LOOK INSIDE FOR OUR DCHA CONFERENCE PREVIEW EDITION!
DAIRY ST R “All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 20, No. 3
How to weather the economic storm Kohl shares tips for success By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
Editor’s note: This is the second of two articles on Dr. David Kohl’s presentation, “Positioning for success in cyclical economics,” hosted by Ridgewater College Farm Business Management Programs Feb. 21 in Willmar, Minn. WILLMAR, Minn. – Every generation of dairy farmers have experienced some form of volatile markets; it is the natural result of being a part of an industry molded by cyclical environments. How farmers prepare and weather the volatility is the differentiating factor between protability and loss. “Moving forward, we’re going to have to manage volatility in the extremes, which means management is really going to show its face in the next ve to 10 years,” said Dr. David Kohl, Professor of Emeritus at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. The cyclical environment of the dairy industry can be best described by seasons – summer, fall, winter and spring – which most recently began in 2006. From 2006 until 2012, demand for dairy products was strong, the value of the dollar and interest rates were low, as well as a growing interest in technology and ethanol. “That [period] was an aberration and it’s only ever happened in three other times [in history],” Kohl said. “Baby boomer farmers who made it through the ‘80s made more money in those ve years than they did the previous 40. That was summer, and everyone Turn to KOHL | Page 5
March 24, 2018
A smooth transition
Stommes acquires herd, begins dairying career By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
ALBANY, Minn. – Brandon Stommes grew up with the desire to be a dairy farmer. With the guidance and support of veteran farmers, Stommes has been able to become what he always hoped to be. In January, Stommes purchased the 76-cow herd of Earl and Darlene Felling and began renting their facilities near Albany, Minn. “Earl and Darlene were very good dairy farmers and they left me with cows that do very well,” Stommes said. “That’s what drives me. I look at them and this place, and I’m happy with the way things Turn to STOMMES | Page 10
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Brandon Stommes milks 76 cows on a rented farm site near Albany, Minn. Stommes purchased the herd from Earl and Darlene Felling, who own the faciliƟes and surrounding land.
A move to pursue their dairying dream
Guisewhites leave East Coast to settle in Minnesota By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Nicole and Norman Guisewhite, accompanied by their daughter, Alexis, check over their herd on a recent aŌernoon. AŌer moving from the East Coast four years ago, the family bought a herd of cows and started renƟng a facility near Mayer, Minn.
MAYER, Minn. – There’s no doubt in Norman and Nicole Guisewhite’s mind of what they are meant do to. Their mission is to dairy farm. But pursuing their career of choice meant taking a leap of faith and moving to a new state – from Pennsylvania to Minnesota – where they did not know anyone. Nearly one year ago, Norman and Nicole Guisewhite, along with their children, Hanna, 7, and Alexis, 4, bought a 100-cow herd and started their dairying dream on a rented farm near Mayer, Minn. The journey to get to this point, however, hasn’t been the straightest path. The couple started farming right out of high school in 2004 with Norman’s family milking 400 cows in Virginia. When that didn’t work, they moved to Pennsylvania in 2008 to try dairying on their own until they sold the cows in 2011. Turn to GUISEWHITES | Page 6
Page 2 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 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 (ofďƒžce) 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 Ofďƒžce: 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 (ofďƒžce) 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 ďƒžnal 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.
North America dealers. From the editorial team
Dairy Proďƒžle brought to you by your
Help us keep our paper free Free. Who doesn’t love something that’s free, especially when it’s a beneďƒžcial resource? We hope you ďƒžnd the content – both editorial and advertisements – of Dairy Star valuable. The Dairy Star staff takes pride in the fact that we can provide the paper to dairy farmers in our coverage area free of charge, thanks to our wonderful advertisers. Without them it wouldn’t be possible. However, there is one more step in keeping the paper free. That’s where you come in. Inserted in the Feb. 24 issue, you should have received a letter with a subscription form along with your paper. Every few years, we have to verify with the post ofďƒžce the number of subscriptions that are requested by our readers. This determines our postage and helps us keep expenses at a reasonable rate. So, although the paper is free, we still need you to ďƒžll out a subscription form. It is also important to our advertisers that we keep our list of dairy farmers current. If you have already sent the letter back to us, thank you! If you haven’t, don’t fret. There is still time to get it in and keep you on our subscription list. There are a few ways you can send in your information. The ďƒžrst is to ďƒžnd the subscription form from the Feb. 24 issue, ďƒžll it out and mail it back to us. The second is to email Nancy at nancy.p@dairystar. com. In the email, include your name, phone number and address along with a request to either continue receiving the paper or to discontinue receiving it. Please state whether or not you are a dairy farmer. If you have lost your subscription letter or you prefer not to email, give us a call at 320-352-6303. Ask for Nancy and she will take care of you. If at any time you have suggestions or comments about the paper, we want to hear them. Email or call Mark at mark.k@dairystar.com or 320-248-3196. Your stories are the ones that help keep the paper successful, for which we are very grateful. As always, we will continue to strive for the paper to be a valuable resource, a free publication and in tune with our slogan, “All dairy, all the time.â€? – The Dairy Star Editorial Team
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018 • Page 3
It’s all inside... Columnists Ag Insider
Norman
Wilkin
or n
n nso
McCook Minnehaha
Rock
Nobles
Redwood Brown
Nicollet
St. Charles
Rice
Wabasha
Cottonwood Watonwan Blue Earth Waseca Steele Dodge Olmsted Jackson
Martin
Faribault
Brogan earns award from state FFA alumni association
Goodhue
r
Murray
Dakota
Freeborn
Winona
Fillimore
Mower
First Section: Pages 23, 25
Houston
Hutchinson
Turner
Bon Yankton Homme
Lincoln Clay
Union
Lyon
Osceola Dickinson Emmet
Sioux
O’Brien
Clay
Palo Alto
Kossuth
Winnebago
Worth
Mitchell
Cerro Hancock Gordo
Floyd
Howard
ick
Ch
Bremer
Plymouth
Black Hawk
Zone 1
w
a as
For additional stories from our other zone, log on to www.dairystar.com
Fayette
Second Section: Pages 6-7
Clayton
n
na
ha
c Bu
Owatonna
A simplistic, family-friendly lifestyle for Schroht Allamakee
Charles Mix
Moody
Scott
Sibley
Third Section: Pages 14-15
Winneshiek
Douglas
Lake
Lyon
Hennepin Carver
Kellogg
Kids Corner: The Evers Family
Ha
Da
vis
on
Sa nb
Miner
Brookings
McLeod
Renville
Yellow Medicine
Anoka
Wright
eu
Kingsbury
Deuel
Isanti
go
Hamlin
Meeker
First Section: Page 39
isa
Clark
Page 33 First Section
Sherburne
Chippewa
Lac Qui Parle
Mille Lacs
Benton
Stearns
Kandiyohi
Zumbro Falls
Dairy Prole: The Luhmans
Pine Morrison
Pope
Swift
Grant Codington
Carlton
Crow Wing
Douglas
Stevens
Second Section: Pages 4-5
Aitkin
Su
Grant
Big Sto Stone
Roberts
Cass
Todd
Tra ve
Second Section:Marshall Pages 17 - 18
Dairy Good Life
Pages 10 -11 Second Section
Otter Tail
rse
Harringa recollects year as 62nd South Dakota Dairy Princess
Day
The “Mielke” Market Weekly
Becker
Clay
Brookings
en
nom
Mah
Le
Second Section: Pages 22 - 23
Nicollet
Minimize pain in calves with proper disbudding, dehorning
Itasca
Hubbard
Polk
Ch
Page 32 First Section
St. Louis
Red Lake
Silver-Crest Holsteins is home to outstanding cattle, a pair of royalty
First Section: Pages 1, 6-7
Koochiching
Wadena
Big Stone
Something to Ruminate On
Just Thinking Out Loud
Beltrami
Pennington
Page 30 First Section
Page 31 First Section
Third Section: Pages 1, 10
Clearwater
Dear County Agent Guy
First Section: Pages 12-13
Guisewhites leave East Coast to settle in Minnesota
Lake of the Woods
Marshall
The Transition Pen Page 27 First Section
Roseau
sey
Kittson
Page 26 First Section
Mayer
Stommes acquires People in Dairy: Mat Brenny herd, begins Second Section: Page 37 dairying career
Washington
First Section: Page 37
Albany
Kanabec
Third Section: Pages 6-8
Sauk Rapids
Freeport
Welles continue on despite farming challenges
All-Breeds Convention
Ra m
Willmar
Menzes celebrate 104 years of farming
Lincoln
FSA News & Notes
Ottertail
Pipestone
Pages 8-9 First Section
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law
De
Linn
Dubuque
Jones
Jackson
Rock Valley
From Our Side of the Fence
First Section: Pages 15 -16
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Page 4 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018 • Page 5
ConĆ&#x;nued from KOHLS | Page 1 wanted to be involved.â€? The industry recently went through the fall season, from 2013 to 2017. Commodity prices were directly related to surplus, suppressed margins, cash ďƒ&#x;ow and proďƒžts. “We had people burn through working capital, but the ones that didn’t reďƒžnance for liquidity restructured debt,â€? Kohl said. “In the long run, equity doesn’t pay the bills, and that’s the dilemma we’re starting to see.â€? With the turn of the calendar year, the agriculture economy has entered the winter season. Kohl expects the winter season to last through 2021. “Just like we saw in the 1980s, you’ll see a widening gap of performance,â€? Kohl said. “I knew this was coming because the bottom 30 percent was making money from 2006 to 2012. When that happens, they bring inefďƒžciencies in and now we’re in a cost re-adjustment part of the cycle.â€? This time period will selectively place farmers into two categories – the greenliners and redliners. When spring season arrives in 2022 until 2025, the top 40 percent of dairy businesses will grow, while the remainder will either remain stagnant or collapse. “Spring season will come in the next decade in bits and pieces,â€? Kohl said. “It’s going to be consumer driven, data driven and people driven, and it’s not going to be one-size-ďƒžts-all.â€? As the industry works through the next cyclical season, there are indicators of success and failure, as well as ways to adjust accordingly. FINBIN summaries from 19 states have categorized farms into three distinct areas based on ďƒžnancial statements – greenliners, tweeners and redliners. Historically, the distribution of farms within those categories is 40 percent, 30 percent and 30 percent, respectively, according to Kohl. Greenliners are in control of the situation, whether they are making a little money or losing a little money. Tweeners ďƒ&#x;oat in the middle with hopes of an industry-wide catastrophe, such as weather, to raise commodity prices. Redliners are often very passive managers and may not realize the stress the farm is under. “A lot of management fallacies that were covered up when we had $8 corn, beans in the teens and $20 milk are now being exposed,â€? Kohl said. “We’ve got
a fork in the road and some are taking the high road, while some are falling off.â€? While the characteristics of either group are vast – from production, marketing and ďƒžnancial management – it is possible to move from a redliner to a greenliner with mindful changes to the dairy operation. “You are in control if you want to be a greenliner or a redliner,â€? Kohl said. “When you put production, marketing and ďƒžnances together and are efďƒžcient with resources, are you 5 percent better than the others? That’s the key.â€? Oftentimes, redliners are caught with overpaying for marginal resources, lacking ďƒžnancial and marketing skills, and are emotionally driven when transferring farm assets. “Some businesses have an undisciplined pursuit of more, high family living and lack the hear, understand and take action (HUT) principal,â€? Kohl said. To develop into or maintain greenliner status, Kohl suggests being guided by 12 practices. First, become goal oriented and redeďƒžne success for the farm. “One of the fundamental basics for business success is goal setting,â€? Kohl said. “Successful teams are focused. Are you willing to go back to the basics and make goals?â€? Dairy farmers must also prioritize time management, uphold strong records, adhere to modest family living, develop a proďƒžt plan, manage working capital, manage debt and growth, drive towards ďƒžnancial efďƒžciency, develop talent in management, establish a business plan, focus on family, and follow the GWC (get it, want it, have the capacity for it) mentality. Upon implementing a GWC mentality, farmers may have the opportunity to bridge into a proactive management style. In following these practices, as well as seeking guidance from farm business management instructors or similar institutions, success is an option for dairy farmers. “Take your resources and your talents and align them with the marketplace,â€? Kohl said. “It takes a lot of discipline and strategy, but it just takes a little bit of difference to get there.â€?
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Page 6 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018
ConƟnued from GUISEWHITES | Page 1
Willmar, MN • 320.231.1470
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KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Nicole (leŌ) and Alexis Guisewhite stand in the double-6 parallel parlor on the farm the family rents from Lyle and Wanda Honebrink near Mayer, Minn. “The natural gas companies moved in and we couldn’t compete with them,” Norman said. When they started their dairy in Bradford County, in the northeast portion of the state, the county had nearly 500 dairies. By the time they exited the business, there were 120 dairies left. “It’s not that they (the gas companies) take land, they went to the older farmers who didn’t have any kids to take over … and offered them a good price. So why would they keep milking cows?” Norman said. That made it hard for the Guisewhites to nd land to rent to support their dairy, which ultimately led to their exit. After Norman worked as a herdsman on a dairy for awhile, they decided they would make another move to make their dairying dream work. “I had an uncle – one I dairied with in Virginia – who was a herdsman in Albert Lea, Minn. He was always talking about how nice people were and how good the farmland was. He wished he had never left,” Norman said. In the fall of 2013, the Guisewhite family made the move to Minnesota. Although their intentions were to dairy on their own, the Guisewhites wanted to make sure they liked the state before planting roots, so Norman took a job as a herdsman. “Within the rst month we knew we were going to stay, it was just a matter of setting things up,” Norman said. With encouragement from people they had met along the way – their vet, Tanya Olson, and nutritionist, Mike Faust – the Guisewhites found their start through Lyle and Wanda Honebrink in Mayer. Originally, the Honebrinks were looking for help on their dairy. The couple was getting close to retirement age and none of their children wanted to take over the farm. “We came in, gave them an offer and gave Lyle the option to work with us for a little while – selling us feed and helping us get started,” Norman said. Although the Honebrinks admitted it was a difcult decision, they agreed to sell their herd and rent the facilities to the Guisewhites, who took ownership of the cows on April 1, 2017.
