Wisconsin’s dairy industry has faced some challenging years, from pricing volatility to labor shortages to supply chain issues. The Green Bay-based Dairy Business Association helps farmers address all of those. Tim Trotter was recently promoted to CEO of the nonprofit, and he talked with Insight about how the dairy industry is embracing technology and implementing sustainable solutions.
How does DBA go about doing its work?
Tim Trotter: DBA is really focused on helping the Wisconsin dairy industry have a greater voice in Madison and on policy issues. Essentially, we represent not only dairy farms but also cheese processors and allied industries. Our membership is made up of both. It’s more of a comprehensive way of looking at how you build consensus within dairy on policy and regulatory issues.
What have the past five years been like for the industry? What a rollercoaster. I just can’t get over how resilient our industry is. I think the pandemic showed how well the dairy community can come together and look at some really difficult situations and find a way to make it through. [As an industry], we can’t close down; we can’t work from home. The cows need comfort every day. The fact that we got through it as well as we did is just amazing. I think it comes back to the great communication strategy we have throughout the supply chain in the state of Wisconsin. There’s no other state in the world that compares to Wisconsin when it comes to a unified industry.
What are your priorities right now?
The top priority for our organization is making sure that our farmers are equipped to meet the needs of the future consumers. We’re starting to work in the climate-smart area established by the USDA. Our state and our organizations are working hard to bring sensible technologies forward to not only help with climate change and aligning with what consumers want, but also how do we operate our farms more efficiently and effectively and responsibly? How do we enhance water quality? How do we use resources more wisely? How do we inform what regulations should look like so we’re meeting the needs of not only our farms and our financial viability but also the environmental soundness of what we do? That really is the focus, and also giving our farmers the regulatory certainty that they’ll be able to be in the business for the future, that they’re going to be able to adapt and innovate and find ways to meet the challenges that will be before us.
How is the industry embracing technology?
I would say farmers are probably, organically, the best innovators. They look at a problem and they can solve it. I think when you have a problem-solving mind, it’s easy to take an innovation and say, how can this add value to what I do on my farm? How can this lower cost, make better products, make comfortable cows, and make better cheese? You want all of the above, and I think farmers are always looking at innovation and understanding, how does that ROI drive my farm, and how do I also get benefits in the marketplace? There are not people coming in to help with dairy farms, so anything we can do with technology to help improve quality and comfort to cows but also get the work done [is beneficial].
Is infrastructure and access to broadband in rural areas a challenge? Of course. I think we all found out during the pandemic how challenging it is. Even to talk to some of your consultants on farms is difficult because of broadband. I think we’re beginning to get the traction we need at the federal and state level, but it can’t come quick enough. The only way we’re going to stay competitive in this state is to have access to technology, and that’s basically through the internet.
What are the workforce issues? How much of a concern is an aging demographic?
The aging demographic is a huge issue for agriculture in general. When you get more labor-intensive agriculture, it’s even more difficult. One of our core strategies at DBA is really helping farmers with succession plans because we have many [older] farmers who don’t have one. How are they going to transition their farm if they don’t have someone in the family? How can they bring somebody else into the farm to transition that equity over to someone? As farm sizes get larger, there are more opportunities for people to come into the farm with skill sets that would be really attractive, especially on the technology side. There are so many pathways to bring more people into agriculture, especially dairy. But the challenge we have with labor in this capital-intensive industry is, you just don’t come out of high school and say, “I want to be a dairy farmer,” and have $1 million to start a dairy farm. You’ve got to find a pathway into it. There’s been some work done to get grants together. I think a lot of our farms are looking to transition. It’s a perfect [chance] to explore opportunities of bringing different people outside of the family into it.
What challenges and opportunities does the industry face? We still are the preferred protein. Dairy has got a great image. Cheese is beloved by so many, and we’re continuously evolving in cheese varieties. We’re coming from an area of strength where people really do like the products, and we’ve got great nutritional value.
The challenge is making sure we’ve got a regulatory environment that allows dairy farmers to farm and that allows for nutritional benefits to be valued at the federal level, especially in school nutrition programs. I think it’s taking the great attributes of dairy and trying to leverage them for better health for people. [The industry must align] with the environmental community to come together with common-sense ideas on how we farm and maintain an awesome environment for our people to live in. We’re making great headway there. We’ve got a good coalition working on many sensible regulatory and innovational ideas of how we get around some of these challenges.
What do you see for the next five years?
I think globally we’re going to continue to see some very volatile markets, especially with what’s going on in Ukraine. The supply chain is going to still be difficult for a period of time. I think inflation is going to be a concern. Fuel prices … and overall costs are going to be a concern.
I think the next five years will be very bright, but it’s going to rely on dairy processors and dairy farmers understanding what our plan is to grow our business. Wisconsin dairy has never been in a more perfect position to excel over the next five years globally — by the Wisconsin brand of cheese and our ability to raise the best quality of milk ever. Our glass is half full of milk, not half empty.
