Salute to June Dairy Month 2015

2015

June 3, 2015/The Country Today • Salute to June Dairy MonthPage 2

The cream of the crop

Photo by Heidi Clausen

“This is my happy place,” Bob Traynor says of the new calf barn with tube ventilationhe built 2 years ago. Bob is shown in the calf barn with his wife, Kathy.

By Heidi ClausenRegional Editor | [email protected]

SPRING VALLEY —Bob Traynor says it’s hardto predict just how he’llfeel as he watches some ofhis beloved registered Hol-steins sell at auction laterthis month.

While he’s looking for-ward to some well-deservedleisure time, he knows he’llmiss the cows he’s lovinglycared for and developedthese past 45 years.

As Bob and his wife,Kathy, transition out of thedairy business, they willsell 110 head, including 42cows plus calves andheifers, in a sale at the farmon Thursday, June 11.

“I’m optimistically terri-ed,” Bob admits.

They’ll hand over the

reigns to Eric Bechel, thefarm’s full-time herd assis-tant for the past two years.

Bechel will purchase therest of the herd and rent thefacilities. Bob’s brother,Dick, and his son, Bubba,and son-in-law, SteveHince, will continue to op-erate the rest of the farm,selling feed to Bechel andbuying his bull calves toraise as steers.

The Traynors run about1,500 acres, including about700 acres of corn, 200 acresof soybeans, 300 acres ofalfalfa and some oats. Theyalso nish steers and have a35-cow beef herd.

Bob, who heads up thedairy, said he’s happy tosee someone else interestedin continuing HoneycrestFarm’s legacy in the dairyindustry.

“If the barn’s empty,then it just falls apart,” hesaid, “and it helps with thecrop rotation. Putting uphay is good for the rota-

tion, and (the dairy) is asource for bull calves.”

Bob, 58, said he decidedabout ve years ago that2015 would be a good timeto exit dairy production andhelp someone else enter.

Although he lives justacross from the farm, hesaid he doesn’t plan to

hover over Bechel. He’semphatic that his last milk-ing will be June 11.

“I will try to stay out ofit,” he said. “For about sixweeks, I’m gonna do as lit-tle as possible.”

After a couple monthsoff, he hopes to get a jobdoing herd matings or sell-

ing semen for an articial-insemination company.Kathy works as an elec-troencephalogram techni-cian in Maplewood, Minn.

The couple plans to spendtime at the family cabin nearFrederic, and Bob is plan-ning a shing trip to Canadathis July. He’s also a self-professed “rabid” GreenBay Packers fan.

“There’s more to lifethan just milking cows,” hesaid.

Bob said he wishesBechel the best but knowsthat, because of the natureof the business, he’ll havehis ups and downs.

“You’re basically mar-ried to a herd of cows. Ifprices are good, if pricesare bad, you’re still mar-ried to that herd of cows,”he said, but “for peoplethat are passionate about it,there are going to be waysto make a really good liv-ing, however they deem todo it.”

Traynors to sell off the top as Honeycrest Farms transitions to next generation

If you go

What: “The VeryBest of Honeycrest”Sale.

When: June 11.Where: Honeycrest

Farms, N6842 CountyRoad BB, Spring Val-ley.

Information: Boband Kathy Traynor,715-778-5807 [email protected]; www.holsteinworld.com/honeycrest; or Court-ney Sales, 563-387-0035.

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Salute to June Dairy Month • The Country Today/June 3, 2015 Page 3

Photo by Heidi Clausen

Kathy and Bob Traynor posed with one of their favoritecows — Wilstar RS Titanic Alayna, a ninth-generationExcellent cow with more than 225,000 pounds of milklifetime.

A cow of adifferent color

The Traynor family hasbeen farming here since1958, Bob said, when hisdad bought the farm,milking registered Milk-ing Shorthorn cattle thatthe family also showedlocally.

The switch to Holsteinsbegan in 1963, and veyears later, the barn waslled with registeredblack-and-whites. A littlelater, there was a smatter-ing of red-and-white.

“It was a natural pro-gression,” Bob said of thetransition to Holsteins.

The Traynors milkabout 100 cows twice aday in a double-6 herring-bone parlor. Cows arehoused in a 120-stall tie-stall barn. While notideal, this facility hasworked for them.

“It’s more labor-inten-sive with tie stalls thanfree stalls,” Bob said, “butwithout the big outlay forthe new barn.”

The herd averages 89pounds of milk per cowper day.

Bob said his main focushas always been “good-looking cows with milk,”and this philosophy haspaid off in merchandisingof the herd’s genetics.

“I tend to take the roada little less traveled …something other than thesame old, same old fromthe very top cows,” hesaid. “I like the outliers,and I like cows that don’tcause problems.”

He prefers to look a lit-tle further down the bulllist at outcross sires that

may not offer the highestnumbers but bring geneticdiversity to the table.

“I’ve always tried to getsomething a little bit dif-ferent,” he said. “Life’stoo short to milk uglycows.”

Genomics have been adisappointment to him.

“It was supposed to ndthe outliers. Instead, it hasdone just the opposite, es-pecially with Holsteins,”he said. “A lot of reallygood cattle are not wortha lot because their num-bers aren’t high enough.”

Honeycrest’s deepestcow family, the “Every-thing But Famous”Catherines, runs eightgenerations deep. Manyof her descendants arecurrently in the barn.

“Probably 55 percent ofthe herd is from her,” Bobsaid. “They’re really con-sistent, good udders, goodappetite, easy keepers. If

you put one on a sale,they seem to do reallywell for other people.”

As far as Honeycrest’simpression on the breed,the numbers speak forthemselves.

The farm has bred 45Excellent cows and 23Gold Medal Dams anddeveloped two otherGMD’s. They have had21 homebred Dams ofMerit and at least 13homebred cows exceed-ing 40,000 pounds of

milk per year.Honeycrest has sent

more than 100 bulls to AI.Two — Elegant and Nifty— have been on the top 15international TPI list.

They had one heifer, aBowser daughter, rank11th on the genomic listinga few years ago and sell“out of the barn” for$70,000.

“That was a home run,”he said.

Other highlights havebeen receiving the Wiscon-sin Holstein Association’sDistinguished BreederAward this past winter andthe Pierce County DairyService Award a coupleyears ago.

A sense of satisfactionBob chalks up their suc-

cess with registered Hol-steins to hard work and“praying a lot,” as well asbeing honest.

Being diversied —with revenue streamsfrom milk, crops and beef— also has helped keepthem going through toughtimes.

“If two of the three aredecent, we can ride theother one out,” he said.

Bob said the best partof his career has beenworking closely withfamily and with top-notchregistered cattle.

“There’s a sense of sat-isfaction in working your

butt off and seeing some-thing good come out ofit,” he said.

But he also has enjoyedtime away from the farm,nurturing the next genera-tion by coaching thecounty 4-H dairy judgingteam for the past threedecades.

“The bigger thing is thelife skill of looking atsomething and identifyingit and coming up withreasons of why you madethat decision and beingable to present it orally,”he said.

He has no plans to turnin his coach’s hat anytime soon, saying it keepshim young.

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WDE virtualfarm tours set

MADISON — The2015 World Dairy Expovirtual farm tour sched-ule has been set.

The tours, held annu-ally, give attendees anopportunity to tour a va-riety of farms withoutleaving the Expogrounds in Madison.The free tours include ahalf-hour visual presen-tation of the operationwith time for discussionafterwards.

Tours are presenteddaily throughout Expo inthe Exhibition Hall Men-dota 1 meeting room. Allpresentations will beavailable for viewing af-ter the show atwww.worlddairyexpo.com.

This year’s tours willshowcase the latesttechnology and innova-tive farm managementpractices. They include:

• Penterman Farm andHolland’s FamilyCheese LLC, Thorp, at 2p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29.Highlights include 370milking cows andcheesemaking. Sponsoris AgSource Coopera-tive Services.

