Past,Present, Future. Read our Past, Present Future feature on page 11 of the 2nd section!
DAIRY ST R
Volume 23, No. 9
“All dairy, all the time”™
June 26, 2021
Feed costs cause strain on producers Kohlman, Yurczyk make changes on their dairy to help them through By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
CHILTON, Wis. – Growing crops has never been a big interest for Jeff Kohlman. “Tractors weren’t my thing,” he said. “I liked working with cows.” This is why the dairyman purchases the large majority of his feed and focuses on managing his 500-cow dairy herd near Chilton. Although this started as a profitable way to dairy when he bought the farm in 2002, it has now turned into a reason he contemplated exiting the business last year. “It worked well at first,” Kohlman said. “Even the bank said it was a good idea. After 2009, everything changed and it’s been pretty much downhill since. There have been times when it hasn’t been as bad but for the most part it’s been pretty much negative numbers.” Commodity prices have been steadily increasing since the beginning of the
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Aaron Yurczyk feeds hay to his heifers June 18 on the farm he rents near Holdingford, Minnesota. Yurczyk purchases all the feed for his 50-cow herd. year with corn seeing a high this year of $7.32 while soybeans have topped the market in 2021 so far at $16.43 according to macrotrends.net. It has caused ad-
ditional strain on dairy farmers purchasing feed. “I think this caught everyone off guard,” said Spence Driver, dairy nu-
tritionist for Ag Partners in Goodhue, Minnesota. “It’s not just protein or corn sources. Other ingredients in the diet are running high, too. Those you can’t contract or you’re a lot more limited with contracting … certain ingredients they are just having to pay more for. So, most people’s feed prices are going up.” Driver attributed the increased prices to a variety of market dynamics: yields in South America, a dry spring in the United States, an increasing export market and a shortened inventory supply on top of plant shutdowns due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, and now a driver shortage for trucking. “It’s like everything else. Look at all the markets and supply chains, imports, exports. Everything is just messed up right now and it’s been that way for not quite a year,” Driver said. “It’s throwing a monkey wrench into everything.” Aaron Yurczyk has felt the pinch in his checkbook lately. The young dairyman has been purchasing all his feed since he began dairying in 2016 on a rented farm near Holdingford, Minnesota. “I always talk to my nutritionist to find the cheapest substitute on anything Turn to FEED COSTS | Page 5
Fueled by girl power Orchard-Vu Holsteins run by female team of four By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
The crew at Orchard-Vu Holsteins includes (from le ) Hannah Halkowski, Stella Lobacz, Linda Nelson and Mavis Keyes. Nelson and her team milk 77 cows on the farm she has been ren ng since 1996 near Waterford, Wisconsin.
WATERFORD, Wis. – Linda Nelson considers herself fortunate to have found a crew that loves her cows as much as she does. Her workforce is committed to the success of Orchard-Vu Holsteins and includes Mavis Keyes and college students Stella Lobacz and Hannah Halkowski. The four ladies share a passion for animals and the farming lifestyle and work together to keep the farm ticking. A splattering of neighborhood help pitches in as well. “I couldn’t do this all by myself,” said Nelson, who milks 77 cows near Waterford. Nelson owns the cows and equipment on the farm she has rented from the Ranke family since 1996. Her attachment to the farm began long ago while she was driving semi. This cow lover grew up on a Guernsey farm near Tomahawk and moved to southern Wisconsin Turn to ORCHARD-VU | Page 6