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DAIRY ST R
Almost back up and running Burnett Dairy recovering from re at Grantsburg plant By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
GRANTSBURG, Wis. – After a re the night of July 20 torched a portion of Burnett Dairy’s Grantsburg processing plant, the cooperative is making plans to get the plant back in working order. “We’re making a lot of progress,” Bill Haase said. “There have been crews (at the plant) around the clock.” Haase, who is the chairman of the cooperative’s board of directors and milks 530 cows together with his family near Osceola, said the cause of the re is still undetermined. The re at Burnett Dairy forced the cooperative to nd immediate alternatives for its producers to send their milk. “That was a major concern right up front,” Haase said. “Sometime during the night (of the re), a milk truck came to unload. Our eldman and personnel handled it and got ahold of different co-ops and milk processing plants around the area. … We did not have to dump any milk.” The plant takes in about 1 million pounds of milk every day and produces 55 million pounds of cheese each year. While a portion of milk has been diverted to the cooperative’s plant in Wilson, the rest has been taken in by other processors including Associated Milk Producers Inc., Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery, Foremost Farms, Grassland Dairy, LaGrander’s Hillside Dairy, Lake Country Dairy, Land O’Lakes, Plainview Milk Products and Saputo Inc. “We were getting calls from other creameries saying they could take milk,” Haase said. “It’s amazing how you compete, but you work together when needed.” The structure that was burned and damaged in the re was the oldest part of the creamery, and one of the original buildings that was used for Turn to BURNETT | Page 5
August 8, 2020
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 22, No. 12
Building for the future Clinton Farms expansion drives efciency, growth By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
BEAR CREEK, Wis. – Building with the future in mind is how Clinton Farms approached its most recent expansion project. Currently milking 560 cows three times per day, the Clintons’ new rotary milking parlor has capacity to milk 2,000 cows three times a day. By putting up a Waikato 50-stall Centrus Composite rotary parlor – the rst of its kind in Wisconsin – the Clintons shaved off 3.5 hours per milking, reducing each shift from six hours down to 2.5. The milking parlor was the focus of the Clintons’ state-of-the-art facility, which also includes a 6-row tunnel-ventilated freestall barn, holding area, ofces, conference center, breezeway Turn to CLINTONS | Page 6
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
The Clinton family – (from le�) Payton Griepentrog, Carrie Griepentrog, Brad Clinton and Jim Clinton – milks 560 cows and farms 2,300 acres near Bear Creek, Wisconsin. Clinton Farms completed an expansion in the summer of 2019 that included a new rotary parlor, freestall barn, holding area, conference center, offices and manure pit.
Milking a niche market
Holthauses appeal to consumers with A2 dairy products By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
The Holthaus family – Lonnie, Rochelle and Jeremy – breed their cows specically for the A2A2 gene on their farm near Fennimore, Wisconsin. Four years ago, the family started the breeding strategy and in March began producing their own line of A2 cheeses.
FENNIMORE, Wis. – Tired of accepting sub-par milk prices, Lonnie and Rochelle Holthaus and their son, Jeremy, decided to take control of their milk price by creating a niche product. The Holthauses produce a line of Milkhaus Dairy products made from A2 milk. “Research has shown that people that think they are lactose intolerant are actually A1 intolerant,” Lonnie said. “We are getting people who thought they were lactose intolerant and stayed away from dairy to try our products, and they are loving it, being able to enjoy dairy again.” Milkhaus Dairy is located outside of Fennimore and is home to 400 registered Holsteins, about 120 of which carry the A2A2 protein gene for A2 milk. “I started seeing that animals that were A2A2 that sold in sales were bringing a premium, but no one was Turn to HOLTHAUSES | Page 10