Honoring a Legacy, Building the Future

From storm damage across Wisconsin to honoring farm broadcaster Orion Samuelson, today's episode reflects on the past while looking ahead to the future of the dairy industry. Stories include a farm transition to the next generation, an advocate balancing roles as both a banking officer and farmer and the growth of a new FFA chapter in Wisconsin. We start with Brian Bender, who lost silos in a recent storm. He reflects on the 5-minute drive just after midnight to the farm in Sauk County, Wisconsin where his milking herd resides and was met by downed trees and power lines and had to take a pair of detous on the 1.5-mile drive before stopping his truck in the road to warn others. Next, Max Armstrong reflects on his longtime colleague and friend, Orion Samuelson. Raised on a small family farm near Ontario, Wisconsin, Samuelson became a trusted voice in agriculture after joining WGN in 1960. He served as farm service director fo 63 years before retiring alongside Armstrong in 2023. Samuelson passed away March 16 at the age of 91 at his home in Huntley, Illinois. We then hear from Brian Colbenson, who officially took over Ti-Shi Dairy, along with his wife, Felicia, renaming it Colby Acres. Alongside Brian's father, Tim, they share the story of transitioning the farm and fulfilling a long-held goal of passing the operation to the next generation. Today's episode continues in Minnesota with Ali Bouta. Even though she holds a full-time job in town today, she continues to play a key role on her family's farm, and shares her perspective on how she manages it all and her tasks throughout the year. We wrap up with FFA advisor of the Winnebago Lutheran Academy Cassandra Luedtke and the school's agriculture instructor Andy Pappenfuss. The private school is in its fourth year of offering an agriculture curriculum and in its first year of chartering an FFA chapter — the only chapter in the Fond du Lac city school system. New episodes are released every Monday after the newspaper is published, sharing the many conversations from the dairy community! Send story ideas and your comments to [email protected]. Subscribe to the podcast for reminders of episodes — next episode will be released May 11 — about the dairy community and leave a review! We look forward to bringing you this brand new way to consume the Dairy Star. This is Dairy Delivery. All dairy, all the time.