• Prairieland Dairy,Firth, Neb., at noonWednesday, Sept. 30.Highlights include1,300 milking cows andsustainability. Sponsoris DuPont Pioneer.

• Meadow Brook DairyFarms LLC, Manitowoc,at 2 p.m. Wednesday,Sept. 30. Highlights in-clude 460 milking cows

and milk production.Sponsor is Purina Ani-mal Nutrition LLC.

• Sunset CanyonJerseys, Beaver, Ore., atnoon Thursday, Oct. 1.Highlights include 300milking cows and ge-nomic testing. Sponsoris the American JerseyCattle Association.

• Sunny Glade Farms,Glumenort, Manitoba,Canada, at 2 p.m. Thurs-day, Oct. 1. Highlightsare 250 milking cowsand automation. Spon-sor is Lely.

• SwissLane DairyFarms, Alto, Mich., atnoon Friday, Oct. 2.Highlights are 2,000milking cows and com-munity involvement.Sponsor is Quality Liq-uid Feeds Inc.

• R&G Miller andSons, Columbus, at 2p.m. Friday, Oct. 2.Highlights include 360milking cows and or-ganic dairying. Spon-sored is Organic Valley.

• Trailside Holsteins,Fountain Minn., at noonSaturday, Oct. 3. High-lights include 500 milk-ing cows and technol-ogy. Sponsored is SelectSires Inc.

World Dairy Expowill be held Sept. 29-Oct. 3, at the Alliant En-ergy Center, with thisyear’s theme of “Dairyin our DNA.” The eventattracts more than70,000 attendees frommore than 90 countrieseach year.

Call: 800-236-4004 • Fax: 715-858-7307 • E-mail: [email protected]: The Country Today, P.O. Box 570, Eau Claire, WI 54702

We value input from our readers.

773603 • 6-3-15


Going high-tech

Submitted photo

Everything from automatic feeders to robotic milkers willbe on the agenda for the second U.S. Precision DairyConference and Expo June 24-25 in Rochester, Minn.


Craig Finke’s dairy barnis considered one of themost automated in theU.S., but, he says, youdon’t need a degree incomputer science to know

how to run it.“Most of the stuff is sim-

ple enough that prettymuch anybody can come inand operate it,” said Finke,who milks 111 cows nearNashville, Ill.

Finke, 44, said his dairyis set up so it could be han-

dled by one person, “noproblem,” without havingto spend a lot of time in thebarn.

Finke will be among 10dairy producers fromthroughout the U.S. andCanada who will sharetheir experiences at thesecond U.S. PrecisionDairy Conference andExpo June 24-25 at theMayo Civic Center inRochester, Minn.

Producer showcases willhighlight farmers from NewYork, Minnesota, Michi-gan, Illinois, Indiana, Cali-fornia, Wisconsin and On-tario, Canada. Conferenceattendees can virtually visitthese farms and learn fromusers of cow sensors, inlinemilk sensors, robotic milk-ing systems, automated calffeeders, automated totalmixed ration feeding sys-tems and “smart barns.”

Finke said he will sharehow automation has com-pletely changed the way hefarms. His farm features a

ve-row, free-ow barnwith dry cow and heiferrows, GreenStalls (dividers),133 stalls for milk cows and45 stalls for dry cows.

Cows are milked by aGalaxy Astrea 20.20 ro-botic milking system withone robot arm and twomilking boxes. Other tech-nologies include a TriolietTMR robot feeder, a ush

system with sand bedding,three 24-foot Big Ass Fans,two grooming brushes andthermostat sensor-con-trolled sidewall curtains.

Finke said he expects tosoon be in the market foran automated calf feeder.

He said he began au-tomating his barn a coupleyears ago during a herd ex-pansion and new barn

project. His facility was de-signed around a new, com-puter-operated manure sys-tem that ushes the barn ona set schedule, sending ma-nure out of the building tosettle in sand lanes.

He traveled to Holland tosee for himself how wellrobotic feeding and milk-ing systems can comple-ment each other, thencrunched the numbers andcompared various productson the market before in-vesting.

While the up-front cost issubstantial and might detersome farmers, he said, hehas enjoyed much reducedlabor on his farm. Finke,who has had back surg-eries, said he had to cutphysical work in order tokeep farming. He has onefull-time employee and acouple part-time workers.

“This was the route that Iwas able to take to, hope-fully, stay in the milkingbusiness,” he said.

Thanks at least in part toautomation, he haswatched milk productionclimb about 40 percent, go-ing from about 60 poundsper day per cow in his oldfacility to the current aver-age of about 90 pounds.

Illinois dairyman shares how precision technologies have changed his farm

If you go

What: Conferenceon Precision DairyFarming 2015.

When: June 24-25.Where: Mayo Civic

Center, Rochester,Minn.

Cost: $50 for pro-ducers, Extension per-sonnel and studentsand $150 for industry.

Information:www.precisiondairyfarming.com/2015. At-tendee registration atwww.regonline.com/PrecDairy2015.

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As long as the bunkersare full, the feeding sys-tem is completely au-tonomous, he said,adding, “It’s 99 percenttrouble-free, without adoubt.”

While his barn’s sidecurtains can be con-trolled by a thermostat,he opts to make thoseadjustments himself us-ing his cell phone, de-pending on the weather.

“Sometimes, it’s easierto rely on your owncommon sense thancomputers,” he said.

Finke said systems likehis are most attractive toyounger farmers whowant to dairy but avoidsome of the physicalwork and time commit-ment associated withdaily milking and feed-ing.

“You can still milkcows, feed cows and, inmy opinion, do a betterjob of it automaticallylike I’m doing it thanmost people do doing itthe old-fashioned way; ittakes out the human er-ror possibilities,” hesaid. “You can actuallyhave a life and still beable to dairy. You don’t

have to break your backto get it accomplished.”

Finke advises thoseconsidering precisiondairy technologies to dotheir homework andcompare machines froma variety of companies.

“Our system is not ascomplicated as someothers, so it’s at a betterprice point and we wereable to incorporate someother things,” he said.“Its simplicity makes itbetter than the otherones.”

Finke said he expectsrobotic milking to reallytake off in the next veyears as more olderfarmers wind down andthe next generation eyesfacility upgrades.

“Every time I turnaround, somebody’scalling to talk about themilking system or thefeeding system,” he said.

Marcia Endres, dairyscience professor at theUniversity of Minnesota,said producers are incor-porating a several newtechnologies on theirfarms at an increasingrate.

“Adoption is happen-ing at fast rates for some

technologies such ascow sensors, but evenmore expensive onessuch as automation arebecoming more com-mon,” Endres said.

Between 500 and1,000 people are ex-pected to attend thismonth’s Precision DairyConference and Expo.

“We will hold theseconferences every twoyears so we can updateproducers, consultants,veterinarians, academia,Extension, etc. on whatis happening in precisiondairy, since this in theonly national — and, ev-ery six years, interna-tional — event solely fo-cused on precision dairyin the U.S. at this time,”Endres said.A range oftopics will be presented.Plenary sessions will in-clude an update on expe-riences and develop-ments from Europe byHenk Hogeveen of Wa-geningen and UtrechtUniversity, The Nether-lands; information tohelp producers makesense of cow sensors byJeffrey Bewley, Univer-sity of Kentucky; and atalk about factors that

inuence success in ro-botic milking and auto-mated calf feeder sys-tems by Endres.

Topics sponsored byindustry partners willcover information man-agement, precision feed-ing, robotic milking, au-tomated body conditionscoring, various individ-ual cow sensors, auto-mated ventilation andcooling, data-driven de-cisions to maximizeprots, teat spray robotsfor rotary parlors andmore.

