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Have you experienced a life-threatening farm accident?

Are you willing to share your story in our next issue for Farm Safety Week?

DAIRY ST R

Please contact Mark at 320-352-6303 or email to mark.k@dairystar.com

“All dairy, all the time”™

Volume 18, No. 13

Harren survives bull attack By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com

FREEPORT, Minn. – On a dreary evening in August, Jim Harren sits around the kitchen table with his wife, Cheryl, and daughter, Kaitlin, 20. Together, they recount the horric event that ensued nearly two months ago. “It was the day after Father’s Day,” said Jim, staring through the raindrops on the window. “I remember that.” In the midst of morning chores June 22, the herd bull on the Harrens’ 60-cow Holstein dairy near Freeport, Minn., attacked Jim. That Monday morning began like any other. Jim and Kaitlin had nished milking and were letting the cows out of the barn in order to bed the tiestalls. At the same time, the herd bull was released from his pen at the back corner of the barn. Time had passed and the cows were ready to come back inside. Kaitlin watched the herd come in as Jim moved around the cow yard directing them towards the barn door. Being cautious of the risk outside, Jim always carried an aluminum bat in case the bull would become dangerous. “We A.I. everything, but we’ve always had a bull on the farm, too,” Jim said. “Bulls are threatening, though, and we have to respect that.” Standing in the barn waiting for the remainder of the herd, Kaitlin noticed that it was taking more time than usual to bring the cows inside. “I yelled [for Dad] and saw the bat lying there, and I thought ‘Oh, my gosh,’” Kaitlin said. As Kaitlin peered around the corner of the barn, Jim sat up on the other side of the now busted four-board fence; the electric wire atop was still intact. “His face was all bloody, but he told me to get the skidloader and our hired help to open the gate,” Kaitlin said. “I was worried when I saw the blood, but my instincts kicked in and I wasn’t thinking. I just knew what I had to do.” Using the skidloader, the crew chased the bull into the barn, where Jim swayed behind and pinned the bull in his pen. Turn to HARREN | Page 5

JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR

Jim Harren is recovering from an on-farm bull aƩack with the support of his family, including wife, Cheryl, and daughter, Kaitlin. The Harrens milk 60 cows near Freeport, Minn.

August 27, 2016

“We believe that if you treat the cows well, they’ll take care of you.” - Reuben Schloneger

A dairy true to its name

BRITTANY OLSON/DAIRY STAR

Reuben Schloneger is the farm manager at Legacy Farms near Shell Lake, Wis. Legacy Farms milks 950 cows with a rolling herd average of 30,500 pounds per year with fat and protein percentages of 4.24 and 3.5, respecƟvely.

Legacy Farms supports three generations of Schlonegers By Brittany Olson

brittany.o@dairystar.com

SHELL LAKE, Wis. – The rst sentence of Legacy Farms’s mission statement reads as such: “To develop this farm into a business structure which will thrive in the future for generations; a legacy.” With 950 cows supporting ve branches of the Schloneger family tree near Shell Lake, Wis., it can be argued that Legacy Farms has achieved just that. “We hope to do everything better all the time,” said Reuben Schloneger, who manages the farm with his wife, Emma, and their four young children. Schloneger’s parents, Rod and Brenda, his brothers and their wives, Josh and Sherena; John and Sarahanne; and Noah and Olivia Schloneger; as well as his sister, Olivia, are all involved on the farm. When Schloneger began

managing the farm at age 19, his family milked 120 cows. That was nearly 20 years ago. “In 2001 we expanded from 120 cows to 400. In 2005, we expanded from 400 to 600, and now we milk 950 cows,” Schloneger said. A burning desire to take the best possible care of their cows, coupled with feeding them well and letting them reach their fullest potential, has paid off greatly for Legacy Farms. The cows, with a rolling herd average of 30,500 pounds per year as of July’s milk test, are certainly earning their keep. Even more impressive are the herd’s components, with an average of 4.24 percent fat and 3.5 percent protein. “We consistently average 12 percent extra fat and protein over Class III milk,” Schloneger said. “We believe that if you treat the cows well, they’ll take care of you.”

Schloneger added that, while attention to details on milk production have certainly paid off, the biggest numbers that he tracks are components. “When you average about seven pounds of fat and protein per cow per day, it’s a priority,” he said. That focus on producing milk solids carries into nutrition, as the cows receive palm oil and whey permeate in their TMR, which is mixed with feed grown by the Schlonegers on the 2,330 acres that they farm. Rations are also meticulously balanced for proper levels of amino acids. In addition to the cows’ feed, their bloodlines are also created and developed for components. In fact, when Schloneger is mating cows, he almost never looks at milk production or health traits. “I look at good components when I look at bulls, but I Turn to SCHLONEGERS | Page 6


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