PDPW Dairy's Bottom Line -- November 2022

Dairy Managers Institute builds leadership, coaching, financial skills

As dairy teams begin to wrap up 2022 and look ahead to their goals and plans for 2023, building stronger more-effective teams will continue to be a priority in today’s ever-changing dairy industry. The 2022 PDPW Dairy Managers Institute® provides an opportunity for managers to take their leadership skills to the next level.

The two-day management-development program will begin at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 20 at Kalahari Resorts, 1305 Kalahari Drive, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. It will conclude at 4 p.m. Dec. 21.

“PDPW’s Dairy Managers Institute is a tremendous opportunity for dairy managers at every stage to stretch beyond employee and project management to grow and thrive as leaders who help their team members learn, collaborate and engage in shared business goals,” said Katy Schultz, a dairy producer from Fox Lake, Wisconsin, and PDPW board president. “Designed with three tiers, the program equips managers to build on their current experiences and build on their learnings in successive years.”

Each attendee will select one of three tiers to complete. Simultaneous Spanish translation will be available for tiers one and two.

• Tier One: Lead and Manage with Insight – led by Becky Stewart-Gross, president and founder of Building Bridges Seminars, attendees will take a deep dive into the fundamentals of leadership as well as implementing and managing change. Stewart-Gross will share how to apply the five practices of e ective leadership to roles on the farm. She will outline an “Insight Inventory” for participants to identify and understand their personality style, and learn how to optimize it to improve as a leader.

• Tier Two: Discover the Art of Coaching – Michael Ho man, founder and owner of Igniting Performance Inc., will focus on

Michael Hoffman demonstrates concepts to help his attendees create a committed team of employees who look forward to going to work every day.

coaching strategies for delivering meaningful feedback, building strong and committed teams, and managing through key milestones. Managers will return to their dairies with an enhanced understanding of their roles, and be equipped to use their tools of influence to impact the growth and future of the organizations.

• Tier Three: Mastering Financials and Negotiations – A firm grasp on the financials of an operation is key for every level of manager. Kevin Bernhardt – agribusiness professor with the University of Wisconsin-School of Agriculture, and farm-management specialist with the UW-Division of Extension and with the UW-Center for Dairy Profitability – will tag-team with author and former law-firm partner and mediator Linda Swindling. Together they’ll arm managers with the business acumen to make good judgements and quick decisions, and explore negotiation styles and methods to leverage them in critical discussions.

Visit www.pdpw.org/programs or call 800947-7379 to register and for more information.

PDPW

Trainer

2022 • PDPW• Dairy’s Bottom Line

PDPW: Who we are

Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin (PDPW) is Dairy’s Professional Development Organization®. With a vision to lead the success of the dairy industry through education, our mission is to share ideas, solutions, resources and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.

President Katy Schultz Fox Lake, Wis. 920-210-9661 katylschultz@gmail.com

Vice President Janet Clark Rosendale, Wis. 608-341-6709 vafarmsllc@gmail.com

Secretary John Haag Dane, Wis. 608-576-0812 jahaag5@gmail.com

Treasurer Steven Orth Cleveland, Wis. 920-905-2575 orthlanddairy@gmail.com

Directors

Andy Buttles Lancaster, Wis. 608-723-4712 stonefront@tds.net

Ken Feltz Stevens Point, Wis. 715-570-6390 feltzfarms@hotmail.com

Corey Hodor Eden, Wis. 920-602-6449 corey@secondlookholsteins.com

Paul Lippert Pittsville, Wis. 715-459-4736 lippert4735@gmail.com

Brady Weiland Columbus, Wis. 920-285-7362 bweiland11@hotmail.com

PDPW Advisers

Eric Birschbach 608-576-9204 agsitecc@gmail.com

Roger Olson 920-362-4745 roger.olson@zinpro.com

Kurt Petik 920-904-2226 kurt.petik@raboag.com

Peter Weber 715-613-6664 pweeber@genex.coop www.pdpw.org mail@pdpw.org 800-947-7379

Grassed waterways impact water, erosion

Grassed waterways play a critical role on the landscape by stabilizing areas of concentrated water flow. If grassed waterways are installed properly and have an adequate grass cover, they can significantly reduce sediment and nutrient

well-maintained grassed waterways, gullies will form and obscure the benefits of practices like cover crops or no-till.

