Sign up for our Newsletter
Dairy St r Milk Break
Email maria.b@dairystar.com to sign up.
DAIRY ST R
July 24, 2021
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 23, No. 11
Milk production on the rise Cow comfort a priority at Vanderstappens’ new facility By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
HEBRON, Ill. – The cows at Vanderstappen Farm love their new barn and milking parlor. The proof is in the bulk tank which is on a continual uphill climb in volume. Since moving into the facility May 20, milk production has gone up about 10 pounds per cow per day. “Cows were milking just under 70 pounds when we moved in here,” said David Vanderstappen. “Now, they’re milking around 80 pounds per day, but we haven’t peaked yet.” David and his wife, Katie, milk 130 cows and farm 300 acres near Hebron. They are the busy parents of ve children: Clark, 10, Jack, 7, Addison, 4, and 3-year-old twins, Owen and Lane. “It’s kind of exciting because the cows seem to be going up in production every day,” David said. “I wonder how high they’ll go. Even when we dry up a cow, it doesn’t seem to affect the bulk
tank.” David is the third generation on the farm his grandfather settled at when immigrating from the Netherlands in the late 1940s. David and Katie bought the farm from David’s parents in March 2016. A barn re in 2018 put the couple on an update path sooner than expected. The 61-cow tiestall barn was a complete loss, but fortunately, no animals perished in the re. A farm 7 miles away with a freestall and parlor setup served as the cows’ new home for the next three years. The Vanderstappens’ neighbors, Joel and Linnea Kooistra, had sold their cows and told David to bring his herd over when he called. “We had 20 people there that rst morning to push cows through the parlor and a lot of trailers to help move cows,” David said. “We spotted the re at 4:45 a.m., and by 10 a.m., we had all cows moved and milked. There was no bulk tank, but we got one put in and by that afternoon, we had saleable milk.” People continued to help the Vanderstappens push cows through the parlor for a week after the re. “It was amazing,” Katie said of all the help they received. “The ag commu-
Turn to VANDERSTAPPEN | Page 6
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
The Vanderstappen family – (front, from leŌ) Addison and Jack; (back, from leŌ) David holding Owen, Clark, and KaƟe holding Lane – milks 130 cows and farm 300 acres near Hebron, Illinois.
Wisconsin gets Washington’s ear US House Committee on Agriculture member visits area dairy By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
Being heard by the elected leadership in Washington, D.C., is important to agricultural stakeholders. July 13 was a day when agriculture’s voice was amplied as Congressman Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania visited Wisconsin to hear the issues facing both agriculture and the rural community. Thompson, the ranking member of the United States House Committee on Agriculture, attended tours to a variety of agricultural venues hosted by the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative and Dairy Business Association. Thompson was joined by Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District Rep. Glen PHOTO COURTESY OF WISCONSIN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION Grothman. Pennsylvania Congressman G.T. Thompson (leŌ) listens as Julie Mauer tells him Julie Mauer showed Thompson and about Soaring Eagle Dairy July 13 in Newton, Wisconsin. Thompson spent the Grothman around her family’s 1,300day learning about the Wisconsin dairy industry. cow dairy farm, Soaring Eagle Dairy, in
Newton, Wisconsin. “It is always important for us to take advantage of the opportunity to share our story, especially when the folks in Washington, D.C., make a visit to our area,” said Mauer of why she and her family welcomed the tour to their farm. Thompson’s seat on the agriculture committee enhanced the importance of the visit for Mauer. “Congressman Thompson plays a large role for us in agriculture with his voice on the farm bill and other legislation,” Mauer said. “To bring him here to our farm so he can see rsthand a working family dairy farm will give him a better understanding of the needs we have in the dairy industry.” Mauer discussed matters of importance to dairy farmers such as environmental impact, sustainability, milk pricing, labor challenges and the farm bill renewal with Thompson and Grothman. “The congressmen were very engaging in their questions and comments about the farm and the impact our industry has,” Mauer said. “I feel like we Turn to THOMPSON | Page 5