Dairy Star, March 10, First Section, Zone 2

Dairy St rMarch 10, 2012Volume 14, No. 2

“All dairy, all the time”™

Dairy farmers who sell or-ganic milk have been receiving higher prices lately. On March 1, Organic Valley, La Farge, Wis., gave its farmer-members a pay increase of $2 per hun-dredweight. That’s on top of a $1 increase last August. Together, the two moves bring Organic Valley’s base price to $26.55. With premiums factored in, the national aver-age Organic Valley pay price is $30 per hundredweight, ac-cording to Eric Newman, vice president of sales. Another large player in the organic milk market, Horizon Organic, Broomfield, Colo., began paying its farmers $2 more on Feb. 1. That brings the nationwide average price Hori-zon Organic is offering also to $30, said Molly Keveney, the company’s communications director. Those moves are attempts at finding a delicate balance that encourages farmers to produce enough organic milk to meet demand, yet not over-produce or drastically under-produce. They’re also attempts to keep farmers in the organic fold, and not scamper back to conventional farming. In 2011, the relatively strong price for conventional milk – $20 or more – prompted some farmers to drop out of or-ganic production. They found they could make good money on regular milk, without hav-ing to pay sharply higher pric-es for organically grown feed. “We were running into some shortages,” said Kev-eney. “Feed costs have gone up 101 percent compared to last year.” Other costs dairy farmers face have also risen, though not as much. Keveney said fuel costs are up six percent from a year ago. A news release from Or-ganic Valley sums up the situ-ation thusly: “The year (2011) was not without its hardships, as feed and other input costs

Organic Valley, Horizon boost farmers’ pricesHigher base pay aimed at encouraging production, keeping farms in business

By ron johnsonStaff writer

Turn to organic | Page 5

Small changes, big resultsModest, gradual changes yield big dividends for Rybinskis

By jerry nelsonStaff writer

jerry nelSon/ dairy StarHired man, Tyler Nelson (left), along with Kevin and Brian Rybinski, make up the core of the work crew at Rybinski Dairy. A series of small improvements over the years has led to some big gains in their herd’s productivity. These changes include the installation last summer of a sprin-kler system and some additional fans in their freestall barn.Turn to ryBinski | Page 8

Results from our online survey,

“Should the Dept. of Labor restrict the jobs children under 16 can do on farms?”

Online at www.dairystar.com No

Yes Maybe4%

88% 8%

HENDRICKS, Minn. – Little things mean a lot, and small changes can make big differences. No one knows this better than Kevin and Lisa Marie Rybinski, who milk 83 cows and farm 410 acres near Hendricks, Minn., in north-western Lincoln County. Over the past year, the roll-ing herd average at Rybinski Dairy has risen substantially. “A year ago, our RHA was in the 17,000 to 18,000 range,”

KENYON, Minn. – Before any of Wayne Lexvold’s sons went into a wres-tling match, he gave them the same sim-ple words of advice: have fun and focus on one point at a time. “You can’t get the second point until you’ve got the first,” Wayne said. This advice turned into big success for the family, who now holds the re-cord in Minnesota for the family with the most wrestling wins – 712. Although the brothers – Nathan (22), Chad (20), Drew (20) and Mitchel (18) – were the ones on the mat, it was a family effort. Their dad, Wayne, coached them through elementa-ry school and at home, while their mom, Donna, and older sister, Shelia, cheered them on from the sidelines. “It wasn’t our goal to get the record … but we’re humbled,” Wayne said. Being a former wrestler, Wayne in-troduced each of his sons to the sport at about the age of 5 and started coaching them through elementary school. “Dad taught us a lot of what we know,” Drew said. Mitchel added, “He helped us with

Lexvolds master the mat Kenyon, Minn., family holds Minnesota record for most wrestling wins

By krista m. sheehanStaff writer

a lot of technique when we were younger. Then he would take us to tournaments for a weekend. He’d load up the van and ev-eryone would be there.” But the gym wasn’t the only place where the Lexvold brothers would prac-tice and compete. “If we weren’t working together at practice we’d work together at home,” Nathan said.

With coaching from their dad, the Lex-vold boys practiced on the mat they had in their basement or in the aisle of the barn during milking. “Even when we were at cow shows they’d be rolling around in the straw wres-tling,” Wayne said.

photo SubmittedThe Lexvold family now holds the record in Minnesota for the family with the most wrestling wins with 712. The family is pictured front row from left: Wayne and Drew. Middle row from left: Chad, Donna, Mitchel and Shelia. Back row: Nathan.

Turn to leXVolDs | Page 10

Page 2 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2012

Dairy profileDairy Profile brought to you by your North America dealers.Dairy St r

ISSN 020355522 Sinclair Lewis Ave. Sauk Centre, MN 56378Phone: (320) 352-6303

Fax: (320) 352-5647

www.dairystar.com

Rodney Boelke Cologne, Minn.; Carver County 170 cows

How did you get into farming? I have farmed with my dad since I was little. I’m in the process of buying the farm from my mom; my dad passed away five years ago. What do you enjoy most about dairy farming? It’s challeng-ing and there’s a lot of hard work. What advice would you give other dairy farmers? Hard work pays off. What has been the best purchase you’ve ever made on your farm? The skidloader and our liquid manure lagoon.What has been your biggest accomplishment while dairy farming? Reaching my goal of having enough heifer replace-ments. What are your plans for your dairy in the next five years? I plan to stay at the same numbers and try to keep improving the herd genetically. What is your favorite thing to do on the farm? I enjoy cut-ting hay. I like the smell of fresh-cut hay. What is your favorite dish using a dairy product? I like chili with marble jack cheese.What is your favorite tool? The electric grease gun. It gets grease distributed equally. When you hand pump sometimes you can’t get the zerks to take the grease. It’s a lot easier to grease machinery. How do you or your family like to spend time when you are not doing chores? We go to grade school and high school basketball games. We also try to take a three-day vacation every year. What is the best vacation you’ve ever taken? We went to the girls’ grade school basketball national championship in Val-paraiso, Ind., two and seven years ago.

DeadlinesThe deadline for news and advertising in the Dairy Star is 5 p.m. Friday the week before publication.

SubscriptionsOne 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.

AdvertisingOur ad takers have no authority to bind this newspaper and only publication of an advertisement shall constitute final acceptance of the advertiser's order.

LettersLetters 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.

Advertising SalesMain Office: 320-352-6303

Fax: 320-352-5647Deadline is 5 p.m. of the Friday

the week before publicationSales Manager - Jeff Weyer

(National Advertising, Northern MN, East Central MN)

320-260-8505 (cell)[email protected]

Mark Klaphake(West and South Central MN)

320-352-6303 (office)320-248-3196 (cell)

Laura Seljan(SE MN, Central WI) 507-250-2217 (cell)fax: 507-634-4413

[email protected] Nelson

(SW MN, NW Iowa, South Dakota)605-690-6260 (cell)

[email protected] Young

(Central MN) 612-597-2998 • [email protected]

Lori Menke(Eastern Iowa, Southern WI)

563-608-6477 • [email protected]

Online Editor/Online SalesAndrea Borgerding 320-352-6303

[email protected]

Published by Dairy Star LLCGeneral Manager/Editor/Sales

Mark Klaphake(West and South Central MN)

320-352-6303 (office)320-248-3196 (cell)

320-352-0062 (home)[email protected]

Ad CompositionJanell Westerman 320-352-6303

[email protected] Middendorf 320-352-6303

[email protected]

ConsultantJerry Jennissen 320-346-2292

PresidentDave Simpkins [email protected]

Staff WritersKrista Sheehan - Assistant Editor

SE MN/NE IA507-259-8159 • [email protected]

Jennifer Burggraff [email protected]

Ron Johnson [email protected]

Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2012 • Page 5

SALES HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 8:30 AM - 7:00 PM;

Sat. 8:00AM - 4:00 PM

SERVICE HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 7:00 AM-6:00 PM;

Sat. 7:00 AM - 1:00 PM320-845-2801 • 800-392-3426

34650 225th Ave. - Albany, MN 56307

ww

w.albanychrysler.com

ww


ww


ww


ww


ww


ww


ww


www.albanychrysler.com www.albanychrysler.com www.albanychrysler.com

www.albanychrysler.com www.albanychrysler.com www.albanychrysler.com

* All rebates and discounts to dealer. Auto Show bonus only available on Light Duty Trucks. Bonus ends March 23rd, 2012. All rebates and discounts subject to change without notice. See dealer for complete details.

New 2012 Dodge Ram 1500 Crew Cab 4x4

New 2012 Dodge Ram 2500 Crew Cab 4x4

Mineral gray, tow pkg., 20” rims, Mopar chrome side steps, locking

tailgate & more! T2008 MSRP $36,600AUTO SHOW BONUS &

TRUCK MONTH SPECIAL ONLY

$28,855*

Silver, tow pkg., tow mirrors, 17” rims, locking tailgate

& more! T2042MSRP $38,220

TRUCK MONTH SPECIAL ONLY

$31,853*

1500 Crew Cab 4x4

yy

2500 Crew Cab 4x4

Silver, tow pkg., tow mirrors,

Bids start now and contracts must

be signed before April 1st

Spring SaleSave up to 15%

Average installed price of a four wire Hi-Tensile fence with all wood posts is

$1.00 per footBulk-Post Sale Pricing4 - 5x8 CCA Treated Posts $6.25 (70 Count Bundles Only)

5 - 6x8 CCA Treated Posts $8.50 (50 Count Bundles Only)

6 - 7x8 CCA Treated Posts $12.50 (35 Count Bundles Only)

email [email protected] olsonfencingllc.com

Call For Free Estimates and Details

507-421-6934Give your woods that

park-like effect!

NOW ALSO PROVIDING:Low Impact Ground Clearing

Fence Line ClearingTree Stand Improvements

Underbrush ClearingOrchard RecyclingLogging Clean-Up

OlsonFencing

LLC

skyrocketed, which together with lost acreage and carryover issues from the recession and oversupply era caused a shortage in (the) organic milk supply…We recognize the challenge of high feed costs, and it is a major issue.” The additional money to farmers is having the intended effect, according to Newman. “[The the price increases are] going to stimulate more production,” he said. “We’ve got conventional (milk) pricing coming down. When conventional goes down and organic goes up, it’s going to stimulate more production. If anything, we kind of have a concern about what the spring of 2013 might look like, be-cause we’re always planning our milk supply about 18 months out.” Keveney said Horizon Organic’s higher pay prices are also working. Be-fore the increases, demand for the firm’s milk was outpacing supply by about 10 percent. But retailers were recently told that they will be able to buy “100 per-cent of what they want,” Keveney said.

Conventional: lower prices In Wisconsin, farmers’ February base price for conventional milk is expected to drop $1.10 per hundred-weight, to $18.40, according to the USDA. In January, Wisconsin dairy farmers got an average of $19.50 for that milk. A year earlier, in January of 2011, the average Wisconsin conven-tional milk price stood at $16.50. Across the United States as a whole, the price spread between organic and conventional milk is even wider. The USDA figured the February U.S. milk price at $17.90. That’s $1.10 lower than the January average. “All states are anticipating a de-crease in price from January to Febru-ary,” said the USDA. “Pennsylvania and New York are predicting the larg-est price drops, of $1.80 and $1.70 per hundredweight, respectively. Califor-nia, at $15.80, and Idaho, are expecting the lowest February prices.”

Price gap not new A price gap between convention-ally produced and organically produced milk is nothing new. But the sizes of the differences have changed over time. Organic Valley, which is a division of Cooperative Regions of Organic Producer Pools (CROPP), provided Dairy Star with numbers dating back 23 years. (See the accompanying graph). In 1989, the base price for conven-tional milk was $12.37 per hundred-weight, according to Ken Bailey, an economist at Penn State University. In ensuing years, Organic Valley’s base pay price for milk rose – and fell a bit – but pretty much trended continually higher. Prices for conventional milk, though, went through a series of peaks and troughs – what economists like to describe as “market volatility.” For example, late in 1998, the average price for conventional milk

was $14.20. But two years later it had dropped to $10.57. At the same time, Organic Valley’s base price was at $17.35 – or $6.78 higher. Fast forward to this year. Bailey’s number for conventional milk in 2012 is $17.70. That’s $8.85 lower than Or-ganic Valley’s base price of $26.55.

Dairyman: $24 or more Keith Wilson is part of a 300-cow organic dairy farm near Cuba City, Wis., in Lafayette County. He’s also a member of Organic Valley’s southern Wisconsin dairy executive committee. He figured he needs a base price of $24 or more to turn a profit in times like these. That break-even price varies from farm to farm, but Wilson said that overall, the present $26.55 makes his farm “sustainable.” Some organic farmers, said Wilson, cut back on feeding grain, because of its high price. He figured feeding eight pounds of corn per cow per day on his farm, instead of 12 pounds, might re-duce milk production four pounds. “If we did that throughout all of our 1,600-some producers, that’s a lot of milk,” Wilson said. Organic Valley uses a system of higher and lower base prices tied to the time of year. They’re intended to either discourage overproduction or encour-age more production, as the situation warrants. During the winter – Novem-ber through February – farmers are paid $2 more. Starting each March, that premium usually drops, since pastures are green-ing up and growing, and milk produc-tion is climbing. But this year, said Newman, the cooperative decided to leave the winter premium in place, in effect, boosting the base price $2. “What we planned for farmers overall for 2012 was a dollar per hun-dredweight (increase). But things were so difficult,” he said. Keveney said Horizon Organic will reassess the pay price and input cost situation at the end of June. “We’ll continue to monitor the marketplace to determine whether fur-ther action needs to be taken,” she said. Horizon Dairy buys milk form 555 farmers in 23 states, said Keveney. Sev-enty-five more farms are transitioning to organic production for Horizon. She described Horizon Organic as the “top-selling” brand in the U.S., with a 35 to 40 percent of market share. Organic Valley buys its milk from 1,687 farmers in 35 states and three Ca-nadian provinces. It bills itself as “the nation’s largest cooperative of organic farmers and a leading organic brand.” Despite the continuing organic milk price/production conundrum, Or-ganic Valley welcomed 212 new farm-ers last year. They’re in such states as Pennsylvania, Vermont and California and accounted for 12 percent member-ship growth.

Strum, WI | Cell 715-579-0531 1-800-323-2451

BEST FOOTINGCONCRETE GROOVING

Prevent costly falls before they occur We offer

grooving & scarifying DairyStar.cOm

Continued from organic | Page 1


www.langeagsystems.comWILLMAR, MN

Jct. Hwy. 12 & Hwy. 71 BypassMARSHALL, MNHwy. 59 N. • 507-337-2035

800-479-0243

LANGE AG SYSTEMS INC.

PARTS, SERVICE & RENTAL FINANCING AVAILABLE

New & Used Machines8’-12’ machines

10’-14’ truck dump

Silage Bags, Bunker Covers (up to 400’ wide - up to 1,000’ long),

Vapor Barrier (50’ & 60’ wide), Bale Wrap

LL

BAGGERS Modernizing your Ventilation System?

We’ve been designing systems for 32 years. From start to

nish, trust Lange Ag Systems to do it right the rst time.

By Don WickColumnist

Ag Insider House Agriculture Committee Rank-ing Member Collin Peterson says the dairy provisions for the new farm bill are ready to go. During the super committee process, House and Senate Agriculture Committee leadership completed a farm bill draft, but the plan was never publically disclosed. During a stop at the National Farmers Union Annual Meeting, Peterson offered in-sight into a provision to help generate sup-port for the dairy title. “At the last minute, we made a change that if you have less than four-million pounds of production, you’re going to get a substantially reduced rate for the margin insurance on that first four million pounds,” Peterson said. “That’s go-ing to offset the loss of the MILC program and that brought on board folks who were concerned about losing MILC.” As a result, dairy producers with less than 325 cows will see this benefit. “It’s not perfect, but it’s a lot better than what we have now and we don’t have any choice, we’ve got to change the dairy program and this is the best I’ve seen.”

Support seen for dairy proposal Minnesota Farmers Union President Doug Peterson said the farm bill proposal has been written behind closed doors. “I un-derstand you have to have a certain amount of that for negotiations, but people need to know because we’ve had too much of the failure in the dairy industry in the past with the valley being too deep.” Peterson said the provision highlighted by Minnesota Con-gressman Collin Peterson will help take care of the smaller dairy operations. “That dairy provision needs to go forward for us to have some stability in dairy country.”

MILC legislation introduced Vermont Senators Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders have introduced legislation to continue the Milk Income Loss Contract payment system at its current formula rate. MILC payments are scheduled to decline significantly in September. The bill would also renew authority for the MILC deficien-cy payments for another year. MILC is now scheduled to expire at the end of October.

No price collapse expected Dairy farmers have responded to high-er milk prices, adding more cows to their herds. Will that result in another price col-lapse, similar to what was seen in 2009? USDA dairy economist Milton Madison says no. “Our increase in the dairy herd is not quite as strong as 2008 and we saw a

substantial drop in 2009 that we aren’t ex-pecting for 2013,” said Madison. “We’re probably going to avoid that big drop that happened last time.”

Land O’Lakes year-end financials re-leased For fiscal year 2011, Land O’Lakes earned $182 million, a two percent improve-ment over 2010. Net sales hit a record $12.8 billion, up 15 percent. The Land O’Lakes seed and agronomy business saw a slight drop in earnings, but sales were up by ten percent. Net earnings for the feed business unit were hurt by unrealized hedging losses, but sales increased nearly 20 percent. The Land O’Lakes dairy division reports sales of $4.3 billion, up 17 percent from the pre-vious year. The dairy division’s pretax earn-ings of $28 million were down 44 percent from one year earlier.

AFBF commodity committees meet in California The American Farm Bureau Federation Commodity Advisory Committees met in late February to discuss commodity-specif-ic issues. Dean Christopherson of Nobles County represents Minnesota on the AFBF Dairy Advisory Committee. Peter Bakken of Rock County is on the AFBF Hay and Forage Advisory Committee.

New WDE facility has a new name World Dairy Expo has given naming rights to New Holland for its new facility. The New Holland Trade Center is a 26,000 square foot indoor exhibit area and is the largest new exhibit area at WDE since the Exhibition Hall was opened in 1995. The new space will have room for 130 booths.

(218) 346-7487 Mike Butenhoff (701) 367-5722

Jerry Kunza (701) 367-7816Joseph Doll (701) 238-6666

J & L Nutritional ConsultingCONTACT:

Hay Max Buffered Propionic AcidBale Green Hay, Not Brown Stems!

68% Propionic Acid Bale hay at Higher Moisture for

Higher Feed Value Consistent Results 30% Higher Leaf Content More Protein Per Acre Mold Control Bale Any Time of Day Bale as high as 30% moisture Available in Barrel, Tote, and Bulk!

Forage Inoculants for corn silage, haylage, and baylage are designed to…

• Minimize Shrink • Maximize Dry Matter Intake• Longer Bunk Life

• Improve Performance• Maximize Nutrients• Greater Animal Performance

SCI ENSILE – An all-purpose bacterial inoculant to aid fermentation of grass or legume silages, corn silage, and HM grains

SILE TECH CS – A bacterial inoculant to aid fermentation of corn silage, earlage, snaplage, and high moisture grains.

AVAILABLE IN DRY OR LIQUID FORM.

Stray Voltage ConsultingOver 30 years of experience

605-695-3328 or email: [email protected]

STOP THE

SHOCKS

STOP THE

SHOCKS

“I didn’t even think we had stray voltage!”

Roger Lange milks 100 head on his family dairy at Crofton, Nebraska. Until recently he was often forced to sell his fresh heifers because they wouldnʼt let down their milk. “We called Stray Voltage Consulting, and Jerry found the problem within half an hour.” Roger said. “I was very impressed with Jerry. He’s a former REA guy, so he understands both the farmer and the electric company. Being able to work with both sides is a key component to his success.” “I haven’t had a single problem with our fresh heifers since Jerry corrected our stray voltage problem. I would highly recommend Stray Voltage Consulting to anyone who thinks they might have stray voltage!”

You've got it!

SombodY wantS It!sell it in the

Peterson sheds light on Farm Bill dairy provisions

Turn to ag insiDer | Page 7


It’s been a long time!

Phone Orders: M-F: 8am - 5pm Melrose Store Hours: M-F: 8am - 7pm SAT: 9am - 5pm SUN: 9am - 2pm

Glencoe Store Hours: M-F: 8am - 4:30pm SAT and SUN: CLOSED

Melrose Office: PO Box 219 | 222 E Co Rd 173 | Melrose, MN 56352 | 800/996-3303 Glencoe Office: 2712 9th St E | Glencoe, MN 55336 | 877/864-5575

It’s been a long time!It’s been a long time!

Albon Bolus & Ceftiflex

Are Back!

Product*Cost of Bottle

Cost per cc

Durationcc per 100 lb

Cost/100 lb/Duration

Ceftiflex $50.99 $ .64 1 day 1.5 cc $ .96

Excede $170.49 $1.71 7 days 1.5 cc $ .37

Excenel $69.49 $ .70 1 day 1.5 cc $1.05

Naxcel $64.95 $ .81 1 day 1.5 cc $1.22

Case 6/50 Count

$211951/50 Count

$23795Each Each

Case 6/Bottles

$50991/Bottle

$5699Each Each

Ceftiflex 4 gBroad spectrum cephalosporin antibiotic for treating bovine respiratory disease complex in cattle. Ceftiofur sodium equivalent to 50 mg ceft-iofur per ml. No milk withdrawal period.

Albon Bolus 15 gTreat foot rot, bacterial pneumonia, shipping fever and calf diphtheria. Convenient dosage form of sulfadimethoxine. Dose: 15 gm/1 tablet per 600 lbs on first day. Reduce dose to half after first day.

The ONLY oral sulfa that can be used on

lactating cows.

Contact Don for all your ventilation needs! 800/996-3303

Schaefer’s narrow profile, fiberglass housing exhaust fans are designed to exhaust maximum CFM’s at high static pressure. Moves up to 35,000 cfm in free air!

CUSTOMER CARE ORDER LINE

877/608-3877We bring Value to your dairy!

Lely Robotic Dairy Tourmarch 21st or 22nd

Thinking On How To Improve Your Cows’ Performance?

We have the solution. Take a tour with Stearns Vet Outlet and see how dairy farmers have improved their business by using the Automatic Calf

Feeder and the Astronaut A3 Next Robotic Milking System.

Call Stearns Vet Outlet for all the details and to reserve your spot today! 800/996-3303.

Limited to 20 people per day/Lunch provided.

It’s Not Too Early To Start Thinking About Fans!Start Thinking About Fans!

57” Exhaust Fan

* Based on Stearns Vet Outlet and Pharmacy’s best price.

Day asked to judge at WDE World Dairy Expo has named its slate of judges for 2012. Included on the list of 16 judges is Curtis Day of Burnsville, Minn. Day will be the official judge for the Inter-national Brown Swiss Show. World Dairy Expo will be held October 2-6 in Madison, Wis.

