June 9, 2012 - First Section - Zone 2

Page 4 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 9, 2012

USED EQUIPMENT TRACTORS

COMBINES/HEADS Gleaner 18’ Series III bean head L/M, green stripe, consigned ... $3,250

SKIDLOADERS

IN STOCK NEW! T5070 Cab, FWA NEW! T6020 Cab, FWA NEW! NH T9.560

BIGGER. BADDER. BETTER. Every inch of 200 Series Super Boom® skid steer loaders is designed to maximize your productivity. They’re BIGGER, with the longest wheelbase in the business and widest, most comfortable cab on the market. They’re BADDER, with increased performance and they’re BETTER, with improved visibility to critical areas, allowing operators to work with a new level of confidence and speed.

Ford 8830, FWA, 170 HP, 540/1000 PTO, 18.4x42 duals 90%, 4 remotes ........... $32,500 NH T8040, 305 HP, 1875 hrs., front suspension, front duals, front/rear weights, all new rubber, auto guidance $164,500 CAT MT765B, EZ Guide 500 guidance, HID lights, front weights, 30” tracks..... $149,500 Ford 9600, cab, 6900 hrs., engine OH, consigned . $11,900 IH 1066, cab ..............Coming In

TIRES 2) New 18.4x26 Dyna Torque Radial II on rims, off NH H8080 windrower, pair...........$2,400 or Best Offer

AUGERS

THE BEST STABILITY – MAXIMUM OPERATOR CONFIDENCE

WE SELL WESTFIELD AUGERS!

THE BEST DUMP HEIGHT & REACH – DUMP TO THE CENTER OF TRUCKS AND SPREADERS

SPREADERS New NH M2080, 353 cu. ft. ..................... In Stock New NH Hydra Box 550V, vert. beater, 442 cu. ft. . In Stock

THE BEST SERVICEABILITY – MINIMIZE DOWNTIME

In Stock: 3) L220s 1) L230

FORAGE NH FX38, RWA, 414 HP, crop processor, 15’ HH, 6 row CH......................... $109,500 New NH FR9050 ............... In Stock Claas RU450, 15’ ............... $27,500

TILLAGE New - Salford 31’ RTS HD Exteme .....................In Stock New - Salford 14-bottom plow ................................In Stock New - Salford 4, 6, 8, 12 bottom plows ..............................In Stock New - Salford 19’ HD disc ripper .......................In Stock John Deere 3710, 8 bottom, clean ................................$29,500 Wilrich 2900 10 bottom. ex frame, coulters, good bottoms, paint faded, consigned ......$13,900 IH 800 10 bottom, coulters ...$9,500 JD RM630 row crop cultivator, C-shank, 2 stabilizer coulters .$575

HAY

MODERN FARM EQUIPMENT 320-352-6543 • Hwy. 71 South, Sauk Centre, MN www.modernfarmequipment.com

FARM RAISED.

3) New L220, 2000# lift, cab, heat, AC, 12.00 tires ............... In Stock NEW! NH L230, 3000# lift, cab/ heat, AC, 12.00 tires ...... In Stock NH LX485, 1350 # lift, clean, 1-owner............................$11,900 Case 435, cab/heat, radio, 2 spd., ride control, hyd. detach, head controls, 1150 hrs., new tires, clean ............................... $26,900

Store Hours: Monday-Friday 8-5, Saturday Seasonal

New Krone and New Holland hay tedders .................... In Stock NH 492, 9’, clean ................ $7,900 NH 1431, 13’ std. hitch, either 1-3/8 or 1-3/4, 1000 PTO $15,900 NH BR7090, net wrap, 5x6, rubber mounted pickup teeth, roller wind guard, 3000 bales, clean, 1 owner ............................ $27,900 CIH RBX 563, 5x6 bale, net wrap, like new ........... $24,000 NH 590 3x3, preservative, consigned ....................... $34,500 NH BB940, tandem axle, preservative kit, 30,000 bales, 1 owner, consigned........... $9,500

NH BR780A, 2.07 meter pickup, net wrap, endless belts, nice 1 owner, Red Armor Extended Warranty .......................$26,900 NH 565 small square baler, 72 belt thrower, NICE, low bales, consigned ....$10,900 Massey Ferguson 124 small square baler, above avg. $2,500 Sitrex RP2, 3 pt., 2 wheel windrow turner ....................$450 Pro Quality hay basket, 105 bales ........................$2,650

MODERN FARM EQUIPMENT 888-430-9730 • Sauk Centre, MN

© 2012 CNH America LLC. New Holland is a registered trademark of CNH America LLC.

