On this episode of the Progressive Dairy Podcast, Peggy Coffeen sits down with Jared Yousey of Sunnyside Farms in Scipio Center, New York, to hear what actions he takes as the manager of a 5,000-cow dairy and 40-person team to establish a culture of loyal and reliable employees in a competitive labor market.

This podcast is brought to you by Novus International, Inc.

 

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Today's Progressive Dairy Podcast is brought to you by Novus International, Inc.—a leader in poultry, dairy, and swine nutrition solutions driven by science. Novus’s products and services look at the whole animal, focusing on productivity and well-being, in order to feed the world affordable and wholesome food.

At Novus International, Inc., we understand that nutrition is just one part of running a successful dairy. The Novus® C.O.W.S.™ Program evaluates individual dairy farms relative to benchmarks on several cow comfort measures (lying time, gait scores, etc.), facility design, and management measures. Additionally, the program provides direct feedback to the individual dairy with ratings on all variables. The C.O.W.S.™ Program, an acronym for cow comfort, oxidative balance, well-being, and sustainability, aims to optimize dairy cow welfare and production efficiency by providing a systematic approach to improving management focus and practice. For more information, contact us at contact.usa@novusint.com.

 

Season 4, Episode 4

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Here is a breakdown of the episode:

  • Jared shares his background, including how his work in the corporate world led him back to dairy management  [~1:10]
  • The core values of Sunnyside Farms [~4:45]
  • What was Sunnyside Farms’ culture like when you joined the team five years ago? [~8:30]
  • What tough actions did you take as a new manager to align the team with the culture and values? [~9:20]
  • How does culture lead to measurable results?  [~11:20]
  • Describe your labor philosophy. [~13:00]
  • How do you invest in your teams and training? [~16:05]
  • What does your typical day look like? [~18:35]
  • How are you using data and technology to enhance your ability to manage your teams? [~20:00]
  • How do you prepare yourself to be a leader for your team? [~24:20]
  • How do you onboard new employees? [~25:55]
  • What are the qualities of your top-performing employees? [~27:10]
  • What is your one piece of advice for establishing a better culture within their team? [~28:25]
  • Rapid fire questions [~30:15]

 

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