Progressive Dairy Podcast

New developments in teat dips and how they’re being applied give dairy farmers more options to manage their labor, udder health and milk quality. In this Progressive Dairy podcast, you’ll hear from Keith Engel, who specializes in hygiene solutions for GEA. Keith helps dairy farmers optimize milking performance with smart hygiene solutions to meet their farm’s needs and goals. Whether you’re looking to utilize parlor labor more effectively or seeking more flexible and economical teat dips, he can lay out all the options. Consistency and efficiency are cornerstones of milk quality and udder health for Keith. In this episode, he shares innovations in teat dip formulas, on-farm blending systems and automated applications to help you achieve both. This episode is sponsored by GEA.

On this Progressive Dairy Podcast, Peggy Coffeen sits down with Jay Joy, founder of Milk Money LLC, to learn how defining executive level roles within a dairy can propel the business forward, and how an outside perspective can lead to long-term viability.

On this Progressive Dairy Podcast, Peggy Coffeen visits with Ryan Estis, a keynote speaker from the Dairy Strong Conference hosted earlier this year in Wisconsin. This dynamic business consultant shares what any business must do right now to be positioned for future success.

On this Progressive Dairy Podcast, Peggy Coffeen makes a visit to a dairy farm with no cows in Fort Atkinson, Wis., to learn about a business family coming into its seventh generation of operations. Philip Jones, CEO of Jones Dairy Farm branded pork products talks openly about the brand’s inspiring origins story, company culture and keys to a successful multi-generational business.

There are many metrics that help shine light on a dairy herd’s performance, but one metric that is often overlooked can speak volumes – Dry Matter Intake. In this podcast, we’ll explore the sometimes unseen impact of how much the cows eat can affect health and performance. Joining me again is Richie Shepardson, a dairy technical specialist with Milk Specialties Global based out of Vermont. Richie, welcome to the program. This episode is sponsored by Milk Specialties Global.

On this episode of the Progressive Dairy Podcast, Peggy Coffeen sits down with Jared Yousey of Sunnyside Farms in Scipio Center, New York, to hear what actions he takes as the manager of a 5,000-cow dairy and 40-person team to establish a culture of loyal and reliable employees in a competitive labor market.

Father and son dairy producers Randy Ebert and Jordan Ebert of Algoma, Wisconsin, join the Progressive Dairy podcast to talk about how they have diversified Ebert Enterprises to include not only a dairy operation, but also a facility for raising many of their beef-on-dairy crossbreds. They also share their “doubling down” approach over the past two years, which has included the purchase of a local meat market, building their own harvesting facility and, most recently, opening the Homestead Kitchen and Tap, a farm-to-fork restaurant.

Finding the right ration mix for your dairy herd is critical to maximizing performance and profitability, but in the era of high feed costs and increased uncertainty, getting it right is trickier than it looks. This episode is sponsored by Milk Specialties Global.

This Progressive Dairy Podcast features the Progressive Dairy Producer Panel moderated by editor Peggy Coffeen at the Global Dairy Expo, held Dec. 8-10, in Las Vegas. Hear from these four top producers as they talk about core values, culture and what makes their operations different: Dick Bennink, North Florida Holsteins, Jared Yousey, Sunnyside Farms; Lyle Grimm, Riverview LLP; and Scott Blevins, Wiese Bros. Farms.

In this Progressive Dairy podcast, hear from Walt Cooley and Peggy Coffeen as they recap the year, talk about traditions and provide a sneak peek of changes coming for Progressive Dairy in the new year. Listen all the way to the end to find out the special gift Walt has for you.

We are back at the Real Science Exchange and coming to you from the World Dairy Expo 2021. We invite you to pull up a chair and join us to discuss the future of the dairy industry with three dairymen who have made their mark, not only in the show ring but on the entire industry. We have gathered three dairymen to discuss how the industry is changing and what recommendations they have for future generations. Guests: Jonathan Lamb, Oakfield Corners Dairy and Lamb Farms Pat Maddox, RuAnn Genetics and Maddox Dairy Jim Ostrom, MilkSource This episode is sponsored by Balchem Animal Nutrition and Health.

