Sign up for our New Newsletter
Dairy St r Milk Break
Email andrea.b@dairystar.com to sign up.
DAIRY ST R “All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 19, No. 4
April 8, 2017
Componentdriven Bigler increases protein, butterfat in Holstein herd By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
DECORAH, Iowa – Fifteen years ago while trying to brainstorm ways to make his dairy more efcient, Brian Bigler thought back to his genetics class at Iowa State University. “We learned that butterfat is one of the most heritable traits in bovines. It’s easy to make progress when it’s that heritable,” Bigler said. With that knowledge, Bigler changed his herd’s breeding and nutrition philosophy to make components a top priority on his dairy where he milks 130 cows with his dad, Dave, near Decorah, Iowa. Since the
Crabb honors late son’s wish to become a dairy farmer By Brittany Olson
brittany.o@dairystar.com
HOLCOMBE, Wis. – Dylan Crabb always wanted to be a dairy farmer when he grew up. Even after being diagnosed with cancer in 2006 at the age of 13, he never lost sight of his goal to have his own herd of Ayrshire cows – his favorite breed – on his great-grandfather’s farm. While Dylan passed away two weeks after he turned 16, there are still cows in the barn. His mother, Lori, and stepfather, Bruce Johnson, are milking about 30 Ayrshires on Lori’s family’s 240-acre farm near Holcombe, Wis.
change, his herd of Holsteins has increased butterfat nearly 1 percent, now averaging 4.37 percent butterfat, up from 3.5 percent. Bigler started to focus on components after realizing his herd wasn’t going to get much more for production. Bigler thought he could increase his rolling herd average, which hovers around 30,000, by milking three times a day. A thought he didn’t like. “I envisioned our herd remaining on two-times-a-day milking because we’re at that awkward size where it’s pretty hard with just family help to
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Brian Bigler has been breeding and feeding his cows to maximize their buƩerfat potenƟal on his 130-cow dairy near Decorah, Iowa. His herd of Holsteins average a 4.37 percent buƩerfat test. milk them three times a day,” Bigler said. Although the farm hires part-time employees, Bigler couldn’t justify making the
jump to full-time milkers. “For milking in our parlor it takes two people. To have two people come in the middle of the night with where we’re
A mother’s love
located – an isolated spot in the middle of nowhere – would be a challenge seven days a Turn to BIGLER | Page 6
Continuing their herd along with opening an ice cream and cheese shop called Dylan’s Dairy in a nearby town are just two ways Lori and Bruce honor the memory of Dylan. The dairy, named Two Rivers Farm, sits near the conuence of the Chippewa and Fisher Rivers in northern Chippewa County. Lori grew up milking cows on the farm. “I remember at 13 years old, getting off the bus and nding cows grazing out front. My grandpa had bought me 10 cows,” Lori said. Unfortunately, the barn sat idle for nearly three decades afterward. But it was Dylan – depicted in a painting on the front of the barn – who resurrected its dairy heritage. “Dylan was born a farmer, plain and simple,” Lori said. BRITTANY OLSON/DAIRY STAR “He and Bruce spent two Lori Crabb’s son, Dylan, dreamed of being a dairy farmer, despite having cancer. Even though he years putting the barn back passed away aŌer ghƟng leukemia for over two years, his mother is keeping his dream alive through his 30-cow herd, comprised mostly of Dylan’s Ayrshires, near Holcombe, Wis. Turn to CRABB | Page 5