GIBBON, Minn — Anyone driving past Bode Dairy the morning of Sept. 18 was welcomed by a line of tractors hitched to boxes and the smell of freshly made corn silage.
Cody Bode operates Bode Dairy with his dad, Arlen, uncle, Vance, other family members and hired help. The farm has been in the family for 99 years and has slowly grown over the years. Currently, around 600 cows are milked three times a day in a double-12 parallel parlor.
The morning routine started as normal with the hum of the milking compressor starting at 3 a.m. as two hired hands got to work with the first milking. The cows are milked at 3 a.m., 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., with each milking taking around six hours to complete.
Josh Jutz, a hired hand who takes care of the feeding, starts mixing the first total mixed ration for the cattle at 3 a.m. as well.
Bode arrived at the farm at his normal time to check if any cows needed to be bred.
“I usually start breeding at 7:30 a.m. then get started with grain chores, which is around 8 a.m.,” Bode said. “That is mostly what I do in the morning.”
Grain chores consist of feeding calves in three barns. Along with the grain, Bode also feeds hay to the oldest calves.
The first non-daily chore of the day came when Arlen started to fill the grain drill with alfalfa seed.
“He just seeded in some alfalfa spots that have drowned out so that there would be something there to grow back next year,” Bode said. “He only had to seed between 5-10 acres.”
After Arlen got on his way with the planter, Bode started preparing for the task of the day: chopping.
“We started chopping (Sept.) 13 and finished by 10 p.m. on the 19,” Bode said. “That’s kind of a record for us. I’m pretty proud of how quick we got it done this year.”
As Bode started servicing the chopper, one of the farm workers, Jared Swanson, started his morning chores of breeding heifers.
Once done with that task, Swanson greased the blade tractor to get ready for another day of chopping. By 10 a.m. all the help for chopping was at the farm talking and getting their boxes ready.
“In total we chopped 460 acres of silage and about 50-60 acres of that was Sudan grass,” Bode said.
With the wet spring, spots in the corn fields drowned out, so the Bode family decided to sow Sudan grass into it.
“It worked really well,” Bode said. “I was worried that I would have to cut it with a mower and then chop it, but the corn head picked it up and fed it in really well.”
Bode said the grass did well in the low spots since it could handle the wet conditions, which was the reason the family planted it there.
“It really took off and yielded great,” Bode said. “There was a lot of material there.”
By the end of the silage harvest over 500 loads were brought back to the pile averaging 14 tons per load and a little over 15.25 tons per acre.
“It’s always a very demanding task to get done because you have to make feed for the whole year, so it is relieving and I am so excited about setting a record for getting it done,” Bode said. “We just went after it.”
Each year Bode is in charge of running the chopper or blade tractor. His favorite part is being able to switch jobs and drive other equipment, breaking up the harvest season.
The team for the day consisted of Bode, Swanson and his dad, Duane, Merlin Schwecke and Glenn Muaer. Bode ran the chopper, Swanson packed and the other three hauled the silage to the pile.
“I feel very blessed with all the help we get from friends, neighbors and family during this time,” Bode said. “They are reliable and not afraid to put in the work.”
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