Randy Mosel at Mo-Day Dairy Gets Innovative
At Mo-Day Dairy, Randy and Jolene Mosel allow technoogy and nature to coincide

Randy and Jolene Mosel.

Mo-Day Dairy is located at the end of a quiet country road outside Neligh, Nebraska –
population 1,500. Not much traffic ventures out to this area where acres and acres of bright green alfalfa hug the perimeter of the 40-cow dairy. At night, when the sky is clear, the dairy’s owner, Randy Mosel, can look up at the stars and see satellites glide across the sky.

This convergence of nature and technology is the perfect metaphor for Randy’s life – a life that has allowed this Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. member to mix his love for country living with his passion for computers.

Randy grew up on this farm, which was purchased by his grandfather in the late 1940s. His father, Gene Mosel, a former Mid-America Dairymen Board member, took over in 1965 when the farm’s assets included nine cows and a tractor.

Randy’s wife, Jolene, lived just eight miles from the Mosels’ farm. She and Randy met through 4-H, went to high school together and were college sweethearts. After college, they married and Jolene went into nursing and Randy became
a computer programmer.

Back to the farm
The Mosels were happy with the careers they’d chosen, but when Randy’s brother, Rick, was killed in a car accident in 1986, they knew they needed to come back to help Gene on the family farm.

With a double-three milking parlor, Gene and Randy were spending eight hours a day milking 90 cows, so they decided to upgrade their parlor. They first conferred with fellow dairyman Keith Bohlander, who was then a salesman for Nebraska Dairy Systems but today serves as Area manager for DFA’s Central Area. They also took some farm tours. Randy and his father decided to build a double-eight parlor. They also grew their beef herd to 70 stock cows.

Ten years later, Gene was killed in a farming accident, and Randy and Jolene decided it was time to take their agricultural careers more seriously.

Randy made the decision to downsize the operation so he wouldn’t have to rely on outside help and focus on his two big interests – cows and alfalfa. He explains that dairying fascinates him because no two days are the same, and growing alfalfa allows him to experiment seeking better ways to raise feed for their herd.

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