Open both days of theconference, the tradeshow will provide op-portunities to visit with

industry experts andlearn more about variousproducts and technolo-gies available now andcoming in the near fu-ture. Platinum sponsorsinclude Amilk, AgStar,AMS-Galaxy, DeLaval,Lely and media sponsorDairy Herd Manage-ment.

The conference isscheduled to end by11:15 a.m. on Thursdayso attendees have time totake in day two of the2015 Hay and ForageExpo at the Hernke dairyfarm near Cannon Falls,Minn., about a 40-minute drive north ofRochester.

We value input from

our readers.

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State specialty cheese production increasesWisconsin specialty

cheese makers increasedproduction by 3 percent in2014 over the year beforeand held the ranking as thenation’s top cheese produc-ing state, according to theU.S. Department of Agri-

culture’s National Agricul-tural Statistics Service.

At 660 million pounds,specialty cheese accountedfor 23 percent of Wiscon-sin’s total cheese produc-tion. This was an increaseof 19.7 million pounds

over 2013. Ninety-one ofWisconsin’s 127 licensedcheese plants manufac-tured at least one type ofspecialty cheese during2014. That is two fewerplants than the year before.

A specialty cheese is a

product that is value-added, which commandsa premium price. Accord-ing to the Wisconsin Spe-cialty Cheese Institute, aspecialty cheese draws onunique qualities, such asexotic origin, particular

processing or design, lim-ited supply, unusual ap-plication or use, and ex-traordinary packaging orchannel of sale. The com-mon denominator is highquality.

Feta accounted for the

largest share of specialtycheese production in 2014,with 12 percent of the total.Blue, Havarti, Hispanictypes, specialty Mozzarella,Parmesan Wheel and spe-cialty Provolone remainother popular varieties. Ital-ian Fontina cheese produc-tion rose 27 percent overthe previous year, whileRomano Wheel productionwas 20 percent higher.

Widmer’s Cheese inMonroe continues to be thenation’s only producer ofLimburger, with 542,000pounds reportedly pro-duced in 2014.

Holsteinconventioncomingto Illinois

The 2015 National Hol-stein Convention, set forJune 23-26 in St. Charles,Ill., will include junior ac-tivities, a trade sale, a dairybar, a golf tournament, thenational convention and fu-tures sales, a silent auction,annual meetings and awardpresentations.

Scheduled tours includeGEA Farm Technologies,Midwest Organics, Luck-EHolsteins, Lindale Hol-steins, Team Holsteins,Golden Oaks Farm, VoloAuto Museum and Chicagoarea sites such as SheddAquarium and Navy Pier.

Holstein breeders fromthroughout the region arewelcoming visitors bothbefore and after the con-vention.

Pheasant Run Resort willserve as event headquar-ters.

For more information,visit www.holsteinusa.com/meetings/convention2015.html or www.holsteinconvention2015.com.We’re proud to be a member of the Wisconsin Dairy Business Association.

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Photo by Jim Massey

Hailey Hellenbrand, a member of the Lodi FFA, took a photo of a group of Lodi fourth-graders during a “day on thefarm” May 7 on the John and Julie Haag dairy farm near Dane. About 110 Crestwood Elementary School studentsfrom Madison and 75 Lodi School District fourth-graders visited the Haag farm to learn more about agriculture. Formore information, see Page 20.

A day on the farm

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une is Dairy Month, and what progress we’ve seen in the genetic potential of dairy cows and the dedication of dairy producers to reach it. Technology is revolutionizing dairy. From smart monitoring of activity, rumination, body-temp, milk yield and milk conductivity to real-time smart phone uploads to video surveillance and milk-flow recordings to robotic milking and feeding options... the list grows.Whether a dairy operation leans toward “hands-off ” or “hands-on,” Udder Comfort is the natural fit, offering peace of mind on milk quality and preventive care in mature cows and first-calf heifers calving into the milking string. Quality udders do make quality milk, and after more than a dozen years in the U.S. market, Udder Comfort remains the #1 udder product with popularity also growing worldwide. Progressive producers know comfort matters, and no one does comfort like Udder Comfort.

At Never Rest Dairy, Watertown, Wis., cows are milked robotically. They are fetched 3x/day for training in the first couple days after calving. Ashley Schlender uses the train-ing time to apply Udder Comfort 3x/day. “We want our fresh cows to start off comfort-able,” she explains. Ashley and husband Troy (below) are third generation dairy farmers. They’ve been milking in robotic facilities with a 90 lbs/cow/day average and SCC below 150,000. “Udder Comfort makes fresh cows more comfortable so they milk more evenly. That’s important in any system, and in training new cows and 2-year-olds to the robot.”

Ashley uses robot sensor information to monitor the 220-cow milking herd. For example, he says: “We use the daily conductivity report to identify cows that may be subclinical so we can evaluate them and be proactive with Udder Comfort.”

“We are religious with Udder Comfort in our robot barn and in our parlor,” says Josh Lingen (above, second from left) of Lingen Dairy, Balaton, Minn. Milking 125 cows through the robot and 125 through the parlor, this expanding dairy puts 94 lbs per cow per day in the tank with 175,000 SCC. “In the robot barn, we look at the daily conductivity report. We find those cows and spray them up before mastitis can set in. Udder Comfort takes that conductivity right down. We buy Udder Comfort by the 15-gal. drum, using the spray gun in the parlor. It is easy and efficient, and we use 30% less product for the same coverage,” he adds. “We spray fresh udders a couple times a day for 4 or 5 days, which has made a huge difference in our performance. We tried other products, but did not get the results we see consistently with Udder Comfort in both our parlor and our robot barn.”

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Dairy Girl Network connects women across industry

Daniels


Women may still be aminority in the dairy in-dustry, but their contribu-tions, whether it’s as a calffeeder on a farm or as apublic-relations profes-sional, are not to be over-looked.

Connecting womenacross the dairy industry isthe mission of the non-prot Dairy Girl Network,which began with a grass-roots gathering at the 2013World Dairy Expo.

Since that humble meet-ing of about 45 women ina Madison restaurant/bar,the Network has grown toabout 450 enrolled mem-bers and 1,200 Facebookfollowers nationwide.

The Network wasstarted “by accident, re-ally. A lot of good thingsreally happen that way,”

according to founderLaura Daniels, a mom oftwo who milks 250Jerseys near Cobb andworks as a business devel-opment manager for a feedcompany.

The rst networkingevent at the 2013 Expowas small and word-of-mouth, with Daniels ask-ing her friends to eachbring a friend. A Facebookpage was launched.

When they arrived at thevenue, she was asked toprovide a name for her

party and,off thecuff, toldthe greeterthat theywere theDairy GirlNetwork.The namestuck.

Thepoint of the evening wasto meet people, and thathappened very naturally aswomen moved from groupto group introducing them-selves, Daniels said.

“I wanted them to mixand leave knowing 10 newpeople — or 40 new peo-ple. It worked really great,”she said. “We thoughtthere might be somethingto this, so we kept theFacebook group going.”

Sponsors stepped up tosupport the initiative, andthe group ofciallylaunched at Expo in 2014,with more than 150women attending a net-working get-together.

“It was really exciting,”Daniels said.

She said the Networkrecognizes that women

play signicant roles ondairy farms and in vendorbusinesses, and serving inindustry-organization lead-ership positions and thattheir experiences vary fromwomen working in othersectors of agriculture.

Life on a dairy farm,and in some other parts ofthe dairy industry, can beisolating, Daniels said.Many women can benetfrom having a mentor orsimply a friend to call whounderstands the uniquechallenges of the dairybusiness.

The Dairy Girl Networkoffers opportunities for allwomen in the dairy indus-try to achieve personal andprofessional development.

To help them connect,the Network hosts socialsin conjunction with largerdairy events such as Expo,the Central Plains DairyExpo in South Dakota andthe Western Dairy Man-agement Conference, heldevery other year in Reno,Nev.