The Guisewhites are thankful for the situation. “Everything is absolutely amazing – the farm and the people. It’s a wonderful place,” Norman said. They milk in a double-6 parallel parlor and house the herd in a freestall barn with mats bedded with sawdust shavings. There is also enough barn space for all the young animals. “When the Honebrinks built the facility, they built it right,” Norman said. The Guisewhites feel their situation has made them more successful and ultimately more protable. “Starting a business no matter what is tough and it’s been a challenging year, but being it’s our rst year and being able to pull through and pay everything [despite low milk prices] makes us feel pretty good,” Norman said. A lot of credit is given to the Honebrinks. “Lyle and Wanda already had it started for us. We basically take care of what they had,” Norman said. “If we would have started in different circumstances, we wouldn’t be this successful.” But the Guisewhites have learned a few lessons in their rst year dairying in the Midwest. With the challenge of the low milk price, the Guisewhites have paid attention to their expenses and scrutinized their management decisions without sacricing cow comfort. “This year I learned it’s not about how much milk you can make, it’s about how efcient you can make it,” Norman said. Being able to produce a quality product has also helped them be successful, they said. They have a 27,000-pound rolling herd average with 4.3 percent butterfat and a somatic cell count under 100,000. “It’s not about quantity, it’s about quality,” Nicole said. Nicole is happy to nally be back into dairying. As the main milker, Nicole likes being able to be around cows again. She also likes being able to have the family together. Their daughters are almost always with them in the barn. Turn to GUISEWHITES | Page 7
Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018 • Page 7
ConƟnued from GUISEWHITES | Page 6 “We all do it together. It’s a little difcult sometimes, but it’s a work in progress,” Nicole said. After nearly four years of being in Minnesota, the Guisewhites have discovered differences between the Midwest and East Coast. “You ght milk prices no matter where you’re at, but here you have feed. There’s feed everywhere. It’s harder to grow out there,” Norman said. In their experience in Pennsylvania and Virginia, a person could not dairy farm if he or she did not have owned or rented land. “You can’t just go to your neighbor to buy feed,” Norman said. While tiestall barns are more prevalent back in their home state, the Guisewhites said it’s more of a mix of tiestall and freestall barns here. They were happy to nd a parlor and freestall barn right away. A big part of Minnesota they enjoy is the positive attitude towards dairy farmers. “People are more compassionate to work with people just starting up in the industry here,” Norman said. For example, the Guisewhites said they had a hard time convincing a banker to loan them money to start a dairy in Pennsylvania, whereas here they had no problem. They also describe the dairy companies in the Midwest as easier to work with. “They’re not as friendly on the East Coast,” Nicole said. “It’s so much more laid back here.” Plus, the Guisewhites said regulations and permitting on the East Coast is difcult. “Our pit here isn’t that far from a housing development. If I was in Pennsylvania and agitated that pit on a
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Lyle and Wanda Honebrink (leŌ) sold their herd and started leasing their dairy faciliƟes to Nicole and Norman Guisewhite (center), who are pictured with their daughter, Alexis. Norman’s cousin, Travis Marsh, (right) recently moved to Minnesota to join the Guisewhites in their dairying venture. spring day, people would call me in and I would be in jail. Not here,” he said. “People are more accepting of dairy.” Although the Guisewhites have had to adjust to dairying in colder temperatures, they are happy to have their roots planted and are already planning for the future. This month, Norman’s cousin, Travis Marsh, moved to Minnesota to start dairying with the Guisewhites.
With the addition of another family member, the Guisewhites are looking for a farm to purchase and expand their herd by about 50 cows. Long term, the Guisewhites would like to milk around 500 cows because that’s where they think the industry is going. “I think in the next ve years if you’re not able to reap the benets of ordering semi loads of commodities
(for feed), then you won’t make it. That’s where you’ll save your money,” Norman said. “Am I for that? No, but that’s the reality.” For now, they are enjoying their cows, their new home state and the endless possibilities for their future. “We didn’t want to quit milking cows so we headed here,” Norman said. “We like it here. It’s been a good experience so far.”
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Seeking wins for agricultural trade This is a signicant time for global trade. Eleven particulate matter. Simple things, like driving on a nations, not including the United States, have signed gravel road, may be an issue. The American Farm Buthe Trans Pacic Partnership. President Donald reau Federation, National Rural Electric Cooperative Trump has imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum Association and the Fertilizer Institute are opposed to the changes. imports, prompting threats of a trade Ag Insider war. In addition, the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations may Special orders of business be approaching a conclusion. AgriculThe National Farmers Union has apture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the proved nine special orders of business. Trump Administration wants fairness in The policy positions include the estaball trade policy, including dairy. “Canada, lishment of an incentives-based supply our neighbor to the north, keeps our dairy management program for the dairy indusproducts out of there. They have what is try. NFU delegates also called on Concalled a supply management system, but gress to reject any proposal to eliminate they don’t manage the supply and they’re Section 199a, which provides incentives dumping milk solids on markets that deto farmers and farmer-owned cooperapress our dairy industry here in the Unittives. By Don Wick ed States.” Supply/demand forecast Columnist April timeline for Senate farm bill acUSDA’s Supply/Demand Report tion forecast U.S. milk production at 219 billion pounds Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat for 2018. That’s up 300 million pounds from the Roberts hopes to mark up the new farm bill in April. last forecast. The all-milk price is expected to averSpeaking at a child nutrition event in Washington, age $15.75 to $16.35 per hundredweight, changing D.C., Roberts said he wants to act on the bill this slightly from last month’s prediction. Cheese and butmonth, but oor time will be taken up by immigration ter prices for the year are revised higher, while nonfat and the appropriations bill. The majority and minority dry milk and dry whey prices declined. staffs are already working on the farm bill language. CCFN rejects EU restrictions A tough time to write a farm bill The Consortium for Common Food Names is urgCompared to 2014, there is a different nancial ing the Ofce of the U.S. Trade Representative to reenvironment for the writing of the new farm bill. “The ject any efforts by the European Union to restrict the economy continues to drag in rural America, said Na- use of generic food names, like parmesan or provotional Farmers Union Senior Vice President of Policy lone. The EU is actively negotiating new trade agreeand Communications Rob Larew. “Predictions say ments with restrictions on names based on geography. that will continue for a while.” The CCFN made its case to USTR in its annual review of intellectual property rights. Judge rules on air quality standards A federal judge has ruled the EPA must designate Protecting dairy farmers from manure emissions areas for ambient air quality standards by April 30. reporting rule Farm groups are concerned about the standards for A bill has been introduced in the House that would
exempt livestock operations from reporting manure emissions under the Superfund law, also known as CERCLA. A similar bill was introduced in the Senate last month. Timing is critical for this legislation since implementation of the reporting mandate takes effect May. The National Milk Producers Federation released a statement with its full support for this bill.
Addressing groundwater concerns During the rst go-around, it was known as the nitrogen fertilizer rule. After release of Governor Dayton’s proposed groundwater protection measure, some Minnesota agriculture organizations feel it is overly broad and will burden farmers. Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Dave Fredrickon said the department will try to address all concerns. “Particularly, in parts that will be signicantly impacted. It really starts in the central sands and moves down through the far southeast corner.” The Minnesota Legislature will have a chance to review the rule. Fredrickson said there are a couple of bills coming from the northwest part of the state. “They would just assume remove rule-making authority from MDA on this specic issue. I just think that’s bad government. They could go ahead and pass those bills and put them on the governor’s desk.” The nal rule will likely be published in May, with a series of public meetings to follow. If accepted, the rule would take effect in 2020. Supporting 4-H and FFA with a license plate Minnesota House Agriculture Finance Committee Chairman Rod Hamilton has introduced a bill that would create a specially-designed license plate that celebrates FFA and 4-H. “In addition to the registration taxes required, there would be an annual contribution of $20. That $20 would go back to support FFA and 4-H programs,” said Hamilton. Minnesota FFA Foundation Executive Director Val Aarsvold Turn to AG INSIDER | Page 9
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ConƟnued from AG INSIDER | Page 8 said this effort could support current and existing leadership development programs. “Minnesota auto owners are receptive to paying additional fees to support causes they value,” Aarsvold said. “We have already heard support from Minnesota Farmers Union, Minnesota Farm Bureau, CHS and Compeer Financial, just to name a few. There are currently over 665,000 special plates in circulation across Minnesota. We’re convinced the agriculture community would rally for our youth through this.” Doud on the job Gregg Doud is ofcially on the job as the chief agricultural trade negotiator. Doud has been sworn in by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Doud is the former president of the Commodity Markets Council and worked for the Senate Agriculture Committee and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Schutz to lead U of M Animal Science Department The University of Minnesota has named the new head of its animal science department. Dr. Michael Schutz is an alumnus at the University of Minnesota who is now at Purdue University. Schutz will ofcially begin his duties on the St. Paul campus on June 11.
NFU elects new VP Wisconsin dairy farmer Patty Edelburg was elected vice president of National Farmers Union. “I want to be known as a young, female leader stepping into a sea of not necessarily young, female leaders on the board. There’s not a lot of diversity on our board, and I’d like to be that change.”
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Alltech leader passes Alltech founder and president Dr. Pearse Lyons has died. Lyons, 73, began the company in 1980 and now has over 5,000 employees worldwide. The animal nutrition company uses yeastbased technology. Trivia challenge Cheddar is the most consumed cheese in the world. That answers our last trivia question. For this week, what country leads the world in per-capital cheese consumption? 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.
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ConĆ&#x;nued from STOMMES | Page 1
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Brandon Stommes pushes up feed during aĹŒernoon chores March 13. Stommes milks 76 cows near Albany, Minn. are going. I want to continue the hard work Earl and Darlene did.â€? Stommes oversees the entire dairy portion of the farm – cow comfort, nutrition and reproduction decisions – and takes care of daily responsibilities, such as milking. While the Fellings continue owning the facilities and land, Stommes rents the tiestall barn and other housing, and purchases the feed. “I’ll help with harvest and Earl helps me in the barn, sometimes,â€? Stommes said. The 33-year-old began working for the Fellings in April 2016. For the following 18 months, Stommes used his time on the farm to form a trusting relationship with Earl and Darlene, which led to the opportunity to purchase cattle, and eventually the entirety of the farm. “That was a time where I had to prove myself,â€? Stommes said. “We discussed becoming partners in the dairy multiple times. Then, we talked about that if I was going to be out here all day, every day, I might as well look at buying into it.â€? Dairy farming has always been Stommes’ goal. Growing up, Stommes often helped his uncles with ďƒželdwork and in the barn. “I’d drive tractor and combine at my uncles’ farms until I burnt myself out, then I found myself thinking I’d rather be cleaning out calf pens,â€? Stommes said. As Stommes became serious about his desire to dairy farm, he purchased 10 springing heifers from and began developing his herd at his uncle’s farm site near St. Nicholas, Minn. There, Stommes built up the herd to 70 milking cows. Unfortunately, a transition into ownership at that location was not feasible, and Stommes needed to ďƒžnd another farm if he wanted to continue dairying. In 2016, the Fellings were looking for additional help on the farm. Stommes caught wind of the employment opportunity and considered it for two reasons – the chance to remain in the dairy industry and the real possibility of farm ownership in the future. The Felling children were not interested in returning to the farm, but the family still wanted the dairy to continue. “I was really happy they sat down with their kids and discussed all of it with them ďƒžrst,â€? Stommes said. With a path paved for Stommes’ future in dairy, he agreed to join the Fellings. To afford the transition, Stommes sold most of his assets – all but 12 heifers and some machinery. “Over nine years, I accumulated quite a bit and I had to liquidate it all to afford this,â€? said Stommes, who has milked cows since he was 21 years old.
“That’s a scary feeling. ‌ Everything I had worked for was sold in a matter of hours.â€? When Stommes ďƒžrst started working at Fellings’, he was responsible for much of the daily chores. As his position in the farm became more established, Stommes worked with Earl to make changes that would positively inďƒ&#x;uence the dairy. For instance, a permanent footbath was installed outside of the 76-stall tiestall barn and bags were used to store some feed so cows can have fermented feed while the silos were being ďƒžlled. Stommes also brought his TMR mixer with the move so the youngstock could have a more complete ration. “Feeding, breeding and milking are all going really well [with these changes]. But don’t get me wrong, there’s always something to improve,â€? Stommes said. Since Stommes has purchased the herd, he has focused on improving genetic traits – speciďƒžcally feet and legs, type and body frame – as well as milk
“Working for someone ďƒžrst is the only way for a young person to get involved nowadays.â€? BRANDON STOMMES, DAIRY FARMER
production and cow longevity. “The facilities are nice here and focus on cow comfort – big stalls, mats in the alley,â€? Stommes said. “The setup of everything has been a big factor for milk production.â€? Additionally, Stommes puts an emphasis on foot health, breeding and nutrition, in that order, to maintain production. “With the low milk prices, it helps that the cows are milking as well as they do. I’ve been lucky,â€? Stommes said. As Stommes manages his costs on the dairy, he continues working through the transition into full ownership of the farm. “This was the second time I had gone through this and I wanted it to be done right. Everything had to be in writing,â€? Stommes said. With every day that passes, Stommes is grateful for the partnership created with the Fellings as his goal further comes to fruition. “Working for someone ďƒžrst is the only way for a young person to get involved nowadays,â€? Stommes said. “There’s a sense of pride in being able to farm. When the day comes that I can say I own all of this, I’ll be smiling ear to ear.â€?
Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018 • Page 11
LETTERS TO EDITOR
Forage-based diets on dairy farms produce nutritionally-enhanced milk I read a short epistle regarding the research conducted by the University of Minnesota and other academic collaborators with interest. I was impressed with the enthusiastic pronouncement that “Daily consumption of grass-milk dairy products could potentially improve U.S. health trends.” Pretty heady stuff, indeed. OK, then skepticism kicked in and a couple of quick Google searches provided some rough data. The average American consumes about 16 grams of polyunsaturated fatty acids in their diet each day. If, as the report noted, the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids is a currently unhealthy 15 to 1, then the average intake is 15 grams of omega 6 and 1 gram of omega 3. The average American only drinks about 60 ml of uid milk per day, but let’s hope for a more dairy enthused intake of 250 ml of milk per day, presumably full fat milk (skim is not going to help here). If grass milk has 0.05 g of omega 3 per 100 ml of milk, then the consumption of 250 ml of milk will get an extra 0.125 grams of omega 3 in their diet, a 13 percent increase in their omega 3 intake. Ignoring any omega 6 in the same milk, the person now consumes 16.125 grams of these polyunsaturated fatty acids and the omega 6 to omega 3 ration is improved from 15 to 14.3. Exactly what convinces the authors that this change will improve U.S. health trends? Enthusiasm for one’s research ndings is commendable, as long as the enthusiasm is for the actual results. I am sure that grass milk marketers will seek to amplify the research ndings and the proclamations out of self-interest, but for the scientists themselves to extrapolate their ndings to implications far beyond any reasonable or supportable boundaries serves no one. John Fetrow VMD, MBA, DSc (hon) Emeritus Professor of Dairy Production Medicine University of Minnesota Sources: 1. http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/average-fat-intake-sad-11370.html 2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/06/20/the-mysterious-case-ofamericas-plummeting-milk-consumption/?utm_term=.2c5c40ec3155
CORRECTION:
In the March 10 issue of Dairy Star, Taylor Kargas was misquoted in the “A taste of Minnesota” article. Kargas is the rst in his family to participate in the Peanut Butter and Milk Festival. Dairy Star regrets the error. •
The rule of law
In my opinion, National Milk Producers Federation is corrupt. They advocate the need for immigrant workers (illegal immigrants) so that Americans can have cost effective food (cheap food). That’s opposite of their mission statement, which says they encourage policy aimed at improving the economic well-being of the dairy farmer. NMPF was sued for price xing last year over the dairy herd buyout program it created and implemented. It’s hard to believe co-ops are still paying membership dues to NMPF and lawmakers are still listening to them. NMPF is a lobbyist organization lobbying in Washington D.C. It wouldn’t surprise me if NMPF gets sued again for misleading the consumer with the FARM (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management) program they created and implemented. Consumers want cattle treated humanely, so NMPF implemented a tail docking ban. I believe 99.9 percent of people don’t know what tail docking is. Tail docking is the only rule of FARM. I believe consumers do want cattle treated humanely. Consumers pay twice as much for organic milk because one of the rules of organic is dairy farmers have to pasture their cows so many days out of the year. A lot of grocery stores have organic milk (even thrifty Walmart consumers are willing to pay more). A large percentage of cows in the United States are on concrete 365 days a year. They never step hoof on pasture. Shouldn’t a rule of FARM be pasturing? The FARM logo shows two cows on pasture. I cannot tell if cows have their tails or not. I sure can tell that there in a nice green pasture though, which is very misleading don’t you think? The dairy industry is in a sad state of affairs because of NMPF. I live in Minnesota’s Seventh District where Collin Peterson is the representative. He has been in ofce over a quarter century and has said and done absolutely nothing about illegal immigration. I think that’s disgusting, especially because he is currently a ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee and was chairman for many years. I have a question to ask Collin: Does he believe in the rule of law? I will contact his ofce in Washington D.C. and ask for him to read my letter and respond. I believe in the rule of law. Without the rule of law, you cannot have a civilized society. People ee a country where there is no rule of law. As more and more people break the law in the United States, it’s becoming a place not so nice to live in (the rule of law is what makes a country great). One hundred and fty years ago, there was the exploitation of foreign workers on cotton plantations. Then, Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery. The 13th amendment is a good law. Today, on some dairy farms, there is the exploitation of foreign workers (I call these farms dairy plantations). These dairy farmers are breaking immigration laws. I believe immigration laws are good laws. Immigration laws keep employers in this country from treating foreigners unfairly and beneting from their work. People who are breaking immigration laws should take a look in the mirror. They are the ones wrecking this country. There’s only one reason why they break immigration laws. It is called greed. Joe Schindler, Red Lake Falls, Minn., dairy farmer
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Page 12 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018
Welles continue on despite farming challenges Community organizes April 7 benet for family after farm accident, re By Andrea Borgerding andrea.b@dairystar.com
FREEPORT, Minn. – A farm accident or structure re can often determine the future of a family dairy farm. Unfortunately, Joel and Sara Welle have experienced both life-changing events in the past year and a half on their 140-cow dairy farm near Freeport, Minn. These events, coupled with the industry’s low commodity and milk prices, have challenged the family, both nancially and emotionally. “We were doing ne and then the milk price tanked,” Sara said. “Now we are just kind of scraping for bits and pieces to get by.” A farm accident in October 2016 and a shed re in January 2018 have left the Welles struggling to make ends meet. As a result, family and friends have come together to organize a benet for Joel, Sara and their two children, Avery, 17, and Katelyn, 15, from 4-8 p.m. on April 7 at the Freeport Community Center, Freeport, Minn. “At rst, they were reluctant at the idea of a benet knowing that all farmers are experiencing low prices,” said Dave Ehlert, who is a member of the community helping organize the benet. “But not everyone has had the misfortune of a farm-related injury and now a re. These events have added
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Sara and Joel Welle stand together in their 140-cow freestall barn on their farm near Freeport, Minn. The Welles have experienced challenges in the past year and a half that has led their family and friends to organize a benet in their honor. to the challenging times for Joel and Sara.” The benet will include a free-will donation towards a barbecue dinner, including chips and coleslaw, with a silent auction. The Freeport Lions Club and Catholic Aid Financial are sponsoring the benet. In October 2016, Joel was unhooking a PTO on an idling tractor when the
jacket sleeve of his left arm caught. Joel’s arm wrapped around the PTO shaft. It was several seconds before the sleeve ripped and he was able to pull away. Joel’s son, Avery, was nearby helping when the incident happened. He was able to get Joel help immediately. Joel’s arm, wrist and ngers were completely limp with broken bones. “It was not pretty,” Joel said. “But
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Turn to WELLES | Page 13
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there was not one drop of blood.” Joel was airlifted to North Memorial Hospital in the Twin Cities where he underwent nine hours of surgery. He was in the hospital recovering for the following nine days. While Joel was in the hospital, Sara and the kids managed the farm with help from family and neighbors. “I was nervous. Joel usually manages all the cows but I told myself to step up and I can do this,” Sara said. Between milkings, Sara drove to the hospital to visit with Joel and the doctors. “We all basically had to get up and do the work for him,” Sara said. “People from everywhere were stopping in to help any way they could. It was a humbling experience.” Joel’s recovery continued for several months after returning home. Today, he still has limited mobility of his left arm. Both Joel and Sara are grateful when considering how much worse it could have been. “This is workable, it could have taken his whole arm or even more,” Sara said. “Makes you wonder how people make it through an accident worse than this.” Joel is slowly getting back to working full-time on the farm. “I still don’t have supination in my left arm, I can’t grip and I don’t have a lot of strength,” Joel said. “My arm is never going to be the same.” A little over a year after Joel’s farm incident, the Welles woke the morning
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018 • Page 13
ConĆ&#x;nued from WELLES | Page 12 of Jan. 15 to their quonset engulfed in ďƒ&#x;ames. Three area ďƒžre departments arrived to put out the ďƒžre. The 40- by 80-foot quonset housed a tractor, TMR wagon, skid loader and generator, as well as stored commodities for the dairy herd, all of which were lost in the ďƒžre. “I just stared in disbelief. I thought, ‘What’s next?’â€? Joel said. “I was praying the ďƒžre didn’t jump over to the milking parlor just 30 feet away.â€? There was little the Welles could do but watch and pray nothing else would catch on ďƒžre. “Joel stood outside the entire time,â€? Sara said. “I told him to calm down, there is nothing we can do.â€? Despite the ďƒžre’s destruction, the Welles are once again grateful as it could have been much worse. The ďƒžre never reached the milking parlor and all their livestock was unharmed. “A shed and equipment can be replaced,â€? Joel said. One month ago, family, friends and neighbors came together to present Joel and Sara with the idea of a beneďƒžt. The Welles’ initial reaction was to turn down the idea. “Everybody goes through rough patches,â€? Joel said. “We didn’t expect something like this. It means a lot.â€? Sara was also reluctant. “At ďƒžrst I was thinking we’re ďƒžne, we’re tough, we can make it through this,â€? Sara said. Despite their reluctance, the Welles were reminded that this is what small communities do for each other.
How to help A beneďƒžt will take place from 4-8 p.m. on April 7 at the Freeport Community Center in Freeport, Minn. If you wish to donate to the family, checks can be dropped off at Central Minnesota Credit Union or Freeport State Bank, both located in Freeport. Checks can also be mailed to CMCU, P.O. Box 248, Freeport, MN 56331 or Freeport State Bank, P.O. Box 187, Freeport, MN 56331.
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Sara Welle listens as her husband, Joel, describes his farm incident in October 2016 when his leĹŒ arm became entangled in a PTO shaĹŒ. “Our community does not want to see our members hurting,â€? Ehlert said. “The Welles had three strikes against them. The accident, the ďƒžre and now the low milk price. This was all brought on by no fault of their own. As a community, we need to come together to help them out. They are both important, active members of our parish and community.â€? Although the Welles did not expect their family and friends to go the extent of organizing a beneďƒžt for them, they are grateful for the close community they are a part of. “In this community, this is what we do for each other and they want to do this,â€? Sara said. “That is amazing. It’s pretty humbling.â€? Joel is also humbled. “With the milk price, I feel for every farmer right now,â€? Joel said. The proceeds from the Welles’ beneďƒžt will go towards paying hospital bills, costs incurred from the ďƒžre, and to replace the equipment that was not covered by insurance.
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JD 1770, 16 row, 3 bu., liq. fert. ..........$29,900 D fert........................$23,900 JD 1770, 16 row, SOLno JD 1760 NT, 2012, row shut off, Vari ..$56,900 JD 1760 2003, 12 row, VAC, Liq Fert ..$34,900 JD 1760, 1998, 12 row, 2x2, Liq Fert ..$29,900 JD 1750, 8 row, dry, 2014 ....................$39,900 OLD JD 1750, 8 row, Slow acres, dry fert ......$28,900 OLD dry fert ..............$15,900 JD 1750, 1998, 8Srow, D ........................$13,900 JD 1750, 6 row, Sliq. OLfert JD 7200, 12 row, 3 bu., liq. fert ...........$14,900 JD 7000, liq. fert, 8 row ..........................$5,900
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Page 14 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018
SH T
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018 • Page 15
From Our Side Of The Fence What message would you like to get across to people about ag?
Brian Rozeboom Rock Valley, Iowa Sioux County 600 cows Why is it important to recognize National Ag Day on March 20? Farmers need to tell their own story and not let someone else tell it for us. We need to get out the correct information about farming. Sometimes there is a disconnect between farmers and consumers. We need to do everything we can to remedy that. What message would you like to get across to people about agriculture? Buy real products. Our food supply is incredibly safe, so there’s nothing to worry about when you purchase food. We operate a family farm; everything that we do is for our future and for our kids. What can farmers do to help raise awareness of agriculture’s impact on everyday lives? Give farm tours. Get involved with social media and become an online advocate for agriculture. Don’t be afraid to engage with people and answer their questions. Each of us can reach a lot of people through Facebook and other social media platforms. How would you plan an event to celebrate National Ag Day? I would begin by contacting Western Iowa Dairy Alliance or the Midwest Dairy Association. Both of these organizations have resources that we could tap into and both have held successful events. We would hold an open house so people could put their eyes on our operation and ask questions. It’s important for people to see and hear you. If you could work with a famous person to share your agriculture message, who would it be? I would choose President Trump because he’s making a lot of things happen. I think he would be a good advocate for agriculture because he is passionate about American businesses and being successful. We all need to lead by example. Tell us about your farm. I dairy farm with my dad, Glenn, and my brother, Steve. We have seven employees, raise all of our feed and do all of our farming. We milk 600 Holsteins and have maintained a closed herd. Our main focus is raising quality feed and producing quality milk. A few years ago, we moved away from using GMO crops and went back to conventional crops. Our cows have responded well and are averaging right at 90 pounds of milk per head per day.
