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Canadian Holstein tops World Dairy Expo

October 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A Canadian Holstein topped the show at World Dairy Expo this year, Eastside Lewisdale Gold Missy, a five-year-old cow from Ponoka, Alberta, was named Supreme Champion on Saturday. The five-year-old was exhibited by Morsan, Van Ruinen Dairy, M. Butz and G Andreasen.

Reserve Champion was the Jersey, Pine Haven SSM Marmie, owned by Nic, Jeni, Ben and Andy Sauder of Tremont, Illinois.

Ben Sauder also had the Junior Supreme Champion, three-year-old South Mountain Voltage Spice-ET.

At the six breed sales:

  • The Top of the World Jersey Sale sold 30 lots and averaged $3,315. Family Hill Vindication Carnegie-ET, consigned by Ryan Lancaster of Tillamook, Oregon, was the highest selling lot at $7,500. Carnegie was purchased by Greg Lambert of Campbellsport, Wisconsin.
  • World Ayrshire Event Sale was topped by a pick from the flush of Steam-Valley Wilton Magic, consigned by Kurt Wolf and John Cannon of Dyersville, Iowa which sold to Gene Hall, Jr. of Cushing, Oklahoma for $9,200.
  • The World Premier Brown Swiss Sale featured 29 lots and averaged $3,867.24. Top sale was Lost Elm Piranha-ET consigned by Matthew Appler of Clermont, Iowa purchased by Bo-Tex Dairy, Waxachie, Texas, for $5,800.
  • In The World Premier Milking Shorthorn Sale featured ten different animals averaging $3,530. The top sale was $8,500 for Cherrywood Mega Mitzy consigned Jacob Achen of Ambia, Indiana and purchased by Brice Peth of Ripon, Wisconsin.
  • The International Guernsey Classic saw 34 animals average $2,196 topped by Knapps Aaron consigned by Knapps Guernseys of Epworth, Iowa purchased by Spring Walk Farm of Big Prairie, Ohio for $4,200.
  • The World Class Holstein Sale averaged $27,295 on 43 lots with buyers from 14 states, four provinces and six countries. The top sale was Lookout Pesce Magna P Sarah-Red-ET from Lookout Holsteins in Quebec selling for $82,000 to Keller Cattle Sales of Verona, Wisconsin.
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Gathering ideas for transitioning the farm

October 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Transitioning ownership of a farm was the topic of some educational seminars from QLF at World Dairy Expo. One of the presenters was Larry Simon of Westphalia, Michigan. He and his brother have a 670-cow dairy operation and are in the process of adding another 120 to 140 cows as well as bringing Larry’s son, Brett into the operation. He can’t emphasize enough the importance of having good communications among all involved in the operation as well as input from as many experts as you can get.

AUDIO:Simon talks about the changes to his Michigan operation

Two other presenters were brothers Justin and Jordan Risser who are in on a 750-cow dairy in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The rolling herd average was over 30,000 at one point but has backed-off to around 28,000 due to some lower quality forage. They continue to use upright silos. Justin is in the process of buying into the family operation that is currently owned by his father and two uncles. Farmland in the area is at a premium and sells for $10,000 to $11,000 per acre plus the farm is located in the Chesapeake Bay watershed which adds some extra challenges to any transition. Justin says the environmental regulations have made them change the way they farm the land. Jordan works on the farm and plans to farm but is not sure if he will go in on this operation.

AUDIO: Risser talks about buying in to his family’s Pennsylvania farm

Paul Duik is making a transition in his life, after serving as U.W. Extension Agent in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin for several years, he has joined QLF. A native of Ontario, Canada, Duik has worked for feed companies in the past and milked his own cows. He decided he wanted to get back into the private feed business and found QLF to be the type of company he wanted to get involved with.

AUDIO: Duik talks about joing the QLF team

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ADM working with the Keenan Mixer system

October 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Don Jaquette is a Dairy Nutritionist and Dairy Team Leader with ADM. For the past two years he has been working with the Keenan Mixer Company. The Keenan System involves not only the mixer but a combination of management tools which are designed to improve feed conversion efficiency.

AUDIO: Jaquette talks about the nutritional system

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Got livestock? Got flies.

October 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Anytime you deal with livestock, you have flies and Tracy Harris with Central Life Sciences says there is no substitute for a good fly control program. He stresses a total program starting with keeping things clean and dry around the farm. Then you determine the type(s) of flies you have, where they are coming from and what can you do to control that.