AURI has new communications director Amanda Wanke is the new commu-nications director for Minnesota’s Agricul-tural Utilization Research Institute. Previ-ously, Wanke held a similar post at Bethel University, St. Paul. Wanke also served as a press secretary to former Congressman Gil Gutknecht.

MAELC leader heading to Indy Julie Tesch, who now serves as the ex-ecutive director of the Minnesota Agricul-tural Education Leadership Council, has ac-cepted a job with the National FFA Alumni Association as its new executive director. Tesch will relocate to Indianapolis, effective May 1.

Mortenson honored Natasha Mortenson, who is an agri-cultural instructor and FFA advisor at Mor-ris Area High School, Morris, Minn., is one of five teachers nationwide to receive a national ag literacy teaching award. The USDA National Institute of Food and Ag-riculture and the National Agriculture in the Classroom organization recognized Mortenson for her ‘Agriculture in the City’ project. This mentoring program partners her high school FFA students with inner-city students in Minneapolis. This program reaches nearly 1,000 metro students each year.

Muehlbauer is new department head The University of Minnesota plant bi-ology department has a new department head. Gary Muehlbauer replaces Kate VandenBosch, who is leaving the ‘U’ to be-come agriculture dean at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Muehlbauer is a pro-fessor of agronomy and plant genetics and conducts research on molecular genetics for wheat and barley. Muehlbauer has been part of the University of Minnesota plant genet-ics department since 1997.

Kubly passes Minnesota State Senator Gary Kubly, 68, has passed away. Kubly was elected to the House in 1996 and the Senate in 2002. Kubly, who lived in Granite Falls, was a ranking minority member of the agriculture committee.

Trivia Challenge Before taking over as Minnesota’s agri-culture commissioner, Dave Frederickson was the agricultural liaison for Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar. Frederickson is also a past president of the Minnesota and National Farmers Union organizations. That answers our last trivia question. For this week, what is the beef checkoff rate? We’ll have the answer in the next edition of Dairy Star. Don Wick is a partner and broadcaster for the Red River Farm Network, based in Grand Forks, N.D. He was the 2004 Nation-al Farm Broadcaster of the Year. Don and his wife, Kolleen, have two adult sons, Tony and Sam, and two grandchildren, Aiden and Piper. Don Wick can be reached at [email protected].

Communicate, coordinate and cooperate and organize as fellow producers and speak with one voice. In the last few years when reading articles about situations when groups such as PETA, Humane Society of the United States, and Sierra Club have criticized methods that food producers utilize in production agriculture, this how we are advised to respond. I seem to have the same "bad feeling" int he pit of my stomach that I had in February 2009 in regards to the dairy economy. Would it be good advice to utilize the same dynamic in addressing this cur-rent economic adversity? Whenever food producers suggest that they organize for economic benefit (better prices), we are told, "It will never happen." That is not necessarily true. Cranberry growers, almond growers, orange growers and organic dairy farmers are already using the marketing agency in com-mon concept to put themselves in a position of economic stability. It is working for them. How is this accomplished? Communicate, coordinate and cooperate. This is the challenge for the conventional dairy industry in addressing the re-peated cycle of milk price volatility. It might be worth considering when compar-ing food systems in different parts of the world over the whole of human history, that the U.S. is unique in respect to their broad based diverse ownership of land, livestock and food producing infrastructure. However, when considering the loss of 600,000 dairy producers over 30 years, the vertical integration of the pork and poultry industries and the increasing size of grain operations, I would suggest we are losing that ownership capacity. I would not argue the fact that it is driven by technology to some degree. However, we will never know how many producers have been forced out of business for reasons of economic instability. Once the human element has been removed from the land, one cannot snap their fingers and put them back despite whatever negative social consequences might ensue. Communicate, coordinate and cooperate.

Ron KliebersteinDarlington, Wis.

Dairy Letters

Letters to the editor Dairy Star Newspaper welcomes letters to the editor. Every letter for pub-lication must be 500 words or less, contain the author’s signature, address and telephone number. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and brevity. Letters can be mailed to Dairy Star, Letter to Editor, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378 or e-mail: [email protected].

Continued from ag insiDer | Page 6

Communicate, coordinate and cooperate


23661 Hwy 4 • Lake Henry, MN 56362320-243-7411

www.lakehenryimplement.com

OPEN HOUSE & Customer Appreciation Day!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012FEATURING THESE NEW PRODUCTS!

Come and see the new Massey Ferguson 7600 Series tractor and the new Massey

Ferguson 8600 Series Tractor with e3 technology, H&S introduction of the all new

Action Rake off ering even more capacity, MacDon’s redefi ned M Series SP tractor

off ering even more options, & Finally, come see our new line, the Fantini chopping corn

head, along with many more products.ucts.

COMPANY REPRESENTATIVES ON HAND FOR QUESTIONS

Lunch served from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Save 10% on all cash in-stock parts purchases over $50 for the month of March, 2012 (Except twine, oil & tires)

1660 Jordan West Rd., Decorah, IA

563-382-4484

See us for your FarmStar drag hose equipment needs!

Farm Star Booster Pump, 600 hrs. - $45,000

‘02 Houle 6300 gal. tank - $38,950Balzer 4800 gal. tank $21,000

New 500 & 615 truck mount vert. mixers on 8100 IH truck

www.brynsaas.com

• 3) 9’ 3 pt. 6” Super pump• 2008 8’, 8” 3 pt. super pump• ‘10 52’ 6” Houle Agi wall walker• 3) 8’ 3pt. 6” Super pump• 2) Farm Star engine units w/Cornell pump• 8’ Calumet trailer pump

NEW Houle 4800 rental tank at reduced price

Houle 4300 gal. tank $32,500

• 2) Knight 5127 vert.• Knight 3450• Knight 3142• Knight 3042• LuckNow 220 stationary

• LuckNow 475• Patz 500 vert.• Oswalt 420 truck mount• Oswalt 250• NDE 1552

USED MIXERS:

BEDDING CHOPPERS: Wic & Goosen

• 2) Jamesway 7200 gal.• NEW Houle 4800 gal.• New 7300 Houle• ‘03 7300 Houle• ‘02 6300 Houle

• ‘06 7300 Houle• 2) ‘08 Houle 7300 ga., 6 disc w/fl o meter• Balzer 6000

TANKS: MANURE PUMPS:

Continued from ryBinski | Page 1

jerry nelSon/ dairy StarA change made a year and a half ago at Rybinski Dairy involved switching to sand. They previously used mattresses bedded daily with straw.

Turn to ryBinski | Page 9

29033 County Road 17 • Freeport, MN 56331

320-836-22841-888-276-1751

www.strosalumber.com

ST. ROSALUMBER INC.

Traditional good looks...hidden strengths... easy, cost-saving installation.

877-337-3870

• Dry Shavings/ Sawdust• Green Sawdust• Bagged Animal Bedding

BULK ANIMAL BEDDING AVAILABLE!

Great Products. Great Service. Reliable Delivery.

Kevin said. “We’re now bumping up against 25,000.” The small changes started in their 78-stall freestall barn, which was built in 1998 when Kevin graduated from high school and joined the operation full-time. The stalls, originally outfitted with mattresses, needed attention. “After more than ten years of use, the mattresses were shot,” Kevin said. “We wanted to make some changes, but we first checked into a bunch of differ-ent options and consulted with the Ex-tension Service. In the end, we decided to go with sand bedding.” “Cow comfort was our top consid-eration,” said Lisa Marie of their deci-sion to switch bedding. “We have also found that our somat-ic cell count is much easier to control

when bedding with sand,” Kevin said. “The sand isn’t free, but the increased cow comfort alone is worth it. The de-creased SCC is a bonus. Our SCC ran in the 300,000 to 400,000 range when we had mattresses and bedded them every day with straw. Our most current SCC was 110,000.” While the switch to sand bedding made a substantial difference at Ry-binski Dairy, another issue they were forced to deal with was stray voltage. “We suspected that something was going on regarding stray voltage so we called Jerry Lush, who confirmed that we had a problem,” Kevin said. “It took about a year, but he finally got our elec-


(800) 570-8205www.MillerLoader.com

• Solid Plate Lift Arms• Greaseless Pivot Pins• Available for Most Tractor Models• Full Range of Available Attachments

Heavy Duty Push Blades• Excellent for silage or dirt work• Reinforced construction handles high-HP tractors

Models to t Miller, John Deere, Case, New Holland, McCormick, AGCO, and others

MUELLER SALES & SERVICEGlencoe, MN • 320-864-3556 OR 888-205-0974

THE MILK COOLING SYSTEMS SPECIALISTS™

Russ PiersonSALES & SERVICE

THE MILK COOLING SYSTEMS SPECIALISTS

We help dairies operate more

profi tably!

www.winklercanvasbldg.com

THE HOOP BARN PEOPLE

NELSON’S AGRI STRUCTURESDean Nelson • Grove City, MN • 320-857-2633, Cell 320-699-3297

RIVERSIDE HOOP BARNS, INC.US Hwy. 75 At IA/MN Stateline • Steen, MN

507-392-2870 • Fred A. Tilstra & Sons

LANGE CONSTRUCTION & CONCRETEDuke Lange • Swanville, MN • 320-290-0859

WE ALSOSELL REPLACEMENT

TARPS!

Commercial Agri Buildings Single and Truss Arch available

from 20’-120’ wide 8-14 Gauge Gatorshield® in our buildings

Heaviest gauge steel in the industry

Pre-engineered truss buildings

DAIRY, MACHINERY & HAY STORAGE

ASK US ABOUTGOVERNMENT FUNDING FOR HAY STORAGE

Continued from ryBinski | Page 8

jerry nelSon/ dairy StarLisa Marie and Kevin Rybinski have a son, Ryker, who is 6 months old. Having a baby has rein-forced the importance of family time for the Rybinskis, who have a goal to spend more quality time with family.

“A year ago, our RHA was in the 17,000 to 18,000 range. We’re now bumping up against 25,000.” – KeVin RyBinsKi

tric supplier to install a neutral isolator and that cleared things up.” Another recent change had to do with their milking sched-ule. “About a year ago, we tried milking three times a day on an experimental basis,” Kevin said. “We hoped that it would improve production, but we were also motivated by the number of cows that were leaking milk.” While milk production didn’t take an immediate jump, the Rybinskis noticed one marked improvement. “The cows weren’t hauling those big, heavy udders around anymore,” said Kevin. “They seem more comfortable being milked three times a day. Plus we now spend more time ob-serving the cows.” The Rybinskis milk at 6 a.m., 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. It takes one person about 2.5 hours to complete a milking in the double-6 parabone milking parlor, which was constructed the same time they added the new freestall barn. “When we started milking three times a day, one of our goals was to ensure that we all got to spend quality time with our family,” Kevin said. “Hav-ing a baby has reinforced the importance of family time.” Kevin and Lisa Marie have a son, Ryker, who is 6 months old. “I helped with milking and chores until I was nine months pregnant,” said Lisa Marie,

who grew up on a dairy farm near Elkton, S.D. “Becoming a mom is the best thing that ever

happened to me, but I some-times miss being out there and working with the cows.” Kevin’s nephew, Brian,

also works at Rybinski Dairy along with another employee, Tyler Nelson, who has worked

at Rybinski Dairy for four years. Kevin shares equipment, and works back and forth with

his brother, Kenny, who lives nearby and runs a stock cattle operation. Rybinski Dairy also made some tweaks to their ration over the past few years. “We began adding Rumen-sin to our ration,” Kevin said. “And two years ago, we went to processed corn silage. We hire all our chopping anyway and it’s well worth the extra expense to have it processed.” The Rybinskis bag all of their forages. They also bag

high moisture corn, which is first processed through a roller mill. One thing that the Rybin-skis haven’t changed over the years is their breeding pro-gram. “Our herd is currently about two-thirds Holstein and a third crossbreds,” Kevin said. “In another year or so, it will be about 50 percent crossbreds.” Rybinski Dairy has been using a crossbreeding program for many years. With a herd that’s bred 100 percent AI, they have been crossing their Holstein cows with Jersey, Ayrshire, Guernsey, and Milk-ing Shorthorn bulls. They are currently adding Swedish Red and Norwegian Red bulls to their lineup of herd sires. “I think that the crossbreds have fewer health problems,” Kevin said. “They have better vigor than purebred Holsteins and breed back easier. Their higher milk components are also important to us. We even have one Dutch Belted cow. She’s one of our best cows, but she keeps on having bull calves.” The changes at Rybinski Dairy have been both modest and gradual, but their cumu-lative effect has rewarded the Rybinski family with some big dividends. “When you operate a small dairy farm you have to make small, incremental changes,” Lisa Marie said. “But every little bit helps.”


P e t e r s o n M o t o r sNew Ulm, MN • 507-359-4209

STOCK & HORSE TRAILERS

VARIETY OF FLAT BEDS• Kiefer alum. & steel 16-24’s• Kiefer GN 24’, excellent• Hart 24’ horse trailer, like new• 7) GN fl at beds, 25 - 32 ft.• 4) 12-16 & 24 ft. cargo trailers• 2) 18 ft. bed over fl at beds• 3) Skid steer trailers, 14,000 & 16,000 lbs.

KIEFER BUILT

TRAILERS “NATION’S

BEST VALUE”

“WE HAVE THE TRAILER

FOR YOU”

RepairedOr New!

TO YOUR SPECSAlso Manure Augers, Belt Conveyors, Hammer Mills

WINONA ATTRITION MILL 507-452-2716 • 800-429-2716

tfn

AUGERS

Hydrostatic & Hydraulic Repair

Skidsteer Attachments For Sale

320-634-4360www.stoens.com

16084 State Hwy. 29 • Glenwood, MN 56334

• Repair & Sales• Troubleshooting• Hose Assemblies

• Design• Service Calls • Cylinders

Toll Free 866-634-4360

22770 TRUMAN ROAD, DARLINGTON, WI 53530

Weaver Feeding & Management, LLC

Tom Weaver, CCA, Dairy NutritionistDirector of KOW Consulting Association

2010-11 PRESIDENT OF WI ASSOC. OF PRO AG CONSULTANTS

Phone: 608-762-6948 Fax: 608-762-6949 • Mobile: 608-574-0101

www.kowconsulting.com e-mail: [email protected]

Swede’s Service CenterSee our website for complete listingswww.swedesservice.netMinneota, MN 56264507-872-6206

Call and ask for a competitive price on your next new Bobcat equipment purchase.

The next issue of the Dairy Star is published March 24thAdvertising and news deadline is Friday, March 16th

The Lexvold family milks 80 cows on their farm near Kenyon. Each of the five siblings had to do chores in the morning before school and after school when they didn’t have practice. All the brothers said working on the farm is part of what made them successful wrestlers. “Farming is a lot of hard work … it’s not only being physically strong, it’s being mentally strong knowing you have to get up at 5 a.m. and get chores done. The same is for wrestling when you need to cut weight or run another mile to get in shape,” Nathan said. Although their chores – including stack-ing bales, hauling water and feeding the animals among many others – made them strong, Chad agreed the strength they gained was more than physical. “Growing up on a farm you had to deal with hard stuff. It taught me and my brothers how to work hard and push through hard times,” he said. This never-quit attitude carried with them to their varsity careers. Being the oldest of the brothers, Na-than led the way, starting for the Kenyon-Wanamingo High School varsity in seventh grade. The other three followed in a similar fashion, each reaching varsity in eighth grade. In 2008, both the school’s wrestling team and the Lexvold family reached a milestone. It was the first time the team had made it to the state tournament in school history, and all four Lexvold brothers wrestled together on the same team – Nathan as a senior, Chad and Drew as sophomores, and Mitchel as an eighth grader. “It was cool to have my brothers on the team. That was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done,” said Nathan, who also claimed the state champion title that year and finished with a high school record of 186-47. Being the youngest, Mitchel said it was nice hav-ing family around. “It was hard to go through a whole wrestling sea-son so it was nice that your family was there and knew what you were going through,” he said. Nathan went on to Augsburg College to wrestle and is currently in his senior year double majoring in business management and accounting. When Chad and Drew reached their senior year, they also finished at state level. Drew placed first both his junior and senior year, and ended his high school career with a 180-22 record while Chad took second at state his senior year and finished with a 134-40 high school record. Drew attends and wrestles for Minne-

sota State University, Mankato, and is studying me-chanical engineering while Chad is at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Although he has not declared a major yet, Chad is thinking about pursuing biology. Mitchel ended the Lexvold family’s high school wrestling career with a 212-24 record along with two state championship titles – one his junior year and one this year as a senior. “It was a good way to end a legacy,” said Chad, who cheered Mitchel on with the rest of his broth-ers during the state tournament at the beginning of March. Mitchel would like to wrestle in the future, but has not yet made a decision about where he will at-tend college. Even though the brothers won at state, they were not exempt from chores during their glory days. “The first year, when Nathan won, he still woke up at 5 the next morning and did chores so we could get to 8 a.m. church. There was no preferential treat-ment,” Wayne said about the Sunday after the state tournament. “He (Nathan) told me I had to make sure the rest of his brothers do chores in the future if they won. And they did.” In the future, each of the brothers hope to some-day be a wrestling coach or stay involved with the sport in some way. Whether they do or don’t, they can at least look back on their time in high school when hard work and simple advice brought major success to their family. “Wrestling is a big part of our family and it’s re-ally important to all of us,” Drew said. “It definitely brought us closer together.”

Continued from leXVolDs | Page 1

joSh berhow/ faribault daily newSMitchel Lexvold wrestles during the 2012 Minnesota State Wrestling Tourna-ment in St. Paul. He finished his wrestling career with 212 wins and two state titles.

Farm Equipment For Sale

Call Keith Bode, Fairfax, Minnesota507-381-1291

‘07 CIH Magnum 245, MFWD tractor, 380/90R50 duals, 3400 hrs. $97,500‘11 JD Gator 625I, bed lift, 53 hours ............................................................ $8,950‘11 JD Gator TX 4x2, 4 hours .......................................................................... $5,700‘10 JD 9770-STS combine, Contourmaster, chopper, 800/70R38 single tires, 673 sep hours .................................................$179,500‘06 JD 9760STS combine, Contourmaster, 20.8R42 duals, bullet rotor, 1472

sep hours ........................................................................................................$119,500‘97 JD 8400, MFWD, 18.4R46 duals, front weights, 4 remotes, 9400 hours, just through service program ..................... $56,500‘01 CIH MX240, MFWD, 18.4R46 duals, new front and rear inside tires, new injection pump, front weights, 5050 hours ........ $61,500‘09 NH BB9060 big square baler, tandem axle, Phiber 3 bale accumulator, no cutter, includes roller chute, 11,300 bales........... $61,500

Visit us online24 hours a day,7 days a week...

KNow where to go for

Your DairY NewS

DairyStar.com


We BUY, SELL, TRADE used dairy equipment and milk tanks

WE SPECIALIZE IN USED DAIRY EQUIPMENT.Milking machine equipment, bulk milk tanks and cooling equipment. Give us a call, we will be glad to help you with

any of your milking machine or bulk tank needs.

We also BUY your used equipment and milk tanks.

SALVAGE HOUSE424 Third Street, Fullerton, NE 68638 • 800-844-5427

Management Accounting • Tax Reporting/Planning

Entity Selection • Ownership Transitions

Glen E. Steiner, CPA121 1st Ave. SE, Hutchinson, MN 55350

Phone: 320-587-2722www.steinerfinancialcpa.com

A CPA Serving Dairy

Producers

Dairyland Pest ControlDairyland Pest ControlSpecializing In Farm Fly,

Rodent & Bird ControlFARM • COMMERCIAL

RESIDENTIAL

Dayle Besemer, owner/operator

Toll Free 800-826-7380507-359-1123 • New Ulm, MN

tfn

Buying? Selling? Check the classifieds.

UPPER MIDWEST PUMPING, LLCTim: 320-247-3857 Brian: 320-293-2703

SEE US FOR ALL YOUR PUMPING NEEDS!

26 years combined experience • [email protected]

Specializing in drag hose application

Call now for the best rates!

EASTERN IOWA STRUCTURE SERVICES, INC. • Berg Equipment• Zabel Equipment• Complete Harvester Service• DeMuth Wide-no-plug Center lls• Sukup Aeration Conversions for Harvestores

• Hanson - Sales & ServiceWe now service most top unloaders.

• Balzer Slurry Tanks, Pumps and Rentals• Conveyer Grain Vacs and Rentals• Valmetal Products Belt conveyors, feeders, hammermils, mixers, and augers.

Ft. Atkinson, IAToll Free

1-888-303-4445Serving all of Northeast Iowa

S l & S i

MF 8670Call for Details

White 8816 CFSCall for details

White 8516 CFSCall for details

MF 5455Call for details

MF 8690Just In

MF 26800% Interest

Villard Implement Co. / Parkers Prairie Impl.Villard, MN

(888) 554-3111Parkers Prairie, MN

(218) 338-6156

TRACTORS(V) JD 8870, 4WD ...............................$59,000(V) JD 4440 ...........................................$19,500(V) JD MT ................................................$3,500(V) JD 7520, 4WD ..................................Just In(V) JD 7405, 2WD ..........................Coming In(V) JD 6300 w/loader, 2WD .......Coming In(V) JD 3020, 2WD ..........................Coming In(V) White 2-135 ..................................$10,500(V) White 2-105 ....................................$8,500(V) White 195 Workhorse, AWD ............ Call(V) White 6125, 2WD, 4200 hrs. Coming In(V) Agco RT 135 ..................................$69,500(V) Agco RT 120A cut, AWD ..............Just In(V) Agco LT 95A, AWD, 150 hrs Coming In(V) Agco DT 180A cut, AWD ..............Just In(V) IH 986, 4,500 hrs ..........................$11,500(V) Case IH 2394, 2WD ................Coming In

(V) Case 1594 w/loader .....................$9,500(V) Deutz/Allis 9170 .............................Just In

PLANTERS(V) White 8516 CFS, 3 seasons use ... Coming In(V) JD 7300, 12 row ................................ Coming In(V) JD 7000, 16 row 30” ......................... Coming In(V) Loftness 240 20’ shredder ..................$15,000(V) IH 900 12R planter, mounted, nice .Coming In(V) Duetz 385, 6 row, dry ..................... Coming In(V) Duetz 385, 12 row, dry ................... Coming In

SKID STEERS & SPREADERS(V) Bobcat 520 .................................................$2,950(V) Bobcat 743 ................................................. Just In(V) Gehl 6640E, loaded ................................. Just In(V) Gehl 5640E, only 300 hrs .............. Coming In(V) Gehl 4835 ........................................... Coming In(V) Gehl 3825 ........................................... Coming In

BUYRENT

LEASE

BUYRENT

LEASE

(V) JD 250, only 700 hrs ........................ Coming In

MISC. ITEMS(V) MF 9895 combine, just in .......................... Call(V) Agco 5546 round baler w/net wrap $21,500(V) Bush Hog TH4400 utility vehicle ........$4,950(V) Demco 600 gal. 60/ boom sprayer .$10,000(V) Gehl 250 spreader ........................... Coming In(V) Geringhoff 6 row 30” .............................. Just In(V) Gleaner R-62 ...........................................$42,500(V) Gleaner 20’ fl ex ......................................... Just In(V) Gleaner 6-30” Hugger ............................ Just In(P) Hesston 565T round baler.....................$8,500(V) MF 9895, 600 seperator hrs, ‘09 ................Call(P) NH 166 windrow inverter, ‘08...............$5,500(V) New Idea 4865, 5’x6’ round baler Choice $7,950(V) New Idea 4855x 5x5 round baler Coming In(V) Richardton 700 dump cart .........................Call(V) IH 26’ chisel plow ...........................................Call

CUSTOMER APPRECIATION DAY at Villard Implement Location Friday, March 30th • Lunch 11 to 1 • Special 10% Discount on all out going parts

New Products on display • Company reps on hand


MENAHGA, Minn. – When Reid Anderson’s par-ents sold their dairy cows and the family farm in 1997, he left with the certainty that he would never be back. Nearly 15 years later, however, Ander-son is home – literally. What’s more, he’s brought a herd of dairy cows with him to once again fill the barn. Anderson (22), along with his wife, Morgan, and their two sons, Anton (1) and Bodin (8 months), began dairy farming on his home farm in October 2011. It’s a dream come true, and one he never saw coming.