Dan and Seena Glessing Waverly, Minn. Wright County 80 cows Why is it important to recognize National Ag Day on March 20? With March 20 as the rst day of spring, we our reminded of what the season represents. It is all about new life; the trees, the plants and the grass that will turn green shortly. National Agriculture Day is a day to celebrate everyone who works 365 days a year to care for new life and produce the safest food in the world to feed everyone in the world. What message would you like to get across to people about agriculture? To others in our industry, agriculture is one big family that needs to continue to work together and support each other in our endeavors. We represent a small percentage of the population, so working with other groups and sectors of agriculture is critical. To our consumers, we are one family regardless of the size of our farms, the method of producing our product or our location. What can farmers do to help raise awareness of agriculture’s impact on everyday lives? Get out and visit with people. Whether at a grocery store or town gathering, let them know what’s going on with our farms and families. We are very good at producing a great product and often put the marketing of our product on the back burner. It is time to move it up the to-do-list, off the burner, and make it a part of our everyday job responsibilities. We enjoy working with farm organizations to promote our product, in addition to the use of social media engagements. Some days it’s just the casual conversation with someone in the dairy aisle at the grocery store that needs to happen. How would you plan an event to celebrate National Ag Day? Dan participateed in a Food Check-Out activity with our county food shelves and county elected ofcials. This event includes a grocery store shopping spree with donations to the food shelves during National Agriculture week. At school, our FFA ofcers and leaders visited elementary classrooms sharing agricultural literacy presentations. The collaboration of our farm organizations and FFA/4-H members continues to be a strength in planning events. If you could work with a famous person to share your agriculture message, who would it be and why? Mike Rowe. He has a great understanding of the industry already and he always seems to enjoy life each and every day. He is recognized in many households and teaming up with him would be dynamite. Additionally, we could meet his parents. Tell us about your farm. We farm with Dan’s parents, Allen and Sharon. Our children – Wyatt, 12, Mason 11, Tanner
Tim Roberts Butler, Minn. Ottertail County 130 cows Why is it important to recognize National Ag Day on March 20? Agriculture is behind all of our food and much of our clothing, fuel and housing. When people talk about these things, they don’t think about the agriculture and people involved in producing these daily necessities. What message would you like to get across to people about agriculture? Next to water, food is essential to everyday life. People not involved in agriculture do not realize that farmers provide the healthy food that they eat every day. What can farmers do to help raise awareness of agriculture’s impact on everyday lives? When consumers ask about food production, explain how you do it and why you do it that way. Consumers often have been misled by false information through media. How would you plan an event to celebrate National Ag Day? As a member of the Midwest Dairy Association, we serve milk and cheese at community trade shows and the county fairs to raise awareness of dairy products. If you could work with a famous person to share your agriculture message, who would it be? Luke Bryan would be a good person to promote agriculture being that he is a country music singer. He has songs related to farm life. A good way to promote agriculture would be through music since it’s in our lives every day. Tell us about your farm. Roberts Dairy, LLC is a second-generation family farm owned and operated by Tim (Sheila, Ryan and Corey) and brother Tony (McKenna and Mavrik). The children are in high school and college but are able to help when possible. We milk Holstein cows in a double-10 parallel parlor with a freestall barn. Replacements are all raised on the farm and all cattle are on one site. We raise all feed for the cattle along with some cash crops. We farm 725 acres with 325 acres having irrigation. 9 and Cora, 4 – have active responsibilities on the farm, too. The older boys have been instrumental in many facets this year and look forward to the summer. In addition to the milking cows, we raise all of our youngstock; heifers and bull calves to a nished market weight. Alfalfa, corn and soybeans are the crops we raise each year. The boys also have a small ock of laying hens and meat rabbits. Seena and the kids also have a dairy goat herd with her parents.
Chris Popp Pierz, Minn. Morrison County 120 cows Why is it important to recognize National Ag Day on March 20? It’s important to recognize National Ag Day so people can bring awareness to all the work, effort and sacrices that farmers and all others involved in agriculture go through to provide food for an ever growing world. Also, it can bridge the gap of where food comes from to how it’s produced. What message would you like to get across to people about agriculture? Farmers are always striving to do their best with their animals and land. It is not easy. There are many variables that are beyond our control, but we keep working and doing our best because we truly love what we do. What can farmers do to help raise awareness of agriculture’s impact on everyday lives? We could work closer with the stores where our products are sold to nd a way the consumer could get a glimpse of where their product is coming from. Maybe something on the label. Also the schools could take time to educate the children just like when they go to the re department. They could take a trip to the farm or bring a farmer to the classroom to tell them what they do and answer any questions they might have. How would you plan an event to celebrate National Ag Day? Have a party. Try to get out in the community and make yourself available to people. Maybe an ice cream party. If you could work with a famous person to share your agriculture message, who would it be? Dr. Phil McGraw from the Dr. Phil Show. He seems fairly sensible, has a huge following and has a lot of connections. Someone in his position could reach and educate a lot of people and get the word out on all the things farmers do for this world. Tell us about your farm. Shari and I farm with our kids, Luke, 18, Kloe, 13, Gavin, 10, Ashtin, 8, and Zaryn, 2. We milk 120 cows, raise our heifers and usually sell all the bull calves. We raise most of our feed. We also rent some land from the neighbors. We have three dogs: Regal, Randy and Dixie Girl.
Turn to OUR SIDE | Page 16
Page 16 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018
ConĆ&#x;nued from OUR SIDE | Page 15 Liz and Duane Wirt Lewiston, Minn. Winona County 520 cows Why is it important to recognize National Ag Day on March 20? More and more people are removed from today’s farms and do not understand that we use a science-based approach to farming and animal care. These include best management practices from the University of Minnesota and the National Dairy FARM (Farmers Assuring
Charlie and Carrie Sachs with their children, Jay, CJ and AnnaMarie Eyota, Minn. Olmsted County 75 cows Why is it important to recognize National Ag Day on March 20? It is important to help educate consumers about agriculture and what we, as farmers, do to provide a safe, wholesome and nutritious product.
What message would you like to get across to people about agriculture? Their food is safe, high quality, nutritious, fairly priced and is produced using high standards. We care deeply about our cows. A nutritionist visits the farm weekly to ensure the best food for them. A veterinarian visits the farm bi-weekly or more often if needed. We use environmentally friendly production methods and have a detailed manure management plan.
What message would you like to get across to people about agriculture? Farmers provide care for our animals and our land to help sustain them for future generations. We are passionate about what we do, and we want consumers to know they are enjoying products that are safe. We also want them to be able to experience what we do through events that connect urban and rural areas.
Responsible Management) Program guidelines.
What can farmers do to help raise awareness of agriculture’s impact on everyday lives? Host visitors whenever possible – school groups, people in the community, local organizations and industry groups, such as Target, Hy-Vee and Walmart, etc. Show them the cute calves, but also talk about all you do to care about the environment, animals and people. Get involved with a farm organization. We have power when we work together.
What can farmers do to help raise awareness of agriculture’s impact on everyday lives? Agvocate; put your story out there and participate in events. Examples include breakfasts on the farm, ag in the classroom, and telling your story to the public at fairs and through social media.
How would you plan an event to celebrate National Ag Day? We would invite school-age kids who are removed from agriculture to an event to teach them how agriculture is important and how it impacts their life. For example, we could talk How would you plan an event to celebrate National Ag Day? We have a group to them about making a pizza in regards to all the ingredients that go into it and called Promoting Modern Agriculture that usually sponsors an event. Our mission where all the ingredients come from. is to further a wider understanding of modern agriculture by our consumers and our industry, and to promote cooperation and understanding among all sectors If you could work with a famous person to share your agriculture message, of agriculture. We give out scholarships to high school students, ag-related book who would it be? Carrie: Michelle Obama. I would show her how dairy products bundles to schools, and sponsor and encourage farm visits to school groups. This are good, healthy choices for our kids, and provide complete nutrition for growth year John Kriesel was our speaker. and development. Her inďƒ&#x;uence on the school lunch program could be enhanced to provide school children great meal choices that include dairy products. This, If you could work with a famous person to share your agriculture message, in turn, will promote good food choices to include dairy in the children’s diet as who would it be? We would work with Governor Dayton. It is challenging for they grow older. CJ: Mike Rowe, because he likes to help people and is good at people without farm experience to make rules and laws to govern farming and talking to people by learning new things and then sharing them with his viewers. ranching. They need to listen to all their constituents. Many times, these are not AnnaMarie: Lindsey Vonn. Not only has she worked hard to win medals at the the people who have the loudest voice at the capitol. Olympics, but has also overcome an injury that would have ended other athlete’s careers. She is also the most successful women’s skier in history, as well as doing Tell us about your farm. We have a family farm and work with Duane’s parents, a Got Milk campaign. Russ and Donna, brothers, Denny and Doug, and nephews, Darrin and Denton. We also have several awesome employees: Holly Kurth, Ben Johnson and three Tell us about your farm. Our 320-acre farm, Towerview Dairy, is in Eyota, Minn., others who milk the cows. We farm 1,500 acres with 750 acres of corn, 650 acres which is about 15 minutes from Rochester. In 2002, we moved to our current of alfalfa and 100 acres of soybeans. We are now bringing the seventh generation location from Farmington, Minn. Our labor is managed by family members. We into the operation. milk registered Brown Swiss and registered Holsteins, both black and white and red and white. Our cows are in a freestall barn and fed a TMR. We milk two times a day in a double-6 parlor that was built in 1960. We grow our feed for our cows. We raise our heifers. Our calves are fed pasteurized milk twice a day.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018 • Page 17
Page 18 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018
Repro Leaders
Schillings use teamwork to reach 46 percent repro rate Schilling Farms, LLC Darlington, Wis. Lafayette County 650 cows What was your average pregnancy rate last year? Our herd’s pregnancy rate last year was 46 percent. What is your voluntary waiting period for cows? For heifers? It’s 90 days for both cows and heifers. What is your rst-service conception rate? Our rst-service conception rate is 67 percent. What is your reproduction program? Do you use a synchronization program? We use Ovsynch 48 with a double prostaglandin shot on the rst service. How do you observe for heat? We paint tails. Our Genex technician, Tim Heiring, walks through the herd and watches for heats. How do you conrm pregnant or open cows? Cows are pregnancy checked 30 days after the last heat. Any open cow with a corpus luteum is given Ovsynch again. A cow without a corpus luteum is given GnRH and is checked the next week for the presence of a corpus luteum. A cow is given Ovsynch if the corpus luteum is developed. We check the cows again at 60 days and also determine the calf’s sex. RON JOHNSON/DAIRY STAR
Turn to SCHILLINGS | Page 20
The Schillings – (from leŌ) Brian, Bill and Andy – milk 650 cows near Darlington, Wis. Schilling Farms LLC achieved a 46 percent pregnancy rate last year.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018 • Page 19
“I didn’t even think we had stray voltage!” Roger Lange milks 100 head on his family dairy at Crofton, Nebraska. Until recently he was often forced to sell his fresh heifers because they wouldn t let down their milk. “We called Stray Voltage Consulting, and Jerry found the problem within half an hour.” Roger said. “I was very impressed with Jerry. He’s a former REA guy, so he understands both the farmer and the electric company. Being able to work with both sides is a key component to his success.” “I haven’t had a single problem with our fresh heifers since Jerry corrected our stray voltage problem. I would highly recommend Stray Voltage Consulting to anyone who thinks they might have stray voltage!”
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MODAK DAIRY, The Moes Family, GOODWIN, SD 2100 cows, 96 lbs/cow/day SCC dropped from 280,000 to 178,000 Greg Moes and his wife Julie and son Jacob are pictured by the MoDak Dairy wall that includes photos of employees and previous generations and memorably their son Scott, killed in a car accident a year ago, whose passion for the dairy helped steer its expansion and modernization. Jacob says he was led from construction work back to the 5th generation dairy by his brother’s encouragement and ideas and is glad to have had the chance to work with Scott, as brothers and co-herd managers, before his passing. Ron Visser (above) has served as co-herd manager.
“Our fresh cows are doing better since we started using Udder Comfort™. We calve 200 a month and saw right away the impact on reducing edema. Our goal is 10 applications on every fresh udder. We spray fresh udders 2x/day 5 to 7 days, and use color bands and CMT 2 days a week before removing the bands,” says Ron Visser at MoDak Dairy, Goodwin, South Dakota where 2100 cows are milked on the Moes family’s 5th generation Century Farm.
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Keep the milk in the system
“We believe in investing in our cows, and they pay us back with performance,” says Jacob Moes. “The Udder Comfort concept makes sense and investment is minimal, so why not do it? The company helped us in March with their spray gun.
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“Udder Comfort is a real plus for milk quality, the missing piece to all we do for cow comfort. Less than a year ago, SCC was 280,000. We couldn’t budge it. Now it is dropping like a rock to 178,000 and we’re down to 4 hospital cows.”
Call to locate a distributor near you. For external application to the udder only after milking, as an essential component of udder management. Always wash and dry teats thoroughly before milking.