After more than three decades, 2021 saw new leadership installed at Dairy Management Inc. – the organization that manages the industry’s checkoff program. Barb O’Brien succeeded long-time CEO Tom Gallagher earlier this year. Editor Walt Cooley recently caught up with O’Brien to talk about what changes dairy farmers can expect in the checkoff under her leadership and some of the key issues she believes are facing the dairy industry.

Over the past year, Amy Throndsen, chief operating officer of Advanced Comfort Technology LLC, has written a series of feature articles on people in the dairy community with a background in service, whether that’s through the military or groups like the Peace Corps. In this episode, Progressive Dairy Editor Peggy Coffeen goes behind the scenes to tell the story of where this idea came from and the individuals who continue to give back in their current roles serving the dairy industry.

Meet U.S. Olympian and dairy farmer Elle Purrier-St. Pierre. On this episode of the Progressive Dairy Podcast, Editor Peggy Coffeen interviews this record-breaking runner who also advocates and educates her social media audience about dairy farming and nutrition.

Mallory Embree (Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer) and Lisa Marotz (Microbiome Scientist) work at Native Microbials, a company that specializes in creating novel microbial products for dairy cows. Native is on the verge of launching a flagship product that will have a big impact on the dairy industry - Galaxis Frontier. In this episode you’ll learn why the rumen microbiome is so important, what makes Galaxis Frontier different than other products on the market, and how the product improved energy corrected milk by 8 lbs/cow/day in a recently completed trial conducted in Tulare, CA. This episode is sponsored by Native Microbials.

Today’s episode is sponsored by Novus International, Inc. Novus marketing specialist, Megan Niehmeyer took time to interview Dr. Karen Luchterhand, C.O.W.S. program lead, on the importance of cow comfort. She shares key management strategies for achieving optimal production without sacrificing animal well-being. At the end, Dr. Luchterhand shares a C.O.W.S. assessment story that shows the power that teamwork, management practices, and nutrition can all have in transforming a dairy. Thank you for listening! This episode is sponsored by Novus International, Inc.

In today’s podcast, we introduce you to Jim Mattox, CEO of Cowsultants, and founder of the Global Dairy Expo. Progressive Dairy is a founding sponsor and exclusive media partner for the event, which will take place Dec. 8-10 in Las Vegas. Hear about how the exciting lineup of speakers and the value the event offers to dairy producers.

During a global pandemic, we learned that essential workers are people who provide everyday services and goods that we depend on, like milk. We are back with Tom and Simon, to get their perspective on how dairy producers can find ways to adapt in a tumultuous marketplace. This episode is sponsored by Zoetis.

This episode's guest is Austin Allred of Royal Family Farming. Allred talks about how he was forced to address his manure management practices due to legal action that applied retroactively to the dairy location that he now owns. He's using worms to help filter his manure water, and he's cleaned that water enough that he's personally willing to water-ski on his lagoon now. You may have seen the viral YouTube clip of him doing that. In this episode, he also talks about his beef x dairy crossbreeding program. Each beef animal on his Royal Ranch has a carbon footprint score. You'll hear tips for communicating about regenerative agriculture from someone at the forefront of the discussion.

This podcast episode focuses on Drumgoon Dairy, a South Dakota dairy farm that recently began milking with 20 DeLaval VMS V300s. Rodney, Dorothy and their son, David Elliott, share about their family’s relocation from Ireland to the United States and answer questions about their decision to go robotic. This podcast is hosted by Bill Krivanek of Farm Systems, the dairy’s local dealership. DeLaval is a full-service supplier to dairy farmers. DeLaval develops, manufactures and distributes equipment and complete systems for milk production and animal husbandry. Service, sales of a wide range of accessories, knowledge-sharing and consultancy are also key aspects of our operations. This episode is sponsored by DeLaval.

What data does your farm generate? Where is it going? How could it make your farm more profitable? A research group at the University of Wisconsin – Madison aims to answer those questions. Their work is called the Dairy Brain project. In this episode, you’ll hear from one of the researchers involved: Steve Wangan. He is a data scientist at the American Family Insurance Data Science Institute at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He works with analytics and software development. The overarching goal of the Dairy Brain project is to take research that is done at the university and hook it up with farmers’ data streams through a web interface so they can use it to help them make better decisions for their individual farms. You’ll learn what are the most difficult obstacles to moving data from off the farm and why there is a need to agree to some data standardization for on-farm data entry.

