Planning for longevity

MARSHALL, Wis. — Heidi Juedes hopes to take over her family’s farm someday. As a result, the 22-year-old is putting in the work to make that happen.

“Within the last eight months, I’ve really stepped up,” Heidi said.

Farming with her parents, Brenda and Rodney, Heidi is the fourth generation on the farm where her father grew up, which dates to 1947. The Juedes family milks 95-100 cows and farms 400 acres near Marshall. Heidi owns half of the cows, growing her ownership in the herd by working on the farm and through the animals she has bred and raised.

“That is how payment for my labor was set up,” Heidi said. “I also receive a portion of the milk check.”

Cows are milked twice a day in a swing-6 parlor built from scratch by Heidi, her dad, her grandpa and her uncle in 2017. The parlor was retrofitted into the stanchion barn and built to Heidi’s height.

“This is way more efficient than milking in the stanchion barn and less pain to your body,” Heidi said.

For the last six months, Heidi has done the morning milking by herself.

“It’s set up for one person, but we usually have two people in the parlor,” Rodney said. “There’s no crowd gate, so you have to move the cows down.”

The stanchions remain intact, and the Juedeses use the barn like a freestall facility — giving cows access to come and go. They run a bedding pack outside through the winter and pasture cows during the summer.

“I try to have the barn open at all times, but when it’s cooler out and the sun is not blazing hot, I lock them out,” Heidi said.

Heidi has a dual role of herd manager and calf manager, handling all tasks with the cows except for feeding, which is done by her dad. Heidi does the milking and breeding and also manages herd health. Rodney does the bookkeeping, but Heidi is learning that task as well.

Heidi is a graduate of the 2022 Farm and Industry Short Course at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her interest in farming was sparked during middle school when she joined FFA and started showing dairy cattle.

“It really came through freshman year when we put the parlor in,” she said. “That’s when I knew I wanted to do this.”

Since finishing the program, Heidi and her parents have increased cow numbers from 70 to nearly 100, growing mostly from within.

“You can tell when you’re standing in the parlor that it’s a young herd,” Heidi said. “I want to stay right around 100 cows. The maximum we can have is 120.”

An increase in production is what they are hoping to see next, Rodney said.

Heidi is applying things learned in the Farm and Industry Short Course, particularly on the genetic side, by breeding with sexed semen to increase females. A surplus of heifers has allowed her to be selective, choosing which animals she brings into the milking string.

“We were always sitting around 25-32 heifers,” Heidi said. “Now, we’re averaging 60-70 heifers per year. Last summer, I had 24 born in 3 months time. I picked the ones I want to keep and I’m going to sell the rest as springing heifers. I’m also throwing beef semen into the herd for the first time on this farm.”

The Juedes herd consists of Holsteins, Red & White Holsteins, Jerseys, Guernseys, Holstein-Jersey crosses, Norwegian Red-Jersey crosses and Norwegian Red-Holstein crosses.

“I really like my Guernseys,” Heidi said. “I have two cows and a pregnant yearling, and I hope to keep growing the Guernsey part of my herd.”

Rodney said the herd was 100% Holstein when he started.

“I bought some Jerseys, and I liked them — especially for their calving ease,” he said. “I bought a Jersey bull for heifers, and we multiplied from there. When Heidi started breeding, she threw in other breeds.”

Heidi began making breeding decisions in 2018, and in 2020, she took over the role completely. 

The Juedeses rent pen space at a nearby farm to house heifers 6 months through breeding age. Heidi plans to build a heifer shed and is touring farms to get ideas.

“I’m sick of running all over the place and want everything back at the home farm,” she said. “I want to break ground on the shed by next spring and have them home by fall.”

Heidi also helps with field work, operating the baler for straw, hay and cornstalks. She operates the bagger for corn silage and hauls manure as well.

The Juedes family receives help from several employees, including one full-time milker and one high school student who feeds calves full time in the summer and part time during the school year. An additional part-time calf feeder and two part-time employees complete their team.

Heidi is advancing in her position of decision-maker and is the main point of contact for the veterinarian.

“I’m making more of the calls now,” Heidi said. “I make the emergency calls and communicate with vets about the products I need.”

She treats cows for mastitis and gives breeding shots for the farm’s ovsynch program.

“I haven’t learned how to do an IV yet, but I’m going to get trained,” she said.

Heidi’s entrepreneurial passion extends to her egg business also — an endeavor she started in middle school. Producing about 20 dozen eggs per week from 50 chickens, the eggs are sold on a self-serve basis out of a refrigerator on the farm. Heidi gains customers through Facebook and has a friend who sells eggs for her at a farmer’s market when she has an overabundance.

As her responsibilities on the farm continue to increase, Heidi is solidifying her career as a dairy farmer. Her parents said they are looking forward to their daughter being the next generation to run the farm.

“We’re going to transition ownership over to Heidi eventually, which is something we have to start working on,” Rodney said. “It’s neat to have someone to keep the farm going. Maybe we can make 100 years here.”