Paletta

losses. The roots of the growing grass help keep sediment and nutrients in place.

Grassed waterway helps catch soil particles carried in runoff as it concentrates and leaves the field. Waterways also help minimize the impact of large-precipitation events by slowing and infiltrating runoff. When soil remains in place, sediment and nutrients are not transported to nearby streams, rivers and lakes. That helps keep water cleaner and aquatic ecosystems healthier.

There are two types of protection practices in a conservation system.

• Those that keep movement of soil and nutrients within a field to a minimum are called upland practices.

• Those that address movement off the field are called treatment practices.

In a conservation system, upland practices such as reduced tillage or cover crops must be used in combination with treatment practices for beneficial water-quality outcomes. Treatment practices like grassed waterways are vital in order to achieve the intended benefits of upland practices.

Grassed waterways must be designed and maintained in areas of concentrated flow within a field. For example without erosion control from

University of Wisconsin-Discovery Farms has an ongoing edge-of-field monitoring study on a farm in Kewaunee County that started in 2019; it illustrates the impact and importance of stable grassed waterways. Though not the intended topic of the study, the runo results made clear there was something larger occurring. Runo is collected year-round at a monitoring station to determine the amount of water, soil and nutrients leaving the field watershed. Samples are taken and analyzed for soil, phosphorus and nitrogen contained in the runo .

In that particular study the field has grown corn silage the past four years; it utilizes reduced tillage and cover crops. In 2019 and 2020 exceptionally large amounts of runo , soil and nutrients were found to be leaving the field. When investigating the reason for such large runo amounts, it was visually noted that rill and gully erosion were occurring on the site. Even though the site used cover crops and reduced tillage, a concentrated flow was forming that ran directly into the collection-monitoring station. To reduce erosion in the area of concentrated flow, a grassed waterway was installed in late-summer 2020.

Figure 1 shows that the newly installed waterway

Laura Paletta

Laura

Better or bitter – just one let ter significantly changes the definition of those two words. There are many life circum stances in which w e can choose which of those two words will describe our reaction –and our choice can have a lifelong impact on our future.

I doubt many people make a snap decision to be bitter rather than better when they’re met with difficult circumstances. However not quickly choosing to make a choice toward the better outcome can pave the way to fall into a path of becom ing bitter.

A great question to ask when we find ourselves in such a position is, “How might I change myself to improve my situation?”

Notice the question is focused on changing something about us rather than somebody else. Too often people believe the way to improve their cir cumstances is to change other people rather than themselves.

Another way to realize the bounty of fruit available is by learning from others who have previously made that difficult but rewarding decision. I can think of a lot of people who have been in my life at some point who are examples of making the correct choice regarding better or bitter.

One of them was a farmer in our neighborhood named Herb. Though he passed away many years ago, his impact on me as a child will never leave me. Herb

faced many challenges but I never saw him act out in anger or bitterness. Instead he’d calmly review the options at his disposal to improve whatever his unfortunate circumstances were in the moment.

My next example is a group of extremely poor people in Togo, Africa. I had the oppor tunity to live with them for 10 days – but it seemed like an entire lifetime to me. I couldn’t believe the depth of their pov erty; they were so poor they had almost nothing to their name. Food was scarce or alto gether unavailable; many of them didn’t have houses, toilets or toilet paper. There were no job opportunities to help them escape poverty and there was no government aid to assist. At the time of my visit, the leaders in their government were more interested in bene fitting from citizen poverty rather than helping citiz ens improve.

Though the people of Togo had every reason to be bitter about their circumstances, they chose not to be. In fact I wit nessed the opposite response. They treated others with kind ness, respect and forgiveness. They chose thankfulness for the little they did have.

My final example is a man I met years ago. Nick Vujicic was born without arms or legs. As a result he’s endured countless injustices and challenges in his lifetime. Despite all that Nick has accomplished many phys ical feats others might have considered impossible. In addition to having a wife and four children, he’s an author, speaker, evangelist, anti-bullying advocate, and the founder and CEO of the non-profit

ministry Life Without Limbs. He also created “Attitude is Altitude,” a curriculum involv ing social emotional learning through which he teaches stu dents to make positive changes in their lives and their commu nities.

