Shan Betzold Merrimac, Wisconsin Dairy Specialist Vita Plus – Dodgeville


Please describe your agricultural background.
I was raised on a 70-cow registered Holstein dairy in northwest Wisconsin. I had 13 years of successful operation of a 150-cow dairy with my wife, Nancy. I then spent four and a half years as the chief operating officer of Dmitrov Dairy Farms in Nacadkino, Russia, and its 1,000 total head. I spent two years managing a 4,000-cow dairy in South Dakota as part of a 12,000-cow multi-site operation and spent the last two years as financial controller for the same company.

What education are you bringing with you to this position?
I have an advanced graduate degree in management from Athabasca University in Alberta, Canada, and a master’s of business administration with an agriculture emphasis from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. Prior to that, I obtained a certificate in farm management from Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, where I received my initial dairy nutrition training.

What territory will you cover?
Dodgeville’s market area encompasses approximately a 70-mile circle, including Iowa, Grant, Dane, Sauk, Richland, Lafayette and Green Counties in Wisconsin.

What are your new responsibilities?
I will provide nutrition consulting and ration balancing along with other dairy-related information to increase the profitability of the milk producers I work with.

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What previous positions have you held?
I worked as the financial controller for a management company, operating four dairies totaling 12,000 cows in South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota. I managed one of its dairies prior to this, with a total of 4,000 cows. My family and I spent from 2002 to 2007 in Russia managing “the first Western-style dairy in Russia.”

What excites you most about working in your new role?
I’m most excited about the variety of people and operations that I will have the chance to meet and work with. In the morning, I could be discussing grazing with a young person just getting started milking cows and then, in the afternoon, talk with an established manager who is expanding to thousands of cows. There are many different ways to be successful in the dairy industry and having the vast experience and knowledge of our whole team available to help improve any of them is a great opportunity for me.

How will you be of most help to producers in your region or area of expertise?
I can bring to them an understanding of what the numbers are telling them. My most recent experience has proven to me the importance of not only tracking the numbers, but also understanding what they mean. I also enjoy change, so helping producers implement change in their operations is a second area where I can provide input and understanding.

Why did you choose this company?
Reputation. Vita Plus meets its customers’ expectations. The employee-owners are well respected in the feed and dairy industries.

What goals would you like to accomplish while in this position?
In a broad sense, it is to make a difference in the lives of the people I work with. I want to help customers be more effective and efficient and provide clients with something on each visit that will improve their businesses and outlook on their futures. PD