Indiana

Southern Rust Set To Take Big Bite Out Of Midwest Corn Crop?

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 14:17:28 GMT

If one picture is worth a thousand words, then the video Iowa farmer Dan Striegel shot last week must be worth thousands more. In the video, Striegel is shown harvesting a field of emerald-green corn enveloped in a cloud of orangish-red southern rust.

“We were just getting that field opened up, and I looked over and saw that dust boiling up out of the chopper, so I shot the video,” Striegel says.

Southern Rust? Never heard of her.
What Cheer, Iowa. USA. #pftour25 #harvest25 pic.twitter.com/tiIsUc2CHl
— Dan Striegel (@djsinseia) August 21, 2025

To date, Striegel’s video has garnered more than 48,000 views on X, formerly Twitter.

“We’re in southeast Iowa, Keokuk County, and I think the southern rust is as bad here as it is anywhere,” Striegel adds. “Every field you walk in, if you’re wearing a white T-shirt, you’ll come out of there red.”

A Red Path Of Disease Mars The Midwest

Expect to see more red T-shirt-clad farmers walking out of cornfields across the upper Midwest, based on what the Crop Protection Network (CPN) southern rust map is showing.

The CPN continually updates its online, interactive map showing the counties by state where southern rust infections are confirmed. Now, in late August, the counties look like red steppingstones. They form a checkered path from southwest Michigan through northern Illinois and Indiana, into southern Wisconsin, across all of Iowa and nearly two-thirds of the way across Nebraska. Eastern South Dakota is also lit up with a string of red counties, as are parts of southern to central Minnesota.

The amount of southern rust present in the upper Midwest is worrisome to Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist. In severe cases, the disease can wipe out 45% of the yield potential in a field, according to the CPN.

“At most, one in 10 growers in northern Iowa and Minnesota have seen the kind of southern rust some of them are seeing this year,” says Ferrie, who was working last week with corn growers in both states.

“It was a problem in probably eight out of every 10 fields I was in, and they’d all been sprayed at least once,” he says. “Minnesota has a corn crop that’ll knock your socks off – yield potential of 250, 270. I encouraged every grower to spray their field a second time except for two fields. One had been knocked down by hail, and the other had a hybrid that was clean.”

I spoke with a good friend of mine from Iowa yesterday that is an agronomist and farmer. He said the southern rust in corn across Iowa and much of the Midwest will take 9 to 12 bushel/acre off corn yields on average from what his team and himself are seeing. pic.twitter.com/Ad1VJ9oQBg
— Captain Cornelius1 (@ISU145) August 26, 2025

Hybrids Have Little To No Resistance To Southern Rust

A combination of early-season moisture, heat and wind formed the perfect storm for southern rust this season, allowing the disease-causing fungal spores (Puccinia polysora) to move from southern climes up to the Midwest, according to Kurt Maertens, BASF technical service representative for eastern Iowa and western Illinois.

“We’ve seen it all – southern rust, tar spot, northern corn leaf blight, gray leaf spot. Our corn has been inundated with all these fungal diseases, and we started seeing them early,” says Maertens.

If there’s a silver lining to southern rust, it’s that it does not overwinter in corn residue like tar spot does. But like tar spot, southern rust takes advantage of hybrids that have no built-in resistance. For many growers, that was an Achilles heel this season.

“When you’re dealing with a 117-day hybrid like they grow in southern Illinois, Tennessee, and Kentucky, you don’t grow corn that doesn’t have good southern rust resistance, because they deal with it every year,” Ferrie notes. “When you move to Minnesota, and you’re planting 102- to 95-day corn, you’re probably not going to find hybrids with southern rust resistance.”

Striegel says that was true for his neighbor’s cornfield, which he custom chopped for silage. “That field had two hybrids in it, one was worse than the other, and the field had been sprayed with a fungicide,” he says.

He adds that he also sprayed his own cornfields with fungicide, but they are still inundated with southern rust.

“We’ve had southern rust before, and it’s not usually something we have to worry about, but this is really bad,” Striegel says. “I’m standing on my deck looking at the cornfield next to my house, and you know, all of the leaves from the ears down in that field are covered with it.”

