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.

You’ll hear about all things manure in this Progressive Dairy podcast with Jeramy Sanford, GEA. Jeramy shares insights on robotic manure scrapers, manure handling efficiency, becoming carbon neutral by 2050 and more!   As a global product manager with GEA, Jeramy brings a unique perspective on U.S. and worldwide manure trends. He’s responsible for developing new manure handling technologies and advancing today’s manure spreaders and scrapers to meet changing demands of conventional and robotic dairies.

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.

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. 

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, Wisconsin. 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.