Steve Schell struggled at first with the idea of dumping his 350-cow dairy herd. The 56-year-old farmer grew up milking. Morning chores and work-filled weekends were a part of his childhood. But his costs rose last year as his income dropped.
When he noticed some of the equipment in his parlor needed replacing, Schell’s decision was made.
“The very first week was the hardest,” he said. “It must have been something that had been bred into me. I was used to it.”
Schell isn’t the only area farmer abandoning his dairy cattle. A rocky market has forced sellouts or retirements of at least a dozen 100- to 250-cow dairy herds in the Winona County area in the past six months, said Tom Anderson, a farm business management instructor for Riverland Community College in Plainview, Minn. Read More
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