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Meet Dana Adams, UMN Livestock Extension Educator for Stearns, Benton, and Morrison Counties. Dana recently joined UMN Extension and we are excited to have her on the team. From Virginia, to SDSU, to New Zealand, to Indiana Dana had quite the journey to end up working with cows and we are looking forward to working with her more. Thanks for listening!
Hosted by members of the University of Minnesota Extension Beef and Dairy Teams, The Moos Room discusses relevant topics to help beef and dairy producers be more successful. The information is evidence-based and presented as an informal conversation between the hosts and guests.
[music]
Joe: Welcome to The Moos Room, everybody. We are here and we have a guest. Not just OG three. Don't have to just sit here, listen to us make fun of Bradley. We have a guest.
Emily: We'll still make fun of Bradley, don't worry.
Joe: We will. Dana Adams is with us. She is the new University of Minnesota Livestock Extension Educator for Sterns, Benton, and Morrison Counties, which happens to be Emily's old job. We're super excited that Dana has joined us. She grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, and went to the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg to get her bachelor's, and then hopped all the way across the country and went to South Dakota State.
Unfortunately, went to South Dakota State. Didn't stop on her way in Minnesota. Got her master's in dairy nutrition, and then worked in Indiana at Purdue University for extension, and then made her way here. We are disappointed that she went to SDSU, but we are happy that you're here now at the correct university. Thank you for being here, Dana.
Dana Adams: Thank you.
[laughter]
Emily: I am so happy to have somebody much more qualified than I was in my former position.
Dana: It's like everyone loved you.
Emily: [laughs] See that, Bradley? People do actually like me.
Bradley: I know. We all love you.
Emily: Love you.
Joe: We purposely left out some of Dana's background in her introduction, mostly because I wanted to ask, so everyone could hear, how you go from Alexandria, Virginia, which to me looks like a older town, on the river, marina, very historic place, and wind up working with cows in South Dakota State.
Dana: It's a very interesting story. I did a study abroad during my undergraduate degree where I went to Holland and I worked with veterinarians, and we worked with pigs and cows. That was my first, that light bulb moment of, oh my gosh, agriculture's real. It's not a mythological thing and the food doesn't grow out of the grocery stores. It comes from a living, breathing animal, and this is what those animals look like. This is me standing next to a cow. That was a powerful resonating experience. Then I came back to the US after that study abroad in the Netherlands and I dove head over heels into agriculture.
I want to have books, podcasts, movies, trying to talk to as many farmers as I could. That's how I started looking into agriculture. Because I dare to say this, but I grew up in an area that didn't have 4-H, it didn't have FFA, so I never interacted with that world. I look back and I'm like, wow, I took a lot of initiative- it's like I wasn't there, I didn't do this, it was somebody else- to talk to farmers, start conversations, tell people I was interested. I was very fortunate to meet a lot of people who were very passionate about agriculture and gave me time. As in they wanted to talk to me.
They're like, oh, you seem interested. Let me show you around my farm. Or, what do you know? I'll try to fill in some of the gaps. I started talking to people. I ended up pursuing a master's degree after I finished my undergrad. I talked to a bunch of different universities. Long story short, I was taken by a professor at South Dakota State and started working with Dr. Casper researching forages and forage digestibility, which is a whole fascinating subject. How you can vary those things, and also concentrate-wise, you have to bury in order to get the most out of that animal. It was a lot of patient people explaining agriculture to me and how agriculture wasn't simple. It was infinitely complex.
Joe: I'm always excited when I hear someone who has a background not in ag get into ag. Mostly because I also love ag and I love to see that someone can fall in love with it. Also because I didn't grow up on a farm either. I grew up in the Twin Cities in the suburb and ended up becoming a large animal veterinarian working with cows every day. I'm right there with you. I understand how you can fall in love with it. I also understand how important it was for all the people that you reach out to to be as patient as they were and be able to be as open as they were with sharing this part of their life.
That's a huge piece of it. I'm really excited that we're continuing to draw people in. We have two questions before we get too much further, the two questions that we have to ask every guest and we have to know. I think we'll start on the beef side. We have to know your favorite beef breed. We're keeping a running tally, so keep that in mind. Your vote matters.
Bradley: There is only one right answer for each question, correct?
Emily: Oh, poppycock, Bradley.
Joe: There's two right answers, in my opinion, for beef.
Dana: I don't really have a strong-- I have worked a little bit with Herefords but not too--
Bradley: Oh, yes. Woo-hoo.
Dana: It's the shock on Joe's face, physically moved in his chair.
Bradley: I think Hereford is in the lead now.
Joe: Are you picking Herefords? We have to make sure that's--
Emily: Is that your final answer?
Bradley: Yes.
Dana: I choose Herefords.
