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Page 2 • Dairy Star • Saturday, July 28, 2012

DAIRY ST R www.dairystar.com

ISSN 020355 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave. Sauk Centre, MN 56378 Phone: (320) 352-6303 Fax: (320) 352-5647

Published by Dairy Star LLC General Manager/Editor/Sales Mark Klaphake 320-352-6303 (ofce) 320-248-3196 (cell) 320-352-0062 (home) mark.k@dairystar.com Ad Composition Janell Westerman 320-352-6303 janell.w@dairystar.com Nancy Middendorf 320-352-6303 nancy.m@dairystar.com Consultant Jerry Jennissen 320-346-2292 President Dave Simpkins 320-352-6577 davesimpkins@saukherald.com Staff Writers Krista Sheehan - Assistant Editor SE MN/NE IA 507-259-8159 • krista.s@dairystar.com Jennifer Burggraff 320-429-1084 jennifer.b@dairystar.com Ron Johnson 320-429-1233 ron.j@dairystar.com Ruth Klossner 507-240-0048 cowlady@centurylink.net

Online Editor/Online Sales Andrea Borgerding 320-352-6303 andrea.b@dairystar.com Advertising Sales Main Ofce: 320-352-6303 Fax: 320-352-5647 Deadline is 5 p.m. of the Friday the week before publication Sales Manager - Jeff Weyer (National Advertising, Northern MN, East Central MN) 320-260-8505 (cell) jeff.w@dairystar.com Mark Klaphake (West and South Central MN) 320-352-6303 (ofce) 320-248-3196 (cell) Laura Seljan (SE MN, Central WI) 507-250-2217 (cell) fax: 507-634-4413 laura.s@dairystar.com Jerry Nelson (SW MN, NW Iowa, South Dakota) 605-690-6260 (cell) jerry.n@dairystar.com Lori Young (Central MN) 612-597-2998 • lori.y@dairystar.com Lori Menke (Eastern Iowa, Southern WI) 563-608-6477 • lori.m@dairystar.com Deadlines The deadline for news and advertising in the Dairy Star is 5 p.m. Friday the week before publication. Subscriptions One year subscription $28.00, outside the U.S. $110.00. Send check along with mailing address to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378. Advertising Our ad takers have no authority to bind this newspaper and only publication of an advertisement shall constitute nal acceptance of the advertiser's order. Letters Letters and articles of opinion are welcomed. Letters must be signed and include address and phone number. We reserve the right to edit lengthy letters. The views and opinions expressed by Dairy Star columnists and writers are not necessarily those of the Dairy Star LLC. The Dairy Star is published semi-monthly by Dairy Star, LLC, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246. Periodicals Postage Paid at Sauk Centre, MN. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378-1246.

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Doug Lyons, Castalia, Iowa (Winneshiek County) 50 cows How did you get started in dairy farming? I grew up on a dairy farm. I worked at this farm and then the woman who owned the place passed away. I bought the farm from her estate in 2006. Please describe your farm. We milk 50 registered Holsteins in a tie stall barn. We own 100 acres and rent an additional 50, with a total of 140 acres tillable. We grow corn, oats, hay and we plant rye where we chop corn in the fall. The rye is a big part of our heifer feed. I farm with my wife, Lynnette, our son Michael, 18, who will be a senior in high school, and our daughter Carly, 21, who attends Upper Iowa University. When did you know you wanted to farm? I have wanted to farm all my life. What’s your favorite farm job? Milking. I know the cows’ actions and they know mine. I know every cow. What are some of your goals? Continue to breed and develop excellent Holstein dairy cattle. What’s your biggest challenge? Keeping feed costs down. What are you plans for the next ve years? Continue to grow good dairy cows. What are some of the other activities you enjoy? Showing cows, stock car races, high school and college wrestling. How are you dealing with the heat and lack of rain? We have been praying for rain and doing all we can to keep the cows cool. We have sprinklers over the bunk and put the cows back in the barn (with tunnel ventilation) when they are done eating. What is the story with your barn quilt? A few years ago, there was a bear wandering northeast Iowa and we were the rst around here to see it – It walked right through the yard. We put the “Bear Paw” pattern barn quilt up soon after that.