This fall, they will meetat the All-American DairyShow in Pennsylvania. In

2016, they will add theWorld Ag Expo in Califor-nia.

“Events have reallyworked well because peo-ple wanted to spend timetogether when they’re intown,” Daniels said.

Also, many women atdairy shows and exposwouldn’t otherwise get toknow each other becausethey’re so busy caring fortheir show string orstafng an exhibit.

Daniels said organizershave been pleased to seeso much industry supportfor the Network, making itan easy sell.

“Many companies tryingto grow new leaders un-derstand the women intheir organization mayneed a different kind ofsupport, a different kind ofmentor than they might beable to provide inside theircompany,” she said.

“Sometimes, you haveto really sell the organiza-tion or idea in order to getsponsorship and support,”she said. “With Dairy GirlNetwork, people say itmakes total sense. Thesupport is so immediate.They know there’s aneed.”

Alternative support net-works are in the works, in-cluding a mentoring pro-gram that will link two

women within a certain seg-ment of the industry. Thesewomen may never meet inperson, she said. Networkstaff will help prompt con-versations by providingspecic questions.

“Networking events willalways be a cornerstone ofthe Network, but there arethousands of women in-volved in dairy who willnever be able to make it toan event,” Daniels said.“It’s important that wekeep nding ways to reachwomen who may be iso-lated, not just on farms.”

As the Network grows,Daniels said, they are inthe process of hiring theirrst freelance employee tocoordinate activities.

They recently electedthree new board members— Sadie Frericks, a dairyfarmer and writer fromMelrose, Minn.; LuAnnTroxel, a dairy farmerfrom Hanna, Ind.; andLeah Hurtgen Ziemba, anattorney with Michael,Best and Friedrich LLP inMadison.

They join existing boardmembers Daniels, KristyPagel of Kewaunee,Michelle Philibeck ofFreedom, Sarah Englebertof Luxemburg, CarrieMess of Milford andBrenda Gilbertson of Hol-landale.

Membership in the DairyGirl Network is free by com-pleting a form on their new

website at www.dairygirlnetwork.com. To requestaccess to the network’s

Facebook page, email LauraDaniels at lauradaniels@

uwalumni.com.

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National Dairy Shrine gets new lookBy Heidi Clausen

Regional Editor | [email protected]

In an effort to bettershowcase the dairy indus-try and its impressive evo-lution over time, the Na-tional Dairy Shrine in FortAtkinson recently com-pleted updates of the JoeEves Library, along withother museum displays.

“I am very pleased tostate that the renovationsare now complete and thechanges are very energy-efcient and visually clearand bright,” said DavidSelner, NDS executive di-rector. “I think that whenyou visit, you will reallyappreciate all of thechanges.”

After about two years ofplanning and remodeling,the NDS Board of Direc-tors ofcially celebratedthe opening of the newlyrenovated Joe Eves Librarylast fall. Some other NDSdisplays also have been up-dated.

New high-denitionmonitors and computers,brighter lighting, moreshelving, new furniture andcarpeting will greet mu-seum guests. Better light-ing and more shelves wereneeded in the library in or-der to better display theShrine’s extensive collec-tion of dairy-related booksand artifacts. Upgrades toelectrical service and com-puter equipment weremade in the museum’s ed-ucational displays.

“All of the older equip-ment we were using in ourvideo and media areas wasobsolete and very energy-inefcient,” Selner said.

In the Joe Eves Library,visitors can learn aboutvarious topics, includingthe history of the NDS,past presidents, foundersand award winners and pu-ruse a collection of dairybooks that includes manyhard-to-nd historical vol-umes.

In the new video viewingarea, visitors can see all ofthe almost 300 videos inthe Shrine’s historicalmulti-media collection.

“This allows you to seesome of the educationaltapes of long ago that havebeen preserved so that anyvisitor could see what wasthought to be the latest intechnology from that era,”Selner said. “Also, beingable to hear and see someof the leaders in the dairyindustry describe thechanges over time (is) fas-cinating. Some of these in-terviews are priceless asmany of these leaders areno longer with us.”

The updated educationaldiorama exhibits explainthe importance of the dairyindustry for human nutri-tion and the environment,as well as increased oppor-tunities for future jobs inthe dairy industry. The sec-tion on modern dairy facili-ties has been updated to re-semble the nearby Hoard’sDairyman Farm.

One of the rst new dis-plays created was an areato describe the signicanceof the seven major dairy

breeds in North America.This highlights the at-tributes of each breed,breed history, breed associ-ation goals and displays of“breed-ideal” model cowsand other artifacts. Visitorscan nd out how and whycertain dairy breeds havedeveloped, Selner said.

Another new display de-scribes the signicance andhistory of the major dairycattle shows in the U.S.,featuring major awardsfrom many national shows,including the prestigiousKlussendorf Trophy. Therealso are awards such as thelarge Grand Champion Fe-male trophy from WorldDairy Expo.

The importance of dairyyouth competitions in theU.S. dairy industry, featur-ing some of the nationalaward trophies engravedwith the names of winning4-H and collegiate teams,is explained in another newdisplay. There also is infor-mation about FFA, dairybowl and other dairy youthcontests.

One of the biggestawards is the Otto Schner-ing trophy awarded to the

team that wins the NationalIntercollegiate Dairy CattleJudging contest. A brand-new award added to thisdisplay is a plaque listingthe winning teams for theCollegiate Dairy ProductsEvaluation Contest.

Selner said the remodel-ing project was accom-plished through the gen-erosity of numerous donorswho have given nancialgifts over the past fewyears.

The museum’s lowerlevel still includes the Na-tional Dairy Hall of Fameand more than a century ofphotos of the nationalchampions cows of everybreed, along with other ar-tifacts.

The National Dairy ShrineMuseum is at 401 White-water Ave. (U.S. Highway12 East) in Fort Atkinson.For more information, call

920-863-6333 or visitwww.dairyshrine.org. The

museum is open from 9:30a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays

through Saturdays.

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Turgasens keeping family tradition alive

Photo by Jim Massey

From left, Mark, John and Connie Turgasen will be welcoming guests to their farm forthe 2015 Richland County Dairy Breakfast on June 14.

By Jim MasseyEditor | [email protected]

RICHLAND CENTER— Not much has changedat Sylvan-T Dairy Farm inrecent years — the Tur-gasen family has beenmilking 65 cows in a tie-stall barn for nearly half acentury.

But John and ConnieTurgasen and their sonMark wouldn’t have it any

other way. They get goodmilk production from theircows, they enjoy whatthey’re doing and theydon’t see a reason to makedrastic changes.

“We’ve made a good liv-ing and transferred thefarm twice already, andwe’re about to do it a thirdtime,” John said of theirfarming operation. “I’drather manage cows thanpeople.”

The Turgasens will hostthe Richland County DairyBreakfast for the secondtime on June 14 — theyalso hosted in 2002.

“I made the mistake oftelling (organizer) Annette(Louis) that I would do it

once more before I re-tired,” John said. “Shecalled in the marker.”

“She wasn’t going to for-get,” Mark said.

John moved to the Tur-gasen farm with his par-ents, Frank and Mary Tur-gasen, in 1951, when hewas 4 years old. Theyrented the 120-acre farmuntil Frank and Marybought the place in 1958.

They added another 200acres in 1959 and thefarm has continued to

grow with the addition ofanother 180 acres sincethen.

The farm has a herd ofregistered Holsteins thathas been built from the 20animals that were broughtto the farm nearly 65 yearsago.

John and Mark said onereason the farm has beensuccessful is becausesomeone from the family isalways there to make surethings get done and doneright.

“It really works wellwhen you don’t have tohire help,” John said.“We’ve been debt free fora long time and we planto stay that way. I alwaysgured you could owntwice as much if youdidn’t have to pay inter-est.”