Though Nick was a child unlike anyone else, his mom held him to high standards. He related a story from his child hood when he wanted a cookie from a cookie jar high up on a shelf.

His mom said to him, “If you want one, you’ll have to get it yourself!”

It took a good deal of effort but he found a way to reach that

cookie jar. As he grew into ado lescence and adulthood, he would repeat the process of aiming for a goal and not giving up until the prize – or the cookie – was in hand.

I know my learnings from all those people will affect the choices I make for the rest of my life. When difficult cir cumstances arrive, I encourage you to make the decision to choose to be better rather than bitter.

Hank Wagner is a dairy producer and a John Maxwell Team teacher, mentor, speaker and coach. Email hwagner@wagnerfarmswi.com to reach him.

Hank Wagner

Hank Wagner

2022 • PDPW• Dairy’s Bottom Line

Dairy Innovation Hub welcomes new UW faculty

Seven University of Wis consin faculty members have recently been hired with funding from the UW-Dairy Innovation Hub, joining six who were previ ously hired.

Bahareh Hassanpour is serving as an assistant professor in plant and earth sci ence at UW-River Falls, with a focus on agricultural-water man agement. She’s currently developing a research and outreach program on water management and protec tion specific to the dairy industr y. She grew up in northern Iran, where water-related issues are common. From a young age she became interested in gaining knowl edge to solve those issues. Her appoint ment began in March 2022.

Margaret Kalcic has been hired as an associate professor in biological-systems engineering at UW-Madi son, with a focus on water shed modeling and agri cultural hydrology. She’s developing a research and outreach program aimed at increasing agriculturalconservation measures to protect water quality and the environment, through agroecosystem-simulation modeling and field monitoring. Her appointment began in January 2022.

Hilario Mantovani is serving as an assistant professor in animal and dairy sciences at UW-Madison, exploring the gut microbi ome of dairy cattle. He’s building a research pro gram in rumen microbial ph ysiology focused on advancing dairy sustain ability through improved pr oductivity, feed effi ciency and alternative feed sources. A native of Brazil, he has more than 20 years of experience in research, teaching, and investigating fundamental and applied questions related to the ecol ogy, physiology and genetics of rumen microbes as well as understanding their roles in rumen function, host phenotypes

and food safety. His appointment began in March 2022.

Chuck Nicholson was hired as an associate professor in agricultural and applied economics at UW-Madison, with a focus on dairy economics. He’s researching eco nomic and agribusiness topics relevant to the U.S. and Wisconsin dairy-supply chain – from farmers to consumers, including dairy markets and policy. His research program includes collaborations with col leagues at UW-River Falls, UW-Madison and UW-Platteville. He started in January 2022.

Joseph Pierre was hired as an assistant professor in nutritional sciences at UW-Madison, with a focus on dairy components, and their impacts on human health and nutrition. His research program takes a multidisciplinary approach to nutrition and health, with an emphasis on the impacts of dairy products. He’s already collaborating with colleagues across the Dairy Innova tion Hub’s three campuses. Wisconsin is familiar territory for him; he earned his bachelor’s degree in biology and doctorate in nutritional science from UW-Madison. He grew up on a century farm near Green Bay, Wisconsin. His appointment began in October 2021.

Susanne Wiesner was hired as an assistant professor in plant and earth sci ence at UW-River Falls, with a focus on agricultural atmospheric science and cli mate resiliency. She will develop a research

and outreach program focused on mitigating impacts of climate change on the dairy industry. She recently completed a post doctoral research fellowship at UW-Madison with the UW-Dairy Innovation Hub, where she studied the ben eficial effects of improved cropping management in Wisconsin dairy systems. Her appointment began in August 2022.

Xia Zhu-Barker was hired as an assis tant professor in soil science at UWMadison, with a focus on studying the sus tainability of agroecosystems. Her research interests lie in understanding how biogeo chemical and ecological processes impact the sus tainability of the carbon and nitrogen cycles, water movement, resource-use efficiency, food production and pollutants in land scapes. She grew up in a remote village in China; she often worked on her family farm with her parents, where food short ages were common. That inspired her to explore solutions to the problem through soil science. Her appointment began in June 2022.

