Focus on Energy helped over 600 Wisconsin dairy operations save $3.8 million on utility bills through operational improvements. Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza and guest Jessica Mlsna, lead agriculture energy advisor at Focus on Energy, discuss the five assessment areas, time commitment and financial incentives. If you’re not from Wisconsin, contact your local utility and see what is offered. Joanna and Jessica discuss the following topics:

• First assessment lighting

Special thanks to Focus on Energy for sponsoring this episode.

About the guest:

• Jessica Mlsna is the Lead Agriculture Energy Advisor at FOCUS ON ENERGY®, serving customers in Southwest and Central Wisconsin. She holds a Bachelor's in Animal Science from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and a Master's in Agricultural Education from Iowa State University. With over nine years of experience in the energy efficiency field, Jessica is also a Certified Energy Manager accredited by the Association of Energy Engineers. 

Resources:

• Must have a Focus on Energy participating electric or natural gas utility provider: https://focusonenergy.com/about/participating-utilities 

• Offered in partnership with Wisconsin’s Office of Energy Innovation. 

This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.  Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing [email protected]. 

The Dairy Streamlet is a condensed version of a long Dairy Stream episode and covers the high-level points of the conversation. If this topic interest you, then listen to the full episode on Aug. 28.

Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza and guest Jessica Mlsna, lead agriculture energy advisor at Focus on Energy talk through the five assessment areas: Lighting, variable frequency drives, fans, dairy operation equipment and heating equipment. Focus on Energy helped over 600 Wisconsin dairy operations save $3.8 million on utility bills through operational improvements!

Special thanks to Focus on Energy for sponsoring this episode.

About the guest:

• Jessica Mlsna is the Lead Agriculture Energy Advisor at FOCUS ON ENERGY®, serving customers in Southwest and Central Wisconsin. She holds a Bachelor's in Animal Science from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and a Master's in Agricultural Education from Iowa State University. With over nine years of experience in the energy efficiency field, Jessica is also a Certified Energy Manager accredited by the Association of Energy Engineers. 

Resources:

• Must have a Focus on Energy participating electric or natural gas utility provider: https://focusonenergy.com/about/participating-utilities 

• Offered in partnership with Wisconsin’s Office of Energy Innovation. 

This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.  Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing [email protected]. 

As our guest predicts in this episode, “biologicals and biostimulants aren’t going away anytime soon.” Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza and Dr. Connor Sible, postdoctoral research associate with the crop physiology lab in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois, explains the basics with understanding biologicals and biostimulants. This episode is split into two parts with the first part covering biologicals and the second part covering biostimulants. We discuss the following topics below:

• Basic definition

Special thanks to Pivot Bio for sponsoring this episode.

About the guest:

• Dr. Connor Sible is a Postdoctoral Research Associate with the Crop Physiology Lab in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois. Originally from northern Illinois, he received his degrees in Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois where his graduate studies focused on categorization and best management practices in the use of biologicals and biostimulants for row crops. His current research focuses on nutrient use efficiency of corn and soybean systems with specializations in residue management and nitrogen retention systems. 

Resources:

• Department of Crop Sciences – Crop Physiology at the University of Illinois

This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.  Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing [email protected]. 

The Dairy Streamlet is a condensed version of a long Dairy Stream episode and covers the high-level points of the conversation. If this topic interest you, then listen to the full episode on Aug. 7.

Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza and guest Dr. Connor Sible with the University of Illinois dive into the basics of understanding biologicals and biostimulants. We discuss the differences between them, prior management practices before implementation, challenges, additional practices needed to get the full economic benefit and the future of this technology.

Special thanks to Pivot Bio for sponsoring this episode.

About the guest:

• Dr. Connor Sible is a Postdoctoral Research Associate with the Crop Physiology Lab in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois. Originally from northern Illinois, he received his degrees in Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois where his graduate studies focused on categorization and best management practices in the use of biologicals and biostimulants for row crops. His current research focuses on nutrient use efficiency of corn and soybean systems with specializations in residue management and nitrogen retention systems. 

Resources:

• Department of Crop Sciences – Crop Physiology at the University of Illinois

This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.  Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing [email protected]. 

Farmers are adding microbial nitrogen to their crop nutrition strategy to enhance overall plant and soil health. Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza and guest Karsten Temme, co-founder of Pivot Bio, discuss the complexities of traditional nitrogen use, what is a microbe, application, research, challenges and the future of crop nutrition. Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza and Karsten discuss for following topics below:

• Complexities surrounding traditional methods of nitrogen 

Special thanks to Pivot Bio for sponsoring this episode.

About the guest:

• Karsten Temme founded Pivot Bio in 2010 with his friend and colleague, Alvin Tamsir, driven by a desire to create meaningful change and solve one of the planet’s biggest challenges. After completing his graduate research on enhancing the nitrogen-fixing potential of soil-borne microbes, he and Alvin focused on creating a microbial nitrogen to replace a portion of synthetic nitrogen. He earned his Bachelor's of Science and Master of Science in biomedical engineering from the University of Iowa and his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Resources on microbial nitrogen:

• How it works - Pivot Bio PROVEN 40

This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.  Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing [email protected]. 

The Dairy Streamlet is a condensed version of a long Dairy Stream episode and covers the high-level points of the conversation. If this topic interest you, then listen to the full episode on July 17.

Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza and guest Karsten Temme, co-founder of Pivot Bio, share how microbial nitrogen products are changing how farmers grow crops and microbes are becoming a key player in a farmer’s crop nutrition strategy. We discuss the complexities of nitrogen use, basics of a microbe, research, challenges and the future of crop nutrition.  

Special thanks to Pivot Bio for sponsoring this episode.

