Dairy Stream

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Dairy Stream focuses on policy, sustainability, market trends, new technology and farmer involvement. This podcast is produced by the Voice of Milk, a collaboration of individual dairy organizations working to improve the future of dairy farm families. Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing podcast@dairyforward.com.

Episodes

Monday Jan 08, 2024

Dairy Streamlet: Message to decision-makers: Oversight on digital technology tools

Monday Jan 08, 2024

The Dairy Streamlet is a condensed version of Dairy Stream that takes the long episode and covers just the high-level points of the conversation. If this topic interest you, we encourage you to listen to the full episode on Jan. 10.

"Government doesn't have the power to produce food but it does have the power to support those who do," is a quote from our Dairy Stream guest, Kip Tom, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture. Kip shares the impact of digital tools, balance of policy and innovation, cybersecurity and a message to decisionmakers.

Special thanks to Connecterra for sponsoring this episode.

About the guest

Kip Tom is the chairman of Tom Farms and the former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture.

This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C. Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing podcast@dairyforward.com.

Attend Dairy Strong on Jan. 16-18 in Green Bay, Wisconsin to gain firsthand inspiration and discover the challenges and solutions experienced by other farmers when implementing sustainable practices. Gain practical knowledge and motivation to implement practices that will make a positive impact on the environment and farms. Learn more and register at dairystrong.org.

Wednesday Dec 20, 2023

Two farmers recap the growing season

Wednesday Dec 20, 2023

The 2023 growing season started off with headaches due to new challenges farmers haven’t experienced and thankfully mother nature gave most farmers a break for harvest. Two Wisconsin dairy farmers, Greg and John, dive into the growing season covering conservation practices, challenges, maximizing fertilizer, plans for 2024, go-to resources and what they would do with an unlimited budget and time. Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza dives into the topics below with Greg and John:

2:33: Conservation practices in place from the fall 2022
3:36: Challenges this spring
6:46: Had to plant corn deeper than normal
9:07: Maximizing nutrients in the field
13:00: Conservation practices in the summer
13:34: Canadian wildfire smoke impact on crops
16:55: What little conservation items make a big impact
19:46: Reflecting on the fall and harvest
23:31: Conservation plans for 2024
27:37: What conservation practices would you try with an unlimited budget
29:25: Go-to resource for learning something new

Special thanks to Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin for sponsoring this episode.

About the guests

Greg Friendshuh owns and operates Friendshuh Farms with his brother, Brian and son Nathan in Clear Lake, Wisconsin. The farm consists of 1250 cows, their young stock, and 3,500 acres of cropland. They implement no till, cover crops, augmented manure, low disturbance manure injection, variable rate fertilizer application and they love to plant green.
John VandenBoom is part of the agronomy team for Holsum Dairies, which consist of 2 dairies and each dairy milks roughly 4,000 The farm operates around 5,000 acres of cropland consisting mostly of corn silage and alfalfa. It has become a major focus of the farm to implement low disturbance manure applications, manure applications on growing crops, and cover crops.

Learn more about the farmer-led watershed groups:

Monday Dec 18, 2023

Dairy Streamlet: Two farmers recap the growing season

Monday Dec 18, 2023

No two years are the same and a lot can be learned from the 2023 growing season. Two Wisconsin dairy farmers, Greg and John, recap conservation practices tried, major challenges, goals for 2024 and what they would implement with an unlimited budget and time.

Special thanks to Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin for sponsoring this episode.

About the guests

Greg Friendshuh owns and operates Friendshuh Farms with his brother, Brian and son Nathan in Clear Lake, Wisconsin. The farm consists of 1250 cows, their young stock, and 3,500 acres of cropland. They implement no till, cover crops, augmented manure, low disturbance manure injection, variable rate fertilizer application and they love to plant green.
John VandenBoom is part of the agronomy team for Holsum Dairies, which consist of 2 dairies and each dairy milks roughly 4,000 The farm operates around 5,000 acres of cropland consisting mostly of corn silage and alfalfa. It has become a major focus of the farm to implement low disturbance manure applications, manure applications on growing crops, and cover crops.

