DBA President Amy Penterman appears on Progressive Dairy podcast

On this Progressive Dairy podcast, Editor Peggy Coffeen sits down with Amy Penterman from Dutch Dairy in Thorp, Wisconsin. She is a dairy farmer, crop insurance agent and the newly elected president of the Dairy Business Association. Amy talks about grassroots advocating and lobbying in a virtual space and opportunities to open dialogue with the environmental community.

(1:50) To help our listeners who may not be familiar with the Dairy Business Association to better understand, describe DBA and what your role as president entails.

(2:41) I understand you are the first woman to be elected to this board president position. What is that like?

(3:12) You’ve been no stranger to advocating and lobbying for the dairy industry, whether it’s at Wisconsin’s state capitol or in Washington D.C., long before being elected to this leadership position. What is it about your experiences meeting face-to-face with policy makers that you believe makes a difference in the laws and regulations they put in place? 

(4:50) Tell me about an example where you had an experience sitting across the table and influenced a regulation that affected your farm.

(6:03) Speak to your personal experiences hosting law makers out to your farm.

(8:03) When you look back at 2020, how did you see the relationships you had built prior with law makers as helpful with the challenges dairy farmers faced last year?

(9:33) How are you (DBA) pivoting lobbying and advocating in a virtual space?

(11:50) How will you and the Dairy Business Association keep farmers – dairy farmers specifically – front and center with lawmakers under a new administration?

(13:47) What are some of the key initiatives DBA plans to focus on in 2021?

(14:58) Tell us more about the Dairy Hub.

(16:33) Tell us about the high-level conservation groups DBA is collaborating with.

(17:33) How have these conversations changed the dialogue between the dairy community and the environmental community?

(19:53) Amy, thank you for sharing these insights. And as we wrap up our time with you today, we are going to have a bit of fun. It’s time for our rapid-fire questions, where we get to know you a little bit better with your answers to a few questions. 

• Favorite ice cream flavor.
• One thing on your bucket list.
• When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
• Last Netflix series you watched.
• Best advice you ever received.
• Favorite podcast. 
• If you could sit down for dinner with any one person, past, present or future, who would it be?