Leaving the family farm Anderson’s home farm near Menahga, Minn., was originally settled by his great grandfather. His grandfather continued the family farm, putting up a 50-stall freestall barn and double-4 parlor in the 1970s. He passed the farm on to his son, Anderson’s dad, Bret, in the early 1990s. Bret and his wife, LaRae, raised seven children on the farm. At one point, they were milking 120 cows and upgrad-ed the parlor to a double-7 her-

ringbone. “I was in third grade when we sold the cows. At that time I was milking every other night and doing calf chores.” Unfortunately, a tough dairy economy pressed Ander-son’s family to sell their herd and the farm when his dad took a full-time position with the county sheriff’s department. The move was hard – especial-ly for Anderson. “My name is written in the

concrete in the parlor. There are lots of memories of this place,” he said.

Opportunity calls Although his family was no longer in the industry, An-derson couldn’t get dairy out of his blood. Within a week after graduating from high school, he purchased five cows, hop-ing to start a farming career. He ended up selling them and taking a job on a grain farm in

North Dakota. From there, he worked on a few dairy farms in the Menahga area, gaining experience and always on the lookout for an opportunity to transition into a dairy business or start up on his own. “Farming has been my dream from the time I was 5 years old,” he said. In mid-August 2011, An-derson was working a job in Detroit Lakes, Minn., with the intent of heading to the oil

fields in North Dakota when the opportunity he had been waiting for came in the form of an unexpected phone call. It was Morgan’s uncle – an organic dairy producer from Menahga – and he had 20 cows he wanted to sell to Anderson. Coincidentally, another uncle of Morgan’s happened to own Anderson’s home farm and was willing to rent the land and facilities to the young family. After 15 years, Anderson was coming home.

Smooth start-up, steep learn-ing curve Anderson’s first step back into the dairy industry was ac-quiring the financing to start dairy farming, which he did with a beginning farmer loan through FSA. After that, he focused on the milking facili-ties. Although the barns were in good condition, Anderson needed to purchase and install all the milking equipment. To help keep costs low, he opted to use the parlor as a swing-6 instead of a double-7. Much of the equipment he purchased used from various places. By early October, things were ready to roll. “It was just bam, bam, bam and I was milking cows,” An-derson said of the smooth start-up. On Oct. 14, 2011, Ander-

For the answer scan this QR code with your smart phone or visit: www.JAYLOR.com/answerDon’t have a QR reader? Then search ‘QR Reader’ in your app store or download one free at SKUyou.com

Coming homeCows, producer are back in the barn at Anderson Farm

By jennifer BurggraffStaff writer

jennifer burggraff/ dairy StarReid Anderson is pictured with his 45-cow dairy herd on the farm he rents near Menahga, Minn. The farm is Anderson’s home farm. He and his family began dairying on it in October 2011.

Turn to anDerson | Page 13


Advanced Dairy Systems9 State Rd. 29Spring Valley, WI 54767(715) 772-3201

Agri-Dairy Services182 North Main StreetRichland Center, WI 53581(608) 647-4488

Champion Milking Systems23218 350th St.Albany, MN 56307(320) 845-4156

D&D Ag Supply133 Atlantic Ave. NEPennock, MN 56279(320) 599-4466

www.chemstarworks.com

CONTACT an IMPULSE Dealer Near You!

Dairyland Services2545 80th Ave.Woodville, WI 54028(715) 698-4370

East Central Dairy Supply2195 Hwy. 23Mora, MN 55051(320) 679-1029

Eastern Iowa Dairy Systems105 3rd Ave. NWEpworth, IA 52045(563) 876-3087

Mlsna Dairy Supply1126 Front StreetCashton, WI 54619(608) 654-5106

Professional Dairy Systems1449 Homecrest Ave.Wadena, MN 56482(218) 632-5416

S&S Dairy Systems119 West Circle DriveSt. Charles, MN 55972(507) 932-4288

United Suckow Dairy12687 Hwy 18 & 52Postville, IA 52162(563) 864-7417

Vosberg Farm Supply1415 Evergreen Rd.Platteville, WI 53818(608) 348-3385

Teats are Completely DRY! Reduces Slips & Squawks! Better Teat End Condition!

Provide Optimal Vented Air Flow, Faster Milking and Gentle Massage!

Milkingover 2 Million Cows in the

U.S.!

Cows “Wanna” Be Milked!

Cows “Wanna” Be Milked!

Willmar Ag ShowMarch 13-14 Willmar, MN

For more information, contact Lyle Lange or Shannon at 320-231-1470

WILLMAR CIVIC CENTER • 9-4 DAILY

Sponsored by the West Central Ag Sales Association

Tuesday, March 13 Only Seminar - 9:30 a.m.Water Issues: TMDL - What is TMDL and

how will it change the way you farm?Tuesday 13 & Wednesday 14 - 11 a.m.

MN State Highway Patrol: Learn how new & existing laws & regulations will affect your operations.

All ag displays including crop inputs, material handling, machinery, building, swine and dairy equipment, and feed.

FREE Parking

son milked his own herd of cows for the first time. Being back in the barn he grew up in was bittersweet. “It was a cool feeling and never anything I could have possibly dreamed of,” he said. “When I left the farm, there’s no way I thought I would ever be back milking cows here.” “I guess I just married the right lady,” he said, smiling. For the first week – with help from family and friends – Anderson milked the 20 cows he had purchased from Morgan’s uncle. After that, he added 30 more cows to the herd, purchased from an organic producer by Roches-ter. While things went well, there was a steep learning curve for Anderson – learning the organic side of the indus-try. His entire dairy herd was already certified, as well as the farm, but An-derson said he still needed to certify his operation. “It had never crossed my mind to go organic,” said Anderson, who was raised on and worked on conventional farms. “... It was a very sharp learning curve.” With countless resources at his fin-ger tips, including Organic Valley and Morgan’s uncles, he worked through the 80 pages of paper work. After sell-ing milk on the conventional market for the first couple months, it’s now on the organic truck, and Anderson is enjoying the benefits. “With $31 milk, I can actually re-duce my herd to a manageable size. I’m only milking 45 cows,” he said. “... And I see now that I don’t have the issues [I used to see in our conventional herd].

Everything is healthier when you don’t have to push for 80 pounds of milk.” Looking forward to the future Anderson is optimistic about his future in the dairy industry, though he admits he’s still got a lot to learn when it comes to organic farming – the treat-ments, grazing and raising crops to name a few. While he currently owns the herd and milking equipment, he is renting the 70-acre farm, much of which will be converted to pasture this year. An-derson is renting another 35 acres of land from his dad for raising crops. Currently, he purchases his feed, but

by spring Anderson is hoping to find enough land to raise most of his feed needs, and he’s hoping to purchase the farm in the not too distant future. For now, however, Anderson is simply enjoying being home. “I’m only 22 and am doing my dream job,” he said. “I get up at 4:30 every morning and haven’t had a morn-ing yet when I’ve dreaded getting up. I get to walk to work; that’s what I’ve always wanted.”

Continued from anDerson | Page 12

jennifer burggraff/ dairy StarAnderson milks his 45-cow dairy herd twice a day in this parlor. While the par-lor was built as a double-7 herringbone by Anderson’s parents, he uses it as a swing-6.

jennifer burggraff/ dairy StarReid and Morgan Anderson have two young sons, Anton (1) and Bodin (8 months). The farm they dairy on - Reid’s home farm - is now owned by Morgan’s uncle. The couple hopes to eventually purchase the farm.

“I get up at 4:30 every morning and haven’t had a morning yet when I’ve dreaded getting up.” – ReiD anDeRsOn


From Our Side Of The FenceHow did you drastically lower your SCC?

Marty HallockMondovi, Wis.Buffalo County 700 cowsCurrent SCC: 168,000SCC in 2010: 273,000

What was the main reason behind low-ering your SCC? In the fall I have an annual meeting with my team of experts, including my veterinarian, nutritionist, business consultant and banker. We sit down, look at the past year and start plan-ning for the next year. We always discuss ways to make more income and possible areas of improvement. Our SCC wasn’t ever that bad, but it wasn’t good. There was potential for premiums. I also wanted to cut back on the amount of drug use and reduce the chances of having a contami-nated tank. Our goal is to get our SCC av-erage to 150,000 for the year.

What were three changes you made that assisted you in achieving the lower SCC? The big one was more employee meetings. We put together a better milk-ing protocol and we had to make sure ev-eryone was following that protocol. In our double-16 parlor, we prep cows in groups of four. We dip, strip and dip again. Then we go back and wipe, flip the towel over, wipe the end of the teats and attach before moving to the next cow. The second change is that we upgrad-ed our dips and other products for milking prep because quality matters. You get what you pay for. The third big aspect is making sure all the equipment is serviced right. Every six months we go through a list of things that have to be done. There are also items that are checked monthly. We don’t let anything wear out. In the past, we tried to save a few bucks by using items as long as they could last, but in the long haul I think it hurt us. Other little changes have been moving the neckrail back in one of the groups in the freestall barn, using more sawdust in the stalls and singeing the ud-ders each month rather than three times a year.

What kinds of benefits have you seen since dropping your SCC? We gained an extra premium of $0.20 more per hun-dredweight. We have also increased milk production and cut down the number of cows we treat. We used to treat about one

percent of the herd, but now it’s at about .5 percent of the herd treated. We use less drugs, find mastitis earlier and therefore have less culling due to mastitis.

Why was it important to you to lower your SCC? It makes my farm more prof-itable. We didn’t want to add more cows to get more milk. My goal is to get the most out of what we have. Milk prices are starting to go down so I want to minimize the losses at this point. There are always things on the farm I need to improve on, but this one seems to be one with a direct payback. After setting up the protocol, SCC dropped about 75,000 in two months. Sometimes we as owners think it’s out of our hands to lower SCC and think it's good enough. I wish I would have focused on SCC a lot earlier because I could have got-ten the premiums sooner. When I made it a priority, the employees did, too. I had a lot of help in the process to lower the SCC.

Tell us about your farm. Our farm name is Mar-Bec Dairy. My wife, Becky, and I own the farm and are the first generation. I didn’t have a farm background, but I have a degree in dairy science. I went to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and graduated in 1989. I started milking on my own in 1990. I rented a farm next to my in-laws and they helped me a lot. Becky and I bought this farm in 1993. At the time it had a freestall barn and double-4 parlor. In 2000 we built a facility with a double-16 parlor for 450 cows and in 2008 we added another 250 cows. We custom hire every-thing in the fields. We own 650 acres of land and rent 400.

Neil HolmgrenLitchfield, Minn. Meeker County42 cowsCurrent SCC: 190,000SCC in 2009: The high in 2009 was 900,000, but by the end of the year it was down to 400-500,000. My 2009 SCC rolling average was 564,000.

Why did you want to lower your somatic cell count? With the rule of 400,000, I had to think about that. I also like the premiums you get out of the deal and I got tired of treating cows.

What are three changes you made that assisted you in achieving a lower SCC? The biggest one was keeping our stray voltage in check. I have a guy from Litchfield that checks periodical-ly and does the witching thing. I know when I have a problem and he can pin-point it. Whether it's a capacitor on a motor or a bad breaker, he can find it. That got the somatic cell count down to 400-500,000. I always used a barrier teat dip and I changed to a ChemStar dip, Barrier 710. Then I switched to a DeLaval in-flation and those two switches brought the SCC down to around 200,000.

What kind of benefits have you seen since dropping your SCC? I've seen healthier cows. I don't treat many any-more. I rarely get mastitis. This is so sweet, words can't describe it.

Do you have any advice for someone who is trying to lower their SCC? If

you are doing everything right think about stray voltage. If you have stray voltage, nothing else matters.

What kind of barn do you have and what kind of bedding do you use? I have a tiestall barn with rubber mats. During the summer the cows are out on pasture and during the winter they are out for an hour.

Tell us about your farm. I'm the third generation on the farm. My grand-parents bought the farm in the 40's. I bought it from my parents 30 years ago. I started breeding in Red and White 15 years ago. I wanted to be all Red and White when I retired. My cows will be for sale in July. I farm 200 acres and I plant corn, soybeans and I have some alfalfa. I buy most of my good hay from North Dakota.

Pasteurize Your Way To More ProfitEliminate Expensive Milk Replacers by Installing

a Westwaard Calf Milk Pasteurizer

Athman DairyPierz, MN | 320-468-2494

Professional Dairy SystemsWadena, MN | 218-632-5416

AVAILABLE AT

• Pump agitation and dispense system• Automated pasteurization cycles• Re-heat & pre-cool options standard

• Manual wash with a 20 gal.• Automatic C.I.P System on 40 gal. & larger systems• Large PLC screen provides information throughout cycles• Electric Heating

Several sizes to fit your operation STANDARD FEATURES:

40/60 gal. 120, 150, 200 gal.20 gal.

Phone: 1-605-886-7176Toll Free 1-866-688-0561

e-mail: [email protected]

320 1st Ave. NEWatertown, SD 57201Website: LandmarkSD.com

LANDMARK BUILDERSCOMMERCIAL AGRICULTURAL

CATTLE

CONFINEMENTDAIRY

522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378 320-352-6303 • Fax (320) 352-5647

tell the advertisers you saw their ad in the Dairy Star!

From Our Side Of The FencePage 16 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2012

How did you drastically lower your SCC?Gabe KollSebeka, Minn. Ottertail Coun-ty240 cowsCurrent SCC: 150,000SCC in 2009: Our 2009 SCC rolling average was 527,000.

Why did you want to lower your somatic cell count? We want-ed to lower our SCC to improve cow health and for the premiums.

What are three changes you made that assisted you in achieving a lower SCC? Changing our pulsators, lin-ers and the pulsation rate. Our cows’ teat end health was really bad, so we changed our pulsators, changed the pulsation rate from 60:40 to 65:35 and went from Surge 303 liners to triangle liners. We tried one thing, and it helped but didn’t solve the problem so we tried another and had the same thing. It helped but didn’t solve it. It took changing all three to make it better.

What kind of benefits have you seen since dropping your SCC? Improved cow health and reduced vet bills.

Do you have any advice for someone who is trying to lower their SCC? Don’t give up. Find what works for you and keep doing it. It takes time.

What kind of barn do you have and what kind of bedding do you use? Our cows are housed in a bedded pack barn that we bed with wheat straw and meadow hay. They are milked twice a day in a parlor.

Tell us about your farm. I farm with my mom and dad, Cindi and Brad Koll. We have 240 cows and farm 900 acres (600 owned and 300 rented). We put a double-8 parallel parlor in our old ties-tall barn four years ago, and our cows are housed on a bedded pack. We raise all of our replacement animals.

Brian and Theresa CarlsonBraham, Minn. Isanti County46 cows Current SCC: 233,000SCC in 2009: Our 2009 SCC rolling av-erage was 649,000.

Why did you want to lower your so-matic cell count? The European Union regulation change and to get better quality milk.

What are three changes you made that assisted you in achieving a lower SCC? The first thing we did was culled problem cows sooner. Then we added pre-dipping to our udder prep. We also had the barn checked for stray voltage; we found we had a problem and had it corrected.

What kind of benefits have you seen since dropping your SCC? We like getting quality payments on our milk check.

Do you have any advice for someone who is trying to lower their SCC? It will probably take a few smaller chang-es instead of one big change that will make the different.

What kind of barn do you have and what kind of bedding do you use? We have a tie-stall barn and we usually bed with wheat straw.

Tell us about your farm. We purchased the farm in 1981 from my grandparents, and built a 48 cow tie-stall barn the same year. We currently milk 40 cows and grow corn, soybeans and alfalfa.

Andrew IngvalsonFrazee, Minn. Becker County170 cowsCurrent SCC: 120,000SCC in 2009: My 2009 SCC rolling average was 512,000.

Why did you want to lower your somatic cell count? So that I would get the SCC premium.

What are three changes you made that assisted you in achieving a lower SCC? Doing a better job at keeping the cows cleaner was the biggest thing that I did. I also got rid of my high count cows. And then treating cows as soon as possible when I see mastitis.

What kind of benefits have you seen since dropping your SCC? Healthier cows and it seems like the cows don’t come down with mastitis as much when you keep the high count cows out of the herd.

Do you have any advice for someone who is trying to lower their SCC? Have a very clean environment for the cows.

Tell us about your farm. I have 170 cows by Frazee, Minn. I run a bedding pack for my cows. We just built the barn two years ago for the cows.

Tylor Nyland Gully, Minn.Polk County 80 cowsCurrent SCC: 225,000SCC in 2009: Our 2009 SCC rolling average was 516,000.

What was the main reason be-hind lowering your SCC? I wanted to earn the somatic cell count premium and I knew lowering the SCC could be done. I took over all the milk-ing three years ago and within three months we were getting a premium.

What were three changes you made that assisted you in achieving the lower SCC? The biggest thing was udder prep and do-ing it consistently day after day. I'm a per-fectionist. We predip, wait 30 seconds, strip them and then dip again and then wipe. We wash the teats using one towel for four cows. We just rotate the halves. We also started using a quarter milk-er and use it on a few cows. One quarter can drop a cows somatic cell count from 1,000,000 to 100,000. We also try to do a better job at cull management. I have an employee that follows our procedures pre-fectly.

What kinds of benefits have you seen since dropping your SCC? A somatic cell count premium instead of a deduction. We have lower vet costs and healthier cows. I think our reproduction is better as well.

Do you have any advice for someone who is trying to lower their somatic cell count? You have to do a perfect job every time. Ud-der prep is the key. Keep your hopes up and it can happen if you put your mind too it.

What kind of barn do you have and what kind of bedding do you use? We converted our old tiestall barn to a step up parlor and holding area. The cows stay in a loafing shed and we bed with oats straw twice a day with a haybuster. During the summer the cows are out on pasture.

Tell us about your farm. I work for my dad, Bryan, and we also do a beef cow oper-ation. We farm 300 acres and we plant corn, alfalfa and oats. We combine our oats and use it for feed. We raise our bull calves to 800 pounds. I'm working into the farm.

The next generation in hoop barn construction.

Cows to cars, sand to salt. If it needs a roof, we got you covered.

Silver Stream Shelterswww.silverstreamshelters.com • 877-547-4738

PETE SCHILLINGGaylord, MN • 507-241-0174

REED MERRILLCanby, MN • 507-223-7121

P-tfn

• 30’x72’ Single Steel - $4,700• 38’x100’ Black Truss - $11,900

silverstreamshelters.com

RIDGEVIEW EQUIPMENTSALES AND SERVICE

605-886-2595 or 605-881-901745909 169th St., Watertown, SD

NEWEQUIPMENT

New Farm Aid and LuckNow Mixer Wagons Coming In!

YOUR DEALER FOR

ROLLER MILLS

USED EQUIPMENTFarm Aid 340 mixer ................................................ Coming In‘05 Trioliet 1600, 570 cu. ft. vert. mixer, frt. discharge, low pro le ............................................. $18,000‘00 Farm Aid 430 mixer wagon, reconditioned ........... $14,000‘06 Farm Aid 430, exc. condition ................................. $15,000‘04 Automatic roller mill on trailer, 1800 bu. hr. cap. . $12,0005x14 Roorda feed wagon with scale .............................. $2,000

YOUR DEALER FOR HOULE MANURE EQUIPMENT, FARM AID, TRIOLIET, & LUCKNOW MIXER WAGONS

target your customers!

Advertise Online at www.dairystar.com

if you would like to advertise, call 320-352-6303

for more information.


DAIRYLAND SUPPLY INC.320-352-3987 • 1-800-338-6455

SAUK CENTRE OFF I-94 ON THE CORNER OF HWY. 28 & 71 SOUTH S

www.dairylandsupplyinc.com

• Mike • Gordon • Lashana

Our service doesn’t end after the sale. We back our products with knowledgeable and friendly staff so that when you need parts and information, you have only one place to go. We stock a large selection of PTOs, bearings, belts, chains, and sprockets to keep your operation going. Call toll free 1-800-338-6455.

Outstanding Parts & Service

Corner Wheels - Barn Cleaner Drive Parts Silo Unloader Augers - Conveyor Chains

Replacement Axles - Parts for VanDale - Roller Mill RollsJ&D Pullmore & Super Hook Barn Cleaner Chain

Badger Parts and Service - Replacement Parts for Hanson

Replacement Parts For Your

Dairy

1-DAY PARTS SHIPPING SERVICE AVAILABLETO THE AREAS SHOWN ON THE

MAP - EVEN ON YOUR HARD-TO-FIND PARTS! 1-800-338-6455

Pro Spread 160 Vertical

The durable, all-welded construction and solid poly oor of previous ProSpread® models remain, but the new, simple, protected center driveline improves dependability and reduces maintenance. The PS 160 quickly and evenly spreads the toughest solid materials from dairy and feedlot operations with the hydraulically-controlled, variable-speed apron. VertiSpread® vertical beaters provide a consistent, wide spread pattern and superior material breakup to help maximize the value of manure nutrients.

The PS 160 sets the new standard for reliability and spreading performance to meet the changing needs of livestock producers.

SPREADS THE WIDEST VARIETY OF MATERIALS: • pen pack • semi-solids • bedding • semi-liquid • liquid

8100 Series

ProTwin Slinger

The single-auger Vertical Maxx will provide excellent mixing, processing, and unloading performance at a price you can afford.

