the Federal Reserve have enough say from the ag and rural areas?” From October 2017 to January 2018, agriculture economies were weak while the stock market jumped $1.8 trillion, Kohl said. The same scenarios are found elsewhere, such as in Australia and Canada. Around the world, 94 percent of stock markets are up over the last 15 months. “The stock markets are articially inated and making everyone feel good,” Kohl said. “It’s created the wealth effect.” Unfortunately, this phenomenon has contributed to the economy’s piling debt and is a cause for serious concern. Kohl noted credit card, auto and
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A group of business and industry leaders shovel dirt during a groundbreaking ceremony Feb. 27 at the Agropur cheese plant in Lake Norden, S.D. Once completed, the expansion will require the milk from an addiƟonal 85,000 cows. groundbreaking ceremony was held on a stage that had been erected in a large, newly-constructed concrete room that still had a dirt oor. Dennis Daugaard, South Dakota governor, addressed the gathering of dairy industry leaders, farmers and interested local citizens. “Agropur has built a truly remarkable relationship with the Lake Norden community,” Daugaard said. “The company’s decision to reinvest in South Dakota – a decision that will have an estimated $1 billion annual economic impact in our state – is a prime example of how our dairy industry supports economic development from farmer to small town to processor and beyond. If you want an example of the right way to build a multi-milliondollar cheese plant, look no further than the partnership created among Agropur, the State of South Dakota and Lake Norden.” Tim Czmowski, midwest regional operations vice president for Agropur,
agreed. “This is a great day for Lake Norden, for South Dakota and for the dairy industry,” Czmowski said. “We are here because of the customers from all over the world who enjoy the cheese and whey products that are made at this plant.” As the 20th largest milk processor in the world, Agropur markets its products to 35 countries. The Lake Norden plant currently produces mozzarella, cheddar, provolone and parmesan cheese. Some of this cheese nds its way to customers that include the Papa Murphy’s take and bake pizza chain. An additional 125 workers will need to be hired after the expansion is completed. They will join the current workforce that numbers 225. “This is really a blessing for our town,” said Lake Norden mayor Jason Turn to AGROPUR | Page 7
ConƟnued from FUTURE | Page 5 consumer debt makes up $3.5 trillion on the nation’s $18 trillion economy. “Our saving rate is the lowest it’s ever been, and this debt is high cholesterol debt,” Kohl said. “It’s very, very dangerous.” An inated stock market also creates greater volatility. Kohl warns that if the stock market drops by 30 percent, the U.S. economy would be put into another recession. While much of what happens at the federal level is out of the control of farmers, Kohl suggests looking at indicators that can be inuenced by strategic farm management, such as weather patterns. Eric Snodgrass, a meteorologist with the University of Illinois predicts that if dry weather conditions in the southern plains continue from April 15 through June, those same conditions will be present in the Upper Midwest and affect commodity markets. “Farmers are going to be able to pick up 5 percent efciencies by weather management,” Kohl said. “You will measure the factors, like heat, humidity and wind, that are going to give you your advantage.” Last summer, Kohl and his son had plans to wrap hay, but there was an 80 percent chance of rain that particular day. By monitoring the weather radar, the Kohls completed their hay crop only minutes before rain fell. “Weather application is going to be very important,” Kohl said. “We use it for breeding our cows, too, with certain
temperatures and humidity.” Lastly, consumer trends will play a pivotal role in inuencing the future dairy markets. “Think about the future of agriculture and the future of beer. Think about who is driving the beer market, because they’re going to be your future market,” said Kohl, speaking of Millennials and their desire for specialty markets. In the United States, alone, 153 million individuals make up the Millennial and Generation Z consumer pool. This group cares deeply for the food they eat and where it comes from. Not only will domestic consumers inuence the dairy industry, but international consumers, as well. “When you look at this industry, study the European Union, Australia and Oceania,” Kohl said. “You will see food trends ve to 10 years there before you see it in the states. They get it.” As these various indicators become more prominent in shaping the future of the dairy industry, Kohl encourages farmers to remain condent and mold their business with these changes in mind. “You have to manage the things you can manage and manage around the uncontrollable,” Kohl said. The second article in this two-part series will be published in the March 24 issue of Dairy Star and include ways dairy farmers can nd success with theses economic indicators.
Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018 • Page 7
ConƟnued from AGROPUR | Page 6 Aho. “Agropur could have chosen to build anyplace, but they chose us. It’s an honor to have Agropur continue to invest in Lake Norden.” Lake Norden, which has a population of 470, has already seen benets of the expansion. A private individual recently constructed an 8-plex apartment structure for Agropur workers and is looking at building more. The town is so intertwined with the cheese processing industry that the slogan, “Cheese is our Whey!” has been emblazoned prominently across its water tower. “We have a very talented
workforce,” said Doug Simon, Agropur president of U.S. operations. “We are always striving to produce high quality products that will be sold around the world and our employees are key to that process. This expansion will make the Lake Norden facility the largest of the 39 processing plants that Agropur operates, Simon said. “This growth is being driven by the increasing milk supply in the region and by increasing product sales. The Lake Norden expansion will be an incredible improvement and a key tool for Agropur’s JERRY NELSON/DAIRY STAR
Work is well underway on the expansion of the Agropur cheese plant in Lake Norden, S.D. The expansion, which will be completed in early 2019, will triple the plant’s daily capacity to 9 million pounds of milk per day.
JERRY NELSON/DAIRY STAR
South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard (leŌ) poses with Lake Norden Mayor Jason Aho following a groundbreaking ceremony held at the Agropur cheese plant.
future,” Simon said. Last April, Agropur received the Breakthrough Award for Dairy Ingredient Innovation for its development of highly pure glycomacropeptide (GMP), a protein derived from whey. The award was presented in Chicago at the American Dairy Products Institute’s annual meeting. “Dairy is the No. 1 driver of economic activity in South Dakota’s ag sector,” Daugaard said. “All of the things that a dairy needs – the forages, the grain, the water, the space to
grow – are here. As governor, I have been working to recruit dairy farmers from other states and countries to relocate to South Dakota and have been encouraging our current dairy farmers to expand.” Recalling his boyhood on a dairy farm located at Dell Rapids, Daugaard said, “When I was a kid, it was a daily ritual to go down to the barn to help Dad milk our cows. Back then, in the 1960s, the state had about 200,000 dairy cows. This number dropped steadily until it was at about 80,000 10 years ago. There are currently
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NAFTA benets dairy farmers A new analysis by Informa Economics said U.S. Senators ask President Trump to rejoin TPP A coalition of 25 Republican Senators are asking trade agreements with Mexico are benecial to dairy farmers. In 2016, the United States shipped $1.2 bil- President Donald Trump to rejoin the Trans-Pacic lion worth of dairy products to Mexico. For every $1 Partnership. Trump pulled out the trade agreement shortly after taking ofce, but recently of sales associated with dairy exports, an Ag Insider said he may consider rejoining the TPP. additional $2.50 in output is supported elsewhere in the U.S. economy. U.S. New water quality report unveiled Dairy Export Council President and CEO Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton Tom Vilsack said, “It’s important to prehas rolled out a New Water Quality Reserve existing market access to Mexico port. The report summarized 3,500 sugunder the North American Free Trade gestions from more than 2,000 people Agreement.” who attended water quality meetings held across the state. Recommendations Flexibility important in farm programs include increased education efforts, local Farm leaders met with Minnesota action and collaboration and an increase Senator Tina Smith to talk about the in investments in local water infrastrucupcoming farm bill. Smith said farmers ture. Dayton has proposed a $167 million want to have exibility in farm programs. By Don Wick investment through his Public Works pro“There’s a strong sense of people workColumnist posal to ensure clean, affordable water ing on the farm bill we don’t expect a throughout Minnesota. bunch of new dollars in the program. It’s important we use the resources we have as efciently as possible. There’s also a strong agreement in the Dayton funding request tells a story In a new report on water quality, Minnesota Govgroup the pillars of the farm bill are around farm programs, conservation and nutrition. Those need to stick ernor Mark Dayton put out his bonding request for together. They rely on each other for a strong bill and water infrastructure projects. Minnesota Agricultural one which will pass.” Smith said the next steps for Water Resource Center executive director Warren Congress are budget appropriations. “The nal bud- Formo did not see any policy recommendations in get will be negotiated in the nal weeks. Making sure this new report. However, the funding request tells Minnesota’s interests are represented. I’ll be looking a story. “It’s important to recognize throughout the carefully what happens with rural broadband, chil- last decade or so, the primary message that many in agriculture have perceived is the cities and wastedren’s healthcare and other healthcare provisions.” water treatment have done all they can and it’s up to agriculture to step up and do more. It’s important to Seeking solutions to Section 199a snafu According to a letter signed by nearly 90 mem- recognize this budget the governor has put forward bers of Congress, a portion of the new tax law resulted acknowledges we have very serious needs and the in a dramatic competitive imbalance in the agriculture way we do municipal wastewater treatment or sewindustry. While not intended, the lawmakers said Sec- age treatment is woefully inadequate.” tion 199A went too far and creates a tax advantage for farmers who sell to cooperatives instead of private and Milk production rises In the 23 major dairy production states, January independent companies. The letter asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker milk output rose 1.8 percent. In Minnesota, the state’s Paul Ryan to take immediate action. The lawmakers dairy herd has 5,000 fewer cows than a year ago, but recommend a retroactive x, returning to tax benets milk production still rose nearly 1 percent. South Dakota added 2,000 more cows and milk output inof Section 199.
creased nearly 2 percent. California milk production increased 2.2 percent; Wisconsin is up a fraction of one percent. Supporting farmers in stressful times The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has been hosting ‘Supporting Farmers in Stressful Times’ workshops throughout the state. MDA State Programs Administrator Meg Moynihan said recognizing signs of stress is one workshop component. Attendees also learn about resources that exist in the region. “We’ve had people come to the workshop, saying not only did they know what to look for, but they left with the courage to speak up and ask if a farmer needed help.” Moynihan, who is a farmer herself, said there are a lot of responsibilities in farming. “We’re responsible for our livestock, crops, family and protecting our land and water. At the same time, there are a huge number of factors out of our control such as the weather or markets. Sometimes it just feels overwhelming.” The next series of workshops will be held March 14 in Grand Rapids and March 15 in Thief River Falls.
Northey conrmed A four month hold on the conrmation of the USDA nominee for Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey has nally been lifted and the Senate conrmed the Iowa agriculture secretary with voice vote. The conrmation is good news according to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts. In a statement, Roberts said he has no doubt Northey will be a champion for farmers and ranchers at USDA. Doud conrmed Gregg Doud was conrmed by the U.S. Senate as chief agriculture negotiator for the U.S. Trade Representative’s Ofce. Doud has been serving as president of the Commodity Markets Council. Previously, Doud was on the Senate Agriculture Committee staff and was chief economist for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018 • Page 9
ConƟnued from AG INSIDER | Page 8 Zenk joins agriculture committee professional staff Minnesota native Katie Zenk has joined the minority staff for the House Agriculture Committee. Zenk has been managing government relations for Land O’Lakes. Condolences David Simpkins, who was a champion for the newspaper industry and the communities they serve, has passed. Simpkins’ enthusiasm helped launch Dairy Star 20 years ago and will be missed immensely. We extend our condolences to Dave’s family and many friends.
Trivia challenge The cow’s stomach has four separate compartments. That answers our last trivia question. For this week, what type of cheese is the most widely purchased and consumed in the world? 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.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Losing leaders in the dairy business
This past week we laid to rest two respected men, John Pagel and Steve Witcpalek, in Kewaunee, Wis. In the dairy business they were leaders. John has been a visionary leader since the 1980s. Tragedies like this make the rest of those involved in the dairy business realize how important leaders are in our occupation. The many meetings they attend when they leave their farms and families, the countless hours of phone conversations, email messages, texts and letters to communicate the wishes and fears of farmers to decision makers, both within and outside dairy farming are immeasurable. We owe John, and others like him, a huge debt of gratitude for the service they provide for the many farmers who don’t have the time, talent or patience to express our feelings. Thanks, John and Steve. Jim Mlsna Hillsboro, Wis.
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Jerome Salzer’s dairy herd lls his 96-stall Ɵestall barn Feb. 27. On March 7 the herd was sold, but many of the cows will return to the farm because of a young farmer who purchased the animals and will rent the faciliƟes. He is living with terminal liver cancer and cirrhosis, most likely caused by high blood pressure and diabetes. “For once I had six doctors all agree on the outcome. … There’s nothing we can do,” said Jerome, his voice cracking. The diagnosis came after Jerome coughed up blood one night while out in the barn and the same happened the following morning. Polyps had formed and ruptured in Jerome’s throat, which is a common sign of cancer. “I just thought it was bleeding ulcers from the economy,” Jerome said. Once Jerome and Jean were given the news at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., they immediately called their family and scheduled a meeting at home that evening. All of the family was present – Terry and his wife, Jenna; son, Jeff, and his wife, Laura, and their three children; and son, David, and his wife, Jenny, and their three children. Jerome’s three siblings also came to the home. “It’s a lot easier for a group of people to get the news than for just me to try and understand it,” Jerome said. “We cried a lot. We laughed a lot.” Perhaps the most troubling part of Jerome’s illness was the lack of warning signs. On Dec. 2, Terry and Jenna were wed and Jerome felt healthy. “My diet had been dying all fall, but I thought I was just getting old,” said Jerome, who has lost 70 pounds since December. Since his diagnosis, Jerome has been in and out of the hospital. Then, during the week of Feb. 19 after being hospitalized for dehydration, Jerome returned home and was placed on hospice.
“Everyone asks what we need, and there’s nothing they can give. We just need more time.” JEAN SALZER, DAIRY FARMER
“We called the boys and they came up to the hospital as we made that decision. Everyone was there with us. We didn’t even have room for the nurses,” Jean said. “He’s so weak and just wanted to spend his time at home with his grandchildren.” Jerome spends his remaining days in the comfort of his home. It has been a time for Jerome to recall his life as a dairy farmer. The farm began in 1958 with Jerome’s parents milking cows. In 1979, Jerome and his brother, Don, formed a partnership and bought out their father. Eventually, Don left the farm and Terry joined. “I should’ve let Terry start running the farm earlier because he sure has done a good job,” Jerome said. “A lot of time it’s hard to change when you get older and let the new ones try their new ideas, but it
does work.” While Jeff and David maintain jobs off the farm, they both often help in the evenings and during the weekend. For the time being, the family will continue raising heifers and feeding out steers. “Jeff and David will never come back fully, but the family still has a desire to farm,” Jean said. Jerome agreed. “If I could’ve waited ve years, the grandboys would have liked to work out here,” he said. “They are already feeding the calves and like helping out.”
