For the long haul
Pickard Trucking, F&A Dairy have taken county fair’s milk for decades

By Heidi Clausen Regional Editor
ST. CROIX FALLS —

Every summer, the dairy cows at the Polk County Fair give thousands of pounds of milk.  It has to go somewhere; that’s where Pickard Trucking comes in. For more than 40 years, the Amery trucking firm has picked up all the milk from the fairground and delivered it to F&A Dairy in Dresser, free of charge. Pickard Trucking donates the hauling and, after the fair, F&A cuts a check for the milk to the Polk County Fair Soci- ety, which funnels the money into fairground improvements with a focus on dairy/livestock facilities. Fair board member Karrie Melin-Swenson is hard- pressed to put a price on the value of two local companies’ willingness to volunteer staff time and services to the fair. “We appreciate their support,” she said. “They do a great job.”

F&A fieldman Doug Anderson, who doubles as fair milkhouse superintendent, said Melin-Swenson calls him each May to check in on the status of fair milk pickup.“I tell her not to worry about it,” he said. Anderson expected the more than 130 milk cows shown at this year’s fair to produce a record amount of milk during the fair, held July 27-31. About 120 cows were shown last year. The Polk County Fair boasts one of the largest dairy shows in Wisconsin. Anderson predicted that the fairtime herd would produce about 20,000 pounds of milk over the course of the event, compared to 16,000 pounds last year. Anderson said F&A pays the going Grade A milk base price for the fair’s milk — about $17 per hundredweight this year, not including quality and component premiums. He said milk components at the fair typically aver- age 4.2 percent butterfat and 3.3 percent protein, with a somatic cell count of less than 200,000. “It’s great quality milk,” he said. “You always get the best of the best at these shows.”

While a lot of trucking companies would rather not mess with fair milk pickup, Mike Pickard of Pickard Trucking said his company does it as a service to the community. He said they take an average of a tanker load of milk, or about 5,000 pounds, off the fairground each day. “We have a spare truck,” he said. “We decided to have one dedicated to the fair simply because we don’t know the times they’ll milk. Sometimes it’s 3 a.m. When the tank gets full, we’ve got to pump it out.” A milk surge occurs just minutes after Saturday’s dairy show, when exhibitors bring some 80 anxious cows to be milked.

Pickard Trucking started picking up fair milk in the 1960s, when Pickard’s father ran the hauling firm. This also was before F&A acquired Belle Cheese in Amery, mov- ing their business to Dresser. Until a new milking parlor was built a few years ago, milk pickup at the fair was tricky, Pickard said. Big, bulky trucks had to be slowly and carefully maneuvered down the same narrow walk- ways traveled by fairgoers. “Nobody wanted to pick it up because it’s a lot of hassle,” Pickard said. “We would try to pick up in the middle of the night because of the crowds of people.”

Milk pickup has gotten alot easier with the milkhouse located in a less-congested area behind the barns. “This is fantastic,” he said of the new parlor. “It’s easier to get in and out.” Before a quick test for antibiotics in milk was developed about five years ago, there also were concerns about the quality of milk at the fair, he said. “What if the milk was bad?” he said. “Before (the quick test), they had to keep the milk separate from the rest. They had no way of knowing if it was antibiotic- free.”

During the fair, Anderson logs long days on the grounds, washing the milkhouse equip- ment and performing a simple antibiotic test on each load before Pickard Trucking delivers it to the plant.“I test for antibiotics before any load goes out,” he said. Another, more official antibiotic test is done in F&A’s inspected laboratory once the milk arrives at the dairy plant, he said.  Anderson said fairgoers often stop by the milkhouse and eight-stall parlor to watch milking and learn more about the dairy industry.  “It’s amazing all the people who come up and watch the process … ,” he said. “Grandfathers come with grandsons. With the big parlors now, a lot of people don’t see (milking) this way anymore.