BIG CASH DISCOUNTS OR

LOW RATE FINANCING

Pumps and Tanks

Tanks Spread All Types Of Liquid Manure

Powerful PTO Pumps

& Agitatorsgitators& Ag

IT’S BIG!

Designed to be versatile enough to utilize one piece of equipment

for a variety of applications!

750-1350 cu. ft.Spreader

Horizontal or vertical beatersManufactured in Minnesota

A STANDARD ON NORTH AMERICAN FARMS FOR OVER 30 YEARS!

A whole new way to spread.You asked for a way to spread solid manure ner, and while we were at it, could it be a little wider too. We answered. Extravert.With Extravert, the bene ts stretch far and wide.

HYDRA-SPREAD IS THE RECOGNIZED LEADER

IN HYDRAULIC PUSHOFF TECHNOLOGY

HYDRA SPREAD IS THE

HYDRA-SPREAD

HYDRA-SPREAD

What Makes The The Best Spreader?• Heavy-Duty Upper Beater• High Lift Endgate• Dual Endgate Cylinders• Replaceable Bang Boards• Poly Floor/Sides Won’t Rot or Rust• In nite Speed Adjustment• Heavy Duty Shear Pin Protected PTO• Heaviest Frame In The Business• Operates Year Round With Simple Hydraulics

• Tandem Pivot On Solid Shaft• High Ground Clearance• Two Bolts Remove Beater Assembly For Piling• No Apron Chain, Sprocket or Drive To Ever Wear Out• Slurry Pan• Replaceable 3/8” Beater Paddles• All Splined Shafts and Sprockets

If you’ve gotta haul, give us a call!

It’s time to start planning for your spring manure handling needs...


Hixwood Metal, Inc.W11856 Hixwood Rd., Stanley, WI 54768

Phone: (715) 644-0765 • Fax: (715) 644-4931

Plyco Service Doors • Building Packages.80 Ultra-Lam Posts • Lumber & Insulation

• Silverline windows (new & replacements)• C.H.I. overhead doors

• Decra Stone coated shingles • 26 ga. Snap-Loc panels

ANNUAL SPRING SALE!March 26-31, 2012

DISCOUNT ON ALL MATERIAL!

Pl S i D

DA5%

Whether building new or remodeling, check out

our prices on residential roofi ng, windows, vinyl

siding, etc.

Buy the industry-leading

G-100 steel roo ng & siding

with 40 year warranty

OUR FARM, OUR STORY

Ronans continue 157-year-old farming tradition

WAUKON, Iowa – Jim Ronan’s great-great grand-father was the first to till the land. His grandmother used to tell stories about the Na-tive Americans coming to the farmhouse on baking days to trade for fresh-baked bread. And now, his middle son is working side-by-side with him on their dairy farm. The president was Frank-lin Pierce when John and Margaret Ronan homestead-ed 160 acres in Allamakee County. The land patent hangs on the wall in the Ronan farm house, issued on Oct. 15, 1855, which reads that the land is “there unto belonging unto the said John Ronan and his heirs and assigns forever.” John and Margaret Ronan operated the farm from 1855 to 1888. They were followed by D.D. and Mary, who op-erated it from 1888 to 1930. Then came James P. and Margaret from 1930 to 1965. John D. and Betty operated the farm from 1965 to 2006. James P. and Sara took over in 2006. When they received their Heritage Farm designa-tion several years ago at the Iowa State Fair, they had t-shirts made listing the names

1855

1888 1930

20062002

2008

1907

1989 2005

1965

D.D. and Mary Ronan take over dairy

James and Margaret Ronan run dairy

Current owners, Jim and Sara take

ownership

Jim is diagnosed

with cancer

Ronans build a shop

Start to build new barn

Jim comes back to farm with his dad

The Ronans celebrate the farm’s

150th year

John D. and Betty take over dairy

John and Margaret Ronan homestead

in Allamakee County

and times of the ancestors, which were worn by all fam-ily members. Jim graduated from high school in 1985 and worked at another farm for a few years. His brother, Ray, was working the family farm, but Ray’s wife wanted to go back to school so they moved to Cedar Falls and Jim came back to the farm in 1989. He farmed with his father un-

til he passed away about six years ago. Like any other farm, there have been a lot of ups and downs over the years. In the early 1900s, the Ronans built a house on their farm. In 1907 they started building a barn, but they had to stop the barn construction and rebuild the house after there was a fire. Jim’s grandparents were

able to hold onto their farm during the Great Depression, but his great-uncle lost his farm which neighbored the property. His great-uncle and his family left the area and were not heard from again. The years 2001 and 2002 were difficult ones for the fam-ily. Jim’s grandmother passed away at the end of 2001. In 2002, his mom passed away, and Jim was diagnosed with

non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He had been feeling poorly, but didn’t think that much of it. He woke one morning with a swollen arm and couldn’t even make it through milk-ing. He went to the hospi-tal and was diagnosed with a blood clot in his arm. The blood clot turned out to be a fortunate thing because they found the lymphoma that day. They caught it early. Jim, who was 35 at the time, received his cancer treatments in Waukon and La Crosse. He would milk cows, drive to La Crosse and then come back home and get to his chores. He felt better by the second treatment. He has been cancer free for 10 years. Other than his bout with cancer, about the only thing that seems to be bad for his health is sitting still. He said if he has his blood pressure taken right away when he goes to the doctor’s office it will be fine, but it actually elevates if he sits there doing nothing for a while. His son, Tyler, may have the same issue with not being active. He said part of why he enjoys farming so much is that he finds it to be relaxing. He also likes being his own boss. Tyler graduated from

By kelli BoylenStaff writer

kelli boylen/ dairy StarJim and Tyler Ronan are farming on the same farm their ancestors settled 157 years ago. They milk 65 cows on their farm in Allamakee County near Waukon, Iowa.

Turn to ronans | Page 23


“… far less edema… shorter window to heavy milking”

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so we use Udder Comfort™ on any cow we think has the need,” says Chuck Worden. He and Vanessa and their sons Wayne, Mark and Eric and daughter Lindsey and Mark’s wife Kate, operate Wormont Dairy, Cassville, N.Y., milking 270 registered Holsteins and Jerseys.

“To get a jump on mastitis, we apply Udder Comfort as soon as we notice any swelling and we use it on our prefresh heifers, especially in the winter months.

“They have less skin irritations, are more comfortable, and come into their milk faster with fewer problems. Anything we do to eliminate edema reduces chances of mastitis. We don’t have much to treat.

“We see far less edema and a shorter window to heavy milking without edema. I’ve tried about every product out there, but I keep going back to Udder Comfort because it works.”

Quality Udders Make Quality Milk

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

1.888.773.71531.613.543.3263uddercomfort.com

Keep the milk in the system

Call to locate a distributor near you.

(Above) Chuck and Vanessa Worden at Wormont Dairy, 10-time Progressive Genetics Award winner. Chuck serves as president of Holstein Assoc. USA. (Right) Wormont Storm 5730 Love-ET, EX-94 EEEEE @ 7-08 with over 30,000 at 4.3 fat.

— Chuck Worden

WORMONT DAIRY, Cassville, New YorkTHE WORDEN FAMILY Milking 270 registered Holsteins and Jerseys6 EX Holsteins & 5 EX JerseysShipping 17,000 lbs/day at 4.2 fat 3.2 protein (2x)SCC 225 to 275,000

Page 20 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2012 Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2012 • Page 21

Page 20 • Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2012 Dairy Star • Saturday, March 10, 2012 • Page 21


IOWA Kramer Bros.

Monticello, IA 319-465-5931

Prairie Land Ag Supply, Inc. Rock Valley, IA 712-476-9290

United-Suckow Dairy Supply West Union, IA 563-422-5355 Postville, IA 563-864-7417

MINNESOTA & SOUTH DAKOTA

East Central Dairy Supply Mora, MN • 320-679-1029

Genex Farm Systems Melrose, MN • 320-256-3276 Watertown • 605-886-7401 Sioux Falls, SD • 800-284-0015

S&S Dairy Systems LLC St. Charles, MN • 507-932-4288

D&D Ag Supply Pennock, MN • 320-599-4466

Professional Dairy Systems Detroit Lakes, MN 218-342-2904 Wadena, MN 218-632-5416

WISCONSIN Advanced

Dairy Systems Inc. Spring Valley, WI 715-772-3201

Mondovi Dairy Systems Inc. Mondovi, WI 715-926-5777 Bangor, WI 608-769-2113

See one of the following dealers for more information...

FREE ESTIMATESIMIMMATATATATESESESESSREEEE EEESTIMAEFFFRRREE STIMATESFFFRRREEEEE ESTEFREE

BARN

ROOFING Steel Barn Roo ng,

Siding, &Barn Straightening

WALKER CONSTRUCTIONwalkerconstruction.co

320-468-0276Pierz

FREE ESTIMATES

ABRAHAM’S FARM REPAIR(formerly Rainbow Enterprises)

Leave message

WE CAN REPAIR YOUR

HARVESTORES AND UNLOADERS

320-864-6821Bill Abraham - 19 years experience

Call us for New &

Used Parts

tfn

NORWOOD-YOUNG AMERICA, Minn. – Unlike people, dairy cows are more likely to give up eating and social time in favor of resting time. That’s one result of studies to observe the effects of over-crowding on cow health and productivity. Peter D. Krawczel of the Uni-versity of Tennessee presented the findings at the Carver County/University of Minneso-ta Dairy Expo & Trade Show on Feb. 20. Krawczel began his presentation with a discussion of the typi-cal time budget of a lactating dairy cow. Basic behavioral needs include three to five hours/day eating, 10 to 14 hours/day lying (resting), two to three hours/day standing/walking in the alley (grooming, agonistic, estrous activity), and a half hour/day drinking, for a total of 20.5 to 21.5 hours/day needed. That leaves 2.5 to 3.5 hour/day for milking, herd health checks, etc. Overstocking reduces a cow’s ability to practice natural behaviors, but may improve economic returns on facility investments, making the question “What is optimal stocking density to avoid compromising health and productivity?” Krawczel put it another way, “Are we taking ad-vantage of the cow and her natural abilities or are we just taking advantage of the cow?” The studies found that cows have strong behav-ioral needs to rest. They’ll sacrifice feeding time to make up lost resting time and will spend more time waiting in alleys to lie down than eating when barns are overstocked. Further, it was found that they’re un-able to recover from deprivations of two to four hours, such as being locked in headlocks. They’ll alter their behavior for the next four days to make up for it. Benefits of adequate rest include reduced stress on hooves, greater blood flow to the uterus, lower corti-sol, increased bGH, and greater milk yield—about 3.5 pounds for each additional hour. Although they spend less time eating, overstocked cows eat about 25 percent faster—but ruminate an hour a day less. In addition, overstocked cows experience greater pathogen load in the environment, greater teat end exposure, and may experience immune suppression. Preliminary data indicates that clinical mastitis events per lactation increased significantly when overstock-ing reached the 140 percent level. Similarly, negative impacts were observed in re-production as a result of overstocking. Decreased bunk space—24 inches down to 12 inches—was associated with linear decreased percentage of cows pregnant at 150 days in milk, dropping from 70 to 35 percent. Overstocking of stalls in breeding pens was associated with reduced conception rates. The reason appears to be greater aggression at feeding, reduced lying time, and reduced compliance with synch programs. With studies carried out at various levels of over-stocking, research seems to suggest a maximum level of 120 percent before negative effects outweigh any positives. Krawczel left the group with the message that the relationship between milk yield and stall availability/resting time is evident, but the effect is variable; repro-duction is negatively affected by overcrowding at the feed bunk and in stalls; and that detrimental effects on the time budget may explain the impact of the stock-ing density. Detrimental effects, especially related to reproduction, contribute to cows leaving the herd.

CARVER COUNTy DAIRy ExPO

Overcrowding affects cow health and productionKrawczel addresses behavioral changes at Carver County Expo

By ruth klossnerStaff writer

photo SubmittedPeter D. Krawczel, Universi-ty of Tennessee, presented information on overcrowd-ing and cow health.


SNOW EQUIPMENT

ORDER TODAY

BRUSH BUSTERSSHEER IT, CUT IT, MOVE IT

We Have BackhoesReady To Dig7’ Digging

Depth

Made In USA

PALLET FORKS$666666666666666666999999999999999999555555555555555555

PRONG HAY FORKS

$4949494949494949494949494949555555555555552 prong

$5757575757575757575757575757555555555555554 prong

Dozer Blade4 or 6 way

CALL FORDETAILS!Prices starting

at $2,075

BRUSH CUTTERS• 15-20 gpm • Cut 5” Trees

• 66” Standard Duty • 60 & 72” Extreme Duty

Made In USA

$$$$3333333333333333333,,,,,888888888888888888800000000000000000000000000000000000000

Brush CuttersAs Low As

Tree Shears

$$$$3333333333333333333,,,,,999999999999999999955555555555555555550000000000000000000

Up To 12’ Tree

Tree/Post Puller

$$$$1111111111111111111,,,,,555555555555555555500000000000000000000000000000000000000

NEW

XtremeStump Bucket

Tine Grapple

4-in-1Grapple BucketRoot Grapple Many sizes available.

StumpGrupple

GrappleBucket

$111111111111111111555555555555555555000000000000000000

Quick-tachPlate

CALL FORDETAILS!

New Extreme Duty Direct Drive Augers

$2,500 w/12” Auger$2,650 w/18” Auger

QuickTach

Receiver Hitch

$222222222222222222222222222222222255555555555555555

Custom Buckets

Grapple Fork

Any size or shape!

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.....llllllllllllllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacccccccccccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnddddddddddddddddddddddddeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr----------ffffffffffffffffffffffffaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb.....ccccccccccccccccccccccccoooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmIowa City, IA 52240 (800) 498-8032 • (319) 338-4114

CHECK OUT OUR NEW WEBSITE

CALL OR STOP INTODAY!

Scan This For Info

YOUR SKID STEER ATTACHMENT HEADQUARTERS

SKID LOADER LIFT ATTACHMENTS

HIGH QUALITY SKID LOADER ATTACHMENTS

21735 Business Hwy. 151 • Monticello, IA 52310Ph. (319) 465-4552 • Fax: (319) 465-3976

Maximize Your Profi tability... Through Proper Feed StoragePrairie Pride has developed the Futures

Bin today in our Poly Bins. All the features the others will have in their bins in the

future are in ours today. Check the list of features below and you will agree that Poly Bin is the bin for your needs.

• Visible feed level• Corrosion resistant for long life• Large Poly Bins have 60 degree Cone & Ultra smooth interior finish for easy, even feed flow.• Large Poly Bins have 35 degree roof for maximizing fill height.• Easy to assemble.• Strong enough to handle concentrate material• Heavy duty steel ring and support stand.

• Large 22” fill opening.• Ideal strength and flow characteristics for high moisture feeds, corn, soybeans and concentrates (premix).Call for optional accessories

• Mayrath augers • Farm King augers • Kelly Ryan silage baggers • Polygrate hog fl ooring

Poly Bin Sizes from 1-14 ton

Warranty: 10 years The longest in the industry!

high school last May, and he thought about going to college with an interest in playing college level baseball. “Then I decided that I liked farm-ing more than going to school,” he said. Jim and Tyler often work together on whatever needs to be done on the farm, from milking to field work. The Ronans are currently milking 65 cows. In addition to the cows, they own 360 acres of land and rent another 40. Of that, 290 acres are tillable where they grow corn, alfalfa, oats and have pas-ture. Tyler has the option of working into ownership of the farm, and is cur-rently getting a percentage of the milk check. Tyler’s older brother, Brandon, is a junior at Loras College where he plays football and is majoring in sports science. He ideally would like to work as a personal trainer or strength coach for a college team. Brandon said growing up on a dairy farm helped him learn how to stick to a busy schedule and plan ahead all of the time. Jim and Sara were able to attend most of Brandon’s football games since they usually take place on Sat-urday afternoons. Tyler often stayed home to do chores. Jim and Sara’s youngest son is Ja-cob, 15, who is a freshman at Waukon High School. All three boys participated in FFA in high school as well as football, bas-ketball and baseball. When there are sporting events to attend, other milk-ers besides Tyler include Jim’s broth-er, Rick. Several neighbors help out as well. Jim said neighbors helping neigh-

bors is one of the great things about where they live. “In our neighborhood everyone helps each other out,” he said. “Our neighbors often use our shop and our welders. I’ve told them they don’t even need to ask, just pull in and get it done.” The Ronans built their shop in 2008, partly with the idea that Sara could use it as a garage. Sara is a spe-cial education aid at East Elementary in Waukon, a position she has held for about nine years. The shop turned into a permanent place for them to work on machinery. They spend a lot of time in the winter getting all of their machinery in top shape, in addition to fixing things when they break down. “That shop has saved us a lot of mon-ey,” Jim says. The cement floor shed has also proved a great place to have parties for family and friends. The two older boys had their graduation parties in it, and a niece asked to have her gradua-tion party there also. They also really enjoy having fish frys for friends and family. A brother-in-law brings the fish and they pro-vide the gathering spot. In the last five or so years they have also updated a lot of machin-ery, replaced their stanchions with tie stalls, updated the milkers with auto-matic take offs, and put up another garage for Sara’s car. They replaced the stanchions, which were completely worn out, with tie stalls about two years ago. Jim said when Tyler definitely de-cides he wants to take over the opera-tion, they will start plans to put up a freestall barn followed a few years later with a milking parlor.

Continued from ronans | Page 18

photo SubmittedThis aerial photo of the Ronan family farm was taken in 2011. The Ronans have done many updates through the years, including a new house, barn and shop.

photo SubmittedThe Ronans have this painting of their farm from the early 1900s. The house in the painting is the one that was destroyed by fire in 1907.


minutes

Custom t to your new or existing building Motorized or Manual Options Highest UV inhibitor and lock stitch style

sewing for longer curtain life Get the full value of air quality control

curtains at the touch of a button

New Continuous Ridge Vent from Rollomatic

Features Two 16”Adjustable Ridge-VentCurtains for Controlled

Air Flow 2-4 ft. Eave Openings

Nature’s Harmony Organic Dairy, John Reitsma & Sean Mallett, Twin Falls, ID

Visit us at the Wisconsin Public Farm

Show, Booths B4513 & B4514

270 ft., 510 ft., and 480 ft. beef barns

Joe and Brett Friedrichsen,Holstein, Iowa

“I hated the old curtains we had with the cables and strings, but now I enjoy our new Roll-O-Matic curtains. They are heavy built, simple and easy to use.”

- Eric Wemark, Wemark Dairy-Ridgeway, IA

“Everyone at ROLL-O-MATIC was

very knowledgable and professional. The curtains are heavy duty, always look

neat and are simple to operate. Thanks ROLL-O-MATIC!”

- Mark Vosberg, Vosberg Colonial Acres, LLC, Cuba City, WI 240’ Beef building - Jake Reiter, Bernard, IA

“What I like most about my Roll-O-Matic Curtains is the ease of operation. They have a great appearance and I am more than satis ed.”

- Bob Noble, Lancaster, WI

“I believe that the livestock in-dustry is crucial for strong Iowa communit ies . Following this belief in 2010, my wife and I decided to build a monoslope shed for feeding

cattle. We decided to build a quality building with a future. It is because of my desire to have a trouble free and durable building, I chose a Roll-O-Matic curtain. Even in the extreme

cold or hot weather in Northeast Iowa, the Roll-O-Matic curtain has been easy to operate while providing good air ow for the health and comfort of the cattle.

I would recommend the Roll-O-Matic curtain to any-one who is building a cattle building.”

- Carlton and Cyndy Kjos, Decorah, IA

“We’ve had our cur-tains for about a year now. We have about 450 head of cattle. The Roll-O-Matic Curtains are a simple and clean design, that are easy

to manage. In the winter, we close the bot-tom curtain and open the top which creates a top air ow to keep the draft off the cattle. In the summer, we can fully open the curtains, which creates a cool environment. The bot-tom line is that it helps create a low stress environment for our cattle. Our contractor suggested the Roll-O-Matic curtains. We wanted the best available so we chose to go with them. We have been very pleased with our curtains and the prompt and friendly service we received from Devel-opment Resources of Iowa.” - Nathan VanHove, Ackley, Iowa

”We had our cur-tains installed on our 240’ building

about 3 years ago.These are fantastic

curtains and we recommend them to anyone. The staff from Development Resources of Iowa takes good care of us. We are very pleased with

our purchase.” - Jake Reiter-Bernard, IA

CALL NOW for free estimates on

your spring projects & beat the rush!


EDGEWOOD, Iowa – There is no doubt Iowa Dairy Princess Gina Fisher stays busy. She is currently a senior at Ed-Co High School. “I am always busy with the farm, as I do chores morning and night and do the registrations and other paperwork, Fisher said. “As for school, I’m busy with FFA president activities, varsity golf, FBLA, and 4-H.” The Dave and Mary Fisher family milks about 75 cows on a third generation farm. On the farm, Gina is in charge of the calves, as well as handling all the cattle registration and other paperwork. She milks morning and night and does other chores around the farm. The Fishers raise registered Holsteins, Jerseys, Ayrshires, Brown Swiss and Red and White Holsteins. “So far this year has gone smoothly; I haven't had any bumps in the road, yet,” she said. Fisher said she has enjoyed all her dairy princess activities so far. “They have given me the opportunity to speak to people of all ages, but the most interesting one thus far has been a local story hour in El-gin.” In Elgin, the kids were able to make homemade ice cream, taste different cheeses, and cream cheeses. “It focused on not only milk and the care of cattle, but the making of all of the products,” she said. Fisher was aware of the types of events she would attend as State Dairy Princess because of her experi-ence serving as the Clayton County Dairy Princess, but some of those promotional activities and events are on a much grander scale. “I am going to be throwing the first pitch at an I-Cubs game,” she said excitedly. Fisher is also looking forward to being at the 2012 Iowa State Fair to hand out ribbons and speak to the public. She will have many opportunities to speak in front of crowds over the next few weeks, since it is the time of the year for dairy banquets. “So far, I have attended one banquet, but from now on my Saturdays are booked,” she said. “I have been busy writing my speech, re-reading it over and over and making sure I am up to date with all the programs involving the dairy industry and farmers.” “My theme for the banquets is for the audience to get to know me, focus on the consumers and producers, and getting active in the dairy industry,” Fisher said. Fisher said her main message to dairy farmers is, “to keep producing that wholesome product we all love so much, and that their hard work does not go unrecognized, we truly do applaud all their work.” She has also been working closely with the Midwest Dairy Association and their marketing programs. The MDA sponsors the Iowa Dairy Princess program. “So far I have been promoting two fairly new programs, Fuel Up to Play 60 and People Behind the Prod-uct,” Fisher said. “These two programs give me the opportunity to reach youth and adults, not only in the dairy industry, but as consumers as well.” She said her main message to the public is, “Three a day everyday. Keep yourself healthy and hardy with dairy.” She adds, “Thank a farmer. They are the ones who made it possible to consume those yummy treats.” Fisher will serve as the Iowa Dairy Princess until the 2012 Iowa State Fair, held in August. Next fall she plans on attending Iowa State University for dairy science/pre-vet.