Cash donations may be sent to: Mark Zimmer Foundation Inc. Attn: Jerome Salzer Benet PO Box 12 St. Joseph, MN 56374 In the time leading up to the sale, Jean and Terry took over much of the work on the dairy, while the family’s full-time employee and two part-time student workers milked cows. When Jerome was well enough, his main responsibility was to feed and run the skidloader. “Not being able to do anything has been the hardest, but there’s nothing I can do about it,” Jerome said. “I miss being outside.” While this unfortunate series of events has pushed Jerome out of dairying, it has also allowed him to help another farmer get their footing in the industry. As a high school student, Derek Schmitz milked cows for the Salzers. Now, he is starting his own dairy and renting the Salzers’ facilities, including the 96-stall tiestall barn. “Wednesday morning our cows were out of here and by the afternoon, some of our cows were back in the barn. By Saturday night our barns will be full,” Jerome said. For many years, the Salzers have sold Schmitz hay as he started farming near Elmdale, Minn. Jerome and his family are looking forward to working more closely with the beginning farmer. “Maybe I would’ve taken more time off, but how would I know that? I’m leaving with no regrets and with the dairy in good hands,” Jerome said. “Plus, we can make other people happy.” Jean agreed. “It’s been a great place to raise our kids and see our grandchildren,” she said. “In farming, you learn a sense of responsibility, and we can see that in our kids and as they raise their own children.” The Mark Zimmer Foundation Inc. is hosting a benet for the Salzers from 11:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. on March 25 at La Playette Bar in St. Joseph, Minn., to assist the family in paying their medical bills. Proceeds not used will be returned to the foundation to help another family in need. “Everyone asks what we need, and there’s nothing they can give. We just need more time,” Jean said.
Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018 • Page 11
Take on a proactive approach
Detection key to preventing ketosis development By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
SEBEKA, Minn. – Many issues that arise in herd health can be prevented with a proactive, rather than reactive, approach; managing ketosis is no different. Ketosis is a metabolic condition that can be prevented or treated in its early stages before causing damaging challenges in herd health and the farm’s nancial position. “This disease can cause a domino effect,” Ray Seibert said. “You have to be on top of it and know the consequences ketosis has on your dairy before you start noticing them.” Seibert milks 80 cows with his wife, Ray Seibert Cheryl, and daughter, Dairy farmer Allie, near Sebeka, Minn. While Seibert has always monitored signs of ketosis on-set throughout his dairying career, he recently began routinely testing post-fresh cows. Ketosis occurs when a cow’s energy demand surpasses her energy intake, and the liver is not able to metabolize fat quickly enough and ketones are produced faster than absorbed. This is often seen early on in lactation when milk production reaches its peak. Subclinical ketosis develops when blood ß-hydroxybutric acid (BHBA) levels reach 1.2 mmol/L, according to Dr. Heather White with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Once BHBA levels surpassed Dr. Heather White have 3.0 mmol/L and UW-Madison physical symptoms are identied, the metabolic disease has transformed into a clinical problem. “Subclinical by denition means no symptoms,” White said. “We have to emphasize the importance of early treatment protocols, because once we notice a decline in feed intake and milk production we have already missed our rst opportunity.” If left untreated, clinical ketosis sets in and leads to larger health problems, such as a greater prevalence of displaced abomasum, coupled with long-term milk production trends. Reduced milk production within the rst 30 days of lactation affects the entire lactation. Additionally, subclinical ketosis can result in difculty breeding at rst service, White said. “There are many long-term impacts associated with not treating ketosis,” White said. White’s research has focused on the factors that cause some cows to transition from the dry period into lactation effortlessly, while others struggle. “When a cow struggles, she fails to meet her genetic potential with milk production,” White said. “What are the predisposed factors to successful transition or the challenges and frustrations of transition?” The results from White’s studies agree with others across the country, and that indicate 40 to 60 percent of cow have subclinical ketosis each lactation, which represents the incidence. This incident is roughly equal to 20 to 30 percent prevalence, the occurrence of elevated BHBA on any one day. “The average case of ketosis costs dairy
producers $290. Part of that cost is treatment and the risk of treating subsequent conditions, like a displaced abomasum,” White said. “Not only is it hard on the animals, but it becomes a denite potential economic loss.” When White monitored more than 500,000 fresh cows outside of her research trials, her observations mimicked the research – cows predicted to have subclinical ketosis were three times more likely to be culled within 30 days, at a greater risk for displaced abomasum, less likely to become pregnant and exhibited lower milk yields. “Looking at peak milk production in DHIA reports, animals predicted to be positive for subclinical ketosis are producing 5 pounds less milk. By accurately predicting cases without blood detection, we can ask, ‘What are patterns for ketosis development in the Midwest region?’” White said. On Seibert’s farm, he noticed a greater prevalence for ketosis because of overcrowding within his dry cow pen and milking barn, as well as heifer facility. “We’re trying not to crowd so much but we try to mostly calve in the summer and that puts a lot of stress on the facilities,” Seibert said. Overcrowding leads to less bunk space per cow, and perhaps more frequent pen moves, both of which have a negative impact on ketosis development. “Anecdotally, higher conditioned dry cows are more likely to develop ketosis, but our research demonstrates that this is only true for cows that are a body condition score of four or greater pre-fresh,” White said. “Also important is the loss of body condition across the transition period. When cows lose body condition, they’re mobilizing more fat and can be more at risk for ketosis.” Seibert monitors the rations to ensure there is the correct balance between proteins and fats. In the future, he hopes to also improve bunk space and eliminate the overcrowding issue on his farm. “We can’t always change facilities and cow ow, but there are a lot of things we can do to negate ketosis,” White said. “If you can support the animal nutritionally, and focus on early detection and treatment, you can avoid the lost milk and improve overall cow health.” White suggests using a blood or milk test in fresh cows to monitor the metabolic disease. Tests should be conducted one day each week for animals three to 18 days in milk for two consecutive weeks. “If you’re not actively testing for it, you’re probably missing it,” White said. Seibert agreed. “Don’t test if you don’t think you have a problem. But since I was a kid, ketosis has always been a problem,” he said. Last year, Seibert implemented a protocol for routinely testing his fresh cows using a milk test. Seibert now randomly picks a group to check once a week. “We’re testing more and catching more earlier. I haven’t had to do a [displaced abomasum] surgery in the last 10 years,” Seibert said. “I thought I was doing a decent job before, but now it’s much easier. We catch it and take care of it right away.” Since Seibert began testing for ketosis, he has watched his herd maintain body condition, and improve in reproduction and milk production. “Everything is back in shape and that makes a huge difference,” Seibert said. White recognizes tests might not be a long-term economical choice for all dairy farms, but she suggests using tests to determine prevalence on the farm and then proceeding with management strategy that best ts the operation. “The big thing is to know what you’re dealing with and identify patterns,” White said. Seibert agreed. “Knowledge is power, and in dealing with ketosis we have the power to do something,” he said.
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Page 12 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018
Doing the simple things right
Krekelberg increases herd average over 7,500 pounds in past three years By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
DUNDAS, Minn. – When it comes to increasing his rolling herd average, Dan Krekelberg does not feel like he does anything out of the ordinary. “I’m not doing anything secret. There’s no magic pills. You just have to focus on all the little things. It’s just a complicated system of simple things, and you’ve got to stay on top of it,” he said. Over the past three years, Krekelberg has increased his
60-cow herd’s rolling herd average over 7,500 pounds according to Minnesota DHIA. This landed him in the No. 2 spot of all farms that test through the organization. Krekelberg, who farms together with his girlfriend, Kristi Ackman, and their two children, Adam, 5, and Haley, 2, milk 60 cows on a dairy they rent near Dundas, Minn. One reason for Krekelberg’s large increase in a short period has been his
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Dan Krekelberg has increased his herd’s rolling herd average over 7,500 pounds of milk over the last three years. He milks 60 cows in a rented facility near Dundas, Minn.
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
GeneƟcs plays a big role in producƟon for Dan Krekelberg. This cow exemplies what he wants cows in his barn to look like and perform – a smaller stature with a good udder, quality feet and legs, and high ferƟlity, along with increasing components.
transition within the industry. This is the third facility Krekelberg has had his cows at since 2007. Finding the right t has been difcult. After farming with others in his rst two ventures, Krekelberg now dairies on his own. When he moved his cows to his current barn in September 2014, he needed to buy more cows to complete his herd.
“When you put a herd together like that, you have to work them up,” Krekelberg said. “It takes time to turn a herd around.” His cows and the cows he bought were all good, young healthy cows, he said. “Now they’re older healthy cows so they’re milking really well,” Krekelberg said. But Krekelberg has still
needed to do the simple things right. At the top of this list are getting cows bred on time, good genetics and feeding them high quality forages. When breeding cows, Krekelberg tries to get every cow pregnant by 140 days in milk. For most cows in his Turn to KREKELBERG | Page 13
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018 • Page 13
ConƟnued from KREKELBERG | Page 12 herd, this is achieved by 120 days, but it will occasionally be stretched out farther. About 99 percent of his herd is bred by timed A.I. Between 50 and 60 days, the cows will start their G6G program and be bred for the rst time between 70 and 80 days. He uses a resynch program for any cows that need to be rebred. “We’ve been breeding closer to 80 days because they usually take better,” he said. Krekelberg said his herd has a 37 percent pregnancy rate and a 51 percent conception rate at rst service with an average of 1.7 services. “I don’t worry about pregnancy rate as much. I look at conception rate at rst service,” Krekelberg said. “Economically, I can spend a little
“I think fertility is a big reason this herd does well.” DAN KREKELBERG, DAIRY FARMER
more on semen when we’re averaging 1.7 services.” When giving the last GnRH shot, Krekelberg likes to administer it 16 hours before breeding, which is done in the afternoon. Krekelberg started this practice after reading research about it. “I started doing that early on. I saw a jump then, so I’ve never stopped. I don’t have scientic proof for it, but it’s something I do that I’m kind of a stickler about,” he said. When cows are open during pregnancy check, Krekelberg sets them up right away to be rebred as soon as possible. “We don’t check for pregnant cows,
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we check for open cows. We don’t worry about the pregnant cows because they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” Krekelberg said. Along with breeding at the correct time, genetics plays a big role for Krekelberg’s herd. When choosing bulls, Krekelberg puts a big emphasis on net merit. He also never chooses a bull that is negative for fertility. “I think fertility is a big reason this herd does well. I think they’re pretty average cows, but they do well and breed back good,” he said. “If a bull is negative for DPR (daughter pregnancy rate) or conception, I don’t need them.” Bulls that produce daughters with smaller stature is also important to Krekelberg. “Cows don’t need to get bigger every year, but they do even when I select for smaller cows,” Krekelberg said. “Smaller cows are more feed efcient.” Krekelberg also likes bulls to be positive in udder composite and at least 1,000 pounds of milk. He has also recently started to look more closely at components. Quality feed is another important factor for production for Krekelberg. Currently, the herd’s ration is a high corn silage diet. “With buying all my feed, that’s my best buy right now,” Krekelberg said. The family from whom Krekelberg rents has about 160 acres for corn silage and alfalfa. They grow the forage and Krekelberg hires a custom operator to chop it. “We really focus on getting the corn silage made as well as we can,” Krekelberg said about working together with his custom operator. Krekelberg also processes his TMR a little ner than what other people
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Dan Krekelberg holds a handful of the raƟon he feeds his milking herd. NutriƟon plays a big role in helping his herd achieve the producƟon he wants. might prefer. “But I get higher butterfat because of it,” said Krekelberg, whose herd’s butterfat test runs at about 3.82 percent. “I think they’re getting a more consistent mouthful.” The cows receive a ration with about 58 pounds of dry matter each day. Between 23 and 26 pounds comes from corn silage, 7 pounds from alfalfa, 0.5 pounds from straw and the rest from a complete mix. “If I can keep the cows efcient with days in milk, give them the best feed I can and give them as much of it
as they’ll eat, they’ll do the rest. It’s as simple as that,” Krekelberg said. Last year, when Krekelberg’s herd hit 99 pounds of milk per cow per day, he received a letter stating he could no longer use rBST after the end of December. Rather than waiting to cut them off at the end of the year, Krekelberg started a gradual wean off the product starting in June. “It made it hurt less when we were off in December,” Krekelberg said. “And the cows are still holding production and still eating well with 93 pounds of energy corrected milk.” Although Krekelberg ideally would like to be in a sand-bedded freestall barn with a small parlor for his facility, he’s thankful for a tiestall barn that works for him in the moment. Plus, he gets along with his landlord, Bob Carroll, a former dairy farmer in his 80s, who sold his herd not long before Krekelberg came in. “He’s a die-hard Holstein guy,” Krekelberg said about Carroll. While Carroll gives Krekelberg his space, he asked Krekelberg if he could visit the barn every night before going to bed to push in feed, check the stalls and look in on the calving pens. “Of course I would want a cow guy in there checking on things. If there is something happening, he’ll call me,” said Krekelberg, who does not live on the farmsite. “And pushing feed up one more time at night means those cows eat just a little more. And that’s all part of it.” These types of little things, Krekelberg said, are what help his herd with its high production. “You just have to stay on top of those little things,” Krekelberg said. “It just takes commitment to want to do that stuff.”
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From Our Side Of The Fence Why do you attend winter seminars and workshops? Andy Buttles Lancaster, Wis. Grant County 1,150 cows
Scott Balzer Owatonna, Minn. Steele County 117 cows Why do you attend winter seminars and workshops? I like to keep learning. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like to get into a groove and stay there. I like learning about the latest and greatest things in the industry. I like to tweak things on the farm and constantly look to be more efď&#x192;&#x17E;cient. What is one of your favorite events to attend? I normally attend about ď&#x192;&#x17E;ve to six events each winter. I have two favorites. The ď&#x192;&#x17E;rst is Central Plains Dairy Expo. There are so many breakout sessions. I went to about ď&#x192;&#x17E;ve last year. The seminars are not too long and straight to the point. My other favorite is put on by Midwest BioAg. This year it was held in Blue Earth, Minn. I like learning about their fertilizer program and biological farming. After learning about QLF and using it last year, we plan to use it again and want to learn more about it through the company. What seminar or workshop topic did you learn the most about? When I think about it, a lot of the topics from these seminars tie together. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re all important to the dairy. At CPDE last year, I learned about QLF and sugar digestibility. That tied in with the Midwest BioAg seminars I attended. The seminars talked about having the right minerals in the soil in order for the soil to thrive. This will help whatever is growing in the soil thrive and create high quality forages, which is better for the cows. This will then create better waste from the cows, which is put right back on the ď&#x192;&#x17E;elds to start the cycle again. How have you taken information gathered at a winter event and implemented it onto your dairy? We started using QLF starter fertilizer and high sugar forages. Our alfalfa ď&#x192;&#x17E;elds now consist of four varieties of alfalfa, along with two varieties of grass and one variety of clover, which we purchase from Byron Seeds. We also plant Masters Choice corn, which is higher in sugar and starch, and is more digestible. How has attending seminars and workshops made you a better farmer? It has helped me ď&#x192;&#x17E;ne tune what weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing here â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to be more efď&#x192;&#x17E;cient and more proď&#x192;&#x17E;table. From every seminar, we have either made a tweak on our farm or have been reassured we are on the right path. What topic would you like to see covered in future events? I would like to see more about recycling minerals and nutrients from the soil to plants to the animals and back again. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to get things working in harmony. Tell us about your farm. I have been farming fulltime on my familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dairy since 2009. I farm togeth-
Why do you attend winter seminars and workshops? Continuing education is very important to our operation. What is one of your favorite events to attend? The PDPW Business Conference. It has so much information packed into only two days. We can send multiple people from the farm and everyone can ď&#x192;&#x17E;nd different sessions that are of interest to them. What seminar or workshop topic did you learn the most about? I like sessions that focus on ď&#x192;&#x17E;nancial management and employee development. The quality of PDPWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s programming in these areas is outstanding. How have you taken information gathered at a winter event and implemented it onto your dairy? One of the biggest challenges we have as our dairy farm grows is making the transition from working with cows to doing more managing of people. I have improved how I manage people by the training I have received and the workshops I have attended. This is one area I can always continue to improve upon and continued training and education are key to improvement. How has attending seminars and workshops made you a better farmer? In todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world you have to keep improving. Going to educational events helps to see areas where your operation has opportunities to improve and helps give ideas to make progress in these areas. What topic would you like to see covered in future events? Robotics is going to be a topic I would like to learn more about. I think, without changing farm labor, that it is going to be an exciting area going forward. Tell us about your farm. Stone-Front Farm is a family farm in Lancaster, Wis. On our dairy, our family of employees focuses on outstanding animal husbandry and breeding genetically elite cattle. We also grow most of the feed for our herd on the beautiful rolling hills of the Driftless Region.
er with my parents, Rick and Cathy. We built a new barn and installed two robots, which we started using in August 2015. We use manure-separated solids as our bedding. Along with our dairy herd, we run 500 acres of corn, soybeans, alfalfa and oats.
