New employee owners

Vita Plus interns are gaining valuable experience in dairy and youngstock nutrition, marketing, and the feed industry this summer. Evan Mennen and Elizabeth Plunkett are working on different teams focused on specific projects for the duration of the summer. They also are learning how Vita Plus employee owners bring feed, nutrition, and management expertise to the dairy and livestock industry across the Midwest.

Micah Kooiman recently joined Vita Plus as a livestock nutrition consultant. He will provide nutrition and management consulting to swine and beef farms throughout southwest Minnesota, northwest Iowa, and southeast South Dakota. He will work with Vita Plus teammates to offer farm-specific solutions – based on the latest research and technologies – to help producers meet their business goals.

Dr. Bethany Dado-Senn recently joined Vita Plus as a calf and heifer technical specialist. She will be based in northwestern Wisconsin, providing technical expertise to help producers raise the next generation of their milking herd. She will also be an active member of the calf and heifer team supporting Vita Plus consultants as they serve producers across the Upper Midwest.

Two students are gaining experience in calf and youngstock nutrition, forage management, and the feed industry as Vita Plus interns this summer. Grace Haase and Chase Rievert are working on different teams focused on specific projects for the duration of the summer while learning how Vita Plus employee owners bring feed, nutrition, and management expertise to dairy and livestock farms throughout the Midwest.

Brad Miller recently joined Vita Plus as safety manager based in Madison, Wisconsin. He will ensure corporate safety standards and develop supporting training procedures throughout the Vita Plus network of manufacturing, grain storage, and fabrication facilities in the Midwest. This will include overseeing compliance with all state and federal regulations and agencies. In addition, Miller will continue to develop and promote a behavior-based safety culture for all employee owners throughout the organization.

Ryan Fritsche recently joined Vita Plus as a dairy specialist in Wisconsin. Based in Eastman, Wisconsin, Fritsche will provide nutrition and management expertise to help dairy producers reach their production goals. In addition, he will remain up-to-date on cutting-edge technologies to better serve customers now and in the future.

(Madison, Wis.) – Jonathan Ydstie recently joined Vita Plus as a dairy consultant and business development specialist in South Dakota, working with farms along the I-29 corridor.  He will utilize his experience as a large-herd dairy manager and his extensive industry experience to help provide high-quality diet formulation, management expertise, and customized solutions to help dairy producers reach their production and management goals.

(Madison, Wis.) – Dr. Paulina Letelier recently joined Vita Plus as a dairy nutritionist and technical services specialist. She will provide nutrition and management consulting to dairy producers throughout northeast Wisconsin.  Additionally, Letelier will provide field-driven technical support for fellow Vita Plus consultants in the region.

(Madison, Wis.) – Chandler Kurth recently joined Vita Plus as a dairy specialist in Minnesota and South Dakota.  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, Kurth will remain up-to-date on industry research and technologies to serve customers now and in the future. 

(Madison, Wis.) – Brad Auger recently joined Vita Plus as grain merchandising manager.  He will work with all Vita Plus facilities across the Midwest to fulfill grain needs for the feed business while focusing on grain origination, merchandising and risk management through effective hedging.  Auger will also work directly with farmers, helping them navigate the volatile, ever-changing marketplace. 

(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.) – 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.