My husband and I recently had to have a little chat. It seems that after 17 years of marriage, he needed a little brushing up on what to do while on a date. After talking with my friends, I have realized this is an epidemic prob-lem. So fellas, please read the following and remember: First of all, yes a date night is still very nice, no matter how long you have been married. Sometimes let her make the plans, sometimes you make the plans. Try to find something you both enjoy, or at least can tolerate reasonably well (as in nothing that will make you irritated). It’s nice when each person can have a say in what to do sometimes. Also, hearing, “I don’t care, whatever you want,” over and over is not always mu-sic to the ears. If your wife has made any effort at her appearance at all, which I guar-antee she has, tell her she looks pretty, looks good, is more beautiful than ever, or something along that line. It doesn’t matter how many times we have heard it, we still want to hear it again. When you tell her she looks nice, look her in the eye when you say it.

By Kelli BoylenColumnist

Boylen Over

Turn off all electronic devices or make an agreement to only answer the phone if it is the babysitter calling. Take a shower, put on nice clothes and shave. We know you don’t neces-sarily enjoy getting cleaned up, but we really appreciate the fact that you are willing to do that for us. Comb your hair instead of wearing a hat, and put on some of that nice smelling cologne we bought you for Christmas a few years back. When in the car have some nice low background music, or turn the ra-

dio off completely. You are not allowed to listen to talk radio or a call in show. Sorry, not happening. Don’t watch the television in the restaurant or bar wall when your wife is talking. If you are the type of guy, like my husband, who is easily distracted by things that are “bright and shiny” pur-posely sit with your back to the televi-sion. Tell your wife you love her. Even if you make it a habit to tell your signifi-cant other that you love her every day, say it again while on a date. Open the door for your wife. I know it sounds goofy and old fashioned, but most women find men with good man-ners to be quite sexy. Ask her opinion on things. Give a sympathetic ear if something is bother-ing her. Lots of times women are not talking to you about things that bother them because they expect you to fix the situation for them, and they are not nec-essarily looking for advice. Sometimes we just need to vent. Give advice if you are asked; otherwise say something empathic like “Wow! That sucks” or “I think I would feel the same.” Really. Date night does not have to be an expensive dinner followed by a movie. Take advantage of the time you have.

Several of my Facebook friends are dairy farm wives. Going to town to-gether to get parts, or spending time to-gether to travel somewhere to pick up a piece of farm machinery can actually be the highlight of the week. It’s all about the attitude you look at it with. If you have young kids, talking without being interrupted can seem like an absolute gift. On the other hand, try to not be ex-cessively cheap either. If you don’t have much money do not go to a restaurant and then limit what you can order, go for a nice walk together or something instead. The whole point of a date after many years of marriage, in my humble opinion, is to reconnect with each other. Hold hands, talk, laugh, heck even steal a kiss or two. Yes, really. When a wom-an feels special she is happy. Happy wife = happy life. It’s that simple. Kelli Boylen is a former full-time Dairy Star staff member who is now a regular freelance writer for the paper. She grew up on a dairy farm in south-ern Wisconsin and now lives in North-east Iowa with her husband and two children. Kelli also writes a blog at www.goodblogs.com/bloggers/21.

A married guy’s guide to date night

Fisher busy on farm, traveling as Iowa Dairy

PrincessBy kelli Boylen

Staff writer

photo SubmittedIowa Dairy Princess, Gina Fish-er, is promoting dairy as well as working on her family’s dairy farm near Edgewood, Iowa.

The Dairy Pricing Association (DPA) has made its third dona-tion of dairy products to feed needy people. Members’ milk was made into cheddar cheese at Meister Cheese Company, Muscoda, Wis., and was purchased by the DPA. On Jan. 26, the DPA donated the 2,000 pounds of cheese to Sec-ond Harvest Food Bank of Southern Wisconsin. This is DPA’s third donation since last August to the Feeding America network. Volunteers will split the 40-pound blocks into two-pound, fam-ily size portions that will be distributed through a network of partner agencies to thousands of individuals, families, children and seniors citizens. “Dairy products are a critical component to achieving our goal of providing high-quality, nutritionally balanced food to those strug-gling with hunger. We are thankful to the Dairy Pricing Association for their continued commitment to ending hunger,” said Dan Stein, president and chief executive officer of Second Harvest Food Bank of Southern Wisconsin. The Dairy Pricing Association’s current members would be able to use 100,000 to 150,000 pounds of milk in 2012. These numbers will increase as membership grows. The current 28 members in-volve 12 milk handlers from six different states. This nationwide program is voluntary and has no time limits or contracts. Robin Berg, Darlington, Wis., DPA chairman, noted, “This pro-gram is not being funded by any processor or marketer. We welcome all dairy producers, no matter what size, or what grade of milk you produce.” The DPA’s mission is to establish the minimum price dairy farmers get for their milk, while maintaining enough production to meet consumer needs. Dairy producers who are DPA members contribute 10 cents for each hundredweight of milk they sell. The money is used to buy surplus dairy products and donate them to Feeding America. To learn more about the Dairy Pricing Association, go to www.dairy pricing.org, or call 715-284-2590.

Dairy Pricing Association makes third food donation

Award nominations are due at the Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council (DCRC) April 1. The awards recognize dairy farmers for accomplishing reproductive efficiency with well-implemented man-agement procedures. Producers must be nominated by professionals who serve the dairy industry, such as veterinarians, nutritionists, genetic and phar-maceutical company representatives, DHIA field personnel or Ex-tension specialists. Applications will be reviewed by a panel of judges and the top nominees will be asked to provide more information about their farms. The judges will platinum, gold, silver and honorable mention winners who will be honored at the 2012 DCRC Annual Meeting in Sacramento, Calif. Nomination forms must be completed online. For more infor-mation about the awards, or to nominate a farm, visit www.dcrcoun-cil.org.

Deadline for reproduction award nominations april 1


By Phyllis FramstadStearns Co. Exec. Dir.

FSA News & Notes 2012 Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program (DCP) enrollment began on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 and will end June 1, 2012. Here are some important remind-ers: • All producers planting on DCP base acres must be identified on the DCP/ACRE contract and receive a proportionate share of DCP/ACRE payment for the farm. • Changes on the farm after enrolling June 1 in DCP/ACRE must be reported to your local FSA office such as: ownership changes; producer changes (individuals and entities); change in crop shares ar-rangements. Note: Changes cannot be made after Sept. 30, 2012.

Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) Program Because of the high feed costs and a declining milk price there is a possibility of FSA issuing MILC payments beginning with the February markets. Milk produc-ers should inform your local FSA office if you have made any changes to your milking operation such as; entity changes, share changes, or where you market your milk. If you are a producer that markets more than 2.985 million pounds, there are specific rules for which month you can change the start month to begin payments on the pounds that are sold. Contact your local FSA office if you have additional questions.

Important reminder All producers will need to have a 2012 AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) form on file to be eligible to receive payments. All in-dividuals, entities and members of entities need to complete this AGI form.

Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) Linda Hennen, State Executive Direc-tor of Minnesota's USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds producers to pur-chase FSA's Noninsured Crop Disaster As-sistance Program (NAP) coverage for non-insurable crops in order to be eligible for the agency's disaster assistance programs. "Multiple peril crop insurance is an impor-tant risk management tool for farmers, but it's not available for all crops. That's why NAP is so important," said Hennen. NAP is a federally funded program that provides coverage to producers for

noninsurable crops when low yields, loss of inventory or prevented planting occurs due to natural disasters. Crops eligible for NAP coverage are those for which crop insurance is not available, including fruits and vegetables, aquaculture, pecans, turf grass and forage crops, just to name a few. "Producers must apply for coverage before a disaster strikes," said Hennen. "Like regular crop insurance, once an ap-plication period closes, the opportunity to obtain coverage is past." NAP applications for coverage must be filed using Form CCC-471 and service fee paid by the application closing date. Applications closing date for spring plant-ed crops such vegetable, fruits, and herbs are March 15, 2012. In order to enroll, pro-ducers need to contact the local FSA office where they farm. More information about NAP and where to find your local USDA service Center can be found at www.fsa.usda.gov.

Upcoming deadlines for 2012 • March 12 through April 6, 2012 – General Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) signup. • March 15 final date to purchase NAP coverage for pasture (coverage periods are county specific) and spring seeded crops that are not eligible for Multi Peril Insur-ance. • June 1, 2012 – deadline to timely signup for the DCP and ACRE programs. Farm Service Agency is an Equal Op-portunity Lender. Complaints about dis-crimination should be sent to: Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250. Visit the Farm Service Agency Web site at: www.fsa.usda.gov for necessary appli-cation forms and updates on USDA pro-grams.

Important reminders for DCP and ACRE sign up

AMPS, INC.360 RR Ave., Albany, MN • 320-845-4690

We Specialize In Fast Dependable

Service

ELECTRIC MOTOR REPAIR

Call us for all your generator and electric motor needs!

NEW MOTORS

IN STOCK UP TO 10 HP

We also have Hanson Silo Replacement Parts Available!

WINPOWER AND WINCO GENERATORS SALES & SERVICE

rviceeeeeeeeee

Trades Wanted!

Don’t be caught without power.

(2) Winpower 25/15 pt2 alternator on trailer .........$1,650 Stop by our booth at the Central MN

Farm Show Feb. 28 - March 1

We know you’ve got tough residue and a need for bigger yields. From small farms to “can’t-see-the-other-side-of-the-field-from-here” farms, Sunflower tillage tools turn, plow, chisel, break down, disc, condition, incorporate, cultivate, and finish anything in your field. The full-line Sunflower tillage system manages tough residue, minimizes compaction problems, and improves soil warm-up in the spring . . . not to mention providing excellent seedbed preparation.

T H E R E I S O N L Y O N E . T H E O R I G I N A L . S U N F L O W E R .

WITH THE SUNFLOWER TILLAGE SYSTEM.

4500 Series disc-chisel-discs9 to 19 shanks with reduced transport width

GROUND CONTROL.

4213/4233 Series coulter chisels9 to 23 shanks

1435 Series disc harrows21 to 36 feet

4412 Series disc ripper5 & 7 shanks

• Willmar Farm Center Willmar, MN• Marzolf Implement Spring Valley, MN• Lake Henry Implement Lake Henry, MN• Mark’s Tractor Implement Inc. Osage, IA

If you think a tillage tool is just a tillage tool, think again. Stop by your local Sunflower dealer and ask about which Sunflower tillage tool is right for your operation.


Monday, March 26nd thru Saturday, March 31st

Pre-Season ValuesMarch 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, & 31

A&C FarmService, Inc.

Jct. Hwys. 55 & 23, PaynesvillePhone 320-243-373

www.acfarmservice.com

Pre-Season ValuesMarch 22-April 3

throughapril 3,

2010!

Now Is The TimeTo Stock Up!

Call For Oil Prices

SPECIAL FINANCING WHEN FINANCED THROUGH CNH CAPITAL**O.A.C. - See dealer for details. Applies to all CNH nanced items.

15% OFF All Oil Filters

Refreshments & Snacks Served Daily!Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Saturday 8 a.m.-3 p.m.Sale prices good March 26-31. After March 31, sale prices are not available.

A & C Farm Service, Inc.Jct. Hwy. 23 & 55 • Paynesville, MN • 320-243-3736


10% OFFAll In Stock AG PARTS On Hand*Except items on sale.

ThroughMarch 31!

Cash PriceCash Price

A & C Farm Service, Inc.Jct. Hwy. 23 & 55 • Paynesville, MN • 320-243-3736


unt vouchers when you purchase trusted,

lity Farm-Oyl® Lubricants!

© 2010 CHS Inc.

$100Dealer Imprint Here

A & C Farm Service, Inc.www.acfarmservice.comJct. Hwy. 23 & 55Paynesville, MN320-243-3736

Earn discount vouchers when you purchase trusted,

quality Farm-Oyl® Lubricants!

Now there are more PERKS to using Farm-Oyl® Lubricants! For a limited time, when you purchase 30 gallons or more of select Farm-Oyl® Lubricants, you’ll earn a discount voucher up to $100 towards a future purchase at this participating Farm-Oyl® dealer. The more gallons you buy, the greater the amount you can earn. Now is the perfect time to stock up on your favorite, most trusted brand of lubricants - while earning valuable vouchers in the process.But hurry! This is a limited time offer only.

30 Gallon 10W30 30 Gallon 15W40 30 Gallon Agmaster

Pre-Season ValuesMarch 26-31

1155%%% OOFFCall For Twine & Net Wrap Prices

Pre-Season ValuesMarch 26-31Meet the only baler with a dual-stage belt

tightening system. This patented design simplifi es the bale-starting process to give you faster starts and a smooth performance in a wide variety of crops and conditions. That’s why you have better-looking bales and fewer hassles in the end...another reason we call it “Super.”

Pre-Season Values March 26 - 31

TWINE SPECIALSPlasticAJ440 ................. $32.95AJ20000S ........... $21.90AJ9000P ............. $26.00AJ7200P ............. $26.50Sisal TwineCall for Prices

White NetwrapAJ64X9000 ... $264.39 AJ67X9000 ... $277.00Black Netwrap64X7000 ........ $205.9248X7000 ........ $195.00

CAPITALCAPITAL

Jct. Hwys. 55 & 23, Paynesville 320-243-3736 • www.acfarmservice.com

ynesville mservice.com

Jct Hwys 55 & 23 PayynesvilleA&C Farm Service, Inc.

Through March 31,

2012


Hugh Chester-Jones(507) [email protected]

Marcia Endres(612) [email protected]

Brad Heins(320) [email protected]

Jose Hernandez(612) [email protected]

Kevin Janni(612) [email protected]

Laura Kieser(952) [email protected]

Noah Litherland(612) [email protected]

Jim Paulson(320) [email protected]

Randy Pepin(320) [email protected]

Paul Peterson(612) [email protected]

Jeff Reneau(612) [email protected]

Craig Roerick(320) [email protected]

Jim Salfer(320) [email protected]

Chuck Schwartau(507) [email protected]

A new web-based tool developed by Dr. William F. Lazarus, Extension Economist and Professor in the Department of Applied Economics, is now available. The web-based calculator may be used to compare the economic value of manure from alternative manure application rates and methods. The value is based on crop nutrient needs for a specific field and crop rotation, fertilizer prices, manure hauling costs, manure type, and application method. In addition to assisting with management of current livestock and crop operations, the calculator can be useful in budgeting new facilities or evaluation of contract production through estimating

the effect of manure and manure management on cash flow. The calculations can also assist crop and livestock producers in esti-mating the value of manure that may be transferred or sold from one entity to another. Livestock producers face uncertain markets and narrow margins. This situation motivates growers to optimize production methods, utilizing all resources including manure. In addition, increases in the price of commercial fertilizer experienced since 2009 have heightened interest in the use of livestock manure for sup-plying crop nutrients and has significantly increased the value of manure as a nutrient source. Manure, when managed properly, can be an important

asset to crop and livestock operations. However, if manure is mis-managed, it can become an environmental liability. In recent years, more farmers have been considering the contribution of manure value to cash flow in livestock operation budgets, and seeking an appropriate market value in exchange situations between livestock producers and crop producers. More crop producers also appear to be seeking manure as a major nutrient source, either by purchasing from a livestock producer or by adding livestock to their operations. Determining the economic value of the nutrients in livestock manure can be tricky. Nutrients in commer-cial fertilizer are acquired by paying for the nutrients and a small application charge. With manure you, in effect, “acquire” nutrients by paying for the cost of application—even if you already have ownership of the manure in a storage structure. Additionally, commercial fertilizer supplies the amount and ratio of nutrients you need or ordered.

With manure, you get the amount and ratio of nutrients that it contains, which complicates the determination of a value. Even when a rate that supplies the correct amount of nitrogen is applied, the amount of phosphorous and potash applied may not match what you would have purchased commercially, and amounts applied above crop need probably have no value. In the past, manure ap-plication costs often exceeded the value of the nutrients applied. Now, in many situations, the nutrient value in the manure exceeds the cost of application. A formula that estimates manure value can be described by: Net Economic Impact of Manure = Value of Year 1 Fertilizer & Application Costs Replaced + Residual Value (Mostly year 2 if any) +/- Non-NPK yield Response - Manure Application Costs. Manure value can be calculated on a per acre applied basis, per unit of weight or volume, per storage unit, or per operation. The value will vary widely, influenced by factors such as the amount of N, P and K required per acre by the crop, manure nutrient concentration in the manure, application rate and potential yield response attributed to manure beyond N-P-K application, and application cost per ton or gallon. The same manure in terms of nutrient concentration can have widely differing value depending on crop need and accuracy of application.

A basic example A dairy farmer with a 100-cow operation produces about 1,000,000 gallons per year of liquid manure with the following nutrient content: 28 lb N, 12 lb P, and 22 lb K per 1,000 gal. The farmer has 150 acres available for fall manure application. The intended crop is Corn, in a Corn-Corn-Soybean rotation. The crop nutrient needs are: 140-40-40. The estimated manure application rate for that manure assuming broadcast application with incorpora-tion within 12 hours of application is 9,100 gallons per acre. The farmer, however, was not able to incorporate the manure in all the fields. He incorporated 50 acres within 12 hours of application, 50 acres 24 hours after application, and 50 acres that he was not able to incorporate at all. The chart below shows the net return of the manure calculated using the “Value of Manure” worksheet.

What’s manure worth?By William f. lazarus, eXtension economist; jose a. hernanDez, eXtension eDucator; anD

les eVerett, eDucation coorDinator university of minnesota extension

Incorporation <12 hr 12-96 hr Without

Crop Need 140-40-40 140-40-41 140-40-42

Manure Test 28-12-22 28-12-22 28-12-22

App. Rate, gal/acre 9100 9100 9100

App. Cost/Gal., $ $ 0.0125 $ 0.0125 $ 0.0125

Yield Impact, $/acre $ 20.00 $ 20.00 $ 20.00

Avail. N Applied, lb/acre 140 102 51

Avail. P Applied, lb/acre 87 87 87

Acres Covered 110 110 110

Net Return $ 5,192 $1,636 -$2,003

Spreadsheet Steps:1. Determine the Value of Nutrients Needed for First Year Crop Production.2. Calculate the Value of Required Nutrients That are Applied with Manure (for First Year Crop Production).3. Calculate the Value of Applied Nutrients that will Replace Second Year.4. Adjust for Yield or Other Factors.5. Subtract Application Costs.6. Calculate Total Net Value of Manure Application Per Acre, Per 1000 gallons per animal or for Facility or Op-eration.

Bio Wood Processing

Animal Bedding AvailableMulch • Bio Mass Fuels

Faribault, MN 507-334-(WOOD)9663

www.biowoodprocessing.com“For all your Wood Needs”


Last winter I presented a safety program at several locations for the Minnesota Custom Agriculture Waste Technicians. These are the custom applicators hauling manure on many of your farms each spring and fall. Since then, I have had several calls asking for help to develop safety plans for their businesses. While a common goal is OSHA compliance, the key element to compliance and meeting the goal of a safe workplace for all

employees is creating a “culture of safety”. A culture of safety is more than making sure employees do a five minute check of equipment each morning or making sure a slippery floor has some sand or barn lime spread on it. A culture of safety is when safety is always in the back of your mind and at the front of your actions. A culture of safety has you and every employee always watching for little things that may be hazardous to yourself or someone else who comes around the workplace and may not be as familiar with the day-to-day hazards of working on and around a farm. A culture of safety is not created on your farm by decree and a one-hour training program. It is created by example and regular reinforcement. It means that all the owner/management staff has to take safety as seriously as they want their employees to take it. You are always watching for problems, seeing that hazards are taken care of, and working in a safe manner yourself, just as you expect your employees to do. Employees take a lot of cues from the employer/manager. If you jump into a skid steer loader and take off across the yard or down the barn alley without fastening your seatbelt,

why should employees do anything different? If they see you pushing, prodding, poking and otherwise forcing cattle around the barn in a manner that could cause injury to the stock or to operators because the stock reacts adversely, why should they move those same cattle in any different way? They won’t. Your leadership and actions will be the greatest teacher and reinforcer toward creating that culture of safety. I am borrowing a check sheet from Dairy Australia’s program, “The People in Dairy”, which does an excellent job of helping you assess health and safety practices on your dairy farm. I would suggest taking a few minutes to conduct the assessment yourself and then consider where you need to improve and determine how you can make your farm a safer and healthier place to work and live.

Farm Health and Safety Overview Checklist Use these questions as a starting point for working out what you need to do to make your farm safer.

QueStioN YeS No

Do you have an orientation process for employees, contractors and visitors?

Do you have an occupational health and safety policy and do you have procedures that are followed for all tasks?

Do you have a documented risk management process that includes manual handling, chemicals, equipment, confined spaces, working at height, and electrical?

Do you have a consultation/communication system with employees?

Is there an emergency response plan for the farm?

Do you have a documented process for hazard, accident and incident reporting?

Are there adequate break rooms and restrooms for people in the workplace?

Do workers possess licenses and/or certificates of competency for the equipment they operate and tasks they undertake? (e.g. forklift license, driver’s license, chemical user’s application training, etc.)

Does all equipment used in the workplace comply with regulations? (includes guards, noise, design, maintenance, and use)

Do you have a process for managing work environment hazards including noise, dust, hot and cold conditions, and sun exposure?

Have you addressed child safety in the workplace?

Are chemicals managed correctly – records, storage, personal protective equipment, usage, material safety data sheets, signage?

Have you displayed adequate signage in the workplace? (e.g. visitor directions, traffic movement, specific hazards, use of personal protective equipment, general warnings)

Does personal protective equipment meet legal requirements - quality, comfort, storage, maintenance, usage, and is it conveniently available for use?

Do you have a policy/procedure that enables people working in remote and isolated locations to receive assistance in emergency situations?

-Adapted from Dairy Australia – “The People in Dairy”

If you answered ‘no’ to any of these questions, there is room on your farm to develop processes and/or documents that will help make your farm safer. Every farm is different and, even though there are similarities in work practices and risks, every farm needs its own risk control solutions to achieve the best safety outcomes. Taking time now before you get busy with spring activities will give you time to correct bad practices and develop new policies where they may be appropriate. Start today on creating your farm’s “Culture of Safety”.