Gregg Ode Brandon, S.D. Minnehaha County 350 cows Why do you attend winter seminars and workshops? Every day is busy, but in the winter there are more likely to be windows of opportunity to get away for a few hours to learn about new trends and to rub shoulders with other dairy farmers. What is one of your favorite events to attend? I enjoy the breakout sessions at the Central Plains Dairy Expo. They usually have two to three topics that are interesting. I like to see what we are doing right and what we should change. I also enjoy the Dairy Member Spring Meetings that are held by Land Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Lakes. You get to learn about the information they are passing down to producers. What seminar or workshop topic did you learn the most about? The biggest topic for us is our herdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reproduction. I learned how to increase our herdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pregnancy rate and how to get the cows bred sooner. I also learned how to implement such tools as hormones and micronutrients. How have you taken information gathered at a winter event and implemented it onto your dairy? At dairy ď&#x192;&#x17E;nancial seminars, I learned about certain ratios that are important for maintaining a dairyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ď&#x192;&#x17E;nancial health and running a proď&#x192;&#x17E;table operation. I learned that we are doing better than average, but that there were also areas where we could improve. How has attending seminars and workshops made you a better farmer? The seminars enabled me to take home ideas that we could implement on our farm. There is always something that could be improved upon or corrected. What topic would you like to see covered in future events? I would like to see more seminars on reproduction because thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a concern for us. Another good topic would be an exchange of ideas with other dairy farmers about the subject of hired labor. It would be good to learn what sort of compensation other dairy farmers are giving their workers and how to retain good hired help. Tell us about your farm. I farm with my brother, Doug, our dad, Bob, and my son, Alex. After graduating from South Dakota State University, Alex has become more involved in the operation. We milk three times a day, raise our own replacement animals and grow our own feed. We have implemented sexed semen and now have a nice supply of replacement heifers. Our current RHA stands at 30,992 pounds of milk with 4 percent butterfat and 1,247 pounds of fat. Protein is 3.1 percent with 948 pounds of protein per head. Turn to FENCE | Page 16
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ConƟnued from FENCE | Page 15 Jeff and Chandra Pagel Eyota, Minn. Olmsted County 70 cows Why do you attend winter seminars and workshops? We like the networking and socializing aspect of workshops. It’s fun to meet new people. Plus, you never know when those people have a skill or are a part of a company that could help your dairy. It also helps us keep up with the times. We get to learn new things or refresh our memory on old things. What is one of your favorite events to attend? We go to about six to eight each winter. Our favorite is the Farm Bureau LEAP Conference. It’s for the organization’s young farmers and ranchers to discuss leadership, education, advocacy and promotion. We like it because it’s not commodity specic so there are a wide variety of topics covered to stay well rounded. There are a lot of young farmers to interact with. It’s fun to talk with other young farmers throughout the state. We get to learn about their operations and how they do something we might be able to implement on our farm. It’s also nice to know you’re not the only young farmer trying to make it work. What seminar or workshop topic did you learn the most about? We learned about the farm bill and NAFTA. For NAFTA, we need to make sure we can get trade agreements worked out. For the farm bill, it’s important to get updates on what will be in it, what we need and what we need to change. All this information is important because we need to have conversations with our legislators about what we want and need in farming. We try to keep in contact with our legislators. How have you taken information gathered at a winter event and implemented it onto your dairy? We have learned a lot about cover crops and have tried different techniques for our cover crops. In fact, we are making more changes this year. We will be experimenting with planting oats this spring and then no-tilling beans into them. We will also be experimenting with putting in a cover crop when corn is cultivator height. That way when the corn harvest is taken off, there will still be something on the eld. We will see how it works. We also attended a workshop that talked about transition cow management and dry cow rations. We are interested in making changes in that area so we will be implementing a few ideas from that seminar. How has attending seminars and workshops made you a better farmer? It helps us keep up-to-date on new information. There is so much information in the industry that if you don’t keep up with the times, you might get lost. Attending seminars helps us improve our operation, both nancially and efciently. What topic would you like to see covered in future events? We want to continue to learn about how to meet consumer demands and effectively tell our story of what we do on our farm. We need to engage with consumers. If they’re not buying our product, we need to gure out why. Tell us about your farm. We farm together with Jeff’s parents, Ron and Lori. In addition to working on the farm, Chandra and Lori both work off the farm as teachers. Along with our dairy herd, we have a small herd of beef cows. We also raise corn, soybeans, alfalfa, peas and a revolving list of cover crops.
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Travis and Melissa Marti Vesper, Wis. Wood County 460 cows Why do you attend winter seminars and workshops? We know how important it is to never stop learning. Things change all the time on a farm. We do not still farm the way Travis’s dad and grandpa did 30 years ago. Attending seminars and workshops is a great way to stay on top of the latest news and advances in agriculture and connect with others who can share information. Winter seminars and workshops are especially useful because, as farmers, it’s much harder to attend seminars during the rest of the year when you’re competing for time with planting and harvest. Winter is when many farmers can nally take a breath. What is one of your favorite events to attend? Travis’s favorite event is the PDPW’s Business Conference. It is such a well-organized conference with a wealth of information available in just two days. There are sessions on labor, regulations, cow health, public perception, production, international relations and technology. This year, we’re especially looking forward to the sessions about how to best use data (DHI records, activity system data and genetic information) to manage our herd optimally, and the sessions about how to keep costs in check during this down market to improve margins. What seminar or workshop topic did you learn the most about? This winter, Travis participated in PDPW’s Financial Literacy class in Madison, Wis. It has required Travis to dig into the nancials for our dairy farm; something that is generally pushed aside while he focuses on other more hands-on aspects of the farm. It has been great for him to examine all the numbers and get a better understanding of budget planning, calculating cost of production and the metrics bankers use to evaluate your farm. How have you taken information gathered at a winter event and implemented it onto your dairy? One of the winter courses we participate in every year is a peer group offered through Chippewa Valley Tech College with Maria Bendixen. The course involves being placed in a group with ve or six other farmers from your region. Each farmer takes a turn hosting the others in the group at his/her farm. They do a tour of the farm and then everyone sits down to discuss the questions/concerns the host farmer has. We expanded our farm in the fall of 2015 and by the time the class started in January of 2016, we were feeling overwhelmed. Travis was trying to do everything himself and manage everything. That was one of the topics we chose to talk to our peer group about that month. Many of the farmers in the group suggested Travis look into hiring a herdsman to oversee the day-to-day cow needs so he could focus his time more on other areas that needed his attention. It was hard for him to let go of some of the responsibility, but they talked him through it and encouraged him, and it was ultimately the best decision he could have made. How has attending seminars and workshops made you a better farmer? Travis grew up on the farm and already knew a lot about farming, but attending seminars and workshops has allowed us to continue to hone our skills. We’ve learned more about how to keep cows comfortable, which in turn allows them to produce more milk. We’ve learned more about watching our nancials, which allows us to retain some of the prot that we otherwise may have lost. We’ve had our eyes opened more to the negative public perception the agriculture industry is facing, which has lead me to start our Marti Farms Facebook page and reach out to consumers, hopefully making a small difference. What topic would you like to see covered in future events? Next winter, Travis is hoping to take a course on dairy cow nutrition. A lot of money is spent each year on dairy farms purchasing protein and other minerals for cows’ feed. Travis is looking forward to better understanding how we feed our cows and why we feed our cows what we feed to improve production. This will allow him to collaborate more with our nutritionist to help keep our cows as healthy as possible. Tell us about your farm. We are a third-generation farm in central Wisconsin, started in 1954. We milk 400 Holstein cows and farm 1,100 acres to produce feed. We are a young family with four children, determined to continue to produce high quality food while helping our farm remain sustainable for the next generation.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018 • Page 17
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Page 18 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018
Top Performers
Consistent nutrition helps Lipperts achieve high production everything. Our re-synch starts a week ahead of the vet check, giving them a shot of GnRH a week before.
Grass Ridge Farms LLC Matt Lippert and sons Paul and Carl Lippert Pittsville, Wis. Wood County 550 cows What is your current herd average, butterfat and protein? The entire herd is averaging 92 pounds of milk per day for the bulk tank, with a 3.7 percent fat test and a 3.2 percent protein test. The Holsteins are averaging 96 pounds with a 3.6 percent fat and 3.2 percent protein. We have 55 Jerseys that are averaging about 70 pounds of milk with 4.9 percent fat and 3.6 percent protein. How many times a day do you milk? If you don’t milk 3X a day, have you tried it in the past? We milk three times per day. Do you contract your milk? Has it been successful for you? We don’t currently contract milk. We had in the past, but it didn’t really seem to benet us at the time. Obviously right now we wish we had contracted. Describe your housing and
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
Brothers Carl (leŌ) and Paul Lippert own and operate Grass Ridge Farm LLC., with their father, MaƩ Lippert. The farm is located in Wood County, near PiƩsville, Wis. milking facility. The cows are milked in a double-12 Boumatic parallel parlor with rapid exit. The parlor was retrotted two years ago. The milking herd is housed in sand-bedded freestalls. We’ve remodeled or
replaced all of the freestalls in the last 16 months. We re-did the brisket boards and made stalls wider. What is your herd health pro-
gram? We have herd health with our vet every week. We ultrasound for pregnancy and then sex all the pregnancies when we re-check. We use a double-ovsynch for the rst service and do a double-lut for
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What does your dry cow and transition program consist of? The dry cows are housed in sand-bedded freestalls. However, at least seven months of the year they are rotationally grazed, which provides the majority of their forage. We believe the exercise they get from grazing is benecial at calving time, and we see less trouble in the calving and post-fresh pens when the cows are grazed. We have the most trouble with calvings in February, when the cows have spent their entire dry period in the freestalls. It’s almost like they become couch potatoes, not really doing anything but lying around. Our pre-fresh cows are on a bedded pack. We feed them a good D-CAD balanced ration. The post fresh cows are their own group. We refuse to overstock that pen. We run an 80 to 100 percent stocking rate, and we recently added on to that pen. Since adding on, Turn to GRASS RIDGE | Page 20
Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018 • Page 19
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J&S DAIRY, The Worms Family, MELROSE, MINN. Nestor Gomez, herdsman 900 cows, 75 lbs/cow/day SCC 210,000 down to 178,000 Big smile when asked what he loves about his job as herdsman: “Taking care of the cows!” “We see Udder Comfort™ working and are thankful for this product. It takes the swelling away. Instead of being tight and slow to milk, the udders are soft and let milk down faster for better milking,” says Nestor Gomez at J&S Dairy, owned by the Worms family near Melrose, Minnesota. Josh Worms says Nestor, the 900-cow dairy’s herdsman, has been working Udder Comfort into their fresh cow routine since bringing home samples from Central Plains Expo in March. “We see the biggest benefit in fresh heifers with the most edema and cows with big udders,” says Nestor after 3 months of use. “We do spray all fresh udders with Udder Comfort for 3 to 4 days (after milkings). “We like using this for all hospital cows. They recover faster. We used to use a regular mint, but Udder Comfort brings so much more. It’s easy to recommend it for fresh cows: The spray is easy to use, a gallon does 35 to 40 fresh cows, and the results help them.”
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Page 20 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018
Con�nued from GRASS RIDGE | Page 18
we are now able to keep those cows in there a little longer. It makes a huge difference for those cows. What is the composition of your ration? What has been one of your most recent changes that has been successful for you? We feed home-grown corn silage, haylage and snaplage. We recently switched from ground corn to feeding ne, steam-aked corn because it’s the same price right now, and it helps with the digestion. We also feed gluten pellets and canola meal. Our mineral has bloodmeal and an amino acid balance. We feed a little bit of distillers grain. We started feeding palm fat as our only fat source about six months ago. We started using palm fat to help with our fat test, and it has helped. Because of the price, we’re going to look at things closely and reevaluate to see if the cost is worth the benet. Through the years you’ve been farming what change has created the biggest jump in your herd average? We saw the biggest jump in our averages when we switched from a simple corn silage, haylage and soy ration about four or ve years ago to adding the corn gluten and the canola. Adding more digestible ber, when we couldn’t grow it to that digestibility ourselves, was key.
What role does genetics play in your production level and what is your breeding program? Genetics are extremely important to us. We spend the money to use the top genomic young sires throughout the herd. We use sexed semen on the top 5 percent of milking cows and the top 20 percent of heifers. Up until about one month ago, we genomic tested all calves and had done so for the last ve years. As a cost-saving measure, we now test the top 20 percent based on their parent averages. We still want to know which ones are our best for ushing work. We’ve ushed the top 3 percent of our heifers over the past three years to improve the overall genetics in the herd. We focus our sire selection on net merit and functional type. What type of improvements would you like to make that would increase your rolling herd average even higher? We keep exploring better hybrids and working to have better agronomy practices to grow forages with more digestible ber. List three management strategies that has kept you profitable. You have to treat your people and your cows the right way, with respect. Treating the cows well gets them to perform at their best. We have sold quite a few dairy replacements, even while we were expanding. Over the last three years, we’ve added 150 cows and still been able to maintain replacements to sell. That speaks to the overall
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
All stalls in the freestall barn have been remodeled or replaced within the past 16 months. The update is part of an effort to improve the overall comfort of their cows. health and reproductive soundness of the herd. We focus more on keeping cows around and preventing illnesses like ketosis, pneumonia and mastitis. Adding on to the transition pen has decreased problems we see in the post-fresh group, too. In the past year, we’ve focused on lowering our drug costs. We’ve started culturing on-farm, using a quad-plate. We’re treating about 25 percent fewer cows for mastitis. With our calves, we are focused on keeping them healthy. We’ve added probiotics and are using better bedding. We don’t just give antibiotics to
calves that are a little off. We’ll start with electrolytes and vitamin B, and usually that takes care of any trouble they might be having. What would you say are the three most important factors for you that helped you attain your current herd average? Focusing on cow comfort and health in the transition times and keeping the cows’ nutrition consistent. Our nutritionist comes weekly, and we work with our forages on a threeweek average. We spend good money on our ration to get our cows to perform like they do.
