PDP Manager's Memo

September 2025 Vol. 1

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.

September 2 - Fall Pasture Management: Fertilizing, Weeding, Mowing & More

Tune in for an interactive discussion about managing pastures before winter weather arrives, including whether fall is the right time for spraying weeds, fertilizing, mowing and more.

Jason Cavadini, Grazing Outreach Specialist, University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension

September 4 - Market Update

Don’t miss the bi-weekly update with timely insights on exports, weather, markets and other news impacting commodity and dairy markets.

Ben Buckner, Chief Grains and Dairy Analyst, AgResource Company

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 dairycheckoff.com.

Previously on The Dairy Signal

August 26

Don’t miss this session with new research results on optimizing breeding times. Researchers assessed the optimal timing of insemination relative to increased activity using an activity monitoring system or after a synchronized ovulation.

Dr. Paul Fricke, PhD, Professor and Extension Specialist – Dairy Cattle Reproduction, University of Wisconsin-Madison

August 28

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are evolving quickly and offer a number of potential benefits. Tune in to learn how these tools can be used in your farm business without exposing your farm to unnecessary risk.

Bill Oemichen, JD, Professor of Practice Law and Local Government Law Educator, UW-Madison Extension

Opportunities to Learn

CALF CARE CONNECTION®

October 22, 23, 2025

Arlington, Green Bay, Wis.

UNDERSTAND STRESS TO BOLSTER CALF SUCCESS at the 2025 Calf Care Connection workshops.

Ramp up calf care at this year's one-day workshop designed for calf care managers, veterinarians and all dairy team members looking to build their skillset in caring for the youngest members of the herd.

The workshop will be taught in English with simultaneous Spanish translation.

Dr. Catie Cramer, PhD, will open the day with a general session on giving calves the best start. Since transportation is often one of the greatest stressors for young calves, she’ll share practical strategies to make the journey easier and support stronger health outcomes afterward.

Hands-on breakout sessions will feature:

"Calf necropsy from the inside out," facilitated by Dr. Frank Garry, DVM
"Precision matters with every dose," facilitated by Dr. Ryan Breuer, DVM, DACVIM-LAIM
"Under pressure: real-world lessons in calf stress," facilitated by Dr. Cramer

Learn more and register.

PDP BUSINESS MANAGEMENT & ADVANCED FINANCE WORKSHOP

October 29-30, 2025

Sun Prairie, Wis.

Learn more and register.

FINANCIAL LITERACY FOR DAIRY®

Level One -

Nov. 12-13, 2025

Dec. 3-4, 2025

Level Two -

Jan. 15-16, 2026

Feb. 4-5, 2026

Mar. 10-11, 2026

Learn more and register.

MANAGERS ACADEMY FOR DAIRY PROFESSIONALS®

January 20-22, 2026

Puerto Rico

Learn more and register.

Dairy Currents

COMPLETE SURVEY TO PROVIDE INPUT ON FARM ANIMAL CARE VERSION 2028. The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) has officially kicked-off planning and development of FARM Animal Care 2028. As part of this process, dairy farmers, industry stakeholders and partners have an opportunity to provide early input on the topics, issues and potential changes NMPF should consider for this program update. The anonymous 15-minute survey is open through Sept.5. Click here to learn more and complete the survey. The survey results will be summarized into a final report, which will be available on the FARM website early in 2026.

KEEP ANIMALS AND TEAM SAFE with proper handling of needles and injectable veterinary products. A post from UW-Extension shared key practices to reduce the risk of abscesses, disease transmission, vaccine failure and accidental injury:

Use a new needle for every animal
Never leave needles in vaccine, antibiotic or hormone vials
Keep vaccines and hormones refrigerated and temperature monitored
Follow label instructions for dosage and injection site
Discard used needles in a rigid, puncture-proof sharps container

Learn more about each practice in the full article.

Your Farm - Your Footprint

BUILD A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE WITH YOUR FARM – YOUR FOOTPRINT^™

Sustainability isn’t just about the environment—it’s about building a balanced, thriving farm. Your Farm - Your Footprint (YFYF) helps you integrate all three pillars of sustainability into your operation:

Economic: Strengthen your bottom line by optimizing resources and improving efficiency.
Social: Foster a positive impact on your community and ensure a thriving workplace for generations to come.
Environmental: Reduce your footprint, conserve resources, and protect the land that supports your success.

YFYF brings together the tools, data, and expertise to help you measure your progress and take action. By balancing these three pillars, your farm can grow stronger today while planning for tomorrow.

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

For Your Business Mind

DON’T LEAVE COMMUNICATION TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE if you want to build a thriving, connected team. An Inc.com article outlines how AI tools can increasingly take over many communications tasks, like meeting transcripts and response emails, but relying only on those tools takes away the opportunity to build valuable connections with team members. It also means you could miss important shifts in body language, tone of voice and more that could tip you off to bigger concerns. Even in today’s tech culture, build a thriving team by focusing on:

Modeling strong communication.
Prioritizing real conversations.
Creating a culture of trust and open feedback.

Learn more.

UNDERSTANDING THE VALUE OF SLEEP can boost decision making and leadership skills, says an article in Forbes. Following the outdated “sleep is for the weak” advice ignores research showing the value of rest. When you skip sleep, you are trading away accuracy, cognitive performance, emotional regulation and workplace confidence. In fact, one night of poor sleep makes the amygdala 60% more reactive, impairing the ability to make sound and calm decisions, and losing just one hour of sleep each night for a week leads to a 9% drop in overall performance. Read the full article to learn how to treat sleep as “infrastructure” to build stronger performance and leadership.