351 | Robots, Faith and Resilience: Transforming Tradition at Silver Spirit Farm
Today on the Uplevel Dairy Podcast, Peggy sits down with Sam Fessenden, a Cornell dairy science graduate with a PhD focused on the CNCPS model who worked with nutritionists globally before partnering with his wife Brenda and her parents, Craig and Cathy, to rebuild dairying at their Southeast Minnesota site.
In this conversation, Sam shares early mentorship near Cornell, how consulting and barn tours informed their tech-forward design, and how they converted a former 70-stall stanchion operation into a 120-cow, sand-bedded, two-robot, largely automated free-flow barn launched in 2020 while welcoming their first child. He discusses feeding non-pelleted homegrown corn through robots, lessons from managing cows daily (manure observation and feed inventory realities), choosing open-minded advisors, patience in growth decisions, guidance for generational transition, resilience through cost control, extra acres, and value-added black calf raising, and how faith and family motivate raising three kids on the farm.
This Episode is brought to you by Adisseo
This episode is sponsored by Uplevel Dairy Podcast Founding Partner Adisseo, a global leader in nutritional solutions and premier provider of rumen-protected methionine for dairy producers who want to optimize milk production, capture more value from components, and maintain the health of their high-performing herds. Learn more at https://www.adisseo.com/en/
01:44 Sam’s Dairy Roots
05:31 Cornell Mentors and Models
08:42 From Consulting to Minnesota
09:24 Rebuilding the Dairy Site
11:49 Designing a Robot Barn
13:45 Automation and Feeding Hacks
16:32 Consulting Lessons Applied
19:02 Choosing the Right Advisors
21:25 Patience and Farm Values
23:17 Succession and Growth Plans
26:14 Resilience and Black Calves
30:46 Family First and Faith
