Seniors! CELEBRATING OUR
See pages 12 & 13 of the Second Section for our High School Senior Feature!
DAIRY ST R
Federal aid coming for farmers
Dairy producers will receive one-time direct payments from $2.9 billion allocation By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
On April 17, the United States Department of Agriculture announced the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, a $19 billion program to provide immediate relief to farmers and keep the supply chain moving. The program has two major goals – provide direct support to farmers and ranchers through $16 million in direct producer payments; and purchase and distribute $3 billion in fresh produce, dairy and meat to move more product from food service entities that are closed to people in need. “The USDA will implement this program as quickly, effectively and efciently as we can to provide as direct quick immediate nancial relief to our farmers and ranchers, but also allow the purchase and distribution of our agricultural surplus to help our fellow Americans in need,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said. According to a press release from Sen. John Hoeven, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee, $9.6 billion of the direct payments will be for the livestock industry: $5.1 billion for cattle, $2.9 billion for dairy and $1.6 billion for hogs. Crop producers will receive $3.9 billion, specialty crop producers will be paid $2.1 billion and $500 million will be paid for other crops. Producers could receive up to $125,000 within each commodity with a cap of $250,000 per individual or entity. “This program is open to farmers and ranchers regardless of size or market outlet,” Perdue Turn to FUNDING | Page 5
April 25, 2020
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 22, No. 5
Moving forward
Jagiello Dairy Farm prepares for transition to fth generation By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
LENA, Wis. – Jagiello Dairy Farm is proof that multiple members of two generations can work well together. Seven family members help run this 500-cow dairy near Lena, which is owned by the fourth generation while the fth generation handles day-today operations. Troy Wagner and his wife, Marla, and their son, Tyler, and daughter, Marlena, along with Marla’s brothers, Duane and Bruce Jagiello, and Duane’s son, Donnie, are the nuts and bolts of Jagiello Dairy Farm which has been in the Jagiello family since 1907. In 1996, Troy, Duane and Bruce formed an LLC when they purchased the farm from Don and Marlene Jagiello. That same year, they built a milking parlor and the farm’s rst freestall barn. In 2012, the rst of the fth generation returned to the farm. Donnie attended the University
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Tyler Wagner (leŌ), Marlena Wagner and Donnie Jagiello are the Ōh generaƟon on Jagiello Dairy Farm in Lena, Wisconsin. The brother-sister-cousin team is preparing to take over the 500cow dairy within the next two years and currently handles day-to-day operaƟons. of Wisconsin-Madison Farm and Industry Short Course as well as Northeast Wisconsin Technical College for business management before joining his dad and uncles on the dairy. He was followed by Tyler in 2014 who came back to the farm after earning a degree
in law and justice from Central Washington University. Tyler spent six months working in the criminal justice system at a juvenile detention facility before heading home – an experience that reinforced his desire to farm. In 2017, Marlena also
returned after attending college at California Polytechnic State University where she received a bachelor’s degree in dairy science. Upon their return, she and her brother and cousin took Turn to JAGIELLO | Page 6
Roos recovers from COVID-19
Wisconsin dairy farmer spends several days in isolation ghting the novel coronavirus By Andrea Borgerding andrea.b@dairystar.com
AMERY, Wis. – After a ve-day battle, Josh Roos said having COVID-19 is something he would not wish upon anyone. “I had a high fever and breathing was awful,” Roos said. “My chest burned.” Roos farms together with his father, Richard, on their seventh generation farm, Roos Farms near Amery. They milk 150 cows and run 700 acres of corn, alfalfa and rye. Roos’ illness came on slowly at rst, but within hours his symptoms worsened signicantly. The morning of March 26, Roos began feeling a sore throat and coughing. Not knowing what he was getting sick with, he made sure to wash his hands, not touch his face and kept a distance from others. By 5 p.m., he began running a fever of 99 degrees. Roos rested when his fever started, but by 8 p.m. that same night, his fever shot to 103. Roos visited his doctor later that night. “The doctor ordered my family out of the house before I got
back home,” Roos said. “He did not test me for COVID-19 but said to consider it positive.” Roos and his wife, Cassie, have two sons, Levi, 4, and Everett, 8 months. Cassie took their children to Roos’ parent’s house across the road. Family members and an employee picked up the extra chores while Roos was ill. His usual replacement helper did not come to the farm to avoid contamination. “They denitely took a few extras under their wing for me,” Roos said of his family and employees. But Roos had his work cut out for him to overcome COVID-19. Alone, Roos battled a fever and difculty breathing. Josh Roos “I showered, but it hurt my breathing much Dairy producer more,” Roos said. “I was told to keep moving and do breathing exercises – in for ve seconds, hold breath, then blow out slowly.” Roos practiced the breathing exercises along with the doctor’s orders to keep moving around to avoid the onset of pneumonia. He feels these steps helped keep the illness from taking a worse hold on him. Turn to ROOS | Page 5