Thank you for creating The Dairy Signal. I have watched several episodes and have been thoroughly impressed with the content and delivery of each episode, and plan to share it with others.

Over the past 30 years of watching PDP grow, their group has become the reliable resource for dairy producers and the allied industry. They continue to offer endless opportunities to connect with other dairy farmers and encourage them to feed off each other’s innovation and accomplishments.

Since its inception, PDP has provided dairy producers and allied industry with innovative and practical solutions to improve profitability and sustainability in the dairy production business. The Dairy Signal is the latest tool in the toolbox. In a concise, easy to manage format, over lunch, the experts brought together on The Dairy Signal provide up to the minute, usable, information that helps me and my customers make better decisions during this unprecedented time. Each of my kids are involved in the dairy industry, and it's important to me that they have the same chances at success that I have had. Right now, The Dairy Signal is providing resources to help make that happen.

The Dairy Signal helps us get our mind off some of the unpleasant things like milk dumping and the coronavirus and on to the things that are important to our businesses. Dr. Kohl always has some value in what he shares. He keeps reminding us to stay on our game – that advice is very much needed these days. And Eric Snodgrass gave us some optimism and opportunity with the way the weather patterns look.

The Dairy Signal has helped me stay up to date in this ever-changing world we live in. The insight from our industry experts is shared in a really easy-to-understand, conversational way. We can hear directly from those people who are out there trying to make things happen on our behalf and those who can clearly explain what’s happening. The recordings have been helpful as I’m able to listen to them when my schedule with my crazy kids allows.

Just a big Thank You to Shelly and all for your efforts in putting together the video conference. Excellent is not a high-enough praise for all the effort and foresight you have put into this project.

Dan Basse.....Incredibly valuable insights and strong honest realistic opinions. He understands the urgent need to address the magnitude of the world predicament. Extremely impressive and I am grateful for the opportunity to hear his presentation. Thank you!!

The Dairy Signal is very timely and provides up-to-date information. The best part is being able to watch the recording later, because it doesn’t take time out of the day's schedule.

I was fortunate to be able to bring my second-year Dairy Science students to the 2018 Calf Care Connection. Not only did they find the sessions valuable and interesting, but I picked up a few key points as well. I plan to incorporate the 2019 session into my class schedule again. Very worthwhile for anyone in the dairy industry.

Events such as this, real-world, hand-on, where people get to visit farms, speak with the farmers, and learn about all of the complex, inter-related decisions that go into operating a farm while ALSO incorporating conservation practices is very eye-opening and, importantly, humanizing. There is too much "bad press" out there, and most people forget that farmers are people, too. And that, just like most people, want to do "what's right", including stewardship.

Managers Academy is a program you won't get anywhere else. Top notch speakers along will the best of the best in the dairy industry, makes this conference a one of a kind. This year I learned about Lean & Six Sigma. Right away I started using this technique everyday with how I organize my to day at work and I even use it at home. Then, they ended the event with Tim Thibodeau, reminding us of how great we all are and need to cherish everyday. There were lots of tears, but so inspirational. I recommend this program to anyone in the dairy industry. You will go back home feeling recharged and ready to accomplish anything!

PDP is one of the most personal and professional organizations I have the privilege of working with. Everyone in the organization is Highly Ethical, Engaged, and Encouraging. They are committed to the growth and development of all the people they serve.

When I attended PDP APPs Training for Non-Farm Professionals in 2018 I had just graduated college with a marketing degree, and found myself employed with an animal nutrition company for almost two months. My ag knowledge was literally zero so my employer recommended this program to me. It was incredible and I had such a great time while learning a lot. I went from not being able to tell you the different breeds of cows to telling you way more than you probably want to know. The farm visits were awesome and really gave fantastic first hand experience at what dairies do and how they operate. I still reference my experience today and kept all the materials and literature safely hosted on my bookcase for when I need to look something up. Thank you PDP for this unforgettable experience!

If you’re in the business of dairy, you need to make it your business to attend. It’s a communications hub of networking and an innovation center. I can’t think of any other meeting like it.

This training was important because it got us out of our dairy mindset and looked at challenges other industries face. We attended in 2019 and the logistics of the Port of Charleston was really cool - really mind boggling and made me look at our business as fairly simple in comparison. There were several ways the 2019 training impacted me: 1) I enjoyed being with my son and exploring Charleston, 2) The people we met were special. Made some new friends and met some old ones, 3) Lean management made us open our eyes to some efficiencies we could gain, and 4) Tom Thibodeau sent us on our way feeling rejuvenated and excited.

The on-farm experience for food system and agribusiness employees is priceless. There's no better way for them to learn more about the agriculture industry than to spend a few days with the farmers and professionals who are experts on these topics.

PDP's APPs Training is absolutely industry leading in helping to on-board professionals working within the agriculture sector. APPs gives individuals an in-depth, complete look into the decisions, processes, and day-to-day events that dairy farmers are faced with. I would highly recommend this program for all professionals working with and around dairy farmers, not only to help build an understanding of the industry, but to develop a basic education on the impact of each decision made on the farm.

This Business Conference crowd is a high-quality group of dairy producers who come to learn. It’s a great place to make partnerships with dairy producers with that kind of mindset.

The PDP team excels at organizing top notch events including PDP Managers Academy. PDP staff were friendly and informative hosts and the presenters provided new insight into business management and leadership topics. Networking with peers and sponsors ranks among our favorite part of these events as producers and industry personnel share experiences and knowledge that help each other learn and grow. It can sometimes be easy to fall into the ‘We don’t have the time or money to do this’ mentality, but we are learning that investing in working ON our business is just as important as working IN our business. We are grateful to PDP and sponsors for informative and engaging programming that enables us to continue developing our leadership and business management skills.