“I think the last timeone of us hasn’t milkedour own cows was the dayI got married, 14 yearsago,” Mark said. “We’vealways had the philoso-phy that the cows comerst.”

The Turgasens installedautomatic takeoffs to themilking system last month,so they hope that will makeit a little easier for some-one else to milk the cowsat some point. But Marksaid he doesn’t plan totransition away from thetie-stalls.

“As long as I’m able todo it this way, I intend tokeep doing it this way,” hesaid. “The cows are happyand I’m happy. That’s allthat matters.”

If you go

What: RichlandCounty Dairy Break-fast.

When: Sunday, June14, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Where: Sylvan-TFarm, 19811 CountyHighway EE, RichlandCenter. Free parking/bussing from the Rich-land Center HighSchool parking lot.

Menu: Pancakes,sausages, yogurt, cot-tage cheese, applesauce, string cheese,cheese curds, slicedcheese, chocolate andwhite milk, hand-dipped ice cream.

Activities: Farmtours, old farm trac-tors, activities for chil-dren.

Cost: Adults, $7;children ages 19 andunder, $3.

Information: An-nette Louis, 608-585-3362.

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The Turgasens have arelatively new barn that isused for dry and specialneeds cows and youngcalves born on the farm.

“We transitioned fromhutches, which is nice forthe calves and the calffeeder,” Mark said.

The Turgasens haveused a molehill manurestorage system for nearly40 years, which givesthem exibility as to whenthey spread their manure.

“Our philosophy is any-time the ground is rmand bare, we can spread,”John said. “We don’t haveto go on snow, we don’thave to go on mud, and wdon’t have to go when weare haying in the sum-mer.”

John has an exit strategy

to retire from milkingcows by the time he is 70.He will be 69 later thisyear.

“It will be time to dosomething else,” he said.“There’s a lot of this coun-try I’d like to see. Mark isgoing to have to nd otherhelp.”

Mark’s wife, Rachel, isdirector of dairy supplyand development at Fore-most Farms, so she makesthe hour and 15 minutedrive every day. Theyhave three children — Lo-gan, 11; Delaney, 8; andLandon, 7.

John said he was “borna farmer and will alwaysbe a farmer.” Mark has ba-sically the same philoso-phy.

“Farming is what I’ve

grown up knowing and it’sreally all I want to do,”Mark said. “I like beingmy own boss, I like beingoutside with the animalsand I like the crop end ofit as well.”

Mark, 37, said he andhis parents “make a goodteam” and share all re-sponsibilities on the farm.

“We generally know

what each other are think-ing, and most of the timewe are thinking the samething,” he said.

Mark said the familyrecognizes how importantit is to make the publicaware of what dairy farm-ers do and how they do it.

“Anytime you can getthe public out to your farmto see what you do it’s a

good thing,” he said.“Otherwise they don’tknow where their foodcomes from. My kids goto a rural school and theystill are pretty much theonly ones in their classesthat come from a farm.”

The Turgasens hope theweek after this year’sbreakfast is a little lesshectic than it was after the

last one 13 years ago.“The day after the last

breakfast they moved usout (of the house on thehome farm) and Mark andRachel moved in,” Johnsaid. “We moved into ournew house.”

“That was a busyweek,” Mark said. “Wedon’t want to do thatagain.”

We value input from our readers.

Call: 800-236-4004Fax: 715-858-7307

E-mail: [email protected]: The Country Today,

P.O. Box 570, Eau Claire, WI 54702

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Two Rivers has scoop on ice cream sundae storyBy Sara Bredesen

Regional Editor | [email protected]

Of all the dairy prod-ucts on the market, icecream may be the onemost people attach tosummer. That favoritescoop of ice cream withchocolate sauce that goesdown so well on a warmsummer day comes to usthanks to an ice creamparlor owner in TwoRivers back in 1881.

As the story goes, EdBerner went against hisbetter judgement to caterto the whim of his friendand patron George Hal-lauer when Hallauerasked for a drizzle ofchocolate soda fountainsyrup over his vanilla icecream.

“Berner didn’t want todo that. He said that willjust ruin the ice cream,”said Carol Schwantes,volunteer director of the

Washington House Mu-seum in Two Rivers.“Hallauer liked it so wellhe had two of them at 5cents a piece.”

Today, the WashingtonHouse celebrates that mo-mentous occasion for icecream lovers in a repro-duction of Berner’s icecream shop in the lake-side Manitowoc Countycommunity where visitorscan hear the story and trytheir own ice cream sun-daes.

According to Schwantes,the original buildingthat housed Berner’s shopwas torn down in the1970s, but the ManitowocCounty Historical Societykept the sundae story alivewhen it constructed a re-production a few blocksaway in the WashingtonHouse.

“The Historical Societybought this building in1990,” Schwantes said ofthe old immigrant hotel.“We have about 10 roomsof memorabilia from TwoRivers, and we have theice cream parlor, and wehave a barroom that wasbuilt in the 1850s whenthe building was built,and we have a beautifulballroom upstairs that hasmurals painted on theceiling. We call it the Sis-tine Chapel of the Mid-west.”

The unknown ceilingartists added the murals in

1906, which depict life inWisconsin.

The ice cream parlor isnot just for display. It isopen daily for businessand serves 18 sundae a-vors. Schwantes saidBerner probably made hisown ice cream for theshop, but today’s patronsare treated to Cedar Crestice cream, made just vemiles down the road inManitowoc.

“Very often when peo-ple come in, they want theoriginal, which is proba-bly the smallest sundaethat we have,” Schwantessaid. “It is vanilla icecream. Now, we preferhot fudge, but if theywant the original, it’s likeHershey’s chocolate. It’sjust the chocolate syrupwith whipped cream and acherry.”

She said the most popu-lar sundae is the Wash-ington House Special with

a scoop each of straw-berry, vanilla and bluemoon ice cream toppedwith dollops of strawber-ries, pineapple and choco-late, nished off withwhipped cream, nuts anda cherry.

“We take all the calo-ries out before we serveany,” she said, laughing.

There is more to thestory, like why the treat iscalled a sundae and whyit is spelled that way,Schwantes explained.

Berner chose to offerthe concoction only onSundays. Some peoplesay that the dessert wastoo decadent to share aname with a holy day, sothe spelling was changedto “sundae.”

“Now that’s one of thestories, and the other onethat we hear is that one ofthe early salesmen whenhe ordered Sunday dishesdidn’t know how to spell

‘Sunday.’ So, you cantake whichever story,”Schwantes said. “Itsounds like either onecould be.”

Many other communi-ties claim to be home tothe ice cream sundae, in-cluding Ithaca, N.Y.,which thought to toptheir ice cream with acherry, but Two Rivers isthe only one that has anofcial historical markercommemorating theevent and an endorse-ment by the NationalRegister of HistoricPlaces.

The historical markeroffers another version ofhow the dessert wasnamed. It says a little girlasked for the dish andwas told it wasn’t Sunday.She said they could “pre-tend it was Sunday,”which ushered in our en-joyment of the treat anyday of the week.

If you go

What: WashingtonHouse Museum.

When: Daily 10 a.m.to 8 p.m. through Oc-tober.

Where: 1622 Jeffer-son St., Two Rivers.

Cost: Free.Information: 920-

793-2490.

776644 • 6-3-15


Urban youngsters get crash course in agriculture

Photo by Jim Massey

Dane County dairy farmer John Haag showed Madisonelementary school students what’s in the feed that hisdairy cattle eat May 7 during a “day on the farm”educational event for second- and third-graders.


DANE — There wereyoungsters everywhere aperson looked on RollingHills Farm May 7 as twoeducational programs wereheld simultaneously withthe help of the Lodi FFAChapter.