Southern rust is real in eastern Nebraska. Fungicide 3 weeks ago, 2nd app today with some potassium acetate pic.twitter.com/WZubU6IBwz
— Trent Mastny (@TrentMastny) August 21, 2025

How Late Is A Fungicide Application Still Worthwhile?

Ferrie says the fields he scouted last week were at late R3 to early R4 and had already been sprayed with fungicide at least once, but the disease was rebuilding.

“Any field where farmers had sprayed two weeks previously, the southern rust and northern corn leaf blight, to a lesser degree, were coming back, especially the southern rust. It was resporating,” he says.

The intense disease pressure from southern rust, tar spot and others have kept fungicide use at high levels this season, despite poor commodity prices.

“Because of that [amount of disease pressure], we have seen increased demand for our fungicides this year,” says Maertens, who encouraged customers to get applications made at the beginning of tassel.

Maertens says he has fielded a lot of questions this summer from farmers, asking how late they could go with a fungicide application and still benefit.

“Our recommendation is to get in front of disease,” he says. “Generally, we stop applications before we get to dent (R5). That’s not to say a later application can’t have some benefit, but our best results have been before infection was able to take place.”

Southern rust is a yield enemy farmers routinely face in the Southeast, reports corn yield champion Randy Dowdy, Valdosta, Ga. He participated in the Pro Farmer Crop Tour last week and said on U.S. Farm Report he believes many Midwest farmers still have time to address disease.

“We need to implore the fungicides, the technologies out there and get after it and protect this crop, especially that crop that still has not reached dent,” he says.

Farm Journal Field Agronomist Missy Bauer likes to see farmers complete their fungicide applications on the front side of dough (early R4). “Once we get to early dent, I think it’s a little more challenging to get the payback consistently, though we’ve applied at early dent (R5), and seen a nice response,” says Bauer, who is based in south-central Michigan.

Under the tough disease pressure farmers are facing this year, Bauer is telling growers to scout fields and evaluate what growth stage their crop is in before they walk away or pull the fungicide trigger one last time.

She adds that farmers need to check the label to make sure the product used is able to address southern rust effectively. She describes these as “Cadillac” products containing the newest chemistry.

“When it comes to some of these diseases, especially southern rust and tar spot, I do believe a little bit of a Hail Mary pass can be effective,” she says. “Will it be as effective as an application you could have made on a more timely basis? Well, no, you could have made more money doing it timely, but you’re still protecting bushels and gaining ROI at the end.”

Ferrie adds that farmers might want to do the late-season fungicide application to keep their corn crop standing until they can put their harvest plan in place.

“Be doing the push test to check stalk quality,” he advises.

Southern Rust/Silage Alert!!

Southern Rust has been aggressively advancing in many fields, especially those without a fungicide treatment. In some situations the plants are shutting down prematurely and plant material is senescing rapidly.

While we typically want to get down… pic.twitter.com/aK3hGgZE19
— Pioneer Troy (@deutmeyer_troy) August 26, 2025

Striegel says some of the farmers around him are heading to fields to harvest their silage corn sooner than later, because of standability concerns. “Some of this corn got planted early, and we had a lot of heat. The crop matured quickly, and the diseases are kind of shutting it down. It’s just dying out, and guys are going to go get it,” he explains.

That’s the strategy Ferrie encourages farmers to use in regular production corn, too.

“Harvest the fields most at risk first. But if a field of corn goes down, go combine the fields where the corn is still standing and come back to that one later,” he recommends.

The reasoning is you don’t want to risk more corn going down while you’re harvesting the field of corn that already has.

“While I was driving through Iowa last week, I kept thinking that if I built corn reels to pick up down corn I’d bulk up my inventory, because I know where they’re going to get used,” Ferrie says, only half joking. “Yes, harvesting corn at 25% moisture is expensive, but down corn will kick your butt.”

Your next read: Revenge Applications: Why They Don’t Work, Cost You Money and Bushels, and Are Frankly Illegal

New Plant Capacity Collides with Shrinking Milk Supply

Fri, 22 Mar 2024 17:00:00 GMT

For the past few years, some U.S. dairy producers have been urging the dairy industry to build new processing facilities so they can expand their operations and have a place to sell their additional milk. Their requests are now becoming a reality, but the timing appears to be challenging, said Betty Berning, analyst with the Daily Dairy Report.

