The Professional Dairy Producers® (PDPW) will have two new faces on its board of directors during the coming year. Members elected Paul Lippert of Pittsville, Wis., and Brady Weiland of Columbus, Wis., to a three-year term during the PDPW Business Conference in Wisconsin Dells on March 18. They also re-elected incumbent director Janet Clark of Rosendale, Wis., to a second term on the board.
Clark is an owner in Vision Aire Farms, LLC, along with her husband, Travis, her parents, Roger and Sandy Grade, and her brother and sister-in-law, David and Torrie Grade. They milk 140 Holsteins and farm 1,200 acres of owned and rented land. She is responsible for financial management on the dairy. Janet received her bachelor’s degree in agri-business management from UW-Platteville. She is a board member of Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin and a graduate of the Farm Bureau Institute.
Lippert owns Grass Ridge Farm LLC with his father, Matt Lippert and brother Carl Lippert. The dairy is home to 600 registered Holsteins and Jerseys as well as 500 head of youngstock. Paul manages all daily operations including herd health, employee management, agronomy and financial analysis. He is a graduate of UW-River Falls with a degree in dairy science and the Farm and Industry short Course at UW-Madison.
Weiland owns and operates Weiland Dairy, LLC with his parents, brothers, and seven employees. As dairy manager, he oversees the 600-cow dairy with a focus on management practice and quality genetics to achieve the farm’s goals. After graduating from Madison Area Technical College with a certificate in diesel technology, he furthered his education at the UW-Madison Farm and Industry Short Course.
“It’s exciting to work with a board made up of hard-working, progressive dairy farmers,” said PDPW Executive Director Shelly Mayer. “I have full confidence in our new team and look forward to the year ahead.”
The PDPW board meets throughout the year to plan the organization’s educational programs and establish other ways to achieve their mission of building a better dairy industry.
Other PDPW Board members include Andy Buttles, Stone-Front Farm, Lancaster, Wis., Ken Feltz, Feltz Family Farms Inc. and Feltz’s Dairy Store Inc., Stevens Point, Wis.; John Haag, Haag Dairy, LLC, Dane, Wis.; Corey Hodorff, Second-Look Holsteins, LLC, Eden, Wis., Steven Orth, Orthland Dairy Farm LLC, Cleveland, Wis. and Katy Schultz, Tri-Fecta Farms Inc, Fox Lake, Wis.