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DAIRY ST R “All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 19, No. 8
Milk supply, contracts, trade discussed with poliƟcal leaders By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
WINONA, Minn. – Minnesota Milk Producers Association, together with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, hosted a meeting on June 5 at the Wilson Township hall in Winona County to discuss ways to prevent dairy farmers from losing a market for their milk, similar to what happened to a handful of dairy producers in the corner of the state in April. In attendance were the majority of the Minnesota farmers who scrambled to nd a new milk processor in April, representatives from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and Farm Service Agency, along with representatives from the ofces of Congressional leaders, Sen. Al Franken, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Tom Emmer and Rep. Tim Walz. Lucas Sjostrom represented Minnesota Milk Producers Association. Andrea Vaubel, Minnesota Department of Agriculture assistant commissioner, conducted the meeting. “Part of what I’m here to listen for is the long-term issue to see if there is anything that can be done in the next farm bill to prevent us from sitting around a similar table two or three years from now,” said Chuck Ackman, outreach director for Klobuchar.
June 10, 2017
“I always enjoyed being on the farm and farming was in the back of my mind.” – Brian Streeper
Streeper learning about dairying during transition
Rollings gradually selling farm to younger generation By Ron Johnson
ron.j@dairystar.com
WATERVILLE, Iowa – In ve short years, Brian Streeper has become a farmer. He wears a battered cap, knows all his cows by name and can drive his UTV over a polywire fence without stopping. Brian is an engineer by training and was not raised on a farm. He and his wife, Amanda, are gradually buying the dairy cattle, buildings and land of her parents, Nick and LuAnn Rolling. They milked cows for close to 20 years near Waterville, Iowa, and began transitioning the operation to the younger generation in 2014, after Brian apprenticed Turn to STREEPERS | Page 6
RON JOHNSON/DAIRY STAR
Brian Streeper, pictured with his son, August, and his father-in-law, Nick Rolling are in the Ōh year of their farm transiƟon plan for their dairy near Waterville, Iowa..
Oversupply and processing capacity The amount of supply in relation to processing capacity was a big topic of conversation. “Eight to 10 years ago we had the opposite problem. People were gathering just like this, but with processors who were saying they needed more milk from dairy farmers,” Sjostrom said. In the most recent years, MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR Sjostrom said processors in the Midwest have grown by about Rodney MarƟn chops rst crop alfalfa, while his wife, Jennifer, and daughters, Janika and Megan, ride along, as the sun begins to set June 1 near Sauk Centre, Minn. Rodney milks 300 cows with his dad, Gene. Several of his friends were hauling loads for Turn to MEETING | Page 5 the MarƟns.