Progressive Dairy Podcast

In this episode of the Progressive Dairy Podcast, host Jenn Coyne visits with Jake Peissig of JTP Farms. Peissig and his lean workforce strive for superior milk quality and cow care with a strategic approach to mastitis treatment and dry cow therapy. This Wisconsin dairy producer was recently recognized as the inaugural Dairy First award recipient by Boehringer Ingelheim, celebrating Peissig’s commitment to milk quality practices and the well-being of his herd.   Here is a breakdown of this episode: Tell me about JTP Farms. [~1:40]What is your farming philosophy on growing and sustaining the herd in today’s dairy industry? [~2:42]What are management things you do on the farm that let you achieve your goals regarding milk quality and cow comfort? [~4:55]How do you address milk quality in your herd with selective dry cow therapy, mastitis culturing and other treatment protocols? [~6:12]What have been the positive outcomes in terms of milk quality, herd health and overall herd performance? [~10:45]What challenges have you and your team had to overcome in order to meet your farm goals? [~12:56]How has technology played a role in achieving your farm goals? [~15:35]Could you imagine farming and managing a milking herd any other way without technology? [~19:02]What’s next for Jake Peissig and the team at JTP Farms? [~20:07]What advice would you give other dairy producers who are looking to improve their herd management, specifically targeting improved milk quality and the overall well-being of the animals on their farm? [~21:49]How does Boehringer Ingelheim’s inaugural Dairy First award reflect what you and your team accomplish each day at JTP Farms? [~24:56]Rapid fire questions [~25:46] Contact: Jake Peissig Jtpfarms@hotmail.com

On this episode of The Dairy Dive we’re joined by someone smarter than us, much smarter. Sara Kvidera, of Elanco, joins the show as we dive deep into the world of animal health. Sara does a fantastic job of explaining some complicated topics in a way that even Scott and Andrew can understand! This episode is sponsored by Masters Choice. Welcome to The Dairy Dive, a newly reformatted podcast (formerly known as the MC Podcast) that is dedicated to diving deep into topics that are important to today’s dairy farms. Every other Wednesday hosts, Scott Harris and Andrew Crabtree, are joined by leading industry professionals to fully engage their expertise in unique aspects of dairy, exploring everything from robotic milkers to dairy nutrition. It’s a fun, and sometimes quirky, auditory experience that is unlike anything else in the ag podcast space. Find The Dairy Dive, sponsored by Masters Choice, wherever you get your podcasts.

Editor Walt Cooley visits with Progressive Dairy contributor Andy “Caygeon” Junkin during World Dairy Expo about working with family and succession planning. This three-part episode discusses how to goal set for success, how the next generation should work with their elders on the farm, and how to set a farm on the right path for succession. Junkins’s niche is helping stubborn farmers work better together.  Here’s a breakdown of the episode: Business planning for farm families [~2:45]Junkin’s business plan in his wallet and how he manages day-to-day goals [~9:30]One-page business plan [~12:45]Creating short mission and vision statements and how it can change your operation [~18:15]Importance of shared goals [~21:40]What it takes to put a succession plan in place [~24:00]How to transfer management and wisdom before transferring assets [~34:10]First draft of succession strategy [~41:45]Tips for navigating family members not being on the same page [~46:30]Why many farm families struggle with communicating with each other [~50:45]Tackling four to five areas the farm struggles with [~56:20]Importance of common values and beliefs [~57:45]Navigating changing family dynamics during the first few years of coming back to the farm [~59:45] To learn more about Junkin’s work in this area, visit www.stubborn.farm

Dairy farmers rely on data to make timely management decisions to optimize individual cow, herd, employee and farm success. In this episode, Matt Heisner, dairy product specialist for Nedap, introduces the Nedap SmartFlow Milk Meter and describes how it can accurately measure milk yield and flow rate in your milking system. This episode is sponsored by Nedap. Nedap develops technology for life. Technology that helps people be more successful and happier in their professional lives. For Nedap Livestock Management this means helping professional dairy and pig producers run a profitable, sustainable and enjoyable business. The solutions Nedap creates enable them to automate everyday tasks and make informed decisions based on individual animal identification and data. This way Nedap empowers livestock producers to respond to the growing global demand for animal protein in a way that is both profitable and aligned with rising standards for animal welfare, sustainability, transparency and the safety and quality of food. Learn more at https://www.nedap-livestockmanagement.com/dairy-farming/ Here’s the episode breakdown: 0:40 – Welcome, Matt Heisner and host, Tera Baker1:34 – Who is Nedap?2:04 – Introduction to the SmartFlow Milk Meter and what makes it different?3:20 – What are the advantages to being wireless?4:38 – Can you tell us more about the technology behind the SmartFlow?5:18 – How does this make a farmer’s life easier?5:59 – Describe how a farmer can take action from the data.7:01 – Can you share how this affects the cow or cow comfort?8:19 – Does this interfere with the milking process?8:56 – Where can farmer’s find the data?9:51 – How do you manage the meter day-to-day?10:58 – How does this fit into a farmer’s current milking system?11:36 – Where and how can Nedap technology be accessed?12:39 – Is it cost effective and how does it affect milk quality?14:20 – Can you share when the Nedap SmartFlow milk meter will be available to farmers?

