Posted: 6/12/07
Udder Valley Dairy will host Breakfast on the Farm June 16
By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
$11 billion in economic activity annually; the fourth largest ag industry in the state; employing over 76,000 persons. Those are impressive figures for the Minnesota dairy industry to tout, and impressive facts which folks living in the Land of 10,000 Lakes should be aware of.
June is Dairy Month, and county dairy associations across Minnesota have scheduled events to promote their industry and make people more aware of the economic impact all those grazing dairy cows have on our state.
The Houston County American Dairy Association will be promoting the industry with Breakfast on the Farm Saturday, June 16. Udder Valley Dairy, owned and operated by Peter and Teri Rosendahl, of rural Spring Grove will host the event this year.
The 17th annual event will be held from 7:30 to 11 a.m. at the Rosendahl farm, located just west of Spring Grove two miles south of Highway 44 on CSAH 4. (Watch for the signs.)
Breakfast on the Farm events
A free-will offering all-you-can-eat breakfast featuring Chris Cakes pancakes, grilled sausages, yogurt, milk, cheese, beverages, ice cream cones, and sundaes will be served throughout the morning. Other activities include hayrides, childrenís games, a farm animal petting zoo (featuring ducklings, bantam chicks, a miniature horse, pigmy goat, and of course Holstein calves), a tour of the Rosendahlís milking parlor, free-stall barn, and heifer barn, a look at the new ADA float, and KFIL radio will broadcast live.
Udder Valley Dairy
Peter Rosendahl has been milking cows all his life. He grew up on the family farm located on the west side of CSAH 4, two miles southwest of Spring Grove, and farmed with his father and brother.
About three years ago, he and his wife Teri decided they were going to start up a new dairy farm on the east side of the county road. Itís not real common to see someone in his mid-40s starting up a new dairy farm. But Peter felt the move across the road was a good one, and decided to utilize all of the milking experience he had gained over the years to build a state-of-the-art dairy farm. Plans were drawn up in 2004.
The first order of business was building a facility to house his dairy cows, and another to milk them. A 112 by 156-foot, six-row, 160-free-stall barn was constructed. The Rosendahl farm has a large sand hill on it. Peter elected to take advantage of that natural resource by using sand for bedding instead of straw or wood chips.
"Using sand for bedding helps keep bacteria down," Peter explained. "And having our own sand hill saves us about $20,000 per year (versus purchasing sand from a contractor)."
To help keep the 185-head milking herd cool in the summer, the barn is equipped with three Big Ass Fans (TM), which measure 24 feet across. The barn also has three massive cow brushes, and the chore of feeding all those hungry milk producers is made easier with a drive-through feeding system.
The milking parlor is a double-8 step-up barn with 16 automatic take-offs, and a heated floor. A large wood furnace provides heat to the milking parlor, the Rosendahlís house, and the garage. The free-stall barn and milking parlor were completed in 2005.
A massive manure pit, measuring 70 by 200 feet, was built to handle the animal waste. The 10-foot deep pit holds one million gallons of liquid manure, which is cleaned out twice a year by a contractor, and knifed into local fields.
A heifer barn, with 85 stalls, was added in 2006 to house all of the young dairy cows.
Future additions to Udder Valley Dairy include a large pole barn to store hay and bunker silos to store the thousands of tons of haylage and corn silage needed to keep all the cows happy. Presently, the Rosendahls store all the haylage and silage produced on their 240 acres in massive silo bags. The silo bags can only be used once, and there would be a considerable cost savings by constructing the silo bunkers.
Bob Himmer, who lives near Supersaw Campground, just across the county line in Fillmore County, raises all the calves produced at Udder Valley Dairy. He takes them to his farm when they are just 10 days old and feeds and nurtures them for 14 months when they are ready to be bred.
A mammoth operation
Milking 185 Holsteins twice a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year is no easy feat. With two people milking, it takes 4.5 hours per milking, or nine hours a day. When a third person is added to the mix, each milking is cut by about 45 minutes.
"We basically have two people working fulltime just milking the cows," Peter explained. "And it is challenging at times keeping a milking staff here when you figure itís every day of the week, every day of the year, weekends, and holidays."
At the present time, the Rosendahls have Ryan Lagenier of rural Mabel, Heath Olson of Eitzen, and Paul Bulman of Caledonia helping with the never-ending milking chores. Teriís two daughters, Melissa Koudelka of Caledonia, and Connie Koudelka, who will be a senior at Spring Grove High this fall, also lend a hand.
Melissa also handles the myriad bookkeeping, accounting, and tax issues that are all part of running an operation the size of Udder Valley Dairy.
Teri decided to quit her day job this past winter at Luther College to be able to spend more time helping with the day-to-day operations on the farm.
"I wasnít a farm girl, but I guess Iím becoming one," Teri said with a laugh. "I drove my first tractor by myself recently, and didnít hit anything."
At a time in life when most dairy farmers are looking at selling their herds and getting out of the business, Peter feels he made the right decision to not only expand, but build a new dairy farm from scratch.
"Itís what Iíve been doing all my life. Itís what I know and what I love," he concluded.
Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475
E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com