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Page 16 • Dairy Star • Saturday, July 28, 2012

From Our Side Of The Fence

A) Describe the moisture and crop conditions on your farm. B) What impact do you foresee the drought having? C) How does this drought compare to others you have experienced? D) Do you forsee any changes you will make? E) Tell us about your farm.

Judy and Brian Hazel Lanesboro, Minn. Fillmore County 250 cows Marty Tashner Cuba City, Wis. Grant County 139 cows A) Dry. The lack of moisture seems to be pretty much widespread – all of southern Wisconsin. Our soil conditions are pretty good in this area. Crops are hurting, but they haven’t started drying up yet. Good Lord willing, we may get a shower to help save ‘em. We’ve already chopped hay three times. Looks to me like fourth crop here is going to be a little thin if it doesn’t go dormant because of a lack of moisture. It is dry. B) It’s denitely going to be challenging to feed this amount of livestock without having to buy a whole lot of feed and putting yourself in a major debt position. It’s very possible that we might start cutting back (on animals). It’ll be a survival year, and I think it’ll be a survival year for every dairyman in the area. C) Believe it or not, I was through two droughts back in 1988 and ’89. Those just about broke us, because we’d just started farming and we had to buy a lot of feed. We only had 50 or 60 cows at the time. How I prepared for this, unfortunately, with the barn re, I lost a year’s worth of baled hay. I was trying to build up the supply the last couple of years. Basically, last year was pretty decent. Milk prices were high. You could see feed was on the rise, so I started buying a little extra hay. I bought some corn silage. As far as my silage conditions go, my bunkers are full and I have an extra bag on hand that I normally don’t have. I was planning ahead. It’s just a shame that a year’s worth of baled hay went up in ames. D) It’s my third drought, but I don’t see any real changes. I can tell you one thing from this drought, versus 1988: Back then they really didn’t have a drought-resistant (corn) variety. Your corn may look pretty poor. It does curl up during the day for a reason: to conserve moisture. It takes in dew, and we’ve been having some heavy dews. I don’t know if dew is

Jennifer and Justin Wolfe (shown with children, Janelle, Joette, Jorja and Janson) Waumandee, Wis. Buffalo County 50 cows A) The hay is suffering more than the corn. The corn still looks good, but who knows for how much longer. We had a hail storm on May 2 that hurt our rst crop. We ended up with half our usual crop. With the lack of rain, our second crop was below average and it doesn't look good for third crop. B) The pastures are all dried up, so the cows are not milking as much. We may have to buy some hay. If it doesn't rain soon, we may have to buy some corn. C) This is the driest I have seen. It is kind of hard to prepare for a drought. You do the best with what you have. D) We hope there are no lasting impacts. I am not sure we will make any changes at this point. We hope for a better fall and 2013 growing season. E) My wife, Jennifer, and I milk 50 cows on our 200-acre certied organic farm in Waumandee, Wis. We sell our milk to Westby Cooperative Creamery. We have four children: Janelle, Joette, Jorja and Janson. We have no major changes planned for the next year.

enough to pollinate it. E) My wife, Kitzie, and I milk 139 cows. We have an assistant, Brandon Oglesby. I guess our plans are to get our feet back on the ground after losing our barn, and getting through this drought. We haven’t started buying feed. I don’t even know if it’s available. I hope someone gets rain so they’ll have feed to sell.

Linda and Ted Tews Winona, Minn. Winona County 150 cows

Brigitte and Bill Connolly Bankston, Iowa Dubuque County 45 cows

A) As of July 18, there isn’t any moisture. We had .2 inch of rain about 10 days ago, then the same amount about three weeks before that. We’re thankful for that rain, but we need more soon. Our corn still looks ok, but it’s denitely short and curling up during the day. It’s just starting to tassle. The bottom leaves are just beginning to burn out. The beans are suffering more than the corn. Third crop hay was good for the amount of moisture that we’ve had, but fourth crop is not looking good. It’s not growing back.

