Page 2 Dairy Star Saturday, July 28, 2012

Dairy pro leDairy Pro le brought to you by your North America dealers.

Doug Lyons, Castalia, Iowa (Winneshiek County) 50 cowsHow did you get started in dairy farming? I grew up on a dairy farm. I worked at this farm and then the woman who owned the place passed away. I bought the farm from her estate in 2006.Please describe your farm. We milk 50 registered Holsteins in a tie stall barn. We own 100 acres and rent an additional 50, with a total of 140 acres tillable. We grow corn, oats, hay and we plant rye where we chop corn in the fall. The rye is a big part of our heifer feed. I farm with my wife, Lynnette, our son Michael, 18, who will be a senior in high school, and our daughter Carly, 21, who attends Upper Iowa University.When did you know you wanted to farm? I have wanted to farm all my life. Whats your favorite farm job? Milking. I know the cows ac-tions and they know mine. I know every cow. What are some of your goals? Continue to breed and de-velop excellent Holstein dairy cattle.Whats your biggest challenge? Keeping feed costs down. What are you plans for the next ve years? Continue to grow good dairy cows. What are some of the other activities you enjoy? Showing cows, stock car races, high school and college wrestling.How are you dealing with the heat and lack of rain? We have been praying for rain and doing all we can to keep the cows cool. We have sprinklers over the bunk and put the cows back in the barn (with tunnel ventila-tion) when they are done eating. What is the story with your barn quilt? A few years ago, there was a bear wandering northeast Iowa and we were the rst around here to see it It walked right through the yard. We put the Bear Paw pattern barn quilt up soon after that.

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Page 14 Dairy Star Saturday, July 28, 2012

Page 16 Dairy Star Saturday, July 28, 2012

A) Describe the moisture and crop conditions on your farm. B) What impact do you foresee the drought having? C) How does this drought compare to others you have experienced? D) Do you forsee any changes you will make? E) Tell us about your farm.

From Our Side Of The Fence

Linda and Ted TewsWinona, Minn.Winona County 150 cows

A) As of July 18, there isnt any moisture. We had .2 inch of rain about 10 days ago, then the same amount about three weeks before that. Were thank-ful for that rain, but we need more soon. Our corn still looks ok, but its de nitely short and curling up during the day. Its just starting to tassle. The bot-tom leaves are just beginning to burn out. The beans are suffer-ing more than the corn. Third crop hay was good for the amount of moisture that weve had, but fourth crop is not look-ing good. Its not growing back.

B) We dont have a lot of grain to sell in the rst place, but the drought will probably mean less grain to sell this year. As for the hay, well have to stretch that a little because the hay yields will be down with the fourth crop not growing in. Well have to adjust our rations this winter.

C) I dont ever remember it be-ing this dry for this long. This is probably the worst Ive ex-perienced. My dad talks about 1964 and how a hay eld could be raked into one row, but Ive never experienced that. Our pastures are brown now and were feeding more than we usually have in the past. We havent really done anything to prepare for this. Weve just been praying a little more.

D) No, I dont think so. It just happens every so often. Weve just been blessed year after year with good rain.

E) Were primarily a dairy farm, but sell some corn and beans. I farm with my wife, Linda, and our son, Isaiah, and his family. Another son, Jacob, also works full-time on the farm with us. All eight of our children help us with our corn maze. This will be our fourth year creating a corn maze. It will be in the shape of our church, Immanuel Lutheran Silo, in honor of the churchs 150-year celebration. We dont have de nite plans for the next year. Were always talking about how we can im-prove the farm and incorporate the next generation.

Brigitte and Bill Connolly Bankston, IowaDubuque County45 cows

A) Much like everyone else this year we are short on rain, although I think we've been a little luckier than the farmers in southern Wisconsin. As a re-sult, our hay crops have been about half what they usually are. And, of course, the pas-tures have taken quite a beat-ing. There isnt much out there for a grazing herd so predict-ably we have seen a drop in milk production.