The Haag family —John and Julie, their son,Josh, his wife, Melissa,

and John and Julie’sdaughter, Amanda —hosted 110 second- andthird-graders from Crest-wood Elementary Schoolin Madison and 75 fourth-graders from Lodi Ele-mentary School as part oftwo separate programs.The Madison youngstersparticipated in a Food forAmerica program that fea-tured 13 interactive sta-tions on the farm, while

behind the farm buildings,the Lodi students partici-pated in an ag productsprogram at 11 differentstops.

Many of the 24 stationswere staffed by the 50 Lodihigh school and middleschool FFA members whohelped organize the event.Animal health profession-als, nutritionists, feed spe-cialists and other agribusi-ness representatives alsohelped with the presenta-tions.

Glenda Crook, the agri-culture education instructorand FFA adviser at LodiHigh School, said the Haagfarm was selected becauseJohn Haag is the Lodi FFAAlumni president and of-fered his family’s farm forthe programs.

Sam Jesse, who was re-cently elected Lodi FFApresident for the 2015-16school year, said many of

the youngsters come intothe program with very littleagricultural knowledge.

“A lot of the kids areconfused even with the ani-

mals, they don’t evenknow what they are,” hesaid. “You have to startwith the basics.”

Jesse said the Lodi

youngsters are more usedto seeing agriculture atleast in passing, travelingpast farms at the edge oftown on their way to mostanywhere. But many of theMadison students don’thave that exposure to farm-ing.

“Many of them don’teven know what a horselooks like,” he said.

Crook said has beenholding a day-on-the-farmfor Lodi third-graders formany years, and theybring fth-graders to thehigh school to teach themabout aquaculture, hydro-ponics, biotechnology andto see the greenhouse.

“We didn’t have a pro-gram for the fourth-graders, so we decided onan ag products theme,” shesaid.

The stations taught thebasics of crops and sci-ence, such as how to readfood labels, what’s in cat-tle feed, information aboutWisconsin’s cranberrycrop and a primer onbiotechnology. Theyoungsters spent between12 and 15 minutes at eachstation.

At the biotechnology sta-tion, Lodi High School ju-nior Micah Harpold ex-plained that genetic engi-neering has been used formany years, for exampleby helping produce seed-less watermelons andgrapes.

The Haags milk 125cows on their 200-acreDane County farm. Johnsaid they have been offer-ing their farm as host of theFood for America programfor three years, alternatingbetween various Madisonelementary schools.

“We milk these cowsthree times a day, 365 daysa year,” Haag told the stu-dents. “Cows don’t takevacations and they don’ttake weekends off.”

“Wow!” a couple of thestudents responded.

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Sheena Rhiner, a certied veterinary technician at Lodi Veterinary Care in Lodi, talkedabout animal health with Madison elementary school students May 7 on the RollingHills dairy farm near Dane.

Micah Harpold, a junior at Lodi High School, explainedthe basics of biotechnology to Lodi fourth-graders.

Haag showed theyoungsters the barn’ssprinkler system, and toldthem when it gets hot inthe summer, the cows getsprayed with a mist ofwater.

“It’s kind of like beingin the waterpark all daylong,” he said.

Each cow eats 50 to 60pounds of feed a day,gives 10 gallons of milk,and weighs about 1,500pounds, he said.

“When they step onyour feet, it hurts,” hesaid.

Jesse said he learnedtrained a year ago to orga-nize the day-on-the-farmand took over chairman-ship of the project thisyear.

“A lot goes into it,” hesaid. “You have to line upall the scientists, animals,tents, bales, tables andhigh schoolers to run thedifferent stations,” hesaid.

The Dane County Dairy

Promotion group helpssponsor the event, payingfor portable toilet rentals,

milk and cheese.“We want to get the

kids from Madison out

here that don’t get expo-sure to the farm,” Crooksaid.

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Moo-gician entertains for dairy events

Submitted photo

Farmer Earl, Milwaukee entertainer Rob LeMasters,gathered with his friends for the Moo-Mania comedyshow, which will be featured at several June DairyMonth events in Wisconsin and Illinois.

By Sara BredesenRegional Editor | [email protected]

Rob LeMasters calls him-self a moo-gician and a cow-median who likes to get hisaudiences ag-cited aboutfarming.

The Milwaukee enter-tainer has been performingmagic since 1986 but startedpromoting his Moo-Maniacomedy show part time in1995 for summer fairs andagricultural events. Startingin 1999, he took his UdderNonsense Comedy Tour onthe road full time.

“That’s still what I do to-day,” said LeMasters. “ThenI did 17 fairs a year, so I wasbooked all over the coun-try.”

Today, closer to home, heand his entourage will befeatured performers at JuneDairy Month events in theMidwest.

LeMasters becomesFarmer Earl for his perfor-mances. The entourage con-sists of a silly goose, Her-shey the talking cow andFarmer Ed, whom he de-scribes as the country’ssmallest small farmer. The30-minute programs weavetogether ventriloquism,dairy-related magic and au-dience participation with anagricultural theme.

“It’s just funny stuff forpeople of all ages, and it’smeant to remind people howimportant farming is,”LeMasters said.

LeMasters, grew up inPennsylvania, where hisgrandfather was a dairyfarmer. He said it felt right todevelop an ag-themed rou-tine, “plus, I’m in Wiscon-sin, which is the dairy state,so it just made sense.”

While LeMasters makes apoint of staying away fromfarmer stereotypes, he ad-mits that Ed is a littlegrumpy, “like my grandfa-ther was, kind of.”

LeMasters said he enjoysentertaining the kids andseeing them laugh and have

a great time at fairs and agri-culture events, but the showis intended to spotlight farm-ers and farm families.

Farmer Earl and hisfriends will spend June in adairy state of mind with vis-its to the Pepin County

Dairy Breakfast from 7 to 11a.m. June 13 at SchlosserFarms, W3798 CountyHighway B, Durand; theOconto County Breakfast onthe Farm from 8 a.m. to 1p.m. June 14 at GoldenCorners Dairy, 8551 Holtz

Road, Oconto Falls; and atthe Sheboygan CountyBreakfast on the Farm from7 a.m. to noon June 20 at theStan and Wendy Lammers

and Family Farm, W3376County Road A South,Oostburg.

Later in the summer, theywill appear at the Kenosha

and Walworth county fairs,Harvard Dairy Day andSandwich Fair in Illinois,and the Wisconsin State FairAug. 15-16.

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Shoo, y

Submitted photo

Phil Lempert, left, supermarket guru and emcee of theU.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards Program, recognizedSuzanne Vold, Erik Vold, Katy Vold (front), Anna Vold(back) and Brad Vold.


A central Minnesotadairy farm’s use of wasplarvae to control its ypopulation has helped itearn a 2015 U.S. DairySustainability Award.

Owner Brad Vold said

the introduction of wasplarvae each week duringthe summer into y nestsaround his 400-cow dairyhas drastically reduced theneed for synthetic chemi-cals and trimmed his insec-ticide costs by 85 percent.

“The practices we utilizeon our farm are very effec-

tive and can be used on anydairy,” he said. “Like any-thing else, you have to be-lieve in the process andyou have to do the wholeprocess.”

While this practice ismore common in thesouthern U.S., where iesare a year-round challenge,Vold said more northernfarmers are catching on.

“Everybody always asksus about our bugs,” hesaid.

Dorrich Dairy near Glen-wood, Minn., is among thewinners of this year’s U.S.Dairy SustainabilityAwards, announced inMay by the InnovationCenter for U.S. Dairy dur-ing their 4th annual awardsceremony in WashingtonD.C.

In the Vold family since1899, Dorrich Dairy, op-erated by Brad and hiswife, Suzanne; hisbrother, Greg, and hiswife, Charity; and his par-ents, Dorothy andRichard, was recognizedfor Outstanding DairyFarm Sustainability.