Tell us about your farm. We milk 550 registered head of Holsteins and Jerseys and raise all our own replacements. Genetics and registered cattle are important to us. We have about 1,500 acres of crop ground and pasture. The farm will be a century farm this summer and has been home to three generations of our family. Matt is the majority partner and deals with nances. Paul is in charge of herd health and managing the labor. Carl heads up the nutrient management plans, crops and the feeding.
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FIELD CULTIVATORS 6 CIH 200, 2011, 60 ft., #129150 ......................... $55,000 1 JD 980, 1998, 44 ft., #143425 .......................... $14,900 17 JD 980, 1996, 38 ft, 3-Section Folding, C-Shank, #144447............................................................ $15,500 15 JD 980, 2001, 45 ft, 3-Section Folding, C-Shank, #144448............................................................ $15,900 16 JD 980, 1995, 5-Section Folding, #145326 ....... $14,000 3 JD 985, 1998, 49 ft., #143979 .......................... $22,000 14 JD 985, 60 ft., #145566 .................................... $17,500 6 JD 2200, 2003, 46 ft., #142441 ........................ $26,000 7 JD 2210, 2013, 56 ft., #140858 ........................ $59,500 5 JD 2210, 2013, 33 ft., #143827 ........................ $29,000 9 JD 2210, 2013, 26 ft., #143846 ........................ $28,900 7 JD 2210, 2013, 27 ft., #143876 ........................ $28,500 15 JD 2210, 2011, 60 ft, 5-Section Folding, C-Shank, #144451 ........................................................... $45,500 17 JD 2210, 2012, 46 ft, 5-Section Folding, C-Shank, #144452............................................................ $59,500 16 JD 2210, 2012, 48 ft, 5-Section Folding, C-Shank, #144453............................................................ $61,000 17 JD 2210, 2013, 51 ft, 5-Section Folding, C-Shank, #144454............................................................ $57,500 16 JD 2210, 2012, 48 ft, 5-Section Folding, C-Shank, #144455............................................................ $61,000 15 JD 2210, 2014, 55 ft, 5-Section Folding, C-Shank, #144456............................................................ $58,000 16 JD 2210, 2008, 31 ft., #144457 ........................ $24,500 14 JD 2210, 2005, 60 ft, 5-Section Folding, C-Shank, #144458............................................................ $29,500 17 JD 2210, 2008, 5-Section Folding, C-Shank #144459............................................................ $44,500 14 JD 2210, 2010, 5-Section Folding, C-Shank #144461............................................................ $53,900 15 JD 2210, 2014, 56 ft, 5-Section Folding, C-Shank, #145264............................................................ $56,000 16 JD 2210, 2014, 50 ft., #145295 ........................ $57,780 17 JD 2210, 2007, C-Shank, #145356 ................... $25,500 5 JD 2210LL, 2017, #145567 .............................. $39,000 16 Wil-Rich QUAD 5, 1997, 50 ft., #144479 ......... $14,900 5 Wil-Rich Quad X, 2005, 55 ft., #138553 .......... $20,900 7 Case Tiger Mate II, 50 ft., #143937 ................ $21,450 8 CIH Tigermate 200, 2010, 50 ft., #140723 ..... $45,000 3 DMI Tigermate II, 2002, 50 ft., #145252 ........ $23,500 PLANTERS: DRAWN 9 JD 1750, 2013, 8R30, #131524 ........................ $33,000 4 JD 1750, 2014, 6R30, #141859 ........................ $32,000 7 JD 1760, 1997, 12R30, #137790 ...................... $28,050 3 JD 1760, 1996, 12R30, #140452 ...................... $27,500 15 JD 1760, 2004, 12R30, #144405...................... $27,500 17 JD 1760, 1997, 12R30, #144407...................... $23,500 17 JD 1760, 1998, 12R30, #144408...................... $29,500 5 JD 1760, 1998, 12R30, #145568 ...................... $19,900 4 JD 1765, 2015, 12R30, #138495 ...................... $79,900 8 JD 1765, 2015, 12R30, #140333...................... $72,900 4 JD 1770, 2011, 12R30, #132629 ...................... $59,000 7 JD 1790, 2013, 31 rows, #140721 .................. $104,900 8 White 8200, 2013, 12R30, #137538................ $37,000 15 JD 1770NT, 2014, 16R30, #144409 .................. $85,000 16 JD 1770NT, 2008, 24R30, #144417 .................. $62,000 9 JD 1770NT CCS, 2013, 16R30, #142692 ......... $103,000
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JD 1770, 2011, $ 12R30, #132629
JD 6105M, 2014, 470 hrs., #132099
ARTICULATED 4WD TRACTORS 15 JD 9560R, 2013, 3184 hrs., #145194 ......$165,000 DISKS 11 JD 2623, 2014, #126286 ...........................$33,500 10 JD 2623, 2013, #126300 ...........................$26,000 11 Summers 9K4727, 2015, #129015..........$65,000 1 Krause 8200, 2013, #131061...................$26,000 FIELD CULTIVATOR 9 JD 2210, 2005, #120515 ...........................$29,500 5 Case IH 200, 2012, #135767 ....................$41,900 $41,900 2 JD 985, .............................$10,500 8 1993, #138938 #138938.............................$10,500 $ 00 MULCH FINISHER 14 JD 2210, 2005, #144458 ...........................$29,500 11 JD 2310, 2008, #124769 ...........................$32,500 4 JD 726, 1995, #135555 .............................$16,000 NUTRIENT APPLICATION 14 Fast 8224, 2013, #144437 .......................$39,500 PLANTERS: DRAWN 4 JD 1770, 17700, 2011, 201 0 1, #132629 ...........................$59,000 8 White White 8200, 2013, #137538 #13753 5 8 ....................$37,000 9 White Whit i e 8186, 8 2005, 200 #139731 #1397331 ................. ....................$26,000 . ...$266,00 0 0 11 White Whi h te 8524, 8524, 2013, 20013, #140624 #1406 #1 40624 24 ....... ....................$67,000 ...... .......... ...... . .....$67 $67,00 ,0000 17 JDD 177 1770NT 1770NT, 0NT,, 200 2008, 8, #14 #14441 #144416 44166 .... ......................$56,000 ...... ................... ...... $56 $56,00 ,00 0 0 TRACTORS ROW CR CROP OP TRA TRACTO CTORS RS 11 JD 614 6145R, #120191 ........$105,000 1 5R, R, 2015, 201 0 5, 426 26 hrs., hrss., #1 hr #1201 0191........$10 105,0 5 000 5,0 5 JDD 8320R, ......$178,000 8320 320R, R, 2014, 201 24311 hrs., hrs , #127 hrs. ##127013 127013 013 ......$17 $1 8,0 8,000 0 7 JD #136799 ........$219,500 JD 8345R, 834 R,, 2015, 8345 2015, 918 hrs., hrs., #1 #1367 36799 99 ..... ..... ...$21 $219,5 9,500 00 15 8245R, ......$169,500 1 JDD 824 2445R, 5R 2014, 2014, 4 1169 1169 hrs., hrs hrs. rs., ##144534 144 44534 44 534....... 534 ..$16 $169,5 99,550 500 00 16 Case Case IH IH MAGNUM MAGN MAGN G UM 340, 34 , 2013, 340 2013, 2546 2546 4 hrs., hrs , #145086 #11450 45086 86 ..................................................$135,000 .............. .. ........ . .... ...... ...... . ... . ... .. ................ . ........ . $13 135,0 5,0000 SELF-PROPELLED SELF-P SEL F-PROP F-P RO ELL ROP ELLED ED FOR FORAGE AGE G HARVESTER HAR A VES VESTER TER HEADS: HEADS HE ADS:: ROTARY ROTARY ROTA RY 6 JD JD 676, 676 76, 1995, 1995 #108982 #10898 #10 89 2 ...............................$17,900 ......... . ... ...... ...... .. ... ...... ............$17 $17,90 ,9000 6 JD JD 710, 710, 2007, 2007, #115310 #11531 #11 53100 ...............................$33,000 .... ........... ...... .. ... . ........... ...... . . $33 $33,00 0000 SELF-PROPELLED SELF-P SEL F-PROP ROPELL ELLED ED FORAGE FORAGE HARVESTERS HARVE HA RVESTE STERS RS 6 JD JD 7400, 7400,, 2004, 7400 2004, 4278 4278 hrs., hrs.,, 2918 hrs. 2918 cutter cutte cu tterr head head #122051 #1220 #1 22051 ....................................................$99,000 ....................................................$99 $99,00 0000 4 JD 5730, 1986, 4980 hrs., 4980 cutter head #124367 ....................................................$25,000 6 JD 6810, 1997, 4100 hrs., #142671 ..........$25,000 SELF-PROPELLED SPRAYERS 8 JD 4730, 2008, 1058 hrs., #128705 ........$139,500 TRACK TRACTORS 16 JD 8345RT, 2014, 1786 hrs., #144550 ....$195,000 ... $270,000 16 JD 9560RT, 2014, 1005 hrs., #144560 ...$270,000 UTILITY TRACTORS 4 JD 6120R, 2016, 280 hrs., #124875 ........... $89,900 4 JD 6105M, 2014, 470 hrs., #132099 .........$58,500 JD 5115M, 5115M, 5115 M, 2017, 2017, 127 hrs., hrs., #1 #1345 34546 46 ....... ...... ..... $63 $63,00 ,0000 4 JD #134546 .........$63,000
AL
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JD 1770NT, 2008, $ 24R30, #144416
E LD
EE
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$
STEEL DEALS
4 JD 330G, 2016, Cab, AC, Air Ride Seat, Ride Control, 84” Bucket, 600 hrs., #140027 ........................... $53,000 10 JD 332D, 2012, Cab, AC, EH Controls, Air Ride Seat, 84” Bucket, 812 hrs., #127231 ........................... $36,900 16 JD 332E, 2014, Cab, AC, EH Controls, Air Ride Seat, 84” Bucket, 1408 hrs., #132664 ......................... $38,900 11 JD 332E, 2015, Cab, AC, Foot Controls, EH Controls, Air Ride Seat, 84” Bucket, 168 hrs., #135560 ..... $49,500 7 JD 332E, 2016, Cab, AC, Foot Controls, EH Controls, 84” Bucket, 390 hrs., #139118 ........................... $54,500 10 NH L218, 2013, Cab w/ AC, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, 76” Bucket, 1767 hrs., #145300 ......................... $23,900 7 Bobcat S185, 2003, Cab, AC, Foot Controls, 72” Bucket, 1550 hrs., #141064 ........................................... $18,900 10 Bobcat S510, 2014, Cab Enclosure, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, 2 Speed, 1578 hrs., #145271 ....... $25,900 11 Bobcat S650, 2013, Cab, AC, Foot Controls, 2 Speed, 859 hrs., #140188 ............................................. $37,500 7 Bobcat S70, 2015, Cab Enclosure, Foot Controls, 218 hrs., #145275............................................................ $21,995 3 Gehl SL4835SXT, 2003, ROPS, 72” Bucket, 1685 hrs., #143757............................................................ $14,850 UTILITY TRACTORS 2 CIH 95, 2010, 972 hrs., #143823 ...................... $37,900 10 JD 5400, 1995, 3700 hrs., #143991 .................. $18,500 10 JD 6200, 1997, 9911 hrs., #141979 .................. $28,600 4 CIH 115C, 2014, 425 hrs., #142395 .................. $63,800 4 JD 5045E, 2015, 150 hrs., #143514 .................. $21,900 4 JD 5075M, 2015, 175 hrs., #143519................. $37,500 12 JD 5095M, 2010, 1735 hrs., #144023............... $54,900 17 JD 5100E, 2016, 1309 hrs., #144491 ................ $47,500 11 JD 5100M, 2017, 219 hrs., #134586................. $69,500 4 JD 5100M, 2017, Cab, 117 hrs., #134588 ......... $71,900 4 JD 5115M, 2017, 110 hrs., #134578................. $74,900 4 JD 5115M, 2017, 23 hrs., #134580................... $74,900 4 JD 5115M, 2017, 412 hrs., #134584................. $79,500 10 JD 6105E, 2016, 285 hrs., #124882 .................. $65,900 11 JD 6105M, 2013, 300 hrs., #145329................. $75,000 2 JD 6105R, 2013, 454 hrs., #135169 ................. $91,500 15 JD 6105R, 2013, 1000 hrs., #144492 ............... $72,500 12 JD 6110M, 2017, 99 hrs., #132912................... $95,900 15 JD 6110M, 2016, 76 hrs., #144493................... $81,900 10 JD 6110R, 2017, 198 hrs., #132073 ................. $99,500 6 JD 6110R, 2016, 193 hrs., #133619 ............... $112,000 4 JD 6110R, 2017, 140 hrs., #142813 ............... $116,000 14 JD 6110R, 2017, 100 hrs., #144496 ............... $129,064 15 JD 6110R, 2017, 123 hrs., #144498 ............... $104,900 14 JD 6110R, 2017, 100 hrs., #144499 ............... $142,391 15 JD 6120R, 2017, 100 hrs., #144501 ............... $109,500 15 JD 6120R, 2016, 322 hrs., #144502 ............... $102,900 8 JD 6125M, 2014, 1006 hrs., #143939............... $79,000 4 JD 6125R, 2013, 600 hrs., #134131 ............... $103,000 10 JD 6125R, 2013, 1500 hrs., #143649 ............... $92,500 14 JD 6125R, 2013, 6500 hrs., #145274 ............... $58,500 4 JD 6130R, 2016, 170 hrs., #138428 ............... $110,000 14 JD 6130R, 2016, 150 hrs., #144506 ............... $119,500 4 JD 6135E, 2017, 92 hrs., #134655 .................... $84,900 6 JD 6430 Premium, 2007, 3725 hrs., #143744 $68,000 10 CIH Maxxum 140, 2014, 914 hrs., #140549 .... $78,500
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JD 1775NT, 2015, 24R30, #144419 ................ $209,500 Wil-Rich 24-22, 2009, 24R22, #139224.......... $53,900 JD 24R22, 2004, 24R22, #145337 ................... $39,000 JD DB44, 2017, 24R22, #141612 ................... $255,000 JD DB44, 2017, 24R22, #144422.................... $207,500 JD DB66, 2016, 36R22, #140442.................... $239,500 JD DB66, 2005, 36R22, #141473.................... $125,000 SKID STEER LOADERS JD 240, 2000, 78” Bucket, 1383 hrs., #138075.. $14,900 JD 270, 2000, Cab Enclosure, 72” Bucket, 580 hrs., #145321............................................................ $22,900 JD 325, 2008, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, 78” Bucket, 3177 hrs., #138043 ........................................... $19,900 JD 260-II, 2003, ROPS, Hand Controls, 78” Bucket, 1355 hrs., #144042 ........................................... $20,900 Caterpillar 272D, 2015, Cab, AC, 2 Speed, 72” Bucket, 1475 hrs., #145200 ........................................... $34,500 JD 318D, 2013, Cab, AC, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, 72” Bucket, 925 hrs., #135024 ........................... $29,500 JD 318D, 2012, Cab, AC, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, Less Bucket, 2346 hrs., #143720 ....................... $23,500 JD 318E, 2016, Cab, AC, Foot Controls, 72” Bucket, 20 hrs., #125466 ............................. $34,900 JD 318E, 2014, Cab, AC, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, 66” Bucket, 762 hrs., #135937 ........................... $33,500 JD 318E, 2015, Cab, AC, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, 72” Bucket, 2811 hrs., #140525 ......................... $25,900 JD 318E, 2015, Cab w/ AC, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, 72” Bucket, 335 hrs., #142491 ........................... $34,000 JD 320D, 2013, Cab, AC, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, 76” Bucket, 1023 hrs., #133492 ......................... $26,900 JD 320E, 2015, Cab, AC, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, 72” Bucket, 1734 hrs., #134169 ......................... $30,900 JD 320E, 2014, Cab, AC, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, 1101 hrs., #135139 ........................................... $34,900 JD 320E, 2014, Cab, AC, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, 72” Bucket, 475 hrs., #135901 .......................... $35,900 JD 320E, 2015, Cab, AC, EH Controls, Air Ride Seat, 72” Bucket, 645 hrs., #138375 ........................... $37,600 JD 320E, 2016, Cab, AC, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, 72” Bucket, 79 hrs., #140280 ............................. $39,900 JD 320E, 2014, Cab, AC, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, 76” Bucket, 470 hrs., #142118 ........................... $35,900 JD 320E, 2015, Cab, AC, EH Controls, Air Ride Seat, 76” Bucket, 260 hrs., #143386 ........................... $42,900 JD 320E, 2016, Cab, AC, Hand Controls, 72” Bucket, 2489 hrs., #143842 ........................................... $27,500 JD 324E, 2016, Cab, AC, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, 76” Bucket, 104 hrs., #137786 ........................... $45,000 JD 326D, 2012, Cab, AC, EH Controls, Joystick, 78” Bucket, 210 hrs., #135673 ............................................. $40,500 JD 326E, 2015, Cab w/ AC, EH Controls, Air Ride Seat, 84” Bucket, 387 hrs., #118578 ........................... $36,900 JD 326E, 2016, Cab w/ AC, EH Controls, Air Ride Seat, 84” Bucket, 65 hrs., #126370 ............................. $45,900 JD 326E, 2015, Cab, AC, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, Self-Leveling, 72” Bucket, 537 hrs., #134033..... $39,500 JD 326E, 2016, Cab, AC, Foot Controls, Air Ride Seat, 84” Bucket, 1105 hrs., #141601 ......................... $38,900 JD 326E, 2016, Cab, AC, EH Controls, Air Ride Seat, 72” Bucket, 150 hrs., #142477 ........................... $46,000 JD 328D, 2010, Cab w/ AC, EH Controls, Air Ride Seat, 410 hrs., #141011 ............................................ $38,900
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CIH 200, 60.5’, $ 2012, #135767
JD 2210, 45.5’ 2005, #120515
29,500
$
Page 22 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018
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A super month of opportunities