B) Most years we buy a little hay and most of our shelled corn. Obviously, we will be buying a lot more hay and probably more corn this fall. We have already had to start feeding hay because the pastures are so short. With so many acres having gone into corn and beans I expect hay to be at a premium this year.

C) We've had some dry years before but I don't remember so much heat coming at the same time. In the 20-plus years we have farmed together I dont remember the hay crop being so short. I don't think one re-ally prepares for a drought. In hindsight I suppose a person might have planted a bit earlier as those elds that went early look the best in our area.

D) I'm not sure we will do any-thing different next year. The weather has been so volatile that it would be hard to predict what to expect in the future.

E) Since our 2010 barn re, and addition of our son Will to the farming operation, we have been rebuilding and trying to improve our milking set-up. We converted from stanchions to a low cost swing-6 parlor which makes milking faster and much more enjoyable. We hope that the added cow com-fort of freestalls (which we put in last summer) will help increase milk production and we are working to increase our herd size. We farm about 200 acres, and are certi ed organic.

Jennifer and Justin Wolfe (shown with children, Janelle, Joette, Jorja and Janson) Waumandee, Wis.Buffalo County 50 cows

A) The hay is suffering more than the corn. The corn still looks good, but who knows for how much longer. We had a hail storm on May 2 that hurt our rst crop. We ended up with half our usual crop. With the lack of rain, our second crop was below average and it doesn't look good for third crop.

B) The pastures are all dried up, so the cows are not milk-ing as much. We may have to buy some hay. If it doesn't rain soon, we may have to buy some corn.

C) This is the driest I have seen. It is kind of hard to pre-pare for a drought. You do the best with what you have.

D) We hope there are no lasting impacts. I am not sure we will make any changes at this point. We hope for a better fall and 2013 growing season.

E) My wife, Jennifer, and I milk 50 cows on our 200-acre certi ed organic farm in Wau-mandee, Wis. We sell our milk to Westby Cooperative Cream-ery. We have four children: Janelle, Joette, Jorja and Jan-son. We have no major changes planned for the next year.

Marty TashnerCuba City, Wis.Grant County139 cows

A) Dry. The lack of moisture seems to be pretty much wide-spread all of southern Wis-consin. Our soil conditions are pretty good in this area. Crops are hurting, but they havent started drying up yet. Good Lord willing, we may get a shower to help save em. Weve already chopped hay three times. Looks to me like fourth crop here is going to be a little thin if it doesnt go dormant because of a lack of moisture. It is dry.

B) Its de nitely going to be challenging to feed this amount of livestock without having to buy a whole lot of feed and putting yourself in a major debt position. Its very possible that we might start cutting back (on animals). Itll be a survival year, and I think itll be a survival year for every dairyman in the area.

C) Believe it or not, I was through two droughts back in 1988 and 89. Those just about broke us, because wed just started farming and we had to buy a lot of feed. We only had 50 or 60 cows at the time. How I prepared for this, unfortu-nately, with the barn re, I lost a years worth of baled hay. I was trying to build up the sup-ply the last couple of years. Basically, last year was pretty decent. Milk prices were high. You could see feed was on the rise, so I started buying a little extra hay. I bought some corn silage. As far as my silage con-ditions go, my bunkers are full and I have an extra bag on hand that I normally dont have. I was planning ahead. Its just a shame that a years worth of baled hay went up in ames.

D) Its my third drought, but I dont see any real changes. I can tell you one thing from this drought, versus 1988: Back then they really didnt have a drought-resistant (corn) vari-ety. Your corn may look pretty poor. It does curl up during the day for a reason: to conserve moisture. It takes in dew, and weve been having some heavy dews. I dont know if dew is

Judy and Brian HazelLanesboro, Minn.Fillmore County 250 cows

A) We received over an inch of rain on July 24; however, before that, we received less than an inch in June and July. Our corn is still alive, but we have sandy spots that are dead. It is also shorter than normal. The beans arent really doing much. The rain helped. We got three cuttings of alfalfa and the fourth is all green.