Joe: Oh my goodness.
Bradley: Yes.
Joe: This is just disappointing all the way round.
Dana: Can I ask what the other one was or am I just-- I just have to let--
Bradley: Oh no, Hereford was the right answer.
Joe: For everyone keeping track at home, that puts Herefords at five, and that puts Black Angus at three, Chianina at one, Brahman at one, Stabilizer at one, and Black Baldy at one. Herefords have now taken a pretty commanding lead.
Bradley: Wow.
Joe: Very surprising.
Emily: Joe, you're also, I think, going to need to pull that video clip so our listeners can see Bradley, the dance he just did. It was really something.
Dana: It was fabulous.
Joe: He was very excited. As you can probably guess, now we need to know your favorite dairy breed.
Dana: The one that I worked with in New Zealand was a Holstein Friesian Cross. They're like Holsteins, but they're a little bit smaller, so they're a little bit easier to manage. I do like Brown Swiss because I think they're adorable.
Joe: If you have to pick a pure breed, it's going to be Brown Swiss?
Dana: Yes. I will proclaim Brown Swiss.
Joe: All right.
Emily: Very nice.
Joe: Someone else had brown Swiss. It might have been Kirsten?
Bradley: Kirsten.
Emily: Yes, it was Kirsten.
Joe: Bradley's grad student also chose Brown Swiss. You're not alone there. Not alone at all. That puts Holsteins at four, Jerseys at three, Jerseys being the correct answer. Dutch Belted at two, Normande at one, Brown Swiss at two, and Montb�liarde at one. Those were the two important questions. We needed to get those out of the way before we could move on to more that we want to talk about. I know Bradley was most interested when we were talking before we started, about the fact that you went somewhere after your master's. I saw his eyes light up. He's always welcoming to anybody else who has pasture-based experience. Where did you end up?
Dana: After I finished my masters, I moved to New Zealand and I worked on a 1,200-head pasture-based dairy. The way that New Zealand runs their herds is different from the US. Everybody starts at round about the same time and finishes at round about at the same time. While the systems in the US are more of a revolving, you're in and then you're out. It's a completely different system. I went there, I started. I got hired right before they started milking.
Right when everyone was about to calve and then go into lactation and we need someone to milk. I was hired as a milker. Along with being a milker, it was other jobs I was assigned, which is someone needs to run out to the pasture to pick up calves. It wasn't a metaphorical pickup, it was literally deadlift a 100-pound calf and walk it over so that it can be carried up to the barn and we can give it--
Emily: Sounds like my kind of workout. I like it.
Dana: I know, right? You start being like, oh, I'm so chubby. Then in a month, you're like, I'm too tired to eat.
Joe: I know Bradley's always interested, and he does mention New Zealand from time to time.
Bradley: I should have been on a plane back from New Zealand right now actually.
Dana: That's a shame.
Bradley: COVID. it is, yes.
Dana: It's spring right now, or summer? It's summer right now.
Bradley: It would be, yes.
Joe: I don't feel all that bad for you, Bradley, but some of the listeners might, maybe.
Bradley: Nobody will.
Emily: No. If you're a listener that feels sorry for him, stop listening.
Bradley: It's okay.
Emily: I'm kidding. No, keep listening, please.
Joe: Don't do that. Keep listening.
[laughter]
You mentioned that your studies when you were a master student and for your masters were in forage quality, digestion. Is that something that you really are interested in and want to carry forward through into extension and your extension programming?
Dana: I think that there is a tremendous amount of value there. I feel like if you can create and then ensile really high-quality forages, there is hidden potential as a ration component. Yes, I think that there's a lot of potential there, and especially when margins are tight, if you finagle a ration right, you can get the most out of your forage. That is something that every time I go to a farm, that's what I'm looking at, is the silage and how are you ensiling it, tell me more about it, what are the feed components are you putting in there? Because my background is in nutrition. It's not simply like, oh, there's a ration. So many components to a ration. Vary those you get different results. An answer to your question. Yes.
Joe: I've always wondered, because I haven't been abroad specifically to be on a farm very often, and I always wonder how that differs as we go abroad. Is there more emphasis, you think, in New Zealand placed on forage? Obviously at a pasture-based area, there was, but overall in the industry, is there more emphasis than in the US?
Dana: I don't know if I can speak to that. I would say that they definitely see it as very, very important, but it's never just nutrition. Nutrition and management go hand in hand. You have to tie them together. I would say that there's recognition. I also was on a phenomenal farm. My boss was the bee's knees on top of everything. Farmers are people, so how you manage differs. He had forage monitoring software which you may be-- just like it's a four-wheeler and you drive, what is it, it�s like a Hondamatic behind and it measures the height of the grass.
Bradley: Was it a C-Dax?