A) Much like everyone else this year we are short on rain, although I think we've been a little luckier than the farmers in southern Wisconsin. As a result, our hay crops have been about half what they usually are. And, of course, the pastures have taken quite a beating. There isn’t much out there for a grazing herd so predictably we have seen a drop in milk production.

B) We don’t have a lot of grain to sell in the rst place, but the drought will probably mean less grain to sell this year. As for the hay, we’ll have to stretch that a little because the hay yields will be down with the fourth crop not growing in. We’ll have to adjust our rations this winter. C) I don’t ever remember it being this dry for this long. This is probably the worst I’ve experienced. My dad talks about 1964 and how a hay eld could be raked into one row, but I’ve never experienced that. Our pastures are brown now and we’re feeding more than we usually have in the past. We haven’t really done anything to prepare for this. We’ve just been praying a little more. D) No, I don’t think so. It just happens every so often. We’ve just been blessed year after year with good rain. E) We’re primarily a dairy farm, but sell some corn and beans. I farm with my wife, Linda, and our son, Isaiah, and his family. Another son, Jacob, also works full-time on the farm with us. All eight of our children help us with our corn maze. This will be our fourth year creating a corn maze. It will be in the shape of our church, Immanuel Lutheran Silo, in honor of the church’s 150-year celebration. We don’t have denite plans for the next year. We’re always talking about how we can improve the farm and incorporate the next generation.

B) Most years we buy a little hay and most of our shelled corn. Obviously, we will be buying a lot more hay and probably more corn this fall. We have already had to start feeding hay because the pastures are so short. With so many acres having gone into corn and beans I expect hay to be at a premium this year. C) We've had some dry years before but I don't remember so much heat coming at the same time. In the 20-plus years we have farmed together I don’t remember the hay crop being so short. I don't think one really prepares for a drought. In hindsight I suppose a person might have planted a bit earlier as those elds that went early look the best in our area. D) I'm not sure we will do anything different next year. The weather has been so volatile that it would be hard to predict what to expect in the future. E) Since our 2010 barn re, and addition of our son Will to the farming operation, we have been rebuilding and trying to improve our milking set-up. We converted from stanchions to a low cost swing-6 parlor which makes milking faster and much more enjoyable. We hope that the added cow comfort of freestalls (which we put in last summer) will help increase milk production and we are working to increase our herd size. We farm about 200 acres, and are certied organic.

A) We received over an inch of rain on July 24; however, before that, we received less than an inch in June and July. Our corn is still alive, but we have sandy spots that are dead. It is also shorter than normal. The beans aren’t really doing much. The rain helped. We got three cuttings of alfalfa and the fourth is all green. B) We’re going to be short forages. We have 270 heifers we usually rotationally graze. Currently we are feeding all but 70 of them. We’re using up our winter feed supply. We’ll sell some of our herd to make our forages stretch. We need to be more efcient with what we have. We have neighbors who are expanding so there are markets for the heifers. C) It’s similar to the 1988 drought forage-wise, but our operation has changed so much over the years it’s hard to compare the two. The grain supply is going to be short next year. To prepare we had to change our management style. For the grazing heifers, we tried to leave the grazing stubble longer in hopes it would come back sooner. We’re hoping we will be able to open CRP land so we can get some forages. D) It forces us to be better managers and broadens our thought process because were looking at different options. Nature is resilient and it will recover. We are planning to go to more cover crops and no till management because we’ve seen it through Extension and other research. Fields with these management styles are faring better in the drought than the conventional type. We’ll be doing this next year and hopefully in the years to come. E) In addition to the cows, we also crop 675 acres. Our only livestock enterprise is the dairy, but we sell some cash crops to diversify. In the next year, we’ll maintain what we have on the farm and try to gure out what we’ll do with the farm in the future and how our children want to be involved. Judy works off the farm full time. Two of our children, Amy and Adam, are involved on the farm on a parttime basis. Amy handles all the genetics and Adam does a lot with the machinery. Our other daughter, Amber, is starting her career as a large animal veterinarian in Worthington, Minn.