B) Were going to be short for-ages. We have 270 heifers we usually rotationally graze. Cur-rently we are feeding all but 70 of them. Were using up our winter feed supply. Well sell some of our herd to make our forages stretch. We need to be more ef cient with what we have. We have neighbors who are expanding so there are markets for the heifers.

C) Its similar to the 1988 drought forage-wise, but our operation has changed so much over the years its hard to compare the two. The grain supply is going to be short next year. To prepare we had to change our management style. For the grazing heifers, we tried to leave the grazing stubble longer in hopes it would come back sooner. Were hoping we will be able to open CRP land so we can get some forages.

D) It forces us to be better man-agers and broadens our thought process because were looking at different options. Nature is resil-ient and it will recover. We are planning to go to more cover crops and no till management because weve seen it through Extension and other research. Fields with these management styles are far-ing better in the drought than the conventional type. Well be doing this next year and hopefully in the years to come.

E) In addition to the cows, we also crop 675 acres. Our only livestock enterprise is the dairy, but we sell some cash crops to diversify. In the next year, well maintain what we have on the farm and try to gure out what well do with the farm in the future and how our children want to be involved. Judy works off the farm full time. Two of our children, Amy and Adam, are involved on the farm on a part-time basis. Amy handles all the genetics and Adam does a lot with the machinery. Our other daugh-ter, Amber, is starting her career as a large animal veterinarian in Worthington, Minn.

enough to pollinate it.

E) My wife, Kitzie, and I milk 139 cows. We have an assis-tant, Brandon Oglesby. I guess our plans are to get our feet back on the ground after losing our barn, and getting through this drought. We havent start-ed buying feed. I dont even know if its available. I hope someone gets rain so theyll have feed to sell.

Dairy Star Saturday, July 28, 2012 Page 19

... very effective and easy to use ...

There are a lot of reasons to use Udder Comfort, says Cade Stanek of Our-Favorite Holsteins, Fall Creek, Wisconsin. Udder Comfort is very effective and easy to use to get udders in shape, remove swelling, and bring out the crease and veining. It also helps us maintain a low somatic cell count for our premiums from the bottler.

Cade joined his parents, Todd and Mary, in the business after returning from the Univ. of Wisconsin in dairy science. They started expanding, and purchased the internationally known elite index Gold Dish Rae as a fall calf, along with other good cattle. Today they milk 200 cows with a 4th highest BAA in the U.S. for herds of 151-200 cows.

We use Udder Comfort on springers twice a day for 3 to 4 days. It gets the swelling out, makes them more comfortable and gets them going as quickly as possible.

For some, we start a week before calving. The quicker I get udder quality to where it should be, the less likely the animal is to have mastitis or other udder problems. In May we freshened 19 heifers through this barn. We consistently used Udder Comfort and kept SCC below 100,000, with very few cases of mastitis. All three barns together average around 200,000.

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OUR-FAVORITE HOLSTEINSTHE STANEK FAMILY, Fall Creek, Wisconsin200 Holsteins: RHA 26,439 m 3.66% f 3.13% pSCC: 200,000

Cade Stanek, is a fourth generation dairyman at Our-Favorite Holsteins, founded by his father. The Fall Creek, Wisconsin dairy is home to the only *RC and *TV Goldwyn daughter of the All-American Debutante and full sister to Destry (Debutantes popular son at ABS). Above is that cow: Scientifi c Gold Dish Rae-ET. She has 4/12 GTPI +1939, PTAT +2.96, UDC +2.1, FLC +3.05. The Staneks are milking seven of her daughters and market embryos worldwide.

Page 24 Dairy Star Saturday, July 28, 2012

CONGRATULATIONS!To the Scott and Jessica Hingtgen Family on your new robotic dairy facility!