“Scarce heifer supplies and the time required to raise a calf to mature milk cow remain long-term barriers to rapid growth in U.S. milk output.” Berning said. “At the same time, milk supplies are shrinking in some of the areas that have been experiencing the largest investments in processing capacity.”

In January, the U.S. milk herd was at its lowest point in more than four years, and heifer inventories were at their lowest level since 2004. Milk will remain particularly tight in the Southwest. New Mexico’s herd and resulting production, for example, have been rapidly declining for several years. New Mexico’s milk cow herd has fallen by 97,000 head between January 2021 and January 2024, according to USDA data. In neighboring Texas, a state that had been growing exponentially, milk cow numbers have been flat since June 2023 at 635,000 head, down from the state’s peak of 650,000 in March 2023.

“While Some Texas producers have added cows to supply the new cheese facility there, others have left the state due to costly feed and inadequate milk revenue,” Berning said.

Last year, processors opened several plants across the country and more will come online this year and in 2025 and 2026. The largest projects have been and will continue to be cheese-centric and located in the central and southwestern United States. About a year ago, production began on a new cheese plant in the Texas Panhandle, and other manufacturing plants are slated to come online in 2025 and 2026 in the Panhandle and near Waco, Texas, respectively.

“In addition, new cheese capacity will come online in southwest Kansas this year. While Kansas producers added 3,000 cows last year, that does not seem like it will be enough to fill the state’s new capacity. Before last year’s expansion, cow numbers in Kansas have been flat since 2001,” Berning said.

New investment in ice cream, cheese, and value-added fluid milk projects is also slated to open in the Northeast. The projects range from an expansion of current facilities to new builds, Berning said, and small cheese-related projects are also in the works in the Upper Midwest.

“Cheese plants in the Southwest will receive priority, and dryers in the region are already running light as new processing draws milk from a shrinking regional milk supply. There is no excess milk in the Southwest, so the milk that once made its way out of the area to the milk-deficit Southeast will stay put,” Berning said. “Southeast plants will thus need to pull milk from other regions, potentially from the Mideast or Northeast, allowing producers in those regions to expand.”

On the positive side, in New York where processing is being added, cow numbers climbed 6,000 head year over year in 2023. Expansion also occurred last year in nearby Indiana, up 5,000 head, and in Ohio, up 3,000 head.

“That could help support new expansions in the Northeast,” Berning added.

For more industry news, read:

Organic Valley Added 84 Farms to its Membership in 2023

Fri, 29 Dec 2023 21:22:45 GMT

During a year full of farm consolidation, Organic Valley, the largest dairy cooperative of organic farmers in the nation, added an additional 84 farms to its membership in 2023.

“This is who we are,” says Shawna Nelson, Organic Valley executive vice president of membership. “Last year, we brought in farms that were abruptly dropped by their milk buyers, and this year, we’ve welcomed 84 more into our organic dairy community. Our commitment to organic family farmers is unwavering, and we aim to be the go-to option for those seeking a stable future in farming.”

According to the company, the cooperative welcomed:

26 farms from Pennsylvania
22 farms from New York
12 farms from Wisconsin
6 farms from Ohio

Several other farms from Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota and Vermont were welcomed as well.

“We can’t do this alone,” says Jaclyn Cardin, Organic Valley chief brand officer. “If you care about how your food is produced and who is producing it, we think we offer a lot. We want consumers to buy with both heart and head, knowing that Organic Valley products come from a place of integrity. Because we’re a farmer-owned cooperative, when you purchase our products, the farmers who dedicate themselves to caring for the land, the animals and their communities receive stable and farmer-determined compensation. We believe good food comes from good, small family farms.”

Looking ahead, Organic Valley plans to continue supporting small organic family farms in 2024.

For more industry news, read:

Derecho Packs Punch of 100 MPH Winds, Flattens Cornfields and Crushes Grain Bins Across the Midwest

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 21:00:54 GMT

Hurricane-force winds swept through northern Missouri and Iowa and all the way east to Illinois and Indiana on Thursday. The derecho brought wind gusts up to 100 mph in places, flattening cornfields. The storm system also brought crucial rains. While it might not be enough to cure the drought, the rains could help rescue some of the drought-ravaged crops.

