Some Udder Stuff

$5 million available for

soil-health equipment grants

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture opened applications for the next round of Soil Health Financial Assistance Program Grants, which help producers and partners purchase or retrofit equipment that supports soil‑building practices.

This is the fifth round of grants, which offers up to 50% cost‑share, with awards ranging from $500 to $45,000. A total of $5 million is available statewide through funding from the 2025 Minnesota Legislature and the EPA.

Eligible new or used equipment includes, but is not limited to, no‑till drills, air seeders, and strip‑tillage units.

The Request for Proposals and application link will be available at www.mda.state.mn.us/soil-health-grant starting on Aug. 3. Applications are due Aug. 31, with awards announced by Jan. 1, 2027.

Dairy ventilation app

now available

Wisconsin dairy producers have a new tool for evaluating barn ventilation. UW-Madison Extension is also offering to visit farms and take measurements for producers who want help.

The Dairy Ventilation App is available for free on the Apple App Store and Google Play. It uses local weather data to calculate the temperature-humidity index and identify heat stress risk, sizes fans based on barn dimensions and target air exchange rates, evaluates existing ventilation capacity, compares fan efficiencies, and estimates the payback period on an upgrade.

The Dairy Ventilation app was designed with dairy farmers’ busy schedules in mind.

“Producers are not sitting at a desk all day long,” said Nesli Akdeniz, Extension Specialist at UW-Madison. “They are in the barn, in the parlor, or on the road. The app is meant to be used in the few minutes they have.”

Farm size does not matter either.

“Producers sometimes assume this kind of help is only for large farms, and that is not the case,” Akdeniz said. “A tie stall barn with 40 cows deserves the same attention as a 600-cow freestall. Heat stress affects those cows the same way.”

Wisconsin dairy producers can contact Nesli Akdeniz at nesli@wisc.edu with questions about the app or about ventilation in their barns.

SDSU Dairy Quiz Bowl Team places first at American Dairy Science Association annual conference

The South Dakota State University Dairy Quiz Bowl Team claimed the top spot at the American Dairy Science Association’s Annual Meeting in Milwaukee June 21-24.

The quiz bowl contest held at the conference every year is hosted for undergraduate student teams from across the country. This year’s team from SDSU included Hayley Daubert, Dillion Sparrgrove, Wyatt Zehr and Logan Guilette.

The dairy quiz bowl contest covers general knowledge of the dairy industry from dairy cattle production to dairy products manufacturing and processing.

Team coach Turner Swartz said SDSU was one of 10 universities that competed this year.

“I believe this is the first time SDSU has won the contest, so it is a big win. Last year the team placed second, which gave them a little extra motivation to practice more this year,” he said.

Swartz was on the Dairy Quiz Bowl Team at Pennsylvania State University as an undergraduate student in 2009 and won the contest then, so it’s a special moment to see SDSU students win as their coach.

“We are incredibly proud of their hard work. It really goes to show if you practice and work hard, it all pays off in the end,” Swartz said.

Daubert, team captain, grew up competing in dairy quiz bowl through 4-H and the Junior Holstein Association in Virginia. When the opportunity to compete at the Midwest and national American Dairy Science Association competitions became available, she made sure to get a team together and compete. The team practiced once per week for five months, and she credits her team and coach for the success.

“I am thrilled that all of our hard work paid off,” Daubert said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my time at SDSU. This honor wouldn’t have been possible without their unwavering commitment and the support of the Dairy Club at SDSU.”

Daubert graduated in May and will soon start a new job as a dairy foods manufacturing management trainee at a Land O’Lakes cheese processing plant in Wisconsin.

The Dairy Quiz Bowl Team is not the only the only team in the department of dairy and food science that had success this year. The Dairy Products Judging Team placed fourth overall at the Collegiate Dairy Products Evaluation Contest in April 2026.

Two dairy cattle judging teams, a senior team and a junior team, also achieved great results. The senior team placed fourth at the Vernon County Intercollegiate Judging Contest, and the junior team placed second at the North American College and Teachers of Agriculture Judging Conference. The Dairy Challenge Team also competed, and many participants had great success at the North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge hosted nearby in Sioux Falls.

Learn more about these judging teams and the department of dairy and food science on their webpages.

2026 Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin election results

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection has certified the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin 2026 Board of Directors election results. On July 1, the following dairy producers began a three-year term as elected members of the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin.