As the month of February kicked off, excitement surrounding the Super Bowl was high. Attending school at the University of Minnesota gave me a rst-hand look at the variety of Super Bowl related activities. From Nordic skiing races on the Nicollet Mall, to On the Road with embracing the cold weather, to the U of M marching band Princess Kay performing during the halftime show, the Super Bowl was completely Minnesotan this year. It only makes sense that dairy would be a part of this Minnesota celebration. Dairy contributes to Minnesota in more ways than just putting delicious dairy foods on our plate or in our cup. Economically, dairy creates By Emily Annexstad a multiplier effect, and for 64th Princess Kay of the every dollar of output on the Milky Way farm, $1.70 is generated into the economy, according to a 2016 report by MDA/AMD. For every glass of milk, slice of cheese or gallon of ice cream, jobs are created and money is exchanged. However, dairy might not be the rst thing that comes to mind when people think of our state. Leading up to the Super Bowl, I had the opportunity to help dairy come to people’s minds when they think about what Minnesota has to offer. The rst event I attended was the Kid’s Tailgate Party. Here, I helped dairy farmers and Midwest dairy staff at the Mix it with Milk station. The Kid’s Tailgate Party celebrated 52 weeks of giving and 52 weeks of school breakfast. Part of the Super Bowl Legacy Grant Program, this year-long initiative helped to provide nutritious school breakfasts in more schools throughout Minnesota. Ten Fuel up to Play 60 kids also had the chance to have their Super Snack recipes featured at the event. Next, I attended the Fuel up to Play 60 Innovation Challenge. I witnessed kids in action as they came up with ways to improve their school lunch programs. After working with a group of their peers, mentors and dairy farmers, these students gave a one-minute pitch on their ideas to four judges and the audience. Some of the ideas included adding a smoothie bar with yogurt and fruit in their school lunch line or hosting events at school and inviting farmers. My family and I also had the opportunity to work at the Midwest Dairy Super Bowl Experience Booth. One of the highlights of the booth was the virtual reality game. Here, participants earned Undeniably Dairy coins while touring a dairy farm and football locker room. There were also endless opportunities to pass out cheese samples and have conversations. One of my favorite parts of the experience was the Fuel Up to Play 60 clinic. My brothers and I talked to a group of kids about our farm, favorite dairy foods and ways we stay active. Then, the kids got to participate in fun drills and relays that encouraged healthy living. The event ended with the kids having an opportunity to have their pictures taken with professional football players and refueling with cheese samples. The Super Bowl is over, the fans have returned home, and Minnesota has quieted down a bit. The conversations that the Super Bowl gave dairy farmers the chance to experience with fans and consumers of our nutritious dairy foods, however, will remain. As the month of February continued to unfold, I was given more chances to talk about dairy. I waved in the Winter Carnival Torchlight Parade, accompanied by Fairborn and Fairchild, our Minnesota State Fair mascots. I also joined Gopher Dairy Club members, parents and supporters at their annual banquet. Here, I had the chance to help celebrate and connect with others who love Minnesota’s dairy community as much as I do. While the magnitude of an event like the Super Bowl brings a wonderful opportunity to spread dairy’s story, smaller events such as these are equally as important and meaningful. Princess Kay of the Milky Way, Emily Annexstad, serves as the Minnesota dairy community’s goodwill ambassador. Throughout the year, Princess Kay helps people understand the dedication of dairy farmers to wholesome and nutritious food, and the way milk is produced. Princess Kay does many school presentations, represents dairy farmers at the Fuel Up To Play 60 events that are held in conjunction with the Minnesota Vikings, and is very active during June Dairy Month sharing the importance of dairy farming and dairy foods. Emily and her family own and operate a dairy farm in St. Peter, Minn. She is a sophomore at the University of Minnesota studying animal science and agricultural communications and marketing. She enjoys reading, playing and watching sports, and showing cattle.
Dairy Star â&#x20AC;˘ Saturday, March 10, 2018 â&#x20AC;˘ Page 23
Awards presented at GDC banquet
Andersons, Rugg recognized for contributions to club Submitted by Kayla Leiding Gopher Dairy Club
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The 34th Annual University of Minnesota Gopher Dairy Club Recognition Banquet brought together 175 students, parents, alumni, faculty and those in the dairy industry to celebrate the events and achievements of members on Feb. 26. We were pleased to have a welcome from Dr. Brian Buhr, the Dean of the College of Food, Agriculture
and Natural Resource Sciences. Emily Annexstad, the 64th Princess Kay of the Milky Way, shared her passion for the dairy industry and her experience as a member of the Gopher Dairy Club. The featured speaker was Sheryl Meshke, Co-President and CEO of AMPI. In her keynote titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;What I Wish I Knew When I Was You,â&#x20AC;? KAYLA LEIDING/GOPHER DAIRY CLUB
Donna and David Anderson (center) with children â&#x20AC;&#x201C; (from leĹ&#x152;) Beau and Karen Johnson and Kevin Anderson â&#x20AC;&#x201C; receive the DisĆ&#x;nguished Service Award during the Gopher Dairy Club RecogniĆ&#x;on Banquet Feb. 26 in St. Paul, Minn.
Sheryl talked about three dos and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ts she wished she would have known when she was in college. Sheryl said, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t apologize for where you came from, separate your personal and professional life, and believe those who KAYLA LEIDING/GOPHER DAIRY CLUB say a career path is a straight BeĆŠy McAndrews (right) presents Brad Rugg with the Golden line. Do plot your true north, Graduate Award during the Gopher Dairy Club RecogniĆ&#x;on ď&#x192;&#x17E;gure out what makes you Banquet Feb. 26 in St. Paul. Ruggâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wife, Lorrie, (leĹ&#x152;) is also angry and be hungry to do pictured. something about it, and make
supporting Gophers a priority. Everyone was truly inspired by Sherylâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wise words. The Distinguished Service Award was presented to David and Donna Anderson, of Lester Prairie, Minn. The Andersons, who are registered Guernsey breeders, have hosted the dairy judging team for the past 25 years and enjoy helping dairy students improve their judging skills.
The Golden Graduate Award was presented to Brad Rugg, of Owatonna, Minn., who has dedicated his career to teaching and working with 4-H members from across the state of Minnesota. Many Gopher Dairy Club members were also recognized with awards for their achievements and service to the dairy industry.
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Tips for feeding in today’s dairy economy Hutjens gives keynote at Carver County Dairy Expo By Ruth Klossner Staff Writer
NORWOOD YOUNG AMERICA, Minn. — Getting the audience involved as he frequently asked for a show of hands of those following the various practices he referred to in his presentation, Mike Hutjens addressed the topic, “Feeding Dairy Cows with Today’s Low Milk Prices,” during his keynote speech on Feb. 19 during the Carver County Dairy Expo in Norwood Young America, Minn. During his presentation, the extension dairy specialist at the University of Illinois reviewed milk prices and economic factors impacting it, 2017 forages, tools to evaluate forages, economic considerations and tips for 2018. With today’s changing economics, Hutjens said Illinois’ largest cooperative recently put quotas on its producers. “I’m not sure if we’re ahead or behind the times,” he said. As he reviewed legume, mixed haylage and corn silage qualities, Hutjens asked producers how they were doing. He then went on to discuss kernel processing and shredlage, with emphasis on how much starch
goes through the animal. “Did you crush the starch adequately?” he said. “If you do a fecal test and too much has gone through, you’re in the pheasant business. For every 1 percent increase, you’re losing two-thirds of a pound of milk.” Hutjens asked producers how consistent their front end (feed) and back end (production) practices were. Consistency measurements include variation in forage quality, mixing times on TMR and particle size, feeding times (within 30 minutes of target), dry matter intake (+/2 pounds/cow/day), milk yield (+/- 2 pounds/cow/day), milk fat test (+/- 1 percent point) and milk protein test (+/- 0.05 point). At that point, Hutjens turned to talking about life without rBST. He pointed out what happens without rBST – initially cows may drop 10 to 30 pounds if taken off cold turkey. High body condition scores could be a problem and reproduction and fertility will be important. He said there should be no more 600-plus-day lactations. He suggested producers consider a low group with a low ration based on milk yield, body condition score and calving date. “I’m betting that rBST will come back because it works,” Hutjens said. As he moved on to dry matter intake, Hutjens encouraged producers to look at all feed stuffs and decide which are good buys and to update the list monthly.
By-product feeds may be more economical. FeedVal v6.0 allows producers to use local prices and to select nutrient values important to them. Feed metrics for 2018 can be gured a number of ways – feed costs per day (limited value), feed costs per 100 lb./cwt. (reects milk yield, shrink and feed costs), feed costs per pound of dry matter (reects feed ingredients selection), income over feed costs (reects prot margin) and feed efciency (evaluates feed conversion to milk yield). Using Illinois gures, Hutjens said $18.14/cwt. was the break even point for milk price. Smaller herds with less than 80 cows have higher costs per cwt. compared to larger herds, he said. With continued low milk prices, Hutjens presented his 2018 feeding checklist. The rst item may have been surprising in that it increases cost in the short-term but can increase prot in the long-term. Feeding an accelerated milk or milk replacer program (2 percent birth weight as milk solids dry matter). Studies show that calves fed the accelerated program produce two pounds more milk per day during their productive life. The next item on Hutjens’ checklist is to calve heifers at 23 to 24 months of age, and monitor growth for 1.8 ADG (for Holsteins). Third is to consider a low energy/high straw dry cow ration. “That’s a slam dunk,”
RUTH KLOSSNER/DAIRY STAR
Mike Hutjens gives a presentaƟon during the Carver County Dairy Expo Feb. 19 in Norwood Young America, Minn. Hutjens addressed feeding cows during low milk prices. Hutjens said. Fourth is strategic use of feed additives. Hutjens listed six: Monensin (Rumensin), silage inoculants, organic trace minerals, rumen buffers, yeast culture/yeast products and Biotin. If cost is a factor, he recommended going with the rst three. Next on Hutjens’ checklist was to implement a fresh cow group (for 10 to 21 days). This is especially critical with low milk prices as it’s important to have cows ready to go when they hit the milk line. Sixth on Hutjens’ list is the use of calcium boluses for at risk cows (50-60 grams with Ca
chloride, proprionate or sulfate). The seventh item is to supplement organic trace minerals (Zn, Cu, Cr and Se). The nal item on Hutjens checklist is heat stress abatement for dry cows (water, fans and shade). “This will produce more milk and a larger calf. Those calves will produce more milk as cows,” he said. In summary, Hutjens gave a nal statement. “Focus on protability; control the controllable; forages are key to ration building and balancing; use the available tools and keep current on new technology,” he said.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018 • Page 27
Make the best of the cards you are dealt The Transition Pen
By John Rosenhammer & Laura Scholtz Father/Daughter Farming Duo Have you ever played cards and no matter who dealt them or how you cut the deck, the good cards just weren’t falling your way? You shufe them longer and shorter, but the end result is not favorable. You deal them one, two or three at a time and nothing seems to help. If you happen to play for money, usually pennies or nickels, you expect that sooner or later your luck will change. But, no matter what you do, by the end of the night you are out of money. It is time to go home, and the pile of money of those playing with you just keeps on getting bigger. It’s the fun you had with the people you enjoy being with; that is what you will remember in the end. More important than winning or losing, though, is that you took the time to be with your friends, enjoy laughter and occasionally learn something new. Cards not falling your way seems to parallel with the falling milk prices. It has not been just a few days, weeks or months, but over three years worth of painful, hard-to-break-even prices. In the midst of such a slump, it seems like it will take forever for things to change. I have heard it said, “Adversity builds character.” Well if that is true then dairy farmers should be full of character. Whether it’s the daily grind of chores or the low milk prices, they can be named with a positive attitude and healthy lifestyles. No matter what the price is or how well or not things are going, we all have an inner need to ll by attending events and getting off the farm occasionally. Some of my best experiences were the result of me contemplating if I should go or stay home. Choosing to go required more effort, but I brought home more energy and an idea that was so timely for the situation I was presently dealing with. Calves, for the most part, have been doing well and on cruise control since last fall. Outside of the fact that too many of them have been bull calves in the last year, feeding them has been taken for granted as a fast, easy chore. The last month has been more of a wake-up call. I don’t know that we have lost any, but scouring, unthrifty appearance and poor appetites after a week of age have been all too common. Lots of electrolytes, a few IVs and way too much time has been spent with them. You beat your head over and over trying to nd the source of the problem. You pray for the day when they will again buck the bottle out of your hands, and you even question yourself and if what you are doing is proving any good. God sends us wake up calls such as this to humble us and to remind us once again of who is really in control. After all, it is Lent isn’t it? Forty days of being tempted by Rota Corona, E. coli and Crypto bugs to see if we can eliminate these sins from our calf barns and create pure clean calves again. As timely as God is in our lives, a calf meeting, sponsored by Southern Minnesota Dairy Initiative Board, took place in Sleepy Eye, Minn., and was well attended. Throughout the discussion, it was apparent farmers were not alone in battling calf scours. Dr. Jeremy Scheffers said calf scours peak this time of the year due to the amount of moisture in the air and the constant swings in temperatures. He also stressed the importance of antibodies in a cow’s colostrum and the benets of feeding small amounts for the rst two weeks of a calf’s life. Feeding three quarts the rst few hours is still the gold standard, but following that up with small amounts the next two weeks is the other half of the story that has gotten overlooked and underestimated. All too often we try to x a problem with another drug, additive or nutritional pill that we think we need. We try to band-aid a short cut when in reality nature provides the perfect food. We just have
to administer it over a longer period and capture the benets of that all-important rst milk. The knowledge we gained at that meeting, complimented by the ne lunch, and rubbing elbows with other neighbors battling the same problems, was worth more than the effort we put in to attend the meeting in the rst place. Through it all, I admire Laura’s determination to overcome this bump in the road without becoming bitter and letting it get the best of her. At times, she admitted needing help but was appreciative when Mary, Patty or I helped to IV a calf or give that extra feeding of electrolytes. It is moments like this when we realize that alone we are limited, but together we can achieve so much more and share that with others in their time of need. To celebrate the calves returning to health, we spent last Sunday afternoon sledding on 6 inches of
fresh snow. I, along with all of my kids, a few signicant others and a few younger kids packed into a big sled to see how far the Gator could take us. The goal was to stay on the sled as long as possible despite Johnny’s crazy driving. The snow condition was perfect for snowballs and snow angels. The competitive kid in me decided to ride along rather than watch and let them have all the fun. The next morning I was reminded by a sore and achy body that I was no longer a kid anymore. The back pain was a reminder of the fun I had just experienced. Nothing that time and a dose of Advil can’t x, right? John Rosenhammer farms with his daughter Laura Scholtz and brother, Greg, on Roseview Dairy near Sleepy Eye, Minn. They milk 200 Holsteins and run 580 acres of cropland.