About the guest:

• Karsten Timme founded Pivot Bio in 2010 with his friend and colleague, Alvin Tamsir, driven by a desire to create meaningful change and solve one of the planet’s biggest challenges. After completing his graduate research on enhancing the nitrogen-fixing potential of soil-borne microbes, he and Alvin focused on creating a microbial nitrogen to replace a portion of synthetic nitrogen. He earned his Bachelor's of Science and Master of Science in biomedical engineering from the University of Iowa and his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Resources on microbial nitrogen:

• How it works - Pivot Bio PROVEN 40

This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.  Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing [email protected]. 

Consumers are spending their disposable income on health and wellness items, which is a $350 billion industry, and there is a lot of opportunity for dairy. Paul Ziemnisky, executive vice president of global innovation partnerships for DMI, shares the four strategy areas, business development partnerships, challenges and future trends. Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza dives into the topic below with Paul:

• Four strategy areas to grow domestic sales

• More incremental sales

Watch the Dairy Streamlet on YouTube. 

Special thanks to Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin for sponsoring this episode.

About the guest, Paul Ziemnisky, Executive Vice President of Global Innovation Partnerships for DMI  

• Senior brand marketing, innovation and general management executive with over 25 years of consumer package goods marketing, innovation and finance experience in a wide range of industries.  Paul’s experience includes managing brands and leading innovation for well-known brands such as Kraft Natural Cheese, Velveeta, Tombstone, DiGiorno, Rust-Oleum, and First Alert.  Paul has guided brands with revenue from $100M to over $1B, while launching more than $500M of new product platforms.  Prior to joining Dairy Management, Paul served in senior-level positions at companies including Kraft Foods, Jarden Corporation, Rust-Oleum, and Oil-Dri Corporation. Paul has been with DMI for 8 years.  In his current role, Paul is the Group EVP for DMI’s Innovation priority which includes domestic growth platforms, business development and channel partnership efforts with key players such as Domino’s, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, General Mills, Raising Cane’s and Amazon.  Plus, DMI’s health and wellness research and product science and technology teams and efforts.  

This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.  Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing [email protected]. 

The Dairy Streamlet is a condensed version of a Dairy Stream episode and covers the high-level points of the conversation. If this topic interest you, then listen to the full episode on June 26.

The health and wellness space is a $350 billion industry with a 50 percent dissatisfaction on products, which means a lot of opportunity for dairy. Join Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza and guest, Paul Ziemnisky, executive vice president of global innovation partnerships for DMI, as they discuss the four strategy areas and future trends.  Watch this episode on our YouTube channel here. 

Special thanks to Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin for sponsoring this episode.

About the guest, Paul Ziemnisky, Executive Vice President of Global Innovation Partnerships for DMI  

• Senior brand marketing, innovation and general management executive with over 25 years of consumer package goods marketing, innovation and finance experience in a wide range of industries.  Paul’s experience includes managing brands and leading innovation for well-known brands such as Kraft Natural Cheese, Velveeta, Tombstone, DiGiorno, Rust-Oleum, and First Alert.  Paul has guided brands with revenue from $100M to over $1B, while launching more than $500M of new product platforms.  Prior to joining Dairy Management, Paul served in senior-level positions at companies including Kraft Foods, Jarden Corporation, Rust-Oleum, and Oil-Dri Corporation. Paul has been with DMI for 8 years.  In his current role, Paul is the Group EVP for DMI’s Innovation priority which includes domestic growth platforms, business development and channel partnership efforts with key players such as Domino’s, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, General Mills, Raising Cane’s and Amazon.  Plus, DMI’s health and wellness research and product science and technology teams and efforts.  

This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.  Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing [email protected]. 

Does milk price play a role in appraisal values? What other outside factors impact values of properties? Join Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza and guest Jade Kruschke, certified appraiser with Compeer Financial, as they discuss the basics of understanding appraisals and outside factors that impact property values.

Topics include:

• Role of an appraiser

Special thanks to Compeer Financial for sponsoring this episode.

About the guest: Jade Kruschke, Certified Appraiser, Compeer Financial

• Jade graduated from Missouri Southern State University with a degree in Accounting and Management. She joined the Farm Credit System in 2016 and obtained her Wisconsin Certified General Appraiser license in 2019. She uses her knowledge and agricultural experience to assist clients with their valuation and real estate needs. Jade works primarily in Northwestern Wisconsin and specializes in dairy, grain, irrigated tracts, general and improved farms, recreational, residential and transitional properties. Jade lives in New Richmond, WI with her husband and son on the family farm. 

Resource: www.compeer.com/appraisal 

This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.  Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing [email protected]. 

The Dairy Streamlet is a condensed version of a long Dairy Stream episode and covers the high-level points of the conversation. If this topic interest you, then listen to the full episode on June 5.

We cover the basics of appraisals and what outside factors impact property values. Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza and guest Jade Kruschke, certified appraiser with Compeer Financial, cover the role of an appraiser, common misconceptions, outside factors that impact property values and what Jade’s keeping an eye in the appraiser world.

Special thanks to Compeer Financial for sponsoring this episode.

About the guest: Jade Kruschke, Certified Appraiser, Compeer Financial

• Jade graduated from Missouri Southern State University with a degree in Accounting and Management. She joined the Farm Credit System in 2016 and obtained her Wisconsin Certified General Appraiser license in 2019. She uses her knowledge and agricultural experience to assist clients with their valuation and real estate needs. Jade works primarily in Northwestern Wisconsin and specializes in dairy, grain, irrigated tracts, general and improved farms, recreational, residential and transitional properties. Jade lives in New Richmond, WI with her husband and son on the family farm. 

Resource: www.compeer.com/appraisal 

This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.  Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing [email protected].