A day in the life of the Krals

HANSKA, Minn. – Corn silage harvest is a hectic time for Trevor Kral on his dairy near Hanska.
To get him through these days of long hours with unlimited work is his family.
And, it was no different Sept. 14.
Kral, who owns the 85-cow dairy, had the hands of his brother Kevin, grandpa Harry and dad Scott as he continued his pursuit of completing his corn chopping for the season.
“It relieves a lot of stress trying to find people,” Kral said. “I also know because my dad has done this his whole life and my brother, even though he’s been gone from the farm, is very competent so I don’t have to worry about mistakes. They have a lot of common sense. I would not be anywhere without my mom and dad and brothers.”
Kral’s corn chopping had started a week prior, and he had chopped 1,000 tons. Kral had 200 tons left to fulfill his harvest goals. Kral was experimenting with a new corn variety called Enogen.
“It’s easier to digest and ferments quicker,” Kral said. “It’s been yielding well. I’ve always liked harvest season. It feels like you are a big part of the movement. You are prepping for upcoming year, so it’s exciting because of that. The main reason is if you do a good job, you will reap the benefits for the next year.”
The day for Kral commenced when he got up shortly after 6 a.m. and chopped a load of silage for feeding for the day.
By 7 a.m., he was in his double-6 parallel parlor milking while part-time help Aaron Lilleoddon, who grew up just down the road, starting cleaning the barn and mixing feed.
“I’m my own boss,” Kral said. “What I put into farming is what I get out. The better the job I do it benefits me. I bought the cows when I was 20 and had worked for (Dad) the previous six years.”
Kral has been milking on his own for 12 years.
Shortly after finishing milking, Todd Bunger, from Elite Transport Group, came to pick up the milk. Earlier this year, Kral expanded his milk storage to include a 1,000-gallon tank and an 800-gallon tank. He expanded his herd and has had more milk production.
Kral then fed calves and geared up to chop silage. Kevin, who works full time at Agropur Cheese, showed up before 11 a.m. to help. Harry also came to run the blower.
“I grew up out here,” Kevin said. “I like to come out and see what’s changed. Since it’s not all the time, it doesn’t feel like a chore. It’s usually fun.”
The goal for the day was to finish filling the 70-foot silo and then start on the last 8- by 200-foot bag that needed to be filled. Kral feeds his dairy cows 44 pounds of silage a day.
“The cheapest way to get good milk is to do a good job with your forages,” Kral said.
Kral ran the chopper while Kevin hauled the loads. Before they had finished filling the silo, they sheared a pin on the blower. Kevin ran to pick up the parts, and by early afternoon, the silo was full.
They also put the bag on the bagger before they got back to filling the silo.
Immediately after filling the silo, they let the blower on low speed, and Kral and Kevin set up the silo unloader. By mid-afternoon, the silo was ready for use.
They turned their attention to finalize setting up the bagger to fill. By 4 p.m., they had chopped one load when Scott showed up to run the chopper. Kral then switched out the tractor for hauling loads because it had a better clutch.
They had unloaded 10 loads into the bagger but not without some adversity. A tire on one of the boxes blew and had to be fixed.
“My brother recognized it right away so we didn’t drive on the rim,” Kral said. “We had a couple minor incidents that changed plans.”
It took Kevin about 15 minutes to change the tire. By 7 p.m., they stopped chopping for the day.  
Kral’s full-time help, Jordan Guggisberg, did the milking so Kral could work on a couple other jobs around the farm before finishing around 8:30 p.m.
“Being outside is nice,” Kral said. “You are outside, and it’s farm work. I’ve known this kind of work my whole life.”
Kral has weathered a busy summer on the farm. He is close to finishing a 240-by-175 manure pit. Currently, he hauls manure several times a week.
“It is big enough to hold our manure for a year and will be a big time saver,” Kral said.
The bag was filled to completion the next day, and Kral had completed one of the biggest tasks of the year on his farm.