According to Accuweather, a derecho is a storm that brings a punch of at least 58 mph winds over the span of at least 400 miles. The storm on Thursday barreled across the Midwest, with some of hardest-hit states being Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. The storm then turned and went south, hitting Tennessee.

Yesterday, @NOAA's #GOESEast 🛰️ tracked a destructive #derecho as it raced across the Midwest, causing widespread damage across several states. This visible imagery shows the bubbling clouds, and the satellite's Geostationary Lightning Mapper allowed us to see the frequent… pic.twitter.com/SvYbnuf5em
— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) June 30, 2023

Ken Ferrie , owner of Crop-Tech Consulting, was in the middle of the storm. He spoke to AgWeb’s Rhonda Brooks about potential damage, estimating the derecho crossed at least two-thirds of Illinois.

“It’s pretty widespread,” says Ferrie who lives in Heyworth, Ill., just south of Bloomington. “It hit between 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. yesterday.”

The storm also brought more than an inch of much-needed rain, which may have saved many of the Illinois corn and soybean crops. Ferrie says there is quite a bit of cleanup that will need to take place with down trees and other damage, and he’s still trying to assess the impact on the crops.

“I have not seen any corn snapped like the derecho in Iowa where crops were just snapped and flat, but there’s a lot of corn laying over,” says Ferrie.

(Farm Journal)

USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says the storm was widespread, impacting an area from the Central Great Plains and northern Missouri, all the way to the Tennessee River Valley.

“The derecho on June 29th was oddly reminiscent of the massive derecho that struck the Midwest on August 10, 2020,” he says. “Now the aerial extent was not quite as large as the August 2020 events and the winds were not quite as high. But nevertheless, we did see widespread 60 to 100 mph winds emerging early in the day on the 29th.”

Brad Rippey discusses the scope and possible scale of damage caused by the derecho this week.

Rippey says the timing of the storm could also be a key factor in determining how much damage it caused to crops.

“We’re not expecting to see the large scale impact that we saw compared to August 2020, partly because it’s earlier in the growing season crops are not as high and susceptible to damage,” says Rippey. “And also just the fact that winds weren’t quite as high and the areal extent wasn’t as great. Still, though, another blow for producers already reeling from drought now contending with the effects of a significant windstorm that blew through the area on June 29th.”

Earlier Planted Corn Hit the Hardest

Ferrie drove across parts of Illinois and into Iowa on Friday, and says he thinks the earlier planted corn is what will be impacted the most from the powerful storm this week.

“April-planted corn is pushing tassels and trying to pollinate, so unfortunately, it’ll get hit the hardest because it’s hard for tasseled corn to stand back up; it’ll just curve at the top,” says Ferrie. “And that down corn creates pollination problems. So, from a yield problem that’ll be the tough spot, and that’ll be the tougher stuff to harvest because it just won’t stand back up.”

First time in my life I’ve pulled up to my parents place and not seen the grain leg standing. The storm hit hard today, but it’s wild in that the corn didn’t get mangled any worse than it did. No one got hurt which is the main thing. pic.twitter.com/Kg0hVyKi5V
— Matthew Bennett (@chief321) June 29, 2023

He says the May-planted corn will still have time to stand back up and recover, but he also points out the later planted corn is seeing more impacts from the drought in Illinois. The corn that farmers planted later didn’t establish good roots as it has seen little to no rain since planting. That made the corn more vulnerable to wind damage.

“We have a lot of acres that are getting what I call restless corn syndrome and struggling to get crown roots made. And that stuff isn’t pollinating. It’s the later planted crop that’s probably some of the worst,” says Ferrie.

Storm damage in Illinois from today. Any damage to your farm? pic.twitter.com/RWOHDjPQ2U
— IL Corn (@ilcorn) June 29, 2023

While the wind may impact yields and create harvest issues for some of the crops, the water came at a crucial time, especially in Illinois.

“That inch of water, many farmers would probably take the wind in the corn to get the water, because it looked like we weren’t going to get any of it, and suddenly our forecast has rain for the next five out of six days,” says Ferrie. “So, it kind of broke that bubble that was holding us in the drought.”

