2023
August 29 – 31 | Galena, IL
Experience regenerative agriculture, renewable energy, and a working dairy farm
Join us for a field trip
to Galena, Illinois and
its surrounding area.
Venue
DeSoto House
Reservations can be made by calling the hotel at (815) 777-0090 and providing our group code of 248322 or by asking for the US Agriculture block of rooms.
About the Area
The Driftless Area is unique to the Midwest due to its steep hills and river valleys. Galena is less than a 3-hour drive from Chicago and Milwaukee. Closer regional airports include Cedar Rapids, Madison, and Moline. We look forward to sharing this experience with you.
The current schedule is below (subject to change). Meals and transportation will be provided during the field trip.
SCHEDULE
Tuesday, August 29
6:00 PM
DeSoto House
Welcome Reception
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Howard Halderman
Executive Chair, Board of Managers, US Agriculture
Howard Halderman is a founding member of USAG and is Executive Chair of USAG’s Board of Managers. Mr. Halderman serves as President and CEO of Halderman Farm Management Service and Halderman Real Estate Services, Inc. family businesses that have been in operation since 1930 and 1990 respectively. Mr. Halderman has previously served on the Board of Directors of Teays River Investments, a private equity agriculture investment firm. Mr. Halderman received his B.S, with high distinction, in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University in 1988. Mr. Halderman earned the Accredited Farm Manager designation from the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers in 1996. Mr. Halderman holds real estate broker licenses in the states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Georgia and Kentucky. Mr. Halderman currently serves on the Board of Directors of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ: FRME), is Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Honeywell Foundation, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Parkview Wabash Hospital, and serves on the Parkview Health Board, along with many other community organizations in Wabash, Indiana. Mr. Halderman is a member of the Pension Real Estate Association.
Guest Speaker on agriculture economy
Heavy hors d'oevres
Wednesday, August 30
Starts at 7:00 am
Hotel Breakfast
Provided and on your own
9:00 am
Bus departs for tours
9:30 - 11:30 am
Darlington Ridge
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Jim and Katie DiGangi
Darlington Ridge Farms
Established in 2008, Darlington Ridge Farms LLC is committed to providing the very best care for its animals and its land. Managing partner Jim and wife Katie DiGangi oversee the daily operations involved with the 3,800 milking cows in the herd. In addition, Darlington Ridge harvests feed for the dairy from 4,900 acres of corn and alfalfa.
In 2012, Darlington Ridge completed an expansion that included three new free-stall barns and expanded manure and feed storage. The farm also converted to sand bedding for improved cow comfort and added a sand recycling system. Darlington Ridge Farms is able to recycle 90% of their sand and carefully manages waste application through their extensive Nutrient Management Plan and frequent soil testing. The Nutrient Management Plan, which is managed through the Wisconsin DNR, has to be updated yearly and includes field soil testing reports, planned or actual application rates, methods and timing for manure and process wastewater, field soil erosion and phosphorus delivery to surface waters calculations, nutrient crediting, maps showing field-specific spreading restrictions and soils manure spreading field-specific reports and procedures, and detailed plan narratives.
The young couple has always had a passion for dairy farming, and are proud to own generations of cows from their home dairy farms. Jim is a third-generation farmer. He grew up on his family's 40-cow dairy farm in upstate New York where his family continues to farm today. After graduating from college, Jim worked as a herd manager on a California dairy. He then set his sights on the Midwest to pursue his dream of farming in America's Dairyland, where the people, the climate and the good ground attracted him.
Katie is a sixth-generation farmer and grew up on her family's dairy farm in Southwest Wisconsin. She works off the farm helping local dairy producers and veterinarians to produce a safe and nutritious food supply and has a passion for cow comfort and health.
Three years ago, and in coordination with three other local dairies, Darlington Ridge Farms founded "Day at the Dairy", which organizes and funds a field trip for local students to spend time on a dairy farm. In 2015 and 2019, Darlington Ridge Farms hosted 400 Lafayette County 4th grade students from Argyle, Belmont, Benton, Black Hawk, Blanchardville, Cuba City, Darlington, Holy Rosary, Southwestern and Shullsburg. While on the dairy, youth were able to see firsthand a working milking parlor, learn about the different breeds of cattle, sample different types of cheese, see how and what dairy cattle are fed, and learn how milk can play an important part of a nutritious diet. The day also included a visit from the "Day @ the Dairy Cow", an educational display on the milking system of a cow. The youth enjoyed a lunch featuring Grande cheese pizza, Subway apple slices, milk and ice cream. Over the past 10 years, the group has had the opportunity to open their doors to over 4100 young adults.
Jim and Katie are founding members of the Lafayette Ag Stewardship Alliance (LASA), a farmer-led, nonprofit organization committed to faithful and sustainable stewardship of our natural resources. Through innovation and collaboration, LASA identifies, shares and promotes conversation practices that demonstrate continuous improvement and preserve and enhance the quality of life in the community. Conservation practices implemented by LASA farmers have increased by 65% since 2018; project partners include Farmers for Sustainable Food and The Nature Conservancy. Darlington Ridge Farms is committed to continuous improvement each year and continues to innovate and incorporate new conversation practices each year.
At Darlington Ridge Farms, we are committed to providing our cows with the best environment to produce milk and go the extra mile to make sure all of our animals, employees and local ecosystem is healthy.
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Andy Dvoracek
Vice President of Business Development, AMP Americas
Andy Dvoracek joined Amp Americas in 2018 as Vice President of Business Development. He specializes in the origination and development of biogas projects as well as the marketing of the resulting Renewable Natural Gas (RNG). He has a wide range of experience in agricultural/industrial wastewater, methane avoidance based renewable energy, coalmine methane, and biogas to pipeline quality gas conditioning.
