Inside the Progressive Dairy Forum: Innovations and Insights

This episode offers an inside look at the Progressive Dairy Forum at Agri-King, featuring industry experts and dairy farm owners sharing insights on dairy management, innovative technologies, and industry trends. Discover practical tips, cutting-edge research, and the future of dairy farming from those shaping the industry.

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🔍 Exploring the latest in livestock nutrition, science and beyond with the best and the brightest in the business.  Brought to you by Agri-King, an animal nutrition company based in Fulton, Illinois.

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Transcript

Dave Curley (03:05)
I've got a lot of clients that came in, lot of prospects that have come in. Just an opportunity to kind of show them Agri-King, show them the production, laboratory, different things that we offer and do.

I think actually probably the most exciting part of it all is, you know, in the dairy industry, the one thing I'll give everybody credit for is they're very good about sharing ideas and talking about what they're doing and the different things they're working on their farms and the opportunity to bring in this many farms and be able to talk about what's working on their dairies and sharing ideas and that I think is probably the part I enjoy the most, honestly. was fun when you had them introduce themselves.

diverse part of the country that we've got covered. What was the, you know, from here to here, not quite see the shining sea, but close. It was close. Yeah. Well, we have Washington, Idaho, California, across the Midwest with Wisconsin, Indiana, all the way out to North Carolina. I think, did we have Pennsylvania too? Yeah. Yeah. had a couple of Pennsylvanians. did. So no, really good group, wide variety on sizes. I think the

Smallest area I think is around 350, 400 cows and yeah, just a good variety dealing with different feed stuffs. You know as well too when you're going across geography that far, mean what Pennsylvania dairies are doing is a little bit different than California dairies and kind of some of the different problems and obstacles that they face but no, just need to see them all together and be able to talk about it.

Third or fourth time we've done this, I think, we used to do it about every other year. And it's, I'll admit point blank that I get a kick out of being here and showing off the office and the facility. ⁓ even our best clients often don't just wander past here and get to see anything, see what's behind what their field nutritionist is doing. What have been some of the comments?

that you've heard other years that they really are, I never knew what Agri-King had, fill in the blank. my gosh, look at what they're doing over here. What have you heard in the past? Well, I think the neatest thing is just the opportunity for them to see that I've been told that they found out we weren't just some Ma and Pa company. The coolest thing is when they are able to see all the different things that we can do, which we call underneath one roof. It's not really one roof. We have four different buildings here, but

Basically in one location, know, from the research and development we can do the things that are down there from the production laboratory ⁓ to the, you know, even the product testing facility that we have. Just the different things that we're able to offer and doing for them to be able to see it and see the technology. And I think even more important than that is being able to see the people behind the scenes. They're working for them on their dairies.

⁓ get to know them, that familiarity comes in handy when there's a challenge or maybe somebody wants to grow and build in addition to what they're currently doing or expand. Having these other people not be familiar with their operations kind of can help lead some of their expertise that way too in the long run of things. It certainly is fun to watch them at break and at meals, almost after prying apart they get talking about this or that.

Pretty soon the hands are going. had a person speak this morning. ⁓ gentleman who lives in Kentucky and works through Carolina's Kentucky, a little bit of Southern Indiana, and talking about how they feed animals and it's getting the people in Wisconsin thinking, I didn't think people did it quite that way. There's more than one way to get this done. So what do you like to think people go home with a better understanding of? I you talked about what they talk about, but what would you like?

If you were to call everybody first part of next week, what would you like them to tell you that they came away with? Just this overall support, I think, that Agri-King offers and does. ⁓ You know, we can do special testing in the lab, but we've got specialists that look at so many different things from, you know, we have people that are robotic specialists, we have people that work on records and data collection for them, ⁓ for people that help.

you know, will even help if they decide to use a preservative like Silo-King that'll help them make sure that it's applied correctly, that the applicators are put on their equipment. There's such a wide range of people that are all working towards, you know, trying to help them have the success that they deserve. And that's what I always hope when they come here is they get to meet people, put a face with a name, and that they just know that, you know, those people.

