Uplevel Dairy Podcast

Latest Episodes:

#34 - Entrepreneurship, Visionary Leadership and Dairy Cares of Wisconsin - Jim Ostrom Jul 18, 2023

Show notes

Peggy Coffeen joins Jim Ostrom from Milk Source in his gardens for an exclusive interview with one of the most incredible visionary leaders in dairy farming, talking about business, leadership, culture and the cause so near to his heart, Dairy Cares of Wisconsin. What you’ll learn:

The trip to Tulare that inspired it all
Defining winning, leadership and executive thinking
Company culture and the “Milk Source Way”
Dairy Cares of Wisconsin - an opportunity for dairy to give back today by supporting Children’s Wisconsin

To give to Dairy Cares as a sponsor or donor:

https://support.childrenswi.org/event/dairy-cares-of-wisconsin-garden-party/e480152

To place a bid in the Dairy Cares Virtual Auction:

https://live.classy.org/auction/dairy-cares-of-wisconsin-garden-party/fe8756a3-e73f-4e09-b880-c9478f8cab79

Learn more about Dairy Cares of Wisconsin and Children’s Wisconsin, visit https://dairycaresofwisconsin.org/

Head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠UplevelDairy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to read the blog and join the Uplevel Dairy email list to receive new podcasts, blogs, and offers from Uplevel Dairy in your inbox.To listen to more episodes, head over to Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Don’t forget to rate and review!

Connect with Peggy: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠peggy@upleveldairy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Uplevel Dairy on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠

#32 - 5 Questions for Finding Your Freedom - Amy Throndsen Jul 04, 2023

Show notes

This episode is for the dairy farmer or dairy professional who owns a business or is just wired to work as if they owned their business. If you ever find yourself stressed out, overcommitted and lacking the freedom in life they truly desire, this is for you. I’ve invited my personal business coach Amy Throndsen to ask you five high-impact questions to define your own version of freedom.

What you’ll learn:

Clarify your priorities with this one question

Freedom for spending your time and money
Freedom to grow
Create time freedom with pre-game meetings
Start or end every single day with this practice

Head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠UplevelDairy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to read the blog and join the Uplevel Dairy email list to receive new podcasts, blogs, and offers from Uplevel Dairy in your inbox.To listen to more episodes, head over to Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Don’t forget to rate and review!

Connect with Peggy: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠peggy@upleveldairy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Uplevel Dairy on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠

#31 - 5 Habits of High-Performing Dairy Farm Managers Jun 27, 2023

Show notes

For the past 6 months, you’ve been listening to conversations with incredible dairy farm owners and managers who are finding ways to lower their turnover, empower their people and achieve their goals, and in this episode of the High-Performance Mindset Series powered by Nedap, you are going to walk away with the five habits high-performing dairy farm managers have in common.

What you’ll learn:

Winning with communication

Why appreciation matters
How great managers build trust
Cultivating culture
How they show up each day

Featured guests:

Scott Blevins, Wiese Bros Farms
Omar Guerrero, Drake Dairy
Jared Dueppengiesser, Rosendale Dairy
Jared Yousey, Sunnyside Farms
Sonya Koke, Blue Jay Dairy and Blue Bonnet Dairy
Christine Bender, McFarlandale Dairy
Brett Barlass, California Dairy Farms
Michelle Shambeau, Ebert Enterprises
Sandy Larson, Larson Acres
Reese Burnett, Burnett Dairy Farm
Jessica Pralle-Trimner, Miltrim Farms
Jamie and Ellie St. Pierre, Pleasant Valley Farms

Bonus: Hear from Tera Baker at Nedap about the #FarmProof campaign and contest

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.

#30 - How to Optimize Your Time and Your Team - Sonya Koke Jun 20, 2023

Show notes

Are you running your dairy farm, or is your dairy farm running you? Dairy farmer and mother of 6, Sonya Koke from Blue Jay Dairy and Blue Bonnet Dairy in Dublin, Texas, talks about doing the work to define their mission and develop great managers in order to find more time, more freedom and more enjoyment in dairy farming.

What you’ll learn:

Defining their mission
Empowering good employees to move into management positions
Coaching and meeting with managers
The best parenting advice you will ever hear

This episode is sponsored by our friends at 4D Ag World and 4D Ag Fashion - JP and Elizabeth de Vries - A first-generation American company that provides the highest quality dairy barn technology, from barn rubber to headlocks and fans to fashion. Find it all at 4DAgWorld.com and 4DAgFashion.com

Shop 4D:

https://www.4dagworld.com/

https://www.4dagfashion.com/

Follow 4D on social media:

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/4dagworld

https://www.facebook.com/4dagfashion

Instagram:

4d_ag_fashion

Contact:

Elizabeth at (806) 557-8406

elizabeth@4dagfashion.com

Resources from this episode:

Bruce Vande Steeg

Leiden LLC

970-397-4902

bvandesteeg@gmail.com

#29 - Making Farming with Family Fun Again - Troy Nelson and Kayla Burr Jun 13, 2023

Show notes

Kansas farmers and cattle producers Troy Nelson and Kayla Burr of TDN Farms join us with their family business advisor, Jay Joy from Bridgeforth LLP, to talk about the most critical conversations and continued efforts to get on the same page and stay there, so they can move forward as a family farming business and have fun doing it.