Dairy Star • Saturday, July 28, 2012 • Page 19

“... very effective and easy to use ...” — Cade Stanek

OUR-FAVORITE HOLSTEINS THE STANEK FAMILY, Fall Creek, Wisconsin 200 Holsteins: RHA 26,439 m 3.66% f 3.13% p SCC: 200,000 Cade Stanek, is a fourth generation dairyman at Our-Favorite Holsteins, founded by his father. The Fall Creek, Wisconsin dairy is home to the only *RC and *TV Goldwyn daughter of the All-American “Debutante” and full sister to Destry (Debutante’s popular son at ABS). Above is that cow: Scientific Gold Dish Rae-ET. She has 4/12 GTPI +1939, PTAT +2.96, UDC +2.1, FLC +3.05. The Staneks are milking seven of her daughters and market embryos worldwide.

“There are a lot of reasons to use Udder Comfort™,” says Cade Stanek of OurFavorite Holsteins, Fall Creek, Wisconsin. Udder Comfort is very effective and easy to use to get udders in shape, remove swelling, and bring out the crease and veining. It also helps us maintain a low somatic cell count for our premiums from the bottler.” Cade joined his parents, Todd and Mary, in the business after returning from the Univ. of Wisconsin in dairy science. They started expanding, and purchased the internationally known elite index Gold Dish Rae as a fall calf, along with other good cattle. Today they milk 200 cows with a 4th highest BAA in the U.S. for herds of 151-200 cows. “We use Udder Comfort on springers twice a day for 3 to 4 days. It gets the swelling out, makes them more comfortable and gets them going as quickly as possible.

“For some, we start a week before calving. The quicker I get udder quality to where it should be, the less likely the animal is to have mastitis or other udder problems. In May we freshened 19 heifers through this barn. We consistently used Udder Comfort and kept SCC below 100,000, with very few cases of mastitis. All three barns together average around 200,000.”

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Page 24 • Dairy Star • Saturday, July 28, 2012

CONGRATULATIONS!

To the Scott and Jessica Hingtgen Family on your new robotic dairy facility!

Scott & Jessica Hingtgen

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Dairy Star • Saturday, July 28, 2012 • Page 29

Easing milking time heat stress

A few weeks ago I was entering data into my computer at a dairy farm. Certainly not a very strenuous job! But at 95 degrees Fahrenheit with 53 percent humidity and a human heat index of 107.4 degrees Fahrenheit, sweat was dripping off my forehead. The human heat index is an indication of how hot it feels By Jeff Reneau when both temperaDairy Extension ture and humidity Specialist are considered. Just as I was beginning to feel sorry for myself, the cows were lining up in the holding pen to be milked, some already hufng and puffing. While I drove to the farm in air conditioned comfort, these cows had spent the whole day in the stiing heat and now were jamming into the close quarters of a holding pen to wait their turn to be milked. For them this combination of temperature and humidity represented a Temperature Humidity Index (THI) of 85. At these conditions, cows are not able to maintain normal body temperature (101.5 degrees Fahrenheit) and will have a drop in milk production of six to eight pounds per cow per day. A quick study of the heat stress charts for cows and humans (below) shows that cows are much more sensitive to heat stress than people. By the time we are just beginning to feel heat stress (80 degrees Fahrenheit with 40 percent humidity), the cows have been suffering for some time. Cows begin to experience heat stress when the THI reaches 68. Heat stress at milking time can be hard on both the cows and the milkers. How can we make it easier on the cows and people at milking time? What happens when a cow is heat stressed? • Dry matter intake declines. Rumen PH decreases and rumen fermentation is disrupted. • Milk production is depressed. • Water intake may increase up to ve times. • Key blood electrolytes are lost – sodium by increased urinary secretion, potassium through skin perspiration, and bicarbonate by hyperventilation. • Respiration rate of more than 60 breaths per minute (BPM) indicates heat stress.