Dana: I don�t know. It's been so long. I can see it�s yellow. It's going to have [crosstalk]-
Bradley: That�s a C-Dax.
Dana: and you drive it behind the four-wheeler. What I do is I just up and down the pasture. It takes all that information, inputs it into the overarching system so that my boss would be able to look into how tall is the pasture at this part of the farm, where should we move the cows next, and those should [unintelligible 00:12:27] at 3 days, 5 days, 7 days, 10. He was on point with knowing what's out there. Then he rolled out, it was, I want to say either oat or rye silage. That was the supplement. After first feeding, he unloaded a whole bunch of additional silage supplemental for his herd.
It wasn't just they have pasture and then they're fine. It was let's give them silage as well. We also had a four-wheeler because I couldn't navigate the motorcycle, I was not about to tackle that. Behind the four-wheeler, they drag this funnel, and it had the mineral supplement that they dusted on the crop. I just drove around and dusted out mineral supplement in order to make sure that they were getting all the nutrients that they needed. It was not as simple as they're in powder fine. It was in order to get the maximum amount of milk production. They're getting a lot of supplemental feeding of our to reach, I guess, genetic potential.
Joe: We covered it in the past, maybe way back in the first few episodes where we talk about how grazing and pasture management isn't necessarily less work. There's plenty of work going on. As you'll learn as you get to know Bradley more, he has every sensor known to man up at Morris. I don't know if he has a C-Dax though.
Bradley: Oh, Joseph, are you wrong.
[laughter]
I do have one day. I do have a C-Dax.
Emily: Brad finally has his day.
[laughter]
Joe: So many sensors.
Bradley: I do. We used it a long time ago, but don't really use it much anymore. It's not meant for hilly pastures and pastures with gophers in it. It worked, it did a fine job, but it was probably more work than what it should have been for our operation.
Joe: I was hoping that I could catch Bradley without a piece of equipment, and it didn't work. He�s got it.
Emily: If he didn't have it, he would just go and buy it because grant money, grant money, grant money.
Bradley: Exactly. That's right. I'm curious about calves. Calves on the dairy in New Zealand there that you worked at. How are they feeding them? Did they do it on pasture? Was it once a day?
Dana: It was once a day. First milking and you went and picked up all the calves on the pasture, loaded them into the trailer, and then everybody goes on the trail up to the barn. They had, I can�t think what they're called, but it's like a circle and there's all the nipples around it, and then everybody gets around and--
Emily: Mob feeder.
Dana: Yes, mob feeders.
Joe: Just so people get a sense for what else you're interested in besides forage, because obviously you're interested in forage and forage quality, what else on a dairy do you get there and you're like, that's what I want to do, that's what I want to learn more about, that's what I'm interested in?
Dana: I really like talking about nutrition and management. I love talking about management. Why do you do in that order, or how long does this take you? Where do you put that information? Is it easily retrievable?
Joe: I think that�s--
Emily: Oh, she is speaking our language.
Joe: Oh, yes.
Emily: We talk about management all the time. Whatever topic we talk about, we're like, really though, it depends on management. That's what it comes down to.
Bradley: You�re right.
Joe: That's true. I think we actually even got a request to do a episode specifically on management so that people have a better idea of what we mean and defining it, and what it means to each of us, because I'm sure you could ask 10 people and you might get 10 different answers. Maybe you'll have to come back and do that with us since you're so interested in management.
Emily: That would be fun.
Dana: That sounds fun, honestly.
Joe: We have a good time on the podcast sometimes, especially if we get a chance to make fun of Bradley.
Dana: It does seem like a recurring theme.
Joe: Definitely a theme.
Emily: I have a question now, because when we've had other local educators on in the past, which I think was just Michael J Cruz, PhD, but in any case.
Bradley: JD.
Emily: Oh, yes, and JD. We had an educator from West Virginia on-- I know you're new to your role, but of course I'm biased because I think you have one of the best jobs in extension, because that's such a great area to work in central Minnesota. Just curious, what are some things you're really looking forward to doing, or some things that you have learned in your first few weeks on the job there? Would just love to know what you're thinking with that, and have our listeners learn a little bit more about the process we go through when we're new in extension, and how would you--
Dana: I think you understand there. It's having to build yourself in a community, so getting to know farmers which I'm excited and nervous about during COVID, because I understand that there will be a little bit of a lag period as hopefully, we can move forward and out of COVID. How do I establish relationships with people during that time? What I'm trying to do is talk to commissioners and ask them, who should I call? Who would talk to me? So that I can start getting my name out there, so it's not like, "Oh, I've never heard of that person.
