Uplevel Dairy Podcast

Empowering middle managers to be leaders, employee cell phone protocols and bringing team building to the dairies. That's what we are hitting up today on the Uplevel Dairy Podcast.

Bridget Schilling from Schilling Farms in Darlington and Montfort, Wisconsin, is back on with us today. On Ep 53, she talked about getting a new team on board while taking on a second dairy, and today, we are tapping into the tips and tools she brings to the table from her professional management role in nursing, to now handling human resources and employee relations for the operation that includes 2,100 cows and 30 employees. 

Whether you manage a single site or multiple locations, I think you will find some great takeaways for developing leaders, building teams and some creative ways to get it all done.

Hear more from Bridget on Ep. 53: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5yzov7aTLHNfdzqR9nP8qF?si=jMY0RNxzTee4T4B-_8aXIw

Our featured Uplevel Dairy Young Leader is Taylor Zeltwanger. He joins us from Morris, Minnesota, where he resides with his wife. This 2020 South Dakota State University graduate started working for his uncle’s company, NutraDrip, while in college, and 5 years later, has channeled his massive energy and passion into a career helping farmers capture the value of precision ag and sustainable farming practices. 

You will hear how Taylor is:

The Uplevel Dairy Young Leaders Podcast is the special podcast series for producers and professionals in the first 5 years of their dairy careers. Find it on the Uplevel Dairy Podcast, as well as its own platform, Uplevel Dairy Young Leaders on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

Join the Uplevel Dairy Young Leaders Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/792440762650346/

Listen to our first featured Young Leader: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/peggy-coffeen/episodes/01--Introducing-the-new-Uplevel-Dairy-Young-Leaders-Podcast--featuring-Kiley-Pagel--Pagel-Family-Businesses-e2c6o1k

Texas dairyman Nathan Moroney talked about using technology to make managing 8,000 cows at Del Rio Dairy easier and more efficient on Ep. 58, and today you are going to hear more from Nathan. His background story may surprise you. 

Find out how this city boy from Pheonix found his way to the Texas Panhandle, where he dove in head first to learn the ropes of dairy management, and how he puts to work his business and finance background and eye for operational efficiencies every single day to manage the operation that has grown to now include more than 13,000 head of cattle and more than 70 employees.

So how is this business manager and dairy manager  planning to protect his price point and minimize risk in 2024? That’s what you will hear on this podcast, 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. 

Additional resources:

Listen to Episode 58 for Part 1 of Nathan's Story: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/mtPoWeIe8Eb

The High-Performance Mindset Series is 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. Listen for more episodes in this series throughout 2023.

One of the big challenges that comes up for dairy farm owners and managers as they grow and scale is this: Should you invest more heavily in highly-skilled, really good cow people, or invest in technology to do the things a good cow person could do? 

What if there was a way to streamline your cow flow and work flow, that allowed those really good cow people to focus their time and attention only on the cows that really need it, and what if that could cut the number of cows in your hospital pen by 30%?

Well, that's what's been possible for Del Rio Dairy in Frionia, Texas, and manager Nathan Moroney talks about: 

As Del Rio Dairy has grown from around 3,000 cows to now the upwards of 8,000 and expanded to include 3 parlors on site, including the most recently built 90-stall rotary, they moved from capturing basic data from milk meters to now a full suite of real-time rumination and activity data from GEA CowScout activity monitoring collars.

The High-Performance Mindset Series is 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. Listen for more episodes in this series throughout 2023.

What do gratitude and thanksgiving have to do with you and your drive to reach your next level of performance as a dairy producer or professional?

Perhaps more than you think. Today I’m sharing how gratitude has become not just a habit for me, but a true performance hack.

If you want to be more clear, calm and focused both at work and at home, you are going to learn 3 easy steps to get started.

And Uplevel Dairy leaders - I’m so very grateful for you for coming along with me on the journey to uplevel your skillset and your mindset.

If the Uplevel Dairy Podcast is something you are grateful for, please take just one minute to give it a 5-star rating and review in your favorite listening platform.

Thank you, and God bless!

- Peggy

Additional resources:

Listen to more on gratitude as part of your game plan on Ep. 43:

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/upleveldairy/episodes/43---3-Strategic-Plays-to-Win-in-the-Fourth-Quarter---Jay-Joy-e29ceav/a-aac21as

The Uplevel Dairy Podcast is expanding to include a second bi-weekly podcast, the Uplevel Dairy Young Leaders Podcast! This is for producers and professionals in the first 5 years of their dairy careers. You can find new episodes dropping every other Thursday on Uplevel Dairy, or follow the Uplevel Dairy Young Leaders Podcast on your favorite platform.