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Page 28 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018
www.extension.umn.edu/dairy
Betty Berning bberning@umn.edu 320-203-6104
Getting the most of activity monitoring systems
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
An increasing number of dairy producers are adopting activity and rumination monitoring systems. The primary goal of these systems is to monitor animals for signs of negative health events and signs of estrus for breeding programs. For the latter, if estrus detection at your farm has proven challenging, it may be worth adjusting the system’s threshold to target a higher sensitivity of detection. Like any alert system, this involves trade-offs between true alerts and false alerts. If you are condent in how to handle false alerts, it is likely that you will be better off choosing more aggressive alert settings (which would be more sensitive) than the defaults set by the manufacturer. This is because there is a general tendency for the manufacturer to By Kota Minegishi provide relatively conservative (which would U of M Extension be relatively insensitive) alert settings by default so as not to annoy users with frequent false alerts. Such a tendency would serve consumers well in consumer electronics but might not necessarily help you in your dairy business. By analyzing the data collected at the West Central Research and Outreach Center in Morris, Minn., my colleagues and I found that our sensor system detected about 34 percent of the estrus events (that is, a sensitivity of 34 percent) in an organic grazing herd during the past four summer breeding seasons. The same sensor achieved about 70 percent sensitivity in a lowinput conventional herd during the same periods. While the performance tends to suffer from the increased variability in cows’ activity during grazing, such an alert system often lets one adjust the threshold settings to send alerts for less obvious signs of estrus. Our analysis showed that in hindsight any decent alert system with appropriate settings would have been able to detect 50-60 percent of the same estrus events in the organic herd. A more sensitive alert setting, however, would have produced more false alerts as well. Let’s go over the economic implications of such trade-offs between the benet of increased estrus detection and the cost of increased false alerts. There are four key factors affecting the economics of an estrus alert system: the current success rate of estrus detection, the decision rules for replacing a cow due to failed pregnancy, the market price of a replacement heifer, and the labor cost to act on false alerts.
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 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 Randy Pepin pepin019@umn.edu 320-333-1369 Erin Royster royster@umn.edu Jim Salfer salfe001@umn.edu 320-203-6093 M. Scott Wells mswells@umn.edu 612-625-3747 Emily Wilmes krek0033@umn.edu 320-255-6169
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Let the expected cost of replacing a cow due to failed pregnancy be rep(SN)= pr.open (SN) * pr.repl* p.heifer where pr.open (SN) is the probability that the cow is open by the end of a breeding season at given sensitivity SN of estrus detection, pr.repl is the rate of replacement of open cows, and p.heifer is the market rate of a replacement heifer. The probability of a cow being open after the maximum of N insemination trials is pr.open(SN)=(100 percent%-SN*CON)^N where CON is the probability of conception at each insemination trial. For example, at 40 percent chance of conception and N = 4, this probability is pr.open(40 percent)= 49.8 percent and pr.open(55 percent)= 37 percent, resulting in a 12.8 percent difference at the two different levels of sensitivity SN of estrus detection. Assuming pr.repl = 75 percent and p.heifer = $1,800 for an organic heifer, the expected replacement cost becomes rep(40 percent) = $672 and rep(55 percent) = $500, a $172 difference per cow, which applies to all cows to be bred in the summer breeding season. The per-cow labor cost of visual inspection of estrus, in particular upon false alerts, is labor(SP)= wage *vis/60* (100 percent% – SP)*days where wage is the labor wage rate, vis is inspection time in minutes, days is the number of days in the breeding season on which the cow may be bred, and 100 percent - SP (specicity) is the probability of a false alert in a given day. For example, at wage = $18 per hour and vis = 5 minutes, the labor cost of each false alert is 18 * (5/60) = $1.50. We need to also reconcile the fact that any given cow might not be ready for breeding on all days (a result of a voluntary waiting period, recent breeding and conrmed pregnancy), so let us assume that on average a cow may be eligible for breeding on half of the 80-day breeding season (or days = 40). With these conditions, the labor cost of visual inspection is labor(95 percent) = $3 per cow and labor(90 percent) = $6 per cow, indicating a $3 difference between the two different probabilities, 5 percent and 10 percent respectively, of having a false alert on a given day. In summary, an alert setting aimed at 40 percent sensitivity and 95 percent specicity is $169 per cow less protable than a setting aimed at 55 percent sensitivity and SP specicity in the above example. Knowing how best to use the data is key to making the most of the activity monitoring system.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018 • Page 29
Manure, cover crops After two years and 19 on-farm plots, we have completed the project incorporating cover crops and manure. The project plan was to seed winter cereal rye as soon as possible after fall harvest of either corn silage for dairy farmers or soybeans for swine farmers. Each site initially had three strips with winter cereal rye planted as a cover crop and three strips without any cover crop. Then, later in the fall, the plan called for injecting either liquid dairy or swine manure into the growing winter cereal rye. In the spring, we terminated the rye with herbicides and generally incorporated it with tillage. We then measured the nitrogen in the above ground biomass of the winter cereal rye and measured the 24-inch soil nitrates comparing the strips with and without the winter cereal rye. In the fall, we harvested either corn silage or corn grain comparing the effect of the winter cereal rye on crop and nitrogen yield. One question frequently asked is, “Will using a winter cereal rye as a cover crop hurt the yield of the following crop?” Most research indicates that when soybeans follow winter By Randy Pepin cereal rye there is seldom a yield drag and sometimes a yield U of M Extension advantage. Many people ask, “What about corn; it demands a lot of nitrogen; we know winter cereal rye sequesters nitrogen; might winter cereal rye hurt corn yield?” That is a reasonable question, especially when some research indicates a yield loss when corn follows winter cereal rye. Many farmers with manure assume any cover crop planting would happen after manure application. This is either too early for best management practices for manure application or too late for cover crop establishment. This project investigated the possibility of planting the cover crop before manure injection. Bar graph (Figure 1) interpretation: The rst three bar sets: corn silage yield, grain yield and nitrogen yield averages were about the same with or without winter cereal rye as a cover crop. The fourth set of bars illustrates that the soil under winter cereal rye always had less nitrates (NO3) than bare soil. This is an expected result with winter cereal rye, which sequesters a lot of nitrogen. Since most of this NO3 is now part of the organic matter in the rye, it is not subject to leaching from heavy spring rains. The last bar shows the amount of nitrogen in the winter cereal rye at termination averaged 45 pounds per acre; ranging from three to over 100 pounds of nitrogen per acre. The largest inuence on the rye nitrogen per acre yield was the fall planting date of winter cereal rye. The earlier winter cereal rye fall plantings tended to have higher nitrogen yields at spring termination.
Key summary points with winter cereal rye before corn: • When properly managed, using winter cereal rye as a cover crop appeared to have no effect on the following corn crop yield. • Terminate winter cereal rye at or before eight inches of height to minimize any yield loss. We terminated the rye with herbicides and usually incorporated it with tillage. • Most yield reduction from this practice is likely a carbon/nitrogen ratio effect. High biomass volume and increasing biomass maturity lengthens decomposition, delaying nitrogen availability. • Winter cereal rye can sequester a lot of nitrogen. • There was always less soil nitrate under the winter cereal rye than bare ground. This could reduce the potential for nitrate leaching from spring rains. • Winter cereal rye had no effect on the total nitrogen yield of the corn crop. • The earlier planting of winter cereal rye in the fall resulted in more above ground rye growth in the spring. • Winter cereal rye is a very resilient plant. • The aggressiveness of the manure injection tool has a signicant effect on survivability of winter cereal rye. Some equipment created little soil disturbance allowing almost all the winter cereal rye to survive. Other equipment performed major tillage causing severe damage to the cover crop. Winter cereal rye can work as a cover crop before corn or corn silage provided you terminate it before creating too much biomass; 8 inches height is a good guideline. If you terminate the rye taller than 8 inches, or harvest it as a forage crop and corn follows it, you will likely need to supplement additional nitrogen.
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Page 30 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018
Predicting the weather
We farmers generally have more than just a at the strange history of weather forecasting. passing interest in the weather, mainly because we In days of yore, there were people who cultivated generally have so much at stake. reputations as being soothsayers. These folks claimed For instance, here might be a typical city dweller’s to have mystical abilities for predicting the future, reaction to an unexpected summer thunderstorm: especially the weather. They were full of sooth. “Oh, no. That nasty weather “Forsooth,” the has messed up the car’s IIn d soothsayer might say, days off yore, there h were wax job. Cripes. My wife “My bunion doth hurteth will kill me if I don’t take it people who cultivated like a soneth of a guneth. through the car wash.” thusly predicteth a reputations as being soothsayers. Ihumungous Meanwhile, here’s a tempest ere the farmer’s reaction to that midsummer’s night’s eve same storm: “Oh no. That doth pass. Thenceforth, on nasty weather has waxed my hay crop. Cripes. My the morrow, it shall be partly cloudy with a chance of wife is going to kill me when she nds out that I didn’t scattered late afternoon showers, forsooth.” get it baled. Maybe I should get a job washing cars.” The soothsayers were generally considered to Given the level of farmers’ concern regarding the be a bit daft, but otherwise harmless. Their strange weather, I thought it might behoove us to take a look method of talking was attributed to the fumes from the
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potions they were constantly slathering onto their hair in an effort to keep it just so. (It’s a well-documented historical fact that Shakespeare had wanted to be a weatherman. This explains his weird hairdo Dear County Agent Guy and also why much of the stuff he wrote is so difcult to read). Even a broken clock is correct twice a day, and so it was with soothsayers. They would be right often enough for the public to continue to believe their forecasts. No real progress in weather prognostication By Jerry Nelson was made until the midColumnist 20th century arrived, bringing with it the advent of the computer. With this powerful new tool, weather forecasters were able to plug in huge amounts of variables and, in mere minutes, produce weather forecasts that weren’t much more accurate than a soothsayer’s. But there were two tremendous advantages that came with using computers for predicting the weather. First, was that on slow days, the weather guys could sneak in a game or two of Pong. Second, was all the indecipherable new terminology the weather people got to invent to describe previously unknown weatherrelated factors. These updrafts converged to precipitate the rise of that curious species known as Television Meteorologists. TV Meteorologists are paid large sums of money to stand before a green screen and gesture at a map that they can’t even see. They spout nonsense about the “jet stream” (which, I presume is a tributary of the Propeller River) and “warm fronts” (yet they never mention cold behinds) and “bad hair days” (What do they know? Their hair is a picture of chemically-enhanced perfection). To be clear, meteorologists should never be confused with climatologists. Meteorologists are people who produce short-term forecasts that are, as often as not, totally inaccurate. Climatologists, on the other hand, are much more experienced and therefore predict long-range weather trends that are also often totally inaccurate. The main difference between a meteorologist and a climatologist is their methodology. Climatologists, owing to their vast experience, often seek safety in high places (such as trees) as soon as they issue a new forecast. This is how they came to be known as climatologists. It’s amazing when you think about it. Here we are well into the 21st century and we’re still getting our weather forecasts from a bunch of folks who are consistently wrong, yet somehow manage to hang on to their jobs. Perhaps that’s the reason they are always smiling. Or, maybe it’s just the fumes from all of the hair care products that have been slathered onto their skulls. The thrust of all of this is that modern weather predictions, which are based on some sort of mysterious computerized analysis of electronic chicken entrails, often land wide of the mark. And, we farmers thus continue to grapple with that age-old conundrum: To cut hay or not to cut hay? That is the question. Jerry is a recovering dairy farmer from Volga, S.D. 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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It hurts, Doc
Nobody should be surprised that cows and calves and castrate once the block is in effect. Meloxicam feel pain. As animal caretakers, it behooves us to try or Banamine can be given to help control pain after to reduce and control their pain when methods are surgery. reasonable. Also, pain control is now reLame cows certainly feel pain. quired by the NMPFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s FARM program. Veterinary Wisdom Sometimes it is almost painful to watch There are a number of common condithem walk. Unfortunately, lameness pain tions that can result in signiď&#x192;&#x17E;cant pain is more often chronic than acute, and we where we may be able to help. Dr. Sarah do not have practical methods to control Wagner, of North Dakota State Univerchronic pain in cows. Twice daily IV sity, gave a presentation about pain in injections of ď&#x192;&#x;unixin would be helpful, cattle at the recent Minnesota Veterinary but this is seldom practical. Meloxicam Medical Association Annual Meeting. could be used orally every day or every Much of what follows is adapted from other day (extra label), but milk has to be her presentation. discarded, making chronic use unlikely Dehorning is perhaps the ď&#x192;&#x17E;rst thing in most cases. What about aspirin? Asmany of us think of regarding pain in catpirin is not effective for pain control in tle. Dehorning clearly hurts. Dehorning cows due to very poor (20 percent) abBy Jim Bennett should always be done when calves are sorption from the rumen. Perhaps the best Columnist as young as possible. In dairy calves, it way to try to help control pain in lame should be possible to make sure dehorncows, other than corrective trimming, is ing is always done in the ď&#x192;&#x17E;rst two weeks of life. Re- to move them to a bedded pack or similar soft surface moving small buds is preferable to removing horns if possible. that are fully attached to the skull. A local anesthetic Dystocia is likely often a painful procedure for should always be used in a local block, except when the cow. This seems pretty obvious. What is less obdehorning paste is used. The procedure is simple, easy vious is the pain that the calf experiences during and to do and effective. In the last few years, meloxicam, after an assisted birth. Ribs can even be broken during a human anti-inď&#x192;&#x;ammatory drug, has successfully an extraction. Meloxicam can be given orally right afbeen used to help control pain of dehorning, espe- ter birth to control pain. Meloxicam can last up to 48 cially once the local block wears off. Meloxicam can hours in calves, and withholding for slaughter until only be used in extra label fashion upon the order the drug clears is not usually a problem, so this drug of a veterinarian. Recently, a new, pour on version could be a practical and useful treatment for pain in of Banamine was approved by the FDA for relief of these cases. pain caused by foot rot in cattle. It is not approved for Speaking of calves, enteritis can often be quite suckling calves, but likely could be used in an extra painful. Meloxicam has been used as an early treatlabel as well for controlling dehorning pain. ment for pain in scouring calves and may help keep Castration is certainly a painful procedure, too. calves eating and perhaps shorten the duration of Pain can be reduced by an injection of lidocaine in the symptoms. cord above the testicle. The problem is that it takes a Metritis may be a painful condition. Controlling few minutes for the block to work, and waiting some- pain may help cows by maintaining dry matter intake. times can slow down the procedure, particularly if Cows treated with an antibiotic requiring milk discard calves are being run through a chute. For small calves could be treated with meloxicam without discarding that can be done without chute restraint, it should be additional milk. possible to block several calves and then come back Mastitis certainly can be painful, as anyone who
has been kicked after touching a sore udder knows. Mastitis cows are often reluctant to lie down because of udder pain. Flunixin is often used to treat the inď&#x192;&#x;ammation associated with toxic mastitis, but pain control is seldom practiced for grade one or grade two cases. Certainly for grade two mastitis, which is when the milk looks bad and the udder is inď&#x192;&#x;amed, ď&#x192;&#x;unixin or meloxicam may be appropriate treatments. Major surgery like a laparotomy for correction of LDA, or Caesarian section, is most certainly painful for some time after surgery. Cows given meloxicam prior to surgery have been shown to lie down more following the procedure, so this drug may be useful in such cases, too. We will not likely eliminate pain from the life of all cattle anytime soon. We only have a couple of practical choices of drugs to help reduce pain. We are also somewhat limited by milk and slaughter withholds when using these drugs. Nevertheless, there are times where drugs can be used effectively and practically to reduce pain and suffering, and we should not hesitate to use them. Jim Bennett is a dairy veterinarian at Northern Valley Dairy Production Medicine Center in Plainview, Minn. He and his wife, Pam, have four children. Jim can be reached at bennettnvac@gmail.com with comments or questions.
