From Sept. 29 to Oct. 3, World Dairy Expo is hosted by Madison, Wisconsin. Continue on to read more about the schedule of seminars that will cover the hottest topics in the industry, along with the dairy farm families who will be highlighted through virtual farm tours.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

1 p.m.
Mendota 2 – Seminar

‘The Time is Right for a Succession Plan’
Dan Rupar, attorney, Ruder Ware LLSC

Sponsored by: Badgerland Financial

Continuing Education Credits: ARPAS (1), RACE (1)

While 78 percent of families intend to pass their business on to their children, only 34 percent have created a succession plan. The key to having a successful transition is starting the discussions early. This presentation is intended to open the conversation between owners and potential successors.

Dan Rupar has considerable experience resolving sensitive issues and complex legal matters. He has a particular skill in identifying and finding creative ways to resolve the legal, tax, financial and family conflict issues that are obstacles to successful transition planning.

2 p.m.
Mendota 1 – Virtual Tour

Hosted by: Penterman Farm and Holland’s Family Cheese LLC, Thorp, Wisconsin

Highlights: 370 milking cows/Cheese-making

Sponsored by: AgSource Cooperative Services

Marieke and Rolf Penterman bring their Holland roots to Wisconsin, producing award-winning cheese in their state-of-the-art farm, creamery and retail store built in 2013. Marieke was the first woman to be named Grand Master Cheesemaker at the Wisconsin State Fair, and her cheeses have won more than 100 national and international awards.

Milk from the 370-cow herd is piped directly into the creamery and made into cheese within five hours of milking. The Pentermans are active promoters of Wisconsin agriculture as members of the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association.

They have hosted many tours of their farm and cheese factory. Marieke received the Country Today’s 2015 Speak Up for Agriculture Award and was also recognized as the 2015 Wisconsin Outstanding Young Farmer, the first solo female to receive the award.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

11 a.m.
Mendota 2 – Seminar

‘Feed Refusals: Waste or Cost of Doing Business?’
Dr. J.W. Schroeder, associate professor and extension dairy specialist, North Dakota State University

Sponsored by: DeKalb

Continuing Education Credits: ARPAS (1), RACE (1)

Efficiency in feedbunk management suggests the lower the refusal, the better, at least from an economical perspective. Feed costs represent the single-largest variable expense of producing milk. Dr. J.W. Schroeder will discuss the issues around refused feed, including the economic incentives for monitoring and correctly managing weighbacks as an effective tool in controlling feed costs.

12 p.m.
Mendota 1 – Virtual Tour

Hosted by: Prairieland Dairy, Firth, Nebraska

Highlights: 1,300 milking cows/Sustainability

Sponsored by: DuPont Pioneer

With a mission to create an open and sustainable dairy that serves people, cows and the planet, Prairieland Dairy is a leader in sustainable agriculture through technology, animal care and milk quality.

Prairieland Dairy was created in 2000 when four local farms joined together to create a 1,300-head Holstein herd. They strive to market all of the products harvested from the cows, including milk, meat and manure; manure and waste are composted to create Prairieland Gold Compost, an all-natural soil amendment.

Prairieland Dairy won the 2013 Outstanding Dairy Farm Sustainability Award; their sustainability efforts include use of cover crops, using water on the farm multiple times before irrigating the fields and undergoing an energy audit to understand how to save and use energy more efficiently.

1 p.m.
Mendota 2 – Seminar

‘Adding Value to Calves by Breeding to Beef’
Jerry Wulf, partner, Wulf Cattle

Sponsored by: Hubbard Feeds Inc.

Continuing Education Credits: ARPAS (1), RACE (1)

Wulf Cattle is one of the largest genetics-to-rail beef operations in the U.S., with 1,500 registered Limousin and Lim-Flex females and 50,000 head of fed cattle marketed annually. In this presentation, Wulf will share his successes in providing the dairy industry with value-added genetics through breeding dairy cows to beef, while supplying the beef industry with high-quality feeder cattle to help fill their feedyards.