When they're having success on their dairy, that those people, I mean, when work travels back here, they get to see it. The people that work here, I mean, it means the world to them too, to know that, you in their little portion, maybe even in the laboratory, that they had, you know, this much to do with somebody's success on the dairy. That's perfect. Well, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate the insight and being part of a company that does this for people. I appreciate the opportunity. So thank you, Mike.

Leroy Plagerman (08:39)
Great to be here. Leroy Plagerman. We actually have three farm names. We farm in Northwest Washington. And we have a Paradise Jersey's Heritage Dairy and a Bell Inn Farms. Wow.

What's the, obviously the Jerseys are probably Jerseys. What's a little bit about the other two? Well, we started with Bell Inn Farms. It's situated right between Bellingham and Linden. So we took the first three letters of both. So we got Bell Lin and that was our first farm and we wanted to expand a little bit and we bought a second farm. Put Jerseys on there, called Paradise Jerseys. And then ⁓ we have a large family and we're trying to think of our future and we called it Heritage. So something to carry on in the.

family. That is wonderful. is great. out ⁓ of the forum so far, what's been some of your favorite topics that you've heard discussed? Well, we started off with the calf one and we're switching one of our farms to organic and we had a calf raiser raising our calves and now we're doing it ourselves now. So I found that really interesting on what we can do to get our calves to grow faster and keep them alive. So started out with the great one right off the beginning.

Well that's wonderful. Now yesterday we did a tour through our laboratory upstairs and downstairs and some of things we've done on our manufacturing site. What stood out to you during that tour? Well, right at the very first station that we went, just the speed with which they can turn around a sample and get us results back so we can get our rations balanced according to the forage. I was impressed with how fast they can turn them around. And then just the detail to make sure that those samples that we're sending in

how they can analyze them with the wet chemistry to make sure that they're accurate. And then those rumens, live rumens, that was really cool to see how they do that to simulate how it goes through an animal's rumen and check that digestibility on it. So it was impressive. Well, that's great. We are so happy to have you here. I hope you enjoy the rest of your visit. And thank you again for coming. Thanks for having us with us. I really appreciate it.

Jon Siebelink (10:50)
My name is Jon Siebelink. I have a dairy farm together with my brother in Namba, Idaho. Been there since 2000 when we started. We milk about 600 cows and ⁓ raise most of our own forages there.

just recently started working with Agri-King through our nutritionist that switched over there and we followed him out there. Well we're really pleased that you could make the time to come out this way. ⁓ We've had a few topics already discussed. So far what's been your favorite speaker, your favorite topic? ⁓

I especially like the first one about the calves and heifers. It's something we raise our own replacement animals, so definitely some take home loans that I picked up there. Another part that I really enjoyed was touring the lab. That is kind of, to be honest, my wife who grew up in the country but not a farm girl, and she's been here.

She just shakes her head and can't believe how much science goes into feeding cows. I think that's one of the, even for people as veteran in the industry as you are, it's sometimes interesting to see just what's being thrown at the problems and challenges that you might face. Yeah, it's just that the people at the lab too are very enthusiastic about what they're doing and to show it off. Yeah, great to see that. That's good. People standing behind their product.

pushing products on us. Well, I'm very glad, very thankful you could be here. We don't want take you away from the rest of the session. I just wanted to grab you and appreciate you sharing, John. Thank you so much. Thank you. Appreciate it. Likewise.

James Bartholome (12:37)
my name is James Bartholome We're up by Belchester, Minnesota. We run about 500 cows. I'm the fifth generation. Me and my wife farm together.

We recently just installed seven robotic Lely Melkers. Yeah, everything's going smooth. That's wonderful. That's exciting to have something like that with the robots going in. That's one of things happening right now in the industry that sort of fascinates me a little bit. What's been some of the topics that you've heard at the forum that you found especially interesting? A lot of it's just like the feed sampling.

I wasn't familiar with how well the feed samples take place. Just learning how the diets work together and how the lab works.

