Veblen dairy in SD improving local partnerships

VEBLEN, S.D. — Ward Youngblom jokes that happy cows come from South Dakota, not California as that state’s milk producers advertise, and he says so wearing the smile of a man who enjoys his job.

Specifically, Youngblom’s job is feed, manure and transportation manager at Marshall Dairy near Veblen. He buys feed for the dairy from local producers and sells manure to those same farmers and ranchers who use it as fertilizer. That being the case, getting along with those folks makes life more pleasant.

And, Youngblom said, relations between the dairy and its neighbors have improved considerably in recent months.

A new ownership group for the dairy has helped. Riverview LLC, based in Morris, Minn., bought the Veblen East and Veblen West dairies, which were in bankruptcy, in February 2011. The dairies, along with a third facility just west of the west dairy, are now jointly known as Marshall Dairy.

Day-to-day operations haven’t changed much, Youngblom said. Most of the 180 workers are the same, he said, and the job — milking about 10,000 cross-bred, Jersey-based cows and caring for another 3,400 head — hasn’t changed. But Riverview, Youngblom said, is working to be a good employer, a good neighbor and an involved community member.

Among the changes are that the dairy now delivers all of its milk to Valley Queen Cheese Factory in Milbank. Milk from all Riverview dairies — the company oversees about 46,000 milking cows — goes to Valley Queen.

Veblen East and Veblen West dairies used to sell most of their milk to AMPI, a cheese producer in Minnesota, Youngblom said.

Riverview has also started a dry manure operation, Youngblom said.

There’s the potential for expansion at Marshall Dairy, but there are no hard plans yet, he said.

Before the change in ownership, the Veblen dairies were troubled. There were financial struggles that led to bankruptcy, environmental problems noted by the state, worker-related immigration issues that led to court proceedings and local ag producers who weren’t paid for commodities delivered to the dairy.

The affable Youngblom said he doesn’t much care to compare the dairy’s old and new management groups. But, he said, neighboring farmers and ranchers would be within their rights to refuse to do business with the dairy because of past transgressions. Instead, though, about 20 sell feed to and buy fertilizer from Marshall Dairy.

“A lot of it comes to reputation (of Riverview) and just being open with them,” Youngblom said.

Thankfully, he said, local ag producers gave the new owners a chance.

Last month, the dairy held an open house to show off its facilities to area residents and garner some good will. Roughly 700 people attended, Youngblom said.

Construction started on Multi-Community Cooperative Dairy, commonly called MCC Dairy, in 1998. That dairy, just west of Veblen, eventually came to be known as Veblen West. In 2006, Veblen East Dairy was built. In 2007, Veblen-based Prairie Ridge Management took over management of both dairies. It also managed other dairies in the region.

MCC Dairy dissolved in late 2007, giving way to Veblen West the next year. In 2009, both dairies were cited for manure-related environmental violations.

In 2010, Prairie Ridge ceased to manage the dairies. Veblen West filed for bankruptcy in April that year, and Veblen East followed in July. The dairies were placed in what’s legally called receivership. In receivership, somebody is appointed by a court to manage an entity’s or business’ operations and finances.

A group called Vista Family Farms attempted to buy the dairies during bankruptcy procedures. But the state would not allow the transaction if Rick Millner was involved, and court paperwork revealed he was. Millner was long involved with both dairies and had ownerships stakes in both as well as in Prairie Ridge. As a result of those troubled dealings, he gained a troubled reputation.

Ultimately, Riverview bought both dairies from AgStar Financial Services, their prime financier.

Youngblom, who has worked at the Veblen dairies for six years, is happy that chapter of dairy history is past. Riverview has a strong reputation and does business the right way, he said.

Now, the east dairy is home to about 7,700 cows, 5,000 of which are milked, he said. The west dairy has another 5,000 cows, all of which are milked. Just west of the west dairy is what’s called the Far Off location, where the 700 cows are mostly pregnant heifers.

All of the wet cows are milked three times a day, every seven hours. In all, Marshall Dairy has five milking parlors, three at the east facility and two at the west. The parlors run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, but each stops milking for two hours a day for cleaning.

Cows are fed twice a day and, while they’re being milked, their pens are cleaned and their bedding raked, Youngblom said. The cows on the dairy consume 1.2 million pounds of feed a day, he said. And each milking cow produces about 75 pounds — roughly 9 1/2 gallons — of milk per day, he said. Marshall Dairy produces 750,000 pounds of milk a day, he said.

The dairy buys 10,000 to 12,000 acres of silage per year and sells 12,000 to 14,000 acres of manure, Youngblom said. It buys as much as possible from local producers, he said.

Marshall Dairy doesn’t have milk tanks like most dairies. Instead, the milk is pumped directly to trucks that haul it to Valley Queen. Riverview does not own Valley Queen, though it’s a common misconception that it does, Youngblom said. Each truck can hold 60,000 pounds of milk, he said.

The dairy sustains itself with cattle, Youngblom said. It finishes the bull calves in Nebraska. Calves — about 40 a day are born year-round — are taken to individual pens right after they are born. Each morning at 6, the new calves are loaded up and hauled to a calf ranch in Hancock, Minn. When the females are about 10 months old, they are taken to feedlots by Doland and Clark, where they are fed and bred, Youngblom said. They return to the dairy when they are 2, he said. The male calves are taken from Hancock to some cooperative growers before going to Nebraska, he said.

Most workers at Marshall Dairy are Hispanic and come from Mexico or Central America, he said. There are simply more jobs than local residents will fill, Youngblom said.

Marshall Dairy recruits workers from Mexico and Central American, going to universities in those countries and showing a video that depicts both a winter blizzard and a 110-degree summer day in South Dakota. Workers also find their way to the dairy by word of mouth, Youngblom said.

With stability at the dairy, employees are staying longer, he said. That helps the dairy’s production. There’s a visa that allows workers to bring family members to the United States, though it doesn’t allow family members to work, he said.

Workers from other countries can generally earn considerably more at Marshall Dairy than they can in their homeland, Youngblom said. They make more than $100 their first day on the job, he said.

Finding enough housing is an issue, he said. To help, Riverview has built apartment buildings at both the east and west dairies for workers to live in. Others employees live in Veblen or rent farm houses in the area, he said.

All of the workers workers are the important to Marshall Dairy being a success, Youngblom said.

“On an operation this size, people are the key. These guys work hard,” he said. “There is no tolerance for trouble.”

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Information from: Aberdeen American News, http://www.aberdeennews.com