• Body temperature increases. At a THI of 80 or above, cows can no longer maintain normal body temperature. Each 0.9-degree increase in body temperature results in a 12 percent decrease in conception rate. • Immune system is depressed. Yet during heat waves exposure to mastitis pathogens increases many fold. As a result, cases of clinical and sub-clinical mastitis increase. The rst rule in heat stress prevention is getting an early start! Routinely follow weather trends and begin heat abatement before a heat wave hits.

Bovine milking time heat stress prevention and rst aid • Reduce stocking rates in holding pens. Cows need more space to dissipate heat; reducing the cow numbers can help alleviate crowding. This will also reduce time spent away from feeding and resting. • Boost air movement in the barn or milking center. A minimum of ve mph air speed directed onto the cows is needed to accomplish cooling. In tie-stall barns, increasing air ow with tunnel ventilation has proven helpful.

Milker heat stress prevention and rst aid • Increased air movement (ve mph or greater) in the parlor is not only good

for the cows but essential for the milkers. During times of heat stress, if we expect milkers to up their game of cleaning and drying teat surfaces in order to reduce mastitis, then we need to be sure they are as comfortable as possible. • Provide a “cool one”… chocolate milk or Gatorade, of course. People working in heat stress conditions need to maintain their own uid and electrolyte intakes. When the human heat index is 90 plus, drinking a cup of uids every 30 minutes to maintain hydration is advisable. During very strenuous exercise in heat stress conditions, people can lose as much as one quart of perspiration per hour. • Heat exhaustion symptoms need immediate attention. Move the person to a cool place, have them lie down with feet elevated, and provide mechanical ventilation and uids to rehydrate. Heat stroke, where the individual has hot dry skin, body temperatures greater than 104 degrees Fahrenheit, rapid heart rate and dizziness, etc., is a very serious matter and requires immediate medical attention.

DAIRY COW TEMPERATURE HUMIDITY INDEX (THI) Temp °F 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 100 102 104 106 108 110

Humidity % 0 5 64 65 65 66 66 67 67 68 68 69 69 69 70 70 71 71 72 72 72 73 73 74 74 75 75 76 76 77 77 78 78 79 79 80 80 81 81 82 81 83

10 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84

15 65 67 68 69 70 70 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 80 81 82 83 84 85 86

20 66 67 68 69 70 71 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 82 83 84 85 86 87

25 66 67 69 70 71 72 73 74 76 77 78 79 80 82 83 84 85 87 88 89

30 67 68 69 70 72 73 74 75 76 78 79 80 81 83 84 85 86 88 89 90

35 67 68 70 71 72 73 75 76 77 79 80 81 82 83 85 86 88 89 90 91

40 67 69 70 71 73 74 75 77 78 79 81 82 83 85 86 87 89 90 92 93

45 68 69 71 72 74 75 76 78 79 80 82 83 85 86 87 89 90 91 93 95

50 68 70 71 72 75 75 77 78 80 81 83 84 86 87 88 90 91 93 94 96

55 69 70 72 73 75 76 78 79 81 82 84 86 87 88 90 91 93 94 96 97

60 69 70 72 73 76 77 78 80 81 83 85 86 88 89 91 92 94 95 97 99

HUMAN HEAT INDEX 65 70 75 80 85 90 69 70 70 70 71 71 71 71 72 72 73 73 73 73 74 74 75 75 74 74 75 75 76 76 76 77 78 78 79 79 77 78 79 79 80 80 79 80 80 81 82 83 81 81 82 83 84 84 82 83 84 85 86 86 84 85 86 86 87 88 85 86 87 88 89 90 87 88 89 90 91 92 89 90 91 92 93 94 90 91 92 93 94 95 92 93 94 95 96 98 94 95 96 97 98 100 95 96 98 99 100 101 97 98 99 101 102 103 98 100 101 103 104 105 100 101 103 104 106 107