(Farm Journal)

Soybeans weren’t spared from damage either, but Ferrie says the drink of water will also be a boost for those fields. He reports there are even soybean fields laid over from the derecho winds on Thursday.

Indiana also reported high winds, with gusts reaching 70 mph at Indianapolis International Airport. Indiana farm fields were dealt with derecho damage this week, too. Photos show corn blown over by the wind, with the later planted corn holding up better than what was planted earlier in the season this year.

Photo Courtesy: Joelle Orem, Russiaville, Indiana

Crop Comments: How do crops look in your area? Post a comment or photo in Crop Comments.

BREAKING NEWS: Arrest Made in Fair Oaks Farms Investigation

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 03:00:31 GMT

The Newton County, Indiana Sheriff’s Office announced officers have arrested one of three men charged following accusations of animal abuse at the nation’s largest dairy farm.

Police arrested 36-year-old Edgar Vasquez on a warrant for animal cruelty (Class A Misdemeanor) and torturing or mutilating a vertebrate animal (Level 6 Felony). Police say Vasquez is from Brook, Indiana. He is currently being held at the Newton County Jail. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) has placed a hold on Vasquez.

There are still warrants out for 31-year old Santiago Contreros and 38-year old Miguel Navarro Serrano. They are both charged with the beating of a vertebrate animal, which is a misdemeanor.

The charges came after an animal rights group released a video showing workers at Fair Oaks Farms in Northern Indiana kicking and throwing young calves.

A lawsuit has also been filed alleging fraud. It was filed in Chicago federal court by a California man who is a consumer of Fairlife milk. The man says he purchased Fairlife because of the promise listed on the label stating the farmers who supply the milk provide “extraordinary animal care”.

Now, that same animal rights group has released a third video from another Fair Oaks farm barn. It shows cows being milked on a carousel after apparently giving birth. The narration on the video claims bloody, injured cows are forced onto the milking carousel. Dairy industry experts AgDay spoke with reviewed the video and say the bloody cows had just given birth. They say it appears to be standard operating procedure in most cases, except for a few instances where animal handling could be improved/

AgDay’s Betsy Jibben talked with those dairy industry experts about the new video. She has also reached out to the animal activist group. Look for continuing coverage on this story on-air and online from AgDay .

Related articles:

UPDATE: Search for Suspects in Fair Oaks Farm Investigation

UPDATE: Three Retailers Pull Fairlife; Fair Oaks Farm Responds

Expansion Project Begins at Cheese Plant in Northeast Iowa

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 02:55:59 GMT

A cheese plant in northeast Iowa has begun a $20 million expansion of the facility.

Swiss Valley Farms officials broke ground on the expansion in Luana on Thursday afternoon. The expansion will add 49,000 square feet to the plant and increase the cheese production by 10 to 15 million pounds each year.

The plans are creating excitement among many dairy farmers in the state, including Don Moon of Clayton County, whose dairy cows produce about 5,300 gallons of milk every two days. Moon tells KCRG-TV the expansion has the potential to help dairy farmers, because it will allow them to get rid of surplus milk and drive up the cost.

The plant expansion is expected to wrap up late next year.

Iowa State Fair will Pair Butter Cow with Monopoly Game

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 02:54:32 GMT

Organizers of the Iowa State Fair are pairing the event’s famous butter cow sculpture with another butter piece celebrating the Monopoly board game.

Officials say the accompanying piece, which changes every year, will this summer celebrate the game’s 80th anniversary.

Sarah Pratt designs the butter cow each year as well as a second piece. She is expected to feature some famous Monopoly pieces alongside the game’s main character, Rich Uncle Pennybags.

Monopoly was first commercially sold in the 1930s. The property trading game has been printed in more than 37 languages.

The Iowa Star Fair is scheduled Aug. 13-23 in Des Moines.

Purdue Extension to Co-sponsor Six Regional Dairy Meetings

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 02:51:07 GMT

Purdue Extension is partnering with Indiana Dairy Producers and the Indiana Forage Council to offer the annual Indiana Regional Dairy Meetings at six locations.