The entertainment and keynote speakers at PDP Business Conference are top of the line. The entire event is educational and motivational. There is a good selection of seminars and all of them are very relevant to today's dairy businesses.

Dairy farms are places of learning. If we want to be the best teachers for our children, grandchildren, or employees, we need to attend events like the PDP Business Conference to pay our own learning forward.

I was able to take home training I received at the 2019 Manager Academy to my team and have them go through an exercise that we as participants of the Academy participated in. The exercise was centered around organization and efficiency. It brought out good discussion and a few "ah-ha" moments for my team. We now reference that training regularly as a team which will ultimately help us become more organized, efficient and safe.

Business Conference is the perfect mixture of networking with high-quality farmers, engaging with top-notch speakers and exploring world-renowned ag businesses and products.

For about 2 years, we had been working on creating a Crisis Response Plan for staff to address any critical incident that could occur at one of the Pagel businesses. We had a couple of crises during those two years that reminded us that we were not immune to tragedies and wanted to be prepared. When PDP offered the Crisis Management training that focused on specific issues that could be experienced by dairies, John T encouraged our team to pursue it, and even offered the Ponderosa Facility to host it. Several of the staff attended the training that January day in 2018, and many questions were raised that provoked serious discussion of many, “What if’s?” We left that day with tools to put into place in the event of a critical incident. On February 22nd, 2018, our “what if” took place and, we lost both John T, and his son-in-law, Steve, another key member of the Ponderosa family. As the reality of the news began to sink in, we knew we needed to activate the crisis response plan we fortunately had created. I called PDP, who provided our training just 2 months earlier, and they dropped everything to be available to us. PDP provided staff support over the phone for hours, helping us to identify and carry out the most important steps of our crisis plan, along with information on maintaining the ongoing business needs of the operations in the days to follow. Having PDP walk with us through the steps helped us to remember many details that were critical during this time, for the staff as well as the operation. Our team is very grateful for the training that PDP provided.

Over the past 5 years, Lakeshore Technical College students have been able to participate in PDP workshops. The value of the educational benefit to them and myself is immeasurable. PDP brings the producers and industry professionals together in order to network and share their vast knowledge in calf raising. The Calf Care Connection workshops keep all in the industry up to date on all the latest in practices and research to allow all of us to provide the best life for us and the animals we care for.

Lakeshore Technical College has partnered with PDP for several years and we are seeing the benefit of networking and educating the next generation of herd managers. The basic principle I have seen brought forth is that the cows will always tell us what works and doesn't. Key factors of happy, healthy, and productive cows are the foundation of PDP's Herdsperson Conference. PDP harnesses the knowledge of experts throughout the country to continually provide top-notch programming to industry professionals, dairy farmers and students in this great dairy industry.

My goal is to answer the question 'are we being profitable?' I've learned so much from this program.

Being at three different farms was so important because I really had the opportunity to get immersed in the business - from learning more about cows to the science behind crops, to the emerging technologies - it was amazing to see this in action. The passion and commitment of these producers was inspiring. The program helped me to understand the challenges that really impact producers today, but also affirm their positive commitment to finding solutions, and how they are really part of the process. I was amazed at all the facets of farming and the amount of knowledge required to be successful.

The APPS training helped me have a better understanding of the day-to-day activities and challenges of the dairy farmer. While providing considerable written and verbal detail on how various types and sizes of dairy farms operate, as well as the decision making that is required, the course also offered an excellent on-farm experience that was very valuable to the learning process. I would highly recommend this course to anyone involved in the dairy industry.

We attended last year's 2018 Wisconsin Dairy Tours. The tours that PDP has available to us are so important. They help you broaden your knowledge about the industry, network with others, and most importantly it helps encouraging you to try knew things and learn from others! PDP always picks successful farms run by great people to tour. We always learn something to take home in which helps us improve our business or our people. We truly value what PDP does for our industry!

I came to LaBudde Group with absolutely no background in agriculture so when I read about the program I thought "I've got to do this." It was exactly what I needed.

As a partner on our family dairy farm, I was glad I attended the Crisis Management Workshop. I learned from expert instructors and put together resources and plans to handle the first days, whatever the crisis may be. The most successful operations always prepare for the worst, and that's what makes them successful.

I attended this session a couple of years ago. After too much time on my desk, I finally finished my crisis plan outline. It was very helpful to think and plan during a calm time. Ironically about six months after drafting the plan, we had a fire. I opened our crisis plan on my phone to ensure I was executing it as planned. The training was very helpful and finally got me to check the crisis planning off of my to do list.

Being able to be prepared is the number one thing we can do to help overcome an emergency on our farms. I was able through this workshop to develop a game plan that will help my farm to handle different crisis scenarios that we could face in the dairy industry. As well as developing and learning about different resources that can help in the crisis management. I would definitely recommend this to any dairy farmer.

The majority of our team went through the APPs program. Having a team of coworkers go through together was impactful. Attending really made clear how intricately all the systems work together: the physiology of the dairy cow, the soil-filed-feed component, the business financials and decision-making. Our team didn't realize these separate pieces are so tightly fit together. They walked away with a much better appreciation for the complex nature between dairy cows, soils and crops, and all the other components that come together in dairy operations. Many who didn't have an ag background didn't realize that cows are so complex! They certainly gained a better appreciation for all the cow's systems and how her needs are so intertwined with the crops, the soil, and the other subjects we covered.