Page 20 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018
ConƟnued from SCHILLINGS | Page 18 What is your breeding philosophy? How do you select bulls? What traits do you focus on? Does fertility play a role in bull selection? We use bulls that genomically test in the top 10 percent for the breed. We have genomically tested all our animals at birth since 2009, and we use those results to choose sires. Cows in the bottom 10 percent are bred with beef semen, and those in the top 10 percent get sexed semen. We like to focus on bull health traits. We don’t like to use bulls that have a negative daughter pregnancy rate (DPR).
How are cows and heifers bred? Do you have a different philosophy for breeding both? Heifers are bred the same as cows. What do you do to settle hard breeders? Cows over 180 days in milk are put on the do not breed list and are sold when their production falls below 80 pounds of milk a day. How many times do you try to breed a cow before you sell her? We’ll try to breed a cow three times.
RON JOHNSON/DAIRY STAR
Brian Schilling paints the tail head of a cow to signal that she is conrmed pregnant.
RON JOHNSON/DAIRY STAR
Calves are among the results of Schilling Farms’ reproducƟve program. The Schillings have received several awards from the Dairy CaƩle ReproducƟon Council, including a plaƟnum honor in 2017.
Is there anything you have done or changed that brought about a signicant improvement in your reproductive program? We have built a great team that consists of our employees, veterinarian, nutritionist and breeding company. We’ve
also improved cow comfort by widening and lengthening the stalls. Tell us about your farm. Our farm is owned by Bill Schilling and his sons, Brian and Andy. It’s a fourth-generation family farm. We own 1,100 acres and
rent 600. Our crops are alfalfa, corn and soybeans, along with cover crops. On three-timesa-day milking, the herd has a 32,000-pound rolling herd average, with a 3.9 butterfat test and a 3.14 protein test. Our somatic cell count runs about 50,000.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018 • Page 21
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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 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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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
STEEL DEALS
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
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JD 1770NT, 2008, $ 24R30, #144416
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CIH 200, 60.5’, $ 2012, #135767
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JD 2210, 45.5’ 2005, #120515
29,500
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Page 22 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018
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State of the checkoff: Why your investment matters
As Midwest Dairy embraces its new consumerfocused strategic plan to bring dairy to life with energy and excitement, we have not lost sight of the reality that times are difcult for many dairy farm families. We understand that every penny of every milk check counts, which is why every strategy we implement is developed with guidance by dairy farmer leaders. As the Midwest Dairy CEO, I assure you that the investments you make into checkoff are resulting in big wins for the dairy indus- By Lucas Lentsch try on both a national and local Midwest Dairy CEO level. In only an eight-year span, our national checkoff partnerships have resulted in a combined 25 percent growth in dairy volume. Our partnership with McDonald’s – one of the largest users of U.S. dairy in North America – speaks to the strength of these partnerships. In 2015, checkoff helped the chain switch from margarine to butter, which resulted in an additional 700 million pounds of milk each year. Today, 90 percent of McCafé specialty beverages feature dairy. In just the past three years alone, McDonald’s has seen a 5 percent average annual dairy volume growth. Our investment in pizza chain partnerships has paid off, as well. Work with Pizza Hut since 2013 has resulted in more cheese usage, with the most recent success story being their announcement earlier this year to add 25 percent more cheese to their iconic pan pizzas. Let’s not forget the work being done with Domino’s through a partnership which formed in 2008. Since then, Domino’s has increased their overall cheese usage by 72 percent. They also loudly and proudly showed their support of the national Undeniably Dairy campaign through their decision to display the campaign logo on their pizza boxes. By doing this, more than seven million pizza boxes with the Undeniably Dairy logo are delivered to family homes each week. To help increase U.S. dairy’s share of global growth in the industry, checkoff is working in partnership with the U.S. Dairy Export Council, now led by former United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Recently, Midwest Dairy’s corporate board of farm leaders, representing the region’s 7,000 farm families, in concert with all state and regional checkoff boards across the country, committed resources to support the national strategy to help grow exports another 5 percent over the next three years. On a local level, Midwest Dairy saw its investment pay off with the culmination of our 52 Weeks of Giving project, which was done in partnership with the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee. Minnesota dairy farm families contributed $250,000 to the Super Bowl committee’s Legacy Fund to provide school breakfast grants to more than 50 Minnesota schools across the state. This is projected to result in an additional 18,900 breakfasts served to students each day, which means an additional 3.5 million breakfasts served each year and results in 1.57 million pounds of milk sold. What’s more, the program gave students greater access to nutritious dairy foods and helped shape dairy consumption habits at an early age, making habits that are more likely to be sustained in adulthood. I am condent that the year ahead will showcase a continued strong return on your checkoff investment. With Midwest Dairy’s more direct focus on consumers, we are better able to assess what they want and need from the dairy foods they eat. By connecting them to dairy farm families in unexpected places, we are creating more touchpoints to establish their trust in the way dairy foods are produced. And through our partnerships with retailers, manufacturers and schools, we will share consumer insights to help develop new or improved products and programs which give consumers an excellent dairy experience. I believe this is a formula for success, with the outcome of the equation being a growth in dairy demand.
Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018 • Page 23
Brogan earns award from state FFA alumni association
Practical coaching
By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
ST. CHARLES, Minn. – As a kid, Keith Brogan was intrigued by the paperwork of dairy farming. “I was always looking at DHIA sheets. I loved doing that,” Brogan said. For the past 28 years, Brogan has been a dairy judging coach, helping kids know the paperwork and how to pick good cows along with other practical information to use on a dairy. To recognize his many years of volunteering in this position, Brogan was recently recognized with the Coach of the Year Award from the Minnesota FFA Alumni Association. “I coach because I love doing it, not personal awards; however, I am humbled to be recognized for volunteering,” said Brogan, who milks 500 cows with his parents, Gerard and Lila, and brother, Scott,
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Keith Brogan milks 500 cows with his family on their dairy near St. Charles, Minn. Brogan recently received the Coach of the Year Award from the Minnesota FFA Alumni AssociaƟon because of his work volunteering as a dairy judging coach. near St. Charles, Minn. Brogan has been the coach of the St. Charles and Lewiston-Altura FFA chapters along with teams from Winona County 4-H. After he graduated high school in the spring of 1990, Brogan started coaching dairy judging that fall. “My sisters were on the
team, and I knew the other people on the team so I thought I would come back,” said Brogan, who started dairy judging in FFA during his sophomore year. He didn’t expect to be in a coaching position for long. “When I rst started, I thought I would only do it for a couple years,” Brogan said.
“Then I found out I really enjoyed coaching, so I kept going. I like working with the kids.” Throughout the years, Brogan has coached all ve of his siblings along with over 100 other students. “Kids of the rst students I coached have come through the program. That makes me
feel old,” Brogan said. One of his favorite parts as a coach is seeing the progress of the students. “It’s fun to see them when they rst start and they don’t know what they’re doing, but down the road you can see how much they’ve developed,” Brogan said. “I always thought I should take video of them giving their rst set of reasons so they can see how far they’ve come.” As an FFA dairy judging coach, Brogan prepares students to judge four classes of four dairy animals based on type along with giving two sets of reasons on two of those classes. The students must also judge one class of four dairy animals based on a combination of type and pedigree. The contest also includes a sire mating evaluation, where each individual has to rank four bulls to use for a mating based on a farm scenario given to them. Then there are two team quizzes – one about how to read DHIA sheets and another about general dairy knowledge. “It’s more of a practical and technical type of contest,” said Brogan, who thinks the contest is helpful to prepare students for on-farm jobs. “If you’re going to be a herdsman Turn to BROGAN | Page 25
Page 24 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018 • Page 25
ConƟnued from BROGAN | Page 23 on a dairy, you have to learn how to read DHIA sheets and you have to learn how to read sire proofs.” Giving reasons is a good skill to improve, no matter which career eld a student chooses, Brogan said. “They’re learning how to talk, defend their placing and build their condence,” he said. It was one of his favorite parts of dairy judging and remains one of his favorite areas of the contest. “I was good at talking I guess,” he said. “I love giving reasons while most people don’t.” While the students do their own studying for the general knowledge quiz, Brogan helps them with the rest. Some kids will come into practices already knowing this information. But many times, Brogan has to help them, especially if there are students on the team without any dairy background. In his earlier years, Brogan said most teams consisted of students who
lived on dairy farms. Now the teams are mixed with some dairy farm kids and others who have never seen a cow in person. While this can mean more work for Brogan as a coach, he likes the challenge of helping the students learn about dairy. While many practices are classroom sessions to go through all the paperwork and study the information, other practices include on-farm visits to see cows and evaluate them. Brogan said the number of classroom to onfarm practices depends on the year and the type of kids on the team. “You can spend a lot of time on reasons and other areas without seeing the cows,” Brogan said. “This year, there is one kid who is judging for the rst time. We need to get out and see live cows or he’ll be lost.” To do this, Brogan works with area dairy farmers to visit their farms and use their cows for practice. They also visit Brogan’s farm, Brogan Oak
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Keith Brogan (leŌ) receives his Coach of the Year Award from Fred Troendle with the Minnesota FFA Alumni AssociaƟon.
Heights Dairy LLC. When it comes to mating selections on his family’s farm, Brogan is looking for cows to t within their sand-bedded freestall and parlor facility. They must have good udders, quality feet and legs, high milk and components, a low somatic cell count and the ability to breed back easily. “I’m looking for functional cows that are going to last. I don’t breed for weak cows. They have to have PHOTO SUBMITTED decent strength and width. I never look Keith Brogan (right) is pictured with a team he coached in 2011 from the Lew- at stature. For udders, I look at teat iston-Altura FFA Chapter. The team includes – (from leŌ) advisor Ryan Steele, placement and udder depth,” he said. Although he learned some of Nick Reps, Adam Prigge, Eryn Orth and Nick Duncanson.
this from his parents, Gerard and Lila, Brogan attributes some of the knowledge he has to his former dairy judging coaches: Mark Helgemoe, Tom Foss, Steve Agrimson and Tony Seykora. He also picked up coaching tips from these mentors. “We learned a lot, but we had fun doing it. That’s the way I am,” Brogan said. “I’m never a drill sergeant. We all talk and chat.” And he continues to pass on his knowledge and love of looking over the paperwork that goes along with a dairy farm.
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Page 26 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018
MPP-Dairy update from FSA Although there have been many articles and updates regarding the upcoming changes to the MPP-Dairy program, the Farm Service Agency has not yet begun its sign-up period. We are awaiting ofcial procedure and software developments before any paperwork will be processed for FSA News & Notes 2018 changes. We will be publicizing and advertising the sign-up period when they are established. We appreciate your patience during this time. However, dairy operations that have never previously participated By Ryan Brunn in MPP-Dairy, but have Stearns Co. Exec. Dir. interest to do so in the future, are encouraged to visit their county ofce to establish their production history at this time. Production history will be established for a dairy operation based on the highest annual milk production marketed during the calendar years of 2011, 2012 or 2013. Dairy operations that start marketing milk after Feb. 7, 2013 will either have their production established on their full months marketed milk production extrapolated to a yearly amount or their estimated actual marketed milk production based on the actual herd size of the dairy operation relative to the national rolling herd average. Verication of the production records used to establish the production history for the dairy operation will be required. Again, this is only required for those dairy operations that have never participated in MPPDairy in the past and do not have a production history established. County ofces are in the process of cleaning up MPP-Dairy reports. If you have participated in MPP-Dairy in the past and are receiving paperwork for a succession of production history, transfer of production history due to a reconstitution, or other paperwork required in the county, please act promptly with your ofce to ensure your les are accurate and ready to go when the 2018 sign-up period is announced. Farm Service Agency is an Equal Opportunity Lender. Complaints about discrimination should be sent to: Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250. Visit the Farm Service Agency Web site at: www.fsa.usda.gov/ for necessary application forms and updates on USDA programs.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018 • Page 27
Managing during the defensive cycle The Transition Pen
By John Rosenhammer & Laura Scholtz Father/Daughter Farming Duo One of my responsibilities on the farm is keeping track of our nances. I go through bills each week, print off checks and record the transactions in our Quickbooks account. Taking on the nances gives me a better understanding of all that is taking place on the farm. It’s no secret that opening our milk checks makes me cringe, as the current price is well below what we need to break even. Like many other farmers, I’m nding it hard to remain hopeful that prices will rebound in time for us to continue to make payments on time. Dr. David Kohl spoke at an ag symposium I attended in January. As I listened to him speak, I was amazed by his vast insight of agriculture. He described the current cycle as defensive, detailing a widening gap in economic performance, and the top 40 percent of producers will grow their business. I sat there thinking, “Wow, we can barely keep up with our bills the way it is, and we’re supposed to grow if we want to stay above the average?” Next, Dr. Kohl said, “It is your choice to take your business to the next level or deal with lawyers and Uncle Sam.” I’ll take the rst option now to decide how we will grow and construct a strategy. How do I take our business to the next level? Dr. Kohl advised The 5 Percent Rule. Find three ways to be 5 percent better. He listed decreasing rent, decreasing inputs, modest living expenses, a sound nancial system and a system approach as options of which to choose three. Next, he listed ve characteristics of top producers: know cost of living; accrual nances; trend analysis; benchmark themselves; and safe, secure nancial information. I feel as though I’ve gone through all of these areas time after time, but he made it clear I need to review them if I want to stay ahead. Decreasing inputs, benchmarking, knowing our costs and analyzing trends are areas I focus on. In recent weeks, I’ve spoken with three calf experts, who analyzed my current protocols and helped me develop new ones. I’m now increasing the amount of balancer added to our pasteurized waste milk, as well as increasing the amount of milk fed to get a higher and more efcient gain, which will lead to being ready to breed at a younger age and decreasing my calving age from 24 months to 22-23 months. Besides this, I’ve used farm business management to determine our breakeven numbers. Knowing the exact dollar amount I need to receive for a springing heifer has changed my management decisions. Because we haven’t met our breakeven price when selling springers, we have
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been calving in more heifers and instead culling more mature cows. This works well as the cull cow prices have increased, and I’ve eliminated annoying cows, such as those with chronic mastitis or low-end producers. I understand our milk price will likely stay below our breakeven for awhile, but the futures for our corn and soybeans has a better outlook. We have been contracting to lock in acceptable prices. I spend a great deal of time reading articles about consumer trends and attending seminars to learn about and prepare myself for the future. I’m grateful I quit docking tails well before our creamery required it. I certainly miss having rBST as a tool, but I realize we need to give the consumers what they want, and I’m learning to manage without it. I’ve started using dehorning paste and giving pain medication to calves when using the paste, as I am aware that is a hot issue with consum-
ers, and I need to keep up with their demands. While I don’t know how long this downturn will last, I do know we were given warning that prices would decline. Besides this, my inbox is lled with yers for seminars, workshops and conferences to attend, all headlining industry experts focusing on how to help dairy farmers increase our efciency and improve our nancial positions. As a dairy farmer, we cannot control the milk price, but we can control our inputs. It is our responsibility to take time to educate ourselves on the futures markets and prepare accordingly. “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail,” Benjamin Franklin. Laura Scholtz farms with her father, John Rosenhammer, and uncle, Greg, on Roseview Dairy near Sleepy Eye, Minn. They milk 200 Holsteins and run 580 acres of cropland.