Maria Woldt is the program manager of the UWDairy Innovation Hub. Email maria.woldt@wisc.edu to reach her. Visit dairyinnovationhub.wisc.edu for more information.

Dairy’s Bottom Line is pubished by PDPW in cooperation with Agri-View.

1901 Fish Hatchery Road Madison, Wisconsin 53713

Toll-Free: 1-888-AGRI-VIEW agriview@madison.com www.agriview.com

Editorial

Managing Editor, Julie Belschner 608-219-8316, jbelschner@madison.com

Lee Agri-Media

President, Matt Myers 608-252-6235, mmeyers@madison.com

Maria Woldt

Bahareh Hassanpour

Margaret Kalcic

Hilario Mantovani

Chuck Nicholson

Joseph Pierre

Susanne Wiesner

Xia ZhuBarker

Maria Woldt

aided in significantly reducing soil leaving the field – a 99 percent reduction was shown. Even a seemingly small set of rills or a developing small gully can transport thousands of pounds of soil off the field. The field has cover crops and no-tillage in place, yet large amounts of sediment loss were still occurring. That dis plays the necessity of imple menting treatment practices in the system.

Precipitation and other fac tors play a role in determining the amount of runoff in a given year. Figure 2 displays the annual precipitation amounts for 2020 and 2021. In both years precipitation was more than the 30-year average. In 2021 there was slightly more rainfall than 2020, suggesting that rainfall was not a factor in the surge of soil loss in 2020.

Utilizing best-management

UW-Discovery Farms

Figure 1. Total soil loss in 2020 and 2021 on a Kewaunee County field is shown. A grassed waterway was installed at the end of 2020.

practices as necessary can greatly impact the landscape and save large amounts of sediment from being lost. Keeping soil in place keeps sediment and nutrients on the field and out of lakes and streams, positively influenc ing water quality. There is not one practice that works as a perfect fix by itself. Rather it

UW-Discovery Farms

Figure 2. Total precipitation amounts in 2020 and 2021 are shown, with the location’s 30-year average as indicated by the black line.

takes a combination of con servation practices to make an impact.

To learn more about what signs to look for in fields and to choose if a grassed waterway is the correct practice, see the Discovery Farms field walkover guide. Visit uwdiscoveryfarms. org and search for “walkover guide” for more information.

Waterway maintenance is very important to maintain its functionality. Visit uwdiscov eryfarms.org and search for “grass waterways” for more tips regarding keeping them functioning after installation.

Laura Paletta is an outreach specialist with UW-Discovery Farms. Email paletta@wisc.edu to reach her.

2022 • PDPW• Dairy’s Bottom Line

Stride™ Youth Leadership offers leadership exploration

High school students ages 15 to 18 are invited to attend PDPW’s Stride™ Youth Leadership Con ference to discover opportunities in the dairy and agricultural sec tor, and build leadership skills. The fast-paced one-day work shop will be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 12 at the Dodgeland School District, 401 S. Western Ave, Juneau, Wisconsin.

Morning sessions will feature high-energy coaches leading students through team

challenges and group activities to bring out the leader in each. Students will uncover and build on their social and communica tions skills as well as learn tech niques to collaborate with others no matter the personality type. The roles of clear articulation of thoughts, effectively engaging with others and intentional lis tening will also be explored.

In the afternoon students will hit the road for an on-farm tour and hands-on labs at an area

dairy farm. A mini-career fair will introduce students to a vari ety of new technologies and career options while connecting them with people currently working in fields such as finance, medicine, food, marketing, pre cision data, regulation and more.

A parental waiver must be included with each student reg istration. Visit www.pdpw.org/ programs or call 800-947-7379 for more information and to register.

For well more than a decade, Professional Dairy Producers® – PDPW – has hosted an annual program designed for leaders from across the entire food and agriculture chain to discuss opportunities facing the dairy industry and food system. The program allows producers, edu cators, policymakers and food-system leaders to ask questions of each other as well as share ideas regarding current trends and potential challenges.

The 2022 PDPW Dairy Insights Summit will take a deep dive into some of the most pressing topics currently for farmers and industry leaders. Scheduled for Nov. 29, the sum mit will take place at the Sher aton Hotel, 706 John Nolen Drive, Madison, Wisconsin.

