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Featured Trimmer: Jeff Heeg, Wisc..
Jan. 2011

My wife, Sara, and I have lived in Clintonville, WI for ten years. We have two young children, Riley (6) and Lily (2).

I have been around or involved in dairy farming all my life. I felt I had worked all aspects of farming shy of my own farm. When I graduated from high school, I thought I should expand my horizons and try something other than farming. I worked in road construction for 2 years. Traveling an running big equipment was all well and good, but it just wasn’t for me as time away from home and family was demanding. So I went back to what I knew - “farming”. I became a herdsman for a 200-cow dairy and decided to go to tech school for HVAC-R. After I graduated I worked with a large company in Minneapolis, MN and was thankful for a steady job. The only problem was, all my family was back in Wisconsin. When I married my wife Sara, I finally moved back to WI while working in the same industry, but I still wasn’t happy.

Not knowing what the future held for me, I then found myself back as a herdsman. One day while I was sorting cows for the hoof trimmer, something caught my interest that had not in the past. I had seen many hoof trimmers in the past and thought “what a crappy job that is. I hope I never have to do that job.” This time was different. Our trimmer had new equipment that was much more cow and trimmer friendly. He was cleaner, quicker, and the cows seemed presumably better off.

I then decided I would give hoof trimming a try. I went to Dairyland Hoof Care Institute for training. I bought a brand new Appleton Steel chute and away I went. It was tough at first, but after the first year I found myself very busy and have been doing this for almost nine years. I now have one full time employee that trims with me and have more work than ever.

Thank you to all the support from my wife, family, friends and the HTA. I think I have found the job for me.

Past Featured Members:

Chad and Harold Boyce, Georgia
Michael Wallen, Calif.
Martin Van Beek, NM.
Jeff Heeg, Wisc.
Phil Hemphill, BC, Canada