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“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 21, No. 1
February F b 23, 2019
Quality milk production while supporting research UW Marsheld Research Center wins NMC platinum award By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
MARSHFIELD, Wis. – Producing high-quality milk is a priority at the University of Wisconsin’s Marsheld Agricultural Research Station. The farm received a platinum National Dairy Quality Award designation at the National Mastitis Council’s annual meeting Feb. 1 in Savannah, Ga. MARS is a research facility owned by the University of Wisconsin and is home to 124 Holstein cows which are milked twice daily. Nancy Esser serves as the station superintendent and the herd manager. She works together with livestock supervisor Will Cordes to maintain the herd. This is the second time the herd has earned this designation, having won the award in 2016. “We were very pleased to learn that we received another platinum award,” Esser said. “We have pretty stringent protocols for everything, including cow comfort, animal care, calving management and milking procedures.” The milking and mastitis protocols followed at MARS are identical to those used at the other university dairy herd locations in Arlington, Wis., and on campus in Madison, Wis. All dairy protocols are designed by university dairy science staff and veterinarians. According to Esser, a large number of people milk Turn to RESEARCH | Page 7
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
Will Cordes (leŌ) serves as the Livestock Superintendent at the University of Wisconsin Marsheld Agricultural Research StaƟon (MARS) dairy, working with StaƟon Superintendent and Herd Manager Nancy Esser (right). MARS was named as a PlaƟnum recipient of the NaƟonal MasƟƟs Council’s NaƟonal Dairy Quality Award earlier this month. The facility is home to 124 cows near Marsheld, Wis.
Challenges faced, diversification embraced
Prahls receive Wisconsin Farm Bureau award By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
PHOTO SUBMITTED
The Prahl family (from leŌ) Lydia, Aubrey, Ryan and Warren received the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Agriculturist Achievement Award. They milk 140 cows near Wausau, Wis. Not pictured: Lindsey.
WAUSAU, Wis. – The challenges Ryan and Lindsey Prahl have faced have led them to believe that diversication is the right path to follow on their fth-generation Granite-Vu Farm near Wausau, Wis. The Prahls, along with their children Lydia, 8, Warren, 5, and Audrey, 4, milk 140 Holsteins, Red and Whites, Jerseys and a few Linebacks on their farm in Marathon County. They are expecting their fourth child in March. They farm
a total of 625 acres of land, both owned and rented. The Prahls were awarded with the Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s Young Farmer and Agriculturist Achievement Award during the bureau’s annual meeting in Wisconsin Dells in December 2018. Ryan is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Farm and Industry Short Course. Lindsey graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a degree in agricultural education. She spent 8 years working for the Farm Bureau before joining Ryan on the farm fulltime. In 2002 at the age of 19, Ryan purchased cows while working as a milk truck driver and part-time dairy farmer in conjunction with Turn to PRAHLS| Page 5