Select Sires Member Cooperative (SSMC) organized the Northeast Iowa Progeny Performance Tour on July 30. Over 70 dairy producers from Minnesota and Iowa joined the excursion, which included stops at Top Deck Holsteins in Westgate, Stempfle Holsteins in Maynard and Foresight Farms LLC in Decorah.
The first stop was Top Deck Holsteins where Jason, Derek, Justin and Devin Decker manage 730 cows milked in a double-12 herringbone parlor. On the last official test, the herd was averaging 105 pounds of milk with 5% fat and 3.3% protein. Equally impressive was the 169,000 somatic cell count (SCC). Top Deck is one of the top energy-corrected milk (ECM) herds in the Midwest with a 365 RHA of 33,060 milk, 1,616 fat and 1,058 protein.
Visiting with tour participants at Top Deck Holsteins were (left to right) Jake Kempel, SSMC genetic and reproductive adviser; farm owners Jason, Derek, Devin and Justin Decker; and Lars Sivesind, SSMC district sales manager. Courtesy image.
Lars Sivesind, the district sales manager for SSMC, works closely with the herd. “Top Deck aggressively uses sexed semen on both cows and heifers. They have a 51 percent first-service conception on cows and 57 percent on virgin heifers,” Sivesind said.
“The cows are consistently producing over that 100-pound threshold, even through the heat and humidity we have been experiencing,” shared Jake Kempel, SSMC genetic and reproductive adviser for the herd.
The group heifer pens were viewed by many attendees at Top Deck Holsteins. Courtesy image.
Just 10 minutes away, you will find Stempfle Holsteins, where 880 Holstein cows call home, with an additional 150 dry cows and 1,100 head of youngstock. The operation is owned by Paul and Jody Stempfle and Scott and Alannah Stempfle.
Also a high-production herd, the Stempfle RHA is over 30,000 milk, 1,305 fat and 979 protein. Cows are averaging 95 pounds a day, 4.5% to 4.8% fat and an impressive SCC that hovers between 100,000 and 150,000 SCC.
On-site at Stempfle Holsteins were (left to right) Lars Sivesind, SSMC district sales manager; Mary Fliehler, SSMC genetic and reproductive adviser; Scott and Paul Stempfle, farmowners; and Jake Kempel, SSMC genetic and reproductive adviser. Courtesy image.
The Stempfles use a variety of products and services available from SSMC, including top young bulls, beef-on-dairy genetics and calf care products.
“Fertility and production are our number one priority while continuing to breed for functional type and balanced cows,” Stempfle stated. “The majority of our cows are bred off natural heats and have a 50 percent pregnancy rate on sexed semen on the milking herd, and generally 55 percent to 60 percent first-service pregnancies with the virgin heifers.”
The Stempfle family raises their calves in individual pens in this barn. Courtesy image.
After the daughter tour, guests were treated to a complimentary lunch before heading on the one-hour drive to Foresight Farms in Decorah. This operation is owned by Dave and Jean Wise; son Ethan and wife, Allie Wise; and son Jared Wise – and assisted by herd manager Ben Guevara.
Attendees enjoyed a complimentary lunch at Stempfle Holsteins. Courtesy image.
The facility milks 1,170 Holsteins, which are mostly first-lactation cows in a double-16 parlor. The herd currently is averaging 94 pounds per day of 4.2% fat and 3.2% protein. Another location milks the second-lactation-and-older cows.
Foresight Farms utilizes an ear sensor monitoring system on the cows and breeding age heifers and installed a sorting system in early 2023 at this location. They are also participating in a lifetime monitoring (calf tags) trial. The other dairy uses robots and is looking to install animal monitoring technology at that facility in the future.
Pictured at Foresight Farms were (left to right) Lars Sivesind, SSMC district sales manager; and farm owners Jared Wise, Ethan Wise and Dave Wise. Courtesy image.
“We select for bulls [with traits for robotic milking systems] that are high in HHP$ and A2A2. We also want cows with functional type and udders with good components,” Wise shared.
The first-service conception rate is 56% on cows with sexed semen and 65% on virgin heifers. They have a 35% and 37% pregnancy rate on cows and heifers, respectively.
“Having a progeny tour to showcase well-managed herds has allowed other producers to see daughters of bulls that they may or may not have used in their own herds. It also exposes people to the technology and products that SSMC can provide to its customers in addition to cattle genetics,” mentioned Mary Fliehler, genetic and reproductive adviser for SSMC.
Numerous members of the SSMC team helped organize and assist with the event. Team members included (left to right, front row) Darrell Lee, Maria Knutson, Sophie Stelling, Kelcy Nagel, Katherine Hills, McKinzie Neitzke, Jordan Pahl, Rhonda Lee, (middle row) Lars Sivesind, Jack Saemrow, Ben Butikofer, Leif Annexstad, Jake Kempel, Royce Demmer, Paul Tveten, (back row) Murray Sinclair, Anne Shoemaker, Mary Fliehler, Kendra Waldenberger and Kayla Frieler. Courtesy image.
Twenty SSMC employees and interns assisted with the three-stop event, making it a seamless activity. Dairy producers could see milking daughters in their working attire and appreciate the high volumes of component-rich milk they are producing.
Article provided by SSMC.