Oh, we have a livestock educator?" It's people know that I'm here and then I'm not just twiddling my thumbs, I'm trying to engage in the community. Because that's my favorite part of extension, is getting to know people and their farms. How does your family interact with the farm? Why is it that way? Have you seen anybody else do it differently, and what do you think about that? I'm excited to build relationships because I love doing that. Before, everywhere you go, kids just run up a tackle you because like, oh, I remember when you talked to me about gardening.
Or you showed me that part of the tractor, we talked about foreign safety, or you visited my school. Those are the best when you have strong connections with the community. Sometimes it's with kids, sometimes it's someone just come and be like, oh, I heard you on the radio. You're like, so you do hear me. I'm interacting with people. That's what I'm excited to do is to get to know the community and get to know people, their farms, their families, what they struggle with so that I can provide support.
Joe: That's perfect. To me, that was one of the things that I loved about practice the most when I was in practice. Getting to know the families and each individual farm, and how they differed. I still think that's one of the best things about the cattle industry, beef or dairy. Nothing's cookie-cutter. You might get into some cookie-cutter stuff when you're talking about pigs and poultry. Maybe someone out there will argue with me on that but when you're talking about beef and dairy, everything is so different. There�s so much value in getting to know each farm individually and how it interacts with the family.
Like you said, nothing better. It is the number one thing I miss about practice. Fortunately, one day, COVID will be done and we'll get back to doing a lot more of that kind of thing, but for now, you can listen to the podcast and check out the YouTube channel and do that kind of stuff while we work back towards that. What else do you want to talk about, Dana? Is there anything else that you had on your mind that you want to get out there?
Dana: I came from Indiana. Snow. There's snow here right now. That'll be an interesting acclamation for me and my husband. He did his undergrad here in Minnesota. We're both reacclimating to the snow, the weather. We're acclimating to Minnesota. Both of us are excited to be here.
Bradley: Good. When you were in Brookings, it could be nasty out there.
Emily: Yes, Brookings gets pretty nasty too.
Bradley: Exactly.
Joe: If you miss the wind at all, you can go see Bradley and Morris. There's plenty up there.
Bradley: Oh, yes, there's plenty of it here.
Emily: Plenty of it to go around.
Bradley: Exactly.
Joe: What does your husband do?
Dana: He's finishing his master's in aquaponics.
Bradley: Really?
Joe: Aquaponics.
Bradley: Oh, that's cool.
Dana: Yes, we're both pretty cool. Thank you. [chuckles]
Emily: Agreed.
Dana: He did shrimp and switchgrass. If I understand correctly, it's a form of salt remediation. He's doing all the paperwork as you finish of like, let's type up my thesis and let's check the results, which is nobody's favorite party, but here we are. He's working on that right now, just analyzing all his research so that it'll be done and you can be free.
Joe: That's a lot of work. That's awesome though. I did not expect you to say aquaponics.
Bradley: That's cool.
Dana: Of course.
Joe: Big twist. Awesome. I'm glad he chose the right university at least.
Emily: Agreed.
[chuckling]
Dana: I like you, guys.
[laughter]
Emily: Oh, good.
Joe: We are super happy that you're here and that we have someone in that position, super important position in extension. A lot of farmers in that county, a lot of people looking for someone to bounce ideas off of, helping in different situations. You seem like the perfect fit for the job and we're really excited that you're here.
Dana: Thank you.
Joe: With that, I think we'll wrap it. I think that that's it, unless anybody else has burning questions.
Emily: Do we have Minnesotan accents, Dana?
Bradley: Yes, sure.
Dana: Yes.
Joe: Yes.
Emily: Yes.
Joe: I would say if I had to rank them, Emily's is the worst, Bradley is next.
Emily: What?
Dana: Strongest. You can say strong.
Joe: Okay, strongest. Emily has the strongest accent for sure. Bradley's probably next.
Emily: That I happen to be the strongest person on the podcast, so it works.
Joe: No one will argue with you.
Bradley: We're all native Minnesotans, so we all have that.
Dana: When y'all say certain words, I'm like, there it is.
[laughter]
Emily: You just said y'all.
Joe: Let's just sprinkle it on [crosstalk]
Emily: If you're from Minnesota, you say, "You guys."
Joe: You guys.
Dana: You guys. Can you guys stop?
Joe: That was perfect.
Emily: All right. We're derailing, so we can probably rest.
Joe: This is going downhill fast, so let's wrap it up. Thank you again to Dana for being on. If you have questions, comments, scathing rebuttals, please send them to the email, themoosroom@umn.edu.
Emily: That's T-H-E-M-O-O-S-R-O-O-M@umn.edu.
Joe: Check out the website, extension.umn.edu, and our Facebook pages @UMNDairy and @UMNBeef. Thanks for listening, everybody. We'll catch you next week.
Emily: Bye.
Joe: Bye.
Bradley: I got so excited when I got a grant one day. Boom, fell out of my chair.
[music]
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