Scott & Jessica Hingtgen30206 Bellevue Cascade Rd., Bellevue, Iowa 52031

THE FOLLOWING BUSINESSES WISH TO SAY Congratulations & Thank you

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DAIRY CONSULTING SERVICES Scott McDermott 319-560-6519 Nutritionist

DON AND LEO WILLE CONSTRUCTION Guttenberg, IA 563-252-2034 TMR Mixer

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RANDY SCHILT Monticello, IA 563-465-5681 Milk Hauler

ROBERT THOLA CONSTRUCTION Zwingle, IA 563-357-6757 General Contractor

ROEDER BROS. INC. Bellevue, IA 563-872-5527

WIEGEL CONSTRUCTION, LLC Shullsburg, WI 608-482-1095 Curtains - New & Repair

Dairy Star Saturday, July 28, 2012 Page 29

Humidity % Humidity %Temp F 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 Temp F 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90

72 64 65 65 65 66 66 67 67 67 68 68 69 69 69 70 70 70 71 71 7274 65 66 66 67 67 67 68 68 69 69 70 70 70 71 71 72 72 73 73 7476 66 67 67 68 68 69 69 70 70 71 71 72 72 73 73 74 74 75 75 7678 67 68 68 69 69 70 70 71 71 72 72 73 73 74 74 75 75 76 76 7880 68 69 69 70 70 71 72 72 73 74 75 75 76 76 77 78 78 79 79 80 80 80 81 81 82 82 83 84 84 85 8682 69 69 70 70 71 72 73 73 74 75 75 76 77 77 78 79 79 80 80 82 81 82 83 84 84 85 86 88 89 90 9184 70 70 71 72 73 73 74 75 75 76 77 78 78 79 80 80 81 82 83 84 83 84 85 86 88 89 90 92 94 96 9886 71 71 72 73 74 74 75 76 77 78 78 79 80 81 81 82 83 84 84 86 85 87 88 89 91 93 95 97 100 102 10588 72 72 73 74 75 76 76 77 78 79 80 81 81 82 83 84 85 86 86 88 88 89 91 93 95 98 100 103 106 110 11390 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 86 87 88 90 91 93 95 97 100 103 105 109 113 117 12292 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 85 86 87 88 89 90 92 94 96 99 101 105 108 112 116 121 126 13194 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 86 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 94 97 100 103 106 110 114 119 124 129 13596 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 96 101 104 108 112 116 121 126 13298 76 77 78 80 80 82 83 83 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 98 105 109 113 117 123 128 134

100 77 78 79 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 98 100 109 114 118 124 129 136102 78 79 80 82 83 84 85 86 87 89 90 91 92 94 95 96 97 98 100 102 114 119 124 130 137104 79 80 81 83 84 85 86 88 89 90 91 93 94 95 96 98 99 100 101 104 119 124 131 137106 80 81 82 84 85 87 88 89 90 91 93 94 95 97 98 99 101 102 103 106 124 130 137108 81 82 83 85 86 88 89 90 92 93 94 96 97 98 100 101 103 104 105 108 130 137110 81 83 84 86 87 89 90 91 93 95 96 97 99 100 101 103 104 106 107 110 136

Stress threshold for lactating cows. Respiration rate may exceed 60 BPM. Milk loses begin ~ 2.5 lbs/cow/day. Reproductive loses are detectable and rectal temperature exceeds 101.3F. Caution for people depending on age, exposure and activity. People may not feel heat stress until 80F and 40% humidity.

Mild to moderate stress for lactating cows. Respiration rates may exceed 75 BPM. Milk loses ~ 6 lbs/cow/day. Rectal temperatures will exceed 102.2F. Extreme Caution for people depending on age, exposure and activity.

Moderate to severe stress for lactating cows. Respiration rate exceeds 85 BPM. Milk loses ~ 8.7 lbs/cow/day. Rectal temperature exceeds 104F. Danger for people depending on age, exposure and activity.

Severe stress! Life threatening conditions for lactating cows. Respiration rates are 120-140 BPM. Rectal temperatures may exceed 106F. Extreme Danger of heat exhaustion and/or heat stroke for people when working in these conditions.

DAIRY COW TEMPERATURE HUMIDITY INDEX (THI) HUMAN HEAT INDEX

A few weeks ago I was entering data into my computer at a dairy farm. Cer-tainly not a very strenuous job! But at 95

degrees Fahrenheit with 53 percent hu-midity and a human heat index of 107.4 degrees Fahrenheit, sweat was dripping off my forehead. The human heat in-dex is an indication of how hot it feels when both tempera-ture and humidity are considered. Just as I was

beginning to feel sorry for myself, the cows were lining up in the holding pen to be milked, some already huf ng and puff-ing. While I drove to the farm in air con-ditioned comfort, these cows had spent the whole day in the sti ing heat and now were jamming into the close quar-ters of a holding pen to wait their turn to be milked. For them this combination of temperature and humidity represented a Temperature Humidity Index (THI) of 85. At these conditions, cows are not able to maintain normal body temperature (101.5 degrees Fahrenheit) and will have a drop in milk production of six to eight pounds per cow per day. A quick study of the heat stress charts for cows and humans (below) shows that cows are much more sensitive to heat stress than people. By the time we are just beginning to feel heat stress (80 degrees Fahrenheit with 40 percent humidity), the cows have been suffering for some time. Cows begin to experience heat stress when the THI reaches 68. Heat stress at milking time can be hard on both the cows and the milkers. How can we make it easier on the cows and people at milking time?

What happens when a cow is heat stressed? Dry matter intake declines. Rumen PH decreases and rumen fermentation is disrupted. Milk production is depressed. Water intake may increase up to ve times. Key blood electrolytes are lost sodium by increased urinary secretion, potassium through skin perspiration, and bicarbonate by hyperventilation. Respiration rate of more than 60 breaths per minute (BPM) indicates heat stress.

Easing milking time heat stress

By Jeff ReneauDairy Extension Specialist

Body temperature increases. At a THI of 80 or above, cows can no longer maintain normal body temperature. Each 0.9-degree increase in body temperature results in a 12 percent decrease in concep-tion rate. Immune system is depressed. Yet during heat waves exposure to masti-tis pathogens increases many fold. As a result, cases of clinical and sub-clinical mastitis increase. The rst rule in heat stress prevention is getting an early start! Routinely follow weather trends and begin heat abatement before a heat wave hits.

Bovine milking time heat stress preven-tion and rst aid Reduce stocking rates in holding pens. Cows need more space to dissipate heat; reducing the cow numbers can help alleviate crowding. This will also reduce time spent away from feeding and resting. Boost air movement in the barn or milking center. A minimum of ve mph air speed directed onto the cows is needed to accomplish cooling. In tie-stall barns, increasing air ow with tunnel ventilation has proven helpful.

Intermittent sprinkling of cows with water (for three to ve minutes every 10 to 15 minutes) coupled with circulating fans directed onto the cows helps turn the holding pen into an oasis to cool cows. Fly control also reduces unneces-sary stress, helping prevent the counter-productive heat stress behavior of bunch-ing as well as the y defensive stomping that causes splashing of lower rear legs and udders. This will improve udder hy-giene. Anything that keeps cows cleaner eases pre-milking cow prep. Provide water in return alley or ex-ercise lot spiked with electrolytes (Ga-torade for cows). Early Florida studies (Collier et at., 1982) found that rumen concentrations of sodium and potassium were low in heat stressed cows. Since heat stressed cows markedly decrease feed intakes but do increase water intake, it seems logical that providing water spiked with electrolytes may help offset some of the electrolyte loss caused by heat stress.

Milker heat stress prevention and rst aid Increased air movement ( ve mph or greater) in the parlor is not only good

for the cows but essential for the milkers.During times of heat stress, if we expect milkers to up their game of cleaning anddrying teat surfaces in order to reduce mastitis, then we need to be sure they areas comfortable as possible. Provide a cool one choco-late milk or Gatorade, of course. People working in heat stress conditions needto maintain their own uid and electro-lyte intakes. When the human heat index is 90 plus, drinking a cup of uids every 30 minutes to maintain hydration is ad-visable. During very strenuous exercise in heat stress conditions, people can loseas much as one quart of perspiration perhour. Heat exhaustion symptoms needimmediate attention. Move the person toa cool place, have them lie down with feetelevated, and provide mechanical ventila-tion and uids to rehydrate. Heat stroke, where the individual has hot dry skin, body temperatures greater than 104 de-grees Fahrenheit, rapid heart rate and diz-ziness, etc., is a very serious matter andrequires immediate medical attention.

