Page 16 • Dairy Star Special Edition • Second Section • Saturday, March 12, 2022
Why is attending CPDE important to you and your dairy?
“It’s also nice to chat with other dairy farmers, especially those who are originally from the Netherlands like we are.” Jolanda, Johan and Mark Koezen Rolfe, Iowa Pocahontas County 800 cows How many years have you attended the Central Plains Dairy Expo? We have attended the expo every year for at least 13 years. Why is attending the Central Plains Dairy Expo important to you and your dairy? You get to see a lot of the people you do business with when you visit the booths. It’s also nice to chat with other dairy farmers, especially those who are originally from the Netherlands like we are. What is the most benecial seminar you have ever attended at Central Plains Dairy Expo? We have gone to a lot of seminars over the years. Some of the seminars that gave us advice regarding how to deal with labor issues have been especially valuable. What seminars or booths are you especially interested in seeing this year? There has been a shortage of dry tubes, and we would like to visit with some of the vendors about that. We are also looking forward to attending a few of the educational sessions.
What is the most enjoyable aspect of the CPDE for you and your family? The most enjoyable part of the expo is getting together with people we know in the industry but don’t get to see that often. We are looking forward to visiting with some old friends and having a more normal expo experience this year. What would you say to encourage other farmers to attend Central Plains Dairy Expo? Invite some friends to come with you to the expo even if they aren’t dairy farmers. It will help them learn about what it takes to run a modern dairy operation. We think retired dairy farmers should also attend so they can see the latest developments in the dairy industry. Tell us about your farm. Johan and Jolanda have two children, Mark and Manon. Our family moved here from the Netherlands about 15 years ago. Mark graduated from Northeast Iowa Community College at Calmar with a degree in dairy science technology. Mark has now joined the operation and works here full-time. We buy our forage inputs from our neighbors and send manure back to them to be used as fertilizer for their crops. About 80% of our herd is Holstein, with the rest being Brown Swiss-Jersey crossbreds. We breed all of our cows to Angus sires. We sell our calves at birth and purchase our replacement animals.
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