2 p.m.
Mendota 1 – Virtual Tour

Hosted by: Meadow Brook Dairy Farms LLC, Manitowoc, Wisconsin

Highlights: 460 milking cows/Milk Production

Sponsored by: Purina Animal Nutrition LLC

After taking over the family farm in 2009, Peter and Shellie Kappelman have seen impressive results in milk production and quality, doubling the herd’s production in just one generation. The 460-cow registered Holstein and Brown Swiss herd has a combined rolling herd average of 32,754 pounds of milk, 1,197 pounds of fat and 1,034 pounds of protein.

They have maintained an RHA of more than 30,000 for the past nine years and received the Land O’Lakes Quality Milk award for 13 of the past 15 years. Using a group-housing setting, calves are fed pasteurized milk via automated calf feeders. Pete is a leader in the agriculture industry, serving as the board chairman for Land O’Lakes Inc. and as a member of the Agriculture Policy Advisory Committee for the White House.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1

11 a.m.
Mendota 2 – Seminar

‘Defining Factors That Create a Quality Heifer’
Dr. Michael Van Amburgh, Cornell University

Sponsored by: Land O’Lakes Animal Milk Products Company

Continuing Education Credits: ARPAS (1), RACE (1)

What does it take to produce a “quality” heifer, and how do we know this? These are the questions Dr. Van Amburgh will address, focusing on factors related to calf inputs and management, expectations for performance and the cost-benefit relationship from birth through weaning.

Van Amburgh currently works as a professor in the department of animal science at Cornell University, where he teaches multiple courses in dairy management. He also leads the development of the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System, a nutrition evaluation and formulation model used worldwide.

12 p.m.
Mendota 1 – Virtual Tour

Hosted by: Sunset Canyon Jerseys, Beaver, Oregon

Highlights: 300 milking cows/Genomic Testing

Sponsored by: American Jersey Cattle Association

Eric Silva got his start right out of high school with 20 animals in a rented facility. Now, he and his wife, Paula Wolf, own and operate a 300-cow registered Jersey herd that produces highly sought genetics through intensive sire selection, developing cow families and forward thinking in evaluating consumer demand for dairy products and genomics.

More than 80 percent of the milking herd is genotyped, with 10 cows and heifers currently ranked in the Top 500 Jersey Performance Index for genomics and 42 heifers in the top 1.5 percent. Two-dozen cows are flushed annually, with offspring and embryos having been sold in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico and New Zealand.

1 p.m.
Mendota 2 – Seminar

‘Design Criteria for Robotic Milking Barns’
Jack Rodenburg, DairyLogix

Sponsored by: Bayland Buildings Inc.

Continuing Education Credits: ARPAS (1), RACE (1)

Cow flow, traffic systems, feed and bedding delivery, manure removal, handling capabilities, foot baths, training new heifers and dealing with transition and special-needs cows are all a bit different in a successful robotic milking barn.

This seminar offers practical experience and research results on barn layouts with an emphasis on minimizing labor, optimizing cow comfort and accommodating normal cow behavior. Jack Rodenburg worked as a Canadian dairy extension specialist for 34 years. He has conducted more than 100 seminars on barn design and herd management all over the world through his business, DairyLogix.

2 p.m.
Mendota 1 – Virtual Tour

Hosted by: Sunny Glade Farms, Blumenort, Manitoba

Highlights: 250 milking cows/Automation

Sponsored by: Lely

Perseverance – a quality the Plett family has in abundance. After watching a fire destroy their milking barn and newly renovated freestall barn in 2013, Welden, his wife, Angela, and their family rallied and realized their passion for dairy couldn’t be destroyed.

They decided to build bigger and better with improved technology to make their herd stronger and the farm more efficient. Six months after the fire, plans for a new barn with four robotic milkers were drawn up, and the barn was completed in July 2014. The family has hosted several farm tours to showcase the new barn and feeding system.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2

11 a.m.
Mendota 2 – Seminar

‘Apps for Dairying: An Application for Calving Management’
Dr. Gustavo Schuenemann, associate professor, College of Veterinary Medicine, Ohio State University

Sponsored by: Calf-Star

Continuing Education Credits: ARPAS (1), RACE (1)

Calving-related losses and welfare practices have become well-known challenges facing the dairy industry worldwide. The use of applications for smart, touch-screen devices provides an opportunity to assess, in real-time, several events occurring in dairy herds every day. Dr. Shuenemann will provide an example of this technology for calving management and will discuss its pros and cons as well as the economic implications.