Wednesday Nov 29, 2023

Farmer experience using artificial intelligence (AI) on the farm

Wednesday Nov 29, 2023

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” is a quote from this episode focused on artificial intelligence (AI). Two Wisconsin dairy farmers, Nathan Brandt and Mitch Breunig, share what they are tracking and how it has impacted the dairy farm. Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza dives into the topics below with Nathan and Mitch:

1:26: Technology on the farm
2:41: When the farm implemented AI
6:10: How AI is implemented
11:04: How all the platforms come together
13:25: What is being tracked with AI
16:57: Focus on lactating cows
18:08: Is it easy to understand
20:26: Identifying trends in data
23:19: Challenges with AI
25:40: Can AI be wrong?
28:13: Game-changer experiences with AI
32:26: AI helps with consistency
34:26: Future of AI
39:08: Educating youth
41:01: Concerns about the future of AI
41:50: What’s next for your AI journey

Special thanks to Connecterra for sponsoring this episode.

About the guests

Nathan Brandt is the Dairy Herd Manager at Four Cubs Farm where they milk 980 cows with 16 robots in a retrofit free stall. Nathan’s role is managing the cow-side of the operation and utilizing the data that AI helps sort on the dairy.
Mitch Breunig is the owner of Mystic Valley Dairy where they milk 450 cows in a double 14 parallel parlor. Mitch’s manages the day to day and oversee the AI on the farm.

Monday Nov 27, 2023

Dairy Streamlet: Farmer experience using artificial intelligence (AI) on the farm

Monday Nov 27, 2023

Two Wisconsin dairy farmers share experiences about how AI is keeping their dairy farms consistent through tracking routine items and the health of the cows. Nathan and Mitch share the implementation, comprehension, challenges, game-changer experiences and the future of AI.

Special thanks to Connecterra for sponsoring this episode.

About the guests

Nathan Brandt is the Dairy Herd Manager at Four Cubs Farm where they milk 980 cows with 16 Lely robots in a retrofit free stall. Nathan’s role is managing the cow-side of the operation and utilizing the data that AI helps sort on the dairy.
Mitch Breunig is the owner of Mystic Valley Dairy where they milk 450 cows in a double 14 parallel parlor. Mitch’s manages the day to day on the farm and oversee the AI on the farm.

Wednesday Nov 08, 2023

Succession planning and creating generational wealth

Wednesday Nov 08, 2023

Early, often and transparent was a common theme in the conversation on succession planning and generational wealth. Jud Snyder and Brad Guse of BMO share insight on competing in the new normal, basic succession planning conversations, “killer D’s,” generational wealth process, liquidity, adding new family members and advice. Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza dives into the topics below with Jud and Brad:

1:55: What succession planning used to look like and what we are seeing now
3:19: Can your farm compete in the ‘new normal’
4:54: Basic succession planning conversations
7:15: Emotions involved in succession planning
8:46: Perfect time to exit
10:50: Ideal time to end the farm with no successor
13:20: Keep an eye on macroeconomics
14:01: Considerations when selling to a third party
15:25: Preparing for the unexpected, ‘Killer D’s’
18:15: Process of generational wealth and how it’s generated
20:36: The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act doubled the lifetime estate and gift tax exemption and set to expire Jan. 1, 2026, how does this impact succession planning
22.19: Who should be involved in succession planning
24:01: What is liquidity and why is it important
26:04: Considerations with marriage and new family members
27:14: Multiple siblings but only select few taking over the farm, what about the other non-farming children
29:54: When does life insurance play a role
32:10: How to keep the older generation involved
34:48: Final advice on succession planning

Special thanks to BMO for sponsoring this episode.