Page 28 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018
Betty Berning bberning@umn.edu 320-203-6104 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 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
www.extension.umn.edu/dairy
Milking dairy cows with robots By Marcia Endres and Jim Salfer U of M Extension
Robotic milking systems (RMS) are becoming more common in the United States, especially in the Upper Midwest and Northeast regions. Dairy producers choose to install RMS for a variety of reasons, but surveys have shown that one of most common reasons relates to labor (exibility maybe more than labor cost) and lifestyle or quality of life for herd owners and their employees. Our surveys indicate that dairy producers rank feeding management as the no. 1 factor leading to successful results with RMS. When we feed cows in RMS, we need to consider not only the partial mixed ration (PMR) that is delivered in the feed bunk, but also balance that ration with the concentrate pellet fed in the robot box. This balance can be challenging. A palatable feed offered in the RMS milking station is the main motivating factor for cows to visit the RMS. More farms are now feeding more than one type of concentrate pellet in the robot box, maybe a high production pellet for their earlier lactation cows and a late lactation pellet that is less expensive. We learned that in free cow trafc ow farms (where cows have continuous access to feed bunk, resting and RMS box), the PMR was balanced for 15 to 30 pounds less than the herd’s bulk tank average production, whereas in guided ow farms (where the cows are guided by pre-selection, one-way gates into the RMS box area), the PMR was balanced for 8 to 15 pounds less than the average. Forage quality and consistent dry matter in the PMR are important. Nutritionists in our survey indicated that palatability of the pellet and consistent PMR mixing were the two biggest feeding factors contributing to RMS success. Consistency is the key. Farms that achieve consistently high production have the following attributes: consistent PMR dry matter; consistent mixing and delivery of the PMR; consistent feed push ups; consistent and frequent cow fetching; consistently high visits by fresh cows; highly palatable PMR; and highly palatable, consistent, high quality, milking station feed. There are some clear advantages when milking cows with robots but also some challenges for maintaining udder health. One of the advantages in RMS is that quarters are individually milked and detached which reduces over milking. This can help improve teat end health. There is also less risk for antibiotic contamination with a treated cow, as long as her ID is entered in the computer so the milk is discarded. However, a current challenge with RMS (depending on the
system) is teat prepping and post dipping. A study in Europe found that only 67 percent of the cleanings were technically successful, i.e., all four teats were brushed. However, in the best performing farm, over 95 percent of the teat cleanings were technically successful. Reasons for most of the failed teat cleanings were undetermined but of the known causes, a device failure in one herd and restless behavior of the cows in several herds were associated with most of the totally unsuccessful teat cleanings, whereas abnormal udder and teat structure were associated with most of the partly unsuccessful teat cleanings. Another challenge relates to identication of clinical mastitis cases. Although additional metrics have improved detection in recent years, a few cows might still be missed. Contagious organisms can be a real challenge. Implementing regular bulk tank milk cultures will help reduce udder health problems. If contagious organisms are present in the herd there can be some special add-on equipment (e.g., steam cleaners) that may help. Getting cows to regularly visit the RMS milking station is important. If cows have a very long milking interval, leaking of milk greatly increases and these cows are at higher risk for mastitis. Keeping the barn and stalls clean is critical; the RMS cannot distinguish between dirty and clean udders, therefore it is important that cows enter the RMS unit with a lower bacteria load. A study in Europe showed that the annual average herd SCC in RMS herds was positively associated with the proportion of cows with dirty teats before milking and the proportion of cows with dirty legs. In addition, the annual average percentage of new cows with high SCC was positively associated with the proportion of cows with dirty teats before milking. Cleanliness of milking units, robot and area around the robot is also critical. In addition, it is important to ne tune RMS settings for optimum performance on a routine basis and optimize/adjust the machine for the barn and bedding type. Default values might not be adequate. Working with service providers helps in this process. Other items to keep in mind are adjusting the pre-stimulation time (to result in rapid milk let down) and teat drying time, plus adjusting for breed, size of teat and shape of the udder. A system to nd failed cows rapidly should be developed. There is research that shows cows/quarters with incomplete milking are more susceptible to infection. The knowledge about RMS continues to grow in North America and producers’ satisfaction with the system has improved in recent years. It takes a team approach including producers, service providers, nutritionists, veterinarians and other advisors to best optimize RMS utilization.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018 • Page 29
Attracting, managing, retaining good employees procedures and processes. Explain how they can move up and what they need to do to move to the next level of responsibility. Do not overwhelm them. If employees are assigned too many job duties without the right amount of training they will not perform to the best of their ability and leave out of frustration. Make sure to spend time with the employee before they are asked to work by themselves. An audience member shared that they put a team of three people in the parlor for training for at least one week, and then the new employee will spend one day working alongside the manager to experience the manager’s responsibilities. This allows the employee to gain condence with the manager. Good managers start the day saying good morning or good job and learn the employee’s name. Many managers learn to speak a few words of Spanish and short phrases of gratitude. Give feedback, not just focusing on the things that are being done wrong, but sharing what they observe as positive. Being thankful is a sign of respect. A good management team gathers ideas and thoughts on how to build a team. They have clear leaders and stop problems immediately. A vehicle for developing good communication is to have set meeting times and a communication plan at shift change. Meeting agendas should provide for an opportunity to review protocols, safety plans, training, observed concerns and improved outcomes. A good agenda allows for everyone to contribute. When it comes to solving problems that arise with the herd, feed, equipment or quality of milk, the answers often come from the people working with the cows. At the closure of the meeting agree upon the priorities of work that needs to be done and set a clear action plan to be reviewed at the next meeting or check in. Safety training is secondary to answering how and why we do it the right way the rst time. Following standard operating procedures and having safety measures in place ensures that employees can go home to their family every night. What does an unkept breakroom, messy ofce or dirty bathroom communicate to your employees? Not the best of show. So, what type of culture helps to retain employees? When the facilities, ofces and work areas are kept clean it sends a message that things are being taken care of,
By Colleen Carlson U of M Extension
In recent years, there have been an increasing number of Hispanic employees working on Minnesota dairy farms. Labor costs can be 15 to 20 percent of total farm expenses plus labor turnover can cost 150 percent of the employee’s salary. Therefore, good labor management practices can positively impact the productivity and nancial success of your dairy farm. At the 2018 Carver County Dairy Expo participants had the opportunity to sit in on an engaging conversation with a panel of Hispanic dairy employees and industry professionals to answer the question how to attract, manage and retain good employees. The panel was moderated by Jorge Delgado, dairy specialist trainer with Elanco Animal Health. Panelists were Javier Lara, herdsman manager at Enchanted Dairy near Little Falls, Minn., Edgar Sanchez, herdsman manager at Union Dairy near Sauk Centre, Minn., and Rocio Ramirez, human resources manager, who has worked her way up the ranks and was one of the rst women to be employed at Union Dairy. Understanding why employees are leaving the dairies will give us insight on what approaches can help retaining them. While some Hispanic workers are only here in Minnesota for a short period of time to earn money to pay off a debt or to send to relatives, some realize they are not cut out to work with dairy cows. Less than 2 percent of Hispanic employees have worked with animals in their past jobs. The general opinion among the panelists was that laborers were not leaving because of lack of money, it was mostly because of the way they were treated, and that the wrong person was in a supervisory role. Sometimes the best person working with the cows is not necessarily the right person to manage people. A manager needs to recognize when an employee is ready for more responsibility. From an employee perspective, what does a manager do to keep a good employee? Give them the right start. Make sure they are welcomed and that the expectations are clear. Explain the payroll process, the number of hours and what it takes to get a raise. Provide training and keep a training log of the tasks they have mastered. Training materials made available in Spanish, online and in photographs help ensure clearer understanding of
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Panel parƟcipants – (from leŌ) employee, Javier Lara; dairy specialist trainer, Jorge Delgado; and employees, Rosie Ramirez and Edgar Sanchez – share their on-farm experiences as part of a seminar to retain Hispanic dairy employees Feb. 19 at the Carver County Dairy Expo in Norwood-Young America, Minn.
safe and respected. As well as the employee is being taken care of, safe and respected. Often a member of the management team acts as a host to Hispanic employees escorting them to appointments, the grocery store and school. Share cultural traditions and take the time to recognize and reward employees by treating them to lunch, sharing holiday traditions or join in a game of soccer. Most importantly, the Hispanic culture brings a strong work ethic to the dairy industry. Recognize that they appreciate the opportunity to learn and make their lives better. More Hispanic women are taking part in the equal opportunity of the dairy
workforce. Identify employees who are hungry to grow and take on more responsibility, manage more cows, more people and go to the next level. When a dairy can build trust in their employees and communicate that everyone is on the same team with the same goals, this develops loyalty. The key message to attract, manage and retain employees is to start with a strong foundation of employee orientation and training; maintain a clean, safe work environment; foster a good communication plan; and develop a positive work culture to make employees and their families feel valued as a part of a successful dairy operation.
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Page 30 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018
Cow pasture baseball
The days are growing longer, the geese are on the otherwise. wing and income tax preparers are burning the midIt was originally thought that Stonehenge had night oil. Spring is in the air. served as a religious shrine that could also be used Ah, Spring. That most glorious of seasons, a time to track the sun as it moved through the seasons. The when a young man’s fancy theory was that by lining turns to ... baseball. up certain stones with the Out on our d dairy i ffarm, we h had d rising sun, ancient peoples The arrival of spring O causes the urge to play basecould calculate the precise ball to well up within ev- a variation of the game called moment when they should ery red-blooded American cow pasture baseball. start observing Daylight child. It’s an ancient, primal Savings Time. force whose roots are deepBut it now appears ly entangled in our Neolithic past. that this was only part of the story; in truth, the main Popular belief holds that Abner Doubleday in- purpose of this circle of colossal stone megaliths was vented baseball back in the 1800s. Not so. Archaeo- to determine the exact date for the ofcial opening of logical evidence recently uncovered at Stonehenge baseball season. – including such things as fossilized admission stubs Back in that prehistoric time, baseball was a crude and the petried remains of a ticket scalper – suggests yet manly sport. It involved wearing ritualistic cloth-
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THE MARK OF PROGRESS.
