hometownsource. com / heartland /
picks up the milk every other day. The processor pays what they pay, and farmers do not have a say in the price.
The Orbecks also pay a premium to the government – an insurance policy – so that if feed costs are higher than the national average, they get a match to bring them up to the national level.“ It doesn’ t help a lot, but it’ s something,” Mike said.
Mike held out his callused hands. The hands showed signs of a man that does a lot of hard work.
He smiled and said,“ It’ s from money coming in and money going out.”
The farm’ s Holsteins can range from 1,200 to 1,600 pounds on average. Holsteins used to be milk cows and Jerseys used to be cream cows, but now Mike said his Holsteins are bigger than they used to be and produce milk with high fat and protein levels.
When asked why, he explained it’ s a combination of genetics and betterquality feed. Feed for the cattle includes alfalfa, dry hay, high-moisture shelled corn, calcium carbonate and a balanced protein mix.
As far as genetics, it depends which bull semen is used to inseminate the females. The Orbecks do not have live bulls on their property. Instead, they use semen tanks that store frozen semen for ar-
Stories of the Heartland • Sunday, September 21, 2025 Page 5
Cynthia Parsons / Stories of the Heartland
Mike Orbeck, Gladys Orbeck, Bob Orbeck, and Betty( Orbeck) Schmidt are pictured in front of the Orbeck family home.
Proudly sourcing the freshest picked produce straight from Midwest farms to your table.
Fresher
LocalIS FRESHER. BETTER
.
CobMdwstRts9 _ 88x4 _ 75 _ 082225