Humidity % Temp °F 40 45 50 72 74 76 78 80 80 80 81 82 81 82 83 84 83 84 85 86 85 87 88 88 88 89 91 90 91 93 95 92 94 96 99 94 97 100 103 96 101 104 108 98 105 109 113 100 109 114 118 102 114 119 124 104 119 124 131 106 124 130 137 108 130 137 110 136

81 84 86 89 93 97 101 106 112 117 124 130 137

82 84 88 91 95 100 105 110 116 123 129 137

82 85 89 93 98 103 108 114 121 128 136

83 86 90 95 100 105 112 119 126 134

84 88 92 97 103 109 116 124 132

84 89 94 100 106 113 121 129

85 90 96 102 110 117 126 135

86 91 98 105 113 122 131

Stress threshold for lactating cows. Respiration rate may exceed 60 BPM. Milk loses begin ~ 2.5 lbs/cow/day. Reproductive loses are detectable and rectal temperature exceeds 101.3°F. Caution for people depending on age, exposure and activity. People may not feel heat stress until 80°F and 40% humidity. Mild to moderate stress for lactating cows. Respiration rates may exceed 75 BPM. Milk loses ~ 6 lbs/cow/day. Rectal temperatures will exceed 102.2°F. Extreme Caution for people depending on age, exposure and activity. Moderate to severe stress for lactating cows. Respiration rate exceeds 85 BPM. Milk loses ~ 8.7 lbs/cow/day. Rectal temperature exceeds 104°F. Danger for people depending on age, exposure and activity. Severe stress! Life threatening conditions for lactating cows. Respiration rates are 120-140 BPM. Rectal temperatures may exceed 106°F. Extreme Danger of heat exhaustion and/or heat stroke for people when working in these conditions.

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• Intermittent sprinkling of cows with water (for three to ve minutes every 10 to 15 minutes) coupled with circulating fans directed onto the cows helps turn the holding pen into an oasis to cool cows. • Fly control also reduces unnecessary stress, helping prevent the counterproductive heat stress behavior of bunching as well as the y defensive stomping that causes splashing of lower rear legs and udders. This will improve udder hygiene. Anything that keeps cows cleaner eases pre-milking cow prep. • Provide water in return alley or exercise lot spiked with electrolytes (“Gatorade” for cows). Early Florida studies (Collier et at., 1982) found that rumen concentrations of sodium and potassium were low in heat stressed cows. Since heat stressed cows markedly decrease feed intakes but do increase water intake, it seems logical that providing water spiked with electrolytes may help offset some of the electrolyte loss caused by heat stress.

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Page 30 • Dairy Star • Saturday, July 28, 2012

Growing imaginations I had a great childhood, even though I am sure at the time I complained of having to work too hard, like most farm kids do. I have so many great memories of working and playing together while we grew up. I am lucky to have grown up with four siblings, it makes games much easier to play, and was so much fun. Our parents trusted us to know where we could and could not go on the farm, which I Ramblings from the Ridge think greatly enhanced our creative experiences. They didn’t hover over us, which allowed us a great room to grow. My siblings and I were also blessed to grow up without an abundance of technology. My mom especially, understood that children need to play to learn and always gave us space and time to do By Jacqui Davison so. We were great pretenders, Columnist from reenacting a scene from a favorite story or something one of us came up with on our own, our imaginations were growing as fast as we were on the farm. We have a gigantic catalpa tree on the front lawn at the farm, that blooms with these sweet smelling white owers well after all the other trees have budded out. Dad would give us old tractor inner tubes to bounce on (no trampoline at our place) and those combined with the owers were the source of much creative play. Two tubes piled one on top of the other with a yellow blanket covering us up made a great tent. Then there was our rendition of ‘Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs.’ The Snow White of the day had to lie across the blanket-covered tire while the dwarfs placed catalpa owers all around her. Stacy, Peter, Thomas, and I would construct an obstacle course across the lawn, with anything that was considered safe to sneak away from the shed. I must have had a love of gymnastics at the time because I vaguely remember making

