Hayden Kyle, an Elkhorn resident and dairy farmer, was our guest speaker.  He addressed the topic of how to stay progressive and innovative in the farming industry and shared with us his journey in dairy farming. Hayden Kyle is the son of long time residents Dave and Laurie Kyle. Rachel Crane, president elect of the Burlington Rotary Club, also collaborated with Hayden to present today.

 

Hayden shared with club that he grew up in Elkhorn and was very involved on his parents’ dairy farm during his youth.  He respected their role in the dairy industry, yet never thought he would pursue dairy farming as his profession.  Varied experiences in high school, however, led him to find that working with the animals, delivering calves, and completing the tasks on the farm were so much more rewarding than customer service jobs. This led to him changing his major to Dairy Science.  He then decided to look into alternative programs at UW Madison. 

 

The UW Madison short course runs from November – March, which works around the intensive farm calendar year.  Courses are targeted to topics relevant to the industry, with no general education requirements.  Reproduction, genetics, food safety / quality were some of the classes in the short course program.  Focus was on how to improve your herd, how to increase profits,  and how to implement the latest research into “best practice” on the farm.

 

Hayden shared his findings regarding an interesting research project he completed in college.  The goal of his project was to compare Jersey Cows to the Holstein cows. At that time, his family was heavily invested in Holstein cows.  Though this research, Hayden determined that it would be beneficial for the family farm raise Jersey cows.  After lengthy family discussions, Hayden brought a small number of Jerseys onto the farm.  The comparison between the Jerseys and Holsteins continued over time.  In 2014, the Kyle’s owned 10 Jerseys.  Now their herd has grown to 100 Jerseys and 40 Holsteins.

 

Hayden also talked briefly about the integration of science, including genomics, in farming. Genomics is a tool that can map the branch of molecular biology including the structure, function, evolution of genes.  In the past, the average life of the cows was kept on record. Now, DNA information is easily accessible allowing farmers to get a more profitable, healthy herd through a careful, scientific breeding process.  Lab reports can also predict the milk production and identify the most efficient calves.

 

Rachel Crane, Rotary president elect from Burlington, then interjected to tie  Hayden’s presentation back to Rotary’s mission in the community by highlighting how the dairy industry and agriculture in Walworth County continues to impact so many businesses in our community.  Together, our speakers delivered the message of the importance of agriculture, a 44 billion dollar innovative industry.

 

 

World Affair Seminar – http://worldaffairsseminar.org/was-2018/

Looking for 1-2 high school students to attend June 23 – June 29 at Carroll University

 

 

Jim Mason

Ryan McBurney

Hayden Kyle

Laurie Kyle

Rachel Crane