Uplevel Dairy Podcast

On this episode, Peggy sits down with Clint Al-Ag, president of the Dairy Calf and Heifer Association (DCHA) Board of Directors, and manager with Blue Sky Farms. Clint gives a sneak-peak of what to expect at the upcoming DCHA Conference, as well as how the organization has helped him develop leadership skills as he has transitioned from heifer yard manager to now overseeing 150 employees across th...

And our featured Young Leader today is Emily Shaw Schaapmann, also known as the Dairy Girl Fitness, shares the career journey that led her to starting her own business.  Describing her initial struggles finding her place in the dairy industry and experiencing career frustration, Emily discusses how she channeled her passions for health, fitness, and dairy promotion into establishing Dairy Girl Fit...

What's been keeping you up at night? Is your mind turning about how to create alternative revenue streams, monetizing more than milk from your dairy or cash in on carbon? Or are you wishing there was a training available for your middle managers, one day where they could sharpen their communication and leadership skills?  Well, guess what ... you can find it all and more in one place: The High...

Any dairy producer will tell you, a good employee is worth every dollar. But every two weeks, when pay day comes around, do you ever wonder if you are getting the most out of your investment? What if it didn't have to cost you a penny more to maximize the efforts and outcomes of every hour you are paying that employee to be at your dairy?  Our guest today spends a lot of his time improving tra...

Peggy Coffeen sits down to chat with Dr. Mike Van Amburgh, Cornell University, at the Adisseo VIP Dairy Seminar about the benefits of precision dairy cattle nutrition going beyond methionine and lysine. He introduces the latest version of the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS), their nutrition model that offers the potential to formulate for all 10 essential amino acids.  Find out...

A big question we ask ourselves as dairy producers and professionals is, how can we effectively communicate with consumers about the food we produce and our built-in sustainability stories? Who better to tap into this topic than Dr. Marissa Hake. I sat down with Dr. Hake at the Adisseo VIP Dairy Seminar to get her insights. Hear what she has to say about consumer purchasing decisions, dairy versus...

Peggy sits down with Dr. Chuck Schwab, a distinguished Professor Emeritus from New Hampshire University, at the Adisseo VIP Dairy Seminar, where he recapped highlights of his career and research on the important role of amino acids in dairy cattle nutrition. Find out: Why Schwab so fervently pursued amino acid research The impacts on the way dairy cattle rations are formulated today And why he bel...

If you are passionate about sharing dairy’s story with consumers and want to know how to turn that into a career, keep listening to hear how Allison Ryan has done just that. As the marketing and communications director for MVP Dairy and McCarty Family Farms, she has brought the vision to life for an on-farm dairy learning center in Salina, Ohio, and will soon be cutting the ribbon on a second, int...

Is a $15 breakeven possible for a dairy farming business in 2024, given increases in input costs and inflation, and the current milk market conditions? If anyone would tell you “yes,” it would be Pauly Paul with Complete Management Consulting. Pauly has helped hundreds of farms reduce their expenses and increase their income, so that they can be profitable and sustainable businesses. I’ve asked Pa...

Today’s big question: What if you knew, with 100% certainty, that the milk price would plummet $5 per hundred weight in the next few months … what would you do? If this question has you thinking, you’ve come to the right place, because Curtis Bosma is joining us for the HighGround Dairy Monthly Market Update. Find out: Price Action Update The Big 3 factors are influencing your milk check right now...

We’ve got an exciting new addition to the Uplevel Dairy Podcast … a monthly market update to empower you to make informed decisions for your dairy farming business, brought to you by HighGround Dairy. On this episode, we sit down to get to know Curtis Bosma, vice president of producer services for HighGround Dairy, to learn more about his mission to take the stress out of understanding markets and...

And our featured Young Leader today is as dedicated to dairy as they come, Alex Gambonini. Raised on an organic California dairy farm, Alex not only grew up showing cattle and competing in dairy quiz bowl, but she also loved digging into numbers and economics. Today, her passions combined, she is the senior manager of advisory services for HighGround Dairy. Hear how Alex: Dives into the complexiti...

