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DAIRY ST R “All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 21, No. 13
August 24, 2019
Finding a use for excess colostrum Program prevents waste, provides additional revenue By Stacey Smart Contributing Writer
DANE, Wis. – Rather than dumping unused colostrum down the drain, Diane Helt has been selling it. “Our calves come rst,” Helt said. “We feed them our best quality colostrum before selling any excess.” For the past ve years, Helt has sold colostrum as a way to make additional income for her 1,000-cow dairy near Dane, Wis. Helt farms with her husband, Dale, and their three sons, Devin, Derek and Dean. Two to three cows calve daily on Helt’s dairy. Colostrum not needed for calves is frozen and sold for use in animal health and human health
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Diane Helt, of Dane, Wis., feeds the herd’s best quality colostrum to her own calves before selling any excess. She started selling unused colostrum from her 1,000-cow dairy ve years ago.
Exploring agriculture, educaƟng consumers Richardses launch agri-tour business By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
ITHACA, Wis. – An idea that took seed about two years ago in the minds of Marty and Teri Richards on a tour of the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea has sprouted into a unique edgling Wisconsin agritourism business that puts the spotlight on connecting non-farm consumers to agriculture in southwestern Wisconsin. “We were visiting our daughter who is stationed in South Korea and we took a tour of the DMZ,” Marty said. “There was nothing there. The joint base is interesting, especially when they say you can’t go through the door. But the rest is just looking at wildlife out in a wide open area. We rode on a bus for at least 30 minutes to get to it, and they didn’t feed us. I was thinking that there was a historical signicance, but that we have that here with Frank Lloyd Wright, the Driftless area. I started wondering why you couldn’t do tours in our area.” This past spring, Ridge and Valley Tours LLC sprouted. The Richardses started their Wisconsin agritourism business. Marty was raised on his family’s Richland County dairy farm and Teri grew up visiting her grandparents’ farm. Both have a strong sense of connection to the dairy industry The couples’ goal is to bring urbanites to
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products. Using the Brix scoring system to rate colostrum quality, Helt only feeds colostrum with a reading of 22 or higher to her calves. Helt will sell both rst and second colostrum depending on the Brix score and the farm’s supply and demand. “We feed rst colostrum to the calf,” Helt said. “Anything left over from that rst milking is put in a pail marked with the date produced and Brix score and stored in the refrigerator in case we need it for our own calves. If we don’t use it within two days, we freeze it for selling.” Helt participates in a program started by La Belle Colostrum – a division of Pantheryx Colostrum Holdings. The company buys rst and second postpartum milk from dairy farms all over the United States to use in a variety of Turn to COLOSTRUM | PAGE 10
Forward thinking keeps Czech farming
New Heights Dairy host of Benton County eld day By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
RICE, Minn. – When Brent Czech considers the progress he has made as a dairy farmer, it is not solely his work or one part of management that has propelled his business. Rather, Czech’s 1,800-cow dairy is built on the foundation of teamwork and opportunity with the industry’s tools. “I want to give people access to the farm and a chance to learn and see what we are doing,”
JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
Myron (leŌ) and Brent Czech stand outside one of the freestall barns at Brent’s New Heights Dairy Aug. 12 in Rice, Minn. Brent hosted the Benton County Dairy and Forage Field Day where aƩendees learned about his dairy and forage management. Czech said. “To best do that, I want you to hear from the best people we work with.” Czech hosted the Benton County Dairy and Forage Field
Day Aug. 12 on his New Heights Dairy in Rice, Minn.
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