As summer winds to an end, MDI is taking some time to reflect on some highlights from the summer months. MDI was involved in numerous educational events, but some of the highlights are listed below.
One of the highlights was the Midwest Forage Association/MDI Forage Field Day. Midwest Forage Association and MDI partnered on a field day event at Gar-Lin Dairy on July 24, 2024. There were 80 people in attendance with about 45 farms represented. There were presentations on alfalfa as well as a presentation on recycled bedding as Gar-Lin Dairy recycles sand. There was a demonstration on cutting alfalfa with no conditioning, conditioning with impellers and conditioning with rubber rolls. Tests were run for moisture levels to see how fast the alfalfa dried with the different conditioning methods. Tests were also run on protein to see if there was loss because of the conditioning method. MDI coordinator, Dale Heintz, gave a presentation on the benefits of MDI dairy teams. At the very end of the day there was a tour of the sand separation area.
Another successful event was a Producer Day Out event in Pipestone. There were 60 attendees at this event, with 30 of them being dairy producers. Some of the presentation topics were feed efficiencies, latest haying equipment and a presentation from Isaac Salfer titled “Doing More with Less: Finding Ways to Improve Nutritional Efficiency in Modern Dairy Cows”.
The Producer Night Out Event in New Ulm brought in 27 people with Michael Ten Clay giving a presentation about “Dairy Herd Size and the Relation to Future Profitability”. Furthermore, 35 individuals attended the Youth Safety Day and 40 people attended the Carver County Farmer to Farmer Tour.