The meetings will be primarily educational, with speakers presenting information on the business, health management and technological aspects of the dairy industry. Each meeting will include an Indiana Dairy Producers strategic plan update presented by Steve Obert, IDP president, and Doug Leman, IDP executive director.

All meetings, with the exception of the one in Middlebury, will run from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The Middlebury meeting will begin at 10 a.m. All meeting times are EST, except for the Evansville meeting, which will be at 9 a.m. CST:

* Jan. 27: Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds, Family Arts Building, 750 W. 200 S., Columbus. Speaker: Dave Hickman of Avancos Global, “Team-building and Employer-Employee Relations.” Contact: 812-379-1665.

* Jan. 28: Hornville Tavern, 2607 W. Baseline Road, Evansville. Speaker: Dave Hickman, Avancos Global, “Team-building and Employer-Employee Relations.” Contact: 812-963-0967.

* Jan. 29: Byron Seeds headquarters, 775 N. 350 E, Rockville. Speaker: Bethany Funnell, DVM; “Reproductive Technologies and Bull Management,” and Jon Townsend, DVM; “Preventing Environmental Mastitis.” Contact: 317-695-8228.

* Feb. 4: Essenhaus Conference Center, 240 U.S. 20, Middlebury. Speaker: Tom Fuhrmann, DVM, DairyWorks Management, “Managing Employees for Productivity and Efficiency.” Contact: 574-825-9447.

* Feb. 5: The Farmstead Inn, 370 S. Van Buren St., Shipshewana. Speaker: Tom Fuhrmann, DVM, DairyWorks Management, “Managing Employees for Productivity and Efficiency.” Contact: 260-768-4595.

* Feb. 6: Back 40 Junction Restaurant, 1011 N. 13th St., Decatur. Speaker: Tom Fuhrmann, DVM, DairyWorks Management, “Managing Employees for Productivity and Efficiency.” Contact: 260-724-3355.

Registration is due Jan. 23 for the first three conferences, and Jan. 30 for the last three. Participants may register online at www.IndianaDairy.org ; by mail, 205 W. Gordon Francesville, IN 47946; email, dougleman@indianadairy.org ; or phone, 317-695-8228.

Source: Purdue University

Indiana Tightens Manure Regs for Medium-Sized Farms

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 02:31:48 GMT

Indiana livestock producers with 300 or more dairy or beef cattle or 600 or more swine in confinement will face tightened manure regulations this summer.

Effective July 1, herds larger than these trigger levels will be required to have 180 days of manure storage, up from the current 120-day limit. In addition, no manure can be spread from these operations on snow-covered or frozen ground, according to Tamilee Nennich, a Purdue University Extension specialist.

Indiana will also reduce the phosphorus limit from 400 parts per million (ppm) to 200 ppm. The new limit will be phased in over a seven-year period. The key point in this new standard is that if soils contain more than these limits, livestock producers will not be able to spread manure on these fields, Nennich says. This will likely require producers to haul manure farther when fields exceed these levels.

Smaller livestock operations could also come under these regulations if they have a pollution discharge to waters of the state, says Todd Janzen, an attorney based in Indianapolis, Ind. “Every small livestock operation is only a phone call away from becoming a regulated farm,” he says.

Discharges could come from things such as cattle in streams, a feedlot, manure overflow from a pen into a ditch, silage leachate escapes from bunker silos, or contaminated runoff from field tile.

If smaller livestock operations are applying manure during winter, proposed new rules may require them to apply manure at 50% of normal agronomic rates, on fields with less than 2% slope and on fields with more than 40% crop residues. The key to all of this is to maintain complete and accurate field records of manure applications, Janzen says. Without those records, regulators are unlikely to give smaller livestock producers much leeway should a problem occur.

Fair Oaks Farms Confronts Undercover Activists with Transparency

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 02:07:36 GMT

One of the best-known dairies in the country, Fair Oaks Farms near Chicago, says animal activists infiltrated their workforce and spent six months recording operations.

Fair Oaks Farms is known for creating an identity around agritourism. Now, the business built on transparency is already preparing to react. It has also released its own YouTube video about it .