“In times of relentless change, we all need a point of focus and a targeted vision for the future,” said Katy Schultz, a dairy producer from Fox Lake, Wisconsin, and PDPW board president. “The collaborative discussions at the 2022 PDPW Dairy Insights Summit will highlight the risks and shared challenges across the food sys tem, and bring clarity to oppor tunities available to us.”

The sessions will have the theme of “Clarity.”

• What in the world? Global politics and evolving markets – Jacob Shapiro,

partner and director of Geopo litical Analysis for Cognitive Investments; and Dan Basse, economist and president of AgResource Company; will identify key geopolitical forces expected to shape the next five years in the realm of trade, conflicts and worldwide macro developments.

• Hot potato Presented by Tamas Houlihan, executive director of the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Associ ation, he will share insights on how the Wisconsin potato industry has navigated labor and water challenges as well as issues with human and food safety. He’ll draw parallels across agricultural sectors and explain how dairy can protect itself against potential pitfalls.

• Water: what’s it worth?

Maureen Muldoon, hydroge ologist at the Wisconsin Geo logical and Natural History Survey, and Brian Richter, pres ident of Sustainable Waters, will lead a dialogue about the value of the Midwest’s groundwater. They’ll discuss how current water shortages are constrain ing economic productivity and im pacting ecosystem health globally.

• Protecting our food sys tem – Presented by FBI special agents Scott Mahloch and Byron Franz, this session will highlight how to protect dairy

farms and the food farmers pro duce while educating attendees about dangers ranging from cyber intrusion and ransom ware to biological threats.

Visit www.pdpw.org/pro grams or call 800-947-7379 to register and for more information.

PDPW Managers Academy heads to Georgia

The 2023 PDPW Managers Academy for Dairy Profession als™ program will be facilitated Jan. 10-12, 2023, in Savannah, Georgia. The executive-level professional-development training and networking pro gram is designed to expand the knowledge and skillset of dairy owners and managers, CEOs, industry directors, processors, marketers, distributors and others tasked with moving their business toward greater achievements.

During the three-day pro gram attendees will learn strat egies to cultivate and build resilience in business while also planning for the unexpected. The agenda each day will build on that of the previous day, including how challenges faced by out-of-industry executives offer solutions for dairy.

On the first day of the program

Allan Gray will incorporate interactive discussions along with individual and group exer cises to help participants iden tify the objectives, scope and advantages that will provide their dairy with a competitive edge. Gray is the executive director of Purdue Universi ty-Center for Food and Agri cultural Business as well as the Land O’Lakes Chair in Food

and Agribusiness. He will equip attendees to think strategically about how their businesses can leverage advantages while stay ing resilient and flexible. Day two will showcase three out-of-industry tours that draw parallels with dairy on topics such as innovation, hir ing and maintaining committed employees and reinventing oneself as necessary. Designed to challenge the way attendees approach business manage ment, the tours will include conversations with leaders and owners on-site at the Georgia Ports Authority, JCB and Old Savannah Tours.

At Georgia Ports Authority participants will learn how the nation’s single-largest and fastest-growing container ter minal has accommodated record cargo volumes in the past 24 months – and how it

plans to stay ahead of even more projected growth.

The tour at JCB, the interna tional manufacturer of agricul tural-tipping machinery and other construction equipment, will showcase how a family business has become a power house in manufacturing around the globe. With 22 plants on six continents, leaders at JCB will share insights into how they consistently innovate to supply the needs of their customers.

Old Savannah Tours is Savannah’s only trolley line owned and operated by locals. While touring that operation, participants will experience firsthand how the company has endured the test of time –and retains energetic team members while continuing to reinvent itself amidst changing

8 November 2022 • PDPW• Dairy’s Bottom Line

Academy

From 7

consumer demands.

On the final day David Kohl and Ed Seifried will bring together concepts and strategies to send attendees back home equipped with the knowledge to make the best decisions for dairy’s future. Kohl and Seifried will take a deep dive into finan cial, economic and banking trends to help participants bet ter prepare their businesses for innovation, labor, resources and more.

Visit www.pdpw.org/ programs or call 800-947-7379 to register and for more infor mation, including suggested hotel accommodations.

Mission Statement