Create a culture of safety on your farm

By Chuck SchwartauExtension Educator

Field Ready/We Stand Behind Our Sales“We Sell Good Honest Machines”

We are an American Family/BusinessFinancing Available: From 3.25% Fixed - Low Cost Delivery

Claas 900 SPFH, 1735 E hrs. $150,000‘00 Claas Jaguar 880, 4x4, RU450 or 600 avail ................ Base $65,000(2) JD 6950 SPFH ...$65,000-$77,500JD 6910 SPFH, 4wd .............$50,000(2) JD 6850, 2wd & 4wd .......$72,500‘02 JD 6750, 1824 E. hrs., 90% pwr. saver knives, Michelin drive 90% ........................... Base $72,500JD 6710 SPFH .......................$50,000(2) JD 5830s, higher hrs. ...start at $20,000JD 5820 SPFH, higher hrs. ....$17,500(2) JD 5730’s ..........$36,000-$38,500JD 5460 SPFH .............................. CallJD 3970, JD 3960 pull type .....$4,000

‘01 JD 6750, 2900 E. hrs., new blower shaft & power saver knives - base $72,500

JD 8320 tractor, 6200 hrs., duals - $85,000

New Meyer 435 & VB560 spdrs ... CallNew & Used Meyer 4218 silage wagons, 19T, combos ‘08 - $16,000, ‘11 - $24,500TRACTORS & SPRAYERSJD 9300, 6400 hrs., 24 spd. $82,500JD 8120, ‘02, 5000 hrs. ........$97,500JD 7810, MFD, 6100 hrs. ......$55,000JD 7710, 5600 hrs., E-range .$60,000‘06 NH TG255, new tires, dls front & rear, front suspension ...........$95,000‘05 RoGator 1274C SP sprayer, 100’ boom, new Cat rebuilt hydro, AgLeader ready ......................$82,500‘04 AgChem 1064 RoGator SP sprayer, 3400 hrs., 1080 g., 90’ boom $82,500

Blue Hilltop, Inc.

www.rotomix.com LLC

Dana Berreau & Jon Berreau507-879-3593 / 800-821-7092

Box 116, Lake Wilson, MN 56151

Your Mixer, Spreader, Hay Processor HeadquartersWe carry:

Buying? Selling? Check the classifieds.


By Jim BennettColumnist

Veterinary Wisdom

A long time ago, as a young, single man, I finally accepted this bit of maternal wisdom: I started tak-ing my shoes off at the door of my house and quickly learned that I could significantly reduce my already-infrequent efforts at cleaning the floors. I have been thinking quite a bit about dirty feet lately, of cows though, not people. I wish cows could take their shoes off, because, particularly in freestall barns, dirty feet are pretty common. That manure they carry around winds up in the freestalls, and some of that eventually finds its way on the teats and ud-der. Quite a bit of manure is transferred directly from the feet and legs to the ud-der when cows lie down too. Either way, dirty feet clearly can lead to mastitis and increased somatic cell counts on your farm. If you milk in a parallel par-lor, prepping udders and attaching units is no fun with dirty feet either, because a lot of it winds up on your arms, and when you are covered with manure in a milking parlor it is difficult to concentrate on being clean in performing your work. This can lead to mas-titis also. One of my problems with dirty feet is convincing producers that their cows’ feet are dirty. Sometimes, after my pontification regarding the dirty feet, farmers look at me, saying little, with that particular stare that seems to say, “So what.” In other words, “of course the feet are dirty; they stand in manure, what do you expect, you idiot?” Nobody has actually said that to me, since they are polite folk, but I know they think it. So I started videotaping rows and rows of feet so I could show farmers various herds, but even that did not convince many. So finally, I found these nice pic-tures of hygiene scoring at: http://www.vetmed.wisc.

edu/dms/fapm/fapmtools/hygiene.htm, and now I can show producers what clean feet look like. There are picture of udders and flanks too. On the second page are some summary statistics for Wisconsin herds. For example, for lower leg hygiene, on average, freestall herds had 54 percent of animals scoring 3 or 4 (dirty), while stanchion barn herds scored 25 percent 3 or 4 on average. The cleanest freestall herds had 24 per-cent 3 or 4, and the cleanest stanchion herds had nine percent 3 or 4. So clearly, stanchion barn herds have cleaner feet. If you look at the upper legs and flanks, however, freestall herds tended to be cleaner. You can use this scoring system to evaluate your cows’ hy-giene and compare it to others. Why are feet dirty? Clearly, in freestall barns, feet get dirty walking through manure in pens. Much of this is hard to avoid, unless you have a flush barn, slatted floor, or some other nifty design that gets the manure off the floor ASAP. you might also have clean feet those couple of cold weeks in the winter (except-ing this particular winter) when the manure freezes as soon as it hits the concrete. Feet also get dirty though, when cows are moved to the parlor, or when you let them outside on a dirt lot. Much of this contamination can be prevented, and this is often a great place to focus a little more effort. Notice, in the parlor, whether the manure is wet or dry. Wet manure probably arrived on the legs while mov-ing to the parlor; dry manure probably arrived while leaving or in the pens. Moving cows slowly in pens and to the parlor is important. Anyone who ever has been hit in the eye with flying cow manure flung by a cow moving toward you at a fast speed will appreci-ate the effect of speed on manure splashing. Holding pens and return lanes can be pretty dirty, especially as you get to milking the last cows on the shift. Most farms seem to be in a state of perpetual expansion these days, and they also seem to perpetually increase milk production per cow, so the combination of more cows and more eating leads to much more manure on the floor. The solution is to look at all of these areas and see

Dirty feet make for a dirty houseif one can reduce the amount of manure. This might mean scraping the upper part of the return alley or holding pen between groups. It might mean cleaning the parlor deck between groups. It might mean scrap-ing the alley immediately behind the foot bath on foot bathing day, since alleys always seem to be dirtiest then. It might be as simple as getting your milking crew to stop scraping the parlor exit areas and push-ing the manure in a big pile somewhere farther down where every cow walks through it. It might mean changing the way you scrape pens, or perhaps fencing off wet areas outside during wet weather. Every farm will be a little different, but just about everyone can probably find ways to improve cow cleanliness. I spend quite a lot of time with my arm in a hori-zontal position in the close vicinity of the posterior end of a cow, so I get ample opportunities to look at feet. I am surprised at just how difficult it is, even for me, to judge whether feet are too dirty. This hygiene score card has really helped to objectively evaluate cow cleanliness. Try it out. Score your herd, or have your veterinarian do it for you. Then, if too dirty, try to figure out just where the manure is coming from, and fix it. Remember, dirty feet lead to dirty beds and dirty udders, so dirty feet really do matter. Jim Bennett is a dairy veterinarian at Northern Valley Dairy Production Medicine Center in Plain-view, Minn. He and his wife, Pam, have four children. Jim can be reached at [email protected] with comments or questions.

WE SERVICE ALL MAKES OF IRRIGATION!We have conversions for all makes of irrigation: Valley, T & L, Reinke, and

Lockwood, to convert your system to reliable LINDSAY ZIMMATIC CONTROLS.

We also sell and service all pumps - submersible and turbine.

Northern Irrigation Contractors, Inc.45214 County Road 80 East, P.O. Box 264 • Perham, MN 56573

218-346-7246 or 800-492-4994

(320) 290-7663www.steveshooftrimming.com

• A lifetime of dairy management experiece• 14 years of professional experience• More than 150,000 cows trimmed• Serving Central and Southern Minnesota

A Reputation of IntegritySteve Glenn Tyler

SE MN SILO EQUIPMENT

Sales and Service800-584-9462 • 507-932-4560

New Hanson unloaders on Sale!

Hanson by Valmetal

Your Place or Mine?Portable Welding - Silo Unloader Repair

Paul’s Welding & RepairSt. Martin, MN

Sales, Service, Rental of manure handling and feeding equipment

Paul Braegelmann320-548-3300

We have all your cleaning needs covered...- Cobwebs blown out - Scraping - Pipelines covered -

Licensed for insecticide - We also have a hot water pres-sure washer for all your cleaning needs

Call Nick at 320-491-0688Home 320-352-7816

Meyer

Whitewashing formerly Gibbs Whitewashing

NOW TAKING BOOKINGS FOR THE 2012 SEASON

Call today for

scheduling.

We do... • dairy barns• calf barns• hog barns


By andrea BorgerdingOnline Editor

Herd Surfing

DRUMS OF OIL15W40P50 • HY GARDWe buy by the truckload.

See us for special sale prices.

50% more hours when using PLUS 50 oil

TRUCKLOADOIL SALEReduce downtime. Save time. Save money. Can you afford to use any other engine oil?

John Deere TOUGH

TILLAGE PARTSSweeps, Shovels, Disk

Blades, Plow Bottom Parts

SAVE up to 20%

FREE Coffee & CookiesMarch 7th-19th

Filter Sale thru March 31stChoose fi lters designed to protect your John Deere machines, not just fi t them!

SAVE 15%on ALL Filters

SOLID, STABLE & STILL JOHN DEERE • SOLID, STABLE & STILL JOHN DEERE • SOLID, STABLE & STILL JOHN DEERE

SOLID, STABLE & STILL JOHN DEERE • SOLID, STABLE & STILL JOHN DEERE • SOLID, STABLE & STILL JOHN DEERE

16069 East Hwy. 27, Little FallsPhone 632-5469 or 1-800-655-5469

ALL PARTS IN STOCK & STOCK-ORDERED PARTS

March 7th thru March 19th(including toys & clothing)

10%OFF

Talk to Steve about signing up for “jdpart.com” parts Internet inventory www.evergreenequipment.com • e-mail: [email protected] • [email protected]

• [email protected] • Ag product website: jddealer.deere.com/evergreeneq/

EVERGREENEQUIPMENT STORE HOURS:

Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pmSaturdays 8:00am-1:00pm

Corn Planter Seed Meters7000, 7200, 7300, 1700 SeriesVACUUM OR FINGERThis is the only test stand with a computer AND a gated belt that lets you see for yourself if your meter is spacing correctly.

$30.00per row for testingParts extraCall Jeremy to schedule

Get a FREE Adapter & Spring!With each Perma-Loc™ Sweep purchased, when you convert your complete cultivator from bolt-on or competitive brand sweeps.Offer ends March 11, 2011. Mounting hardware extra.

16th Annual Parts Salep

Schedule any Service Work ‘til March 19th, 2011and Parts Discount will apply!

SO

LID

, STA

BLE

& S

TIL

L JO

HN

DE

ER

E •

SO

LID

, STA

BLE

& S

TIL

L JO

HN

DE

ER

E

SO

LID

, STA

BLE

& S

TIL

L JO

HN

DE

ER

E •

SO

LID

, STA

BLE

& S

TIL

L JO

HN

DE

ER

E

John Deere TOUGH

TILLAGE PARTSSweeps, Shovels, Disk

Blades, Plow Bottom Parts

SAVE up to 20%Filter Sale thru March 31stChoose fi lters designed to protect your John Deere machines, not just fi t them!

SAVE 15%on ALL Filters

BLE

& S

TIL

L JO

HN

DE

ER

E

SO

LID

, STA

BLE

& S

TIL

L J

Schedule any Service Work ‘til March 24th, 2012 and Parts Discount will apply!

FREE Coffee & CookiesMarch 12th-24th

17th Annual Parts Sale

STORE HOURS:Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pm

Saturdays 8:00am-1:00pm

March 12th thru March 24th

Corn Planter Seed Meters7000, 7200, 7300, 1700 SeriesVACUUM OR FINGERThis is the only test stand with a computer AND a gated belt that lets you see for yourself if your meter is spacing correctly.

$3500per row for testingParts extra.

Call Jeremy to schedule

EVERGREEN EQUIPMENT INC.LITTLE FALLS • 1-800-655-5469

(WAD) • 1-888-631-2311

NEW and USED EQUIPMENTwww.evergreenequipment.com

TRACTORSJD 8100, MFWD, P.S., DUAL ..............................78,900.00JD 8650 4WD, 1-OWNER ...................................34,900.00JD 4850, MFWD, DUALS ....................................34,900.00JD 4440 P.S., DUALS ..........................................22,900.00JD 6410, 2WD, ROPS .........................................29,900.00JD 7200, CAB, MFWD (WAD) .............................39,900.00JD 4240, P.S., DUALS .........................................23,900.00JD 4230, DUALS (WAD) .....................................16,900.00JD 450C CRAWLER-LOADER ..............................8,500.00IH CUB W/MOWER ...............................................4,500.00JD 4400, MFWD, LOADER 560 HRS..................14,900.00JD 5520, MFWD, CAB.........................................38,900.00NH TB 120, MFWD, ROPS, 1100 HRS ...............34,900.00JD 6430, 2WD, CAB ............................................52,900.00JD 2755, 2WD, CAB, 245 LOADER ....................27,900.00JD 7520, MFWD, 741 SL, GRAPPLE (WAD) ......77,900.00IH 1086, DUALS, LOADER .................................14,900.00JD 6410, CAB, MFWD, LOADER ........................46,900.00JD 2355, SGB, MFWD, 640SL LOADER. ...........29,500.00JD 3320, CAB, 300CX LDR, TURF, 150 HRS .....27,900.00SKID LOADERSJD 325, CAB ENCL, A.C., Q.T. #105768 .............23,900.00NH C175, TRACKS, 550 HRS (WAD) #456690 ..29,900.00JD PRO-911 BACKHOE, EXT. ..............................6,900.00CASE 1845C, 1603 HRS #135151 ..................... 11,900.00 JD 325, CAB, A.C.,Q.T. #173185 ........................16,500.00JD 317, CAB HEATER # 158599 .......................16,900.00JD 329D CTL, CAB, HEAT, A.C., QT # 181680 ..43,900.00JD 317, CAB HEATER, Q.T., 1455 HRS # 146373 ...18,500.00JD 332, HEAT, A.C., QT., 745 HRS, # 183705 ....37,900.00JD 328 CAB ENCL. Q.T., # 123758.....................12,900.00JD 250, CAB ENCL, A.C. # 151688 .................... 11,900.00JD 317, CAB ENCL, A.C., QT. # 158318 .............17,500.00HARVEST EQUIPMENTJD 9750 STS, RWA (3132-2285).......................124,900.00JD 6620, RWA, 4134 H .......................................12,500.00JD 4420, CHOPPER .............................................8,500.00JD 443 HEAD ........................................................4,000.00JD 3300 DIESEL, 343, 1275 HRS .........................8,500.00JD 925 FLEX, 1997 ...............................................6,900.00JD 6600, POSI-TORG ...........................................4,500.00JD 630B WINDROW PICKUP ...............................9,500.00JD 3950, 2R30, (WAD) ..........................................9,900.00JD 6810 SPFH, KP, KEMPER 4500 HEAD .........89,500.00JD 3950 W/2R30 (CONS) .....................................9,500.00JD 3975 PTFH, KERNEL PROCESSOR, IG ...... 27,500.00JD 5400 SPFH, RWA, 3R30 ................................28,900.00JD 7550 SPFH, KP, PRODRIVE, 1604 / 1122 ...219,000.00JD 686 HEAD, 2008 ...........................................44,900.00GERINGHOFF RD800 (8-30) HEAD ...................54,900.00JD 7400 SPFH, KP, AWD, (2129/1469 HRS) ....169,900.00JD 686 HEAD, 2009 ............................................48,900.00HAY EQUIPMENTJD 535 BALER, PB (WAD) ....................................8,500.00JD 568 BALER, S.S, NETWRAP, 08’ #346714 ...29,900.00JD 567 BALER, WIDE PICKUP #195219 ...........17,900.00JD 567, WIDE PICKUP (WAD) #324929 ............19,900.00JD 1600 MO-CO, 14 FT ........................................4,900.00NH BR 780 # 62036 (WAD) .................................14,900.00JD 375 BALER #845761 .......................................8,900.00JD 835 MO-CO, IMP (2010) ................................23,900.00JD 338 T BALER ...................................................4,900.00NH 1475, 14FT MOW-COND, WAD ...................7,900.00JD 1209 MOW-COND. ..........................................2,000.00NH 1432 ROTARY, FLAIL COND. ......................15,900.00NH BR780 BALER #52774..................................16,900.00JD 566 BALER, NET WRAP, #129821 ...............17,500.00JD 535 BALER #888104 ......................................8,500.00JD 567, NET WRAP #157559 .............................18,900.00JD 457 (WAD) #311508 .......................................12,900.00JD 466, CONS. #114716 ......................................9,900.00JD 946 MO-CO, ROLL (CONS) ...........................19,500.00H&S 501 16FT BOX & 612 WAGON .....................5,000.00JD 430 BALER ......................................................6,900.00

VERMEER 605M BALER #001172 .................. 14,900.00JD 468, SILAGE KIT – WAD, 2011, #373451 ......29,900.00JD 4995 WINDROWER, 995 HEAD, 1396 E, 1048C ....75,900.00CLASS 180 ROTO-CUT #902983, NET WRAP ..19,900.00CLASS 180 ROTO-CUT, NET WRAP ...................9,900.00JD 716A FORAGE BOX, 612 GEAR .....................5,900.00JD 327 BALER, 30 EJ ...........................................5,900.00JD 435 BALER ......................................................6,900.00H&S TR-9 RAKE ...................................................2,900.00JD 820 MO-CO .....................................................8,900.00JD 265 DISK MOWER, 2011 .................................9,500.00JD 660 SIDE RAKE ...............................................1,500.00TILLAGE EQUIPMENTJD 1610 14 SHANK MTD. CHISEL PLOW ...........3,500.00JD 310, 14FT .........................................................3,500.00JD 235 DURA-CUSHION, 21’ .............................10,900.00JD 235, 25 FT ........................................................8,500.00CASE-IH 6650 11 SHANK CONSER-TILL ..........12,900.00GLENCOE 7 SHANK SOIL SAVER.......................5,500.00JD 2700 SR 5 BOTTOM PLOW ............................4,500.00KENT 7548 48’ FIELD FINISHER, SPIKE ...........17,500.00JD 2600 5 BTM SR PLOW ....................................4,000.00JD 3710 12 BTM PLOW, FLEX FRAME..............14,900.00 JD 637 20’9” DISK, HARROW # 748 ..................18,900.00JD 637, 26’5” ROCK DISK, HARROW ................38,900.00SUMMERS 30 FT SPIRAL PACKER .....................9,500.00JD 2810 5 BTM, SR...............................................4,900.00JD 637, 26’5” ROCK DISK-CONSIGN ................24,900.00JD 215 14’ DURA-CUSHION DISK .......................7,500.00SPREADERSHAGEDORN 275 W/ENDGATE ..........................12,900.00NI 3626, ENDGATE ...............................................1,900.00H&S 270 W/ENDGATE ..........................................4,900.00KNIGHT 716 SLINGER .........................................3,900.00HAGEDORN 411, ENDGATE (CONS) ................14,500.00PLANTING & SEEDINGBRILLION SS10 SEEDER (LIKE NEW) ..............10,900.00JD 1770 16R30, VAC, LF, R.C. ...........................94,900.00WHITE 8180 16R30, LIQ FERT. ..........................69,900.00JD 8200 DRILL, GRASS, 24X6 .............................4,000.00JD 7200 4RW PLANTER .......................................4,900.00JD 1750 6R30, VAC, DF ......................................24,900.00MISCELLANEOUS PALLET FORKS FOR 675 SKID LOADER ..............575.00ARTSWAY SHREDDER ........................................2,500.00JD 300 HUSKER ...................................................3,900.00JD 460 LOADER (4600) ........................................2,500.00J&M 1075 GRAIN CART, SCALE ........................33,900.00WESTENDORF XTA 400 LOADER (7510) ...........6,500.00FARM HAND XL 740 LOADER (IH 884) ...............3,000.00H&S 16, SKID STEER TRAILER (LIKE NEW) ......3,750.00ALLIED 595 LOADER, 4450 (LIKE NEW) .............4,900.00JD 746 LOADER ................................................. 11,900.00TUBELING LARGE BALE PROCESSOR FOR SKID LDRS.. 8,900.00KNIGHT 5135 VERT TMR ...................................18,500.00NEW 158 LOADER MTG. FRAMES (WAD) ..........1,000.00SCHULTE REEL-TYPE ROCK PICKER ...............3,500.00JD 720 LOADER, 85”, 4240 ..................................3,900.00 JD 115 SHREDDER, CV, LIKE NEW ..................14,500.00JD MX-7 ROTARY CUTTER .................................2,595.00FARM KING 8X41 AUGER, ELECT. DRIVE..........2,000.00LAND PRIDE 3 PT AUGER ......................................695.00KNIGHT 3015 TMR, INCLINE DISCHARGE .........7,500.00N-TECH MANURE PUMP-EXC.COND. ................7,500.00JD 280 SL LOADER, 3F VALVE (4455) .............. 11,900.00NEW BRILLION 16’ PULVERIZER ........................7,500.00NEW RITE-WAY 42’ ROLLER .............................37,900.00BOBCAT 60” S.S. ROTARY CUTTER (WAD) .......2,500.00 NEW THUNDER-CREEK 750 FUEL TRAILER ...10,500.00SPRAYERSHARDI AC 950, 90 FT .........................................15,900.00CENTURY 500 GAL ..............................................3,000.00VICON 365 GAL, TANDEM ...................................1,800.00FLEX-COIL 1000, 60FT .......................................14,900.00

When we first started planning for the Dairy Star Web site five years ago, the thought of putting the actual paper online was something we discussed but quickly dismissed. Our thinking back then was that the online edition would keep people from wanting to read our newspaper. But this past spring, we wanted to revisit the possibility of post-ing the paper online. Our reasons for posting the paper online quickly out-weighed the negative aspects of an on-line edition. For one, if you don’t get the paper on time, you can go to our Web site and read it. If a family member snatches the Dairy Star from you before you can read it – not a problem, go online. If you would like to browse past issues, go online. Do you want to see an ad that was printed in the paper but you mis-placed your copy? Not a problem, go online. Starting next week, after our paper is printed and mailed out on Saturday, we will upload and post the online edi-tion Monday morning. To find the edi-tion, I have made a section called “On-line edition” in the navigation bar across the top of the Dairy Star’s homepage, www.dairystar.com. There will be a section for each issue date. Once you click on the issue date you would like to see, you will see three separate docu-ments. Each document can be clicked on to expand it. Once you have the ex-panded version up on your screen, sim-ply click on the pages to turn the pages or use the arrow keys on the top of the page. On the top of the page, you will also see a scroll bar to help you zoom in closer or zoom out. Click the “x” or press the “Escape” key to close out of the document. If you have any problems accessing our online edition, please contact me and I can talk you through it.

Advertising online We are almost through our annual online advertising renewals. Every year we sign up advertisers to be on our Web site and in our online business directo-ry. Online advertising is a great option for businesses that have Web sites and

Flipping through the Dairy Star … online

would like to drive more traffic to their sites. The Dairy Star Web site current-ly receives 3,500 visitors a week. Our advertisers are getting great exposure by advertising products, services and by providing a direct link to their own sites. If you’d like an affordable way to get your name listed on our Web site, the business directory is a great option for you. Call me for more information in getting signed up to be in our online business directory.

