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1 • Wednesday, May 3, 2017 - The Independent-Register
Brodhead
Independent• Register 608•897•2193
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2017
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Dairy families past, present speak to milk over-supply By Tony Ends
CORRESPONDENT
Rolling Hills Dairy Cooperative this week is adding two farms from nearly 75 producers Grassland Dairy Products cut April 4. Strunz Milk Transport of Brodhead was set Monday to pick up milk from the families for the 11-year-old Rolling Hills, which is based in Monroe. That’s the May 1 deadline Grassland gave the families to find new homes for their milk or face selling off their herds. “My husband Shane contacted at least 125 processors, cooperatives, cheese-makers,” said Jen Sauer, one of the two new Rolling Hills members. “He made a list and was contacting about 30 a day in a rotation. “The first week we got the news Grassland was terminating us was bad enough. The second week was even worse. By last week, every cow that freshened we were wondering if the last time we would milk her was coming,” she said, in a phone interview with the Independent Register last week. “I can’t express how grateful we are to Rolling Hills. This is something we love to do. I don’t think people understand that we can’t just move to something else. My husband is third generation on this farm. He started working in the dairy when he was 15, and his fa-
farm, was able to bridge a neighboring Grassland farm facing the same crisis to Rolling Hills. “I’m really glad to be with Rolling Hills,” that neighbor, Jon Powers of Columbus, said last Friday by phone. “It was such a relief. I’ve been milking on the farm since the 1980s. My dad Adrian is getting close to retirement age; he’s been here since 1967 – so 50 years. “As long as I’ve been milking, we milked 50 cows, and it’s always been profitable,” Jon said. “We never wanted to go to a huge scale. We always worked to improve the herd; we do that more with the type of cattle and milking qualities, beyond just quantity. “It really felt like we were getting pushed out by Grassland. I think something needs to be done about the over-supply of milk. We call it the milk pipeline. I don’t see any end soon to the expansion of big dairy farms within the industry. “ Adding the Sauer and Powers families to the cooperative brings Rolling Hills’ membership to 154 dairy farms. Their average herd COURTESY PHOTO Brodhead Independent-Register Jon Powers has been active in his family’s dairy farm near Columbus since the 1980s. He believes size is between 80 and 120 cows, small- and mid-size farms can still be profitable, but the nation must take steps to curb huge expansions according to Operations Manager Micah Ends, who met with the and deal with over-supply. two new families last week at their one hired hand to help them, the beans, mostly to feed their own farms. About 14 plants buy milk ther had to take a job off-farm.” Sauer Dairy Farm milks about family raises 100 acres of hay, 140 herd. See DAIRY, Page 8 Jen, who also works some off100 cows near Waterloo. With just acres of corn and 20 acres of soy
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