Article written by Summer Hammann
after the Mentor Breakfast.
This March marked thirty years of the Professional Dairy Producers (PDP) Mentor program, a program designed to connect students from four-year universities, technical colleges, or short-course programs across Wisconsin with dairy producers throughout the state. The goal of this program is to provide students with hands-on exposure to modern dairy production systems while encouraging career exploration within production agriculture.
This year, 18 students from the University of Wisconsin—Madison participated in the program. Participating students and their host farms included: Nicole Steele at Double S Dairy, Mikayla Pich at Shiloh Dairy, Samantha Rhody at Scheidairy Farms, Malachi Guzman at Wagner Farms, Sydney Stuntebeck at Sheadview Dairy, Summer Hammann at Stone Front Farm, Gina Frisle at Luckwaldt Agriculture, Brooklyn Schowoerer at JTP Farm, Isaac Ziebarth at Dornacker Prairie Acres, Baylee Ackerson at Schmitz’s East Branch Dairy, Chloe Breunig at Clover Hill Dairy, Morgan Irey at Brooks Farms, Matthew Winch at Heeg Dairy, Brielle Schulze at Soaring Eagle Dairy, Grace Behm at Hilltop Dairy, Josephine Spinale at Crave Brothers Farm, Olivia Uttech at Grotegut Dairy, Julissa Cisneros at Maier Farms.
Through the PDP mentor program, students from all backgrounds had the unique opportunity to spend the day on their selected farm and learn about what the producers are doing. Brooklyn Schwoerer, a junior studying Dairy Science, said, “The PDP mentorship program allowed me to connect with a producer within the dairy industry who was so close to my home. JTP Farms gave me insight into how technology can be incorporated into the dairy industry through their robotic milking and feeding systems.”
Following their on-farm experience, mentors and mentees reconnected at the Professional Dairy Producers Business Conference, which took place on March 4-5 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, WI. Participation in the program allows both mentors and mentees to attend the conference at no cost and be in the mentor program breakfast thanks to generous sponsors, Alliant Energy Foundation and Dairy’s Foundation. The conference offers educational and networking opportunities for the industry and dairy farmers.
this year’s Professional Dairy Producers
(PDP) intern at an Ace Twilight meeting
with Alice in Dairyland (right) and Hailey
Schoenherr (left).
This year’s program also showcased UW—Madison student leadership. Maya Wiltzius, a junior studying Animal and Veterinary Biosciences and Life Sciences Communications, was the Professional Dairy Producers intern and oversaw the mentorship program. Maya said, “This program provides a unique opportunity for students and farmers to connect about today’s growing and changing industry. Personally, this program and organization have grown my interest and passion for the dairy industry. This has been a very rewarding experience to connect and see students in the program.” We are so proud of Maya for her successful year in this role! Over the years, many students from UW—Madison have participated in the program, and some of them are still connected to their mentors today!