Progressive Dairy Podcast

John Cole breaks down indexes and how to effectively use them in your herd on this episode of the Progressive Dairy Podcast . Cole serves as the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding's chief research and development officer. Learn about the math and data that’s involved in calculating an index, Cole’s recommendations for using indexes and a few new tools from CDCB. Here is the episode breakdown: 1:00 –...

In this episode, host Mike Opperman sits down with Ashley Nadeau, senior loss control consultant at Agri‑Services Agency, to chat about the big risk areas on a dairy – from machinery and PTO entanglements to confined spaces, parlor hazards, chemicals and animal handling injuries — and discuss why complacency can be a farm’s biggest threat. This episode is sponsored by Agri‑Services Agency. Agri-Se...

Nick Vande Weerd runs Pleasant Dutch Dairy in South Dakota and serves as vice chair for AgriBank. Progressive Dairy Editor Walt Cooley caught up with him after he spoke at the 2025 Precision Dairy Conference, and he had one message that stopped me: You can't expand your way out of a cost problem. In this conversation, Nick walks through how he scrutinizes every line item in his operation, why he's...

Join host Matti McBride as she chats with Anton Borst, owner of Halarda Farms in Elm Creek, Manitoba. Learn about the dairy, current succession plans, why Halarda Farms invests in technology and opts to be a trial farm for emerging technologies, as well as future plans for the dairy.  Here is the episode breakdown: 0:50 – Introduction to Halarda Farms 1:40 – Using a parlor and robots 3:00 – Histor...

Reproductive success is now central to both milk and beef calf revenue in progressive dairy herds. The episode explores how methionine, lysine, and histidine drive fertility and calf health, making amino acid balancing a critical strategy for profitability. Listeners discover how small gains in conception rates can yield significant financial impact when paired with strategic breeding and nutritio...

Michigan dairy producer Paul Windemuller joins host Kimmi Devaney to chat about how his family economically started their dairy farm in 2013, the evolution their dairy facilities and the addition of solar panels, the role of artificial intelligence, and how he uses the data provided by his automated milking system and other monitoring technology to make informed management decisions. Links: Listen...

In this Progressive Dairy Podcast , guests from Dairy One discuss how forage testing can impact overall milk quality in herds. Speakers Dan Button, Mike Reuter, and Kenlin Martin have a roundtable-style discussion on what impact they’ve seen from farmers who want to improve the feed given to their cows and how it ties to milk production. This episode is sponsored by Dairy One. With over 75 years o...

Join Progressive Dairy Podcast co-hosts Kimmi Devaney, Walt Cooley and Matti McBride as they highlight some of their favorite articles and podcast episodes from 2025 and discuss Progressive Publishing’s new artificial intelligence (AI) policy, the new Ask AgProud AI feature on agproud.com, 2026 internship opportunities and a fun Christmas segment.  Links: Sign up for Real Producer Exchange webinar...

DMI’s Katie Bambacht, Vice President of Nutrition Affairs at the National Dairy Council, speaks with DMI’s Scott Wallin about how the checkoff is working directly with schools to improve school lunches (with dairy being front and center) by collaborating with the School Nutrition Association. Katie explains that nearly 30 million students participate in school meal programs daily, with dairy provi...

David Kerr, milkrite | InterPuls (MI) Regional Sales Manager, shares insights on Impulse Air liner technology, proper milking equipment setup, mastitis prevention strategies, and MI comprehensive Farm Services Programs supporting dairy producers. Episode highlights: MI Lines of Business and Impulse Air [~2:08] How to choose the right liner [~4:00] The importance of massage [~5:17] Key factors for...

Jim Van Patter has managed large dairy herds from Wisconsin to Turkey to Australia to Mississippi and back again. He's now the dairy manager at Nehls Brothers Farm near Juneau, Wisconsin, and he's brought home some hard-won lessons about what works at scale—and what doesn't. Whether you're running 100 cows or 1,000, Jim's got practical insights on everything from labor management to facility desig...

Genetic advances in Holstein cows are reshaping milk composition, demanding more precise nutritional strategies. This episode highlights how the CNCPS v7.0 model and targeted amino acid supplementation can optimize milk solids and herd efficiency. Experts share practical approaches for leveraging data-driven ration modeling to maximize returns in today’s evolving dairy landscape. Key takeaway: Pre...

