Innovative Nutrient Management Approaches Focus of PDP Farm Technology Tours

Tours offer a behind-the-scenes look at technologies dairy producers are using

Save the dates for the 2025 PDP Wisconsin Farm Technology Tours to see innovative technologies and management practices in action and learn from the dairy farm teams that have been implementing them. Facilitated by Professional Dairy Producers® (PDP), the program will showcase a different management practice each day.

The tours will be held August 19, 20, and 21, in Casco, Wis., Waunakee, Wis., and Markesan, Wis., respectively. The program will dive deeper into technologies being used to concentrate and separate a dairy’s nutrients for specific nutrient application, compost separated solids from liquid manure to create high-quality bedding, and reduce the cost of crop irrigation and the application of manure, leachate and fertilizer.

Tours will be held at these Wisconsin dairy farms:

• Tuesday, August 19, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., Dairy Dreams

Tour the dairy and learn about the Aqua System that is part of the dairy’s sustainability initiative. The system concentrates the dairy’s nutrients and separates phosphorus and nitrogen into separate pits, allowing for more specific nutrient application. They also reuse water for sprinklers and flush tanks and have reduced hauling costs and kept trucks off the road. Owned and operated by the Pagel family, the site is located at E3576 Cardinal Road, Casco, Wis.

• Wednesday, August 20, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., Endres Berryridge Farms

Owned and operated by Steve, Jeff and Randy Endres, Berryridge Farms Diversified Composting Manure Systems composts separated solids from liquid manure into high-quality bedding for lactating cows while maintaining high milk quality. Learn about various composting practices including edge of field, compost spreading and value-added mixes of compost and other soil amendments. 6953 Hyer Road, Waunakee, Wis. In the business of composting manure since 2014,

• Thursday, August 21, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Double S Dairy

See the 360 Rain system as brothers Dan and Steve Smits are implementing it. Designed to deliver bands of water, manure, leachate and-or fertilizer directly to the base of plants, 360 Rain has helped Double S Dairy save 90% in manure application cost and $50,000 a year for leachate application compared to custom application. The tour will take place at N3447 Marshview Road, Markesan, Wis.

Tours will begin promptly at their start time; attendees are to meet on site and encouraged to carpool. Registration information and more details are available at www.pdpw.org or by contacting PDP at 800-947-7379. Up to two Continuing Education Units (CEUs) per tour are available from Dairy AdvanCE.

Follow along digitally in advance of and during the event by following @dairyPDPW on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn.

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.