Fair & Family
Calves and kids are started right in Minnesota. Ken and Linda Glicszinski of New Prague will tell you the “right way” means the family is all in for their county fair.
While their children — Scott, Elizabeth and Sara — were young, the two weeks at the end of July were the highlight of the year around the Glicszinski dairy farm. “Our county fair and 4-H have played a big part in our lives,” said Sara Ruehling, Ken and Linda’s daughter.
Growing up in 4-H cemented a deep passion in Sara for livestock, particularly cattle. Those pretty, well-mannered calves, steers and cows displayed at the fair are there thanks to work that begins long before. Choosing each calf carefully, the cream of the crop is selected for equal parts – looking like a champion and having a royal disposition.
Calves are taught to stand just so, lead properly and enjoy the personal attention required to make them show-ring ready. Hours of brushing, bathing, feeding, cleaning, coaxing, positioning, clipping and leading are repeated each week in anticipation of the big day.
The calves have plenty to learn before they enter the fair gate, but the kids also gain valuable lessons before, during and after the fair. “While growing up, summer was spent prepping for the fair, which entailed endless hours of fun and memories,” Ruehling said. “Days were filled with family and friends all working livestock together. Each day had its own new adventure. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Looking back, I can appreciate how blessed we were to be involved in agriculture and extend that experience to family and friends.”
Fast forward to today, and the fair remains an integral part of life for the Glicszinskis. At the Scott County Fair, the family provides fairgoers opportunities to witness one of the most awe-inspiring aspects of farm life — birth.
Since its inception in 2013, the Miracle of Birth Center has provided unparalleled experiences and educational opportunities.
That first year, in pens built by Ken, one of their dairy cows gave birth to twins.
“We assisted with the birth and were rewarded with live twins,” Ruehling recalled. Word spread quickly throughout the fairgrounds. By the time the calves were taking their first wobbly steps, you couldn’t have squeezed in one more person to witness the event.
The Glicszinski family gathers sponsors, livestock from neighboring farms and volunteers to oversee the animals and answer questions. Growing the exhibit each year, fairgoers are privileged to witness the hatching of chicks and the birth of piglets, lambs, kids and calves.
“The driving force behind the Miracle of Birth Center is to give everyone a glimpse into farm life,” Ruehling said. This exhibit remains one of the most popular attractions at the fair.
Another popular attraction is the pig races — an event where the Glicszinskis have also taken the lead. While they don’t really raise pigs, an exception is made because of the overwhelming joy and laughter the pigs bring to fairgoers.
“The pigs are only here because of the fair,” Ken Glicszinski said with pride and a little shock. To his way of thinking, a fair is incomplete without pig races.
He buys two litters of piglets each year, raises and trains them to race around a track. Not only do the pigs provide a good laugh for those at the Scott County Fair, these are traveling pigs. Not hogging all the fun for the Scott County Fair visitors, the racing pigs hit the road to grace several county fairs in the area.
While the pigs might steal the show at the fair and be mentioned in the same breath as NFL players, it’s always been dairy cattle that have held Glicszinski’s dreams.
Growing up on a dairy, Ken Glicszinski decided early to pursue a life where dairy cows took center stage. Right out of high school, he rented a dairy and began pursuing his dream of owning and operating his own farm.
At 19, with seven heifers from his dad and 19 purchased Holsteins and Holstein crosses, he began working toward his future.
Purchasing that dairy, marrying Linda, and adding 16 more stalls and additional cows made Glicszinski realize he was now living his dream. With hard work and dedication, the farm and family grew. In 2005, a compost bed packing barn was added with a step-up parlor.
Milking 120 cows twice a day in a smaller space requires a bit of juggling, but the Glicszinskis have made it work. “We raise all our own heifers and most of our own feed,” Glicszinski said.
Black-and-white Holsteins make up the majority of the herd, but red-and-white Holsteins, Jerseys and some crosses add excitement to the mix. With owned and rented land set aside for feed production, the cattle spend most of their time close to home.
Artificial insemination, without synchronizing, ensures genetic advancement in the herd and year-round calving without needing additional staff. “Mom takes care of the calves and mixes feed. Dad, with the help of part-time employees, does the milking. And we all jump in to assist when needed,” Ruehling said.
Employed as a livestock nutritionist at the local feed mill, Ruehling naturally gravitates toward working with cattle rather than fieldwork, but lends a hand when needed.
All the harvested feed is stored in bags. The bagged feed gets mixed into the total mixed ration and delivered to a drive-by feed alley for the milk cows, and transported to feed alleys and bunks for the young stock.
Young heifers are raised in individual pens and moved into group pens once they are weaned. Bull calves are fed milk for about two weeks to ensure they are started well, then sold to Ken’s brother-in-law, who fattens them.
A small herd of beef cattle also calls the dairy home. As a 4-H project that was never outgrown, the beef calves occasionally hit the show ring at the fair, but most are fattened and destined for dinner plates with the help of National Farmers.
In fact, it was the Glicszinskis’ involvement with their fair that led to their partnership with National Farmers. While attending the fair and enjoying the Miracle of Birth exhibit, National Farmers cattle marketing representative Dennis Bertrand introduced himself to the Glicszinskis. That conversation resulted in an ongoing relationship.
“We sell our fats and culls through National Farmers,” Glicszinski said. “Selling on the rail enables us to receive the same price for our fat heifers as we do for our fat steers.”
They also receive a better price for the dairy cull cows. Typically, Jerseys and thinner cows are heavily discounted at auction markets.
“Selling with National Farmers, we don’t have that concern,” he said.
One can imagine the Glicszinski dairy cows might be disillusioned by the pigs hogging the spotlight. But that’s not the case. After all, dairy cattle are less apt to squeal about their success.
More homebodies than divas, the cattle are content with the quiet, predictable routine at home and the occasional jaunt around the show ring.
No reason to get their tails in a knot — being catered to by Ken and Linda Glicszinski and the rest of the family suits the cattle just fine.