Robotic milking continues growing in popularity, and it’s changing how dairy farmers manage their herds. In this Progressive Dairy podcast, you’ll hear from Stuart Marshall, who specializes in robotic milking systems for GEA. Stuart helps dairy farmers transition to robotic milking and optimizes their robot performance. He focuses on advancing today’s robotic technology to meet the changing demands of dairies. Stuart brings a unique perspective working with farmers from across the U.S. with varying facilities and goals. He shares insights on box robots, robotic rotaries, what the future holds and more! This episode is sponsored by GEA.

“It’s taken care of.” How often is that the response when the next generation asks the former about the plan to transition the dairy operation? In this podcast, Tim Schaefer and Liz Griffith from Encore Consultants cover four key areas dairy farm families and businesses must address for a successful transition, not only of assets, but also of roles within the operation.

As the demand for milking robots continues to rise, robotic milking or automatic milking systems (AMS) has also become increasingly popular in Norway. In this episode of Dairy Talk with Norwegian Red, together with two prominent Norwegian dairy farmers, we discuss how the dairy industry has adapted to the robotic milking transformation and what makes the Norwegian Red genetics fit with the technology. Find out what motivates Norwegian farmers to invest in AMS and how has the progressive technology supported them in achieving and maintaining sustainable farming. This episode is sponsored by Geno.

In today’s podcast, we introduce you to the New Mexico Milk Maid herself, Tara Vander Dussen. Not only is she a key influencer on social media, but she’s also a dairy farmer, and an environmental scientist who works on dairy farm projects throughout the Southwest. Hear how Tara uses her knowledge, expertise and passion to share the message of dairy’s sustainability efforts and impact, as well as some exciting new developments coming soon.

In this episode, the experts from Central Life Sciences discuss ClariFly® Larvicide and the importance of fly control on dairy operations including the importance of a complete IPM program (3:10); identifying flies and their threats (4:59) and an explanation of how a larvicide controls flies (8:14). We then hear from Cameron Dakin (12:00), a third-generation dairy farmer who speaks to benefits he’s experienced while using ClariFly® Larvicide over the past several years. This episode is sponsored by Central Life Sciences.

Do you think zero treatments and zero death loss among your calves is possible? In this episode, you’ll hear from someone who’s done it – for four consecutive years on her farm. Canadian dairy veterinarian and dairy producer Jodi Wallace of Silverstream Holsteins joins the program. She talks about zero-zero calf care and what it takes to make it obtainable and what ultimately broke her farm’s four year zero-zero streak. During this interview, she also explains how her farm used their COVID-19 lockdown time productively. Knowing she is a vet, you would guess that she’s always telling her producer clients to follow label instructions, but she talks about one label she’d actually like to see producers disregard until it gets changed. And by the end of the interview, you’ll be hungry for pancakes as she talks about her farm’s diversification into the maple sap harvesting business.

During a global pandemic, we learned that essential workers are people who provide everyday services and goods that we depend on, like milk. We are back with Tom and Simon, to get their perspective on how dairy producers can find ways to adapt in a tumultuous marketplace. This episode is sponsored by Zoetis.

In this episode of the Progressive Dairy Podcast, hear from Dr. Don Niles of Dairy Dreams LLC, a veterinarian and Wisconsin dairy producer who has traded in needles and lockups for technologies that take control of bovine leukosis virus (BLV) transmission, capture pounds of milk and get more cows pregnant.

“Have you ever wondered how Progressive Dairy got its start?” In this episode, hear from the man who started it all here at Progressive Dairy – Leon Leavitt. While Leon has retired from day-to-day tasks, he still drops by the office every once in a while and participates in Progressive Publishing functions. We hope you enjoy hearing our origin story straight from the mind who created it.

Ken McCarty is a fourth-generation owner of McCarty Family Farms, which owns MVP Dairy LLC in Celina, Ohio with partners VanTilburg Farms. MVP Dairy was recently recognized as a U.S. Dairy Sustainability Award winner. Hear from Ken about their holistic approach and mindset around cow comfort, soil health, worker care and community engagement with 4,400 cows and 4,500 acres of cropland in their care.

We are back at the Real Science Exchange and invite you to pull up a chair and join us to discuss the effects of heat stress on late gestation cows. Tonight’s guests, who have worked together on research in this area, Dr. Geoff Dahl with the University of Florida and Dr. Jimena Laporta with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, join Scott Sorrell and Dr. Clay Zimmerman. This episode is sponsored by Balchem Animal Nutrition and Health.