a balance beam out of blocks of wood. Bouncing on the tire was to knock the other one off of their barrel, but mind you and trying not to lose your balance, climbing monkey bars, these barrels are swinging at each other, and if you were staying on our homemade balance beam; denitely has the strong enough to use your legs the barrel may come ipping making of an Olympic sport. up in the air as well. Gladiator games farmer style! As luck Water ghts were nothing short of crazy when we were would have it, crazy as this sounds, I don’t remember any younger. The rule was that you had to wait until chores were of us falling off and having to go tell Mom what happened, all done; no one likes to work in soaking wet clothes. Once I guess we were just that good (or lucky). that last cow was fed, the milkers all in the milkhouse, The haymow swing was one of the simplest thrills on and the washer started, it was go time. Who needed squirt the farm. We would see if we could spin in circles without guns? We had calf pails, water hoses stretched out as far hitting the beams, how long you could hold on when you as they could reach, strip cups (remember those nice little were getting g g dizzy, y and who could swing back and forth usmetal cups?), maybe even emping i the beams to keep up your ty ketchup bottles and Hershey I remind There were years i d myself lf constantly l off momentum. syrup containers (they had pretwhen the hay was piled too high ty good range when they were how important it is to their for us to do much swinging, but full). There was always access learning that I let the boys then there were years when we to water, too. You could squeeze could climb up the hay bales and through the fence and reload concoct their own games and stand on the wooden seat of the from the cow’s water tank, run play creatively rough. swing and y through the air. to the house and use baby pool Thomas and Tony are infamous water, check the pen at the other ffor their building of hay bale end of the barn, and of course the h milkhouse ilkh hhadd an endd fforts andd the h thoughts h h to hhave their own hideout up in the less water supply. One of our most memorable water ghts peaked ceiling of the hay loft. was with the four of us older kids and Dad after chores one I remind myself constantly of how important it is to summer evening. We all piled in the milkhouse to ll our their learning that I let the boys concoct their own games water weapons up to prepare for another round of soaking and play creatively rough like we did growing up. ParticuDad, when he somehow blockaded us in the milkhouse and larly when I spy them out the barn window balancing on the shut off the main water supply. He made sure not to let us bars of the metal swingset reaching up as high as they can so out until he was lled and had some water on stand-by; four they can take the pieces down and change the position of the against one really wasn’t that fair until then. swings to their designs. I just take a deep breath and think I think our all-time favorite childhood game was one about how we played Gladiators in the shed, pray they’ll be that we invented ourselves. I believe it was our watching ne, and think this is only the beginning of their imaginaGladiators on TV that started the idea for this one. We man- tions at play! aged to tie 15-gallon drums to the rafters in the shed with Jacqui, her dad and brother milk 550 cows and run braided twine ropes just high enough off the ground for an- 1,000 acres of crops in the northeastern corner of Vernon other kid to stand beneath it. These two contraptions faced County, Wis. Her children – Ira (5) and Dane (3) – farm each other, a few rafters apart, out of the way of the equip- with her while her husband, Keith, works on a grain farm. ment, and our plans looked as though they might work. She loves to cook, quilt and garden and wishes there were With one kid on each barrel and their chosen sibling on the more hours in the day to get it all in. Farming and teaching ground being their pusher the game was ready. The goal others about farming are her passions.