Before you take on that second dairy site, there are four key areas to consider that can make or break the long-term viability and profitability of this decision.   Curtis Gerrits, Senior Dairy Lending Specialist from Compeer Financial, is having these conversations on the regular, and he is going to walk us through these four critical areas and leave you with greater insights for your own decisio...

La presentadora invitada Elsie González Leach de Motiva Dairy Consulting se sienta con Juan Quezada de Milk Source para hablar sobre su trayectoria profesional, desde sus inicios como ordeñador hasta 25 años después, liderando a 650 personas como director de capacitación y desarrollo de la operación láctea. Descubra cómo comparte sus conocimientos para ayudar a otros a alcanzar su propio éxito y c...

We have some exciting things coming your way on the next episode of the Uplevel Dairy Podcast … an episode in Spanish is coming soon! But first, on today’s episode, Peggy sits down with Juan Quezada, director of training and development at Milk Source, to uncover his 5 principles of leadership. Then, on our next episode, you will get to hear the in-depth interview in Spanish, with Juan and Elsie G...

Welcome back, friends, for more in this special series we are dropping each day this week on Uplevel Dairy - catching up with our guests from last year who shared their "one word" for 2023 12 months ago. In this last episode in this series, you get to hear from Katie DiGangi about her word “presence” and what that meant for her family and relationships, and I share about my word “truth”...

Welcome back, friends, for more in this special series we are dropping each day this week on Uplevel Dairy - catching up with our guests from last year who shared their "one word" for 2023 12 months ago, and finding out who stuck to their word, who has been transformed by it and who can’t wait to dig into their new word for 2024! And if you recall our conversation with Tera Baker from Ne...

We are kicking off 2024 with a series each day this week, revisiting our guests from last year who shared their "one word" for 2023. We are finding out who stuck to their word, who has been transformed by it and who can’t wait to dig into their new word for 2024. I'm joined today by Jared Yousey from Sunnyside Farms in Scipio Center, New York. Let’s hear what Jared has picked for his...

Here on the Uplevel Dairy Podcast, we are continuing to kick off 2024 with a series each day this week, revisiting our guests from last year who shared their "one word" for 2023.  And we are joined today by Jessica Pralle Trimner in Athens, Wis. What strides has Miltrim Farms taken to move “forward” in the past year? Find out the high-impact actions that have lead to some successes worth...

Here on the Uplevel Dairy Podcast, we are kicking off 2024 with a series each day this week, revisiting our guests from last year who shared their "one word" for 2023. Get ready to get into the minds and the hearts of these dairy leaders whom I also call friends, to hear how their one word transformed 2023, and the word they have chosen to live by in 2024! And our guest today pushed her...

Here on the Uplevel Dairy Podcast, we are kicking off 2024 with a series each day this week, revisiting our guests from last year who shared their "one word" for 2023. Get ready to get into the minds and the hearts of these dairy leaders whom I also call friends, to hear how their one word transformed 2023, and the word they have chosen to live by in 2024! And speaking of top performers,...

One year ago, I sat down with six dairy leaders who all chose one word to live by for 2023. Some were dairy owners, others managers, and a couple of friends who work on the industry side too.  What did they say one year ago, about their word and how they wanted to bring it to life in 2023?  Who stuck with it? Who was transformed by it? Well, I’ve been catching up with these friends to find out, an...

Some say it's impossible to start a dairy farm from scratch these days, but 9 years ago, Michigan dairyman Paul Windemuller did it  ... with just $20,000 in cash.  Get ready to tap into the business mindset of this entrepreneurial dairy farmer today.  You're going to hear about the business practices Paul brought back to the U.S. from New Zealand to start his dairy with 30 leased cows in a...

Our featured Uplevel Dairy Young Leader today is Michael Neves. He joins us from California, though he has a network in the dairy community that reaches around the world. The first few years of Michael’s career included working with startups in technology and animal health, before finding a great fit for his skillset as business development manager for Progressive Dairy Solutions. Hear about: How...

Looking for a quick list of great business and leadership books, videos and podcasts? Uplevel Dairy Podcast owner and host Peggy Coffeen shares her “Top 5” business and leadership resources that she has been tapping into for the past 12 months. From millionaire entrepreneurs to church pastors, Peggy tells you how these resources apply to your dairy business, why they are worth your time and provid...