Hear from two guests in this commemorative podcast. The first guest is Karen Scanlon. She is the executive vice president for environmental stewardship for the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy. She’ll talk about the purpose of the center’s annual sustainability awards and the process that goes into selecting the winners. This year is the 10th anniversary of the awards program, so she also explains how the awards are evolving and recaps some of the projects that have won in the past. The second guest is Chase Goodrich of Goodrich Family Farm in Salisbury, Vermont. Chase and his sister, Danielle, manage their family farm. It is one of several dairy farmer sustainability award winners this year. The farm has a 1.32-million-gallon anaerobic digester that produces renewable natural gas (RNG) from cow manure and food waste. It is one of the largest anaerobic digesters in the U.S. The digester is a partnership that brings together Goodrich Farm, Vanguard Renewables (developer, owner and operator of the digester), Vermont Gas Systems and Middlebury College, which will purchase much of the RNG produced at the digester.

Today we are going to talk about the past, present, and future of the dairy supply chain and how a powerful cloud-based software tool has connected all players in the industry. Joining us today from Atlantic Canada are Milk Moovement’s Co-Founder and COO Jon King along with AgriBusiness Specialist, Shelly Juurlink. This episode is sponsored by Milk Moovement.

In this Progressive Dairy Podcast, Editor Peggy Coffeen sits down with Dr. Larry Corah, Kansas State professor emeritus and now supply chain consultant for Select Sires. Corah brings his many years of experience working with cattle, feedlots and production systems to the conversation about the future of beef-on-dairy breeding.

Healthy cows are the foundation of any successful dairy, and good health begins well before lactation starts. In this episode, we continue speaking with Steven Landwehr, Annie Vannurden and Rocio Ramirez to discuss the importance of healthy cows and what a little fine-tuning and symptom identification can do for your operation. Plus, we’ll get their take on fresh cow management and the transition cow risk assessment they worked on with Zoetis. This episode is sponsored by Zoetis.

Willow Behrer Farms recently won an innovation award for producing their own on-farm videos to be used for employee training. In this episode, listeners hear from Pete Posnett who is the farm’s herdsman. He’s the one who produces the farm’s videos. And you’ll hear from the farm’s owner – Allen Behrer. Also on this podcast is an introduction to the farm by Emily Barge from the Center for Dairy Excellence. The center is the one that presented the award to the farm. She talks about the center’s own podcast – Cowside Conversations. Learn more about that podcast here.

“Dairy talk with Norwegian Red" podcast is addressing various aspects and discussions around dairy and cattle breeding development and trends. Listen in to learn what Dairy farmers, dairy producers, and subject matter experts in Norway have to say about their work to revolutionize breeding for health and fertility in addition to good productivity and sustainability. Hosted by Kate Stai, Chief Commercial Officer, and Trygve R. Solberg, Product Manager and Technical Advisor for Geno, an innovative breeding organization based in Hamar, Norway, today’s podcast are joined by Olav Østerås, a Special Advisor within Dairy Health and Welfare at TINE, the Norwegian milk processing organization. Olav has held many prestigious positions such as at the Norwegian Veterinary Institution, as Chief Veterinarian of the Norwegian Cattle Health Service, and was also a Professor at the Norwegian School of Veterinarian Science for 16 years. This episode is sponsored by Geno.

Is there a disconnect between ownership, management and employees on your dairy? In this Progressive Dairy Podcast, hear from Bill Eberle, as he provides tips on how to talk so your employees will listen. After spending 17 years as a dairy manager, Eberle brings his people skills to his current role as an account manager with Chr. Hansen.

Dairy life: It’s not for the faint of heart. Success only comes when every member of your operation is running in sync. In this episode, we’re speaking with Annie Vannurden of Silverstreak and Bluestreak dairies and Steven Landwehr and Rocio Ramirez from United Dairies. Listen in as we discuss how every single role on their dairies is important and can make an impact as well as share what antibiotic stewardship means to their dairies. This episode is sponsored by Zoetis.

