Uplevel Dairy Podcast

Last year, Michigan dairyman Tommy Oesch from Swisslane Farms, told us right here on the Uplevel Dairy Podcast that he planned to complete David Goggins’ extreme 4x4x48 endurance challenge: That’s running 4 miles, every 4 hours for 48 hours.

Today, Tommy is back and he brought his friend Clare Alderink, general manager at Ryzebol Dairy, to talk about the grueling physical and mental challenge they completed in March, and the surprising ways it’s made them better as dairymen, family men and friends.

This episode is all about mindset:

If you are pushing for your next level of performance, I promise, this episode drops some real life wisdom and will leave you with a new vision of what’s possible for you too!

Here more from Tommy Oesch on the Uplevel Dairy Podcast:

This episode is sponsored by Uplevel Dairy Podcast Founding Partner Adisseo, a global leader in nutritional solutions and premier provider of rumen-protected methionine for dairy producers who want to optimize milk production, capture more value from components, and maintain the health of their high-performing herds. Learn more here: Adisseo.com

Welcome to central Texas, where summer days exceed 100 degrees and heat stress is one of the greatest threats to cow health, reproduction and performance. 

But since adding monitoring technology to their 1,250-cow herd last year, dairyman Hidde Osinga from Overwhere Dairy is using collar-collected data to:

Find out how his team has learned to trust the system, and hear about Hidde’s excitement for the future of dairying in this episode, part of the High-Performance Mindset Series, powered  by Nedap. 

Nedap is future-proofing dairy farms by revolutionizing cow-side care through technologies in activity monitoring, cow locating, milk metering and identification. 

Find more episodes in Nedap’s High-Performance Mindset Series here:

We catch up with Curtis Bosma, vice president of producer services for HighGround Dairy, to hear about:

Learn more and find market resources at https://highgrounddairy.com/
This episode is brought to you by: HighGround Dairy provides global dairy market intelligence, insurance services, futures & options brokerage, and advisory programs to a diverse range of dairy market participants throughout the supply chain.
Please note: Information shared in this podcast is for educational purposes and is not a solicitation to buy or sell commodities.  Opinions expressed are current opinions as of March 18, 2024, 12 p.m., and only represent the views of the speaker and not those of HighGround Trading, unless otherwise expressly noted.

In the final episode in this series with the women who are leading the way at Pagel Family Businesses, in Kewaunee, Wisconsin, we sit down with Ashley Pagel, human resources manager.

Find out:

Compeer Financial is a member-owned Farm Credit cooperative serving and supporting agriculture and rural America. Our dairy team brings world-class expertise and tailored solutions to support dairy producers’ financial goals and lending needs.
For more information, contact the Compeer Dairy Industry Experts .

We continue this 3-part series with the women who are leading the way at Pagel Family Businesses, in Kewaunee, Wisconsin. 

Today, Chase Pagel debuts her new children’s book, Rosco’s Sweet Treats, a story that not only depicts modern dairy farming, but also a real-life tale of a steer raised by her daughter that had a taste for cupcakes and other treats.

Chase talks about:

Rosco’s Sweet Treats is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.

Follow Chase’s journey online:

Dairy Diaries LLC on Instagram and Facebook

Compeer Financial is a member-owned Farm Credit cooperative serving and supporting agriculture and rural America. Our dairy team brings world-class expertise and tailored solutions to support dairy producers’ financial goals and lending needs.
For more information, contact the Compeer Dairy Industry Experts .

This week, we bring you a 3-part series, as we celebrate the month of March: the month of women’s history, international women’s day, as well as National Agriculture Day.

What better way to do this than in Kewaunee, Wisconsin, at Pagel’s Ponderosa Dairy, with three very special guests from Pagel Family Businesses … three women who have risen to the challenge to be leaders … here at the dairy, in their community and far beyond. 

This family has overcome hardship, in particular, the tragic loss of well-loved industry leader and the family’s patriarch, John T. Pagel, along with his son-in-law, Steve Witcpalek, six years ago.

Yet, the family has rallied together to carry on a legacy and a business. 

In this episode, Jamie Pagel Witcpalek, chairwoman of Pagel Family Businesses, opens up about loss, grief and moving forward.  

Tune into the next two episodes in this series to hear from:

Compeer Financial is a member-owned Farm Credit cooperative serving and supporting agriculture and rural America. Our dairy team brings world-class expertise and tailored solutions to support dairy producers’ financial goals and lending needs.
For more information, contact the Compeer Dairy Industry Experts . 

In this episode of the UpLevel Dairy Podcast, host Peggy Coffeen welcomes back guest Leland Kootstra, an accountant well-versed in the dairy farming business sector and founding partner of Frazer, LLP. The dialogue offers a trove of wisdom for generational dairy farmers, focusing on the skills needed to take over the helm and steer their family businesses to new horizons.

Leland emphasizes the importance of meticulousness in business operations, where an in-depth understanding of costs, schedules, and right-sizing is crucial for superior management. He also brings to light the significance of integrating robust risk management strategies to hedge against uncontrollable market volatility.

The three things that Leland sees the top 10% of dairy farmers doing are:

This episode is brought to you by HighGround Dairy

HighGround Dairy provides global dairy market intelligence, insurance services, futures & options brokerage, and advisory programs to a diverse range of dairy market participants throughout the supply chain. Learn more about them below or at ⁠https://www.highgrounddairy.com/⁠.

In this episode of the UpLevel Dairy podcast, host Peggy Coffeen interviews Leland Kootstra, an accountant with Frazer, LLP, about the importance of succession planning in multi-generational dairy businesses. Kootstra shares three critical questions he asks both the senior and incoming generations to help them define their goals, timelines, and long-term outlook. He emphasizes the need for open and ongoing communication to ensure a smooth transition and alignment of expectations. This episode provides valuable insights for dairy farm owners and managers looking to pass on their businesses successfully.

Hear more in this episode about:

This episode is brought to you by HighGround Dairy

HighGround Dairy provides global dairy market intelligence, insurance services, futures & options brokerage, and advisory programs to a diverse range of dairy market participants throughout the supply chain. Learn more about them below or at https://www.highgrounddairy.com/.

Hans Nederend isn’t only committed to producing high-quality milk on his dairies. He’s also committed to living a high-quality life. Whether it’s leading his family or leading his team, hear how Hans keeps his faith at the center of his roles as both a dad and a dairyman.

In his responses to the “Uplevel 5,” Hans talks about:

Hear more from Hans in Part 1: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/upleveldairy/episodes/92--Pursuing-Greatness-with-Hans-Nederend---Part-1-Secrets-to-World-class-Milk-Quality-e2gl916

What does it take to maintain milk quality at a level of less than 75,000 SCC on 9,000 cows for 15 consecutive years?

You might be surprised.

We are catching up with Hans Nederend III from Nederend Dairies in Marsing, Idaho, who shared his secrets to milk quality success at the 2024 National Mastitis Council Annual Meeting.

A past National Dairy Quality Award winner, Hans talks about:

✅ Consistency, persistency and his daily tracking spread sheet

✅ His performance-based pay system

✅ How he motivates his team of milking professionals

👀 Spoiler alert: He doesn’t talk about any magical technology, tube or treatment.

This episode is sponsored by Uplevel Dairy Podcast Founding Partner Adisseo, a global leader in nutritional solutions and premier provider of rumen-protected methionine for dairy producers who want to optimize milk production, capture more value from components and maintain the health of their high-performing herds.