Expo Seminars

Presented daily by industry leaders in the Mendota 1 meeting room of the Exhibition Hall, these seminars address topics centered around management practices, beef on dairy, federal orders and mental health. Seminars consist of a 45-minute presentation and time for questions and answers. The list of 2023 Expo Seminars is below.

Continuing education credits are obtainable by members of the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS).

These trainings are offered in cooperation with Dairy AdvanCE and have been approved for up to 1.00 continuing education (CE) credits each. Dairy AdvanCE is a continuing education accreditation provider for dairy producers and other dairy industry professionals. Learn more.

The 2024 Expo Seminars will be available soon.

Tuesday, October 3

12:00 p.m.

 

Mooving Cows: Revolutionizing How We Learn Cow Handling Skills

Presenter: Jennifer Van Os, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in Animal Welfare, University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Animal & Dairy Sciences

Mooving Cows App available for download, hosted by the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine’s Dairy Apps.

Android: Download on Google Play
Apple (iOS): Download in the App Store

Wednesday, October 4

12:00 p.m.

Beef on Dairy: A Focus on the End Product

Presenter: Dale Woerner, Ph.D., Professor and Cargill Endowed Professor, Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Texas Tech University

Sponsored by: Cargill Animal Nutrition

Thursday, October 5

12:00 p.m.

What the 2023 Farm Bill Has in Store for Dairy

Panelists: Pete Kappelman, Senior Vice President, Member & Government Relations, Land O' Lakes, Inc.

Gregg Doud, President & Chief Operating Officer, National Milk Producers Federation

Moderator: Katie Schmitt, Outreach Specialist, Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding

Sponsored by: National Milk Producers Federation

Friday, October 6

12:00 p.m.

The Importance of Mental Health in Agriculture

Presenter: Ted Matthews, Director of Minnesota Rural Mental Health
Sponsored by: DATCP - Wisconsin Farm Center


Tuesday, October 3, 2023 - 12:00 p.m. 
Mooving Cows: Revolutionizing How We Learn Cow Handling Skills
Presenter: Jennifer Van Os, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in Animal Welfare, University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Animal & Dairy Sciences

Inappropriate cow handling negatively affects animal welfare and productivity while increasing the risk of injury for both cows and people. "Mooving Cows" is an innovative learning tool that allows people to practice appropriate cow handling skills in simulated dairy farm environments. Developed with feedback directly from Wisconsin dairy farmers and Spanish and English-speaking staff who work with cows daily, users can experience how their actions affect cow behavior, stress and productivity.

Jennifer Van Os is an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in Animal Welfare in the Department of Animal & Dairy Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Van Os received her Ph.D. in the interdisciplinary Animal Behavior graduate program at the University of California-Davis and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia. The research in her lab at UW-Madison focuses on understanding, evaluating, and improving the welfare of dairy animals from biological and social-science perspectives, and the extension program promotes best practices in management and housing to help the dairy industry adapt as our scientific knowledge about animal welfare continues to grow. 


Wednesday, October 4, 2023 - 12:00 p.m.
Beef on Dairy: A Focus on the End Product
Presenter: Dale Woerner, Ph.D., Professor and Cargill Endowed Professor, Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Texas Tech University
Sponsored by: Cargill Animal Nutrition

Beef on dairy is an emerging and rapidly growing segment for both the dairy and beef industries. Beef progeny from dairies is critical to the profitability and sustainability of dairy and beef operations. This presentation will highlight the overwhelmingly positive aspects of producing beef from dairy cow offspring, including beef quality and sustainability, but will also focus on the challenges that have arisen over the past five years, including liver abscesses and carcass composition.

Dr. Dale R. Woerner serves as the Cargill Endowed Professor in Sustainable Meat Science in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences at Texas Tech University. He served on the faculty at Colorado State University for 9 years before stepping into his current position at Texas Tech University in 2018. He has conducted more than 15 million dollars in industry-funded research and has published more than 300 scholarly works, including peer-reviewed manuscripts and technical reports on meat science. His team has worked extensively with the beef on dairy segment for the past 5 years, focusing on carcass and beef quality.


Thursday, October 5, 2023 - 12:00 p.m.
What the 2023 Farm Bill Has in Store for Dairy
Panelists: Pete Kappelman, Senior Vice President, Member & Government Relations, Land O' Lakes, Inc.; Gregg Doud, Chief Operating Officer, National Milk Producers Federation; Moderated by Katie Schmitt, Outreach Specialist, Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding
Sponsored by: National Milk Producers Federation

Every five years, conversations about the Farm Bill resurface before it heads to Congress to fund farm programs, conservation, rural development, nutrition, ag research, and more. As we approach World Dairy Expo 2023, we are also approaching the expiration of the current 2018 Farm Bill on September 30. Regardless of the actions taken prior to this deadline, the 2023 Farm Bill provides numerous topics of discussion for this panel of Jim Mulhern, National Milk Producers Federation, and Pete Kappelman, Land O'Lakes, Inc. Moderator Katie Schmitt will have questions prepared to get the conversation started, but attendees are encouraged to bring their own, too!

Pete Kappelman brings a lifetime of experience to the role of Senior Vice President of Member and Government Relations at Land O’ Lakes, Inc., as a successful crop and dairy farmer along with his advocacy experience and board involvement with many agricultural organizations. Kappelman has been a leader in working with legislators on important ag policy issues including the Farm Bill, climate, trade and immigration. He also served as an Ag Policy Advisor to the Administration for the United States Department of Agriculture and the Office of the United States Trade Representative and was named Director of the Year in 2018 by the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives.

Gregg Doud is NMPF’s Chief Operating Officer. He will become President and CEO of the organization in January 2024 after having been named to the position in June 2023. Before arriving at NMPF he served as the Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the Office of the United States Trade Representative from 2018 until 2021; before that, he served as the president of the Commodity Markets Council, representing commodities exchanges before Congress and federal agencies. He also has served as a staff member for the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, where he helped draft the 2012 Farm Bill, and as chief economist for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Most recently, he worked at Aimpoint Research.

Katie Schmitt is the Outreach Specialist at the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding. Prior to her position with the CDCB, she spent nearly seven years at World Dairy Expo in various communication and marketing roles including Communications Manager. In 2022, she was recognized as a "35 under 35" by Wisconsin Farm Bureau for her work founding and hosting The Dairy Show, World Dairy Expo's podcast.


Friday, October 6, 2023 - 12:00 p.m.
The Importance of Mental Health in Agriculture
Presenter: Ted Matthews, Director of Minnesota Rural Mental Health
Sponsored by: DATCP - Wisconsin Farm Center

Farming is getting far more complex, and it’s more important than ever that farmers take care of themselves.  For the last 30 years, Ted Matthews has been addressing the importance of mental health and helping farm families reach their business and personal goals.  The program ensures rural residents, who are known for their independence and a strong sense of pride, have access to and participate in programs that provide assistance as they face complicated personal challenges such as financial stress, depression, family conflicts, and more.

Dedicated to working around the clock to help those involved in agriculture and struggling with stress, Ted Matthews' credentials include experience in crisis intervention, family mediation, individual, family and group therapy, outreach training, administration, public speaking, domestic abuse and compulsive gambling.  In 1993 Ted was the Director of Mental Health for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's flood response in Minnesota. This led to the creation of the Rural Mental Health Outreach program, which is currently operated through the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.