This month, eight team members from All West/Select Sires joined 130 others from throughout the Select Sires federation in Green Bay, Wisconsin for the 2022 Trusted Advisors Conference. Our team members in attendance included Lisa Barkley, Angie Kennedy, Carson Hillberg, Carly Olufs, Kelby Stadt, Kit Watson, Randy Van Wieringen and Alex Werkhoven.
This event allowed our team to attend trainings and workshops, network and brainstorm, and view sire progeny at several impressive dairies including Synergy Farm LLC., Siemers Holstein Farm, Horsens Homestead Farms, and Milksource Genetics, tour Central Star Cooperative’s Wisconsin Lab Complex, and more. Most importantly the experience allowed them to learn new ways to better serve you, our valued member-owners!
“Select Sires Inc. has an impressive team of talented and passionate specialists who are ready and eager to help both us as employees, and in turn, our customers,” said All West/Select Sires Dairy Program Specialist, Carson Hillberg. “This conference was an impactful time to increase the efficiency, accuracy, and benefits of our programs and services by collaborating with and learning from each other.”
You may be wondering – what is a “Trusted Advisor”? Although we hope your All West/Select Sires representative is already someone you can trust and seek advice from, we expect all team members of the future to be trusted advisors for your farm. According to Select Sires Inc.’s Vice President of International Development (and training extraordinaire) Joel Mergler, Select Sires Trusted Advisors are:
- Adaptive/Open-Minded
- Curious/ Lifelong Learners
- Responsible/All In
- Leaders and Facilitators
- Professional Optimists
- Great Communicators
- Resilient
- Emotionally Intelligent
- Have a strong sense of “Why”
- Able to find innovative ways to create value
- Able to teach and present ideas
- Ultimate team players
Participants of this conference learned about a wide variety of topics presented by industry experts including how to use dairy management tools, efficiently use genomics, develop strategies and genetic planning, implement solutions, track progress and more! Breakout sessions and workshops allowed them to further put their skills to practice by sharing tips regarding using PC Dart and DairyComp305, as well as how to complete genetic audits and how to optimize heifer inventories with our Optimal Genetic Pathways calculator.
“The amount of resources and tools available today to meet the specific needs of each individual producer is incredible,” said Carson. “I look forward to providing increasingly accurate and tailored information to my customers.”
Our team also enjoyed connecting with some “extended” All West Family members including Brad Barham (Premier), Dan Curtin (COBA), JR Fisher (COBA), Jeff Reidman (Select Sires), Greg Collins (Select Sires), and Amber Vander Poel (World Wide Sires).
“It’s important to attend these federation-wide trainings because we all do things a little bit differently throughout the nation,” said All West/Select Sires Director of Dairy Programs, Angie Kennedy. “By getting us into one room together, someone might just have the answer to something you’ve been trying to figure out. These gatherings also help us to network with people in order to learn from each other.”
Shane Boettcher of Minnesota Select Sires received recognition as the 2021 Reproductive Specialist of the Year. Prior to his success as an employee of Select Sires, Shane was a dairy producer in All West Territory’s Tillamook, OR. Former All West Technician, Dan Curtin, was named 2022 Reproductive Specialist of the Year from COBA Select Sires. Congratulations to both gentlemen!
We thank all participants for their dedication to continuous learning and look forward to continuing the development of Trusted Advisors for your dairy!
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