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We start with the basics and end with the specifics on managed rotational grazing. If you are just getting started with rotational grazing, the beginning will highlight environmental benefits, principles and practicalities, grazing for a variety of animals and common challenges. If you identify as an advanced grazer, then fast-forward to 27:29 in the podcast to jump into the specifics on economics, incentives, crop mixes and resources.
Our guests Luke Petersen, regenerative ag specialist with the Nature Conservancy’s North America Agriculture team, and Luke Wavrunek, dairy farmer and owner of Fairview Pastures in Wisconsin, share experiences and expertise with rotational grazing.
Special thanks to The Nature Conservancy of Wisconsin for sponsoring this episode.
About the guests:
Luke Petersen is a Regenerative Ag Specialist with The Nature Conservancy’s North America Agriculture team. He works on an array of programs aimed at accelerating the uptake of farming practices that simultaneously benefit farmers and nature, including by partnering closely with the US dairy industry to achieve environmental goals on dairies across the country. He has a background in regenerative grazing management, and is a 5th generation farmer who grazes a small beef herd in SW Michigan. 
Luke Wavrunek is a 5th generation dairy farmer and the owner of Fairview Pastures in Northeast Wisconsin. He started rotational grazing in 2014 and runs 200 acres in rotational grazing and has 195 cattle including milk cows, heifers and some beef cattle on pasture.  
Resources for grazing:
Dairy Feed in Focus program
Farmers for Sustainable Food Climate-Smart incentive program
NRCS grazing incentives: Contact your local USDA service center
Your state’s University Extension, Wisconsin resource
Farmer-led watershed groups or to start a group
Group referenced in the episode: Rock River Regenerative Grazers
Grassland 2.0
This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.  Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing podcast@dairyforward.com. 

The Dairy Streamlet is a condensed version of a long Dairy Stream episode and covers the high-level points of the conversation. If this topic interest you, then listen to the full episode on May 15.
Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza and two guests involved in rotational grazing share the environmental benefits, economics, ROI, common challenges and resources.  
Special thanks to The Nature Conservancy of Wisconsin for sponsoring this episode.
About the guests:
Luke Petersen is a Regenerative Ag Specialist with The Nature Conservancy’s North America Agriculture team. He works on an array of programs aimed at accelerating the uptake of farming practices that simultaneously benefit farmers and nature, including by partnering closely with the US dairy industry to achieve environmental goals on dairies across the country. He has a background in regenerative grazing management, and is a 5th generation farmer who grazes a small beef herd in SW Michigan. 
Luke Wavrunek is a 5th generation dairy farmer and the owner of Fairview Pastures in Northeast Wisconsin. He started rotational grazing in 2014 and runs 200 acres in rotational grazing and has 195 cattle including milk cows, heifers and some beef cattle on pasture.  
Resources for grazing:
Dairy Feed in Focus program
Farmers for Sustainable Food Climate-Smart incentive program
NRCS grazing incentives: Contact your local USDA service center
Your state’s University Extension, Wisconsin resource
Farmer-led watershed groups or to start a group
Group referenced in the episode: Rock River Regenerative Grazers
Grassland 2.0
 
This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.  Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing podcast@dairyforward.com. 

Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative is involved and keeping a close on the dairy markets and Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMOs) provision process. Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza and guests discuss the impact of the avian influenza found in dairy cattle, the building of new dairy processing plants, FMMO reform potential impacts, items to watch in the next 12 months and how Edge is positioning policy to offer dairy farmers protection outside of FMMOs.
Dairy Stream guests:
Mike North, President of the Producer Division at Ever.Ag 
Dr. Marin Bozic, dairy economist on the Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative Board of Directors
Tim Trotter, CEO of Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative   
Resources:
Map of dairy processing plants 
Edge FMMO resource page
FMMOs website 
This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.  Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing podcast@dairyforward.com. 
Episode was recorded on April 24, 2024
 