In this episode of the Progressive Dairy Podcast, host Kimmi Devaney visits with author and well-known speaker Michele Payn about stress – what it is, how it manifests, how it impacts our farms, and most importantly, what we can do about it. Michele is passionate about agriculture and has connected with a multitude of audiences about utilizing science to connect people across the food plate, in addition to advocacy, mental health and much more. Here is a breakdown of the episode: About Michele, her dairy background and how she helps farmers [~1:30]What inspired your passion for helping farmers with mental health and stress management? [~2:50]What are you hearing from farmers these days about stress, stress levels and stress management? [~4:40]How has that conversation changed in the last five to 10 years? [~6:40]What does work-life balance look like on a dairy farm and what are some first steps farmers can take if they are looking for more balance in their lives? [~8:45]How do stress and cortisol manifest in the body? [~12:20]What are the consequences of maintaining stress levels that are too high for too long? [~14:25]On the flip side, are there any benefits to stress? [~17:15]How can our listeners recognize if their stress is out of control? [~17:40]What are some of the ways to create a buffer against stress? [~19:25]You recorded an episode with Eliz Greene on your podcast about how overwhelm and uncertainty are two main stressors for many people. Tell us more about this and why these two in particular are so impactful. [~23:00]Why do you say stress management is an essential business practice and how can someone be strategic about either dealing with or preventing stress? [~26:35]You recently developed a growth journal. Tell us about that and how someone can utilize it. [~30:20]What are some resources farmers can access as they incorporate stress management into their lives and businesses? [~33:10]What are some red flags people should be looking for in their friends and family when it comes to mental health and stress management? [~34:55]What else should farmers know about mental health and stress management that we haven’t covered yet? [~37:25]What role does gratitude play in all of this? [~39:05]Rapid-fire questions [~42:00] Contact Michele Payn Website: causematters.com Email: mpayn@causematters.com Social media: @mpaynspeaker

In this episode, you’ll hear from Wisconsin dairy farmer Mack Drees of Drees Dairy Farm. Mack is the “cow guy” on his family dairy. When he came home from college, the dairy needed to expand but didn’t want to have to manage more people. They decided to milk with robots in their new expansion. Mack talks about whether he thinks it’s better to bite off a whole bunch of technology at once when going with robots or if staged adoption of technology is preferable. He also gives his answer as to whether the activity monitoring has paid for itself more in repro improvements or if cow health improvements for his registered Holstein herd are returning more of an investment. This podcast was recorded during the 2022 National Holstein Convention in South Dakota this past summer. Mack was a participant on the Data and Innovation Summit producer panel. Listen to that panel here. Here is a breakdown of the episode: Tell us about your farm. [~1:45]Give us your experience transitioning your farm to milking robots. [~3:00]If you had to do it over again, would you stairstep into technology or make a big leap into it all at one time? Why? [~5:00]How long did it take for cows to get used to the robots? [~6:45]At what age do you put your activity monitors on? [~9:00]Explain your experience of using activity monitoring to dial in optimum breeding time. [~10:00]In what ways is technology already providing a payback on your farm? [~11:15]Do you think you get more of a payback from activity monitoring on the health or repro side of your farm? [~14:15]In your opinion, how can farmers best utilize sort gates with monitoring? [~15:45]Talk about how you do regular milk testing with your robots. [~19:45]Explain your farm’s three-pronged approach to evaluating technology. [~25:00]Describe how activity monitoring quantified the value of treatment vs. prevention. [~31:00]What’s a decision you need to make in the upcoming months? [~33:30] Follow Drees Dairy Farm online: www.facebook.com/dreesdairy

