LOOK INSIDE FOR OUR CALF & HEIFER SPECIAL EDITION!
DAIRY ST R
March 28, 2020
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 22, No. 3
COVID-19 COVERAGE
Dairies considered essential work places during pandemic
Robots right choice for Leedles
Producers, Bender talk about taking on-farm precautions against COVID-19 By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
While the novel coronavirus has disrupted many people’s routines around the world, dairy farms still need to milk their cows and care for their animals every day. The government has deemed agriculture as an essential part of the work force that is allowed to continue to operate if regulations to slow COVID-19 are put in place. Emerald Spring Dairy near Plainview, Minnesota, and Grotegut Dairy Farm Inc. near Newton, Wisconsin, are trying to navigate how to keep their farm workers safe amid the pandemic. “It’s one thing to have disaster plans in place for a weather event, but it’s quite different to have a plan in place for something like this,” Rita Young said. “It’s like a science ction movie.” Young and her family own Emerald Spring Dairy where they milk 1,100 cows and employ 20 people. “We have talked to our employees about how to keep themselves safe,” Young said. “We are following the guidelines of our state and federal entities as they come.” Rosario Ibarra, general manager at Grotegut Dairy Farm Inc., said the 2,800-cow dairy with 50 full-time employees is also following the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Turn to PRECAUTIONS | Page 5
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Rita Young stands in front of the signs about prevenƟng the spread of COVID-19 she placed next to the Ɵme clock on her farm, Emerald Spring Dairy, near Plainview, Minnesota.
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
The Leedle family – (from leŌ) Lindsay, Jason, Tom, Jennifer and Colton (front) – milk 480 cows with eight robots and farm 1,000 acres near Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
Black Cat Dairy in eighth year of robotic milking By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
LAKE GENEVA, Wis. – The Leedles of Black Cat Dairy are in their eighth year of milking with robots, and the family has no regrets. The farm’s eight A-4 Lely robots have boosted milk production, reproduction and longevity, and lightened the workload of this family farm located near Lake Geneva. “I can’t say enough about these robots,” said Jason Leedle, who, like the rest of his family, prefers robotic milking over milking in a parlor. “They’re so reliable.” Black Cat Dairy is run by Leedle and his wife, Lindsay; his parents, Tom and Jennifer; his sister, Kristin Love; and his brother, Ryan. The Leedles milk 480 crossbred cows and farm 1,000 acres and have one employee, Mark Winkelman. When the Leedles switched to robotic milking in 2012, they noticed a near instantaneous surge in produc-
tion. Milk went up 12 pounds per cow – jumping from 74 pounds to 86 pounds in the rst two weeks. “This is a more cowfriendly environment,” Leedle said. “Cows are only on their feet when they want to be. That’s the biggest thing that helps them. Also, the robots are so consistent.” Cows average 3.3 milkings per day in the robot and are producing an average of 85 pounds of milk per cow with 4.3% butterfat and 3.3% protein. Cows seem to be sticking around longer, too, and Leedle said they still have some of those original springing heifers in the herd. “We revamped our breeding program and use a lot more beef semen now so we don’t get a big slug of heifers,” Leedle said. “We had a surplus we were selling in the past because we didn’t have any cows that needed culling.” Cows are breeding back quicker as well. The pregnancy rate prior to robots was 20%-
22%. Now, it is 30%-38%. “Cows are so comfortable which means they get pregnant easier,” Leedle said. The 232-by-234-foot barn contains four pens with two robots per pen. Leedle does not believe in overstocking; therefore, the number of cows matches the barn’s number of stalls. “The robots free up time,” Leedle said. “You still need someone here to watch the cows, breed them, feed them, but it’s not as time-sensitive. We used to have to stop eldwork at 3 p.m. to do chores and milk cows. Now, just one person can handle barn chores. It makes it a lot easier to get stuff done. We still keep plenty busy utilizing the extra available time.” Leedle is the dairy’s herdsman and also helps with eldwork. Jennifer and Kristin do all the calf raising. Kristin joined her family’s farm full time in 2013 after spending 12 Turn to LEEDLES | Page 6