September 5, 2017 at 3:32 p.m.
Jahnkes' greenhouse milking parlor interests pasture walk visitors
From the outside, the greenhouse milking parlor on the Kevin and Mary Jahnke farm looks much like a hoop calf barn. Its shell is two layers of plastic, with air blown between them. The parlor adjoins a solid-walled milkhouse building. Jahnke provided all the labor for the structures and built them for about $30,000 eight years ago. (photo by Ron Johnson)
People attending a pasture walk Oct. 18 at the Kevin and Mary Jahnke farm near Lancaster, Wis., stood comfortably in the parlor, protected from a raw, autumn wind by a plastic roof and plastic walls. The Jahnkes milk about 40 cows in their double-10 New Zealand-style, swing parlor.
"It's a good building," Jahnke said. "We sit up pretty high on the ridge here, and it takes a lot of beating."
Jahnke worked for a dairy equipment company for 10 years and was thus able to handle much of the parlor's construction himself. The greenhouse area is 30- by 50-feet, while the milkhouse building that's attached at one end is 20- by 30-feet.
Providing essentially all the labor cut costs considerably.
"I didn't quite spend $30,000 on the whole thing, from hiring the guy to come out and dig the footers for the cement, the building - everything," Jahnke said.
The parlor building's frame is made of round, metal tubing that forms the supports for the walls, and arches up to a round roof. Covering the frame are two layers of plastic sheeting.
Small electric motors power blowers that push air between the layers to keep the plastic tight so the wind will not move it. As might be expected, the sidewall plastic can be lowered or raised, depending on whether the Jahnkes want to keep chilly winds out or let cool summer breezes waft in.
The plastic is showing its age a bit, having been in place eight years. Jahnke noted that the recommendation is to replace the plastic every five years, so he said he is going to order some to have on hand.
Homemade feedbunks line each side of the milking platform. The bunks were made by sawing in half lengthwise high-density, black, plastic culverts.
"They work great," Jahnke said.
Another interesting feature is the crowd gate. It's moved by tugging on one of two ropes that pass through pulleys. Tug on a third roped, as the dairy producer demonstrated, and a small bell at the middle of the gate tinkles alerting cows that the gate is going to move and it's time for them to move, too.
Jahnke equipped the parlor's floor with heat, but did not groove any of the concrete. In response to a question, he said a grooved floor isn't needed if dairy farmers can keep their cows calm.
One thing that stood out was the cleanliness of the parlor and cow area. Jahnke credited his wife with that.
"My wife is a good cleaner. After every milking, it looks like this," he said.
Since this parlor is protected only by plastic and is open on one end, the Jahnkes don't use it year round. Instead, they breed their cows to calve in March, with milking commencing later in that month and continuing toward the end of December. Things can become chilly in the parlor, Jahnke said.
"November and December are the worst because you're not used to the cold," he said. "But when we start up in March, after living all winter through the cold, it's not a big deal."
As a further concession to the cold, the Jahnkes cut their number of daily milkings in half later in the year.
"Once we get into November and December, we milk once a day" Jahnke said. "And we try to milk around one or two in the afternoon, when it's the warmest part of the day."
As pasture walk visitors inspected the greenhouse milking parlor, a bald eagle circled high overhead, visible simply by stepping out the open end of structure and looking up. Jahnke said that if he was going to change anything about the parlor, it might be that open end.
"I think maybe we're going to extend the greenhouse out over the rest of the holding area," he said.
That would make postmilking cleanup easier on a rainy day and would also keep a good amount of water out of the parlor.
Fourth generation
Jahnke is the fourth generation of his family on this farm. It's been in the family more than 100 years and has been grass-based for 20 years. He and his father increased their beef herd from 25 cows to 65 by grazing. Helping out on the farm are the couple's sons: Jacob (22), Tyler (15) and Kieran (9).
The 190-acre farm has been home to a dairy herd for eight years and is certified organic. Jahnke said he milks just about every breed of cow "but Holstein." His cows have Brown Swiss and Norwegian Red genetics in them, and he is even milking a few cows that are half Angus.
Oats seeding grazed
One topic of the Great River Graziers pasture walk was seeding a small grain after grazing Sudangrass. Jahnke planted the Sudangrass in mid-May and let his cows graze it in July and August.
Then he plowed the Sudan under and seeded the 15 acres to oats and alfalfa. His cattle began grazing the oats this fall. The cows were on their second pass through the 15 acres on the day of the pasture walk.
Along with the alfalfa, Jahnke planted a mix of clover, tall fescue, orchardgrass, timothy and "a sprinkling" of bromegrass. Standing in that pasture, he said he wished he's sown two bushels of oats per acre instead of one, and that he'd "left all the other seed in the bag."
Nevertheless, his visitors offered their stamp of approval for the seeding, saying that it "looks great." The only concern was that it might winterkill. If not, Jahnke was told, the field could be "tremendous" in 2012.
Said one veteran grazier, "You're worrying for nothing, Kevin."
Replied Jahnke, "Yeah. But it's what I do."
The dairyman gave his thoughts on the general topic of dairy grazing.
"It's a pretty easy way to make money," Jahnke said. "The cows do all the work and I make all the money. It's a good concept. It's kid friendly. I don't have a lot of equipment cost, and it's healthy for the cows and healthy for the people."
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