He has worked in plant operations, project development, due diligence, emission trading, RNG marketing and mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining Amp, Andy was a VP of Development at Camco. He was responsible for both carbon asset management and investment / development related to biogas projects in North America. He has also held similar roles at Element Markets, Greenhouse Gas Service and EcoSecurities.
Andy holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Environmental Science from Saint John’s University (MN) and a Masters of Public Administration in Environmental Policy and Management from Columbia University’s School for International and Public Affairs (SIPA). Andy also spent 2 years in El Salvador with the US Peace Corps. In his spare time, Andy likes to spend time at the family cabin with his wife, 3 children, and the family dog.
Experience a working dairy, learn about sustainable practices, and see a working biodigester
11:30 am - 12:00 pm
Soil Health with
UW-Platteville
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Dr. Dennis L. Busch
Research Manager, Pioneer Farm, University of Wisconsin Platteville
Dennis Busch is the Research Manager at Pioneer Farm. He is responsible for managing research projects that relate to the dairy pasture forage, surface water runoff and the Fever River, and supervises student researchers.
A native of Cuba City, Wis., Dennis received both his B.S. degree in agriculture business and M.S. degree in ag industries from UW-Platteville and received his Ph.D. in water resources science from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Previously he worked at the University of Minnesota Extension service as an Area Extension Educator. Dennis began his career with Pioneer Farm in 2004.
Discuss soil health partnership on soil test plots with UW-Platteville
12:00 - 1:00 pm
Outdoor Lunch
1:00 - 1:15 pm
Bus departs for cheese tour
1:15 - 2:30 pm
Tour Cheese Factory
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Chris Roelli
Roelli Cheese Haus
Chris Roelli is a fourth-generation cheesemaker from Roelli Cheese Haus located just east of Shullsburg in the Southwest corner of Wisconsin. His Great Grandfather emigrated from Switzerland and began making cheese in the early 1920’s, thereafter his Grandfather Walter and his Father Dave continued in the tradition. After the closing of their commodity cheddar factory in 1991, Chris reopened the small artisan factory in 2006. He is currently hand crafting and cellar curing small batches of original recipe cheeses including his Award winning Dunbarton Blue, Red Rock, Roelli Haus Select and Little Mountain, as well as fresh curds, aged cheddars, Cheshire inspired and Alpine style cheeses. Chris is a partner in ownership of Roelli Cheese Co., Inc. which also includes a retail store and a trucking division. In 2012 he opened his own state of the art aging cellar that can hold one year’s worth of his production. In 2015, Chris became one of Wisconsin's distinguished Master Cheesemakers in Cheddar and in 2017, added Masters in Blue and Hard Alpine Style cheese. In 2020, Chris was inducted into the Guilde Internationale des Fromagers and he currently sits as a board member of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association.
Chris and team Roelli Cheese have won several awards over the years but his most coveted are winning the “Best in Show” honors at the 2016 American Cheese Society Competition with Little Mountain, earning “TOP 20” honors with Red Rock at the 2022 World Championship Cheese Contest and “TOP 20” honors with Roelli Haus Select at the 2023 United States Championship Cheese Contest.
2:30 pm
Bus departs for hotel
3:00 - 4:00 pm
Free time
Guests invited to catch up on work or relax
4:00 - 5:00 pm
Trolley Tour
Enjoy a tour of the local history Galena has to offer
5:00 - 7:00 pm
Dinner (restaurant TBD)
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Eric Snodgrass
Principal Atmospheric Scientist, Nutrien Ag Solutions
The weekly weather update from Eric Snodgrass is developed with agricultural procedures in mind and offers weekly insights into how weather events might influence operations. Snodgrass is one of the nation's top 40 meteorologists and the Principal Atmospheric Scientist for Nutrien Ag Solutions, where he develops predictive, analytical software to help agricultural producers manage weather risk. He presents research at over 100 conferences annually.
Guest speaker Eric Snodgrass, Principal Atmospheric Scientist at Nutrien Ag Solutions, will address topical themes in weather and atmospheric science
Thursday, August 31
Starts at 7:00 am
Hotel Breakfast
Provided and on your own
8:00 am
Bus departs for Tours
8:45 - 9:45 am
Tour Solar Farm
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Nolan Mullen
Site Manager, EcoGrove/Pioneer Grove, Acciona Energy USA Global LLC
Nolan was born and raised just 5 minutes from the site we will be touring. He started at EcoGrove in the beginning of 2009 as a Wind Turbine Technician. The site was still in the commissioning phase. The first turbine connected to the grid in March 2009. After a few years of completing preventative maintenance and troubleshooting, Nolan became the Lead Technician in 2015, where he was able to learn more of the scheduling and planning phases of the day-to-day operations. Finally in 2019, he was given the opportunity to advance to the manager position. In 2022 Acciona decided to make this site one of the first combination wind & solar facilities in Illinois by constructing a solar facility on some of the land between the wind turbines. It will be completed in November 2023 and turned over to Nolan’s team to operate and maintain.
9:45 am - 12:00 pm
Moest Family Farm
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Ben Moest and Grant Moest
Moest Family Farm
AThe Moest family farm, located in Winslow, Illinois, is owned and operated by brothers Ben and Grant Moest. Together, they farm just under 3,000 acres of non-GMO corn, food-grade soybeans and small grains used for seed and grain. They use cover crops on most of their acres and own and operate their independent pork business, High Plains Pork. Join them at this field day to gain practical insights into wheat and rye production, summer cover crops and more.
Experience regenerative practices in the field with next generation farmers
12:00 pm
Lunch and Closing Comments