It's always kind of fun for us to bring people in and sort of show off the facilities and the lab. think it's more than a lot of people have probably been exposed to is what's behind that report that comes back. What were some of the pieces of the lab and manufacturing tour that stood out to you? I mean, the rumen mat was interesting. know, my vet always talks about the rumen mat. It's interesting to see how it actually works in real life. ⁓

Yeah, it makes you know what's going on actually. Those artificial rumors, that's quite a concept. I'm pretty proud that one of our people thought that up 30 years ago and has it still running today. Yes, it's impressive. Well, perfect. Well, Jim, thank you so much for being at the forum. Appreciate you being here and hope you have a good rest of your day. Yes, thanks for having us come over.

Suzy Benoit (14:22)
I'm Suzy Benoit and I'm part of the herds person at Lazy M Farm in Wisconsin. I'm responsible for the day-to-day herd health and breeding on the dairy. I also take care of our treated and fresh cows.

We milk about 500 cows and raise all of our own crops and all of our young stock. Wonderful. We're really glad to have you here for the Progressive Dairy Forum. ⁓ What's been your favorite speaker, your favorite topic so far? While I don't work with our baby calves every day, I'm passionate about the next generation on the dairy.

I did work off the farm for about 15 years and calves and heifers are my, I guess, my soft spot and my passion. So it's always interesting for me to hear more ⁓ information, kind of get a good little brush up on what's going on out in the industry on the calf and heifer side. And hopefully to take that back home and even if we can tweak one thing, ⁓ we do a lot with dairy genetics and marketing.

So for us, not only is the commercial herd a priority, but making an impact on the genetics that we're marketing off the farm. Well, that's got to be an amazing... Anything... mean, a cross-bred calf is worth an obscene amount of money. When you start having valuable genetics and start looking at a row of hutches with that kind of potential, it's got to be frightening what they're worth.

⁓ We just, I think I have two embryo transfer calves left for this month. And we had five due out of a flush that we had sold first choice. ⁓ while all calves are valuable and make me nervous, those five made me really nervous. they all, four out of the five came during the day. And the one born at night, of course, was the one that I had to straighten out a leg.

But everything turned out fine. So yeah, all of them make me nervous, but sometimes those make me really nervous. Well, it sounds like you're good at what you do though, too. We did a tour of the facilities here at AgriKing today. What was something that stood out to you on that tour? ⁓ I really found it fascinating. Just the change over time and the efficiency, the adjustments and ⁓ the new equipment that the lab has implemented over the years and how

quickly they can get a sample back out to the nutrition team. ⁓ As I said, I was off farm doing feed sales for 15 years and I mean, I remember times I'm waiting and saying, where's my sample? That was pretty impressive to see the technology and what they can do over there. Well, perfect. Well, thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate you taking the time to come and I hope you enjoy yourself the rest of the time. Thank you. Thank you.

Nathan Brearley (17:29)
I'm Nathan Brearley, I'm from Portland, Michigan. We milk 500 cows, do it in a double six parlor three times a day, really rocking that parlor and getting really good milk out of our cows, maximizing that part of our facility, really have a passion for growing.

high quality forages and lots of them on every acre. Run a ⁓ really tight rotation where there's never an idle piece of ground. We always have something growing and really passionate about turning forage into meat and milk and then applying the manure at the right time and getting as much out of the whole system as we can. That is perfect. I do think I made the same yesterday to the group I was with. I think there's people in the dairy industry

Maybe our competitors that almost wish cows were monogastrics, that we just feed them grain and it would make their life easier. They'd sell more grain and they wouldn't have to take the care to balance everything. But I don't think there's going to be a time when we can move away from forages and especially great forages as being the way to really maximize profits and health on an animal. So what's been some of the topics that you've heard at the forum that you have found interesting? I really liked the calf presentation.

that really affirmed some of the things that we've learned and applied. And ⁓ I really am interested to get even to the next level with talking with Adam about things in the calf world. And I have a daughter that's real passionate about calves and going to MSU right now. So I think they could connect in their worlds and really help the industry get better at raising calves. ⁓ I also liked just

Networking with people here. You know, we're really busy in our jobs and we can listen to videos on YouTube, but really just talking with people about some of those issues that you don't post or you don't really want to talk about only person to person. I think it's best if it's a both and, that it's nice to have both a face to face.