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We lost $0.27 in January What a difference ve years makes. Five years feed cost on milking cows only is $6.54/cwt. Our ago, I wrote a column about our feed and other cows averaged 85 pounds per cow per day with a costs for February 2013. Back then, I priced our 3.75 percent butterfat and 3.07 percent protein. Our corn fed to the cows at $7.30/bushel, corn silage at dry cow and heifer feed costs run $1.70/cwt., and $56/ton, and wet haylage at $125/ton. In January ve years ago that cost ran $2.79/cwt. Our total of this year I used $3.30/ feed costs per cwt. of milk bushel corn, $32/ton corn shipped is $8.24/cwt. Five Probably b bl the h bi biggest surprise i silage and $75/ton haylage. P years ago, it was $12.08. Our mailbox milk price in to me when looking at the I always wonder if other 2013 was right at $18.80, numbers was a slight drop in businesses and governand in January 2018, our ment agencies could opermailbox price was $14.44. non-feed costs. ate with such wild swings Five years ago, we made in costs and income. $.47 cwt. after all costs, Probably the bigand this year we lost $.27. gest surprise to me when looking at the numbers Early in 2013, our feed cost/cwt. on milk cows was a slight drop in non-feed costs. Non-feed costs only was a whopping $9.29/cwt. This year, our include labor, electricity, insurance, repairs, etc.,
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but not debt payments or depreciation. We went from $5.25/cwt. ve years ago to $5.04 this year. Granted, we are shipping 35 percent more milk because of expansion, but our labor bill has almost doubled from $2-$3 higher wages and add- Making Cents of Dairy ing 3-4 people. Possibly the differences could be the one-month snapshots, where a $15,000 repair happened ve years ago but not this year. Otherwise it maybe proves that the more cows you milk the more efcient you are. That could be By Dave Vander Kooi another article all by itself. Columnist I have not included depreciation in any costs because that is non-cash. Instead, I like to use monthly principle and interest payments. Five years ago, we were right at $1/cwt., and now we are at $1.43/cwt. I’m sure my readers are asking how a barn that is ve years older can have higher payments. No, we did not renance and take out a second mortgage. In the last year, Joe and I have added 600 new stalls, and totally redid 1,400 older stalls. We have almost doubled the holding area square footage and are in the process of installing a new crowd gate that is gentle on the cows. All the ventilation fans in both barns are brand new, new curtains are thermostat controlled, and we have new hydraulic doors to drive into the barn. We repainted the 17-year-old ofces and bathrooms, put in all new lights and xtures, and even the ofce heat and air conditioning work now. Some of you might be asking how does this work, especially when the future months look bleak for dairy prices. Well, it kind of doesn’t work, especially when we didn’t contract any milk for those months (Feb.-June) earlier when it was protable. One factor that changes the numbers quite a bit is when I add back in cull cow sales. In 2013, the value of selling cull cows and bull calves added $1/ cwt. to up the prot to $1.47/cwt. This past January, cull cows and bull calves added $.87/cwt. to bring a $.27 loss to a $.60 gain. Also, as we look to potential losses in the months going forward, the dairy will just not pay Joe or myself for all of the feed raised. We can keep track of what is owed, be our own banker so to speak and pay it later when we return to protability. This works well on a limited basis for a short period of time, but eventually we need that money for farm payments, rents, input costs and machinery payments. This article took a lot of thinking and research to write, however, it was a great exercise for me to see the bigger picture of our dairy. I need to keep examining that picture on a monthly basis, but I know I won’t because it’s way more fun to go cut alfalfa. Everyone’s situation is different so running your own numbers is crucial to making good decisions. Vander Kooi operates a 1,800-cow, 4,500 acre farm with his son, Joe, and daughter-in-law, Rita, near Worthington, Minn. Send him feedback at davevkooi@icloud.com. Follow him on Instagram, @davevanderkooi.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018 • Page 33
Income over trouble
Annual meeting season for the cooperatives we belong to is in full swing. So is nancial analysis season on our farms. That means there are lots of evaluation measures oating around: debt to equity, return on investment, net farm income, and others. We also just tested milk, so we’ve got a new batch of performance indicators for our cows: income over feed cost, production index, fat corrected milk, etc. (Speaking of FCM, could somebody add cheese Dairy Good Life yield to our DHIA reports? Fat corrected milk is no longer sufcient; we need to consider protein production as well as fat production). This week, I’ve been thinking that we need to add a new performance indicator for certain cows: income over trouble. Every time I walk into the barn, I look at Lauren and shake my head. Lauren has a behavior problem. She constantly runs her drinking cup over. The drinking cups in our barn face into the stalls, so both her stall and her neighbor’s stall are continuously washed free of the chopped straw and shavings we bed our cows with By Sadie Frericks morning and night. Columnist Even more frustrating, all that water runs into the gutter. Water-lled gutters make for wet tails, which make for very unhappy dairy farmers. Lauren’s income over trouble score is pretty high, at least by my calculation. However, my calculation might weight emotion a little higher than Glen’s calculation. He tends to balance emotion with logic and economics better than I do. In other words, if it was solely my decision, Lauren would nd a new career. But she produces a fair amount of high quality milk, and she’s due to calve again this summer. Income over trouble could help us determine how Lauren’s production compares to the amount of water and bedding she wastes – and the level of irritation she induces in her farmers (well, at least one of them). Like Lauren, Sissy has a behavior problem. But Sissy’s problem is altogether different. Sissy has become a bully. In the beginning, I thought Sissy’s behavior was just a personality issue between the two of us. Certain cows like me more than Glen; others like Glen and don’t like me. Sissy falls into the latter category. The rst time she acted aggressively toward me, I didn’t even recognize the behavior. Sissy and I were out in the cow yard together, she walked up and started rubbing her head up against me. I honestly thought she was just being affectionate. Sissy’s mother, Shine, was one of Dan’s show calves, and she loves having her head and neck scratched, even when she’s out in the pasture or cow yard. The next time Sissy came for a rub, she started to push me backwards. Affection immediately turned to alarm. I quickly backed away and scrambled over the closest fence. I told Glen about Sissy’s behavior, and he couldn’t believe it. Sissy acts like a puppy dog around him. But then, Sissy started deliberately coming after me more and more often, with her head lowered and at a rather aggressive pace. Thankfully, she’s never actually charged. But as soon as she looked my way, I’d skeedaddle. One day, I wasn’t paying attention. I turned around and Sissy was right there. I jumped into the feeder wagon to get away from her and Glen had to come chase her away so I could get out. In hindsight, we should have sold Sissy then. It’s challenging, though, to decide what’s economical, what’s practical, and what’s an emotional reaction. It was still only me that Sissy was aggressive with. And, she was already bred back. Plus, she has some of the best genetics for butterfat and protein yield in our herd. Her daughter, Spring, is currently our record holder for solids production. Our solution, then, was that I simply wouldn’t go into the cow yard to get cows. We also warned the kids about Sissy. (Misty, a cow we used to have, didn’t like kids, so our kids are well aware that not all cows are harmless). But last week, just before she calved, Sissy went after Glen’s dad and our relief milker in the same day while they were working in the dry cow yard. Now, Sissy’s income over trouble score is as negative as a score can get. Sissy will be sold as soon as it is practical. For now, she is conned to a stall and has a red T (for trouble) marked on her forehead so everyone remembers to stay clear. Gutter-ooders like Lauren might be annoying and irritating, but bully cows like Sissy are dangerous. Aggressive behavior is never acceptable. Farmer (and employee and farmkid) wellbeing is always more important than a cow’s solids production, income potential, or any other merit. 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.
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Page 34 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018
Peanut Butter and Milk Festival explores sister cities
A taste of Minnesota
By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
HUTCHINSON, Minn. – While peanut butter and milk might not mean much to the common person, to those in Litcheld, Minn., and Hartford, Ala., they are two foods that have united the cities. “[The late] Bruce Cottington was thinking what went better with milk than peanut butter sandwiches, and it’s been our small-town thing since,” said Janie Fondren, teacher and advisor for Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) at Geneva County High in Hartford, Ala. Janie was one of eight individuals from Alabama who participated in the 47th annual Peanut Butter and Milk Festival Feb. 24 through March 2 in Litcheld, Minn. The group was welcomed with a week-long itinerary of events and activities that showcased Minnesota’s history, urban development and rich agriculture sector. Among touring the capitol, visiting Mall of America and learning about dairy manufacturing at First District Association, the Alabama visitors saw rst-hand the work of dairy farming. “It’s just us,” Pam Radunz said. “The four of us do all the farming in between full-time school, college, work, 4-H, FFA, sports and everything else we are involved in.” Pam milks 81 cows with her husband, Larry, and two daughters
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JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
ParƟcipants of the Peanut BuƩer and Milk FesƟval – (front, from leŌ) Janie Fondren, Renee Godbold, Sarah Jane Fondren, Paul Fondren and Jennifer Bipes; (back, from leŌ) Joel Leaĩlad, Alison Radunz, Ruby Radunz, Shane Startel, Emily Joiner, Nicole Stewart, Pam Radunz, Larry Radunz, Julia Baker, Taylor Kargas, Joseph Carlson and Gale Larson – tour the Radunz family’s dairy on Feb. 24 near Hutchinson, Minn. – Alison, 20, and Ruby, 16 – near Hutchinson, Minn. The Radunz family hosted the Peanut Butter and Milk Festival attendees as part of a series of farm tours Feb. 26. They also hosted an Alabama delegate, Nicole Stewart, for the week. Attendees also visited Ru-Be Dairy of Grove City, Minn., a 350-cow farm owned by Joe and Karen Becker and Patrick and Rachael (Becker) Rusch. “We want to show them what dairy farming looks like in Minnesota,” said Jennifer Bipes, a member of the festival’s planning committee. For many of the Alabama students, it was their rst time on a dairy farm. In the southern state, agriculture consists primarily of broiler chickens and cow-
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calf production, as well as cotton and peanuts. “We’re about 60 miles off the Gulf of Mexico,” Janie said. Learning about dairy farming was an eye-opening experience. “My grand daddy raised [beef] cattle on the land,” said Emily Joiner, a senior at Geneva County High. “It’s different to see how dairy farmers keep their calves and raise them to cows.” While at the Radunz family’s farm, the group saw how a cow’s life begins at birth and she moves through the farm – from pen to pen – until she joins the milking herd in the 62-stall tiestall barn. Then, Pam spoke of the dry-cow period. “A cow can’t give milk unless she’s
had a calf; and then, she can’t give milk forever,” Pam said. “A few months before the cow is expecting another calf, we let her stop milking because she needs to build up strength and energy for the next calving.” Throughout the remainder of the tour, Larry explained the way he prepares feed for the cattle, using corn silage, hay and corn. “Up until last year, we fed cob corn. We would grind the corn and cob together to feed it,” Larry said. “Last year, we put up a grain bin that can hold 14,000 bushels of shelled corn.” Before the Alabamians left the Radunz family’s, they had the Turn to PEANUT BUTTER | Page 35
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018 • Page 35
ConƟnued from PEANUT BUTTER | Page 34
JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
Julia Baker, of Alabama, (leŌ) milks a cow by hand while Alison Radunz helps Feb. 24 during a tour of Radunz’s 80-cow dairy near Hutchinson, Minn. opportunity to milk a cow by hand and then feel the pulsating sensation of a milker. While some were hesitant to get that close to the animals, they all enjoyed the experience. “This is my rst time milking a cow. … I know I don’t need to be scared, but I’m so scared,” said Sarah Jane Fondren, laughing. While this was the rst year the Beckers and Rusches hosted the festival attendees, it was the third year the Radunz family participated. Alison traveled to Alabama as part of the program, representing the Litcheld-area dairy industry as a Meeker County dairy princess, in
“It’s so fun to see how different parts of the agriculture system work together.” ALISON RADUNZ, DAIRY FARMER
November 2015. “It’s so fun to see how different parts of the agriculture system work together. We can all learn a little bit more about where our food comes from,” said Alison about her experience in Alabama. Every November, Minnesota delegates travel to Hartford, Ala., and then the Alabama delegates arrive in Minnesota in February. “We usually host them the rst
week in February, but with the Super Bowl, we moved it to later in the month due to expensive airfare,” Pam said. The delegates are comprised of seniors in high school, who are active members in the local FFA chapters, as well as a handful of adult chaperones. When Cottington created this event, he contacted Auburn University asking for the prominent, active FFA chapter in Alabama. From there, the two cities have bonded over their similarities and differences. “We’ve been paired since 1971, and we’ve created lifelong friendships,” Janie said. For Taylor Kargas, 17, of Litcheld, Minn., the Peanut Butter and Milk Festival is a family tradition of sorts. Kargas’ father was involved in FFA and participated in the sister cities activities. “He went down to Alabama as a high school student, so when I could go down, I wanted to,” said Kargas, who visited Alabama last fall. “It’s been fun to catch up with these people.” As the southerners prepared to head home for another year, Pam gave each of them a wooden mixing spoon with a simple dairy message engraved on it – stir in dairy wholesomeness – to be mindful of Minnesota’s dairy industry with every meal made. Once again, the Peanut Butter and Milk Festival was an event that built new friendships, expanded horizons and most certainly created lasting memories.