FR9000 Series self-propelled forage harvesters offer unmatched dimensions for a new level of power and harvesting capacity. You and your operators also achieve a new level of efficiency thanks to precise, fingertip control, expansive visibility and outstanding comfort.

WIDER HORSEPOWER RANGE – FIVE MODELS FROM 424 TO 824 HP WIDEST FEEDROLLS – 33.5 INCHES LARGEST CUTTERHEAD – 34.5 INCHES WIDE, 28 INCHES IN DIAMETER STRONGEST BLOWING FORCE IN ANY CROP – REPOSITIONING VARIFLOW™ ACCELERATOR

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In Stock

MODERN FARM EQUIPMENT 320-352-6543

Hwy. 71 South, Sauk Centre, MN • www.modernfarmequipment.com Store Hours: Monday-Friday 8-5, Saturday Seasonal

Page 14 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 9, 2012

SWIFT COUNTY

DAIRY DAY

June 21, 2012 • 4-7 p.m.

• Open to the public • Grilled burgers & soft serve ice cream • Farm tours • Dairy princess candidates on hand

DIRECTIONS:

2 miles north of Kerkhoven, MN on Cty. Rd. 35.

The Holtkamp family and these dairy businesses invite you to come celebrate June Dairy Month with us.

Genex Farm Systems Melrose, MN

Michael Evenson

Contracting, LLC Kerkhoven, MN

320-264-3121

Kerkhoven, MN

320-220-3898

Dooley’s

Petroleum Murdock, MN

320-875-2641

Pennock, MN

320-366-3636

320-256-3276

Thonvold

S&S

Excavating

AG Technologies

Sunburg, MN

Pennock, MN

320-366-3677

DB

320-894-9450

DAIRYLAND SUPPLY INC. Sauk Centre, MN

320-352-3987

Plumbing and Heating Inc.

Benson, MN

320-843-4848

C

Don’s Building Center Kerkhoven, MN

320-264-3011

Page 16 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 9, 2012

From Our Side Of The Fence Why do you think dairy farming is a good career?

The “From our side of the fence” questions for June 9 stem from the following study done. The website, www.careercast.com, recently ranked 200 jobs for 2012 from best to worst based on physical demands, work environment, income, stress and hiring outlook. Dairy farming ranked 199 out of 200 – second worst on the list. We asked dairy farmers their thoughts on the subject.

Tom Jandt West Salem, Wis. La Crosse County 135 cows What are the challenges of dairy farming? One of the biggest challenges of dairy farming today is nancial.

The milk prices are so volatile and change so often, it is hard to project your income to cover expenses.

It makes it hard to plan for expansions, etc. The only way for us to make more money is to produce more milk. And more milk just oods the market and depresses prices, which then causes us to need to produce yet more milk, which just creates a vicious cycle. We sell a product at wholesale prices and have to buy all of our supplies and production needs at retail. Another challenge is nding and keeping good help. You have to be able to afford to pay higher wages to keep employees, and even then, they are likely temporary.

Why do you think dairy farming is a good career? Even though farming is a business and has to be run as such, farming is not a career choice: It is a lifestyle choice. It is a choice to live a certain way. There are no vacation days or sick days; there is no health insurance package; and the pension plan consists of being able to sell the farm when you are ready to quit. But the satisfaction of seeing your crops grow, your cattle ourish, and raising your family on the farm is what drives you to keep getting up and doing it another day.

What do you like best about your job? Probably the thing I like best about farming for a living is working for myself. However, being your own boss means that you are the one doing all of the worrying, as well.

How do you make dairy farming safe for you, your family and your employees? When working with large animals and machinery, you can never make it completely safe.

But through training and making safeguards available, you hope to mitigate the risk for all involved.

How has your perspective of dairy farming changed over the years? My perspective has changed the most in the area of my role in my farming business. I have had to become more of a manager than a farmer these days.

What has been your greatest success while dairy farming? My greatest success has been raising my family in the farming lifestyle and knowing that they have developed the work ethic, common sense and responsibility that seem to be missing in so much of society.

If you had to do it over, would you choose dairy farming as your career? I would choose dairy farming again because this is how I was raised and what I have always wanted to do. But I may do some things differently.

Rick Jopp Mayer, Minn.

Carver County 115 cows What are the challenges of dairy farming? Money management, keeping feed costs down, getting good forages and keeping somatic cell count down.

Why do you think dairy farming is a good career? You are your own boss. I like to produce a product for the consumers that is good and healthy for them. I enjoy it, it's a good career. I like working with the animals.

What do you like best about your job? I just love dairy farming. I didn't want to do anything else.

How do you make dairy farming safe for you, your family and your employees? We always make sure we have safety shields on. We're constantly reminding each other about safety and the do's and don'ts before we do certain jobs.