About the guests

Jud Snyder
Jud Snyder is Regional President of the Midwest with BMO Wealth Management and BMO’s Senior Executive for Southeast Wisconsin.
Jud oversees the strategic development and delivery of BMO Private Bank’s personal wealth management platform to high net worth individuals, families and organizations, including closely-held and family-owned businesses, endowments and foundations throughout the Midwest. Jud joined the Bank in 1994 and has over 28 years of experience in financial services.
Prior to taking his current role, he spent much of his career in Commercial Banking. He was responsible for leading the growth and development of M&I’s Equipment Finance Company. This included strategic and managerial responsibility for sales, operations, underwriting and equipment management capabilities within Equipment Finance. In 2010, he was named M&I’s Head of Specialized Industries. In this role he was responsible for Equipment Finance, Global Trade, Health Care, Dealer Finance, Agribusiness and Sponsor Finance. Following the BMO acquisition in 2011, he moved back into the head role at BMO Equipment Finance with the mandate to leverage the business across BMO and grow the business to scale.
Jud obtained his BA in Russian and Economics from UW Madison (’94). He serves on the Board of Directors for The Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee (Trustee), United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County, Milwaukee World Festival, Froedtert Health Systems (Chair), and Teach for America Milwaukee. He was previously a Director and Chair of the Milwaukee Ballet (2012-2019) and a past Chairman and Officer of the ELFA (Equipment Leasing and Finance Association) (2010-2020).
Jud lives in River Hills, Wisconsin with his wife, Amy and their children.
Brad Guse
As an agricultural banking officer for BMO Commercial Bank - Marshfield, Brad Guse manages a portfolio of diverse production agricultural relationships made up of primarily dairy farm accounts. Guse has ten years of experience in the dairy nutrition field and over twenty - eight years of experience in agricultural banking. He was appointed by Wisconsin’s Governor to serve on the Dairy 2.0 task force as well as to serve on the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) board of directors.
He’s very involved in the Ag community serving as the school director and an instructor for the Wisconsin Bankers Association agricultural lending schools as well as serving on the American Bankers Association’s Ag and Rural Banking conference committee to name just a few.
Brad served 21 years in the Wisconsin Army National Guard, retiring in 2004 after his unit’s successful deployment to Afghanistan. Guse holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Monday Nov 06, 2023

Dairy Streamlet: Succession planning and creating generational wealth

Monday Nov 06, 2023

The Dairy Streamlet is a new, condensed version of Dairy Stream that takes the long episode and covers just the high-level points of the conversation. If this topic interest you, we encourage you to listen to the full episode on Nov. 8.

Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza talks with Jud Snyder and Brad Guse of BMO about competing in the new normal, succession planning conversations, perfect time to exit, process of generational wealth, importance of liquidity, future planning advice and more.

Special thanks to BMO for sponsoring this episode.

About the guests

Jud Snyder
Jud Snyder is Regional President of the Midwest with BMO Wealth Management and BMO’s Senior Executive for Southeast Wisconsin.
Jud oversees the strategic development and delivery of BMO Private Bank’s personal wealth management platform to high net worth individuals, families and organizations, including closely-held and family-owned businesses, endowments and foundations throughout the Midwest. Jud joined the Bank in 1994 and has over 28 years of experience in financial services.
Prior to taking his current role, he spent much of his career in Commercial Banking. He was responsible for leading the growth and development of M&I’s Equipment Finance Company. This included strategic and managerial responsibility for sales, operations, underwriting and equipment management capabilities within Equipment Finance. In 2010, he was named M&I’s Head of Specialized Industries. In this role he was responsible for Equipment Finance, Global Trade, Health Care, Dealer Finance, Agribusiness and Sponsor Finance. Following the BMO acquisition in 2011, he moved back into the head role at BMO Equipment Finance with the mandate to leverage the business across BMO and grow the business to scale.
Jud obtained his BA in Russian and Economics from UW Madison (’94). He serves on the Board of Directors for The Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee (Trustee), United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County, Milwaukee World Festival, Froedtert Health Systems (Chair), and Teach for America Milwaukee. He was previously a Director and Chair of the Milwaukee Ballet (2012-2019) and a past Chairman and Officer of the ELFA (Equipment Leasing and Finance Association) (2010-2020).
Jud lives in River Hills, Wisconsin with his wife, Amy and their children.
Brad Guse
As an agricultural banking officer for BMO Commercial Bank - Marshfield, Brad Guse manages a portfolio of diverse production agricultural relationships made up of primarily dairy farm accounts. Guse has ten years of experience in the dairy nutrition field and over twenty - eight years of experience in agricultural banking. He was appointed by Wisconsin’s Governor to serve on the Dairy 2.0 task force as well as to serve on the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) board of directors.
He’s very involved in the Ag community serving as the school director and an instructor for the Wisconsin Bankers Association agricultural lending schools as well as serving on the American Bankers Association’s Ag and Rural Banking conference committee to name just a few.
Brad served 21 years in the Wisconsin Army National Guard, retiring in 2004 after his unit’s successful deployment to Afghanistan. Guse holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Wednesday Oct 18, 2023

