DAIRY NEWS – Every decision on a dairy impacts the animals and the people who care for them. The 2025 Dairy Wellbeing Workshop, presented by Professional Dairy Producers® (PDP), will provide a compelling opportunity for every dairy team member to see the results of decisions on cull-cow quality while learning ways to manage their own physical and mental health in a high-demand field.
Two repeating one-day workshops will be held Tue., Feb. 11, and Wed., Feb. 12, at the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay, Wis. Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. with the program concluding at 3:45 p.m. each day. All sessions will be simultaneously translated into Spanish.
The program begins with a behind-the-scenes tour of American Foods Group facility where participants will trace the cull cow’s experience backwards from the cooler to the harvest floor to see how care at the farm impacts beef quality. Beef buyers, market experts and USDA meat inspectors will share insights on carcass conditions, body condition and culling decisions. The session will provide attendees the tools to make more informed and profitable decisions in cattle management practices.
“The PDP Dairy Wellbeing Workshop is one of the most valuable opportunities for dairy team members to see firsthand how the management decisions and care they provide impacts not only animal health, but also the beef that our end consumers are purchasing,” said Cassandra Strupp, dairy producer from Slinger Wis., and PDP program manager. “The combination of a plant tour with classroom training focused on personal and animal health will provide ideas and insights that can be put into practice at farms of all sizes right away.”
Following the tour, participants will hear from two highly regarded speakers in a classroom setting.
Monica Kramer McConkey, MA, LPC, brings more than 25 years of experience in the behavioral health field as a counselor, program supervisor and administrator. She provides mental health support to farmers and their families through a contract with the Minnesota Ag Centers of Excellence and operates Eyes on the Horizon Consulting LLC to provide education and speaking services on rural mental health.
In the presentation “Watch for that blind spot: understanding compassion fatigue,” Kramer McConkey will outline practices that create a sustainable balance between compassion for animals and personal self-care. Attendees will learn the signs of compassion fatigue, strategies to build resilience and prevent burnout, as well as stress management techniques to manage the demands of their responsibilities without sacrificing their own health.
Dr. Jan Shearer, DVM, is a professor and extension veterinarian at Iowa State University, as well as Professor Emeritus from the University of Florida. His research interests include lameness in cattle, euthanasia of cattle and small ruminants and welfare issues of cattle. Dr. Shearer serves as chair of the Bovine Sections of the American Veterinary Medical Association’s panels on euthanasia and humane slaughter.
His presentation, “Euthanizing cattle – what you need to know,” will guide attendees through the challenging decisions about when humane euthanasia is the more compassionate option in regard to animal suffering. Dr. Shearer will share the signs and conditions that indicate euthanasia is the best option for an animal, a step-by-step process for the most humane methods of performing the procedure, and best practices for managing the physical and emotional challenges that can arise for animals and people.
Pre-registration is required for this program. To learn more, visit www.pdpw.org or contact PDP at 800-947-7379. The PDP Dairy Wellbeing Workshop is accredited for up to 5.25 Dairy AdvanCE and 5 ARPAS continuing education credits. FARM has also approved Dr. Shearer’s “Euthanizing cattle” session.
Follow along digitally in advance of and during the event by following PDP on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.
Professional Dairy Producers (PDP) is the nation’s largest dairy producer-led organization of its kind, focusing on producer professionalism, stakeholder engagement and unified outreach to share ideas, solutions, resources and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.
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