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Volume 21, No. 15
Producers meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill Wisconsin Farm Bureau trip helps dairy gain traction By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
Wisconsin Farm Bureau members, including 14 dairy farmers, visited Washington, D.C. Sept. 11-13 to meet faceto-face with legislators on Capitol Hill. Trade was a key topic of discussion as the group stressed the need for swift approval of the U.S.-MexicoCanada Agreement. “Farmers want this passed, and we made sure to send that message along loud and clear,” said Karen Gefvert, executive director of governmental relations at Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. “This trip is an opportunity for appointed and elected ofcials from federal agencies and Capitol Hill to hear direct from farmers about what they’re experiencing and what they need.” Held every other year, the Farm Bureau event is known as the Leaders Fly-In, and each of WFBF’s nine district directors invites two members from their area to attend. The group met with the U.S. Senate agriculture committee, Roger Wentzel from the U.S. Trade Representative’s ofce, Senators Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin, staff of various House members, and a delegation from the Australian Embassy. Farm Bureau members had the opportunity to weigh in on several important topics, including trade, labor reform, expansion of rural broadband coverage, the Endangered Species Act as it relates to the gray wolf population, repeal of the Waters of U.S. Clean Water rule, regulatory reform in regards to electronic logging devices and livestock hauling, and the need to fund infrastructure improvements to locks and dams on the Mississippi River. Turn to WFBF | Page 5
September 28, 2019
Adding value to their milk
McComishes begin producing gelato By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
SHULLSBURG, Wis. – A desire to add diversication to their family’s dairy farm, along with the desire to do something new and different, led Joe and Amber McComish to enter the world of gelato making. The McComishes along with their three children, Hunter, 6, Killian, 5, and Meara, 1, and Joe’s parents, Tim and Kim, milk 200 dairy cows on their 2,000-acre family farm near Shullsburg, Wis. “We started researching doing value-added for about three years,” Amber McComish said. “We rst started out looking at cheese, which is kind of the natural product. It takes a lot of time and money Turn to MCCOMISH | Page 6
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Joe and Amber McComish and their three children – (from leŌ) Meara, 1, Hunter, 6, and Killian, 5 – milk 200 cows with Joe’s parents, Tim and Kim, near Shullsburg, Wis. The family started making gelato last March.
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Fritz Didier chops corn silage while Al Kral drives alongside with a box for Darla and Levi Dunn Sept. 23 near Osakis, MInn. The Dunn’s lled two silos, a 20- by 60-foot and 20- by 80-foot, that day. They milk 70 cows.