In this episode of the Progressive Dairy Podcast, host Kimmi Devaney talks with Davon Cook about how peer groups and advisory boards can improve your farm by bringing additional perspective to your management decisions. Here’s a breakdown of the episode: Davon tells us how she helps dairy producers with their businesses. [~1:08]What trends have you seen with the farms you’ve worked with regarding team development and leadership? [~3:56]Definition of peer groups and advisory boards in a farm context [~8:37]Some frequent challenges she sees on farms related to leadership, business and human resources [~12:55]Recommendations for setting up an advisory board [~16:55]Benefits of including someone outside of agriculture in your advisory board [~24:15]How to vet potential advisory board candidates [~27:20]Recommendations for setting up a peer group [~30:15]Are there existing peer groups that dairy producers can join or do they need to create their own? [~36:35]Success stories [~40:40]Qualities and actions that increase success [~48:00]First steps for setting up an advisory board or peer group [~50:35]Rapid-fire questions [~52:50] Davon’s contact information: Email her at Davon.Cook@pinionglobal.com

What do health care and dairy have in common? Both are using data and technological advancements to provide better care. In this episode, Taliah Danzinger, VAS manager of education and training, dives into parallels between industries, how we can make better use of data and what the future of dairy data looks like. In her role, Taliah performs dairy herd data evaluation and educates producers, industry partners and academia on the applications and analysis of the data through VAS' software solutions. She also provides education on how to use VAS products and services, including DairyComp and the VAS PULSE Platform. Taliah brings on-farm experience to her role as a herd manager for a 300-cow robotic dairy and her ownership of a small dairy herd. Here is the episode breakdown: 0:57 – Welcome, Taliah1:55 – Hurdles with today’s dairy data2:42 – Parallels between health care and the dairy industry4:29 – How to help farmers manage their data5:57 – Real-life data scenarios7:17 – Data collaboration for key players on every farm8:13 – Platforms making the most of dairy data10:04 – Evolution of benchmarking and dairy software11:58 – Future of dairy data This episode is sponsored by VAS. VAS is focused on your dairy’s future with software and information solutions that help collect and connect your farm’s data. Learn more at VAS.com

In this episode of the Progressive Dairy podcast, host Kimmi Devaney talks with fourth-generation Washington dairy farmer Jack Mallonee about managing an automated milking system in a pasture-based system, opportunities available for young people interested in getting involved in the dairy industry, the ways automation has changed the way they manage the farm, facility upgrades and what they are doing differently to increase cow comfort, and more. Jack and his dad, Maynard, have a 60-cow organic dairy farm in southwest Washington.  Here is a breakdown of the episode: About the farm [~1:20]Dairy breeds [~2:35]Why they chose an automated milking system vs. traditional parlor [~3:55 ]Other automation on the farm [~4:42]How they incentivize cows out on pasture to visit the barn to be milked [~5:25]How the automated milking system has changed the way they manage the farm [~5:50]Utilizing data from automation in management decisions [~6:55]Managing robots in a pasture-based system [~8:40]Their greatest challenges with their automated milking system [~10:57]Preparing springers for the automated milking system prior to calving [~12:35]Advice for other grazing dairies considering adding an automated milking system [~13:45]Matching herd size with land base on an organic dairy [~15:25]Jack’s inspiration to return to the farm after graduation [~16:40]Opportunities available for young people to get involved in the dairy industry [~17:15]How industry organizations can help young people make connections in the industry [~18:40]Facility upgrades [~20:18]Building barns for cow comfort [~21:10]Future goals [~22:50]Rapid fire questions [~25:10]

More and more dairy farmers are thinking about switching to robotic milking as new technology provides better options to manage labor, production and milk quality. In this episode, Matt Roberts, director of milking equipment sales for GEA, shares considerations for choosing the right robot type, real-world performance results and how to evaluate robotic milking ROI. Matt has extensive experience with milking system installations, and uses that background to help dairy farmers choose, manage and maintain their milking equipment – from conventional parlors to large-scale robotic milking systems. Whether you’re looking to optimize milking performance or seeking a more flexible farm schedule, he lays out all the options. This episode is sponsored by GEA. GEA offers milking solutions to maximize efficiency and milk quality. From parlors to robotic milking, our customized milking systems fit the needs of any size dairy farm. Herd management tools, hygiene solutions and manure management equipment complete our offering. You can count on our leading-edge technologies paired with our experienced dealer service network to help manage your dairy business profitably and sustainably. Learn more at gea.com/dairyfarming. Here’s the episode breakdown: 0:40 – Welcome, Matt Roberts2:28 – Can you share details on the two milking robot styles?3:47 – Talk us through initial robot conversations and considerations.6:50 – What about robotic milking ROI?8:30 – Can you explain features and services to look for in robotic milking systems?9:48 – Can you share current highlights of robotic milking farms?11:10 – What about robotic milking performance?11:42 – What are your top recommendations for farmers interested in robots?