Walz visits one of the dwindling number of MN dairy farms

Jul. 6—If Minnesota had as many dairy farmers as in 1945, they could simultaneously fill the home stadiums of the Minnesota Vikings, the Minnesota Twins and the University of Minnesota football team.

And there still would have been more than 7,000 without a seat.

By 1965, the number of dairy farmers had dropped by 97,000, but the 67,000 remaining that year still would have slightly surpassed the capacity of the Vikings' stadium.

And in 2023?

"We could put all the dairy farmers in a small section of U.S. Bank Stadium," Karl Heldberg told Gov. Tim Walz Thursday afternoon.

Walz and state Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen were visiting Heldberg's Le Sueur County dairy operation, one of fewer than 2,000 left in the state.

Accompanied by his 14-year-old sons Luke and Garrett and hired hand Blake Kuball, Heldberg provided a tour of the 70-cow operation that he's been running for three decades. He said he accepted the hosting duty after the governor's office reached out because it's always good to expand the understanding of the struggles faced by farmers. He also expected a limited turnout by the media since his farm sits in a very rural spot centered roughly eight miles from the nearest towns — St. Peter, Le Sueur, Cleveland and Le Center.

But a trio of TV crews and a similar number of newspaper reporters, along with a former Princess Kay of the Milky Way, made their way down the gravel roads to the picturesque farmstead.

"I wasn't planning on as much as did show," Heldberg said of the media, who got to listen in on more than an hour of conversation between the farmer, the governor and the commissioner.

It was lengthy enough to cover the gap between the price being paid for milk and the cost of producing it, the rising price of everything from diesel fuel to nuts and bolts, the growing number of big dairy operators, the big investors who are purchasing farmland and driving up land costs, the rising property taxes that come with the higher land values, and the ways that milk production doesn't easily follow the laws of supply and demand.

Many people don't think about the dilemma dairy farmers face when prices drop, Walz pointed out. In other industries, the answer would be to cut production to reduce input costs.

"Well, the cows don't work that way," Walz said, noting that they still need to eat and they can't be asked to stop producing milk.

In some cases, creameries are limiting production because of labor shortages, leaving farmers with nowhere to sell a portion of the milk their cows are producing, Heldberg said.

That hasn't happened in his case, but he has had to employ a number of strategies to stay solvent. He's diversified by producing some Angus beef; has controlled labor costs by keeping his herd at a size that he, his boys and Kuball can manage; relies on the income and health insurance provided by his wife Nancy's off-farm job; tries to grow more of what the cows eat from his own acreage; and keeps the faith that prices will get better.

"I've been doing it close to 30 years, so it's been down and up many times," Heldberg said.

The current down-period centers on the inflated costs of virtually everything involved with running a farm coupled with the sub-$15 price of a hundredweight of milk — about 11.6 gallons.

"Break-even is closer to $18-20," he told his visitors.

With the average dairy herd now growing above 100 cows, Heldberg's operation is looking smaller each year. Expanding, though, would simply ramp up the input costs, including more outside labor, at a time when milk prices already fail to cover those expenses.

And for smaller dairy farmers, getting out of the business doesn't seem like much of an option when dairy cows are selling for about $1,600 apiece.

"If they sold all the cows and took the cash, it wouldn't be enough to buy a pickup," he said.

Walz and Petersen ran through some of the ag-friendly provisions approved in the recently completed legislative session, including some property tax relief. And they pledged to continue to work to increase demand for Minnesota dairy products through purchases for food shelves, expanded school lunch programs and trade trips to encourage demand in foreign markets. A former congressman, Walz said the looming expiration of the federal farm bill means that important work needs to be done in Washington, D.C. in the months ahead.

Addressing the media, the governor also attempted to reinforce the fact that inflation in supermarkets doesn't always mean inflated paychecks for the people producing the groceries. He pointed out the price Heldberg receives per hundredweight.

"He's getting paid 14 bucks for 12 gallons," Walz said, comparing that to the price charged in stores for a gallon of filtered water. "It's cheaper than water, what (dairy farmers) are getting paid."

After Walz and Petersen thanked Heldberg for the tour and the conversation, they wondered if he had any thoughts to share with a few thousand newspaper readers and TV newscast viewers.

He did.

"Everybody drink some extra milk. And buy cheese."