Promote your event One thing we recently started is posting a tile spot on our home page just for businesses to advertise an upcoming event like expos, seminars, workshops and tours. This has been a popular option for businesses. If you have an event com-ing up, contact me for more informa-tion on getting your event posted on the Dairy Star homepage.

Popular items on the Web site Last issue’s article on the McNal-ly’s from Monona, Iowa, exploded in popularity on the Dairy Star Web site. “McNally’s find happiness in reduced herd size” written by Kelli Boylen had just over 400 views in one week. The No. 1 viewed photo online was the “Capitolizing on dairy” – a photo of Governor Mark Dayton taken by Krista M. Sheehan during MMPA’s Dairy Day at the Capitol, Feb. 20.


By natalie schmittColumnist

Just Thinking Out Loud

FRIEDRICHS TIRE & OILSauk Centre • 352-5418 or 352-3612

After Hours • 351-8995

$75THE MICHELIN® AG

PER TIREREBATE

It’s not the only reason to choose a

MICHELIN® tire, but it’s a good one.

Now the reduced soil compaction and improved crop yield

that you count on from Michelin comes with an added bonus. For a limited time, when

you buy 2 or more MICHELIN® Ag tires,

you will receive a $75 rebate on each

purchased tire.

Ask Your Dealer for Details.

Off er valid from 2/20-2012 to

5/31/2012.

51101 Omaha St. P.O. Box 127 • Osseo, WI 54758(800) 657-4698 • (715) 597-2498

Email: [email protected] Web Site: osseoplastics.com

BOOK YOUR REPAIRS NOW!WE GIVE “FREE” NO OBLIGATION

ON THE FARM ESTIMATES.

Plastic Liner For Your TMR Mixers

Easy mixing, extends mixer life & more!

Nu-Poly for Walls/CeilingsIn Milk Houses & Parlors

Provides a Plastic surface... Easy to clean, durable &

withstands cleaning chemicals

DUMP BOX LINER• Durable to withstand punishment• Loads release quickly• Prevents freezing & sticking to liner surface• Continuous length liners available, 3/16”, 1/4”, 3/8”, & 1/2” thickness

Cattle Manger seamless curb corner eliminate

feed build up

SPARROWS - STARLINGS -RODENTS

For management of these and other pests call1-800-873-1565

Serving: Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin

Now scheduling y & spider control programs & whitewashing for 2012

RENEW YOUR TRACTOR CAB!1” Black Vinyl Upholstery

At Wholesale Prices!WE SHIP DAILY

KIESTER IMPLEMENTKIESTER, MN

www.midwestfarmsales.com507-294-3387

JD Sound Guard Cabs & Sound Guard Cab Parts

BUY - SELL - TRADE

We have been practicing patience this Lenten season. It was not anything we spe-cifically planned to do, it just happened one morning in the barn. Of course our patience is tested every day on a farm and some days more than others. I am discovering a unique way of developing patience is to fix some-thing, however the amount of patience you have is influenced by four factors. These factors tend to cloud our perception of the situation and magnifies when our patience is in low reserve. When your patience is low, the job seems to keep getting worse. Weather. The lower the temperature, the lower your patience when you’re trying to fix a broken manure spreader chain out the in the middle of a windswept field. your fingers feel as stiff as your frozen muddy coveralls as you grab the chilled metal tools. It seems as though your hands will never be warm again. The nice thing is that you don’t feel your knuckles scrape against a sharp piece of metal and the blood is too thick to make a big mess. Food. If your stomach is empty, it is hard to concentrate on the task at hand, making the job go even slower and your tummy grumbling even louder. It is hard to focus on getting the job done while you are thinking about breakfast waiting for you in the house. Sleep. With calving checks through-out the night, it is hard to string together enough hours to recharge your body for the next day’s challenges. Easy solutions to the day’s problems are hard to see as you close your eye lids and drift off for a quick nap. Attitude. The cloudy days have put everyone in a gloomy mood. It is hard to feel bright and chipper when the sun refuses to burn through the foggy morning skies; but when the light does burn through, our moods brighten with the growing intensity of the sun. The gloomy moods are not just a reflec-tion of the cloudy skies. It is also a combina-tion of recent events. In the past 16 days we have had four sets of split twins. The first to calve was an old cow we were keeping for just one more calf, a heifer calf. She had a heifer and a dead bull calf. Not a good sign. We culled her right then and there. The next two cows to calve were 4-year-old cows. Trumpet spit out a dead pair of calves one month early. Sapphire’s twins both sur-vived. The two cows are coming around and haven’t DA’d yet, but this lactation is off to a very slow start for them. The last cow to calve was due to go dry in six weeks. Mark came into the barn one morning to discover she was starting to abort her pregnancy. It was our fourth set of twins. Now she won’t calve back again until sometime in 2013. The only other calf born in February was a single bull. So much for replacement heifers in the next two years, but at least Katie can take the twin calves into school for the FFA Children’s Barnyard. As the Leap Year Day snow storm ended February with a punctuation mark, we look forward to the new month. March calvings have to be better than February’s run. If the sun can come out from behind the clouds, we can surely have heifer calves born. We just have to be patient and wait. This morning our patience was re-

ally put to the test and I must say, I think we passed. Monday night Al discovered he had no water in his house. They figured they could survive until the next day without water and save on an afterhours emergency call. Bright and early Tuesday morning Al called the well guys to come check out the situation. Meanwhile, as we filled the mixer with the morning feed, a loud crash permeated throughout the barn. Mark flew over the railing and shut down the mixer, conveyor and haylage unloader. It appeared the chain on the back of the mixer had jumped off the sprocket. With a break in the milking action, Mark and I put the chain back on and con-tinued adding feed. Two hundred pounds later a crashing boom could be heard and Mark flew over the waterline again. This time things were out of line and would re-quire more time to fix. Once the switch cows were milked we headed back to work on the mixer while Al worked on his well project. Mark carried every tool he thought he needed – maul, crowbar, screw drivers, hammer, socket sets, wrenches and cotter pins. As I followed him to the mixer room, I picked up the tools he dropped from his large supply. Taking the sprocket and bearings off of the shaft was a lesson in mechanical en-gineering, geometry, physics and surgical protocol. The space was too small to use the maul to pound things back into place. I don’t know if the maul really works, or just makes you feel like you’re accomplishing something. Regardless, we started to dis-mantle the section of the mixer to fix. Mark squeezed into the tight space between the mixer and the wall to find the right angle to loosen bolts and pull cotter pins. I kept the flashlight pointed at the center of his atten-tion while handing him tools and supplies. I felt like we were working in a very dirty operating room. At the end of the “surgery” we counted cotter pins, snap rings and cres-cent wrenches like used cotton swabs and surgical knives making sure nothing was left behind. The mixer was fixed, the cows could be fed and we discovered our patience had survived another session of farm fixing. Natalie, Mark and his brother, Al, Schmitt farm together near Rice, Minn. They milk 100 registered Holsteins under the RALMA prefix. Their four children are great help around the farm and are pushing Natalie out of several jobs. Therefore she is thankful to have something else to do. For questions or comments please e-mail Nata-lie at [email protected].

Practicing patience


By sadie FrericksColumnist/Writer

The Next Generation

I F A

Roller-Grinder

Solid cast rolls All belt-electric drive Single or double mills USA & International sales Replacement rolls available for most mills Used mills and tumble mixers on hand Hammer Mills

More milk - less feed with uniform ne-grind

Phone: (319) 634-3849 • Toll Free: (800) 426-0261web: www.ifamill.com • email: [email protected]

Electronic Dairy Board Repair Service

Specializing in:WestfaliaSurge, BouMatic,

& DeLaval pulsators & Takeoff s, circuit boards,

Mueller milk tank circuit boards.

Call: (c) 406-590-7764

Repair vs. Replace

Do you have a hog con nement building or dairy stall barn

you’re not making use of? Let us help you turn it into a great

opportunity for raising bottle calves!• Individual pens or group pens with automatic feeders.• Hot water heated grated oor system requires no bedding.• Faster turn around with the permitting process.

BEFORE AFTER

Converted Hog Barn

40’ wide x 248’ long

• 16 stall pre-nursery training stalls• Heating plant • Utility room

• Nursery has 8 pens of 25 calves-200 head calf capacity.•8 automatic computerized calf feeders for 8 pens.• Cozy hot water heated ooring over a full pit requiring no bedding.• Totally enclosed, fan cooled with geo-thermal underground air tubes for supplemental heat in the winter and cooling in the summer.

• 9 pens of calves-total capacity 162 weaned calves.• Totally enclosed-fan cooled-concrete slats over a full pit.• All pens have self locking stalls.

“We’ve been in our calf building for about 3 months now. We’ve noticed huge labor savings, were not moving calves from building to building, calves are all under one roof now up to 400 lbs. Our help is a lot happier too! Even with a mild winter, we’ve also noticed a big savings on LP heat. All the equipment is very durable and quality equipment. Our calves are comfortable, clean and much healthier. The

service we received from Blue Diamond Industries was excellent, they were very prompt and always here when they said they would be. We are extremely pleased with our invest-ment and highly recommend this building which produces labor & heat savings as well as clean and healthy calves-in turn eff ecting our bottom line savings.” - STEVE BOLLANT

Brent, Steve & TylerBollant Farms, Fennimore, WI

PRE-NURSERY TRANSITION ROOM

NURSERY

“Leading you in the right direction for your dairy operation needs.”

Call Gary Von Wahlde for a quote.... 320-248-2236 - Melrose, MN

[email protected]

FULL LINE OF CHEMICALS & MILKING EQUIPMENT SALES & SERVICE

I can help!

OVER 20 YEARS EXPERIENCE

Want: AN ALTERNATIVE TO IODINENeed: CYNERGYTM PRE-POST

In the never-ending struggle between your herd and mastitis, CYNERGY Pre-Post is a must-have. It’s all new from the experts at Ecolab—an innovative heptanoic acid-based system that delivers fast kills and superior skin conditioning. Plus quick prep and fast dry time. The only thing missing is, well, iodine. Call us today for more information. Because the best protection for your cows is really the best protection for your business.

h l

During an interview last week, I was asked if Glen and I are hoping to pass the farm onto the next generation My first thought was that it seems a little early to be thinking about transition-ing the farm, but maybe not. At the infor-mational meeting for Dan’s kindergarten, it was made very clear that today’s kin-dergarten is not the kindergarten my gen-eration attended. Children are expected to enter modern kindergarten with far more skills. I suppose it’s not outlandish to also expect them to know what they want to do with their lives when they graduate 13 years later. But I didn’t voice that thought during the interview. What I did say was that, of course, Glen and I would be honored if one of our children were to choose to farm. If our children do decide to farm, we will do everything we can to help them make it pos-sible. However, not every child who grows up on a farm catches the farming bug, so whether our farm will continue for another generation in this family is ultimately a de-cision our children will make. Whether or not our children choose to farm, only time will tell. But I have no-ticed a few qualities in our children that will serve them well if they do catch the farming bug.

1. They don’t take the easy path. After last week’s snow storm, we fi-nally had snowbanks in the yard big enough for sliding. Dan started out sliding down the piles on his bottom. Then we got the sleds out. I gave Dan a push down a snowy slope, but he tipped over when the sled hit the driveway. After drying his hands and his tears, I agreed to ride with him in the sled the next time. We cruised down without tipping and the extra weight in the sled made a nice track in the snow. Dan said he was going to go down again by himself, so I went back to feeding heifers. Dan took off back up the hill, trudg-ing through the deepest snow. I told him it would easier to walk up the hill on the driveway, where the snow was plowed away. “Nah, Mom,” he said. “This is better.”

2. They don’t mind getting dirty. After Dan’s first day of playing in the snow, I quickly realized just how much laundry our mild winter saved me. All of his attire from the knees down was soaked. Wet clothes, by themselves, aren’t much of a problem. But Dan’s afternoon routine takes him from playing on the snowbanks to chasing Monika around the barn and playing in the cows’ TMR. When he removes his boots at night, we end up with a small pile of TMR on the floor, not including the TMR stuck to his wet socks. I shake as much of the feed out of his boots as I can, but they still smell like a Koster tester when they come off the boot dryer the next day.

3. They’re eager to help. When the vacuum pump starts, there’s often a race between Dan and Monika to see who gets to help milk a cow first. Ginger is Dan’s favorite cow to milk and Monika always asked to milk Sienna. But now that Sienna is dried up, they fight over milking Ginger. Thankfully, there are several other gentle, young cows with ud-ders high enough off the ground to allow little helpers to crawl underneath. The other night Dan ran up to Glen and asked, “Which cow can I milk? I’m a farm-er, too… I’m a little kid farmer.” We frequently comment that we hope Dan and Monika are still as eager consider themselves farmers and to help with milk-ing 10 years from now.

4. They’re connecting with animals. After vocally pondering my collection of frogs in our bathroom, Dan asked me, “What’s your favorite animal?” I told him I have two favorites, cows and frogs. “That’s why you wanted to be a farm-er,” he then proclaimed. “And that’s why my dad wanted to be a farmer.” I don’t know if cows are Dan’s favorite animals, but he’s definitely becoming at-tached to them. Love is still Dan’s favorite cow. He al-ways needs to know where she is in the barn. And he’s always asking when she’s going to have another baby. It took her awhile to breed back, so I just keep telling him “in a little while.” I sure hope that calf is a heifer. Every time a calf is born, Dan wants to know if it’s a girl or a boy. He knows that we keep the girls and sell the boys; at first he was mad that we sell the boys and would get upset when bull calves were born; but now he seems to understand and accept the situation. There’s a little, black heifer calf in the barn that Dan keeps referring to as his fair calf. I’m not sure where he got the idea of having a fair calf – unless he’s overheard conversations about showing. I’m not sure if I’m ready for that chapter to begin, but he seems to be. Sadie and her husband, Glen, milk 70 cows near Melrose, Minn. They have two children – Dan, 5, and Monika, 2. Sadie also writes a blog for the Dairy Star at http://dairystar.blogspot.com. She can be reached at [email protected].

The next, next generation


Toll Free: Feed 877-468-6655 Agron/Petro 877-438-3378

QLFSELECT 40

LIQUID SUPPLEMENT

Improve your feed performance with QLF’s Select 40. The liquid

advantage is gained through increased palatability and ration conditioning. Ration

sorting and nes are reduced, promoting consistent nutrient

intakes across all animals.

Contact Randy at Pierz Co-op to learn more.

Feed Ruminants Only - May be mixed with grain or top dressed on the grain, silage, hay or other roughages.

“The friendly people”

Pipeline, Windows & Light Bulbs cleaned at the end of job.

All your fan needs.Serving MN, IA, SD, ND, & WI

Call For Free Estimates Cliff: 320-815-8488 or Tim: 320-815-5103

ROERS WHITEWASHING & STEAM CLEANINGWE ARE LICENSED FOR

MONTHLY FLY CONTROL!Anyone signing up before

March 31 receives a 5% discount for this season!

LIC#: 20122719

Dakota

Bedding701-297-9742

All-Natural Wood BeddingMade in West Fargo • Bulk or Bags

Contact Glen for more info

Call Today for Delivery!tfn

WORKS WELL FOR COMPOST BARNS!

Dairy Recipes

Looking for recipes we published in the past? Check our Web site: www.dairystar.com

for all the recipes we have printed.

2 lb. ground beef2 cups uncooked egg noodles1 can cream of mushroom soup1 can cream of celery soup2 cups or more shredded cheese16 oz. jar sauerkrautSalt and pepper, to taste1 cup water1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cups graham cracker crumbs1/2 cup sugar1/2 cup melted butter2 cans cherry pie filling1 pint whipping cream2 cups miniature marshmallows2 Tbsp powdered sugar1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together and save a small portion for topping. Spread remainder in 9x13 pan – pat firmly. Pour two cans cherry pie filling over crumbs. Whip 1 pint whipping cream, add 2 cups miniature marshmallows, 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla. Spread over cherries and top with crumbs. Refrigerate overnight.

Cherry Dessert

2 eggs1 cup sugar1/2 cup oil1/2 cup softened butter3 Tbsp. sour cream1 Tbsp. almond flavoring3 cups flour1/4 tsp. baking soda1 tsp. baking powder

Cream eggs, sugar, oil, butter and sour cream. Add flour, soda, baking powder and almond flavoring. Spread in greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes. Slice 1/2" thick and place on cookie sheets. Sprinkle with sugar (I use salt shaker with sugar) and toast in 300º oven until lightly browned on both sides.

Almond Rusks

2 cups crushed Ritz crackers1/4 cup powdered sugar1/2 cup melted butterMix and pat in 9x13 pan. Bake for 7 min. at 350º.

1 pkg (8 oz.) cream cheese12 oz. Cool Whip3/4 cup sugarMix and spread on cooled crust.

2 pkg. (3 oz.) Raspberry Jell-O2 cups boiling water2 bags (12 oz.) of frozen raspberriesMix and pour over cream cheese layer. Chill. Serve with a scoop of ice cream.

Raspberry Dessert

Recipes submitted byBetty Nyman, Dassel, Minn.

Recipes submitted byTammy Schultz, Frazee, Minn. Bean Casserole

1 can butter beans 1 can kidney beans 1 - 28 oz. can Bush Baked Beans1 lb. browned ground beef1/2 lb. bacon cut up1 Tbsp. vinegar1 tsp. mustard3/4 cup brown sugar1 onion1/2 cup ketchup

Brown bacon and onion, combine ground beef with rest of ingredients. Bake one hour at 350º. I make them in crock pot for 4 to 6 hours. Sprinkle cheese on top and serve.

"This is our family favorite!"

Breakfast Bake1.5 lbs. pork sausage 1 pkg (2 lb.) southern style hashbrowns1 cup minced onion Pepper to tasteGarlic powder2 cups milk 8 eggs2 pkgs. (8 oz.) shredded colby jack cheese (4 cups divided)

Sauerkraut CasseroleBrown ground beef, onion and salt and pep-per. Spread half of this in 9x13 pan. Pour un-drained sauerkraut over meat. Mix soup and water in separate bowl. Add egg noodles and remaining ground beef. Pour soup mixture over this. Bake 30 min. at 350º. Add cheese over top and bake another 30 min.

Grease 9x13 pan. Brown sausage. In large bowl, combine sausage, hashbrowns, onion, milk, 3 cups cheese and eggs. Mix. Pour in pan. Top with remaining cheese. Refrig-erate several hours or overnight. Bake at 350º, uncovered for 50 to 55 min. Let stand for 10 min.


I was out having dinner with a group of girlfriends last Friday night. It is so good for the soul to gather with friends to talk a little smack and also share the love. Believe me, we did talk trash and we also laughed our butts off – even though mine is still attached. I thought for sure I was laughing so hard that I left it at the Mexican restaurant in Mankato. But alas, there it is, right un-derneath me. During the course of the evening, our conversation somehow turned to-ward the difference in young girls of yesteryear to pubescent girls today. My friends and I all agreed that pu-berty seems to be happening at a much younger age. Because I wasn’t in the mood for a debate, I chose to keep my mouth quiet. I also realized that no matter how many times I talk about a subject, I may not reach all readers. Is puberty starting early because we use medications and hormonal treat-ments in our food-supply or are we, as a society, just eating healthier all the time? Maybe it’s because we are not eating healthier? Can you say preserva-tives? (I don’t know about you, but I am trying to consume healthier food, but that delicious candy bar cake sitting on my kitchen counter keeps calling my name.) Think back to when you were a kiddo. We ate tons and tons of manufac-tured food. The one I can easily re-member is macaroni and cheese. I had absolutely no concern with preparing a pan full of noodles and turning a pow-der into liquid cheese. That powdered cheese was prepared to last for years in

Always look at both sides

By Kerry HoffmanColumnist

Getting Kerry’d Away

our kitchen cupboard. What about TV dinners? I loved the meal that contained Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes and peas. Remember how those mashed potatoes came out of the dish in one big clump? We could use those potatoes for grout in the tile floors of today. In fact, I bet those potatoes are sit-ting in my stomach, right next to the gum I swallowed seven years ago. Naturally, the discussion of hor-mones being used on dairy cows came up. I wasn’t in the mood to defend my industry on that particular night, so I just listened. I knew I would have this opportunity to explain how we use the synthetic hormone on our farm and how if we thought it was harmful to humans, we wouldn’t use it. I mean, I consume our milk without any form of pasteuri-zation, homogenization or fortification. I don’t know how many times I have to tell people the following infor-mation, but it appears to me that a dairy supporter’s job is never done. When we notice one thing chang-ing in our society, we seem to grab on

to the most obvious causative factor. As soon as someone figured out that dairy farmers are using a synthetic hormone to manage milk production in cows, it seemed like the solution was right there. At that point, investigation be-comes clouded. A person, maybe it’s a scientist, gets so caught up in proving that a hormone is causing early puberty that he or she forgets to look at every-thing objectively. He or she is like a horse with blinders on and only works on absolutely proving his or her theory. I wonder if there is any research out there looking at how healthier di-ets affect human growth. How old were the girls that were part of the Western Movement when they started maturing into women. I bet it was later than their relatives that had already been living under the Statue of Liberty for many years. How well do you think women trekking across the plains of the un-claimed territory were eating?

Some research also supports the idea that obesity may be attributing to the earlier onset of puberty. I am sure you are all aware of the statistics regarding overweight chil-dren. Did you know fat cells produce es-trogen? And one last note. How come it’s not OK to use a growth hormone on my cows, but yet celebrities are using hu-man growth hormones on themselves to preserve themselves? Can you say preservatives? For questions, or comments, e-mail me at [email protected]. Kerry and her husband, Steve, along with their teenage sons, Joey and Russell, operate a 100-cow dairy farm south of New Ulm, Minn. In her spare time, she likes to read, read and read some more. They have three dogs, one gecko, one guinea pig and one house cat that is insane. The 11 barn cats are normal – except for Mitch. There’s something wrong with that cat.

HURKES IMPLEMENT COMPANYSales: 605-886-3817 • Parts: 605-882-3420

North Hwy. 20, Watertown, SD

FREE ADVICE IS WORTH ITS PRICE! • FREE ADVICE IS WORTH ITS PRICE! • FREE ADVICE IS WORTH ITS PRICE!

FREE ADVICE IS WORTH ITS PRICE! • FREE ADVICE IS WORTH ITS PRICE! • FREE ADVICE IS WORTH ITS PRICE! FREE

ADV

ICE

IS W

ORTH

ITS

PRIC

E! • F

REE A

DVIC

E IS

WOR

TH IT

S PR

ICE!

• FRE

E ADV

ICE

IS W

ORTH

ITS

PRIC

E! •

FREE

ADV

ICE

IS W

ORTH

ITS

PRIC

E! • F

REE A

DVIC

E IS

WOR

TH IT

S PR

ICE!