12 p.m.
Mendota 1 – Virtual Tour

Hosted by: SwissLane Dairy Farms, Alto, Michigan

Highlights: 2,000 milking cows/Community Involvement

Sponsored by: Quality Liquid Feeds Inc.

One hundred years of hard work and dedication has paid off for the Oesch family of SwissLane Dairy Farm. Named a Centennial Farm in 2015, the operation is transitioning into the fourth generation of ownership. The family is a great advocate of the dairy industry, hosting nearly 800 people for the annual Neighbor Night and 5,000 people for farm tours each year.

The farm has seen substantial growth over the years, building and modifying existing buildings to accommodate the expansion. In 2011, a 500-cow dairy was built featuring eight robots. The farm now consists of 2,000 Holstein cows, with the goal that the whole herd will be registered within four years. In 2014, they began a partnership with Lowell Light and Power to provide energy to the city of Lowell by supplying solids for a digester.

1 p.m.
Mendota 2 – Seminar

‘Agriterrorism Threat Briefing and Roles of Law Enforcement’
Stephen Goldsmith, DVM, WMD Directorate-Biological Countermeasures Unit, HQ, FBI

Sponsored by: Quality Liquid Feeds Inc.

Continuing Education Credits: ARPAS (1), RACE (1)

Agricultural terrorism is a primarily economic attack against the U.S. that targets livestock and food crops. This seminar will describe the use of animal and crop diseases as asymmetrical warfare tools and what the indicators and triggers of these attacks are. FBI and Army National Guard and Reserve veteran Stephan Goldsmith, DVM, will present the role of law enforcement and agriculture agencies in the joint investigation of intentional criminal or terrorist attacks against agriculture.

2 p.m.
Mendota 1 – Virtual Tour

Hosted by: R & G Miller & Sons, Columbus, Wisconsin

Highlights: 360 milking cows/Organic Dairying

Sponsored by: Organic Valley

R & G Miller & Sons has been a leader in organic dairy farming for 20 years, developing successful organic management practices for their livestock and cropping enterprises. Certified organic in 1997, the farm has become a sustainable producer of the highest-quality milk, marketed through Organic Valley. The farm has a rolling herd average of 19,700 pounds of milk with 3.8 percent fat and 3.2 percent protein.

Cows are on pasture in season and are supplemented with TMR and probiotics to enhance immune systems. Crop rotation of their 1,600 acres is a cornerstone to organic farming, helping to maintain soil fertility and plant health. This regime disrupts insect life cycles to avoid the need for pesticides, improves soil health, lessens erosion and helps control weeds. Fieldwork techniques, including timing of field preparation, propane burners and the addition of mined potassium sulfate and gypsum, help to enhance soil fertility.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3

11 a.m.
Mendota 2 – Seminar

‘Lameness in Dairy Cattle: Causes and Consequences’
Dr. J.K. Shearer, professor, Iowa State University

Sponsored by: Hoof Supervisor

Continuing Education Credits: ARPAS (1), RACE (1)

Lameness represents the most costly clinical disease in dairy cattle, with disorders affecting the individual claw or hoof, infectious diseases of the foot skin and a variety of conditions that affect the upper limb. Minimizing the impact of lameness on performance, profit and cow welfare requires early detection, prompt diagnosis and the application of effective therapy.

Dr. Shearer is a professor and extension veterinarian for the college of veterinary medicine at Iowa State University. He has received the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Animal Welfare Award in 2011 and the Alpharma Award of Excellence from the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP).

12 p.m.
Mendota 1 – Virtual Tour

Hosted by: Trailside Holsteins, Fountain, Minnesota

Highlights: 500 milking cows/Technology

Sponsored by: Select Sires Inc.

Continually looking for new technology, protocols and products has been a crucial part of the farm’s success for the Johnson family. Milking 500 registered Holstein cows three times a day in a double-eight parallel parlor, the farm has a rolling herd average of 32,300 pounds of milk.

In January, Trailside Holsteins installed the Cow Manager system to monitor the activity, health, rumen function and temperature of the herd. The family is also active in the Dairy Herd Improvement Association and American Dairy Association, with Jon serving on the local DHIA board and Michael as the local ADA president.  PD

PHOTO 1: Photo by Karen Lee.