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DAIRY ST R “All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 21, No. 6
Farmers reassured with cooperaƟve iniƟaƟve
Base program provides certainty in ever-changing market By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
LAKE CITY, Minn. – More than two years ago, Land O’Lakes Inc. cooperative members received letters informing them of a base program that would soon be implemented across the Upper Midwest. While the initiative was met with mixed emotions, it has served member owners well through the tumultuous dairy markets. “I know what I’m getting … there’s consistency all the time,” Wayne Peters said. “It’s no longer a rollercoaster ride with milk prices, which is reassuring to know what’s been implemented is working.” Peters and his wife, Josie, milk 145 cows near Lake City, Minn. The family has been with Land O’Lakes since Peters’ family rst began milking cows. So far this year, Peters has received an average $3.41 per hundredweight premium on top of Class III prices. While his pay price has been inuenced by quality milk and high components, Peters also credits the base program for his consistent prot margins. “Our prices don’t match what our neighbors or other farmers are getting, and in some cases we’re receiving $2 per cwt. more than what other creameries can offer,” Peters said. The cooperative’s base program has a rich history in other parts of the United States but became an apparent need in the Upper Midwest when demand for dairy products was not keeping up with supply. “We’re a marketplaceback cooperative, and we have Turn to BASE | Page 5
May 11, 2019
“To watch a calf grow and become a cow … as a mother, that’s fulfilling.” – Hope Klaphake
Klaphake embraces role as mother, farmer By Jennifer Coyne Staff Writer
MELROSE, Minn. – Hope Klaphake’s days begin at 5:15 a.m. as she and her husband, Nick, head out to the milking barn with coffee mugs in hand. Klaphake’s days end once the sun has set and her children are tucked in bed. As a mother of three and co-owner of a dairy farm, Klaphake’s days are overowing, yet she cannot imagine her life any other way. “Between doing stuff on the farm and in the house, and nding a balance between taking care of the cows and the children, I love it,” Klaphake said. “I love being here every day.” Klaphake and her husband milk 77 Turn to KLAPHAKE | Page 7 JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
The Klaphake family – (front, from leŌ) Peyton, Reece and Hope holding Mason; (back) Nick – gather around their kitchen table May 6 at their home near Melrose, Minn. Hope enjoys her role on the farm, being both a mother and a farmer.
A voice for America’s dairy industry Frericks testies at nation’s capitol By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
PHOTO PROVIDED BY HOUSE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE
Sadie Frericks tesƟes at the U.S. House of RepresentaƟves CommiƩee on Agriculture’s SubcomiƩee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture hearing April 30 in Washington, D.C. Frericks spoke of how the dairy economy has challenged her family’s dairy farm near Melrose, Minn.
WASHINGTON D.C. – The room fell silent as Sadie Frericks told her family’s story of dairy farming to congressmen and women. As she illustrated the lifestyle it provides, yet the mounting challenges the last few years have presented, Frericks’ story was all too familiar for those milking cows. Despite the multiple stories told of negligible prot margins and unprecedented farm losses, it is a narrative that needs repeating. “It’s OK that we all sound like a broken record. [Lawmakers] need to hear it multiple times before the reality will sink in,” Frericks said. “There were ve of the thousands of dairy farmers in the country who told that story. … They only got a sliver of the pie.” Frericks joined a New York dairyman and a Pennsylvania dairyman, and two industry representatives from across the nation as she testied at the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture’s Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture hearing April 30 in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the hearing was to review the state of the dairy economy in an effort to educate newly elected lawmakers Turn to FRERICKS | Page 6