FREE ADVICE IS WORTH ITS PRICE! • FREE ADVICE IS W

ORTH ITS PRICE! • FREE ADVICE IS WORTH ITS PRICE! • FREE ADVICE IS W

ORTH ITS PRICE! • FREE ADVICE IS WORTH ITS PRICE!

Ag Shield 46’ land roller, Full 42” drum! Sale! $35,500

Meyer Industrial 8500 manure spdr., 800 bu., verticial beater - Save Big! $29,900

All new! Kubota M9540MFD, 95 hp, 12 spd,

hyd. shuttle, 3 yr warrantySale! $49,750 - 60 months 0%

NH TN75, Cab, air, heater, only 1,700 hours! $22,900

Versatile 190, MFD, 190 HP, powershift, 540/ 1000 PTO, 4 hyd,

SALE $120,0003.5% FINANCING

Midwinter Bargains!

Hard to nd! NH TM130, power shift w/NH 72 loader, 7,000 hours,

very sharp! $47,500CHASEBURG MANUFACTURING INC.

102 Jack Berg Lane • Coon Valley, WI 54623 Phone: 1-800-658-9018

or 608-452-3040

• 6’ & 12’ available• Pallet Fork Moveable• 2x6 Wood Floor• Fits Both Round & Big Square Bales• 14-1/2 inch spacings

STURDY STEEL BALE FEEDERS

Call for Pricing

Made with Monofilament Polypropylene

TwineTough, Safe, Versatile,

and Lightweight

Phone: 1-800-584-6675Bakko Industries, Inc. Glenwood, MN 56334

Call Today for your New Tow Rope25,000# Tensil Strength to 150,000# Tensil Strength


DAIRyING ACROSS AMERICA

Alabama’s de Jong family turning farming dream into reality

By ron johnsonStaff writer

SLOCOMB, Ala. – Don’t tell the de Jong family the American dream is dead. These Alabama farmers are 27 years into their dream and are turning it into reality. It was 1985 when Jan and Rinske de Jong left the Neth-erlands for the “land of oppor-tunity.” Their goal: Start their own dairy farm. Today, the de Jongs not only have their farm, but a milk processing business and a trio of sons – Jonny, Mendy and Ike – that help run it all. Recognizing the contributions of their cows, the de Jongs dubbed their farm Working Cows Dairy. The processing business, meanwhile, is Ala-bama Organic Dairy Products. The de Jong farm became certified organic Nov. 1, 2009, making it the first such dairy in the Yellowhammer State. Today it milks 190 Holstein-Jersey crosses and sells several

styles of milk to 23 grocery stores, including Whole Foods and Earth Fare. “We can see business pick-ing up every week,” said Jonny de Jong, the oldest of Jan and Rinske’s sons. Jan and Rinske took a roundabout route to southeast Alabama. Their Working Cows Dairy dates to 1985, when the couple milked for a farmer in Florida. That arrangement let them use his barn, plus 40 acres. So Jan and Rinske spent the $5,000 they’d saved in Hol-land to lease 55 cows. With their own cows and the other farmer’s, they were milking 20 hours a day. The next year, for more income, Jan planted watermel-ons on part of the 40 acres. He sold the produce from a stand along a nearby highway. After two years on that farm, the de Jongs moved with

29 cows to a different rented farm, also in Florida. That’s where Jonny, Mendy and Ike came along. At the same time, the herd grew to 220 cows. In 1991, the operation moved to Alabama. Tired of the “milk price roller coaster,” the de Jongs de-cided in 2006 to give organic production a go. They noted that the price they received for their milk in 2006 was es-sentially the same as it was in 1976. They figured the organic market might provide a more level price, plus a product they could one day sell themselves. Since it generally takes three years to get land certified for organic production, the de Jongs found themselves mak-ing part of the transition right during a time of low milk pric-es: 2009. After enduring those dismal prices, the de Jongs

bumped into another hurdle. They had a contract to sell their organic milk to a proces-sor, but the deal fell through. “We made all these sacrifices (getting the land certified, buy-ing organically grown feed) to go organic and didn’t have a buyer,” Jonny said. The de Jongs held an infor-mal family meeting and asked themselves, “’Are we going to make this work or are we go-ing to close the doors?’” Jonny said. That’s when they made three important decisions: Stay with organic production, start grazing the cattle to cut costs, and get into the milk process-ing business. Their small processing plant let them kick start Ala-bama Organic Milk Products, Jonny said. But they would like to one day construct a big-ger and better facility. “Our

goal right now,” Jonny said, “is just to survive, basically.” Business is good, he said, but with five family members and only one employee, there’s plenty of work to go around. The working cows at Working Cows Dairy are milked twice a day, using a 48-cow carousel parlor the family installed be-fore going organic, when they were at 800 cows. Milk is pasteurized at a low temperature early each week, then bottled in plastic jugs. Thursdays and Fridays find Jonny behind the wheel of the delivery truck, taking gal-lons and half gallons of whole milk, 2 percent, 1 percent, fat-free, chocolate, and cream to some 23 stores. Customers are also wel-come to buy milk right at the farm, using the honor system.

photo SubmittedWorking Cows Dairy and Alabama Organic Dairy Products truly are family businesses. The de Jongs, plus one employee, pasteurize, bottle and deliver the milk from 190 cows and tend to more than 230 head on their 600-acre farm near Slocomb, Ala. Here, from left to right, are Ike and Mendy, their parents, Rinske and Jan, and Jonny, the oldest of the three boys.

photo SubmittedThe milk from Working Cows Dairy is processed and sold through Alabama Organic Dairy Products, a business also owned by the de Jong family. The company sells several types of milk to 23 grocery stores and right at the farm. Turn to alaBama | Page 37

Rub

es S

pons

ored

by

Flu

egge

’s A

g

FLUEGGE’S AGFarm Material Handling SpecialistTRADES

NEEDED!

LEASINGAVAILABLE

“Service After The Sale”

ROD FLUEGGE “the boss”2040 Mahogany St., Mora, MN • 320-679-2981Fl

uegg

e’s A

G •

50 Y

ears

• Fl

uegg

e’s A

G •

50 Y

ears

• Fl

uegg

e’s A

G •

50 Y

ears

• Fl

uegg

e’s A

G •

50 Y

ears

•

Flue

gge’s

AG

• 50

Yea

rs •

Flue

gge’s

AG

• 50

Yea

rs •

Flue

gge’s

AG

• 50

Yea

rs •

Flue

gge’s

AG

• 50

Yea

rs •

NI 363 box spreader, gate, tandem, good cond. - $5,995

Knight 5032 vertical mixer, new augers, going through

shop, 3 auger discharge $17,900

Knight 8018 slinger, going through shop, new fl ight-ing on lower auger, new

hammers - $12,900

Knight 3036 Reel$15,500

JUST IN! Knight 3130 mixer, Roughage Max kit- $13,900

H&S 430 box spreader w/gate - $6,995

“You may be right, Martha–maybe they are getting a bit too domesticated.”

SAVE$1,500

UPTO

on select mowers

Spring Specials on Hay Rakes

Through March 31, 2012


“We have a big refrigerator and a box on the wall,” Jonny described. “People can come out 24-7, drop their money in the box, and grab their milk. “We’ve got some honest people around here. We figure if you’re going to run out this far to steal some milk, you definitely need it,” he added with a chuckle. Wherever people buy the de Jongs’ milk, it’s not homogenized. And it’s vat pasteurized at a lower temperature than many processors use. “Every degree of temperature is damaging the milk and different en-zymes that are living in the milk,” Jon-ny said. Higher temperatures also alter the milk’s taste. With their pasteuriza-tion method, it’s possible to taste the difference between summer milk, when the cows are on pasture, and winter milk, when they’re eating stored feed, Jonny said. The de Jongs farm about 600 acres, growing crops for grazing, such as oats and ryegrass. Southeast Alabama has two grazing seasons – winter and sum-mer – but March is the best month for grazing, according to Jonny. He report-ed a recent daytime temperature in the 60s, fine for growing pasture. It helps that the de Jongs have a steady supply of water. “We actually have irrigation,” said Jonny. “We recycle all the water on our farm. We have center-pivots located all the way around our grazing operation.” Working Cows Dairy does not push for high milk production. Jonny pegged it at 25 to 30 pounds per cow, per day, or 7,600 to 9,000 pounds per year. That’s fine with the de Jongs for a couple of reasons. First, it’s more than

the processing facility can sell. Said Johnny, “We always aim to overproduce. We like to have a buffer for growth. We’re looking to take on some new distributors to help us in-crease sales, but right now we do all our own distributing.” In addition, the de Jongs figure their cows will stay in the herd six or seven years, instead of two or three, by not being pressured to make more milk. Lower production fits in with their busi-ness model of using grazing as much as possible, too. Due to organic production and grazing, they figure milk produc-tion fell 65 percent, compared to when the cows ate a “high-powered” ration that included corn, soybean meal, citrus pulp, distiller’s grains, and cottonseed. Jonny said the family is doing fine with the higher prices it earns by tak-ing on the extra work of processing, bottling and delivering its milk. He figured they gross $55 to $60 per hun-dredweight for milk that’s sold by the gallon, and around $100 per hundred-weight for milk sold in eight-ounce containers. Alabama has approximately 65 dairy farms in the entire state, Jonny said. Most of the land grows cotton and corn instead of supporting dairy cattle. Plans call for the farm to not grow beyond about 500 cows. Otherwise, more land would be needed. “I enjoyed growing up on a dairy,” Jonny said. “You have your hard times. Everybody does. That’s where we’re at right now. But eventually, when you get done with it all, you can kick back and look at what you’ve done and see the impact you’ve made.”

Continued from alaBama | Page 36

photo SubmittedWorking Cows Dairy relies on grazing and was the first USDA certified organic dairy farm in Alabama. There are two grazing seasons in southern Alabama – winter and summer – with March the best time for pasture growth. The de Jong farm has access to plenty of water, with center-pivot irrigators all along the edges.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THESE DEALERS, CONTACT THE GEHL WEBSITE WWW.GEHL.COM

• Arnolds St. Martin, Willmar, Kimball• KLS Implement Inc. Elrosa• Northland Farm Systems Inc. Owatonna

• St. Joseph Equipment Eyota• United Farmers Cooperative Lafayette

Low and narrow. New compact E-Series Skid Loaders from Gehl deliver powerful, rugged performance in the tightest spots in your yards, barns or anywhere you need it. The new 3640E and 4240E models are “little giants” when it comes to powering a wide selection of attachment tools for any job.

LEAN, MEANFarming Machines

• Compact low-profi le design for maneuverability in narrow, low-clearance areas - 48”/61” wide with standard ROPS/ FOPS (Level II) height of 70.3” /71.9” (3640E/4240E)• Powerful Yanmar diesel engines for power and performance where it counts• All-Tach™ attachment mounting system compatible with most attachments• Improved drive controls require less effort and reduce operator fatigue• Spacious operator’s compartment with choice of T-bar “hands-only” or hand/foot controls gehl.com

0E)

CONCRETE PRODUCTS

Serving Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin Since 1965www.alsconcreteproducts.com

BUNKER SILOS

AVAILABLE IN ONE OR MULTIPLE BAY DESIGN• 8-1/2’ or 12’ high bunkers available • Panels are bolted together and moveable

1-800-982-9263AL’S [email protected]

014H3831 MARIONAddison x Formation

+2368M 99%R

014H4438 RIVERMorty x Manfred

+2264M 98%R

014H5647 DAVISToystory x Outside

+2095M 93%R

014H5552 GRENADEMarion x Outside

+2001M 93%R

©2011 Accelerated Genetics. Source: 12/11. HA/USDA Genomic. IB/MACE-USA. photo: Poupee (Marion Daughter), Vanolst Jean-Marie, Hanzinne, Belgium

Great MILK

Sires

[email protected]

014H5552 GRENADEMarion x Outside

+2001M 93%R

©2011 Accelerated Genetics. Source: 12/11. HA/USDA Genomic. IB/MACE-USA. photo: Poupee (Marion Daughter), Vanolst Jean-Marie, Hanzinne, Belgium

Sires


KimballWillmarGlencoe

320-398-3800320-235-4898320-864-5531

St. MartinNo. Mankato

Alden

320-548-3285507-387-5515507-874-3400

tfn

PH: 320-275-2737 Toll Free 1-888-679-4857 West Hwy. 12 • Dassel, MN 55325

SALES - SERVICE - RENTAL

One Of The Largest Skid-Steer Loader Dealers In The State Of Minnesota!

INTEREST AS LOW AS 0% ON QUALIFYING EQUIPMENT

Please see your Farm-Rite Sales Rep for more details

FARM-RITE EQUIPMENT, INC.

Visit our website: www.farmriteequip.com

Pulling calves has always been one of my favor-ite jobs on the farm. I can remember the first time I came to the house to tell Dad that a heifer was in need of help and he simply told me to go pull it and call him if I had any troubles. I was probably about 13 or 14. It felt like a rite of passage into the world of farming for me. I was fi-nally trusted to use the big heavy jack, put the chains on by myself, and deliver a life into the world. This was an upgrade from being the nursemaid and helping my dad during a delivery, and I could use the jack, not twine! So off I went, I think the heifer’s name was Bubbles, a little black thing, and I did it by my-self, and had a beautiful live calf to show for my ef-forts. I don’t think I could have been any prouder of myself at that moment. I know I was bursting with pride when I ran back to the house to tell Dad I did it. From then on, I became the resident midwife when I was in the barn, always wanting to be there to help with a birth. I can remember being about 15 and having my lit-tle brother Tony, four years old at the time, follow me around. Well, turns out I had a calf to pull. Tony and I went to the house and I made him a bag of popcorn to snack on. Back in the barn, I set him and his popcorn up in a window seat out of the way, and I got to work. I vaguely remember him sitting there eating popcorn as though he was at a big screen movie, as I explained to him what I was doing, answering millions of “why” questions along the way. I delivered the calf and he was amazed. It’s always good to have a fan club! The craziest births always seem to happen when my dad is gone, and I mean the ‘I am hours away, figure it out yourself’ kind of gone. The first time I had to pull twins by myself when they were both com-

ing at the same time, I called a neighboring female veterinarian, Dr. Burch. She was so sweet, asking me what I felt when I reached inside the cow, telling me to make sure I had two legs from the same calf fitted with chains before I started pulling, and try to push one calf back as I went. She also told me to give her a call when I was done, so she would know everything went good. I did it. That whole mess of legs and heads in that cow turned out to be a pair of healthy twins. I forgot to call Dr. Burch back, and by the time I got to the house, the phone rang asking me how I did. I will never forget how she helped me through my first twin experience, the fact that she cared enough to call and hear the results, and was just as overjoyed as I was. Then there was the time that it was colder than cold, and a first calf heifer was having some major issues calving and couldn’t get up and out of the barn. Our herdsman at the time, Peter, and I rigged up a sled to roll her on to pull her out of the freestall barn with the skid steer to get her to the shed where hopefully it would be a little warmer. This was before we had our transition barn with the nice, warm calving pen. Dad, of course, was three hours away on his way back from the Twin Cities. We tried for hours, each of us taking a turn, none of us making any progress, killing time un-til Dad got back. It turned out there was nothing any of us could have done. It was a water belly calf that we had to disassemble to get out of the poor heifer. It was an interesting, very late night, for sure. Of course, there is the story from the days when we didn’t have a calving pen and if it was nice out, we would just chase the mother-to-be out on the lawn – assuming she would know enough to stay there. Twenty minutes after chasing a heifer out to calve in her pen of invisible fences, she was gone. An hour and a half later, after a “heifer drive” through the seven-foot tall corn field, we found her, and had to pull the calf in the field! There is that lesson you learn along the way about always checking a cow for twins, because all it takes is that one time that you don’t and, ta-da, thirty min-utes later another calf magically appears. Or even bet-ter, the time Empress had twins and no one thought

to check for another one, and by morning we were greeted with a third calf. The lesson of making sure you have the legs that go with the head is not over-rated, and determining which end of the calf you are pulling on (by the legs) is a must know. This week we had a first time event on our farm. Two pairs of healthy twins (but of course, heifer and bull sets) were born within ten minutes! They are adorable; I’m glad the boys and I got to be there for it. They are learning to tell by the direction of the calf’s feet (up or down) if it is coming out the right way. I’ve learned many things about pulling calves over the years, and can handle most deliveries by myself. I like to think I have a pretty good handle on knowing whether or not a cow needs help, because it seems if I don’t go with my first reaction, I usually feel guilty later because of the outcome. Delivering calves is still one of my favorite jobs on the farm. Helping life come into the world is an amazing thing. Jacqui, her dad and brother milk 550 cows and run 1,000 acres of crops in the northeastern corner of Vernon County, Wis. Her children – Ira (4) and Dane (2) – farm with her while her husband, Keith, works on a grain farm. She loves to cook, quilt and garden and wishes there were more hours in the day to get it all in. Farming and teaching others about farming are her passions.

Tales of a cow midwife

By Jacqui DavisonColumnist

Ramblings from the Ridge


Specializing in Self Propelled Forage Harvesters

JD 7850, RWA, 2008, 513 hrs. ......$289,000JD 7550, RWA, 2010, 50 hrs. ........$309,000JD 7800, RWA, 2007, Pro-drive, 1098 hrs. .......................................$226,000 JD 7800, RWA, 2006, 1358 hrs. ....$195,000JD 7500, RWA, 2007, 723 hrs. ...Coming InJD 7400, RWA, 2004, 1400 hrs. ....$178,000JD 7200, RWA, 850 hrs. .............Coming InJD 6850, RWA, 2000, 1650 hrs. .Coming In

JD 6750, RWA, 1166 hrs. ...........Coming InJD 5460, RWA, Dura-drum .............$28,500Claas 870, RWA.............................$159,000

Your Forage Harvester Headquarters

Interest Free

Until Sept. 1, 2012

MIDWESTMACHINERY CO.

SAUK CENTRE, MNPhone 320-352-6511

Toll Free 1-800-549-5875www.midwestmachineryco.com

Wagener’s Dairy Cattle, LLC

Ken Wagener13800, 102nd Street • Cologne, MN • 55322

952-467-3904 • 612-730-5613

SPECIALIZING IN: All sizes of bred & open heifers Buying and selling complete dairy herdsWhatever your needs are in buying and selling cattle,

WE CAN HELP - Call Ken

BUNKER SILO

PRECAST SYSTEMSHwy. 12, Darwin, MN 55324

1-888-693-8440 • www.darwinconcrete.com

Backed by 37 years proven experience!

• H-Bunks • Fenceline Bunks• 115 Bu. Steer Stuffer • Individual Yard Bunks

Sales & Installation of HiTensile FenceELECTRIC • WOVEN • RAIL

(320) 594-2228 or (320) 360-6308Steven Martin • Browerville, MN

The Right Fence... Built RIGHT

30-DAY REGIONAL OUTLOOK

7-DAY FORECAST FOR SE SOUTH DAKOTA/SW MINNESOTA/NW IOWA

7-DAY FORECAST FOR CENTRAL MINNESOTA

7-DAY FORECAST FOR SE MINNESOTA/NE IOWA

WEEK AHEAD TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK

WEEK AHEAD PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK

DAIRY STAR WEATHER OUTLOOK AccuWeather.com

SATURDAY

Partly sunny and breezy

55/5932/36

SUNDAY

Clouds and sun, a shower possible; mild

56/6035/39

MONDAY

Breezy and mild

with partial sunshine

62/6637/41

TUESDAY

Sunny

57/6133/37

WEDNESDAY

Abundant sunshine

52/5635/39

THURSDAY

Mostly sunny

56/6033/37

FRIDAY

Mostly cloudy, a shower in the

afternoon

55/5934/38

SATURDAY

Warmer

52/5827/33

SUNDAY

Clouds and sun with a shower possible

50/5631/37

MONDAY

Partly sunny and mild

51/5735/41

TUESDAY

Mostly sunny

51/5729/35

WEDNESDAY

Abundant sunshine

51/5731/37

THURSDAY

Partly sunny

52/5830/36

FRIDAY

Variable clouds with

thunderstorms

52/5830/36

SATURDAY

Warmer

56/6033/37

SUNDAY

Partly sunny with a shower

possible

50/5437/41

MONDAY

Mostly cloudy and mild

54/5839/43

TUESDAY

Times of clouds and sun

59/6339/43

WEDNESDAY

Abundant sunshine

52/5636/40

THURSDAY

A full day of sunshine

53/5736/40

FRIDAY

Watch for strong

thunderstorms

54/5835/39 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2012

Over the last 30 days, temperatures have been on the mild side across the northern tier of states. In much of the Dakotas and Minnesota, temperatures have been 2-4 degrees above the average for the month as a whole. Meanwhile, precipitation amounts have generally been at or above normal. As winter fades into spring, the same general pattern is expected to continue in this part of the country. The jet stream will spend much of the time across Canada, keeping the coldest air locked up north of the border. Occasionally there will be a shot of chilly air in the Plains and Midwest. However, they will tend to pass through quickly. Precipitation amounts will be near the average, which is between 2-3 inches.

March 10 - March 16

March 10 - March 16

Toll free: 877.WS.DAIRY www.gea-farmtechnologies.com

©2008 GEA Farm Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Individualized feeding is a smart way to raise healthier calves

Customized, individual feeding is the key to success inmodern calf management. With the rugged,programmable DairyFeed J-V600 or J-V640 automatedcalf feeding station, you can automate individual calffeeding, and record and monitor every calf from the veryday it is born…helping you raise healthier calves with lesslabor.

Spend your valuable time managing your calves, notsimply feeding them. This efficient and labor-reducingfeeding station is one of the smart advantages availablefrom your GEA Farm Technologies/WestfaliaSurge dealer.

GEA Milking & Cooling | WestfaliaSurge


Call us for more information!Centre Dairy EquipmentSauk Centre, MN320-352-5762 • 800-342-2697

Eastern Iowa Dairy SystemsEpworth, IA • 563-876-3087

Hobert Sales Inc.Cokato, MN320-286-6284 • 800-820-6455 (milk)

Fitzgerald, Inc.Elkader, IA • 563-245-2560

Fuller's Milker Center, Inc.Lancaster, WI • 800-887-4634www.fullersmilkercenter.com

Midwest Livestock SystemsPine Island, MN • 800-233-8937Sioux Falls, SD • 800-705-1447Beatrice, NE • 800-742-5748Fullerton, NE • 402-920-1217

Sioux Dairy Equipment, Inc.Rock Valley, IA 712-476-5608 • 800-962-4346Colton, SD Service 800-944-1217Edgerton, MN Chemical Sales 507-920-8626

Stearns Vet Outlet and PharmacyMelrose, MN320-256-3303 • 800-996-3303Glencoe, MN320-864-5575 • 877-864-5575www.wedocows.com

West Central Dairy SupplyHenning, MN 218-583-2639 • (emg.) 218-849-2234

Documents

Dairy Star, March 10, First Section, Zone 2