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Page 32 • Dairy Star • Saturday, July 28, 2012

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We are celebrating life this summer. We are celebrating life journeys Just Thinking Out Loud as they begin and also as they end. We have been tting these celebrations in between the daily routine of summer chores and, thankfully, recent rains. It has been a relief to shut off the pivots for a couple of days. The recent rains combined with hot, humid days have created wonderful growing conditions for the alfalfa elds. The only problem is that it makes poor drying conditions for baling. The hot weather has also created extra work in keeping the sheds By Natalie Schmitt clean and dry for the youngstock. It is Columnist all a part of the extra summer work, but it is nice to be able to work together as a family. Everyone is pitching in and and I always knew they kept an eye helping so much this year. With boys as out for me. At his funeral, his son exbig and strong as Mark, they can put in plained that his dad very rarely said “I a man’s full day of work. We’ve always love you”, but his actions spoke louder told the kids that if they work hard, than his lack of words. He showed his they can play hard when they’re done. family his love every day by working to Fitting everything in has made us all provide and care for them. exhausted yet exhilarated to be in the Sister Justina and I celebrate our middle of such commotion and it isn’t birthdays together. We were born 10 even county fair week yet! days and 50 years apart, yet she made In June we had ten graduation par- me feel like I was her most special ties along the seven mile stretch of friend. It was her mission to show road that runs past our driveway. I was people they were always loved because teasing a couple of other families that she knew what if felt like to be alone. we should have just popped up a large Her life mission began when she was tent and pulled in a couple of port-a- orphaned at three weeks of age in New potties to the main intersection and York City. When she was 18 months had a neighborhood celebration for our old, she was placed on an “Orphan graduates. Instead we kept running into Train” heading west to Minnesota to each other every weekend. It was great be adopted by a family in Holdingford. to connect with neighbors again. We She was one of 200,000 orphans who have all come to the same conclusion. It were shuttled west from the east coast is amazing how fast our children are growing up and we We h W have b been fi fitting i iin aren’t that old yet! Besides all of the graduations, we are starting to cele- celebrations in between the brate the next phase of life for daily routine of summer chores several of our neighborhood kids. I was invited to a baby and thankfully recent rains. shower for my children’s rst baby-sitter. We were the 1854 b 5 and d 1929. rst family Carmen ever baby-sat for. between When she was of age, she became She was the youngest of nine children a Franciscan nun. She faithfully served and had very little experience with babies. Her rst time changing a diaper her community and God for 82 years. resulted in it being put on backwards. She served several parishes in central Jonathon survived, Carmen learned and Minnesota throughout her life. She was over time they grew up together. She once told that “she who loves to work is was the one I could call with only ve always on vacation. Since work was alminutes’ notice to come watch the kids ways a source of joy for her, she gured while I ran chopper boxes for the guys. she was on vacation most of her life!” It is strange to see her belly protruding We use to joke that is why farmers as she waddles across the room. The never left the farm, they were already large belly is due to the twins she is car- on vacation! I believe one reason Sister Justina lived to 100 years of age is berying. What a celebration! Once our kids were out of diapers cause she climbed three ights of stairs and Carmen had graduated, I started several times a day until last year. She to call the neighbor boys to watch the never stopped moving to let her body kids. With three little rough and tumble catch up with her age. She was truly farm boys, a male baby-sitter was logi- young at heart. Don and Sister Justina were of a cal. They loved having a “big boy” to generation who demonstrated their love wrestle with on the living room oor. for family and community by working Katie didn’t mind and seemed to jump to care and provide for them. As we right into the action as well. We will be celebrating Keith’s wedding in a cou- celebrate the end of their lives, may ple of weeks to a young lady we have our young graduates, parents-to-be and known her entire life. It is such fun to newlyweds work for their futures with watch two young people work togeth- the same focus, dedication and joy as er as they start to create their own life my two dear friends. Natalie, Mark and his brother, Al, journey. Schmitt farm together near Rice, Minn. While it has been fun celebrating They milk 100 registered Holsteins under beginnings, we have also been celebrating endings. I said goodbye to two the RALMA prex. Their four children are dear friends this past week. Don was a great help around the farm and are pushing survivor of the “Great Depression” and Natalie out of several jobs. Therefore she is WWII. He was a man of integrity and thankful to have something else to do. For very few words. He and his wife “ad- questions or comments please email Natalie opted” me when I moved to Minnesota at mnschmitt@jetup.net. CLIP AND SAVE

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Page 40 • Dairy Star • Saturday, July 28, 2012

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