What you’ll learn:

What led them to seek outside help
Aligning individual and business goals
Digging up the past and difficult conversations
Diffusing the drama
Moving forward with weekly, monthly and semi-annual meetings

Contact Jay Joy:

www.Bridgeforthllp.com

jay@bridgeforthllp.com

Head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠UplevelDairy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to read the blog and join the Uplevel Dairy email list to receive new podcasts, blogs, and offers from Uplevel Dairy in your inbox.To listen to more episodes, head over to Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Don’t forget to rate and review!

Connect with Peggy: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠peggy@upleveldairy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Uplevel Dairy on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠

#28 - Dairy Farm Employee Housing Takes Turnover to less than 1% - Sandy Larson Jun 06, 2023

Show notes

Providing housing options for employees at Larson Acres has taken the turnover rate from an already low 7% all the way down to less than 1 percent. General manager Sandy Larson shares what she has learned about finding and managing housing for nearly half of the dairy’s 75 employees … and how that has led to a line out the front door of the dairy with a waiting list of people who want to work there. What you’ll learn:

How providing housing has improved culture and employee retention
What the farm provides vs. what employees provide
Finding options in a tight rural housing market

Head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠UplevelDairy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to read the blog and join the Uplevel Dairy email list to receive new podcasts, blogs, and offers from Uplevel Dairy in your inbox.To listen to more episodes, head over to Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Don’t forget to rate and review!

Connect with Peggy: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠peggy@upleveldairy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Uplevel Dairy on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠

#27 - Managing more cows, more people and more data - Derrick Josi May 23, 2023

Show notes

If you are thinking about adding technology to your dairy, you know you will get straight talk from TDF Honest Farming’s Derrick Josi, from Wilsonview Dairy in Tillamook, Oregon. This dairy farmer is more than doubling the herd from 500 to 1,100 Jersey cows. Hear about the new facility with a 50-stall rotary parlor, and find out how Derrick and his team are taking the data from their activity monitoring system to get more cows bred and catch sick cows sooner in this episode of the Nedap High-Performance Mindset Series. What you’ll learn:

The biggest challenge he’s faced
Managing people, cows and data
From visual heat detection to breeding off of activity monitors
Learning to trust the system

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.

Head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠UplevelDairy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to read the blog and join the Uplevel Dairy email list to receive new podcasts, blogs, and offers from Uplevel Dairy in your inbox.To listen to more episodes, head over to Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Don’t forget to rate and review!

Connect with Peggy: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠peggy@upleveldairy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Uplevel Dairy on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠

#26 - How to Increase Dairy Farm Income and Reduce Expenses - Pauly Paul May 16, 2023

Show notes

Borrowing money to pay the bills? This dairy farm was in the red before Pauly Paul and his team came into the picture. Six years later, they’ve got money in the bank and the financial stress is gone. Hear how Pauly increased income and milking frequency from 2x to 4x without additional labor costs, and the areas where he reduced expenses without compromising cow health. What you’ll learn:

From 2x to 4x milking, without additional labor costs
Getting employees to buy-in to changes
Cutting costs in the feed center
Healthier cows, lower somatic cell count and 20 more pounds of milk

Contact:

Pauly Paul

www.CompleteManagementConsulting.com

Pauly@completemanagementconsulting.com

920-418-3135

#24 - Unexpected Detours and Doing What Makes You Happy - Annaliese Wegner and Liz Griffith May 02, 2023

Show notes

You may know Annaliese Wagner as the Modern Day Farm Chick on Instagram, and perhaps you also know dairy consultant Liz Griffith, the OG ag-vocate who was telling dairy’s story long before social media existed. But what you may not know about this mother and daughter is that they each have a new story to share, and you will hear about it first right here. With Mother’s Day around the corner, what better time for some friendly banter about motherhood, picking yourself up by your bootstraps and discovering your own story to tell.

What you’ll learn:

Motherhood, dairy farming and telling dairy’s story
The unexpected detour that changed the course of both their lives
Turning a test into a testimony
The Uplevel 5, with a Mother’s Day twist!

Follow Annaliese Wegner:

www.annaliesewegner.com

Insta: @modfarmchick

Facebook: Modern-day Farm Chick

TikTok: modfarmchick

Follow Liz Griffith:

Liz Griffith Family Farm Consulting

Instagram: @itslizgriffithp

Facebook: Liz Griffith

Instagram and Facebook:

A Farm Chick's Closet

liz.doornink@gmail.com

Head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠UplevelDairy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ to read the blog and join the Uplevel Dairy email list to receive new podcasts, blogs, and offers from Uplevel Dairy in your inbox.To listen to more episodes, head over to Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Don’t forget to rate and review!

Connect with Peggy: ⁠⁠⁠⁠peggy@upleveldairy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Uplevel Dairy on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn

#23 - Biogas: From Start to Startup - Brent Lilienthal Apr 25, 2023

Show notes

We are talking about biogas, from start to start up, and hearing the story of a farmers-first bioenergy company and the steps in the process for turning manure into renewable natural gas, straight from the co-founder and CEO himself, Brent Lilienthal from LF Bioenergy.

What you’ll learn:

The detailed process of finding solutions for dairy farms
Making sand bedding work with a digester
Why the long-term vision for your dairy farm and family matters
When the dairy farmer can expect to get paid for their credits
What a conversation with a farmer-first RNG developer and operator should include

This episode is sponsored by LF Bioenergy, is a “farmers first” RNG developer and operator.

Learn more at https://lfbioenergy.com/

Brent Lilienthal | CEO

713-857-3908

brent@lfbioenergy.com

LF Bioenergy

Ifbioenergy.com

Connect with Peggy: ⁠⁠⁠⁠peggy@upleveldairy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Uplevel Dairy on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn