PDP Manager's Memo

June 2024 Vol. 2

Brought to you by Dairy's Professional Development Organization®

Your Farm - Your Footprint

Your farm is your livelihood, and Your Farm – Your Footprint™, the ﬁrst-of-its-kind, farmer-led sustainability initiative that empowers dairy farmers to know and understand their environmental footprint, offers solutions to shape the future of your farm. Dairy’s Foundation is supporting this initiative thanks to Nestlé kind sponsorship.

Identifying your farm’s carbon and greenhouse gas metrics is a critical first step, and with Your Farm – Your Footprint, participants have access to:

Easy-to-understand reporting accompanied by technical consulting during which one of our experts personally reviews your farm’s report with you and offers customized improvement recommendations. Your data is protected and won’t be shared with anyone else without your consent.
Opportunity to test-drive three sustainability measurement platforms, including FARM ES (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management - Environmental Stewardship), Cool Farm Tool, and COMET (CarbOn Management & Emissions Tool).
Ongoing practical learning and idea-sharing through a peer networking group specific to Your Farm – Your Footprint.

Learn more and get started today at www.pdpw.org/your-farm-your-footprint/.

Opportunities to Learn

Accelerate™

July, 24, 2024

Madison, Wis.

CALLING ALL AGRICULTURE INTERNS! Help your interns make the most of their summer experience and prepare to enter the workforce at the 2024 Accelerate workshop. In the one-day training event, agriculture sector interns will network with fellow students and industry professionals and hone their leadership and communications skills. Michael Hoffman will facilitate the interactive session that combines hands-on learning, peer networking and interactive skill practice to ensure interns build the skills they need. Learn more about PDP Accelerate and register interns here or call 800-947-7379.

Carbon, Crops + Cows

July 29, 30, 31, August 1

Menomonie, Stevens Point, Columbus, Fennimore, Wis.

EMPOWERING AGRONOMISTS AND CONSERVATIONISTS to advance sustainability is the goal of the Carbon, Crops + Cows conferences. The one-day sessions at four locations will provide agronomists and conservationists with an overview of sustainability descriptions and a deeper dive into the complexities of carbon and technical jargon, and explore how to help farmers with their data, carbon models and what is coming in the future. Learn more and register here.

ACE® Twilight Meetings

August 26, 27, 28, 29

Woodville, Pittsville, Kewaunee, Lodi, Wis.

MARK THE CALENDAR! Join local community leaders, elected officials, educators and dairy farmers at the ACE Twilight Meetings for farm tours, ice cream and open conversations. The free meetings are hosted by dairy farm families and made possible by the Wisconsin Counties Association, Wisconsin Towns Association and PDP. Don’t miss the opportunities to discuss key issues like community development, resource management, changes in ag and rural communities, roads and more with neighbors and community leaders. Learn more here.

PDP Stride™ Youth Leadership Conference

Sept. 21, 2024

Platteville, Wis.

SAVE THE DATE! PDP's Stride™ Youth Leadership Conference is headed to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville for an interactive program for future-minded 15- to 18-year-olds. This single-day program is for high school students looking to amplify and excel in their leadership skills while preparing for the future and discovering opportunities in the dairy and agriculture sectors. Learn more and register here.

2024-2025 Program Calendar

FULL SCHEDULE OF TRAININGS ARE ON TAP for the 2024-25 programming year presented by PDP, with in-person and virtual training opportunities in multiple formats. The program calendar is developed by our producer-led board of directors with input from members across the country to address our industry’s most urgent needs. The calendar includes signature PDP programming and a number of options with simultaneous Spanish translation. View the calendar here.

For Your Dairy

REVIEW BIOSECURITY PROTOCOLS AND PRACTICES to protect people and animals on your operation. Biosecurity has always been a top priority for dairy farms, but the spread of H5N1 has brought it to the forefront of dairy farmers’ attention. UW Extension has provided recommendations and resources to protect farms, including:

Establish a Line of Separation (LOS) around facility
Determine specific routes for farm traffic
Use effective cleaning and disinfectant products for facilities, vehicles and equipment
Implement measures to control pests and wildlife to reduce potential transmission and protect feed and feed storage.

Learn more and download resources here.

MILKERS ALREADY HAVE A LONG LIST OF TASKS while they are working in a modern dairy parlor. However, training team members to monitor the condition and function of the milking equipment could improve productivity and prevent larger issues down the road. Parlor employees should be watching for blocked air bleed vents, cracked pulsation (short air) tubes, twisted inflations, and pinched hoses that can impact equipment function. Read the full article from Penn State Extension for tips on training team members on the function and watch-outs for key equipment.

REFINING SOCIAL HOUSING OF CALVES to accommodate natural social behavior could improve the welfare of calves, according to a symposium research review published in JDS Communications Journal. Calves that are socially-housed interact from a young age and develop social preferences, with behavior subject to age of introduction, group composition and the physical environment. Read the full article for comparison of housing systems and short- and long-term impacts.