How has your perspective of dairy farming changed over the years? I wouldn't do anything else. I think you have to keep an open mind for the new technology that comes along. Try to keep up-to-date with new stuff. If it's better for the farm go with it.

What has been your greatest success while dairy farming?

Raising kids on a dairy farm is the best situation for my wife, Coleen, and I and our kids. It made them have responsibility and taught them to be caring for the land and the animals. Kids get a better perspective of life, have more self esteem and know how to work hard. It's been a good career, that's for sure.

If you had to do it over, would you choose dairy farming as your career? Yes, I have never done anything else. It's in my blood.

Tell us about your farm. Coleen and I farm here with our son, Ryan. We have 115 cows, and own 250 acres where we plant corn and alfalfa. We're currently building a nursery barn for our calves. Ryan is an employee on the farm. We will be the fth generation on the farm. He has been here since he graduated in 2005.

Tell us about your farm. We are the fourth generation of dairy farmers on this farm, which was purchased in 1889 by my great grandfather. Our son is farming with us and is planning to take over and perpetuate the family tradition. We currently milk 135 cows. We have our heifers custom raised. We raise our own feed, cash crop about 300 acres, and nish all of our bull calves.

Keith Forde Decorah, Iowa Winneshiek County 240 cows What are the challenges of dairy farming? The challenges are nding and keeping good help, getting the day to day work done, and having the time to take quality care of your animals.

Why do you think dairy farming is a good career?

It is not necessarily good for everyone. If you like working with livestock and nd joy in getting a cow to produce well, then it is a good career for you.

What do you like best about your job? I like working with crops and livestock, but I think the thing I enjoy the most is seeing the cows comfortable and producing well.

How do you make dairy farming safe for you, your family and your employees?

Having good, well-maintained equipment helps make it safer for everyone. We don’t keep a bull so we don’t have to deal with that. We make sure everyone is aware of the dangers on the farm.

How has your perspective of dairy farming changed over the years? When I was in high school I would have told you there was no way I was going to milk cows. I worked about a year and half in a hog operation, and then came back home and started dairying with my parents. I started buying into the operation. Instead of looking at it as work, I now see it as more of a challenge.

What has been your greatest success while dairy farming?

My children. I have enjoyed watching them grow up on the farm. It is fun to watch them do well in their activities, such as 4-H. If you had to do it over, would you choose dairy farming as your career? Yes, I would.

Tell us about your farm. We farm with my parents, Norman and Karen Forde, milking 240 cows three times a day in a Surge Autoow parlor. We grow corn, alfalfa and small grain for forage. We have three full time employees and part time help as needed. We do some custom chopping as well. My wife, Jody does farm bookwork for us and another farm, is a nancial secretary and does professional housecleaning. We have two children, Cody, 16, and Katey, 13.

They are both involved with 4-H and sports, and Cody is an FFA member.

John Huelskamp New Ulm, Minn.

Nicollet County 60 cows What are the challenges of dairy farming? Feed costs. Nobody raises hay anymore. It’s hard to buy good hay—you can’t get it like you’d raise it. You have to haul it from far away and hauling costs are high. And then there are labor shortages. It’s hard to hire anybody who knows how to milk cows. You have to teach them.

Why do you think dairy farming is a good career? It’s a challenge and I kind of like a challenge. It’s interesting—every day you have something different. The weather changes. Right now we have a lot of rain and water. Farming has changed a lot.

What do you like best about your job? I like to get up in the morning to get to work. I like the cows and the new calves—you’re always looking forward to a better cow when you get a heifer calf.

How do you make dairy farming safe for you, your family and your employees? We talk to our employees, telling them not to take chances, to shut off the tractor and the power takeoff. We tell new employees not to scare the cows when they’re milking, to take their time with machinery and with the cows.

How has your perspective of dairy farming changed over the years? It’s gotten a lot better.

When we started, we had cans, strainers, and a cooler. We pitched manure out of the gutter. Now we have a barn cleaner and tractors with cabs. Everything has gotten better. It was tough years ago. We put in a lot of hours with less cows then. We handled bales—we used to pile them six, seven, eight high.

I had my knees replaced. We don’t bale anymore.

What has been your greatest success while dairy farming?

Our cows are always getting better with A.I. Genex bought a bull from us. The bull made the grade on genomics, but got hurt so he had to be put down. It was nice to get one in, not everybody does.

We strive for milk quality. We’ve gotten AMPI milk quality awards.

We’re down to about 100,000 somatic cell count.

