PDP Manager's Memo

August 2025 Vol. 2

Brought to you by Dairy's Professional Development Organization^®

The Dairy Signal^®

Check out what's coming this week on The Dairy Signal. Tune in every Tuesday and Thursday live from noon to 1 p.m. CT, or catch previous episodes on demand here.

August 12 - Cultivating Beneficial Insects with IPM and Conservation Practices

Join an interactive conversation about research and best practices for using integrated pest management and conservation cropping systems to promote beneficial insects.

Dane Elmquist, Ph.D., Conservation Cropping Outreach Specialist (Statewide), UW- Madison Extension

August 14 - Stop Carrying Extra Weight: Return Responsibility

Don't take on extra workload that isn't yours. Learn how to return responsibilities to the right people and ensure they own the outcome.

Linda Swindling, Founder & CEO of JourneyOn

Access Now

Thank you to Dairy Management Inc. for their sponsorship of The Dairy Signal. Funded by America’s dairy farm families and dairy importers, the checkoff works to grow sales and build trust in dairy. Your dairy checkoff works through restaurant, retail and foodservice partners; youth outreach, research and product development and more. Connect and learn how we’re making every drop count at d airycheckoff.com.

Previously on The Dairy Signal

August 5

The USDA's Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) program has added new coverage options for dairy producers, specifically for beef-on-dairy crossbred calves and cull dairy cows. Learn about these new options to insure animals against price declines, providing a valuable risk management tool.

Will Babler, Principal, Pinion Risk Management LLC & Atten Babler Risk Management LLC

August 7

Tune in for an interactive discussion of the latest news and analysis on dairy and agricultural markets, news, exports and trends.

Ben Buckner, Chief Grains and Dairy Analyst, AgResource Company

Opportunities to Learn

NEW LEARNING, NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES ARE AHEAD with the 2025-26 program calendar from PDP. Check out the full range of hands-on, focused programming to ensure that everyone on your dairy team is future ready. Learn more.

2025 WISCONSIN FARM TECHNOLOGY TOURS

August 19, 20, 21

Casco, Waunakee, Markesan, WI

DON'T WAIT - REGISTER TODAY FOR ONE, TWO OR THREE TOURS!

Real conversations with dairy producers who are putting new systems to work are on tap for the 2025 Wisconsin Farm Technology Tours.

If you are considering new systems for nutrient management, these tours are a must-attend for you and your team. Not only will you learn from the host dairy, but you can share ideas and learn from fellow tour attendees.

Each tour begins promptly at the start time:

Tues., Aug. 19, 1 - 3 pm

Dairy Dreams

Casco, WI

See the Aqua System, which concentrates nutrients and separates them into separate pits, allowing for more specific nutrient application

Wed., Aug. 20, 1 - 3 pm

Endres Berryridge Farms

Waunakee, WI

Learn about diversified composting manure systems and innovative uses and application methods

Thurs., Aug. 21, 10 am - 12 pm

Double 2 Dairy

Markesan, WI

View the Rain 360 system that delivers bands of liquid directly to the base of the plant

Learn more and register.

ACE® ON-THE-FARM TWILIGHT MEETINGS

August 25, 26, 27, 28

Durand, Tomah, Newton, Watertown, WI

Learn more and register.

PDP BUSINESS MANAGEMENT & ADVANCED FINANCE WORKSHOP

October 29-30, 2025

Sun Prairie, WI

Learn more and register.

MANAGERS ACADEMY FOR DAIRY PROFESSIONALS®

January 20-22, 2026

Puerto Rico

Learn more and register.

Dairy Currents

STRONG U.S. DAIRY EXPORTS IN JUNE have driven total U.S. dairy exports up 1.2% year-to-date. The June increase was driven by strong domestic supply, competitive U.S. pricing, especially in butterfat and cheese, and eased trade tensions, particularly with China. Nearly all major dairy categories posted gains. This monthly surge pushed total export volume up 1.2% through the first half of the year. Export value increased to $4.72 billion, representing a 15% rise compared to the same period in 2024. Learn more.