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Page 30 Dairy Star Saturday, July 28, 2012

I had a great childhood, even though I am sure at the time I complained of having to work too hard, like most farm kids do. I have so many great memories of working and playing together while we grew up. I am lucky to have grown up with four siblings, it makes games much easier to play, and was so much fun. Our parents trusted us to know where we could and could not go on the farm, which I think greatly enhanced our creative experiences. They didnt hover over us, which allowed us a great room to grow. My siblings and I were also blessed to grow up with-out an abundance of technol-ogy. My mom especially, un-derstood that children need to play to learn and always gave us space and time to do so. We were great pretenders, from reenacting a scene from a favorite story or something one of us came up with on our own, our imaginations were growing as fast as we were on the farm. We have a gigantic catalpa tree on the front lawn at the farm, that blooms with these sweet smelling white owers well after all the other trees have budded out. Dad would give us old tractor inner tubes to bounce on (no trampoline at our place) and those combined with the owers were the source of much creative play. Two tubes piled one on top of the other with a yellow blanket covering us up made a great tent. Then there was our rendition of Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. The Snow White of the day had to lie across the blanket-covered tire while the dwarfs placed catalpa owers all around her. Stacy, Peter, Thomas, and I would construct an obstacle course across the lawn, with anything that was considered safe to sneak away from the shed. I must have had a love of gymnastics at the time because I vaguely remember making

Growing imaginationsa balance beam out of blocks of wood. Bouncing on the tire and trying not to lose your balance, climbing monkey bars, staying on our homemade balance beam; de nitely has the making of an Olympic sport. Water ghts were nothing short of crazy when we were younger. The rule was that you had to wait until chores were all done; no one likes to work in soaking wet clothes. Once that last cow was fed, the milkers all in the milkhouse, and the washer started, it was go time. Who needed squirt guns? We had calf pails, water hoses stretched out as far as they could reach, strip cups (remember those nice little metal cups?), maybe even emp-ty ketchup bottles and Hershey syrup containers (they had pret-ty good range when they were full). There was always access to water, too. You could squeeze through the fence and reload from the cows water tank, run to the house and use baby pool water, check the pen at the other end of the barn, and of course the milkhouse had an end-less water supply. One of our most memorable water ghts was with the four of us older kids and Dad after chores one summer evening. We all piled in the milkhouse to ll our water weapons up to prepare for another round of soaking Dad, when he somehow blockaded us in the milkhouse and shut off the main water supply. He made sure not to let us out until he was lled and had some water on stand-by; four against one really wasnt that fair until then. I think our all-time favorite childhood game was one that we invented ourselves. I believe it was our watching Gladiators on TV that started the idea for this one. We man-aged to tie 15-gallon drums to the rafters in the shed with braided twine ropes just high enough off the ground for an-other kid to stand beneath it. These two contraptions faced each other, a few rafters apart, out of the way of the equip-ment, and our plans looked as though they might work. With one kid on each barrel and their chosen sibling on the ground being their pusher the game was ready. The goal

was to knock the other one off of their barrel, but mind youthese barrels are swinging at each other, and if you were strong enough to use your legs the barrel may come ipping up in the air as well. Gladiator games farmer style! As luck would have it, crazy as this sounds, I dont remember any of us falling off and having to go tell Mom what happened,I guess we were just that good (or lucky). The haymow swing was one of the simplest thrills onthe farm. We would see if we could spin in circles withouthitting the beams, how long you could hold on when you were getting dizzy, and who could swing back and forth us-