and the ability to look something up and listen to it or watch it. But I think a lot of the world just jumps to the second part and is mistakenly turning their back on the ability to face-to-face communicate. That's interesting to you say that. We took you on a tour of our lab facility, manufacturing, anything there that stood out to you? Yeah, I mean, it's, I've been on another tour over in Europe at a, you know, I'm to say an oculant lab. ⁓

very high quality in that country that I was in but this one is world class too. Very good attention to detail, not afraid to spend money on equipment, people specialized in their area and yeah it's exciting to be around passionate people. That's great. Well Nathan, thank you so much for being here. Appreciate it and have a good rest of your stay with us. Thank you. Thank you.

Jason Alsum (20:42)
we've got the person who put the whole agenda together. is obviously Jason Alsum lot of you followed the podcast, have seen some of Jason's work, Jason stepped up, put together an incredible two days. We've part way through the whole process. What's your impression so far, Jason? You know, I couldn't be happier with

our nutrition consultants who got good dairymen here and you and I talked while we were watching the last speakers, they were just engaged in learning. Usually the afternoon is toughest because people are nodding off and falling asleep or looking at their phones, but they were engaged. One other change we did this year that I don't remember who suggested, I think it might have been Justin, suggested doing the tours

this afternoon rather than the first thing when they got here this morning. And I think that was really nice because it broke up the day. We got right into learning when they got here and then right after lunch when everybody's drowsy anyway we took them on the tours and again our people did a stellar job. Well you and I both had two of the four tour groups and it's fun for us we've been here we've seen these things it's almost like watching a movie you've seen before.

with somebody who's never seen that movie. And you can look at them and you're, they're gonna like this part. I'm not listening to the person in the lab. I'm watching the people, because they're gonna like this part. What were some of the moments for you when you were on the tour and having that moment when you're watching the people you're with that don't know what's about to be talked about? What were some of the wow moments that you saw? Well, there were really two wow moments for me. One, the new packaging machine is phenomenal.

and all the gear heads are there asking questions, watching every bag drop, watching the wrapper happen. They just love that. So that's a new highlight for us since we just put that in. typically, and it's held true again today, the rumens You know, we stand in that corner and once we explain everything that we do with those rumens how unique we are to have them, how it allows us to be cutting edge in our technology.

how it allows us to calibrate our machines tighter than anybody else in the industry, makes our lab better. Those living rumens have been a game changer for acreage. And you know, it just goes with the dairy industry. That cow, that rumen pays all their bills for everybody that's here, gives us all a living. It's pretty cool. that we really had, I snuck in on a couple other groups in that corner, because I like to interject a little bit in there.

Because sometimes our scientists talk right here. So I dumb it down. I bring it down to the street level and just talk through what we're doing and how that's unique. I love being a part of that corner. Yeah, that's absolutely true. I see the same thing. Any other thoughts? You know, the other word that I like to sprinkle in and I'll do it again tomorrow, and what I like those groups to understand is the synergy.

Why are we here? Agri-King is here for them. Agri-King is not a company that's putting stuff in a bag to make money. We don't put stuff in a bag to say, you know what, that's going to increase our sales, put a cheaper product in so we can make more profit on that. We don't work that way. We do our research, and we want bug A and bug B and bug C to equal five.

Because we want this one, we want to understand it so good with our R &D that this one supports this one. And this one supports that one. And together, they do more. And they create better absorption. so that's one of the guys down on the south side of the lab asked about a competitor product when we were talking about emission stuff. There's this product out there. And Luke did a nice job of explaining how that product

does lower emissions, but it also lowers the metabolism of the cow. So it was another good example for us to say, you know what, that's fine, but we're not here to put a band-aid on something. We want that whole process to work efficiently from A to B, and that puts more money in your pocket and lowers emissions. That's the right way to do it. And they all shook their head. Yeah. They got it then, right? That's how we should do it.

Well hey, thank you. You put together a wonderful agenda. know you do get to talk about Silo-King a little before they go home, which is where you spend most of your time. Great job and thank you so much. Thank you. Appreciate it, Mike. Thanks for being here.