NEW ULM — A South Dakota State University professor whose research has been directed at understanding the initial events of viral infections to develop better methods to prevent them in animals, testified for several hours in a Brown County District Court jury trial Tuesday.

Jill and Brian Olson of Olmar Farms, rural Sleepy Eye, allege stray voltage issues jeopardized their dairy farming operation for a number of years until they say the problem was solved May 1, 2017 by a Wisconsin electrical consultant.

The Nelsons claim damages of greater than $50,000 due to decreased milk production, dairy herd injury and damage, property damage, lost profits and income and increased feed and other expenses in the three-week long civil case against the Brown County Rural Electrical Association (REA).

Dr. Christopher Chase, whose clinical experience is with dairy, cow-calf, feedlot and hog herd health, talked about the importance of keeping animals calm to help prevent disease and that low levels of electricity can create inflammation that can damage animal tissue.

Chase testified under examination from Olmar Farms attorney Charles Bird of Rochester, that stray voltage was a major factor in milk production loss and caused immunological issues in cows at Olmar Farms until herd health began to improve in 2017.

“I’d expect it to take years to fully recover,” Chase testified. “We had a stray voltage issue at SDSU and it took years before the cows were at where we thought they should be.”

Under cross-examination from defendant’s attorney Mark S. Henkel of Stevens Point, Wi., Chase testified that dairy farming and cow immunity are both very complicated subjects.

Dr. Thomas Oelberg of New Ulm, a feed sales representative and technical specialist for Diamond V, said he did TMR audits (on-farm evaluations of feed storage and preparation, mixing and delivery designed to improve feed efficiency) at Olmar Farms.

Oelberg testified he helped the Nelson’s improve feed efficiency by adjusting mixing times and increased mixing engine rpms.

Wisconsin Master Electrician Larry Neubauer, who the Nelsons say solved their stray voltage issues with a number of recommendations they followed two years ago, testified to plaintiff’s attorney Scott Lawrence of Rochester, that he is not regulated by state electrical regulations, that he follows the National Electrical Code (NEC) and that he always installs voltage monitors on farms he visited for consulting work “for piece of mind.”

Neubauer testified he separated power systems at old and new parts of the farm before installing electrical monitors.

The jury trial continues at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

fbusch@nujournal.com