ing the beams to keep up your momentum. There were years when the hay was piled too high for us to do much swinging, but then there were years when we could climb up the hay bales andstand on the wooden seat of the swing and y through the air.Thomas and Tony are infamous for their building of hay bale

forts and the thoughts to have their own hideout up in the peaked ceiling of the hay loft. I remind myself constantly of how important it is totheir learning that I let the boys concoct their own gamesand play creatively rough like we did growing up. Particu-larly when I spy them out the barn window balancing on thebars of the metal swingset reaching up as high as they can so they can take the pieces down and change the position of the swings to their designs. I just take a deep breath and think about how we played Gladiators in the shed, pray theyll be ne, and think this is only the beginning of their imagina-tions at play!

Jacqui, her dad and brother milk 550 cows and run1,000 acres of crops in the northeastern corner of VernonCounty, Wis. Her children Ira (5) and Dane (3) 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 teachingothers about farming are her passions.

I remind myself constantly of how important it is to their learning that I let the boys concoct their own games and play creatively rough.

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By Jacqui DavisonColumnist

Ramblings from the Ridge

Page 32 Dairy Star Saturday, July 28, 2012

By Natalie SchmittColumnist

Just Thinking Out Loud

SPREADERS(LH) Knight 8030 slinger manure spreader .... $16,665(LH) NH 195 tandem gate, hyd. drive ............. $10,550(LH) NH 195, 2 spd., gate, top beater ............ $12,775(LH) NH 195, hyd. drive, gate ........................ $10,555(LH) New Idea 3632 manure spreader, tandem, gate .................................................. $4,400(LH) H&S 270 manure spreader, hyd. gate ...... $4,000(LH) H&S 270 manure spreader, hyd. gate ...... $4,445SKID STEERS(LH) 04 Mustang 2074, cab & heat, 2 spd., 2500 hrs. ..................................................... $18,350(LH) 95 Mustang 2060, dsl., B, 5770 hrs. ..... $11,665(LH) 03 Mustang 2054, dsl., B, 2565 hrs. ..... $15,275(LH) 99 Mustang 2050, dsl., B, cab & heat, 4500 hrs. $14,165(P) 08 Mustang 2044, dsl., cab & heat, 450 hrs. .$21,650(LH) Mustang 940, dsl., B, 1 pin, FAT .............. $6,500(LH) Mustang 940, dsl., B, 1 pin, FAT .............. $6,500(LH) Mustang 940, dsl., B, 1 pin, FAT .............. $5,000

(P) 00 Gehl 5635 SX, 3720 hrs., new eng., B $18,335(LH) 00 Gehl 4835SXT, 3625 hrs., cab & heat, B .$11,100(P) 05 Case 450, dsl., cab & heat, 955 hrs. ... $31,500(LH) 90 Case 1825, dsl., B, 5410 hrs. ............. $6,125(LH) HH Fab. 72 industrial tine grapple .......... $1,500BOXES & WAGONS(LH) H&S wide body, 22 AL sides w/617 wagon .$16,550(LH) H&S 7+4 TA forage box, 16 w/12 ton tandem $9,450(LH) Minnesota 130 air box w/hoist ............... $1,050(LH) Green 100 air box w/hoist ......................... $390(LH) Klugman 2 wheel 25 header trailer .......... $1,775(LH) Harms 1016 bale rack w/wagons ............. $1,850(LH) Harms 1016 bale rack w/wagons ............. $1,650

