9:00 a.m.
Welcome to the NMC Regional Meeting
Roger Thompson, NMC President

General Session

9:05 a.m.
Lessons Learned from H5N1 Spillovers into Dairy Cattle: Updates and Biosecurity Recommendations
Keith Poulsen, Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory

9:55 a.m.
Cow Handling Research and Training Resources
Jennifer Van Os, University of Wisconsin-Madison

10:35 a.m.  
Break

General Session

10:55 a.m.
Dairy Markets and Policy Update: Interpreting Mixed Price Signals
Leonard Polzin, University of Wisconsin-Madison

11:45 a.m.
Q & A for morning sessions

12:00-1:00 p.m.
Lunch

General Session 

1:00 p.m.
When Stewardship Makes ‘Cents:’ How to Modify Mastitis Treatments and Improve Profitability
Pam Ruegg, Michigan State University

1:45 p.m.
Technology and Artificial Intelligence Integration
Victor Cabrera, University of Wisconsin-Madison

2:25 p.m.  
Break

General Session

2:40 p.m.
Better Beds for Cleaner, Healthier Cows
Gordie Jones, Dairy Performance Consultant

3:15 p.m.
Producer Panel: Capitalizing on Bedding Virtues to Maximize Cow Comfort
Moderator: Gordie Jones, Dairy Performance Consultant
Panelists: Mike Jones, Trillium Dairy, Berlin, WI (recycled sand); Travis Speirs, Shiloh Dairy, Brillion, WI (dried, recycled manure solids); Craig Gerrits, Country Aire Farms, Greenleaf, WI (dried, recycled manure solids); Lee Kinnard, Kinnard Farms, Casco, WI (recycled sand and dried manure solids)

3:55 p.m.
Closing Remarks
Carolina Pinzon, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension

8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

Farm Tours

Shiloh Dairy, Brillion

Gordon and Cathy Speirs established Shiloh Dairy LLC in Brillion Wis., after relocating from Alberta, Canada. Shiloh has been steadily growing for 23 years – from the initial 600 cows to the current 2,800 cows. The cows are milked in a BouMatic double-36 parallel milking parlor. Cows don an Alta collar for monitoring animal health. Shiloh Dairy will soon be installing Nedap lameness cameras.

A family business that spans the third and fourth generations, the current owners are Gordon, Cathy and Travis Speirs. Travis is now leading the business. Cathy is retired and Gordon is approaching retirement. In addition, Travis is currently serving as the Dairy Business Association’s vice president and Gordon is a past DBA president.

A two-time Platinum winner in NMC’s National Dairy Quality Awards (NDQA) program, Shiloh Dairy places a high priority on milk quality. For the past year, no monthly SCC (somatic cell count) test results exceeded 100,000 cells/ml. The dairy’s milk processor – Grande Cheese – has honored Shiloh Dairy numerous times for producing high-quality milk.

At Shiloh Dairy, the team places a great emphasis on cattle care and respectful interactions between employees and cattle. They invest in employee culture and training.
To learn more about Shiloh Dairy, follow “Shiloh Dairy” on Facebook. Read more about Shiloh Dairy here. Check out this video with Travis Speirs

County Aire Farms, Greenleaf

More than a century ago, “Great Grandpa” started dairying with seven cows. Today, six of his descendants – Tom, Craig, Nick, Mike, Jon and Matt – own Country Aire Farms. In 1998, it was one of the first U.S. farms to install a rotary milking parlor.

Country Aire Farms is no stranger to NMC’s National Dairy Quality Awards Platinum Award “winners circle.” They have taken home this honor five times. Only a few dairies have surpassed this number.
Country Aire Farms uses a Delaval 50-stall external milking parlor (milking 2,500 cows) and a DeLaval 80-stall external milking parlor (milking 2,600 cows and growing).

Milking parlor features include:

• • Flow response milking (increases vacuum halfway through rotation for faster milkout)
  • Comfort start (chain release to start unit, no buttons required)
  • TSR spray robots (iodine infused with emollient, adjustable on the fly)
  • Daily flow meters for individual cow data

One interesting and unique fact about Country Aire Farms is the barns are laid out in a split design between two milk processors – Sartori and Arla.
Read more about Country Aire Farms here. To read the January 2025 Hoard’s Dairyman NDQA Round Table, which includes Country Aire Farms, click here.

Brightside Dairy, Greenleaf

Brightside Dairy LLC is a family farm co-owned by Conrad and Lisa Liebergen (third Generation) and Brian and Connie Liebergen (fourth generation).

Currently, Brightside Dairy milks in a GEA double-8 parabone parlor. Since 2015, they have received consistent milk quality awards for maintaining a yearly SCC average <100,000 or SCC <150,000. Currently, the 900-cow dairy has an average SCC of 100,000; SPC (standard plate count) averages 1 and LPC (laboratory pasteurization count) is <50. They bed with manure solids.

In April 2025, Brightside took on the challenge of becoming a pilot farm for the GEA-DPX semi-robotic milking system. At that time, they were the second farm in the world to install this technology in a conventional parlor. This system incorporates prepping, stimulation, milking and post-dipping functions all inside the inflations. The system’s main benefits are a consistent milking prep process – from cow to cow – and a decrease in the amount of labor needed to milk the same numbers of cows in less time, compared to their previous system. 

Brightside Dairy received the 2023 Brown County Farm Bureau Conservation Award. The Liebergen family has been working hard to incorporate conservation practices into their farm operation and have been excellent leaders in the watershed. Check out this discussion with Conrad Liebergen to learn more about their farm and the practices they’ve adopted.