Five candidates vie for PDPW board

Three dairy-producer members will be elected to the 20232024 PDPW Board of Directors during the 2023 Business Conference. Because PDPW bylaws allow one vote per dairy-farm membership, each PDPW dairy-producer member can vote for as many as three individuals.

The five candidates running for the 2023-2024 board are Scott Brenner of Pearl City, Illinois, and four candidates from Wisconsin – Patty Dolph of Lake Mills, Jordan Ebert of Algoma, JJ Pagel of Kewaunee and Laura Raatz of Oconto Falls.

Scott Brenner co-owns Hunter Haven Farms near Pearl City. The farm consists of 1,000 dairy cows and 1,650 acres of farmed cropland. Before becoming a co-owner he worked as the h e rd s m a n a t Hunter Haven Farms for more than 15 years He has served more than 10 years on the Stephenson County Fair board and for five years on the Stephenson County Farm Bureau board of directors. He’s an enthusiastic advocate for agricultural and consumer education; their farm has hosted many tours throughout the years.

Patty Dolph of Lake Mills farms with her husband, Chet D o l p h , a n d in-laws, Pat and Don Dolph The farm milks 500 dairy cows and c ro p s 1 ,0 0 0 acres of land

Her role is manager of the milking operation, which includes the dairy herd, young stock and employees. She attended the University of

Wisconsin-Madison, earning an animal-science degree. The farm focuses on cow comfort and animal health; the family has earned many milk-quality awards.

Jordan Ebert of Algoma is part of the seventh generation in agriculture on h i s fa m i ly ’s fa r m E b e r t Enterprises is a dairy, beef and cropping operation owned by h i s p a re n ts, R a n d y a n d Renee Ebert. The farm runs 8,500 acres, raises all young stock, milks 4,200 cows, raises 2,000 head of beef crosses and employs 90 valued team members The family has diversified with a retail- and wholesale-meat-products business, beef-harvest facility and a farm-to-table-minded restaurant. He attended UW-Madison and worked at ABS Global before returning to the family business.

JJ Pagel of Kewaunee is a third-generation farmer who owns and operates Pagel’s Ponderosa Dairy with his sister Jamie Witcpalek a n d b ro t h e r Bryan Pagel He attended the UW-Farm and Industry Short Course and the Cornell Dairy Executive Program. Currently the Pagel family milks about 10,000 cows at five sites and farms 15,000 acres. They have on-site processing for farmstead cheese that’s sold at their retail store in nearby Luxemburg, Wisconsin. JJ Pagel and his wife, Chase Pagel, have four children and are active members of the Kewaunee County Dairy Promotions; they are also involved in coaching and community activ- ities.

Laura Raatz of Oconto Falls and her husband, Tyler Raatz, are part-owners of Wagner Farms with her brother, Shawn Wa g n e r, a n d parents, Hank and Pam Wagner. She gradua t e d f r o m UW-Marinette with an associate’s degree and a passion to go back to the farm where she’s now herd manager. In that role she focuses on taking animal health and comfort to the next level. Wagner Farms has 950 cows and crops about 1,500 acres. She’s involved in four other businesses including Wagner Leadership Training with her dad Together in late 2021 they authored their first book. For dairy producers who didn’t return mailed ballots to PDPW headquarters by Feb 20, ballots can be cast onsite at the business conference. They must be completed by 1 p.m. March 16 Visit pdpw org/programs/ BoardCandidates/details for more information.

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