Program

• 12:00 pm - 4:30 pm
  State Dairy Association Meetings – Board Rooms
• 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm: Sponsored by DairyMax
  Producer Reception – Sanborn BC
  Speaker: Rexanna DeGruy, PhD, Manager Sustainability & Nutrition Marketing, DairyMAX
• Dietary Guidelines for Americans & the Whole Milk Act.
• 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
  Registration open in the Pre-Function area

• 7:00 am
  Registration opens in the Pre-Function area
  
  

• 8:30 am
  Welcome
  Dwain Bunting, PhD, Officer TANC
• 8:35 am: Sponsored by Papillon
  Nutritional mitigation of heat stress-induced leaky gut: the role of DCAD and dietary buffer
  Greg Penner, PhD; University of Saskatchewan, CA
• 9:30 am: Sponsored by Phibro
  Prevention & treatment of subclinical hypocalcemia to optimize health & production in dairy cattle
  Claira Seely, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of New Hampshire
• 10:30 am: Sponsored by Zinpro
  Protein mobilization in cows in early lactation
  Jacquelyn Boerman, PhD; Associate Professor, Purdue University
• 11:25 am
  Closing remarks
• 11:30 am
  Lunch served in the Pre-Function area. At 12:15, resetting the conference room for the PM program

• 8:30 am
  Welcome
  Jennifer Spencer, PhD. President DCRC.
• 8:35 am: Sponsored by Merck
  Targeted Reproductive Management
  Ricardo Chebel, DVM, MVPM, PhD; Endowed Professor, University of Florida
• 9:30 am: Sponsored by Merck
  Better use of available data
  Caio Gamarra; Customer Success Specialist, Merck Animal Health
• 10:30 am: Sponsored by Adisseo
  The transition cow: Where health, reproduction, milk peak, and profit are won or lost
  Gustavo Schuenemann, DVM, MS, PhD; Professor & Extension Veterinarian, Ohio State University
• 11:25 am
  Closing remarks
• 11:30 am
  Lunch served in the Pre-Function area. At 12:15, resetting the conference room for the PM program

• 8:30 am
  Welcome
  Kendall Wassenaar. President DCHA.
• 8:35 am
  Short and Long-Distance Transport of Dairy and Dairy-Beef Cross Calves
  Gustavo Schuenemann, DVM, MS, PhD; Professor & Extension Veterinarian, Ohio State University
• 9:30 am
  Rethinking colostrum feeding: spoiler alert, it's all about total IgG
  Liz Cox, DVM; Animal Care Program Manager at CDFA, Founder Calf Milk Calculator
• 10:30 am
  A new perspective on right-sizing your heifer inventory
  Mike Overton, DVM, MPVM; Global Platform Lead Precision Animal Health, Zoetis
• 11:25 am
  Closing remarks
• 11:30 am
  Lunch served in the Pre-Function area. At 12:15, resetting the conference room for the PM program

• 1:00 pm
  Welcome
  Host and Moderator: Peggy Coffeen, Uplevel Dairy
• 1:05 pm: Sponsored by Parnell
  Dairy Outlook Series: State of the World Dairy Industry
  Torsten Hemme, T.H. Consulting, Kiel, Germany
• 1:45 pm: Sponsored by HighGround Dairy
  Dairy Outlook Series: State of the U.S. Dairy Industry
  Curtis Bosma, Vice President of Producer Services, HighGround Dairy
• 2:30 pm
  Afternoon Coffee Break
• 3:00 pm
  Dairy Outlook Series: A panel conversation looking back while looking forward
  Gregg Doud, President & CEO NMPF; Michael Dykes, DVM, President & CEO IDFA; moderated by Rick Naerebout, CEO IDA
• 4:15 pm: Sponsored by DMI
  Driving dairy sales now and into the future with innovation, science, and technology
  Paul Ziemnisky and Emil Nashed, Group EVP, Wellness, Innovation and Business Development, DMI
• 5:00-6:30 pm: Sponsored by Reinert Hay & Commodities
  Reception and Poster Viewing

Host and Moderator: Peggy Coffeen, Uplevel Dairy

• 7:00 am
  Registration opens in the Pre-Function area
• 8:00 am
  Ag Labor Reform is Necessary to Keep Food Affordable for Americans. Is Real Reform Possible in 2026?
  Charlie Garrison, The Garrison Group LLC
• 8:30 am: Sponsored by Alltech
  Dairy Labor Panel: From hiring to high performance. What works in dairy workforce training
  Jorge Delgado (Alltech), Tom Wall (Dairy Coach), Jorge Estrada (Leadership Inc.). Moderated by Ryan DeWit, GM Twin Circle Dairy.
• 9:30 am
  Morning Coffee Break
• 10:00 am
  Seeing Is Managing: The promise and pitfalls of camera tech on dairies
  Jeffrey Bewley, PhD; Dairy Analytics and Innovation Scientist at Holstein Association USA
• 10:45 am: Sponsored by CMS
  Beef on Dairy Panel. Beyond the boom: Beef on Dairy’s next chapter in 2026.
  Panel: Delbert Hollis, Pres. CMS; Laphe Laroe, Cattle Feeder, Chair TCFA; Jon Robison, PhD, JDR Livestock; Lauren Kimble, Select Sires. Moderator Joe Dalton, PhD, Professor, Univ. of Idaho.   
• 11:45 am: Sponsored by Reinert Hay & Commodities
  Lunch

Host and Moderator: Peggy Coffeen, Uplevel Dairy

• 1:00 pm: Sponsored by DFA Farm Services
  Agronomy Panel - Updates on growing sorghum for silage
  Panel: Lyndon Luckasson (Sherer Roller Mills); Douglas Duhatschek, PhD (Parnell); Brent Bean, PhD (USCP); Braden Gibson (producer); Jourdan Bell, PhD (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension). Panel moderator John Paul Heavyside (DFA Farm Services)
• 2:00 pm
  Feeding dairy cattle under water constraints: tactical strategies for herd resilience
  Paul Kononoff, PhD; Professor & Dairy Nutrition Extension Specialist, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• 2:45 pm
  Afternoon Coffee Break
• 3:15 pm
  Panel on Monetizing Manure in a water-limited world: profit, nutrients, and compliance.
  Panel: Ben Laine (Terrain), Bruce Knight (Consultant), Michael Bocadoro (Dairy Cares). Panel moderator Kevin Abernathy, GM MPC
• 4:15 pm: Sponsored by Nationwide
  Panel on Protecting the Milk Supply: Managing Risk, Safety, and Continuity in 2026 
  Panel: Dee Ellis, DVM, MS VSCP, Texas A&M AgriLife; Samantha Holeck, DVM, NM State Veterinarian; Jason Lombard, DVM, CSU AgNext; Karen Bohnert, Farm Journal; Panel moderator: Dan Rice, Sr. Consultant
• 5:15 pm
  Adjourn

• 9:00 am
  Registration opens in the Sanborn BC area
• 10:00-12:15
  Introduction: Building trust and setting expectations.
  Your communication styles and conflicting interactions.
  Communication: The origin of misunderstandings on dairies.
• 12:15
  Working Lunch
• 12:45-3:00 pm
  Productive conversations: effective communication skills for dairy leaders.
  Practice Space: role-playing and application.
• 3:00 pm
  Adjourn