The Volds have beenusing wasp larvae to keepies at bay since 2009 af-

ter hearing about theholistic practice from aneighboring farmer. From

May through September,they receive a weeklyshipment from the Texascompany Kunan of threeone-gallon bags of waspeggs mixed with oat hulls.

Each shipment runsabout $75 — a small priceto pay for improved cowand worker comfort andlower insecticide expense,he said.

Vold said they scatterthe larvae anywhere iesmight lay eggs throughoutthe farm, including out-side the free-stall barn,around waterers, aroundthe manure lagoon, in thebedding pack, in the drycow pasture and nearwaste feed and damp ar-eas.

When the wasps hatch,they seek out and eat they pupa, then lay eggs tobegin the cycle again.

“(The wasps) are hardworkers. They take care ofies before they hatch,”Vold said. “We don’t eventhink about it anymore.”

About the size of a gnat,these wasps are stinger-freeand nearly invisible, hesaid. “They’re not the tra-ditional wasps most peoplethink of.”

Minnesota dairy’s use of wasp larvae to control ies is all the buzz

For more information aboutthe U.S. Dairy Sustainabil-ity Commitment and the

Sustainability Awards pro-gram, visit www.Dairy

Good.org. More detailsabout the Innovation Cen-ter for U.S. Dairy can be

found at www.USDairy.com.

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Wasps can’t be the solesolution to pesky yproblems, Vold said. Tokeep those ies that dohatch under control, theymist the barn with a natu-ral pyrethrin product ev-ery few hours and usesome y bait.

This arsenal makesthe farm a more pleasantplace for cattle and hu-mans, Vold said. Whencows are bothered byies in the summer,they get stressed andcrowd together, makingthem more prone tomastitis.

Fewer ies also makestheir farm a better neigh-bor in the community, hesaid.

Vold said the farm wasnominated for the sus-tainability award by theirmilk cooperative, LandO’Lakes.

They also have em-braced other approachesdesigned to make a mea-surable impact on theenvironment, their com-munity and the future oftheir farm, such as pro-tecting water qualitythrough frequent croprotations, planting cornin 15-inch rows to crowdout weeds, aggressivelyscouting pests and usinga high-tech soil-mappingsystem to continuouslymeasure pH and electri-cal conductivity to deter-mine the precise amount

of nutrients to apply.Also honored for dairy

farm sustainability wasNobis Dairy Farms of St.Johns, Mich., which hasincorporated a system forseparating sand beddingfrom manure, helping tomaximize nutrient man-agement and eliminateexcessive fresh wateruse.

Food bank programhonored

The Northern IllinoisFood Bank and PrairieFarms Dairy received anhonorable mention sus-tainability award forOutstanding Achieve-ment in CommunityPartnerships.

The food bank, basedin Geneva, Ill., and theCarlinville, Ill., dairycompany partnered tocreate the Milk 2 MyPlate program, whichhelps ensure a fresh sup-ply of milk — usually arare offering at foodpantries — for families inneed

Since 2012, the pro-gram has distributed 3.1million servings of milk— or more than 194,000gallons — to 34 foodpantries within its net-work.

“Many Illinois foodpantries struggle to keepfresh dairy products onthe shelves,” said KellyBrasseur, Northern Illi-

nois Food Bank’s regis-tered dietitian. “One ofour key priorities is toprovide our neighbors inneed with nutritious foodlike milk — the top foodsource for calcium, vita-min D, potassium andother essential nutri-ents.”

Benets of the Milk 2My Plate program in-clude making it possiblefor food pantries to buylow-fat milk directlyfrom the dairy at a xedcost and providing aconsistent, year-roundcustomer for the dairy,which is able to deliverfresh milk directly toeach agency through itsexisting ordering systemand delivery routes.

To cover the costs, thefood bank and its net-work of food pantries se-cure donations from cor-porate and individualsupporters such asFORWARD (FightingObesity, ReachingHealthy Weight AmongResidents of DuPage).

Through Milk 2 MyPlate, the food bank, which

serves more than 71,000people a week, can bettermeet its “Foods to Encour-age” goals without directinvolvement in storage anddistribution. This alsoeliminates safety concernsthat might come up if themilk must rst be routedthrough the food bankwarehouse.

The U.S. Dairy Sustain-ability Awards recognizedairy farms, businessesand partnerships for prac-tices, large and small, thatnot only focus on the en-vironment but add up topromote the health andwell-being of consumers,communities, cows, em-ployees, the planet andbusiness.

Winners were selectedbased on results as mea-sured by economic, envi-ronmental and communityimpact — the triple bot-tom line of success. Anindependent panel ofjudges also assessed thepotential for adoption byothers, demonstratedlearning, innovation, im-provement and scaleabil-ity.

For daily rural-news updates, visitwww.thecountrytoday.com

For subscription information,

call 800-758-9933

The Country Today offers the most variety of any rural newspaper in the Midwest. By not subscribing, you’re missing

out on these features our subscribers enjoy each week:• Yarns of Yesteryear• Market updates• Auctions• Classified want ads • Recipes

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National Dairy Shrine awards announcedThe National Dairy

Shrine has announcedthis year’s winners ofthe Guest of Honor,Distinguished DairyCattle Breeder,Pioneer, ProgressiveDairy Manager andGraduate Dairy Pro-duction awards.

The awards honorpast, present and futuredairy industry leaderswho have contributed tostrengthening and ener-gizing the dairy indus-try. Recipients will berecognized during theannual NDS AwardsBanquet Thursday, Oct.1, in Madison.

• Doug Wilson, CEOof Cooperative Re-sources International, isthe Guest of Honor, thehighest recognitionfrom the NDS. Thisaward goes to an indi-

vidual that has had adramatic impact on thedairy industry and itsfuture.

During Wilson’s morethan 20-year associa-tion with CRI and itsafliates, the companyhas grown to 1,600 full-time employees. Wilsonhas served leadershiproles at the Wisconsin4-H Foundation, theWisconsin Federationof Cooperatives and theNational Association ofAnimal Breeders. Hehas previously receivedrecognition from WorldDairy Expo, the Ameri-can Guernsey Associa-tion, the National Asso-ciation of AnimalBreeders and the IowaState Dairy ScienceDepartment, to name afew.

• The Distinguished

Dairy Cattle Breeder isAhlem Farms of Hil-mar, Calif. The part-nership operates threeJersey herds with morethan 5,000 cows.

The combined herdsaverage 20,700 poundsfor milk, 973 pounds offat and 768 pounds ofprotein. The AmericanJersey Association hasranked several of thefemales on the farm inthe top 50 of the breedfor Jersey PerformanceIndex and numerouscows and heifers in thetop 200 for JPI. Theentire herd ranks in thetop 25 percent nation-ally for JPI average.

The Ahlems havesent numerous bulls toarticial inseminationand have developedmore than 2,800 cowswith more than 100,000pounds of lifetime milkproduction.

William Ahlem hasserved as a director ofthe National Dairy Pro-motion and ResearchBoard and Dairy Man-agement Inc. He also isa founding partner ofthe Hilmar CheeseCompany and has beenpreviously recognizedwith the Master BreederAward from the AJCA.

• James Borcherding,Lowell Lindsay, RobertRowe and David Schin-goethe have been se-lected as NDS Pioneers.They will enter the Na-tional Dairy Hall ofFame.

Borcherding, of Dec-orah, Iowa, served asdairy editor for Suc-cessful Farming maga-zine for 35 years. Hewas active in numerousorganizations, includ-ing the American DairyScience Association,the Agricultural Edi-tors Association andFarm House Fraternity.He served as a mentorfor students, dairymenand dairy leaders.

Lindsay, of Guelph,Ontario, Canada,served as a dairy sireanalyst and director ofsire procurement forUnited Breeders, whichlater became part of theSemex Alliance. Hewas responsible for ac-quiring some of themost legendary sires inthe industry. For over50 years, he was alsoone of the most re-spected cattle judges inthe world, judging ev-ery major dairy showin North America andinternationally.