Editor Walt Cooley interviews Pete Kappelman, the senior vice president of member and government relations for Land O’Lakes. They talk about sustainability and more, specifically about Land O’Lakes’ recent decision to perform on-farm sustainability assessments for all of their membership and what that will look like in practice. Kappelman says that agriculture has been “dragging its feet” a bit in the area of sustainability, but he’s excited the newest generation of dairy farmers – like the one that has taken over his own family farm – sees it as an opportunity.

This episode covers robotic manure scrapers, manure handling efficiency, becoming carbon neutral by 2050 and more with Jeramy Sanford of GEA. This episode is sponsored by GEA.

On this episode of the Progressive Dairy Podcast, Editor Peggy Coffeen sits down with Kelli Retallick, Director of Genetics and Genomic Programs, Angus Genetics, Inc. Kelli recently spoke at the Professional Dairy Producers Annual Business Conference, held in March in Wisconsin, where she informed dairy producers of the collaborative work between the American Angus Association, beef supply chain and dairy genetics industry to create a beef-x-dairy cross that please the feed yard, packers and consumer. In our time with Kelli today, she will help us understand why not just any black bull will do when it comes to selecting genetics for dairy beef crosses.

Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin (PDPW) and Progressive Dairy magazine recently partnered to create the Nexus Innovation Awards. Five companies were selected by a panel of dairy producers as winners of the award from among more than a dozen applicants. The companies presented their new innovations live on stage at PDPW’s Business Conference, March 17-18. Editor Walt Cooley presented the awards and moderated their live presentations. This episode contains recorded content from the live event and one-on-one interviews with a representative from each of the winning companies.

Mallory Embree is Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer at Native Microbials, a company focused on improving animal health and nutrition by leveraging the microbiome. The company has invested several years to scientific discovery to understand the complexity of the rumen microbiome, and the critical role it plays for cows. In this episode you’ll learn about the importance of the microbiome, implications for the dairy industry, and how Native Microbials is delivering novel feed additive solutions that can benefit farmers. Mallory is joined by Alfonso Lago, President of DairyExperts. This episode is brought to you by Native Microbials.

In this Progressive Dairy podcast, editor Peggy Coffeen takes a deep dive into in vitro fertilization (IVF) with Boviteq’s Dr. Shantille Kruse. They discuss how some herds are using this reproductive technology to move the needle on genetic progress, while at the same time, controlling heifer inventory and adding value to offspring.

Hillcrest Farms is home to Georgia’s first robotic dairy farm. Hillcrest Farms started in 1941 on the perimeter of Dearing, Georgia. It has continued to be owned and operated by the Rodgers family and is now on its fourth generation, three of which still work on the farm today. In this episode, you’ll have the opportunity to hear from Mark Rodgers about his family’s involvement on the farm. With the future generations in mind and to help with their labor challenges, the family made the decision in 2019 to install five DeLaval VMS V300 robots into their retrofit barn. Their herd currently sits above a 90-pound average milk production, with a positive outlook on growing that number even more. Recently, Hillcrest Farms opened up their farm for agritourism. Mark shares about the agritourism experience on their farm and shares some insight on the future of his farm with robots in this new podcast episode. This episode is brought to you by DeLaval. If you’re interested in learning more about the DeLaval VMS V300 or want to talk with a DeLaval representative, please visit our website at delaval.com.

Dr. Jennifer Walker is a former dairy veterinarian who is now the director of quality and care for Danone North America. She oversees Danone's milk quality and animal welfare programs for the 700 U.S. dairy farms that supply the company’s milk. In short, she says her job is to "make sure the cows are happy, and the milk is awesome."

On this Progressive Dairy Podcast, editor Peggy Coffeen sits down with Amy Penterman from Dutch Dairy in Thorp, Wis. She is a dairy farmer, crop insurance agent, and the newly elected president of the Dairy Business Association. Amy talks about grassroots advocating and lobbying in a virtual space and opportunities to open dialogue with the environmental community.

Wisconsin dairyman Chuck Ripp’s 900-cow farm has had a digester for more than 10 years. In this episode, you’ll hear about their recent switch over to producing renewable natural gas and whether Chuck thinks it will pay off. He’ll also explain the farm’s focus on transition cows and the protocols he uses to limit issues with fresh cows. Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, he’s using a virtual relationship with his nutritionist. He’ll talk about how that’s affected his feeding program. And finally, Chuck shares his best wisdom for younger producers from his years of dairy experience.