For Your Business Mind

WHAT ARE YOUR CORE VALUES? Whether written down or not, we all have guiding principles for living our lives and running businesses. Engaging family and employees in defining or updating core values can help build a strong culture, facilitate decision making, differentiate, organization and more. When developing a set of core values, ask yourself and your team:

Are they actionable?
Can they be attained?
Are they memorable?
Can everyone live by them?

Learn more and find steps for creating and reviewing core values in the full article from Cornell Extension.

CALCULATING DAIRY’S CARBON FOOTPRINT. In a recent episode of PDP’s The Dairy Signal, Nicole Ayache, chief sustainability officer at National Milk Producers Federation, presented an overview of the FARM Environmental Stewardship (FARM ES) program and plans for the 3.0 version to launch later this summer. The program calculates a dairy farm’s emissions and carbon footprint calculated as pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per ponds of fat and protein corrected milk. This includes all emissions embedded in farmgate milk including enteric emissions of cows, energy to produce milk, energy to produce feed, etc. The upcoming version will use a new model that will have the ability to run robust scenarios and tradeoffs to model impacts of farming practices, ration changes and more. Learn more at the FARM ES website or watch the episode here.

READING FICTION CAN IMPROVE SKILLS, TOO. We know that reading nonfiction can help with career skills and stay on top of trends. But, an article from Fast Company highlights the benefits that fiction books can provide, including enhanced reasoning skills, understanding complex problems, building empathy and providing stress relief and strong role models. So, pick up your favorite mystery, beach read, or true crime novel this summer and enjoy! Learn more here.

The Dairy Signal

DON’T MISS THE DAIRY SIGNAL. Three days a week, The Dairy Signal® connects you with leading experts across dairy and agricultural industries to researchers at universities and government agencies to bring updates on the trends and topics that will affect your dairy business. The 60-minute sessions air every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with recorded episodes available at www.pdpw.org. Click here to tune in to archived sessions.

Presenters and topics covered recently include:

June 18

Join in this timely and interactive conversation about preventing disease in our youngest herd members. Learn about sanitation and cleanliness protocols for young calves, with a focus on cleaning feeding equipment, calf huts and pens.

Dr. Donald Sockett, D.V.M., M.S., Ph.D., Diplomate ACVIM, veterinary microbiologist/epidemiologist, Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, University of Wisconsin

June 19

What is the outlook for disease pressure in this year’s growing season? Tune in for a discussion on fungicide strategies and which diseases could present challenges for this year’s crops.

Todd Schaumburg, part owner and agronomist, Tilth Agronomy

June 20

Learn about the FARM Environmental Stewardship (FARM ES) program, including how greenhouse gas emissions and energy use on dairy farms are calculated, and the tools and resources available to farmers to measure and improve their footprint.

Nicole Ayache, chief sustainability officer, National Milk Producers Federation

June 25

The point of analyzing farm data is to improve performance. That requires quality data and recognizing that correlation is not causality. Learn how to find the right data for the answer you need for your business. Episode presenter will be:

Dr. Michael Overton, DVM, MPVM, global dairy platform lead, Zoetis Animal Health

June 26

The carbon conversation can be overwhelming. Tune in to learn the ins and outs of carbon insets: what they are, what opportunities are available to dairy farmers, and what pitfalls you should watch out for.

Patrick Wood, founder and general manager, Ag Methane Advisors, LLC

J une 27

Put away your excuses that a highly intensive labor position can’t be filled. Glean insights from seasoned executives from Kwik Trip and Marucci Sports on how they hire, grow and sustain a culture where both business and people thrive. Steal trade secrets that will have lasting impacts on your team.

Ryan Levendoski, district leader, Kwik Trip
Kyle Achord, vice president of team sales, Marucci Sports

Dairy Currents

RETURN WISCONSIN DAIRY PRODUCER SURVEY TODAY! All licensed dairy producers in Wisconsin have received a survey from the Wisconsin Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Please complete the survey by June 30 to provide input on marketing, conservation practices, business structure, labor and succession planning. The survey responses will help DATCP assess the current state of the industry and consider what resources will be most beneficial to dairy producers going forward. Learn more here.

FOOD CONSUMPTION, PRODUCTION PATTERNS TO SHIFT as the world’s population and incomes are expected to rise over the next 25 years, according to an article by the USDA. In the 30 years from 1990 to 2019, the world’s population grew by 45% and food produced by global agriculture increased by 61%, as measured by calories available for food consumption. Researchers analyzed food consumption, crop production, land use and agricultural price trends to generate scenarios through 2050, projecting that available food calories will grow 44% from 2011 to 2050. Read more here.

FRESH, PROTEIN-PACKED AND LOW IN SUGAR are how American consumers define healthy foods, according to the 2024 Food & Health Survey released by the International Food Information Council (IFIC). Taste remains the most impactful element in food and beverage decisions, followed by price, healthfulness, convenience and environmental sustainability. Nine in ten consumers have noticed an increase in the price of food and beverages, and nearly 2 in 3 report feeling stressed. Learn more about consumer perceptions on a wide range of topics in the survey report.