Springtime routines and management at Daley Dairy Farm

By ANDREA JOHNSON, Assistant Editor
Friday, May 8, 2009 10:46 AM CDT

Shelly DePestel, Lewiston, Minn., will be featured in the Producer Progress Reports for southeast Minnesota.

LEWISTON, Minn. - Shelly DePestel and everybody living close to St. Charles knew something serious was up on April 17.

Located just 11 miles from Lewiston, the community of St. Charles responded to a fire at North Star Foods.

“This is quite destructive for the entire area,” said Shelly.

Fire fighters from many communities kept anhydrous ammonia tanks cool to prevent the tanks from exploding. The anhydrous was successfully released at a slow rate to keep citizens safe, although the town was evacuated for one night. The North Star Foods complex was destroyed in the fire, resulting in the loss of 250 jobs.

St. Charles leadership hopes North Star Foods will rebuild in the community. According to information from the Winona Daily News, town leaders and North Star Foods officials are meeting weekly to discuss plans.

Giving her report on April 28, Shelly said the Daley Farm crew repaired pasture fences in mid-April.

“There's always trees to cut down to make sure the lines are good and hot,” Shelly said. “Now they've moved bred heifers out to the pastures. That's nice for us because it frees up the lot, and the heifers graze on green grass.”

The heifers on pasture are more than cosmetic.

“When spring comes, our feed usage goes down and that's pretty nice,” she said.

Shelly's brother, Brian Daley, oversaw corn seeding in late April, with about half of the 1,600 acres planted by April 25. Then the area received about 2.25 inches of rain.

The rain was welcome, as conditions had turned very dry.

“It was very good timing, with everything that we had gotten done - planting the oats and alfalfa a few weeks before that and having the corn in the soil,” she said. “We are very grateful for the rain. It's a nice respite from the dry conditions.”

Daley Farm relies on its own road system to move commodities, cattle and equipment throughout the site, so that means road repairs are sometimes needed.

The crew decided to fix the road between the milking parlor and the lagoons that needed some repairs this spring.

The farm transitioned from sawdust to sand bedding in the five free stall barns last fall. There had been plenty of driving in the back area all winter on a road that hadn't been built for heavy traffic.

The Daley crew dug out material, put down lining material, and then installed breaker run stone - 4-inch rocks to serve as the road foundation. Gravel was packed on top.

“Now the back road is meant to be driven on by heavy tractors and equipment,” Shelly said. “We like to keep our farm neat and tidy, well kept and a nice spot.”

Looking out toward May and beyond, the price of milk didn't show improvement.

“Prices have moved slightly lower for the next couple of months,” she said. “We haven't seen an up-tick yet. I'm hoping and praying that the milk price turns around soon for everybody.”

The lower prices means the dairy farm will have to watch expenses carefully.

Shelly previously contracted fuel for springtime use, including 15,000 gallons at $1.53 per gallon.

“That will take us through the end of May and first part of June,” she said, adding that the contracted price worked well in their cash flow projections. “These last few years, we haven't seen anywhere near that low of a price.”

Daley Farm decided to add dry alfalfa to the TMR to stretch the haylage portion of the ration.

“We are going to be short the first cutting of alfalfa, because we had to replant a few fields this spring,” she said. “In order to get a little more volume, we added some dry hay, and we will buy that along the way.”

Daley Farm also set a goal of less than 1 percent treated cows, and that goal was reached in April.

“Our treated group is as low as it's ever been,” said Shelly. “That's optimal for us. It's a combination of sand bedding, good protocols and reaching our goal. Hopefully, our treatment rate will remain very low.”

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