In this episode, Editor Walt Cooley interviews two guests, Kurt Wierda of Plymouth Dairy in Le Mars, Iowa, and Tom Oelberg, formerly with Diamond V and an adviser on Kurt’s management team. Tom recently retired from Diamond V and is best known in the industry as the “grandfather of the TMR audit.” And Kurt’s dairy was one of the first dairies to do a TMR audit and has completed several since the program started in 2008. Overall, more than 12,000 such audits have been done on dairies around the world.
Cooley walt polo
Walt Cooley
Editor and Podcast Host / Progressive Dairy

Kurt and Tom discuss what they’ve learned about managing feed teams and mixing feed. Kurt also describes his feeding setup and discusses how he is attempting to tackle the volatility of 2022.

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Season 4, Episode 15

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Here is a breakdown of the episode:

[Describe your dairy farm. ~1:35]

[Explain your feeding setup on your dairy. ~4:00]

[What would you change about your feeding setup if you could? ~7:00]

[What value did you find in doing a TMR audit for your dairy? ~9:00]

[How have the ideas implemented from a TMR audit impacted the dairy? ~13:15]

[How long in between audits is recommended? ~16:30]

[What are the methods you use to implement change on your dairy? ~19:00]

[What’s the best nutrition advice for dairies today? ~21:30]

[What effects have you seen in the industry since TMR audits started? ~29:00]

[What’s on your mind in 2022 and how are you addressing it? ~31:30]

[What’s a decision you are considering right now? ~37:00]

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