“It’s why we opened up our farm 15 years ago to the public,” says Sue McCloskey, a co-founder of Fair Oaks Farm. “We did that in order to have the conversation about what modern agriculture is all about and to answer any and all questions the consumer and families have about where their food comes from.”

Which is why when an anonymous caller told them a group of recent employees was actually animal activists sent to record the operation undercover, Fair Oaks immediately began a new conversation.

“It’s very unfortunate because what happens in videos like this is the thousands and thousands of compassionate moments that our employees have interacting and taking care of our animals never get to these videos,” says Mike McCloskey, a veterinarian and co-founder at Fair Oaks Farms.

While no videos have been released yet, Mike says it’s not impossible that over six months the activists didn’t capture moments of frustration or a break down in processes.

“What they get is the one-off moment or they’re showing a practice, misrepresenting it or explaining it wrong or a malfunction of some sort that’s a one-off malfunction that does cause some stress with the animals until that’s corrected,” says Mike in the video.

It’s also why they immediately hired a third party to audit the farm.

“We even encourage our employees to come to us if they see anyone else doing anything that considers an animal welfare abuse to come and share that with us,” says Mike.

Along with having transparency through hosting daily farm tours, Fair Oaks also participates and is certified through the National Dairy FARM (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management) program for its animal welfare practices.

They’re watching for what may come out, but Fair Oaks wishes more conversations would start at the front door.

“We really wish that groups like this understood that they are welcome to come and share with us their thoughts of our practices and our management and allow us to have a dialog with them where we could interchange our thoughts with theirs and I’m sure they’ll teach us stuff and help us become better at what we do,” says Mike .

For now, its a waiting game for one of the nation’s largest dairies built on an open door policy.

The McCloskey’s say all employees sign a document pledging to report abuse when they see it. They say there may be legal ramifications for both current and former workers depending on what any released footage shows.

For more on this story listen Mike McCloskey in an audio interview with with Clinton Griffiths, editorial director with Farm Journal Broadcast and AgDay anchor:

UPDATE: Search for Suspects in Fair Oaks Farm Investigation

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 05:53:15 GMT

Charges have been filed by the Newton County Indiana Sheriff’s office for alleged animal cruelty at Fair Oaks Farms. The case was opened following the release of a video by Animal Recovery Mission that shows workers at the farm kicking and throwing young calves.

In a release, the Newton County Sheriff says that as a result of the investigation into the alleged animal cruelty at Fair Oaks Farms, misdemeanor charges have been filed on three individuals for the beating of a vertebrate animal.

UPDATE: Investigators are looking for the following people: 31-year old Santiago Contreros, 36-year-old Edgar Vazquez, and 38-year old Miguel Navarro Serrano.

Sheriff Thomas VanVleet also says they continue to conduct interviews with other persons of interest in the case.

Fair Oaks Farms owners Mike McCloskey, continuing to discuss the video on the company’s Facebook page. He says they have begun the search for a person who specializes in animal welfare to work at the farm and that person will be working with employees day in and day out.

The farm is also working to install cameras throughout the facility and adding third-party audits.

“These third-party audits will be frequent, random and unannounced, and when I say frequent I mean between two to four weeks on each farm, so at least twelve random audits by a third party every year,” says McCloskey. “I believe the combination of the employee who is going to be full-time, dedicated to animal welfare, and these two monitoring sections will allow me to keep my promise to you.”

Fair Oaks Farms is the flagship farm for Fairlife, a national brand of higher protein, higher calcium and lower fat milk. At least three retailers have since stopped selling Fairlife products since the video was released.

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Ice Cream Maker Plans $40.5 Million Expansion in Iowa

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 05:50:46 GMT

Ice cream maker Well Enterprises plans a $40.5 million expansion that will create 81 jobs in Le Mars, Iowa.

The Sioux City Journal reports state documents released Thursday show Wells is seeking about $3 million in state tax incentives to help finance the expansion. Plans include a 6,000-square-foot addition to the company’s South plant and the addition of new production lines.

The city of Le Mars would provide nearly $400,000 in property tax abatement for the project.

Wells is known as the maker of Blue Bunny ice cream and frozen novelties. The family-owned company employs more than 2,000 workers.

The Iowa Economic Development Authority Board will consider the application for tax breaks at a meeting Friday in Des Moines.