FROM "OLD-FASHIONED DIET FOOD" TO VIRAL TREND, cottage cheese has been revitalized for young consumers, according to a CNN article. Over the 52 weeks through June 15, 2025, U.S. cottage cheese sales rose about 20%, following 17% annual growth in 2023 and 2024 and 11% in 2022. The growth is driven by high-protein content and TikTok videos highlighting recipes from strawberry cheesecake ice cream to buffalo chicken dip, with some experts saying its popularity could be a long-term dietary shift as a protein-dense, low-sugar food suitable for GLP-1 influenced diets. Learn more.

Your Farm - Your Footprint

TAKE THE NEXT STEP WITH TIER TWO OF YOUR FARM-YOUR FOOTPRINT.

The second phase of the PDP Your Farm - Your Footprint initiative announced at the 2025 Business Conference now offers financial incentives for implementing sustainability-focused farming practices. Cost-share funding is now available for eligible dairy farmers in specific milk sheds to receive financial assistance for adopting best practices that improve farm sustainability and operational efficiency. The program remains confidential and farmer-led, ensuring all farm data is private and producers have full control over their information. Participating producers have the opportunity to engage in peer groups to share insights and best practices.

The program is made possible by Dairy’s Foundation and sponsorship from Nestlé, furthering the commitment to achieving U.S. dairy’s sustainability goals. As a program sponsor, Nestlé’s involvement highlights the importance of industry-wide collaboration in achieving meaningful environmental progress.

Visit the website or email croy@pdpw.org to learn more.

For Your Business Mind

ARE YOU A LEADER OR A MANAGER … OR BOTH? For many people, the progression of a career starts as an individual contributor, where you are focused on your own tasks and goals, then moves to a manager, where you are responsible for the work of a team and developing the people on that team. Leaders are often viewed as strategic or visionary and not involved in day-to-day “management, however, a Forbes.com article argues that you can’t be an effective leader without being a good manager with a strong track record of executing and implementing. Learn more.

AS THE VALUE OF BEEF TO A DAIRY FARM’S BOTTOM LINE HAS INCREASED, so has the potential risk to producers as prices fluctuate. A recent Dairy Signal episode featured the new Livestock Risk Protection insurance that provides downside protection, upside opportunity and USDA-subsidized premiums. Will Babler reviewed the programs, including the pricing, timing and key decision points for producers and answered questions from viewers. Watch the episode to learn more.

Foundation Focus: Brian Forrest

"The dairy industry is built on a legacy of learning, and the pace of that learning has increased over the years as new research, innovations and technologies change how we care for our cows and land. Now more than ever, America needs a vibrant, sustainable dairy community, and it’s up to all of us to make it happen,” said Brian Forrest, owner and manager of Maple Ridge Dairy near Stratford, Wis.

Brian serves as Board Chair of Dairy’s Foundation, the only public-held national foundation that supports dairy education and initiatives across the entire dairy-industry food chain. He sees supporting the Foundation as a way to share and encourage the next generation.

Brian grew up working on his family’s dairy farm. He returned to the farm after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 1994. Two years later, he started buying the cows and machinery from his parents and expanding the herd. Maple Ridge Dairy now milks 2,000 cows and crops about 4,100 acres.

Brian and his team have been recognized at the state and national levels with Focus on Energy’s 2022 Energy Efficiency Excellence Award and platinum-level recognition in 2020 from the National Mastitis Council for consistently low Somatic Cell Count. Forrest was named a 2021 Wisconsin Agriculturist Master Agriculturist and received the PDP Dean Strauss Leadership Award.

"Dairy's Foundation is unique because it is driven by fellow dairy farmers with a firsthand perspective of what their sector and rural communities need. Over the years, many have mentored me and blessed me with the gifts of their time, care and leadership. I see Dairy’s Foundation as a place where I can give back along with others, as well as share with generations to come,” he said.

Inspiration

"To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science."

— Albert Einstein