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 laser-focused on maximizing beef-on-dairy revenue and why a dairy's willingness to adopt technology and evolve with it may predict its staying power in the industry more than its herd size.

Here is the episode breakdown:

• 1:45 – Who is Pleasant Dutch Dairy
• 2:30 – Why data must generate a path to decisions
• 5:10 – What KPI is most meaningful to you?
• 7:15 – What do you consistently that helps you stay on your game?
• 9:40 – How do you communicate with your team and coordinate work?
• 12:30 – What got you interested in being a dairyman full time?
• 14:30 – What financial wisdom would you share with the industry?
• 17:00 – What do you want to do more of, less of?
• 20:30 – How are you maximizing beef-on-dairy revenue in your herd?
• 24:30 – What do you do when not dairying?
• 27:30 – If you could wave a magic wand on your dairy, what would you wish for?
• 29:30 – What's your take on technology's role in consolidation in the dairy industry?