If you had to do it over, would you choose dairy farming as your career? I think so. I had a chance to go to college, but my dad said he’d probably sell the farm so I chose dairy. We had good people leading us – County Agent Fred Wetherill and good 4-H adult leaders. You look up to those people…that gets you going. I have no regrets.

Tell us about your farm. I took

Jim Hadler Goodhue, Minn.

Goodhue County 81 cows What are the challenges of dairy farming? Making a prot with everything so volatile is difcult.

Feed prices are up and milk prices are bouncing all over.

Why do you think dairy farming is a good career? I like guring out how to make things work and God knows dairy farming provides plenty of opportunities.

What do you like best about your job? There is always something new every day, despite the routine of twice a day milking. I like variety.

How do you make dairy farming safe for you, your family and your employees?

We stick to a regular time schedule so we can get some sleep. We also take Sunday afternoons off unless something is really pressing. In the past year I've broken two ribs when I slipped onto some cement steps and needed stitches when a tree whacked me in the head so I'm probably not an expert on safety.

How has your perspective of dairy farming changed over the years? We've acquired more land so the dairy isn't our sole focus.

What has been your greatest success while dairy farming?

I still enjoy the work.

If you had to do it over, would you choose dairy farming as your career? Probably. There are few jobs with as many chances to be your own boss and build something for yourself.

Tell us about your farm. My brother and I own about 700 acres and raise corn, soybeans, hay and small grains. We milk 81 cows and raise our own steers out for beef.

over the dairy when I was a junior in high school. I’m 74 now.

I farm with my brother Robert. I take care of the dairy herd. The herd averages over 20,000 pounds milk and close to 800 pounds fat.

We have 183 acres here and raise about 90 acres of alfalfa, with corn on the rest. We started a Charolais beef herd when Robert came back from teaching in the 1970s. We switched over to Limousin about 10 or 15 years ago. The beef herd is pastured on a 200-acre farm in the Brooten/Belgrade area.

Dairy Star • Saturday, June 9, 2012 • Page 17

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Dairy Star • Saturday, June 9, 2012 • Page 19

We salute all dairy farmers.

Special thanks to our customers for sharing their quality experiences.

June is Dairy Month—a time for celebrating the wholesome, delicious, nutritious dairy foods. It is also a time to appreciate and celebrate America’s dairy farmers, who work hard every day to provide care and comfort to their cattle as well as high quality milk and dairy products to consumers.

A commitment to quality care is the key ingredient for quality milk at Pigeon Cove Farms, LLC, Warfordsburg, Pennsylvania. They milk 275 cows, giving 80 pounds per cow per day with somatic cell counts (SCC) ranging 100 to 120,000. The Palmer family was unhappy with their past SCC levels, and they were tired of dealing with mastitis. So, they got proactive. They changed their equipment and improved their management. Udder Comfort became a tool in their quality toolbox, Lonnie Palmer reports.

“There is really nothing else that competes with Udder Comfort,” Palmer relates. “Our lead milker (top, right), applies it if he sees any swelling in a quarter.

We also rely on it to reduce edema in fresh cows.”

Jim Rickert also puts a high priority on quality.

“We feel it is very important to soften the udders and remove swelling quickly,” he says.

“These benefits of Udder Comfort are obvious. It’s a key part of our quality management.” Jim and his brother Greg own and operate Rickert Bros., LLC, which is home Jim Rickert and his son Andrew to their Rickland Holsteins. The 900-cow herd averages 28,000 pounds, with SCC consistently below 200,000.

“This past year, we’ve been using Udder Comfort on prefresh two-year-olds, starting a week before their due dates,” Rickert explains. “This alleviates the swelling. The udders are softer, attachments stay stronger, heifers are easier to work with, and overall milk quality is improved.”

For the McMahan brothers near Randle, Washington, Udder Comfort has been part of their quality management for two years now.

“It works better on SCC... Our SCC has been under 100,000 for three years, but last year we were able to get it down to 51,000,” explains William McMahan (pictured at left with brothers Ross and Jake). They own and operate Cowlitz Meadows Dairy 1 & 2, milking 50 cows at each location. Farm #1 earned the 2011 Gold Level National Dairy Quality Award.

“We start lactations with Udder Comfort. Cows have better udder condition, and they let their milk down better,” says McMahan. “Udder Comfort is an essential part of the good practices we use to keep our cows more comfortable and producing high quality milk.”

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For external application to the udder only after milking, as an essential component of udder management. Always wash and dry teats thoroughly before milking.

Visit our website at www.uddercomfort.com to see new product sizes and demonstration videos, including information about the new Udder Comfort Spray Gun. Or call for a free DVD.

Page 24 • Dairy Star • Saturday, June 9, 2012