ing, roasting small animals over res, cheering, spitting, scratching oneself and hitting small round objects with wooden sticks. Over the centuries, baseball has evolved into a much more genteel pastime, especially after the modern introduction of hotdog Dear County Agent Guy vendors. And ies are now sacriced instead of ticket scalpers. But other than that, not much has changed. Men still build colossal stone monuments (called stadiums) to the sport of baseball. People gather inside these structures to cheer and whoop as guys dressed in ritualistic uniBy Jerry Nelson forms spit and scratch Columnist and whack small round objects with wooden sticks. With baseball being the powerful, primordial instinct that it is, it’s not surprising that a baseball game will spontaneously crop up wherever and whenever a group of kids gathers. In other words, baseball will nd a way. For city kids, baseball often expresses itself as stickball. This is a game wherein a broomstick might be used for a bat and the ball may be of the tennis variety. Home plate might be a manhole cover, rst base could be a lamppost and third might be the old wino passed out in the gutter. Out on our dairy farm, we had a variation of the game called cow pasture baseball. As with stickball, we farm kids learned to improvise. Home plate was often a busted disk blade, rst base might be an old wooden shingle and third was a tangled coil of rusted barb wire. This explains why we seldom slid into third. Our playing eld was laid out so as to take advantage of the natural terrain. An example of this would be locating the diamond in such a way that a pocket gopher mound would be at the exact center and thus serve as the pitcher’s mound. We made up special rules for cow pasture baseball. Any ball that rolled into the creek was declared an automatic double. Since the fence was usually over a quarter of a mile away, it was all but impossible to smack a homer, but the batter got to touch ‘em all whenever it was discovered that a ground ball had sliced a path through a fresh cow patty. Plus, he or she had to clean the ball. Other modications included an automatic single and suspension of the game whenever the ball rolled down a badger hole. Anyone who fouled the ball into the bullpen (where there resided an actual, illtempered bull) was required to retrieve the ball by his own dumb self. Ah, yes, I can remember it all now. The perfume of new grass, the caress of a warm spring breeze on your face and the supple softness of a well-oiled cowhide glove on your hand. A bevy of wide-eyed Holstein cows watching in bemused wonder as we cheered and whooped and tore around the bases. Playing our hearts out, as if the destiny of the entire universe hung in the balance. Straggling back to our farmhouse only after it became too dark to play, tired and sweaty and coated with glory and grass stains. On second thought, maybe it wasn’t all grass stains. 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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Parasites and insects can negatively impact dairy cattle performance and protability. My primary focus for this column is to share feeding strategies for y control, but it is timely to mention two common parasites. Mange and lice are bothersome parasites that are present year-round and build during the cold weather months. They are most Something to Ruminate On often found on cattle necks, backs, hips and tailhead areas. Controlling these parasites enhances productivity primarily by improving cow comfort and the behaviors associated with it. Treat all cattle on the property at the same time if possible, choosing a time when they are not stressed By Barry Visser or in poor condition. If Nutritionist groups must be treated separately, they should be kept apart to ensure no contact between treated and untreated groups. Treatment programs often contain a general endectocide to cover both external parasites, such as mange and lice, and internal parasites. Consult your veterinarian or herd health professional for specic recommendations. Now back to ies. Fly control is critically important to all dairy operations to reduce the spread of disease and improve animal comfort, resulting in decreased stress and greater efciency of growth or production. The largest economic return for y control is effective cleanliness and sanitation. Flies reproduce in undisturbed damp organic matter. Removal and disposal of wasted feed, spilled milk or manure will go a long way in reducing y populations. Residual premise spray is often benecial throughout the summer to kill ies or deter other ies from coming into the dairy. Baiting or trapping ies is benecial in certain locations. Parasitic wasps have also been used effectively to help control the pest y population. The key to any y management strategy is to start early in the season before y populations become a problem. As weather warms, we commonly add larvicides to calf and heifer feeds as well as any adult cows in housing situations that allow manure to accumulate over time. This generally starts in mid-April to early May in most of the Midwest. Larvicides will not get rid of current ies, but can go a long way in preventing future ies. Larvicides can also be sprayed on highrisk y breeding areas, such as manure storage. How do larvicides administered in the feed work? These products pass through the animal, killing the y larvae in the manure. Larvicides commonly used in dairy cattle include Rabon™, ClariFly® and Altosid®. Rabon™ is an organophosphate that has been used for years to control face ies, horn ies, house ies and stable ies. However, some resistance to this type of product can develop over time. ClariFly® contains diubenzuron and is an insect growth regulator, and effectively controls house ies and stable ies common to connement cattle. Female ies lay eggs in fresh manure. Eggs hatch into larvae that will feed and attempt to undergo three developmental stages. ClariFly® breaks the lifecycle by inhibiting the synthesis of the bug’s body wall, resulting in death before the larvae can become adult ies. Altosid® is used to a lesser extent to control horn ies more common in pasture cattle. Your nutritionist can assist with specic product recommendations. Moderate to intense y pressure can be stressful to dairy cattle in many ways and result in decreased prot. Flies are attracted to dairies due to the large amounts of feeding and breeding sites that exist on any operation. Cleanliness in these high-risk areas is a great place to start controlling ies, but this alone is not enough. Complementary y control programs, such as spraying, baiting/trapping and larvicide feeding will go a long way to reducing y populations and positively impacting productivity. Barry Visser is a nutritionist for Vita Plus.
Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018 • Page 31
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Page 32 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018
Four little words
Want to see the face of fear? Just say these four simple words to someone and watch the struggle race across their face. The mind immediately processes the words into a defensive survival mode of ght or ight. These words are more powerful than “Do you love me?” in a budding relationship. These four little words are asking for a specic action in which people often feel uncomfortable. The uncertainty of the direction these words can lead pushes us to immediately build a defensive wall. What are these powerful words which can cut the legs out from underneath the strongest person? “We need to talk.” Now just to clarify, mind reading is not an acceptable form of communication. Even though we have been married for 30 years, I still cannot read what Mark is thinking. I can guess and be pretty close, but I can also be very wrong when I assume to know what is going on in his mind. Therefore, we need to share our thoughts and feelings in spoken words so no one is
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making any assumptions. Sometimes that can be very difcult. We talk with each other every day but are we really communicating? A wise woman once said there are maintenance conversations and then there are real conversations. Maintenance conversations are the daily discussions about everyday things. She suggests you ask your husband how his day at work went to build a communication connection. Obviously she is not a farm wife working beside her husband every day. It is rather difcult to ask how their day at work went because you were right there. You were handing him the tools he needed to x the busted manure spreader chain. You trudged through snow drifts to nd the hole in the fence where the heifers got out. You helped him deliver a new heifer calf or pull another bull calf. You came in the house together tired and hungry from another day of work. You know how his day went because you went through it together. Our maintenance
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conversations are more along the lines of “Will you stop and pick up parts on your trip to town?” “The technician is here. Who needs to be bred?” “Can you call the feed store and order more concentrate?” I miss our maintenance conversations while Just Thinking Out Loud I have been cooped up in the house. It will be another month before the doctor will let me walk back into the barn. I feel so out of the loop. I wonder how things are going. I see the truck hauling cattle back and forth. I wonder who is getting dried off, who is springing up and who is going to town. I wonder By Natalie Schmitt how the cows are milking and if they’re eating up all Columnist their feed. I need to have a maintenance conversation but to Mark there is nothing to talk about. It is still the same daily routine with very little change. When he comes in the house, he wants to step away from the daily grind of the farm. He doesn’t want to talk about it. He wants to escape. I have to respect his desire to forget but he also needs to recognize my need to know. We need to communicate. Beverly Nye wrote in her book “Everyone’s a Homemaker” about her family’s communication model. She described it as a teapot. “We know that when you place a teapot over heat, the pressure builds and builds. If there is no way for the steam to escape, there will be an explosion; but if there is a whistle provided over the spout, then the steam pressure becomes pleasant singing. Oh, what a listening ear and understanding heart can accomplish.” When they need to release built up pressure, they ask someone to be their whistle. In order to become a good whistle or release valve, we need to be a good listener. We need to ask open ended questions, not ones that can be answered with a yes or no. Then we need to listen, truly listen. We need to give our undivided attention and really care about what is being said. Nothing stops communication colder than a lack of attention. Don’t get impatient and answer your own questions. Wait. Relax. Genuinely care about what is being said. Put everything down and watch their face. I struggle with putting everything aside to just listen. I have to remember it isn’t just listening but is demonstrating love and compassion. My biggest obstacle is nding the right time for these conversations. We are either too busy or too tired. I feel that I can’t bring up a heavy conversation at night because Mark needs a good night’s sleep. I don’t want to trouble his mind. During the day we are working. I have written a list of topics we need to talk over. Some are short term, maintenance conversations. Other topics are long term. As I review my list of questions and topics, I start to focus on what the real question is … if you’re not milking cows, then what would you be doing? He might look at this question differently. If I’m not milking cows, then who am I? He is still my husband and a father. He is honest, trustworthy and ornery. Who he is doesn’t change with what he does but it does lead to a difcult conversation. We need to keep talking about the everyday maintenance conversations and truly deep conversations. As today’s economic pressures mount, we can’t be afraid to hear or to say these four powerful words. Let them become your release valve as you become each other’s tea pot whistle. Natalie, Mark and his brother, Al, Schmitt farm together near Rice, Minn. They milk 100 registered Holsteins under the RALMA prex. Their four children are great help around the farm and are pushing Natalie out of several jobs. Therefore she is thankful to have something else to do. For questions or comments please email Natalie at mnschmitt@jetup.net.
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018 • Page 33
A smaller slice of the pie
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When I was in high school, a typical Friday afternoon often went like this: I’d run my cross country miles. Grab something to eat for supper. Change into my cheerleading uniform. Put my trombone together and play in the pep band. Then hop down to the ďƒželd and cheer for the football team. A wintertime afternoon looked similar, but with different activities: basketball, competitive speech, one-act play, choir, and others. Looking back and writing this, it sounds kind of crazy. In our small school, though, students were allowed (and often encourDairy Good Life aged) to be involved in multiple activities at the same time. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been enough students involved to keep each activity going. The effect this had on my life is that I never had to choose between activities that I enjoyed. I truly loved every activity I participated in and, somehow, managed to make it all work. For the ďƒžrst 10 years of my career as a dairy farmer, I followed the same philosophy that kept me going in high school: If you love it, it’s worth your time. By Sadie Frericks And like in high school, I was able to ďƒžnd a way Columnist to make it all work. Right now, though, I feel differently. I still love everything I do, but I’m struggling to make it all work. There just doesn’t seem to be enough time to get it all done. If I look at my day as a pie chart, there are lots of slices. For many years, the sleep slice looked more like a sliver than a wedge. A year ago (or so), I made a conscious decision to change that. I’m not as young as I used to be, which means I can’t function on a few hours of sleep the way I did in the past. Without enough sleep, I am not a reasonable human being and my health suffers. If I’m not healthy, the whole pie chart falls apart. As for my dairy farmer slice, well, let’s be honest. The dairy farmer slice could ďƒžll the whole pie chart. I could spend 24 hours a day doing farm work and still not ďƒžnish everything that could be done. I don’t spend 24 hours a day farming, but my dairy farmer slice is quite a bit bigger now than it was a couple months ago. We’re in the middle of our peak calving season and switcha boatload of cows. I still ill llove everything hi I d do, b but ing We’ve come to realize that it doesn’t make sense for I’m struggling to make it all to hire another full-time work. There just doesn’t seem us employee – both because to be enough time to get it all it’s hard to ďƒžnd someone who’s interested in workdone. ing a split shift and because we can’t afford to pay a full-time wage right now. We did recently hire a high school student to help in the afternoons. With his help, we’re slowly getting caught up outside, but we still have way more work to do than we have available hours of labor. My mom slice has also grown. Our kids are getting involved in more and more activities. Monika asked this past weekend if she could show one of her Jersey cows at the county fair now that she’s a full-ďƒ&#x;edged 4-Her. I think we’ll let her. Life is too short to wait. Sometimes the right moment is now. Dan and Monika are also helping more and more with chores, but school and the extra-curricular activities that help them explore their interests still need to be their main focus. At their ages, school and activities still require a fair bit of parental involvement – even if only as the chauffeur. I am also acutely aware that the number of years before my children spread their wings and ďƒ&#x;y away is quickly dwindling. What this all means is that, until I can ďƒžgure out a way to make the whole pie bigger, the slices of my time that I devote to writing, advocacy, and other activities are going to shrink for a while. You won’t see my column in the next issue of the Dairy Star. Starting in April, I’m cutting back to writing one column each month. I still love writing this column. And it’s still worth my time. But, for the time being, I need to reduce the amount of time I give to it. Thank you for understanding. 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 24, 2018
A knack for bovines, basketball
Sunburg dairy farmer is assistant basketball coach By Maria Bichler Staff Writer
SUNBURG, Minn. – Phil Hauge spends his morning and evenings milking his dairy cows. Except on game nights. Then his evenings are spent on the sidelines carrying out his role as assistant coach of the Kerkhoven-Murdock-
Sunburg (KMS) High School girls basketball team. Hauge and his family – wife, Shereen, and daughters, Brielle, recent graduate of the University of Minnesota, and Madison, junior at KMS – milk 40 registered Holstein
PHOTO COURTESY OF RANDY OLSON/BONANZA VALLEY VOICE
Phil Hauge coaches a basketball game during the 2017-18 season. Hauge is the assistant coach for the Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg High School girls basketabll team.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
The Hauges – (from leŌ) Shereen, Madison and Phil – milk 40 cows near Sunburg, Minn. Phil also coaches high school basketball.
cows in their family’s tiestall barn. The dairy herd also includes one Brown Swiss. The farm, located near Sunburg, Minn., was founded in 1892. Hauge is the fourth generation to milk in the 41-stall barn, which was built in 1907. In addition, the farm raises alfalfa hay and corn for silage on 260 acres and sells what is not fed to the dairy herd.