Rowe, from Verona,is a pioneer in repro-ductive technology. His

work on embryo tech-nology directly led totoday’s extensive andvibrant dairy geneticsexport industry. He hasserved various organi-zations, such as theAmerican Associationof Bovine Practitioners,Optimist International,World Dairy Expo andthe American EmbryoTransfer Association.

Schingoethe, wholives in Brookings,S.D., has been a profes-sor at South DakotaState University formore than 30 years. Hisresearch in dairy nutri-tion has beneted everydairyman, and studentshe mentored have goneon to leadership roles inthe dairy industry.Schingoethe also hadleadership roles in theADSA, the Federationof Animal Science So-cieties and dozens ofuniversity and industryorganizations.

• The NDS Progres-sive Dairy Managersare Iris Barham of Mt.Berry, Ga., in the smallherd division and Jo-han Heijkoop of Web-ster, Fla., in the largeherd division. Thisaward is a $2,000travel stipend to attendan out-of-state confer-ence or seminar tolearn new techniques to

improve their dairybusiness.

Barham is managerof the dairy herd atBerry College. TheBerry College Jerseyherd has been in exis-tence for more than100 years and has beena leader in genomictesting. Heijkoop oper-ates two dairies with1,400 cows. The Milk-A-Way Dairy and K&HDairy are semi-sea-sonal, modied grazingoperations.

• Heather Gregoire ofWarren, Mass., hasbeen selected as theGraduate Dairy Produc-tion award winner. This$2,500 grant goes to anactive dairyman whohas graduated from col-lege in the last 9 yearsand already demon-strated excellent dairymanagement ability andnancial stability.

Gregoire was in-volved in numerousdairy activities whilegetting her degree inDairy Science fromVirginia Tech and ac-complished several in-ternships. After college,she became a dairymanager for GreenAcres Dairy inDelaware. She now op-erates a dairy with herhusband and works withyouth dairy groups.

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Big family helps make big farm efcient

Photo by Jim Massey

Calves on the Ziegler farm have plenty of room to roam as well as a robotic feedingsystem to eat from several times per day.


MIDDLETON — GregZiegler has made some biginvestments to bring hisdairy farm to where it is to-day, with a 48-cow rotarymilking parlor and 1,950acres in one of the mostprice-competitive marketsin Wisconsin.

Even so, Ziegler con-fronts each day with a laid-back attitude, with the

comfort of knowing he andhis wife, Cheryl, have vesons joining the farmingoperation.

“I’m the fourth genera-tion and the boys are thefth,” Ziegler told agroup of rural appraiserswho toured his farm inearly May. “They’re allgoing to stay with me fulltime.”

The Zieglers milk about1,000 cows three times aday on the rotary parlor

that was installed in 1999.They can milk about 280cows per hour, and the par-lor turns for about 13 hoursa day.

That means more cowscould be added to the herd,which Ziegler said proba-bly isn’t too far down theroad.

“We’ll probably expandwithin a couple years —all ve of our boys willbe full time in the dairyafter our youngest(Jonathan, 17), graduatesfrom high school. Wehave to keep them busy orotherwise they get in trou-ble,” Ziegler said with asmile.

All ve boys have areasof specialty within thedairy.

Andrew, 26, is in chargeof nutrition and feeding thecows. Steve, 24, is the me-chanic in the family andhandles maintenance on

the machinery. Matthew,22, oversees the roboticcalf-feeding operation andthe farm’s new heifer facil-ity. Daniel, 19, works withthe cows.

Jonathan is just joiningthe operation full time, sohis father said his youngest

son doesn’t have a desig-nated role yet.

All of the boys help withthe eldwork through thespring, summer and fall.

The farm also has eightfull-time and one part-timeemployee from Nicaragua.Greg said the immigrant

workers are “much moredependable” than the localemployees they used tohire.

“I haven’t advertised forhelp in nine years,” he said.

The immigrant workerslive in a big house on thefarm provided as part oftheir employment agree-ment. They work as muchas 70 hours a week andearn about $11 an hour,Ziegler said.

“They want the hours,”he said. “They send muchof their income back totheir families inNicaragua.”

Ziegler said he is oftenasked whether he mightswitch to robotic milkingto reduce his labor costs,but he doesn’t think that isin the cards.

“(Robotic milking)would probably slow medown,” he said. “We havebig bunkers for feed, andwe throw a lot of tires ontop of the covers. WhenI’m done milking, my ro-bot is not going to help methrow tires or pick upstones out in the eld. Ithink labor is really impor-tant.”

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Photo by Jim Massey

Greg Ziegler, center, gave details of his farming operation to members of theWisconsin Chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisersduring a June 7 tour of his farm.

Ziegler said the switchto the rotary parlor 16years ago was not aneasy adjustment for himor the cows.

“It was insane — itwas tough,” he said.“The rst week we hadto push them onto the ro-tary. Now they ght toget on.

“Even myself, I wouldget motion sickness.After milking, while Iwas doing chores, I feltlike the calf barn wasmoving. But I got usedto it in a couple weeks.”

The Zieglers have astrict culling regimenand keep a relativelyyoung herd.

“We have a lot of re-placements, so we pushthem through prettyfast,” Ziegler said. “If acow struggles to get bredback, has a mastitis issueor is a hard milker, wemove her out. We don’tkeep the problem orheadache cows.”

The Zieglers don’t do

DHI testing but keeptheir own productionrecords with the individ-ual cow informationprovided by the rotaryparlor.

The cows are currentlyaveraging about 98

pounds of milk per day,with a 4.0 butterfat testand 3.1 percent protein.Their somatic cell countvaries from 120,000 to150,000.

“Even at a mailboxprice of $18.50 or $19

(per hundredweight),we’re at $5 or $6 overbreak-even,” Zieglersaid. “We’re pretty ef-cient with the cows.”

Even though they milkabout 1,000 cows,Ziegler said he knows

the animals very well.“I live and breathe

cows — it’s my secondmarriage,” he said.

The Zieglers installeda robotic calf feedingsystem about four yearsago and a new heifer fa-cility a year ago. Bothfacilities have madetheir operation more ef-cient, Ziegler said.

“It takes the calves afew days to learn the ro-botic feeding system, butonce they learn, we have160 calves in the barneating four or ve timesa day,” he said.

Their calves have beenmeasured at 90 percentor higher on growthcharts, which Zieglersaid helps them “build asolid frame.”

Calves are raised onthe farm to about 9months of age, at whichtime they go to a customheifer-raising facilityabout two miles away.The animals come backto the farm when they

are seven months preg-nant.

The Zieglers havegradually built thefarm’s owned acres overthe years, buying smallparcels to build to their1,950 owned acres. Theyrent another 1,000 acres.

“For bare land we’retalking between $12,000and $16,000 an acre,” hesaid. “We’re either incompetition with Mid-dleton for housing or theother big dairies aroundhere.

“We’re always lookingfor more land. It’s anever-ending battle.”

The farm’s manure ispumped to a communitydigester about a mileaway via an 8-inch un-derground pipe. Thephosphorus and solidsare removed before themanure is piped back tothe farm for spreadingon the farm’s elds.

The digester is ownedby Gundersen HealthSystem in La Crosse.

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Polk

Oneida ForestFlorence

Marinette

Lincoln Langlade

OcontoMarathon

Door

PortageWood

Monroe

Buffalo

St. Croix

DunnPepinPierce

Vernon

Crawford

Grant

Richland

La Fayette

Iowa

Sauk

Green Rock

Dane

WalworthKenosha

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Jefferson Milwaukee

Kewaunee

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Iron

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For more information, contact your nearest dealer listed below or call 1-800-MUELLER:

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608-989-2126

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Documents

Salute to June Dairy Month 2015