Feed management strategies to reduce methane emissions

Wednesday Oct 18, 2023

Innovative feed management strategies could be a part of your plan to reduce methane emissions on the farm. Lead Dairy Scientist Dr. Partha Ray of the Nature Conservancy shares about the 3-year study he is currently involved in to help explore feed management strategies, such as feed additives, to reduce methane in dairy cattle. Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza dives into the topics below with Dr. Ray:

2:02: What has been done with the study so far
4:23: Walk us through the study and what is being done
7:10: What is feed management
8:37: Feed management practices being used in the study
9:43: About feed additives
11:37: How feed additives are fed
13:15: Cost with feed additives
15:55: What types of feed rations reduce methane
20:40: Most interesting finding so far
23:40: Research keeping up with net zero goals
25:01: How a farm could start a feed management strategy
27:11: Balancing feed cost and methane reduction
29:35: How does feed management fit into net zero
33:18: How farms can participate in the study
36:55: Next 10 years of feed management

Special thanks to The Nature Conservancy for sponsoring this episode.

About the guest

Dr. Partha Ray, lead dairy scientist at The Nature Conservancy
Dr. Partha Ray is a dairy scientist and a veterinarian with over 10 years of experience working with dairy production stakeholders to develop on-farm and system level solutions to improve dairy production sustainability. Following a B.S. in Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry and a M.S. of Veterinary Science, Animal Nutrition in India, he received his Ph.D. in Animal Sciences, Dairy from Virginia Tech.

PARTICIPATE IN THE STUDY

If you are a dairy farmer in Wisconsin or Michigan and would like to participate in this study focused on feed management strategies, please contact Alisha Staggs at alisha.staggs@TNC.ORG. Additional information on the study can be found here.

Monday Oct 16, 2023

Dairy Streamlet: Feed management strategies to reduce methane emissions

Monday Oct 16, 2023

Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza talks with Dr. Partha Ray, a dairy scientist and veterinarian, about a 3-year study being done to reduce methane emissions in dairy cattle. They talk about the study, feed management strategies and how it fits into the plan of being net zero.

Special thanks to The Nature Conservancy for sponsoring this episode.

About the guest

Dr. Partha Ray, lead dairy scientist at The Nature Conservancy
Dr. Partha Ray is a dairy scientist and a veterinarian with over 10 years of experience working with dairy production stakeholders to develop on-farm and system level solutions to improve dairy production sustainability. Following a B.S. in Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry and a M.S. of Veterinary Science, Animal Nutrition in India, he received his Ph.D. in Animal Sciences, Dairy from Virginia Tech.

PARTICIPATE IN THE STUDY

Wednesday Sep 27, 2023

Building trust with the media and consumers

Wednesday Sep 27, 2023

Gen Z prioritizes purpose and social elements and the farmers voice carries a lot of value when sharing that message during media interviews. Experienced communication professional Liz Fitzsimmons of Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin shares the impact of farmer media interviews and how to prepare for them. Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza dives into the topics below with Liz:

1:20: Impact of farmers doing media interviews
2:30: Content the public is most interested in
4:05: Image farms should be showcasing
6:19: What types of media are important to dairy
8:07: What types of media DFW focuses on
9:40: Social media presence
10:43: Showcasing dairy during the holidays
11:50: When is the best timeframe to do an interview
14:15: Building a relationship with local media
16:13: How to prepare for an interview
18:55: How to handle a difficult question
20:53: What to avoid during an interview
21:52: Know the media personality
25:05: Never off the record
26:01: How to end an interview

Special thanks to Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin for sponsoring this episode.

About the guest

Liz Fitzsimmons
Liz is an experienced communication professional who has worked on behalf of Wisconsin's dairy farmers for nearly three decades. During her tenure, Liz has worked in almost every aspect of marketing and promotion. She has extensive experience working directly with farmers, grassroots organizations and volunteers across the state in addition to event planning, video production and leading successful campaigns that use a blend of paid and earned media. If you're a national reporter or producer wanting to talk to a Wisconsin dairy farmer, Liz is your gal! She is an expert at media training and coordinating interviews that help tell the story of Wisconsin's dedicated dairy farmers for audiences and outlets of all sizes.