Drought 2012: How it's affecting US Dairy Farmers

I'm hoping to share a more personal reflection of the Drought of 2012 on this blog in the coming weeks, but for now I have a great resource for you to check out!  Please check out www.dairygood.org for their latest article featuring perspectives from some great dairy farmers across the US.  The article Dairy Farmers Endure highlights a lot of the very same issues that we're facing on our own dairy farm.  Rising feed costs, the risk of not having enough forages on hand, and the stress of financial issues are all hot topics on our farm.  So, please take some time to read this great article!

Teaching the importance of Consistancy

Note: I found this gem in my drafts, which I never posted, but I found it to be especially well written, I hope you enjoy!

In a previous post I commented on some of the changes that we were making on the farm. One of the first changes was hiring our first employees. For the first couple weeks, things went really well. Jon and I both reaped the advantages of having extra help on the farm, but not too long after that we started to have some problems with one of our employees.


Dairy farming is a 24-7 job. Cows are always producing milk, and need constant attention. Cows crave consistency. Cows do not like changes. Cows expect to be milked everyday, twice a day. One of our employees missed that point. This employee decided that it would be okay if he didn't come to work, not once, not twice, but three different times in the past weeks. When you depend on someone to be there, and they don't show up, it's a huge let down. But on a dairy farm it has long lasting implications...this week was proof of this. Not only was Monday a complete disaster (we basically got cows milked, fed and bedded, but that was it, no extra projects for us), but we also had a mismatched schedule for the rest of the week. For example, today, I dried off cows that should have been dried off on Monday.

It's been easy for us to teach the importance of being dependable, responsible, and consistent to our other employee, but for the other, it was more than a challenge. We knew we would be at risk for employees that just might not care as much as we do about our cows, but we didn't think we would face it so soon.

We love our cows, and we expect our employee to care for them as well. In fact, we also expect them to get to know them by their names and personalities. We have a book/manual about cow behavior, we ask them to read. We also expect our employees to understand how much not only us, but our cows, depend on them to show up to work on time and do a good job. Without good employees we would not be able to provide our cows the care that they deserve. Needless to say, our truant employee put in his notice yesterday, before we could formally let him go. Our lesson was learned, and we will continue to work harder to teach our employees the importance of their roles in food production and cow care!

Shutting down rumors & stating the facts...

Well it looks like the 'ol Rumor Mill of the local small towns are up and running once again.  As our family enjoyed the area county fair this week, several of us were pulled aside and asked some peculiar questions regarding our dairy farm.  As it turns out, these questions were based on rumors which were started by some confusion regarding a legal notice in the newspapers.  So, let's start with the rumors:

• No, we are not milking 3 times a day, we just have some odd hours of operation, therefore the lights never really shut down.  Also, often times, such as tonight, Jon or I are out in the barn treating or caring for a cow or calf.
• No, we are not currently milking 600 cows...we only have 240 milking cows on site, which are shared between Jon & his dad.
• No, we are not adding cows, and we are especially not adding 600 cows.

So, now for the facts....

• This week we have a meeting with the county commissionors to approve the final stage of our expansion/updating project.  Recall, that last year at this time we were refused a permit to build a lagoon since our proposed lagoon did not meet county regulations, but we were granted a permit to build a new barn.  Now, we are seeking a permit to build a new lagoon, one which will meet the requirements of the county law (providing us 12 months worth of manure storage for our cows).
• But the legal announcement states that we're building for 400 cows.  That is in fact true.  We're building a lagoon that will be large enough to store 12 months of manure for 400 cows.  However, we do not have 400 cows, we only have 240 cows, and plan on staying at that size for several years.  The truth of the matter is that since the permitting process is such a battle, we decided we'd build an oversized lagoon, which allows us the ability to build another barn for additional cows in the future without having to add a "mini" laggon to the proposed lagoon....otherwise we would be adding lagoons over and over again, and that's not practical.  BUT...we want to abide by the law, so we're being up front and honest.

Seems like once the fire got started, it burned way out of proportion!  I am glad that so many neighbors and friends were willing to ask us in person.  We're definitely open to answer questions and addressing concerns.  We're looking forward to this proposed lagoon for several reasons, but the primary one is the environmental issues related to manure.  The county granted us the right to haul manure everyday last year, but this is not practical from a time management stand point nor is it from an environmental stand point.   We're looking forward to being able to better control and manage our manure nutrients, aiding us in growing excellent crops to feed our cows.  We're also looking forward to hauling manure only in the fall, when we can control the field conditions more readily.  So...I hope that cleared the air, stay tuned for more updates.

Hoosier Farm Babe Tell Tails: The Truth about Gestation Stalls

Hoosier Farm Babe Tell Tails: The Truth about Gestation Stalls

10 years ago....braces and all, I was a Finalist for Princess Kay of the Milky Way,
an experience I will never forget!

Wow has time flown by!  As I write this, we have finished 1st cutting of alfalfa.  Thankfully that frost earlier in April was not as detrimental as we expected it to be.  Thanks to lots of rain (5.25 inches in one week) we postponed planting our corn in exchange for cutting hay on May 12th...the earliest we have EVER cut alfalfa.  We also welcomed 13 new calves to the barn....all of which were born within the same week as making hay.  Now I am working on my presentation for the Dairy Princess event this weekend.  Here, talented dairy farmers' daughters and employees are competing to be one of the 12 Finalists for Princess Kay of the Milky Way.  The scary part is that I was one of these young ladies a mere 10 years ago!  Wow how things have changed, yet they are still the same!
The dairy princess program in Minnesota is still going strong, perhaps even stronger than ever, since so many young women are realizing the importance of sharing their stories with others.   Passionate doesn't even begin to describe these young women.  They are leaders, innovators, communicators, and most of all they LOVE the great community we call the dairy industry! 
10 years ago I had no idea how important the dairy princess program would be in who I am today.   Today, I am still advocating for dairy farmers like myself....using some of the same skills I had back then, with the same amount of passion, but with different tools...like this blog ;)
The final 12 will have the great experience of getting their likeness carved in a 90 pound block of butter at the Minnesota State Fair this summer!  A real honor!  (much like I did 10 years ago!)  We're wishing all these young ladies well, as any one of them would be an excellent Princess Kay!