What is Targeted Reproductive Management (TRM)? And why should producers care about this new approach to dairy reproduction? Listen in to this Progressive Dairy sponsorcast as a team of reproductive health experts and enthusiasts evaluate new TRM best practices, how dairies can find better repro rates and more. Episode Highlights The latest reproductive research findings Prostaglandin product comp...

Pennsylvania dairywoman Lolly Lesher from Way-Har Farms joins host Kimmi Devaney on this episode of the Progressive Dairy Podcast to discuss on-farm processing, selling directly to consumers through their farm market and other retail avenues, farm tours and community outreach.  Connect with Lesher on Facebook .  Here is a breakdown of the episode: [~1:00] About Way-Har Farms and Lesher’s family [~...

As a dairy farmer, understanding health insurance options is key to protecting your family, employees, and business. This session explores current market trends and key considerations when evaluating insurance coverage options.  Here is a breakdown of the episode: [3:20] 2026 market outlook [5:22] Extended subsides [6:39] Budgeting for health insurance [9:16] Questions to ask your benefits special...

This episode's guest is Dave Saunders. Dave has spent years in business development and ag technology — many might remember his work helping create My Dairy Dashboard, the analytics tool that helps farmers track and improve performance. Now he’s focused on helping producers prepare for a changing financial landscape. He’s written a new book, The Reset Ready Playbook: Strategies for Navigating the...

Hear how large-herd producers scaled with Lely automation at a roundtable that was held live at Miltrim Farms in Athens, Wisconsin. Listen to three large-herd producers share best practices, real-world ROI, barn design and labor efficiency gains. Click through to watch the full roundtable video . This episode is sponsored by Lely. Lely North America, based in Pella, Iowa, is part of the Lely Group...

Brad Guse from BMO returns to the Progressive Dairy Podcast to discuss various financial topics ranging from the key aspects of a risk management plan to economics of diversification, profitability strategies, what to expect from interest rates and much more.  Episode overview: [~1:10] Guse’s background/career [~1:35] What is going well on dairy farms and where many are struggling  [~2:55] Economi...

Discover the latest milk fat research on whole milk and dairy foods. DMI’s Dr. Chris Cifelli, Senior Vice President of Nutrition Research at National Dairy Council, speaks with DMI’s Scott Wallin about how the checkoff is expanding the body of science around whole milk, cheese, and yogurt. With more than 80 studies conducted over the last 20 years, the milk fat research shows that these foods not...

Join Jeremy Howard, Senior Sales and Marketing Manager at Simplot Animal Sciences, and Lauren Kimble, Manager of the Select Sires ProfitSOURCE program as the discuss the current beef on dairy market and implications for dairy producers. They will unpack: The current strength of the beef-on-dairy market Key trends and shifts over the past year What dairy farmers should keep on their radar How the b...

Tune into this episode of the Progressive Dairy Podcast to hear from California dairy farmer Maureen Lemos as she chats with host Kimmi Devaney about her family’s milk drive, the two children’s books she wrote, farm tours, farmers markets and the other ways she connects with her community to put a face on the dairy industry. Find her on Facebook  and Instagram (@photographer_on_a_dairy_farm) and c...

Feed is the single largest expense on any dairy, and how it's managed can make or break both cow performance and your bottom line. In this episode of the Progressive Dairy Podcast , host Frederic sits down with VAS farm performance consultant team leaders, Melissa Freitas and Char Handschke, to talk about the biggest challenges in feed management and how new technology is helping farms of all size...

Posilac® has impact on carbon footprint reduction. This episode is sponsored by Union Agener . About Union Agener: The plant was acquired in October 2018 by Fernando de Castro Marques, a majority shareholder of União Química, one of the largest groups in the pharmaceutical industry in Brazil. “Now we are in full control of operations and we will begin production of new Posilac® batches to fully sa...

In this episode of the Progressive Dairy Podcast , host Kimmi Devaney and Michele Payn discuss how parents, 4-H leaders and other adults can set a good example of stress management, the current state of mental health in agriculture and how it is impacting youth, available resources and more. Payn wrote two articles that are in the Sept. 12 and Oct. 1 issues of Progressive Dairy about mental health...

Are dairy producers getting everything they can from their prebiotic and probiotic feed additives? The historical approach might be letting valuable ingredients go to waste. In this episode, the Papillon Agricultural Company team discuss how feed additives can be used to address specific concerns and how modern testing methods can reveal profitable opportunities. Listen in and explore how complime...