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Pam Radunz explains why the cows are kept in stalls during a tour of her farm Feb. 27. This is the third year the Radunz family has hosted a farm tour for visitors from Alabama.
Page 36 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018
Women In Dairy Traci Klostermann New Vienna, Iowa Dubuque County 80 cows Tell us about your family. My family consists of my husband, Jack; daughter, Felicia Middendorf, and her husband, Daniel. Felicia is a teacher and, with Daniel and his parents, dairy farms at Long Prairie, Minn. Our son, Alan, is farming with us, and our daughter, Katy, is a freshman at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. Katy was the Dubuque County Dairy Princess Alternate in 2016. Another daughter, Amelia, is a freshman at Western Dubuque High School and helps with milking and takes care of the calves and is active in sports. Our son, Eli, is in rst grade and loves to help where he can. He loves riding in the tractors during planting and harvest seasons. Our youngest son, Luke, is in kindergarten and likes to get hugs from our pet cow, Chawnee, chase the cats and play with the dogs. He also likes to ride in the tractor or combine with Grandpa Jerry, mostly because Grandpa has candy in his cooler. Granddaughter Zoey Middendorf likes her cows and puppy dogs. Tell us about your farm. We farm 280 acres. We harvest corn, alfalfa, oats and winter rye as a cover crop where we chop corn. We chop the rye in the spring. All our crops we use to feed our animals. We milk about 70 cows, mostly Holsteins, with a few Brown Swiss-cross, Jersey-cross, and Red and White Holsteins. We also have a couple Milking Shorthorn crosses. We A.I. breed all our cows and mature heifers. We raise all our heifer calves. Along with Jack’s dad, we feed out steers. I, along with the daily activities of chores, do the bookkeeping and help with the cattle recordkeeping. What’s the busiest time of day for you? From the moment we get up to when we get the two youngest boys to bed. When you get a spare moment, what do you do? I love history and genealogy. I have been working on my family history for almost 20 years. Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. We still had a bull, and he decided to chase me. I was eight months pregnant with our oldest son and jumping over a gate to get away. Needless to say, not too much later we got rid of the bull and started A.I. breeding.
What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? I did not grow up on a dairy farm. My dad’s side of the family raised stock cows and hogs when I was younger. Now, two of my uncles are dairy farmers. I grew up between my family’s farm (during the summer and some weekends) and living in the city. I have always loved being around animals. I enjoy the time spent with my family and talking about daily activities while in the barn. I also work off the farm about four or ve days a week. How do you stay connected with others in the industry? By going to meetings from our dairy co-op and talking with family, friends and neighbors. We also go to promotions or dairy days to learn what is new in the industry. Who is someone in the industry who has inspired you? My husband and his parents. They showed me how to milk and take care of the animals; how to put faith in our religion to help with every-day dealings and some unfortunate happenings; and how to raise children with respect for where their food comes from and how to work hard for all they have. If you could give a tour of your farm to a prominent woman in today’s society, who would it be? Women in the Senate, legislature or government who pass bills and regulations to see how farming is necessary and how their food is made. It doesn’t appear in the grocery store. I would like to show how the animals are well cared for and treated. Farming is a 24-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week job that doesn’t get the respect like most jobs do.
FARM INFORMATION STATION Joe Gill • Farm Director
What is the best vacation you’ve ever taken? We took all the kids to South Dakota where we went to Mount Rushmore. The kids did research to see what they would like to do while we were there. Another time, we all went to Milwaukee and watched the reworks over the lake from the rooftop of our hotel.
SERVING CENTRAL MINNESOTA FOR OVER 50 YEARS Catch the Dairy Star’s Mark Klaphake with Joe Gill at 6:45 a.m. the 2nd & 4th Fridays of the month on KASM!
PO Box 160, Albany, MN • (320) 845-2184 • Fax (320) 845-2187
What are some words you like to live by? Every day is a challenge; don’t take anything for granted.
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Dairy Star â&#x20AC;˘ Saturday, March 10, 2018 â&#x20AC;˘ Page 37
Brought to ashes
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A ď&#x192;&#x17E;reď&#x192;&#x17E;ghter puts out ď&#x192;&#x;ames on the Swartzesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; dairy barn Feb. 16 at their farm near Motley, Minn. The Swartzes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Richard, Sally and Richard Jr. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; lost 17 dairy cows in the ď&#x192;&#x17E;re.
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MOTLEY, Minn. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; What was supposed to be a routine day of calving Feb. 16, morphed into a devastating chain of events that would leave one familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s barn and animals dwelling inside in ashes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mom called at 7 a.m. and said the barn was on ď&#x192;&#x17E;re, and the rest was history,â&#x20AC;? said Richard Swartz, Jr., the son of Richard and Sally Swartz of Motley, Minn. Swartz had returned to the farm from work at 6 a.m. and proceeded to check the herd of 90 beef cows and 17 dairy cows for any signs of calving. One dairy cow was indeed in the process. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I came out of the barn and looked at my phone; it was 6:20. I went home and sat down and was going to go check on that cow again soon,â&#x20AC;? Swartz said. Swartz lives one block from the farm where his parents reside. The farm was founded by his grandpa in 1958. The barn, built in 1972, had once housed the familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 140-cow milking herd. Now, the barn was home for the 17 dairy cows that were used as nurse cows for the familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beef calves which are sold in the fall. The dairy herd was due to calve within two weeks. After his momâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s phone call, Swartz raced to the farm. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When I pulled in there were ď&#x192;&#x;ames coming out of the milk room, so I went to the south end where the silage room is to try and get in to get the cows out,â&#x20AC;? Swartz said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I got the doors open but I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even see in there because of all the smoke. I heard one cow bellow and that was it. They were all down already.â&#x20AC;? Inside, all the cows had passed. In addition, 35 to 40 laying hens and broilers could not be saved. Two skid loaders were also lost in the ď&#x192;&#x;ames. All that remained was one calf. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One calf came out of the door when I opened the door,â&#x20AC;? Swartz said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s doing good.â&#x20AC;? The beef herd was 300 feet from the barn and safe from the roaring ď&#x192;&#x;ames. The ď&#x192;&#x17E;re has, however, affected the herdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s docile temperament. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Since the ď&#x192;&#x17E;re, (the beef cows) have been nuts,â&#x20AC;? Swartz said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had a nice, tame herd. I could walk out and scratch them and play with them. Now they calve, and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll try to eat you.â&#x20AC;? The Motley and Pillager ď&#x192;&#x17E;re
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departments arrived on scene by 7:30 p.m., but it was too late. In total, the ď&#x192;&#x17E;re took 40 minutes to bring the structure to the ground. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was just boom; when she went she went,â&#x20AC;? Swartz said of the ď&#x192;&#x17E;re. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was a pretty good size kick in the back side.â&#x20AC;? The ď&#x192;&#x17E;re started due to a frost heave, which split wiring in the milk house. The ď&#x192;&#x;ames quickly escalated to the ceiling and spread throughout the rafters. When the smoke began to clear, family, friends and neighbors began to pour in. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We just cleaned up,â&#x20AC;? Swartz said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fifteen people were here. â&#x20AC;Ś We picked all the steel out on Friday, and on Saturday morning we gathered all the wood and burnt it and cleaned up everything else. It was a sinking feeling. The ď&#x192;&#x17E;re was so hot it basically cremated the animals. It was more a pile of ash. It was hard.â&#x20AC;? Swartz said two silos need to be destroyed due to damage from the ď&#x192;&#x17E;re, and he has plans to rebuild a 54- by 120foot barn when spring arrives. For the ď&#x192;&#x17E;rst time since the 1950s, the Swartz family farm will not be home to dairy cows or the barn that held so many memories and taught Swartz the value of a hard dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We had a lot of animals born in (the barn),â&#x20AC;? Swartz said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;â&#x20AC;Ś I pitched a lot of manure out of that barn. When we had all the cows, we cleaned with a wheelbarrow and spent two hours every day pitching manure. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one part I am not going to miss. A lot of back ache is the memory.â&#x20AC;? Swartz said he will add 20 beef cows once the new barn is built. For now, he hopes to replace the skid loaders he lost in the ď&#x192;&#x17E;re. He has been borrowing one from his nephew to get by. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to be tough for a while,â&#x20AC;? Swartz said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The machines I had were good machines and they were big machines.â&#x20AC;? Cows and heifers donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop calving because the barn was lost, and so Swartz said he will have to shufď&#x192;&#x;e heifers, cows and newborn calves around due to the lost space the barn once provided. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really sunk in all the way yet,â&#x20AC;? Swartz said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been kind of on auto pilot for a week and a half. I still catch myself looking for something that was in the barn. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to take time, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll all come around in the end.â&#x20AC;? Looking back, Swartz is thankful for the aid his family received. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I want to thank everyone who came and helped,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;â&#x20AC;Ś No one was hurt and everything can be replaced. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to rebuild and move on. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all you can do.â&#x20AC;?
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Swartz family barn, dairy cows succumb to ď&#x192;&#x;ames Feb. 16
6710, 1995, 2908 Hrs, RWA .......................$68,500 6710, 1993, 2116 Hrs, 2WD .......................$49,000 5830, 1991, 3700 Hrs, RWA .......................$39,900 5730, 1986, 4980 Hrs, RWA .......................$35,900 Claas 970, 2011, 1050 Hrs, RWA.............$169,500 Claas 970, 2008, 3000 Hrs, RWA ............$175,000 Claas 900, 2005, 2848 Hrs ...................... $115,000 Claas 890, 2002, 2290 Hrs, RWA ............$129,000
Page 38 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2018 • Page 39
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Doug Lyons Castalia, Iowa Winneshiek County 55 cows How did you get into farming? I was raised on a registered Holstein farm with my parents, Lester and Mildred Lyons. After several years of working in the A.I. industry, I began farming on shares with Janice Folstad in 1996. After her death to cancer in 2004, I continued dairy farming on this farm. What are your thoughts and concerns about the dairy industry for the next year? We contribute $.15 per hundredweight to Midland UDIA for marketing and promotion. We need to spend these dollars by increasing ads on radio, television and social media rather than ofce space and salaries. Trade and export, a long-term quota/price support system and monitoring of supply and demand are all areas for thought, discussion and implementation over the next year or two. What is the latest technology you implemented on your farm and the purpose for it? Our TMR ration consists of baleage that we round bale and wrap with an Anderson Hybrid X inline wrapper. This past summer we began using a round baler that has re-cutter in it to allow for less wear and tear on the TMR mixer, along with less mixing time. What is a management practice you changed in the past year that has beneted you? We continually monitor what we do, whether it is on a daily basis or not and haven’t had the need to change anything this past year. What cost-saving steps have you implemented during the low milk price? We analyze feed costs closer and price compare between suppliers. How do you retain a good working relationship with your employee(s)? As we are a family farm, we do not have employees. My wife, Lynnette, has worked for Northeast Iowa Community College for 29 years and handles the calf and heifer feedings twice a day. Our son, Michael, who is a truck driver for Hall Roberts & Son, delivering feed and feed additives within the tri-state area,
works with us on a daily basis. Our daughter, Carly, who resides with her husband in Nashua, Iowa, and is a special education teacher at Osage, checks in daily and is often back to the farm on the weekend. Cell phones, text messaging and printed feeding instructions also help. Tell us about a skill you possess that makes dairy farming easier for you. I am able to mate and breed high-type cows that we like to work with. We were recognized by Holstein USA as a top 100 BAA herd for 2017. What do you enjoy most about dairy farming? We have enjoyed raising our children on a registered Holstein dairy farm and always look forward to the challenge of breeding and developing another Excellent cow family. What advice would you give other dairy farmers? Take one day at a time and remember there is always something to be thankful for. We have been through low prices before and should have known it would happen again. We need to work together to increase effective marketing of our products, control supply and in-
crease exports. We need to put this current situation right in front of our legislators and secretaries of agriculture no matter what state we live in. What has been the best purchase you’ve ever made on your farm? Anderson bale wrapper as it greatly improved feed quality with little-to-no waste. What has been your biggest accomplishment while dairy farming? Our Red and White Holsteins have garnered national honors for us, including junior all-American and reserve all-American awards. What are your plans for your dairy in the next year and ve years? We do not have any plans for change or expansion. We will continue doing what we do as efciently as possible. How do you or your family like to spend time when you are not doing chores? Local dirt track racing is a favorite of ours in the summer along with working with our show cattle and exhibiting at shows. Family gatherings of any size and type are enjoyed.
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Your Local GEA Milking Equipment Dealers Advanced Dairy Solutions Richland Center, WI 608-647-4488 • 800-772-4770 Centre Dairy Equipment and Supply Inc. Sauk Centre, MN 320-352-5762 • 800-342-2697 Fitzgerald, Inc. Elkader, IA • 563-245-2560 Fuller’s Milker Center, Inc. Lancaster, WI • 800-887-4634
Leedstone, Inc. Melrose, MN 320-256-3303 • 800-996-3303 Glencoe, MN 320-864-5575 • 877-864-5575
Monroe WestfaliaSurge Monroe, WI • 608-325-2772
Midwest Livestock Systems, Inc. Menomonie, WI • 715-235-5144 Owen, WI • 715-229-4740 Pine Island, MN • 800-233-8937 Sioux Falls, MN • 800-705-1447 Beatrice, NE • 800-742-5748
Colton, SD Service 800-944-1217
Sioux Dairy Equipment, Inc. Rock Valley, IA 712-476-5608 • 800-962-4346
Edgerton, MN Chemical Sales 507-920-8626