Back
Share

Dairyman tops World Forage Analysis Superbowl

Chris Torres - FFMC - Tue Oct 6, 2:00AM CDT

Aaron Barclay’s win in the World Forage Analysis Superbowl is proof that small farms can still hold their own on a big stage.

Barclay’s grass hay sample was named grand champion in this year’s contest, earning him $2,500 and recognition for topping one of the biggest events at World Dairy Expo.

“We got some really good stuff this time around,” said Barclay, who milks just 50 cows near Seymour, Wis. “We're only farming about 80-some acres, just enough hay for our dairy needs.”

He’s entered the contest before, winning first place in alfalfa hay silage many years ago. In fact, he used the prize money that year to buy his wife her engagement ring. 

What’s his plan for using this year’s prize money?

“I told my wife that if I won some significant money — more than enough to cover the gas to get home — that we were going to do some home improvements, including a bathroom upgrade,” Barclay said. 

“Now, both of our children are potty-trained, and that leaves three ladies versus one man in the house and one toilet. We've got to fix that for sure,” he added with a laugh.

When it comes to growing good grass hay, though, Barclay said it all starts with help from Mother Nature. Then it’s about having an aggressive cutting schedule. In good years like this one, he can get six or more cuttings from his fields. In fact, his winning entry was his sixth cutting. 

“It's honestly driven a lot by weather and heat units,” he said. “We're just monitoring the stage of the grass for maturity and making sure we get that at prime quality. It's going to vary a lot based on the heat that's out there. But when you want to make this kind of quality feed, you're going to be the first guy in the field taking that first cutting, and you might be lapping everybody by second cutting.”

Barclay’s cows have a rolling herd average of 21,000 pounds with 3.5% butterfat and 3% protein. His farm’s milk gets shipped to a local Saputo Cheese processing plant.

Making the most milk isn’t his goal. 

“We're shooting for a sustainable business,” Barclay said. “It's not always about having the most milk, the most everything. It's about making the most money at the end of the year and still being here next year.” 

So, what did he learn by winning? 

“That hard work does pay off,” Barclay said. “So many of us in the farm community, we just go and go and go, and we just keep hammering away. We don't take time to stop and enjoy it, and realize what we really do have. My wife will be the first to tell me and anybody else that I need to take more time to stop and enjoy it. And she's right.”

Entries way down

This year’s contest saw about 150 entries from 19 states. That’s down 70 entries from last year’s contest, said Doug Harland of Dairyland Laboratories. 

“When the contest started many years ago, it was kind of a grassroots producer thing,” he said. “But then more seed companies and corporations got into it. They promoted it, they'd go out to get the samples, and it became kind of a marketing campaign for them.

“Well, marketing has changed over the years, and with consolidation, some seed companies decided not to do this anymore.”

The contest comprised nine divisions, and entries were scored using a multifactor formula accounting for lab results — 70% of the total score — and visual appeal, 30% of the total score. Harland did most of the lab testing.

“This year's quality was quite high,” he said. “It was especially high up and down the line for each category. The RFQs and milk per ton seem to be very, very good quality. So, I was impressed.”

 

Courtesy of World Dairy Exp - World Forage Analysis Superbowl division winners
Division winners included (from left) Peter Coyne, Four Cubs Farm; Calvin, Andy, Melissa and Payson Vine; Aaron Barclay; Paul Keune and Conner Olaveson of Lazy 2K Livestock; Pat Carroll and Matt Simon of GenoSource; Ethan Haywood of Sand Creek Dairy; Steve Nuttleman; and Maverick and Michael Ganski of Comet Creek Hay Co. (Photo courtesy of World Dairy Expo)

Division winners

The contest awarded more than $26,000 in cash prizes, made possible by award sponsors. The winning entry of each division earned a cash award of $2,500.

In the baleage division, Steve Nuttleman of Bangor, Wis., came in first place.

Boggess Dairy Farm LLC of Ballard, W.Va., topped the cereal forage division. 

First place in the commercial hay division went to Lazy 2K Livestock of Wheatland, Wyo.

