By STAN MADDUX
Indiana Correspondent CLAYTON, Mich. — Two dairy-producer brothers don’t just rely on knowledge passed down from generations of farmers in the family – Blaine and Kim Baker seek and apply the latest in dairy farming to squeeze the most out of the operation founded by their great-great-grandfather. They also go about their business with an emphasis on being friendly to Mother Earth. For this, on Feb. 8 the Bakers will receive the 2019 Michigan State University Dairy Farmer of the Year award. Given by the Department of Animal Science, the honor will be presented to the Bakers during a banquet at the Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference in Frankenmuth. Blaine, 62, said he and the 61-year-old Kim inherited not just a strong work ethic but also a heart for conservation from their father and grandfather, both instrumental 70 years ago in the push for agriculture to develop environmentally friendly land use plans in Lenawee County, along the border of northwestern Ohio. “It’s what we were brought up with,” said Blaine. Kim lives in the original farmhouse on the property, operating since the 1870s. Five hundred forty Holsteins and 607 replacements are on the farm, which also grows corn, soybeans and alfalfa on 2,500 acres. More than 27,000 pounds of milk, along with 951 pounds of 3.5 percent butterfat and 805 pounds of 2.9 percent protein, are churned out annually. “Right now, with the way milk is priced, you want to make all of the fat you can because that’s where all of the money is at,” Blaine explained. He said every bank on the three miles of open ditches on the farm have filter strips to cleanse incoming storm water. The brothers also practice no-till and plant cover crops during the off-season to limit erosion and put nutrients back into the soil. Updated waste storage facilities, edge-of-field water sampling and use of variable rate technology to apply fertilizer are among the other components of the “kind to the environment” operation. According to MSU officials, the Bakers were also instrumental in starting the Lenawee County Center for Excellence (LCCE) to provide farmers access to the latest in research and development on new methods of production, with an eye on conservation. The Bakers have hosted the LCCE’s annual field day for 22 years. A new double-14 parallel milking parlor replacing a double-8 herringbone parlor from 1968 was constructed on the farm in 2016, to reduce milking time. Employee shift times and the parlor environment were also improved from the efficiency upgrade. The brothers serve on various ag-related boards and committees, including the state’s Farm Services Agency Board, the Soil and Water Conservation District Board, the Lenawee County Holstein Board and MSU’s Extension Dairy Advisory Team. They’ve been recognized previously as Tel-Farm Managers of the Year and Lenawee County Conservation Farmers of the Year. The Bakers have also been recipients of the Michigan Farm Bureau Ecology Leadership Award and a number of milk quality awards from Dairy Farmers of America. “Bakerlads Farm is a well-respected farm that leads by example,” said Pam Ruegg, chair for MSU’s Department of Animal Science. Blaine and Kim formed their partnership in 1984 to continue the family dairy operation. Both share in managing the milking herd and replacements. The crop end of the operation and bookkeeping fall primarily on Blaine’s shoulders, while Kim is more involved in machinery maintenance and workforce management. Blaine said conservation requires an investment, but the payback in the long term is greater from land being higher-quality than what it would have been without such good care. “That’s the route we’ve taken,” he said. |
