Win Prizes During
Summer
DAIRY ST T R’s
SALUTE TO DA RY
DAIRY ST R
SEE PAGE 25 OF THE FIRST SECTION FOR MORE INFOMATION
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 21, No. 11
Room with a bovine view
July 27, 2019
Cattle shows not only a farmer’s pastime Cojo Dairy strong advocate of 4-H lease program By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
SHERRY NEWELL/DAIRY STAR
Lynn and Dan Bolin, and their youngest child, Judah, are in the family’s freestall barn in Clarksville, Iowa. The Bolins are opening the New Day Dairy Guest Barn, which is a lodging opportunity for guests to overlook the dairy herd in the barn.
Bolins’ guest barn opens soon By Sherry Newell Contributing Writer
CLARKSVILLE, Iowa – Two 4- by 5-foot windows overlook the freestall and robot barn at New Day Dairy near Clarksville, Iowa. Soon, paying guests will look out those windows in what may be the only lodging location in the country with 24/7 cow gazing. The Bolin family – Dan and Lynn Bolin, and Dan’s parents, Dave and Pam Bolin – envisioned the New Day Dairy Guest Barn when they built their 110cow robotic facility in 2015. They attached a three-bedroom, three-bathroom home to one end. It would be home to Dan and Lynn, and their growing family – Amara, 8, Vance, 6, and Judah, 2 – until they built a new house nearby. Dave and Pam live on the original dairy down the road. Fast forward four years: Dan, Lynn and their children moved into their newly built house in late winter, and, since then, Lynn has led the effort toward opening the Guest Barn, one bedroom at a time. Lynn’s research found other farm bed and breakfast accommodations, but none quite like this. “The feature that is very unique is that people can see what happens in the barn any time. People seem to nd it mesmerizing and fascinating when they get up here,” she said, having accompanied many of the farm’s daytime visitors to the window. Initially, the Bolins considered listing one room at the barn on Airbnb.com, a website where individuals Turn to NEW DAY | Page 6
GROVE CITY, Minn. – It is a hectic time of year at Cojo Dairy. In between alfalfa harvest and day-to-day chores in summer’s heat, the Jans family is also preparing 24 animals for the Meeker County Fair in August; most of which are leased. “Giving kids the chance to show cows at the fair is a good opportunity for them to expand their wings,” Joe Jans said. “Before Taylor showed, he was quiet and shy. Over the years, I’ve watched him open up, and I think this program has a lot to do with that.”
Turn to COJO | Page 7
JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
Liberty Jans leads her Brown Swiss heifer at Cojo Dairy July 16 in Grove City, Minn. Jans and 10 other youth are showing animals from the dairy at the upcoming Meeker County Fair.
Hoeses turn to automation for reduced labor
Feeding system installed with help from MDA grant By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
MAYER, Minn. – The Hoeses are always looking for ways to remain viable in the ever-changing industry. To maintain their herd size without additional labor, the family installed the Lely Vector – a fully automated feeding system – in January on their 125-cow herd in Carver County near Mayer, Minn. “We wanted to become more labor efcient,” Eric said. “In four JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR years’ time, we’ll see a return on this Eric Hoese explains the Lely Vector feeding system to aƩendees of investment. We’ve already noticed it the Carver County Farmer to Farmer Tour July 11 at the family’s in our time and energy, feed savings dairy in Mayer, Minn. Turn to HOESE | Page 4