Today we’re talking about one of the most important — and most challenging — windows in the dairy cow’s year: the transition period. Joining us is Dr. Dana Tomlinson, Global Technical Services for Zinpro. Zinpro has been the global leader in Performance Trace Minerals for over five decades and has recently expanded its portfolio to include additional nutritional ingredients that are essential for dairy production.

This episode is sponsored by Zinpro.

About Zinpro®

For more than 54 years, Zinpro has improved the health and wellbeing of both animals and people as a pioneer in the research and development of performance trace minerals and innovative nutritional solutions. As a family-owned, privately held company, our steady growth can be attributed to employing a world-class team of experts, manufacturing quality products and our steadfast commitment to helping our customers advance the health and performance of their animals. With products marketed in more than 70 countries worldwide, Zinpro is the global leader in advancing animal performance through greater nutrition and is dedicated to creating smarter practices for a better, more sustainable world. To learn more visit zinpro.com.

About Zinpro® IsoFerm®

Fuel the cow by feeding her rumen, first. Zinpro IsoFerm is a breakthrough – the essential nutrient your herd needs. Designed to enhance rumen function by directly feeding the fiber digesting microbes, Zinpro IsoFerm enables dairy cows to be better cows while improving fiber digestion and protein utilization. This proprietary isoacid technology creates game-changing production efficiency, productivity and profitability.

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 – Rapid-fire questions
• 3:15 – Cole’s background
• 8:20 – Defining an index
• 15:30 – Balancing regional markets within Net Merit
• 19:05 – Utilizing fluid, cheese or grazing merits
• 23:45 – Creating a herd-based index
• 29:25 – Patience with a genetic plan
• 36:10 – First service to conception

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-Services Agency (ASA) specializes in providing customized insurance solutions for dairy farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses. Insurance offerings include health, dental, vision, life insurance, workers’ compensation, and property and casualty insurance. ASA is committed to helping you access comprehensive insurance coverage at a price that fits your budget.

24/7 customer service center: 1-877-466-9089

Website: https://agri-servicesagency.com/

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?

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 – History of Halarda Farms
• 4:30 – Succession planning
• 6:30 – Slow, steady growth
• 8:00 – Investing in technology
• 10:00 – Managing employees and technology
• 12:00 – Employee buy-in
• 14:30 – Experiences with being a trial dairy
• 17:00 – Current technologies being trialed 
• 18:30 – Goals at Halarda
• 20:50 – The life of a cow at Halarda
• 24:30 – Future plans
• 27:00 – Rapid-fire questions

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 nutrition.

Key takeaway: Strategic amino acid nutrition is a proven driver of reproductive efficiency and dual revenue streams in dairy production.

This episode is sponsored by Actus Nutrition, innovators of precision dairy nutrition solutions. Actus proudly manufactures RPMet, a leading rumen-protected methionine designed to maximize component yields and reproductive efficiency. To learn more about RPMet and other nutrition products by Actus, such as Energy Booster and custom milk replacer products, visit https://actus.com/livestock/specialty-ingredients/

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 to Windemuller’s podcast – the AgCulture Podcast – and learn more about his work in agriculture on his website.
• Read about his farm in this Progressive Dairy article from April 2024.

Episode overview:

• [~1:20] Windemuller’s inspiration for getting into the dairy business
• [~2:20] His economical method of starting a dairy farm
• [~6:50] How his experiences in New Zealand influenced the way he manages his dairy farm today
• [~8:45] The evolution of his dairy facilities from a turkey coop with freestalls and a New Zealand-style milking parlor to his current modern freestall barns and automated milking system
• [~10:50] How he utilizes the data provided by his automated milking system and other monitoring technology
• [~13:05] The most important metrics he watches
• [~14:00] The process of adding solar panels to his operation 
• [~23:15] Windemuller’s industry involvement
• [~25:50] Nuffield International Farming Scholars program
• [~27:45] The white paper he wrote about artificial intelligence that he presented at the World Dairy Summit in Chile in October 2025 as a Nuffield International Scholar
• [~32:50] Team culture and technology implementation
• [~40:20] His motivation for starting the AgCulture Podcast 
• [~44:50] Windemuller’s advice to other dairy producers that are interested in advocating for agriculture
• [~48:05] Rapid-fire questions

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 of experience, Dairy One supports farms across the U.S. with a variety of services. From milk, forage, and soil testing to farm technology solutions to field agronomy services, Dairy One has the tools to support dairy farm success. The cooperative’s goal is to measure it so that farms can manage it.

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 webinars
• Article: Preparing for unexpected visits from immigration officials (podcast episode – season 7, episode 27)
• Podcast episode with Bethany Dado-Senn (season 7, episode 1)
• Snider Dairy Farm’s “Grandma Got Run Over By a Jersey” parody video

Episode overview:

[~1:30] Ask AgProud AI

[~5:15] New editorial AI policy

[~6:45] Overview of some of Devaney, Cooley and McBride’s most memorable articles and podcast episodes this year

[~13:25] 2026 internship opportunity for students in the U.S. and Canada

[~19:30] Christmas segment

[~16:30] Internship advice for college dairy students 

[~29:30] Rapid-fire questions

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 providing significant nutrients, while emphasizing the critical role of school meals in addressing food insecurity and improving academic performance.

She also covers the "Made with School Lunch" campaign, which aims to change perceptions of school meals, and the "Smart Swaps" initiative, which helps schools meet evolving USDA standards while maintaining dairy offerings.

The discussion also touches on the potential of whole milk in schools and future projects with the School Nutrition Association.

To learn more about the national dairy checkoff and your local dairy checkoffs, please visit dairycheckoff.com.

Host and Guest:

Host: Scott Wallin, Vice President of Farmer Communications & Media Relations, Dairy Management Inc.

Guest: Katie Bambacht, Vice President of Nutrition Affairs, National Dairy Council

This episode is sponsored by Dairy Management Inc.