In 2022, U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the investment of $3.1 billion for 141 projects through the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. With billions of dollars being invested in climate-smart, are farmers participating and how can a farm identify which on-farm project is the best fit? Drew Kessler, senior scientist at Houston Engineering, shares what farmers should consider when engaging with a climate-smart program, time commitment, benefits, tools and unique ways farmers engage their communities on conservation efforts. Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza dives into the topics below with Drew:
1:45: Increased conservation efforts
2:45: What commodities Drew works with
3:22: What should farmers look for when engaging with a climate smart program
7:37: Time commitment to participate
10:15 What happens after 2028
11:26: Example of a farm’s involvement
13:11: What benefits do farmers receive from data collection
15:39: Tools and platforms
20:52: How to understand the data
25:12: Could a farm be penalize for sharing their data, data security
28:47: Watch-outs with joining groups
30:11: How farms share information with their communities
31:33: Future of on-farm sustainability programs
Special thanks to The Nature Conservancy of Wisconsin for sponsoring this episode.
About the guest:
Drew Kessler is the Senior Scientist at Houston Engineering. He leads Houston Engineering’s Environmental Service Sector. He has been working at Houston Engineering for over 10 years during which he’s grown the company’s connections to the food and dairy industry. Prior to joining Houston, Drew spent 10 years in academia focused on environmental research.
The Farmers for Sustainable Food (FSF) Climate-Smart Project is the culmination of years of proven on-farm, farmer-led sustainability work. We bring extensive experience with farm-level sustainability projects to facilitate locally focused initiatives that support targeted environmental concerns.
Our project stands out among the rest in three important ways:
Farmer-driven: No requirement for farmers to implement any specific practices, individual farm groups determine the area of focus.
Incentives: Stipends available up to $9,000 a year based on level of participation
Hands-on support: Technical support at the farm level to help participants understand their scores and how to leverage their data into management decisions for positive environmental and financial outcomes.
Learn more here: farmersforsustainablefood.com/climate-smart/

The Dairy Streamlet is a condensed version of a long Dairy Stream episode and covers just the high-level points of the conversation. If this topic interest you, then listen to the full episode on April 24.
With billions of dollars being invested in climate-smart, are farmers participating and how can a farm identify which on-farm project is the best fit? Join Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza and guest Drew Kessler, senior scientist at Houston Engineering, as they discuss farmers involvement in Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, choosing the best program, examples of outcomes, watch outs and tools farms can use.
Special thanks to The Nature Conservancy of Wisconsin for sponsoring this episode.
About the guest:
Drew Kessler is the Senior Scientist at Houston Engineering. He leads Houston Engineering’s Environmental Service Sector. He has been working at Houston Engineering for over 10 years during which he’s grown the company’s connections to the food and dairy industry. Prior to joining Houston, Drew spent 10 years in academia focused on environmental research.
The Farmers for Sustainable Food (FSF) Climate-Smart Project is the culmination of years of proven on-farm, farmer-led sustainability work. We bring extensive experience with farm-level sustainability projects to facilitate locally focused initiatives that support targeted environmental concerns.
Our project stands out among the rest in three important ways:
Farmer-driven: No requirement for farmers to implement any specific practices, individual farm groups determine the area of focus.
Incentives: Stipends available up to $9,000 a year based on level of participation
Hands-on support: Technical support at the farm level to help participants understand their scores and how to leverage their data into management decisions for positive environmental and financial outcomes.
Learn more here: farmersforsustainablefood.com/climate-smart/
This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.  Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing podcast@dairyforward.com. 

The popularity of UAVs are growing in precision agriculture and we cover the basics capabilities, economics and rules with Dr. Brian Luck, associate professor and extension specialist with UW-Madison. Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza dives into the topic below with Brian:
1:08: How are UAVs being used
4:33: Most popular UAV
6:31: Scouting crops
11:18: Interrupting data     
16:20: What is remote sensing and thermal imagery
21:40: Challenges with UAVs
25:26: When to use UAVs
27:12: Economics
29:53: Rules of UAVs
36:03: Safety of UAVs
39:08: Data protection
43.40: Future trends of UAVs
Special thanks to The Nature Conservancy of Wisconsin for sponsoring this episode.
About the guest
Brian Luck is an associate professor and extension specialist in Biological Systems Engineering in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at UW-Madison. Dr. Luck’s field of interest include machine management, variable rate technology, agricultural “big data” management and remote sensing.  
This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.  Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing podcast@dairyforward.com.