(Lewis) Midwest Dairy met with Iowa Senator Joni Ernst on Thursday afternoon at Milk Unlimited, a 3,400 head milking operation near Lewis. Representatives explained to the Republican senator what the dairy checkoff money is doing for the nation’s dairy farmers and how those funds are utilized.
Senator Ernst then toured the operation with owner-operators Kelly and Christi Cunningham. The Cunninghams are one of four partners in the operation that employs 30-people, milking three times per day, 24-hours a day, 365 days a year in a parallel style parlor.
Milk Unlimited is transitioning from Holstein to crossbred cows to offset feed and other costs.
Milk Unlimited uses cover crops, injects the manure into the soil, and researches the implementation of a digester to convert the manure into methane gas as a value-added by-product and carbon footprint on the farm.
Senator Ernst, a member of the Ag Committee, says she learned a lot from the Midwest Dairies presentation and the Dairy tour.
Senator Ernst says she will take this valuable information learned from the tour and Midwest Dairy back to Washington D.C. while they continue to work on the 2023 Farm Bill.
