Company News

(Loyal, Wis.) – Vita Plus Loyal and Vita Plus Kennan have proudly selected five high school seniors as recipients of the 2021 “Our Future is Agriculture” scholarships.  This program recognizes deserving students with long-term career interests in agriculture.  Students must plan to enroll in an accredited vocational/technical institute, community college, or four-year college or university that offers an academic major in an agriculture-related field. 

(Madison, Wis.) – Ashley Blackburn recently joined Vita Plus as an agronomy and forage specialist.  Based in Loyal and Kennan, Wisconsin, Blackburn will provide on-farm agronomy expertise across all areas including nutrient management plans, fertilizer application and spraying.  In addition, she will work closely with members of the Vita Plus Loyal and Vita Plus Kennan teams to share her forage expertise and support forage product sales with area farmers and custom harvesters. 

(Madison, Wis.) Lynn Olthof was recently selected as the Vita Plus dairy nutrition and management fellowship student at Michigan State University (MSU).  Olthof is the seventh student to participate in the program.  She will spend two summers and four semesters earning her master’s degree in dairy science while simultaneously gaining experience in dairy nutrition and management consulting.  Vita Plus will fund the credits throughout the duration of the experience in return for the research and project support she will provide.

(Madison, Wis.) – Four Vita Plus employee owners will take on new roles and responsibilities within the company.  The strategic changes will position Vita Plus for continued growth and success as it provides feed, nutrition, and management expertise to dairy and livestock producers.  In addition, Alan Gunderson will retire from his role as Vita Plus vice president of sales and marketing.

​(Madison, Wis.) – Chris Belz was recently named Vita Plus safety manager.  Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Belz will develop, evaluate and implement safety standards in compliance with federal regulations for all Vita Plus facilities and employee owners.  Belz will also train employees on these safety standards and provide safety resources for customers and staff.

(Madison, Wis.) – John Tramburg was recently named Vita Plus vice president of operations.  Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Tramburg will provide leadership for all areas related to operations at Vita Plus facilities, including customer service, manufacturing, distribution and safety.  Additionally, Tramburg will manage the private transportation fleet as well as analyze all capital expenditure proposals and strategic investments to help Vita Plus better serve customers. 

​(Madison, Wis.) – Dr. David Carlson recently joined Vita Plus as a dairy nutritionist and technical services specialist.  Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Carlson will provide technical support for Vita Plus field staff, dealers, and customers in southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois, and eastern Iowa.  In addition, Carlson will remain up to date on current research and technologies to lead dairy nutrition and management training initiatives.

(Madison, Wis.) – Michaela (Mickie) Trudeau recently joined Vita Plus as a swine nutritionist.  Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Trudeau will help design and coordinate research trials, as well as evaluate ingredients and formulations used in Vita Plus swine products.  As a member of the swine technical services team, Trudeau will also provide technical leadership and expertise to Vita Plus field staff, dealers, and customers.

Vita Plus employee owners not only serve livestock farms in rural communities throughout the Midwest, but they also live and raise their families in those communities. Bob Hagenow, Jon Rasmussen, and Trace Lopez are three employee owners who log many service hours every year, provide leadership to various organizations and service projects, contribute to the agriculture industry, and use their passions to make a positive difference.

Vita Plus has offered several dairy technology, nutrition and management internships to students in past years. These internships focus on specific projects and give students independent responsibilities, as well as opportunities, to collaborate with and learn from Vita Plus staff, dairy producers, and industry peers.

(Madison, Wis.) – Kelly Flack was recently named a Vita Plus Lanark livestock specialist.  In this role, Flack will work closely with dairy, beef, and youngstock producers in the Lanark area to understand their production goals and provide industry-leading feed, nutrition, and management expertise.  Working closely with her Vita Plus teammates, Flack will provide on-farm technical support and the latest in research and technologies to help farms achieve long-term success. 

(Madison, Wis.) – Jaron Lewton recently joined Vita Plus as an eastern region swine technical sales manager.  Based in Indiana, Lewton will use his nursery research and sow management experience to provide farm-specific nutrition and management solutions.  He will also provide leadership for Vita Plus swine team members and dealers to help serve customers in eastern Indiana and Ohio. 

(Madison, Wis.) – Kyle McLain recently joined Vita Plus as a dairy specialist in northern Wisconsin.  He will utilize cutting-edge ration formulation software to provide high-quality rations and solutions to help dairy producers reach their production goals.  In addition, McLain will stay up to date on current industry research to provide on-farm technical support for the northern Wisconsin dairy team.

(Madison, Wis.) – Dr. Lucas Mitchell recently joined Vita Plus as a calf and heifer specialist.  Based in Indiana, Mitchell will provide on-farm support with sales staff in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio for all calf- and heifer-related projects.  He will also work closely with members of the Vita Plus calf team to utilize current research and provide custom solutions to help dairy producers’ meet their calf and heifer program goals.