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We are celebrating life this sum-mer. We are celebrating life journeys as they begin and also as they end. We have been tting these celebrations in between the daily routine of summer chores and, thankfully, recent rains. It has been a relief to shut off the pivots for a couple of days. The recent rains combined with hot, humid days have created wonderful growing conditions for the alfalfa elds. The only problem is that it makes poor drying conditions for baling. The hot weather has also created extra work in keeping the sheds clean and dry for the youngstock. It is all a part of the extra summer work, but it is nice to be able to work together as a family. Everyone is pitching in and helping so much this year. With boys as big and strong as Mark, they can put in a mans full day of work. Weve always told the kids that if they work hard, they can play hard when theyre done. Fitting everything in has made us all exhausted yet exhilarated to be in the middle of such commotion and it isnt even county fair week yet! In June we had ten graduation par-ties along the seven mile stretch of road that runs past our driveway. I was teasing a couple of other families that we should have just popped up a large tent and pulled in a couple of port-a-potties to the main intersection and had a neighborhood celebration for our graduates. Instead we kept running into each other every weekend. It was great to connect with neighbors again. We have all come to the same conclusion. It is amazing how fast our chil-dren are growing up and we arent that old yet! Besides all of the gradua-tions, we are starting to cele-brate the next phase of life for several of our neighborhood kids. I was invited to a baby shower for my childrens rst baby-sitter. We were the rst family Carmen ever baby-sat for. She was the youngest of nine children and had very little experience with ba-bies. Her rst time changing a diaper resulted in it being put on backwards. Jonathon survived, Carmen learned and over time they grew up together. She was the one I could call with only ve minutes notice to come watch the kids while I ran chopper boxes for the guys. It is strange to see her belly protruding as she waddles across the room. The large belly is due to the twins she is car-rying. What a celebration! Once our kids were out of diapers and Carmen had graduated, I started to call the neighbor boys to watch the kids. With three little rough and tumble farm boys, a male baby-sitter was logi-cal. They loved having a big boy to wrestle with on the living room oor. Katie didnt mind and seemed to jump right into the action as well. We will be celebrating Keiths wedding in a cou-ple of weeks to a young lady we have known her entire life. It is such fun to watch two young people work togeth-er as they start to create their own life journey. While it has been fun celebrating beginnings, we have also been cele-brating endings. I said goodbye to two dear friends this past week. Don was a survivor of the Great Depression and WWII. He was a man of integrity and very few words. He and his wife ad-opted me when I moved to Minnesota

and I always knew they kept an eyeout for me. At his funeral, his son ex-plained that his dad very rarely said Ilove you, but his actions spoke louder than his lack of words. He showed his family his love every day by working toprovide and care for them. Sister Justina and I celebrate ourbirthdays together. We were born 10 days and 50 years apart, yet she made me feel like I was her most special friend. It was her mission to show people they were always loved becauseshe knew what if felt like to be alone. Her life mission began when she was orphaned at three weeks of age in New York City. When she was 18 monthsold, she was placed on an Orphan Train heading west to Minnesota tobe adopted by a family in Holdingford. She was one of 200,000 orphans who were shuttled west from the east coast

between 1854 and 1929. When she was of age, she becamea Franciscan nun. She faithfully servedher community and God for 82 years.She served several parishes in centralMinnesota throughout her life. She was once told that she who loves to work is always on vacation. Since work was al-ways a source of joy for her, she gured she was on vacation most of her life!We use to joke that is why farmersnever left the farm, they were alreadyon vacation! I believe one reason SisterJustina lived to 100 years of age is be-cause she climbed three ights of stairsseveral times a day until last year. Shenever stopped moving to let her body catch up with her age. She was trulyyoung at heart. Don and Sister Justina were of ageneration who demonstrated their lovefor family and community by workingto care and provide for them. As wecelebrate the end of their lives, mayour young graduates, parents-to-be andnewlyweds work for their futures withthe same focus, dedication and joy asmy two dear friends. Natalie, Mark and his brother, Al, Schmitt farm together near Rice, Minn.They milk 100 registered Holsteins under the RALMA pre x. Their four children are great help around the farm and are pushingNatalie out of several jobs. Therefore she isthankful to have something else to do. For questions or comments please email Natalie at mnschmitt@jetup.net.

Summer celebrations

We have been fitting in celebrations in between the daily routine of summer chores and thankfully recent rains.

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Page 40 Dairy Star Saturday, July 28, 2012

2012 CNH America LLC. All rights reserved. New Holland is a trademark of CNH America LLC.

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