PDP Manager's Memo

September 2025 Vol. 3

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 16 - Producer Loan Approval: Banker's View

Hear from a banker’s perspective what is happening behind the scenes when a producer applies for a loan. Curtis Gerrits will highlight what gives the producer the best chance of approval and review key documents, guidelines and common mistakes.

Curtis Gerrits, Senior Dairy Lending Specialist, Compeer Financial

September 18 - Market Update

Fall is in the air! Tune in for a discussion on key market news and trends that will impact the dairy industry through harvest and the rest of 2025.

Ben Buckner, Chief Grains and Dairy Analyst at 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

September 9

It’s no secret that challenges and stresses in personal lives can impact our work performance, but how can co-workers and managers support team members without crossing professional boundaries? Tune in for a discussion on why empathy is important in the workplace and ways to recognize and support your team.

Don Tyler, Founder of Tyler & Associates, Executive and Management Coach

September 11

Learn about recent research focused on the impact of euthanasia on human-animal relationships and best practices for handling situations when necessary.

Dr. Catie Cramer, PhD, Assistant Professor, Animal Sciences, Colorado State University

Opportunities to Learn

MANAGERS ACADEMY FOR DAIRY PROFESSIONALS®

January 20-22, 2026

Puerto Rico

SEE YOU IN SAN JUAN! Managers Academy is headed to Puerto Rico in January 2026. Expect a high-impact experience and strategies to equip you to position your business for growth and succession. Presenters Marissa Nehlsen and Dick Wittman will help dairy's executives challenge legacy thinking, sharpen management infrastructure and lead beyond the next transition.

A day of out-of-industry tours will feature executive-level discussions at a pioneer coffee farm, Puerto Rico's first certified agrotourism farm and the world's largest rum distillery.

Learn more and register.

CALF CARE CONNECTION®

October 22, 23, 2025

Arlington, Green Bay, Wis.

UNDERSTAND STRESS TO BOLSTER CALF SUCCESS. Ramp up your calf care expertise at the PDP Calf Care Connection® training. This workshop will be taught in English with simultaneous Spanish translation for the industry's top calf care managers and other experts looking to grow their skillset by learning from world-class trainers in a hands-on setting.

World-class facilitators include Dr. Catie Cramer, Dr. Ryan Breuer, and Dr. Franklyn Garry with a combination of classroom and hands-on labs focused on recognizing and reducing stressors that can impact calf health.

Learn more and register.

STRIDE™ YOUTH LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

Nov. 12, 2025

River Falls, Wis.

YOUR FUTURE IS NOW. Calling high school students ages 15-18: make plans now to attend the 2025 Stride Youth Leadership Conference at UW-River Falls.

This single-day program is for high school students looking to amplify and excel in their leadership skills while preparing for the future and discovering opportunities in the dairy and agriculture sectors.

Michael Hoffman will facilitate communications and leadership training, with UW-River Falls faculty and grad students leading hands-on labs and tours.

Learn more and register.

CARBON, CROPS + COWS

October 14, 15, 2025

Van Dyne, Stratford, Wis.

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

Kewaunee, Wis.

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.

DAIRY WELLBEING WORKSHOP

Nov. 19, 20, 2025

Green Bay, Wis.

Learn more and register.

DAIRY MANAGERS INSTITUTE

Dec. 16-17, 2025

Green Bay, Wis.

Learn more and register.

CORNERSTONE DAIRY ACADEMY®

March 3-4, 2026

Madison, Wis.

Applications due Jan. 15

Learn more and apply.

For Your Business Mind

HOW CAN INTROVERTS GET COMFORTABLE WITH PROVIDING FEEDBACK to their employees? An article from Cornell Agricultural Workforce Development provided tips for supervisors to remember to provide quality and timely feedback to their teams:

Was my feedback specific (i.e., not just “good job”)?
Was I objective and job-focused, not emotional and person-focused?
Did I explain why it matters?
Did I suggest how to improve next time?

Learn more in the full article.

“SLOW IS SMOOTH, AND SMOOTH IS FAST.” This Navy SEAL philosophy can also be applied to today’s business world, according to a Fast Company article. By prioritizing precision over speed and preparation over reactive rushing, you can ensure that a job is completed correctly the first time and avoid costly missteps. Building in time and processes to slow down when making major decisions, before key meetings and when tackling big projects can pay dividends later. Learn more.

Your Farm - Your Footprint

THE TIME IS NOW to understand your farm’s sustainability potential.

Through Your Farm – Your Footprint™, PDP is offering dairy farmers grants up to $9,750 per farm (covering up to 2,500 acres) to confidentially learn your farm’s environmental footprint score and understand how it is calculated.

The Your Farm – Your Footprint™ initiative is the first-of-its-kind opportunity that puts farmers in control of their farm’s environmental score and data, allowing you to decide how to best use the information on your farm, and with whom to share the results.

Learn more and sign up today at www. pdpw.org/your-farm-your-footprint/.

For Your Dairy

IMPACT OF TIME BETWEEN CALVING AND COLOSTRUM HARVEST was the focus of a study published in JDS Communications. Colostrum samples from 640 Holstein cows from a single herd were examined to see how the timing of harvest affects quality. In this herd, calves were removed from dams immediately after calving and fed from a colostrum bank, while cows were milked for colostrum twice daily. The authors found that first milking of colostrum can wait for up to 9 hours without a significant reduction in IgG concentration. Learn more in the full study.

CHOP LENGTH MATTERS for forage entering a cow’s rumen. A cow’s rumen will sort particles, and how those particles float, settle, or sink affects rumen motility, pH, and microbial balance. An article from Penn State Extension reviews how the Penn State Particle Separator works to analyze a cow’s ration, recommending optimal corn silage cuts of 3/8 inches to ¾ inches unprocessed or ¾ inch for processed. They also recommend greater than 70% kernel breakage after processing. Learn more.

On the Road: Moore Local & Rockdale Locker

Heather and Brandon Moore began milking 50 cows in 2014. In 2017, they opened Moore Local in a 500-square-foot storefront offering farmstead cheese, coffee, and locally sourced foods. The concept quickly outgrew its space, expanding into larger locations.

Building on that momentum, the Moores partnered with neighbors in 2022 to build and launch Rockdale Locker, a USDA-inspected meat processing facility located alongside Moore Family Farms Creamery. The 31,000-square-foot complex brings processing and retail together under one roof.

From the beginning, the businesses have been built around practical growth: starting small, reinvesting profits, offering additional community services like UPS drop-off, and focusing on function over flash. Today, the businesses employ 30 people.

“We tested products and ideas and added space and resources as we needed, moving twice to larger spaces and adding a walk-in cooler before investing in the locker and creamery facility that came with a big price tag and a big loan, but by then we had confidence in the business model and knew we had built a market for the products,” said Heather.

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