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Besides his career as a dairyman, Hauge has been coaching basketball for the last nine years. “I don’t know if basketball is my release from dairy farming or if dairy farming is my release from basketball,” Hauge said. “I haven’t gured that out yet.” Hauge attended Ridgewater College in Willmar,
Minn., and played two years of college basketball. In the early ‘80s, he returned to the family farm with the intention of taking one year off before continuing his education at St. Cloud State University. “I got so burned out, and was going to stay home and help Dad for a year,” Hauge Turn to HAUGE | Page 35
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018 • Page 35
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Madison and Phil Hauge celebrate aŌer a basketball game earlier this season. Phil has been coaching basketball for the last nine years all while dairy farming. said. “And, I never left.” He then coached the boys junior varsity team for four years. He set coaching aside to focus on the dairy. But, in 2009, the girls team needed a J.V. coach. “Some of the daughters of the guys I had coached in the ‘80s were coming through and some of my classmate’s daughters,” Hauge said. “ … When I got the job, my dad and wife said, ‘How are you going to do this?’ I said, ‘I haven’t the clue, but I am going to gure it out.’ And everything kind of fell into place.” A typical day begins at 5:30 a.m. when Hauge enters the barn. He begins milking by 6 a.m. and completes various chores. By 2 p.m., he travels to town to begin basketball practice at 3:15 p.m. Then, he returns home by 5:30 p.m. to begin evening milking at 6. On game nights, Hauge has help. The Nelson brothers, Josh and Jonah,
made attending Hauge’s high school basketball games a priority. “My dad always said to not let the cows be an excuse not to do things,” Hauge said. “Try to work around the cows.” More so than enjoying the sport, Hauge said it is the relationships he has built and the young lives he has inuenced that matter most. “I’ve made so many close friends with these kids,” he said. “They come back to school when they are in college, and they come running up to me and ask how the new team is looking. … I’ve been to so many places I would have never been to. It’s been a really fun experience.” The KMS girls basketball team is usually at the .500 mark, Hauge said. This year, they were just under that with a team young in age and just one senior player. “I’m hard on them,” Hauge said of his coaching mentality. “The older girls tell the younger girls, ‘Don’t be afraid if he yells at you because if he stops yelling at you then he’s giving up on you.’” Hauge said he and the head coach stress mental toughness for their team, noting basketball is a tool, which can be used to build character. “We push education for these gals,” he said. “Every student who has come through our program now has a college degree or a technical degree or are working towards them.” After years of aiding in the formation of young students’ basketball skills, Hauge said after next year, when his daughter will be a senior, he plans to hang up his coaching hat. “I’ll come back off and on,” he said. “It gets to be a long season.” Just as the teams Hauge has coached are lucky for the impact he has had on them, so too is he lucky to have had an opportunity to be a part of their lives. “I think I am lucky to have them, too,” he said. “It keeps me young. It’s a two-way street. You have to inspire me so I can inspire you. You got kids that really want to participate, and they are good. That inspires me to push even more.”
“My dad always said to not let the cows be an excuse not to do things. Try to work around the cows.” PHIL HAUGE, DAIRY FARMER
have both worked for Hauge and help him carry out both his dairy obligation and his coaching position. “When those boys are here, I don’t have to worry about anything because they know how to get things done,” Hauge said. Despite the demanding schedule of a dairy farm, Hauge said he has not missed many moments with the team. “If something comes up – a broken water line or a cow needs attention – usually I am able to get it done in the morning,” he said. “I’ve missed a few practices because the weather was right, and I can clean calf barns. I’ve missed a couple games because I was ill.” A self-proclaimed basketball junky, Hauge said he has been raised around the game and has always had a respect for the sport. His father, too,
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Page 36 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018
Women In Dairy Tammy Voegeli Arlington, Wis. Columbia County 75 cows Family: I farm with my parents, Louie and Debbie Voegeli, and my boyfriend, Allyn “Spud” Paulson, and our sons, Sutton, 12, and Dakota, 3. Tell us about your farm. We farm 220 tillable acres. We have registered dairy cattle that we show and do a lot of marketing of genetics from. In addition to the farm, Spud and I run PV Boarding and Paule-View Transport. I also work part-time as a cattle hauler for the University of Wisconsin. What’s the busiest time of day for you? Mornings are the busiest time for us. Besides milking, feeding, cleaning and other regular chores, mornings are when we do most of our reproductive, herd health and nutrition work, and have the most sales people and others stopping in. When you get a spare moment what do you do? In a spare minute, I like to just sit and relax. Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. It may not be directly farm related, but we were hit by a tornado on June 14, 2017. We’ll never forget that day. We had a fair amount of damage, including the roof being ripped off of the house, which led to subsequent problems working with the insurance companies. We have just nally settled and are able to start the process of rebuilding the house. On a positive note, during the storm, I was at Sunshine Genetics having IVF work done on Vo-Grin Galaxy Shanigans, and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of those calves. What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? I most enjoy the people and the networking. The dairy industry has allowed me to meet people from around the world and to travel and see farms in different parts of the country.
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How do you stay connected with others in the industry? I stay connected with others in the industry largely through social media. I also have a core group of people I make it a priority to touch base with each week. Who is someone in the industry who has inspired you? Why? I have a hard time picking any one person that has inspired me, there are so many. I would say I’m inspired by any woman who is passionate about what she does, and has worked to be a manager or business owner, someone who goes after her dreams. I would also say I’m inspired by people who strive to do what can’t be done. My good friend, Mike Halpin, inspires me, he was injured in an accident and is working so hard at learning to walk again. His strength amazes me. If you could give a tour of your farm to a prominent woman in today’s society, who would it be and why? I would love to give Ellen DeGeneres a tour of our farm. Even though she’s a vegan, I believe she would understand and appreciate what our animals mean to us if she witnessed it rsthand. She would have the ability to share with and educate her audience about what really happens on a dairy farm, and so many people listen to her. What is the best vacation you’ve ever taken? I love my “showcations,” going to cattle shows, whether it is World Dairy Expo or the state shows. I also really enjoyed my rst trip to California. I enjoyed the California State Show and did some sight-seeing with friends. It was tied to cows and was a great way to celebrate my birthday. What are some words you like to live by? I believe it’s important to live for today. The past is the past. I also live by the motto we use on the farm, “Making dreams a reality.”
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018 • Page 37
All-Breeds Convention attracts producers from across state
JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
Steve Searles (leĹŒ) and Paul Fritsche look through the aucĆ&#x;on items as part of the 2018 Minnesota All-Breeds ConvenĆ&#x;on March 9 in Willmar, Minn. The items were donated by Conrad Kvamme and breed associaĆ&#x;ons, with the $1,461 in proceeds returning to the Minnesota Purebred Dairy CaĆŠle AssociaĆ&#x;on.
6$8. &(175( 01 ZZZ PPFMG FRP
3KRQH $VN IRU 5DOSK RU 6WHYH
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8600, 2016, 785 Hrs, RWA, Warranty ......$359,000 8600, 2016, 148 Hrs, RWA, Warranty ......$409,500 8600, 2015, 436 Hrs, RWA, Warranty ......$349,000 8500, 2016, 665 Hrs, RWA, Warranty ......$329,000 8500, 2016, 248 Hrs, RWA, Warranty ......$335,000 8100, 2016, 250 Hrs, RWA, Warranty ......$259,000 7780, 2014, 1301 Hrs, RWA .....................$239,000 7580, 2013, 610 Hrs, RWA .......................$259,500 7950, 2012, 694 Hrs, RWA .......................$274,900 7850, 2008, 1600 Hrs, RWA .....................$179,500 7550, 2012, 1825 Hrs, RWA .....................$205,000 7550, 2008, 1359 Hrs, RWA .....................$189,500 7450, 2009, 1550 Hrs, RWA .....................$189,500 7450, 2010, 2985 Hrs, RWA .....................$139,000 7350, 2008, 2950 Hrs, RWA .....................$149,000 7800, 2007, 1885 Hrs, RWA .....................$159,500 7700, 2007, 1570 Hrs, RWA .....................$169,500 7500, 2005, 2423 Hrs, RWA .....................$135,000 7500, 2003, 3100 Hrs, RWA .....................$128,000 7400, 2004, 2918 Hrs, RWA .....................$124,900 7300, 2003,3637 Hrs, RWA ........................$79,000 6850, 1999, 3120 Hrs, RWA .......................$79,500 6850, 1998, 3100 Hrs, 2WD .......................$74,500 6750, 1999, 2839 Hrs, RWA ................. Coming In!
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 All hours listed are “cutter hours�.
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Ardell Johnson presents Norm (Pete) and Doris Peterson with the Minnesota Purebred Dairy CaĆŠle AssociaĆ&#x;on DisĆ&#x;nguished Service Award during the 2018 Minnesota All-Breeds ConvenĆ&#x;on March 9 in Willmar, Minn.
e us Come sevention n at the Coths 146-148 oo Center, BCentral Plains e at th po! Dairy Ex
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JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
Jerrid Sebesta speaks to breeders at the 2018 Minnesota All-Breeds ConvenĆ&#x;on March 9 in Willmar, Minn. Sebesta was the keynote speaker for the evening banquet and presented, “5 Keys to #LivingTheDream.â€?
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Page 38 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018
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Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018 • Page 39
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Terrill and Michelle Luhman, pictured with son Wyatt, 1. Not pictured is daughter Paige, 7. Zumbro Falls, Minn. Wabasha County 130 cows How did you get into farming? Terrill: I grew up on a dairy farm, but then my grandpa lost our farm. I met Michelle in 2001 after high school. Her dad and uncle farmed here together. We were married in 2005, and I was trying to get back to my home farm in order to start a dairy. That just wasn’t working. Nobody in Michelle’s family was interested in taking over the dairy so we stepped in. In 2007, we started receiving 7 percent of the milk check. On June 1, 2009, we took over completely. Throughout the time of working into the dairy, I was also hauling milk. Michelle: Although my family dairy farmed, I went to school to be a nurse. I try to help on the farm when I can, it’s hard with small kids. I also work part-time as a nurse at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. What are your thoughts and concerns about the dairy industry for
I like that our family can be out here together. I also like seeing the calves being born and watch how they mature into cows. What advice would you give other dairy farmers? Terrill: Do it because you enjoy it. It’s a seven-daya-week job so you need to like it. Michelle: Take the good with the bad. There will be bad days, but there’s a lot of good with it, too.
the next year? There is an oversupply, which I think is connected to cheap immigrant labor. We sell our milk to Land O’Lakes. We have a base program, which I think other creameries need to consider. Although I think NAFTA needs some tweaks, I think it is a good program and not something we should do away with. What is the latest technology you implemented on your farm and the purpose for it? Four years ago, we purchased activity and rumination collars. It has made me a better manager, and I have so much information right at my nger tips. It saves us time and money since I hardly have to give any shots anymore. What is a management practice you changed in the past year that has beneted you? We have been striving for better quality forages since we took over the farm. Last year, we
bought a self-propelled haybine, which has cut ve hours off each of the crop cuttings. Two years ago, we added more bunker space and took down silos. These two things have really helped cut down on time and increased quality in our feed. What cost-saving steps have you implemented during the low milk price? Contracting both our milk and feed. We also switched to washable towels instead of paper towels, which cut down on cost. How do you retain a good working relationship with your employee(s)? We have one employee. He is still in high school, but works nearly full-time. We try to be honest with him and ask him to do the same with us. Tell us about a skill you possess that makes dairy farming easier for you. Terrill: I am good at organization to the point of being borderline OCD. It helps me stay on task. Michelle: As part of my job as a nurse, I help train people. I know how to communicate with people in a positive way when they’re learning new skills. What do you enjoy most about dairy farming? Terrill: I like milking and working with the cattle. When milking, it’s rewarding to see the clean cows come in and give lots of milk. It’s fun to see them grow from calves into cows. Michelle:
What has been the best purchase you’ve ever made on your farm? Our dual automatic y sprayers. When the cows walk through them, it sprays their back and underneath on their belly. After we installed the sprayers, they lie down much more and it makes a difference in cow comfort. What has been your biggest accomplishment while dairy farming? Our milk production has increased. When we started, production was at 75 pounds per cow, per day. Now they are up to 90 pounds per cow, per day. We attribute it to better cow comfort and high-quality feed. One management practice we have changed for cow comfort has been with bedding. We used to dump the sand towards the front of the stall and then groom it back. Then we bought a side shooter, which helps place the sand better. What are your plans for your dairy in the next year and ve years? In the next year, we plan to survive and make it through. In the next ve years, we would like to build a new calf barn, get a new heifer facility and possibly even talk about putting in robots. If there was a small robotic rotary parlor available, we would do everything we could to put it in. How do you or your family like to spend time when you are not doing chores? We like to hang out at home, but when we are able to take a small vacation we like to go to Wisconsin Dells. For afternoon outings, we like to go to Dairy Queen for a treat, take a drive around the countryside or go for a walk on our farm.
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Page 40 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 24, 2018
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4116 Hwy. 80 S. Platteville, WI
OfďŹ ce: (608) 348-9401 or Toll Free: 1(888) BUY-Patz www.steinhartsfarmservice.com
4116 Hwy. 80 S. Platteville, WI
NEXT-LEVEL, HIGH-DENSITY BALING
VB 3100 SERIES VARIABLE CHAMBER ROUND BALERS Ĺ? ,QWHJUDO 5RWRU 7HFKQRORJ\ SURYLGHV FRQVLVWHQW WURXEOH IUHH FURS Ä RZ • Fast, consistent bale starting in diverse conditions Ĺ? 3URJUHVVLYH 'HQVLW\ 6\VWHP SURGXFHV YHU\ Ä&#x;UP EDOHV ZLWK PRGHUDWH FRUHV • Simple, heavy-duty driveline and chains for reliability
Integral Rotor
Produces 4x5 or 4x6 bales • Cutting and non-cutting models
INVEST IN QUALITY ÂŽ
KuhnNorthAmerica.com
Salesmen: Shawn Martin (608) 778-4554 or Joe Ryan (608) 778-2900
4116 Hwy. 80 S. Platteville, WI
OfďŹ ce: (608) 348-9401 or Toll Free: 1(888) BUY-Patz www.steinhartsfarmservice.com
4116 Hwy. 80 S. Platteville, WI