Foraker Farms LLC of Goshen, Ind., took first place in the dairy hay division. 

Comet Creek Hay Co. in Wittenberg, Wis., took first place in the grass hay division.

The alfalfa haylage division was won by Andy and Melissa Vine of Greenwood, Wis.

Four Cubs Farm of Grantsburg, Wis., won the mixed-grass haylage division.

GenoSource of Blairstown, Iowa, took first place in the standard corn silage division.

Topping the BMR corn silage division was Sand Creek Dairy of Hastings, Mich.

The grand champion first-time entrant was Paul Keune of Seymour, Wis., who was awarded a $2,000 cash prize.

Special awards included the $1,000 Quality Counts Award for hay or haylage, won by Wilke R Organic Farm in Sturgeon Bay, Wis.; and the $1,000 Quality Counts Award for corn silage, won by Koltes Dairy LLC of St. Cloud, Minn.

Here is a complete list of division winners:

Champion baleage

  1. Steve Nuttleman, Bangor, Wis.
  2. Kendall Guither, Walnut, Ill.
  3. Dan Funke Farms, Larchwood, Iowa
  4. Peterson Farms, Poplar Grove, Ill.
  5. Murty Farms, Tama, Iowa

Cereal forage

  1. Boggess Dairy Farm LLC, Ballard, W.Va.
  2. Huizenga Family Dairy, Brandon, Wis.
  3. Cloven View Holsteins, Fond du Lac, Wis.
  4. Mar-Linda-K Holsteins, Johnson Creek, Wis.
  5. Reed Holthaus, Bangor, Wis.

Commercial hay

  1. Lazy 2K Livestock, Wheatland, Wyo.
  2. Hardrock Farms, Wheatland, Wyo.
  3. Dick and Powell Farms, Cordell, Okla.
  4. Glenn and Toni Obermann, Monett, Mo.
  5. Ciolkosz Dairy, Thorp, Wis.

Dairy hay

  1. Foraker Farms LLC, Goshen, Ind.
  2. Ridgeview Dairy Farms, Lake Wilson, Minn.
  3. Rick and Kris Schroeder, Odebolt, Iowa
  4. Ciolkosz Dairy, Thorp, Wis.
  5. Andy Schmitt, Fort Atkinson, Iowa

Grass hay

  1. Comet Creek Hay Co., Wittenberg, Wis.
  2. Joseph Beechy, Bonduel, Wis.
  3. Ted Peterson, Sharon, Wis.
  4. Freedom Farms, Loudon, Tenn.
  5. Car-Bon Holsteins, Beaver Dam, Wis.

Alfalfa haylage

  1. Andy and Melissa Vine, Greenwood, Wis.
  2. Andy Schmitt, Fort Atkinson, Iowa
  3. Huizenga Family Dairy, Brandon, Wis.
  4. Tag Lane Dairy, Ixonia, Wis.
  5. GenoSource, Blairstown, Iowa

Mixed-grass haylage

  1. Four Cubs Farm, Grantsburg, Wis.
  2. Clearview Dairy Farm LLC, Martin, Mich.
  3. Heatherstone Enterprises, Baraboo, Wis.
  4. Ciolkosz Dairy, Thorp, Wis.
  5. Sand Creek Dairy, Hastings, Mich.

Standard Corn Silage

  1. GenoSource, Blairstown, Iowa
  2. True Family Dairy, Perry, N.Y.
  3. Brown Star Farm, Gillett, Wis.
  4. Clint Dall, Aviston, Ill.
  5. Rainbow Acres, Swanville, Minn.

BMR Corn Silage

  1. Sand Creek Dairy, Hastings, Mich.
  2. Mibelloon Dairy, St. Louis, Mich.
  3. Denmar Acres, LLC, Greenleaf, Wis.
  4. Kensinger Farms, Martinsburg, Pa.
  5. True Family Dairy, Perry, N.Y.

Quality Counts: corn silage

Koltes Dairy LLC, St. Cloud, Minn.

Quality Counts: Hay and haylage

Wilke R Organic Farm, Sturgeon Bay, Wis.