Gathje Family Installs Robotic Milkers, University Group Hopes to Shape Thai Dairy Future, Battling H5N1 and Cows Before Classes

Tune in for today’s episode of Dairy Delivery for the lateststories from the Dairy Star. First, how a Minnesota dairy farmer has wanted a roboticmilking setup for 10 years, ever since he wrote a 10-page research paper on the subject for his English class his senior year of high school. The Gathje family — Andrew, his dad, Andy, and his brother, Ben — had their robotic dream cometrue Feb. 18 when they moved into their brand-new 136-stall freestall barn and started milking their herd with two Lely A5 robotic milking units. Then, we hear about a growing dairy partnership between Wisconsin and Thailand. GraceLewis, University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UWRF) assistant professor of food science, and Reuben Nilsson, the UWRF dairy plant manager, and others took part in a 10-day trip to Southeast Asia to learn more about Thailand’s emergingdairy industry and to collaborate on its future. Another story we share on today’s podcast is how one farmer dealt with the aftermath of the H5N1 virus. June 15, 2024, was the start to a challenging and lengthy process for dairy farmer Chris Middendorf. While the initial outbreak of H5N1, aka bird flu,lasted 10-14 days, Middendorf said, the after effects are still being worked through. The final stop is hearing from a youthful Illinois senior in high school Drew Lueking. As most high school seniors were settling into their firstday of classes, Lueking was in the show ring. He missed the first two days of school in exchange for showing at the Illinois State Fair and then skipped another day the following week to show at the DuQuoin State Fair, for what would make it a record year for Lueking. New episodes will now be released Mondays after thenewspaper is published, sharing the conversations now sooner! Send story ideas and your comments to [email protected]. Subscribe to the podcast for reminders of episodes - nextepisode is released September 29 - about the dairy community and leave a review! We look forward to bringing you this brand new way toconsume Dairy Star. This is Dairy Delivery. All dairy, all the time. This episode is sponsored by Lely Center in Monroe,Wisconsin. Stay connected with Dairy Star: — dairystar.com — Get the Milk Break Newsletter: www.dairystar.com/milk-break-newsletter-signup/ — Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/DairyStar — Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/dairy_star_newspaper/ — Follow us on X: www.x.com/DairyStar_ — Follow us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/dairy-star/