Inside Dairy 10/5/26

We're going to go back to World Dairy Expo of last week and speak with Nick Achen.

Nick is a dairy producer from Wisconsin who stood second in his class with his dairy heifer, who, by the way, is a milking shorthorn.

I've tried all the other livestock in 4-H, but I'm like, I'm going to be a dairy farmer.

There you go.

How many cows do you guys milk?

So I don't sell my milk, unfortunately.

I just do kind of a side gig or, you know, I have the opportunity to rent a little barn on a facility where I custom raise calves.

So renting that, you know, I'm able to portably milk about 10 of my registered herd.

So you have got an absolutely beautiful hurt.

You are here at World Dairy Expo.

Let's talk about that beauty that you brought in the show ring.

And then to get pulled second in line, that's a huge, for our listeners who don't understand, Nick, that's a huge thing to have that judge at World Dairy Expo point at you.

And

it's not you're leaving the ring.

No. You're

moving on.

Yeah.

It was very nervous.

I was speechless.

I had this heifer, or I purchased her as a fall calf in the spring of 2024.

And my mentors from Ellsworth, Wisconsin, Discovery Genetics, Kevin and Lisa, they're like, hey, Nick, we're not short-run breeders yet, yet.

But this heifer is really nice.

I think you should consider it.

And I said, yeah, that's the one I looked at, you know.