ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Join University of Minnesota Extension and the Central Minnesota Forage Council for a joint dairy-forage field day in Benton County this summer! Field days are designed to provide local producers and the agribusinesses that work with them the opportunity to learn from Extension Educators, agricultural professionals and the farmers hosting the field day. This is also a great time to ask questions and gain insight while networking with multiple dairy producers in the surrounding area.
The Benton County Dairy-Forage Field Day will be held at Czech’s Roadside Acres on Thursday, July 12 starting at 10:30 a.m. and wrapping up around 2 p.m. The farm, owned by Mark and Shelley Czech, is located at 11032 105th Ave NE, Foley, MN.
The dairy portion of the program will focus on the improvements the Czechs have made and plan to make on their 450-cow dairy. The farm currently milks 3x in a double-8 parallel parlor and averages an 85-pound tank with a somatic cell count around 100,000. Cows are housed in sand-bedded freestall barns with the most recent built in 2016. Herd Manager Elliot Epple oversees the breeding program, and is beginning to explore breeding some animals to beef in order to supplement their practice of feeding out their own steers.
On the forage side, Mark Czech grows 300 acres of corn silage and 350 acres of alfalfa, including 100 acres of low-lignin alfalfa for feed. Discussion of forages at the field day will include feed storage and management, forage cutting height and timing and unique windrow management.
The Benton County Dairy-Forage Field Day includes lunch and is offered free of charge thanks to a generous sponsorship from Minnesota Dairy Initiatives – Central Region and other local organizations.
Pre-registration is not required, but an RSVP is requested to help with the meal count. Questions and RSVP’s can be directed to Local Extension Educator Emily Wilmes at krek0033@umn.edu or 320-255-6169, extension 3.
— Michaela Simcoe & Emily Wilmes, University of Minnesota Extension
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