We're kicking off this very first episode with Young Leader Kiley Pagel. Kiley is just wrapping up her degree in business management with an economics minor at the University of Green Bay while working full time in Pagel Family Businesses and Pagels' Ponderosa Dairy in Casco, Wisconsin. 

You are going to hear about:

Breaking the stronghold of alcohol, finding time for friends and getting honest with yourself… we’re going there today in the second part of this conversation with Tommy Oesch from Swiss Lane Farms.
We’ve been talking with Tommy about his 5 “buckets” of priorities, and you heard about 3 of them in Ep. 54:

Today, we’re dipping into his two other buckets:

Finding balance and accountability with these 5 buckets. You’ll hear about that too.
Get ready to get real with Tommy.
This episode is sponsored by Afimilk is a global dairy technology company that designs herd management software and products that allow thousands of cows to be managed on an individual level. Afimilk can tell you what’s happening with your cows and your milk, alerts you if there’s a problem, and pinpoints the problem so it can be managed quicker and easier.
Check out:
Ep. 54 | Finding Balance with a Big Vision - Part 1: Faith, Family and Dairy Farm with Tommy Oesch, Swiss Lane Farms
Our #1 episode of the Uplevel Dairy Podcast:
Ep. 35 | The 7,000 Cows in & Years Vision with Tommy Oesch, Swiss Lane Farms

If you’ve got big goals and a big vision for your dairy and your business, you know that it takes incredible focus and hard work, but what you may also know is that if you get too focused on one thing – “one bucket” - all of that success can come at a cost … and the price you pay can be your family, your relationships … even your health.

So if finding a balance for your big goals and these “buckets” of family, faith, the farm, your health and your friendships, is something you want in your life, this one’s for you.

Tommy Oesch from Swiss Lane Farms in Michigan talked about the big vision he and his partners share for “7,000 Cows in 7 Years” on the #1 most downloaded episode of season 1 of the Uplevel Dairy Podcast. And Tommy jumped back on with for this very real conversation that goes deep into his 5 “buckets” of priorities behind that vision:

In fact, there is so much good stuff here, I’m breaking it out into two parts for you.

On this episode, we are going to hear about 3 of his 5 buckets:

This episode is sponsored by Afimilk is a global dairy technology company that designs herd management software and products that allow thousands of cows to be managed on an individual level. Afimilk can tell you what’s happening with your cows and your milk, alerts you if there’s a problem, and pinpoints the problem so it can be managed quicker and easier. Learn more about Afimilk at https://www.afimilk.com/

Stick around for a conversation with Jennifer Weber, customer success and operations director for Afi Milk North America, to learn how cow monitoring is saving dairy producers time and money and leading to healthier, more productive cows.

Listen to Episode #35:

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/upleveldairy/episodes/35---The-7-000-Cows-in-Seven-Years-Vision---Tom-Oesch-e27b121/a-aa5nbbl

If buying or leasing a turn-key dairy at another location is part of your business strategy, this episode is for you.

The real question is this: How do you walk into an existing dairy and its culture, and recreate it to be what YOU need it to be, so that the new site and the new team are engaged and motivated to hit your benchmarks and goals?

Schilling Farms was a high-performing herd, milking 600 cows in Darlington, Wis., when the opportunity came up two years ago to buy a 1,500-cow site, 40 miles away from the home farm. With it, came a new team and an old culture.

Bridget Schilling joins us to share the key tactics from her professional management experience in nursing that have made all the difference with getting the new crew transitioned, so that Schilling Farms can operate at the level of excellence they are known for.

Find out how she:

This episode is sponsored by Adisseo, global leader in animal nutrition and premium provider of rumen protected methionine for dairy producers who want to capture the power of components and maintain the health of their high-performing herds.

I’ve got a special gift for you, Uplevel Dairy leaders! It is 10 minutes of straight talk on leadership and culture, directly from one of the greatest minds in the dairy business, Jim Ostrom, CEO, President and founding partner of Milk Source. 

What has been his mindset over the past nearly 30 years, from starting with 3 partners and a few cows, to now running multiple high-performing dairies, business ventures and a highly professionalized team?

Grab a pen and paper, because these are the power quotes from Episode #34, one of our top episodes from Season 1 of the Uplevel Dairy Podcast.

Get inside this CEO’s mind on:

This episode is sponsored by Adisseo, global leader in animal nutrition and premium provider of rumen protected methionine for dairy producers who want to capture the power of components and maintain the health of their high-performing herds.

Want to listen to the full episode?

34 | Entrepreneurship, Visionary Leadership and Dairy Cares of Wisconsin with Jim Ostrom, Milk Source

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/upleveldairy/episodes/34---Entrepreneurship--Visionary-Leadership-and-Dairy-Cares-of-Wisconsin---Jim-Ostrom-e272km3/a-aa4tc5u