AUDIO:Harris talks about the challenges

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Inviting “mommy bloggers” to the dairy farm

October 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Brad Scott and his family milk 1,000 cows and run about 800 acres near San Jacinto, California. A while back he invited a group of “Mommy Bloggers” to visit his dairy farm. “We had a great opportunity to show them we take great care of our animals, we care about the environment…we had the opportunity to show them that what we’re doing on the farm is sustainable.” The bloggers spent two days on the farm and in the end they are telling their followers about the good farm and products Scott and his family produce.

AUDIO:Scott talks about the experience

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Vita Plus contributes to IFEEDER

October 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Many dairy companies use World Dairy Expo as a stage to make major announcements; such was the case with Vita Plus which announced a major contribution to the Institute for Feed Education and Research (IFEEDER). Founded in 2009, IFEEDER is a foundation seeking to sustain food and feed production for the world through research and education. Al Gunderson with Vita Plus is Chairman of the Board for IFEEDER; he says the goals of the foundation fit right into the goals of Vita Plus. Richard Sellers with the American Feed Industry Association says his industry is well-positioned to implement the research needed to meet their goals.

AUDIO:Gunderson and Sellers comment on the effort

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Wisconsin’s Ag Secretary talks about how things have changed

October 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Over the years, Ben Brancel has attended World Dairy Expo in numerous capacities, dairy farmer, beef producer, State Legislator, Farm Service Agency Director and for the second time, Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Brancel served as Secretary in the Tommy Thompson administration from 1997 to 2000 and returned to the post last January when Scott Walker became Governor. He says the dairy industry has changed substantially from his first stint compared to currently. We have fewer farmers but we have maintained our milk volume, we have more cheese plants in the state today and Brancel says there are more countries seeking dairy genetics from America’s Dairyland than before. There is also increased demand for many other products from Wisconsin agriculture.

AUDIO:Brancel talks about the differences from his first term

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Dealing with these volatile markets

October 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Uncertainty in the economy has made for extreme volatility in financial markets, commodity markets and dairy markets. Steve Schalla with Stewart-Peterson says the swings add increases risk and increased opportunity so it is more important than ever to have a plan in place to cover risk and take advantage of opportunities. Schalla also believes the export market will continue to grow despite the sluggish economy. “They may not be buying big-screen TVs but they’re still buying ice cream.”

AUDIO:Schalla talks about dealing with the risk and opportunity

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Meet the four 2011 World Dairy honorees

October 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

World Dairy Expo Dairy Woman of the Year is Donna Myers of New Windsor, Maryland. She, her husband and daughter have a 55-cow registered Red & White herd and have sold genetics on four continents. They can trace most of their cattle back to a single Red & White calf she bought when she was young; three of their offspring are at the show this year. Myers is active in the local county fair, the Maryland State Fair and the state and national Holstein Associations.

AUDIO:Myers talks about her Maryland dairy farm

The International Dairy Person of the Year is Anne Perchard from the Island of Jersey. She and her family have the Ansom Jersey Herd on the Isle where the breed originated. For 200 years, the herd on the island was a closed herd in an effort to protect the integrity of the breed. However, cattle were constantly being sold off the island to the point they are down to just 3,500 cows in 20 herds on the island. The closed herd also meant improvements made to the breed in the United States and other countries were not allowed on the island up until three years ago when purebred semen from overseas was allowed in. Perchard says those two-year-old heifers are showing incredible improvements to the herd.

AUDIO:Perchard talks about dairying on the Isle of Jersey

The World Dairy Expo Dairyman of the Year is actually a family, brothers Alan, Jim, David and Jim’s son, John Koepke of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. The 320-cow herd has an RHA of 31,563 milk, 1168 fat and 942 protein. John says having multiple family members involved in the farm allows for them to be involved in other things such as the State Ag Board, Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin as well as community groups. The farm is also venturing into making and marketing their own cheese.

AUDIO: The Kioepkes tell about their Wisconsin dairy farm

The World Dairy Expo Industry Person of the Year is Dr. H. Duane Normal with the USDA Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory. Dr. Norman has been a Research Leader at the lab developing methods for better evaluation of genetics in dairy cattle. Today’s evaluation goes beyond milk, fat and protein to assess economic indices, reproductive trains, dry period length and others.

AUDIO: Dr. Norman talks about his research

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Consumers want to know their farmers

October 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Matt Joyce is vice president for producer communications for the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board; he says they are exploring ways for producers to better communicate with consumers. “How can we show consumers how we take care of our animals and take care of our land?” He says one key way is for producers to be actively involved in their community and invite people out to visit the farm.

AUDIO:Joyce talks about marketing and image

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