District 1: Evan Hillan, Ladysmith

Lincoln, Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Iron, Rusk, Sawyer, and Washburn counties

District 4: Andrew Christenson, Amery

Barron and Polk counties

District 7: David Bangart, Greenwood

Clark County

District 10: Tasha Schleis, Kewaunee

Brown, Door, and Kewaunee counties

District 13: Jonathon Hallock, Mondovi

Buffalo, Pepin, and Pierce counties

District 16: Janet Clark, Eldorado

Fond du Lac, Green Lake, and Marquette counties

District 19: Mark Crave, Watertown

Columbia and Dodge counties

District 22: Patrick R. Schroeder, Lancaster

Grant County

District 25: Kristen Metcalf, Milton

Green, Rock, and Walworth counties

Eleven certified candidates ran for nine board member positions. The election closed May 22.

For more information on DFW and the 2026 Board of Directors election, visit DFW’s website at https://www.wisconsindairy.org/Our-Story/Board-of-Directors.

Dairy youth camp returns to UW–Madison

In mid-July, 63 high school and middle school students attended the four-day Badger Dairy Camp on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus, where they learned about the breadth of areas that contribute to Wisconsin’s dairy industry, and the higher education and career opportunities available to them. The programming, for youth ages 12-17, included hands-on workshops and visits to multiple campus labs, the UW School of Veterinary Medicine and a nearby dairy farm – plus college prep sessions and recreational activities.

“One of my favorite sessions was learning about the reproductive tract. That was pretty cool,” says Grace Elmhorst, a high school freshman from Granton, Wisconsin whose family runs Romadka View Holsteins. “We got to see the reproductive organs, and one of the cows was pregnant with twins, so we got to see that.”

This year’s Badger Dairy Camp is a revival – and expansion – of a popular summer program that was last offered 2018. The Covid pandemic waylaid earlier efforts to bring back the camp. Funding to re-launch the camp came from a UW Dairy Innovation Hub grant, as well as contributions from Compeer Financial, Hoard’s Dairyman, UW–Madison Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences (ADS) and other sponsors.

“We were thrilled to bring back Badger Dairy Camp and see such a positive response. The feedback we heard at check-out was overwhelmingly positive, with students sharing how much they enjoyed the hands-on experiences, new friendships, and career exploration opportunities,” says event co-organizer Eric Ronk, a member of ADS’ teaching faculty. “It truly took a village to make this camp a success, and we are grateful to everyone who contributed their time, talents and other support to create such a meaningful experience for these students.”

The camp is unique from other dairy youth camps because the programming covers the four key priority areas of the Dairy Innovation Hub: stewarding land and water resources; enriching human health and nutrition; ensuring animal health and welfare; and growing farm business and communities. Campers also participated in more traditional dairy youth activities such as dairy judging and linear evaluation.

“I’ve done linear evaluation before as part of a 4H judging team, but it’s cool to get to learn from the UW’s dairy judging coaches and members of the team,” says Evan Brey, a rising freshman at Southern Door High School whose family runs Brey Cycle Farm in Sturgeon Bay. “They’re obviously a lot more experienced at contests, and the Wisconsin judging team is pretty prestigious – so it’s exciting to learn from them.” 

Campers had the full student experience, staying and dining in a campus residence hall. There were opportunities to interact with peers, current UW students and faculty during recreational activities including volleyball, bowling and a bonfire at campus’ scenic Picnic Point. The majority of attendees were members of farm families, but the programming was designed for all interested learners.

“We need to recruit students from both agricultural and nonagricultural backgrounds to sustain the dairy workforce and local communities in Wisconsin,” says co-organizer Laura Hernandez, professor of animal and dairy sciences. “That’s the long-term goal of this program – to inspire, prepare, and support young people as future leaders in Wisconsin’s dairy sector.”

“The engagement among camp participants, undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, alumni, and industry professionals was phenomenal,” says ADS graduate student Megan Lauber, who led planning and coordination for the camp. “It showcased how strong the dairy community is here in Wisconsin.”

FARM program opens comment period

for Version 2028

The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management Program today began its open comment period for both the Animal Care and Workforce Development programs’ proposed Version 2028 updates to compile and incorporate farmer and industry feedback.

