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Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2016 • Page 9

ConƟnued from AG INSIDER | Page 8 Beverly Hampton as the FARM coordinator. Yeiser Stepp has been serving as a dairy initiatives manager for the Center for Dairy Excellence in Pennsylvania. Hampton has been providing technical assistance to the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association.

Equity board members re-elected Equity Cooperative Livestock Association has re-elected three board members; Steve Schleis of Kewaunee, Norm Fruit of Richland Center and Les Danielson of Cadott. Fruit was also re-elected as chairman of the board. Equity operates 12 auction markets in the Midwest.

Alice in Dairyland crowned Ann O’Leary of Evansville was crowned as Wisconsin’s new Alice in Dairyland. O’Leary is a 2014 graduate of Carthage College and now works as a corporate recruiter for Epic. Once she completes a training program, O’Leary will start her new duties on June 6.

4-H recognition During the Wisconsin Association of Extension 4-H Youth Development Professionals annual awards program, two UW Extension specialists were honored. Youth livestock specialist Bernie O’Rouke and outreach specialist Alissa Grenawalt were recognized with the Educational Technology Team Award. Madison-based farm broadcaster Pam Jahnke received the Friend of 4-H Award.

Trivia challenge The average American consumes nearly 22 pounds of ice cream per year.

That answers our last trivia question.

For this week, where did former agriculture secretary Ed Schafer serve as governor? We’ll have the answer in the next edition of Dairy Star.

Don Wick is a partner and broadcaster for the Red River Farm Network, based in Grand Forks, N.D. He was the 2004 National Farm Broadcaster of the Year. Don and his wife, Kolleen, have two adult sons, Tony and Sam, and two grandchildren, Aiden and Piper. Don Wick can be reached at don@rrfn.com.

JOIN US! Everyone in Minnesota’s dairy community is welcome to join the Midwest Dairy Association after the banquet at 12:15 p.m., Sunday, May 15, at St. Cloud State University in the Atwood Memorial Center for the announcement of the 12 ¿nalists running for Princess Kay of the Milky Way

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“It makes herd checks and other scheduled tasks very simple.”

How long have you been using Dairy Comp 305?

How long have you been using Dairy Comp 305? We have been using it for 8-1/2 years.

Why did you choose to use Dairy Comp 305 on your operation? Ease of use, being able to get great service over the phone and allowing them to make changes to the program by logging onto my computer through team viewer has really helped. It only takes the tester a few moments to download all of the breedings, freshenings, culls and other events.

How has using Dairy Comp 305 been beneÀcial to your dairy? The people we work with can log on at any time to see how the herd is performing and make changes as needed. It makes herd checks and other scheduled tasks very simple.

It allows us to look at how different protocols have or haven’t worked and guide us in future responses. It sure beats using a notebook.

Why do you test with DHIA? Record keeping.

Knowing what SCC and components are doing individually. Seeing how we compare with other herds. Getting monthly words of wisdom when Ron Lang tests our cows!!

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Dairy Star • Saturday, May 14, 2016 • Page 13

ConƟnued from CRP | Page 12 the CRP-Continuous program.”

Surrounding states, such as Iowa and North Dakota, have more acres enrolled in the program, while others, like Wisconsin and South Dakota, have less.

In the early 2000s, Wisconsin saw a record-high enrollment of 800,000 acres but has since settled near 234,000 acres in the various CRP programs, Edelburg said.

“Wisconsin is really in the middle of the pack for enrollment compared to our neighbors,” she said.

For Greden, who at one point participated in the government’s annual set-aside program, CRP provides a future for his family’s farm by loyally adhering to a conservation practice year after year.

“We’re establishing food plots, trees and pastures

“There’s a father who wants to rent extra land to bring his son back home, but he’s competing with the high price the government is paying for CRP.” ǧ SOUTHEASTERN MINN., DAIRY FARMER

that the wildlife enjoy,” Greden said. “Indirectly, my 90-year-old mother enjoys when I bring her freshpicked owers, and sometimes seeing her smile is enough validation for the program.”

The Gredens have also incorporated wildowers and honeybees into their CRP land.

In exchange for placing the acres in CRP, landowners receive an annual rental payment from the government. These payments are used to cover costs associated with maintaining the land, as well as providing cost share assistance to plant, restore and enhance conservation covers. Certain continuous practices also receive incentives for enrollment.

“This can be another source to assist during the ups and downs of the farming economy, while

providing needed conservation benets to a farm operation,” Hanson said.

While the program may indirectly boost local economies, some feel it can have an adverse effect on communities.

A dairy farm from southeastern Minnesota has seen rst-hand the program take away viable cropland, hindering the community’s potential.

“Poor-quality grounds where we can’t grow crops to feed our animals benet from conservation programs, but we don’t want to see at, healthy corn ground put into CRP because of the payment incentives given out by the government,” said the farmer, who wished to remain anonymous.

The CRP Grassland program – which was created by the 2014 Farm Bill allows landowners the exibility to hay and graze contracted acres for production purposes. CRP also has the Transition Incentive Program, which allows current CRP participants to transition their land to a beginning farmer and receive incentives for that activity. As low commodity prices continue to exist nationwide, landowners look for options to enroll environmentally-sensitive lands and marginal lands into the CRP Continuous signup, however, it causes competition for some dairy producers.

“There’s a father who wants to rent extra land to bring his son back home, but he’s competing with the high price the government is paying for CRP,” the dairyman said. “It’s really a hardship for young farmers.”

Even though controversial, CRP and other conservation programs have been proven benecial to the land by providing clean water, reducing runoff and minimizing inputs on land that is high risk to loss by drought and oods, Edelburg said.

As enrollment periods come and go over the years, Greden and his family will continue to sign up for the program in order to benet the land and farm in the long run.

“We continue to maintain our CRP land because we don’t necessarily need it right now for operating the dairy,” Greden said. “We’re going to continue preserving the land for the future. Someday when we need it, it will be there and better than it was before.”

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