Learn from These Industry Leaders

By Anne Davison, Director of Dairy Sales Support, GENEX

Annually, GENEX recognizes members and customers for their astounding accomplishments through the Excellence in Reproduction & Genetics Awards. Dairies across the USA, and now around the globe, are nominated for the awards by their GENEX representative.

Each year the performance level of the nominated and award-winning dairies gets better and better, and the competition gets tougher and tougher. This is truly a testament to the commitment dairy teams have for continual improvement.

When the nomination period opens each year, the nominations start flying in from GENEX representatives. Many times, in addition to the nomination form, those representatives share a short note about why they feel the dairy deserves the award or what makes the dairy special. These notes make it clear how committed GENEX staff are and how excited they are to nominate a customer. Of course, the award placings are based strictly on the dairies’ numbers, but the commentary still provides a great sneak peek into the dairy operation.

This year’s platinum, gold, silver and honorable mention winners are listed below. Then get your sneak peek into these dairies in the next Horizons article.

Congratulations to the 2019 Excellence in Reproduction & Genetics Award Winners!

< 500 Cows Category

Platinum: Truttman Dairy LLC, Blanchardville, Wisconsin

Gold: Dorrich Dairy, Glenwood, Minnesota

Silver: Weisenbeck Farms LLC, Durand, Wisconsin and Stoney Springs Farms, Appleton, Wisconsin

Honorable Mention: Reilly Family Farm, Darlington, Wisconsin

500-2,000 Cows Category

Platinum: Maple Ridge Dairy, Stratford, Wisconsin

Gold: Strassburg Creek Dairy, Wittenberg, Wisconsin

Silver: Schilling Farms, Darlington, Wisconsin

Honorable Mention: Jauquet’s Hillview Dairy, Luxemburg, Wisconsin, and Hinsch Farm Inc, Goodhue, Minnesota

2,000+ Cows Category

Platinum: Omro Dairy, Omro, Wisconsin

Gold: Spring Breeze Dairy LLC, Bryant, Wisconsin

Silver: Hudson Dairy, Hudson, Michigan, and Medina Dairy, Hudson, Michigan

Honorable Mention: Darlington Ridge Farms, Darlington, Wisconsin, and Dykstra Dairy, Maurice, Iowa

Heifers Category

Platinum: Plymouth Dairy Farms, Inc, LeMars, Iowa

Gold: Lakeview Farms, Bakersfield, California

Silver: Jauquet’s Hillview Dairy, Luxemburg, Wisconsin

Honorable Mention: Dykstra Dairy, Maurice, Iowa

How Do They Do It?

When looking through the data, the real question becomes why are the award winners so successful, and what can be learned from them? What is it they do that sets them apart? GENEX representatives who work with some of the award-winning herds answered these questions. They narrowed it down to three key behaviors that each Excellence in Reproduction & Genetics Award winner possesses:

1. Attention to Detail

“What sets this dairy apart from others is their attention to detail and overall management. The dairy has a monthly meeting with all key stakeholders and staff. This keeps everyone on the same page, focused on the dairy’s goals and provides time to discuss key areas of the dairy and issues or obstacles that need to be addressed as a group.” -- Derek Kolpack, Account Manager, GENEX

“The biggest reason I see for their success is the attention to detail: from the timing of the shots in the Ovsynch program, to selecting a group of bulls and ensuring those bulls fit their goals, down to working with GENEX to sort animals and using the Sort-Gate SM program to make culling and breeding decisions. They let everyone on their repro and genetics team know how important their role is to the success of the program.” -- Jeff Lutz, Dairy Consultant and Account Manager, GENEX

2. Commitment

“It’s their consistent commitment to looking at all areas of the operation with a careful eye to improve their efficiency and bottom line, such as improving cooling systems or altering the breeding or milking order to decrease lockup times. They have been a longtime GENEX partner and an early adopter of Daughter Pregnancy Rate and fertility as a tool to improve reproductive efficiency. Fast forward to today, with use of genomics and an aggressive strategic breeding program, they take genetic improvement to the next level while capitalizing on a second stream of income with beef x dairy calves. They keep an open mind during farm meetings and are interested in learning about trends and breeding strategies but take a careful approach to whether it makes sense for their operation and long-term goals.” -- Gwen Powers, Director of Strategic Accounts, GENEX

“The breeding team certainly takes pride in their work. Every six to eight weeks, GENEX staff use the A.I. AccuCHECK program to ensure there is no protocol drift in heat detection, semen handling or insemination technique. Proper functioning and cleanliness of equipment is also inspected. All team members help provide encouragement and training for the ultimate success of the program.” -- Kim Egan, DVM, Director of Strategic Accounts, GENEX

3. Teamwork

“The dairy is successful because of teamwork and employee retention. They treat employees as part of the team and motivate them to succeed. The manager works alongside the team every day. He goes above and beyond for employees, and they respect him for that. The GENEX team also works closely with the dairy, monitors conception rates and communicates with managers regularly.” -- Casey Petter, Dairy Consultant and Account Manager, GENEX

“The reproduction program is a team effort between the dairy, the veterinarian and GENEX. There is an open line of communication, and we are all on the same page to keep the dairy moving forward to meet their goals.” -- Derek Kolpack, Account Manager, GENEX

Reproduction program success is most often the result of teamwork.