A day in the life of a dairy farmer

Stephanie Hughes opens a gate at 6:15 a.m. to bring cows in for morning milking Sept. 13 near Pittsville, Wisconsin. Hughes and her family milk 55 cows.

Cody Knutson milks a cow at 8 a.m. Sept. 13 on his farm near Sparta, Wisconsin. Cody and his wife, Selina, along with Cody’s parents, milk 50 cows in Monroe County.

Keith Welgraven starts blending a total mixed ration for his dairy cows around 8:30 a.m. Sept. 13. Welgraven milks 100 head on his family farm near Ruthton, Minnesota.

Margie Nauman offers a bucket of warm water at about 8:30 a.m. to a Jersey heifer that calved earlier that morning, Sept. 11, near Marshfield, Wisconsin. The Naumans milk 12 registered Jerseys.

Dennis Burkle moves a piece of equipment around 9:30 a.m. Sept. 15 from a rented farm to the home farm near Earlville, Iowa. He and his wife, Sherry, farm with one of their daughters, Mindy, and milk 140 cows.

Joe Bragger opens a gate prior to feeding calves in his new group housing facility at 10 a.m. Sept. 15. Bragger milks 400 cows with his family near Independence, Wisconsin.

Greg Runde prepares to begin chopping corn silage at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 12 on rented land near Cuba City, Wisconsin. Greg and his son, Brett, milk 160 cows in Grant County.

Matt Krenz washes pipeline at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 15 on his farm near Fall Creek, Wisconsin. Krenz milks 56 cows with his father, Don.

Don Krenz works on the engine of a John Deere 4020 he is overhauling at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 15. Krenz milks 56 cows with his son, Matt, on their farm near Fall Creek, Wisconsin.

Jacob Niedswiecki strips down a shed at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 13. The shed had fallen down Jan. 31 on the 40-cow dairy his parents, Steve and Rebecca, and brother, Roger, operate near Long Prairie, Minnesota. Niedswiecki was helping on the farm all summer before he heads off to the seminary in Virginia. The family was hoping to use much of the material on another shed. Steve was preparing the silage equipment for chopping.

Marv and Keith Schelling examine a hole in their silage chopper’s spout shortly after 1 p.m. Sept. 12 near Orange City, Iowa. The Schellings, who milk 250 head, were planning on chopping their 15 acres of forage soybeans the following day.

James Amera tags a heifer at 1:10 p.m. Sept. 12 on his farm near Stoughton, Wisconsin. Amera and his wife, Callie, milk 120 cows and farm 650 acres.

Dean Huwe chops corn silage at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 13 near New York Mills, Minnesota. His brother, Daryll, was hauling the loads. Huwe farms with his son, Scott, and they milk 64 cows and farm 900 acres. Scott is the third generation of Huwes to farm at this location.

Tim Wiedenfeld chops corn silage at 2:40 p.m. Sept. 12 on his farm near Lake Mills, Wisconsin. Wiedenfeld and his dad, Jay, milk 300 cows and farm 600 acres.

Scott Stempfle prepares to spray Udder Comfort on fresh cows at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 14 in the parlor on his family’s 750-cow dairy farm near Maynard, Iowa. Stempfle is the third generation of his family on the farm.

Herdsman Paul Lacey drives the tractor and mixer through the barn after running off feed around 4:20 p.m. Sept. 12 at Redalen Holsteins near Fountain, Minnesota, where Lacey has worked for about 20 years. Mike Redalen also employs Amy Means full time and two high school students part time and receives additional help from his son, Lucas, and Lacey’s two sons, Beau and Cole, to milk 200 cows on three robots and raise most of the feed needed on 600 acres.

Jayden Nietfeld feeds a calf milk at 5 p.m. Sept. 13 on his parents’, Ashley and Cory Nietfeld, farm near Greenwald, Minnesota. Jayden was joined in the barn by his two brothers, Owen and Logan, and Ashley, who was milking. The Nietfelds have been milking cows on the farm for the last 11 years.

Phil Suess finishes milking Sept. 13 around 6:15 p.m. on his dairy, SPV Jerseys, near Grand Meadow, Minnesota. Suess has been farming for 65 years — he remembers putting milkers on cows at the age of 6 — and milks 19 registered Jerseys and one of a different breed, works several days a week at Rock Dell Creamery, and hauls cattle once or twice a week as loads are available.

Justin Wagner (left) packs silage Sept. 13 on his family’s 900-cow dairy farm near Litchfield, Minnesota. Wagner Dairy LLC is owned by Leonard and Justin Wagner. The Wagners put 12,000 ton of silage on the pile. Members of Otto Farms Chopping helped with the silage pile.