A multi-colored dairy success

NEW AUBURN, Wis. — At a young age, Kaitlin Hanna realized she was fond of cows. That led her to work side-by-side with her father before eventually assuming ownership of her family’s herd.

Hanna milks 30 cows on a rented farm in Chippewa County, near New Auburn, with her father, Larry, who continues to help with milking and feeding. She ships her milk to Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery.

“My parents had dairy farmed when I was younger, and then started up again when I was 13,” Hanna said. “I’ve been doing this ever since.”

A large part of Hanna’s dairy model has been experimenting with crossbreeding.

“I started crossbreeding with Norwegian Red and then Fleckvieh and Normande about 10 years ago,” Hanna said. “The Normandes have been my favorite cross. They’re just more durable, and they seem to be more heat tolerant. They peak well and seem to hold that level for a lot longer than a Holstein.”

The herd is currently producing more than 60 pounds of milk per cow per day.

“I don’t push my cows at all,” Hanna said. “I find the longer in the herd, the more profitable they end up being for me, both in production and the number of calves they have.”

While limited acreage prevents her from fully pursuing rotational grazing, Hanna has utilized the practice, with modifications for the size and scope of her dairy. She keeps four paddocks, giving the cows a fresh paddock each day. Rather than being on pasture, cows are fed hay at night.

Hanna keeps grazing traits in mind when mating.

“I’ve found that typically the Normande on Jersey cross works well, and Norwegian Reds work well on the Holsteins,” Hanna said. “The frames seem to match up a little better. The Normandes aren’t super tall animals.”

To protect the hybrid vigor she has come to admire, Hanna refrains from breeding animals too close to pure.

“A lot of times I’ll do a 3-way or 4-way cross,” Hanna said. “I’ll add some Norwegian Red into a Normande-Jersey cross or add the Normande into a Norwegian Red-Holstein cross.”

With that strategy, Hanna said her cows continue to be reproductively sound.

“Our last conception rate I figured was about 1.2 services per conception,” Hanna said. “Except for one heifer I struggled to get bred, the heifer rate was 100% first service.”

Along with the increased reproductive efficiency and ability to tolerate heat, Hanna said she appreciates the overall health of her cows.

“They really have no problems; they take care of themselves,” Hanna said. “They make what they do look easy, and they live a long time doing it. I really only have the vet out for pregnancy checks and dehorning calves.”

The oldest cow in Hanna’s herd is 14 years old. Last year, she lost a long-time herd member that had reached 18.

“The majority of the herd is over 5 years old,” Hanna said. “I don’t usually need many replacement heifers. I usually have too many heifers, which right now is a nice problem.”

While she occasionally takes advantage of the robust cattle market, Hanna has been using her surplus to begin to rebuild her herd, after her dad sold some of his cows to phase out of the operation.

“I’d gotten down to about 15 or so, and I’ve been calving in more of my heifers to get back to 30 cows,” Hanna said. “I’m milking as many 2-year-olds right now as I probably ever have.”

When it comes to feeding, outside of her grazing, Hanna purchases her feed from a neighboring farmer. She feeds a partial mixed ration that consists of haylage and corn silage, which is brought in pre-mixed. This is supplemented with grain in the barn and baleage.

Finding and buying feed can be challenging, Hanna acknowledged.

“You have to rely on someone else,” Hanna said. “You have to trust that they are as concerned about what you’re feeding your cows as you are. I want to make sure I’m getting them good feed, but in bad crop years, it can really be a struggle.”

While she operates very close to grass-fed and organic models, her current situation limits her from taking advantage of that market.

“With renting and buying feed, that isn’t really an option right now,” Hanna said. “But if I could find a way to make it work out, it is definitely something I would consider.”

Hanna has been at her rented location for more than seven years. She has developed a good relationship with the farm’s owner, a retired dairy farmer who has allowed her to continue to pursue her dream of milking cows.

“When my parents started milking cows again when I was 13, I didn’t really know anything about dairy farming,” Hanna said. “I had been so young when they sold their cows the first time. I just took off with it, kind of like I found a piece of myself. This has been more than half my life, and I can’t really imagine myself doing anything else besides this, being here, taking care of these girls.”

While each cow is important to Hanna, she admits she has a couple of favorites.

“There are two, both from one of the original cows we had,” Hanna said. “One is Journey, a Normande-Jersey cross; I have 15 head — daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughters — from her. The other, Ellen, is a pure Jersey, which I don’t have many of.”

Hanna’s friend, McKenna Jakubek, took Ellen to the Northern Wisconsin State Fair in Chippewa Falls where she was reserve supreme champion. Last year, Ellen’s daughter was supreme champion.

“That was neat, even though I’ve never been interested in showing myself,” Hanna said.

While the lifestyle is at times tough, Hanna encourages young people — especially young women — to take the chance to dairy farm.

“It’s not an easy way to make a living, but it is a good way, if you can make it work,” Hanna said. “It can be hard for first-generation farmers to get started, but if you’re lucky and can find someone to rent from, so you don’t start with a huge debt load, that’s a good way to start, and begin to build some equity for the future.”