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DAIRY ST R “All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 20, No. 10
Oldenburg hopeful for career change Dairyman would like to represent Wisconsin’s 96th Assembly District
July 14, 2018
“When this became an option, we thought it was the best t for us.” - Jon Qual
Quals install 60-stall robotic rotary parlor
By Ron Johnson
ron.j@dairystar.com
WESTBY, Wis. – Nov. 6 is circled on Loren Oldenburg’s calendar. That’s when he will know whether or not he has a new job waiting for him in Madison, Wis. Oldenburg, a Vernon County dairy farmer, is running for the state legislature. He wants to represent the 96th District as a Wisconsin State Representative. It’s mainly a rural district made up of all of Crawford and Vernon counties, plus 11 townships in southern Monroe County. Loren, 52, is running as a Republican. The current representative there, Lee Nerison, is stepping down after 14 years. Of course, the election’s outcome is not certain. “I plan on winning,” Oldenburg said. “Otherwise I wouldn’t be doing this.” Two issues he wants to tackle are rural roads and Wisconsin’s shortage of milk processing capacity. The state produces more than 30 billion pounds of milk annually. Higher prices for all agricultural products, along with keeping taxes under control, are two more priorities. Oldenburg has years of leadership experience from his involvement with agricultural cooperatives. He was a member of the board of directors of the Westby Cooperative Creamery for 14 years. For the last ve years, the farmer served as board chairman. He is on the board of the Chaseburg Cenex Co-op and is its president. Two decades ago, Oldenburg helped steer his township’s government as its board chairman. The dairyman said he misses his time on the creamery board. Turn to OLDENBURG | Page 5
RON JOHNSON/DAIRY STAR
Loren Oldenburg is running for the state legislature to represent the 96th Assembly District. He milks 50 cows near Westby, Wis.
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
The Quals – (front, from leŌ) Mark, Alan, Rodney and Tyler; (back, from leŌ) Jon and Nathan – milk 1,350 cows with a 60-stall roboƟc rotary parlor on their dairy near Lisbon, N.D.
Labor, family drive decision for upgrade By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
LISBON, N.D. – A year and a half ago, the Qual family was at a crossroads many families in agriculture face. They had to decide what was next for their dairy operation. Over the course of a year, the Quals made plans and constructed a GEA DairyProQ 60-stall robotic rotary parlor – one of the rst in the United States. “Five years ago when robotic milking systems were becoming more mainstream, we looked at them to see how we could use them on a larger scale,” Jon Qual said. “When this became an option, we thought it was the best t for us.” Jon is a junior partner at Qual Dairy in Ransom County
near Lisbon, N.D. The 1,350cow dairy enterprise is comprised of two generations of Quals – Alan and his sons, Jon and Mark, as well as Alan’s brother, Rodney, and his sons, Tyler and Nathan. The parlor became operational April 5 – one year after the Quals toured farms in Canada. Beginning at 6 a.m., the rst group of milking cows is brought to the parlor and start loading into the individual robotic stalls. Within nine seconds, the system starts attaching and then cleans the teats, following the same process of a GEA Monobox robotic milking system. One turn of the parlor allows ample time for cows to be prepped, milked and postdipped prior to leaving the parlor. Before another cow enters
the stall, the milking unit runs through a quick sanitation cycle. Each rotation of the parlor is set at nine minutes in length. “Cows hit peak milk letdown around ve minutes,” Mark said. “We’re pleased with the amount of milk we’re able to get in a nine-minute turn.” Once the entire milking shift is complete, the individual robot arms stretch out of the stalls and receive a deep clean. At the same time, water is used to ush the parlor deck. With the Quals running eight pens of cows, at about 170 animals in each pen, the two milking shifts are six hours in length. The cow ow onto the rotary is nearly constant, with only a few stalls empty in Turn to QUALS | Page 6