“Farmer involvement is critical to ensuring program standards are practical and achievable,” said James “Cricket” Jacquier, an Agri-Mark member-farmer and chairman of the FARM Animal Care Task Force. “Farmers who participate in the open comment period can provide feedback on practices and protocols that help promote U.S. dairy industry efforts in demonstrating our commitment to high-quality dairy products.”

All dairy industry stakeholders are invited to provide comments, feedback and concerns related to the proposed revisions by Oct. 2.

Animal Care standards, rationale and accountability measures are reviewed and revised by the FARM Farmer Advisory Council, FARM Animal Care Task Force and NMPF’s farmer-led Animal Health and Well-being Committee.

Key Animal Care directives include review of the evaluation process for injured tails and Fitness to Transport guidelines. The groups also reviewed calf nutrition, animal observations, documentation requirements and continuing education standards.

NMPF’s Animal Health and Wellbeing Committee will review the survey feedback and submit proposed recommendations to NMPF’s Board of Directors next March.

Proposed changes to the Workforce Development evaluation tool include wording adjustments to improve clarity and farm-level relevance of questions; restructuring certain questions and their response options to be less prescriptive (e.g. on timing of safety self-inspections); and exploratory additions to the evaluation to cover new topic areas.

The FARM Workforce Development Task Force and Farmer Advisory Council work together to put forward recommendations to the NMPF Executive Committee.

The National Milk Producers Federation Board of Directors will provide final approval on any and all recommendations. Once approved, FARM Version 2028 will take effect Jan. 1, 2028.

More information about Version 2028 development is available on the FARM Program website.

New landmark dairy bill will transform and revitalize dairy sector

The National Family Farm Coalition is thrilled to endorse the Milk from Family Dairies Act, a revolutionary new bill introduced by Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) that aims to make important reforms to the US dairy sector. To date, more than three dozen farmer advocacy and dairy groups — including Farm Aid, Wisconsin Farmers Union, R-CALF, Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance, and many others — have joined NFFC in endorsing this bill. The Milk from Family Dairies Act is cosponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Instead of the “get big or get out” model that has failed farmers for decades, the Milk from Family Dairies Act provides a forward-thinking vision for family-scale dairy farmers to succeed. It would help stabilize the dairy market and ensure dairy farmers get a fair price for the milk they sell. Customers at the supermarket will benefit from a steady supply of reasonably-priced dairy products, while rural economies will benefit from thriving local dairies and investments in regional infrastructure – all at a significant savings to taxpayers.

“Farm policy has shifted away from ensuring farmers a fair price to one that sees agribusiness profit as its sole driver. This is especially true for the dairy sector,” said Jim Goodman, Co-President of the National Family Farm Coalition and retired dairy farmer. “Farmers and their customers need a return to common-sense farm policy that stops the endless cycle of consolidation, low prices, and overreliance on export markets. The Milk from Family Dairies Act is the best dairy legislation we’ve had in many years, and we urge Congress to support this bill before we lose any more US dairy farms.”

“Vermont’s dairy farmers, organic and conventional alike, deserve a fair price for their milk and need a dairy industry that offers a viable future for the next generation,” said Maddie Kempner, Policy & Organizing Director of NOFA-VT. “The Milk from Family Dairies Act offers a pathway out from under corporate consolidation and oversupply and toward a fairer future for all dairy farmers.”   

The Milk from Family Dairies Act includes the following key components:

— Price floors, based on scale of operation, that allow family-scale dairy farmers to cover their costs of production;

— Reducing volatility in the sector and better balancing the supply of dairy with domestic demand;

— Reducing the US dairy sector’s overreliance on export markets, a strategy which has largely failed small-scale producers;

— Gradually scaling down large-scale megadairies to help restore competition to the sector; and,

— Investment and incentives to rebuild regional dairy infrastructure.

Dairy farmers and the communities they support cannot wait any longer for policy change. The US dairy sector is consolidating at an alarming rate, with fewer farms producing more milk than ever before and milk prices trapped in a slow but steady decline. There are now less than 24,000 US dairy farms remaining, a stark 40% loss since 2017.  Every farm closure means lost jobs, infrastructure, and rural heritage.

It’s time for Congress to address the root causes of the dairy crisis and move on from the same band-aid solutions of subsidizing insurance schemes and expanding export markets. The Milk from Family Dairies Act is a fundamental change to federal dairy policy that ensures dairy farmers get a guaranteed, fair income that will cover their real costs of production and can support their families.