Who We Are // Your Consultants

Jim Barmore, MSc, PAS is a founding partner of GPS Dairy Consulting, LLC (2009) and has extensive national and international experience providing technical service and management expertise to dairies. In 2003, he started and was owner/operator of Five-Star Dairy Consulting, and later in 2009 a founding partner of GPS Dairy Consulting. Jim provides comprehensive independent nutrition and management consulting to larger dairies, focusing in the areas of forage management, feeding and bunk management, ingredient procurement and inventory management, herd performance monitoring and financial evaluation, cow comfort and facilities expertise, and heifer management. His consulting also involves training, leadership and people development, commercial development and product evaluation, and technical support in the area of nutrition and herd management.

A Wisconsin native, he received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from UW-Madison in dairy nutrition. Prior to consulting, he gained extensive experience in technical service and product management dairy industry roles. His training and experience in nutrition is balanced with professional experience in commercial development, product management, business management, and coaching. Jim was an early member and is certified by the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS). One particular award and honor was Jim receiving the American Dairy Science Association Young Animal Science Leader—Outstanding Agribusiness Award. He is a member of American Dairy Science Association (ADSA), Professional Dairy Producers of WI (PDPW), and Dairy Business Association (DBA). He has written several popular press articles, and has broad speaking and consulting experience in numerous states and multiple international countries, including speaking at numerous national conferences. Jim has recently served on the PDPW Board, while also serving on the World Dairy Expo Education Committee, University of Wisconsin-Madison Dairy Science Advisory Committee, and WI Dairy 2020 Initiative. Jim currently works and consults with dairies in the Midwest and Australia.

CLOSE

Marty Faldet, PhD, PAS, is a founding partner of GPS Dairy Consulting, LLC (2009). Marty has been consulting with Dairy farms in the areas of nutrition and management since 1990. He became owner/operator of Faldet Dairy Consulting, Inc. in 2002. As an independent dairy consultant he provides extensive nutrition and management consultation to dairies, focusing in the areas of feeding and inventory management, feed procurement, record and herd performance analysis, cow comfort, heat abatement, facilities, forage and crop plans, and heifer management.

Dr. Faldet received his undergraduate degree from Iowa State University, his masters from Oklahoma State University and his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He worked for Purina Mills as a dairy consultant providing technical support to nutritionists in the mid-West from 1989-1999 before being promoted to Operations Manager for Dairy Management Services. During his three years as Operations Manager he gained extensive knowledge on developing operational systems, administering financial services, feed procurement and contracts, personnel leadership, and milk marketing.

He is a member of American Dairy Science Association (ADSA), American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS) and Dairy Business Association (DBA). Marty lives in Calmar, IA with his wife Jennifer and three children.

CLOSE

King Hickman, DVM is a founding partner of GPS Dairy Consulting, LLC (2009). He has been working in the Dairy industry since 1989 and became an owner and partner of Dairy Production Services, Inc. in 2006. Dr. Hickman provides extensive independent nutritional and management consulting including feeding and bunk management, planning and implementation of forage plans, procurement of bids, and sourcing and implementation of growing heifer programs. Other services include review and design of vaccination schedules, biosecurity and herd health protocols as well as review of and advice on cow comfort and facilities and overall monitoring of herd performance.

Dr. Hickman is a graduate of Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and holds a certificate from the University of Wisconsin Dairy Health Management Program. He has served the dairy industry for over 30 years as a practicing veterinarian, a Team Business and Development Coach in allied industry and as a nutrition and management consultant. This broad range of experience has provided him with a unique set of technical, business management and coaching skills.

He is an AVMA and IVMA member as well as a member of the National Mastitis Council. As a career-long member of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) he has served as Chairman of the Nutrition Committee and facilitated several educational seminars for veterinarians. He has served as a guest lecturer at multiple animal science and veterinary colleges and has broad national and international speaking experience on topics varying from dairy nutrition and cow comfort to change management and people development. Dr. Hickman lives in Sheldon, IA with his wife Kecia and has four children.

CLOSE

Robb Bender, PhD, PAS is owner of Bender Dairy Innovations, LLC and is a consultant and partner in GPS Dairy Consulting LLC. Robb provides independent nutrition and whole-farm management consulting to dairies in Wisconsin and Michigan.

Dr. Bender received his Bachelor of Science in Dairy Science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He also obtained his Master of Science in Dairy Science Reproductive Physiology in the laboratory of Dr. Milo Wiltbank. His Master’s work was focused on reproduction and nutrition interactions in dairy cattle, with an emphasis on applying varying reproductive protocols on commercial farms. Following his Master’s, Robb continued at Madison and obtained a PhD in Dairy Nutrition with Dr. David Combs, focusing on integration of nutritional data on dairy farms and methods to quantify and improve fiber digestibility in forages. Robb is a member of the American Dairy Science Association and American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists, and was involved in the National Dairy Challenge as a student and coach throughout graduate school.

Robb and his wife, Christine, reside in Watertown, WI where they are partners in her family’s dairy farm.

CLOSE

Kristy Pagel, owner of Leading Edge Consulting, LLC works directly with dairies and agri-business delivering personal and professional development coaching through her expert knowledge, industry experience and relentless passion. With over 15 years of proven experience, she has gained the role as “trusted advisor” with many dairies throughout the industry. Kristy focuses on strategic evaluation of organizational structures, individual leadership coaching to build teams and a winning culture. She also provides professional meeting facilitation and trains on critical communication techniques.

In addition, she serves as the Director of Business Development and Strategic Leadership for GPS Dairy Consulting LLC, as leader of the education and people development platform offered to their clients.

Kristy is a graduate of University of Wisconsin Green Bay, receiving a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Human Resources and Marketing. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Dairy Girl Network and actively maintains leadership roles with multiple boards and organizations. She resides in Eastern Wisconsin with her family and enjoys many outdoor activities, volunteering and doing freelance floral design.

CLOSE

Amanda is the Digital Media Executive for GPS Dairy Consulting and manages the social media pages, general event marketing, maintains and updates the GPS website, creates internal and external communications, and assists with special projects for consultants and clients.

Amanda didn’t grow up in agriculture but quickly found her passion for dairy during college and jumped headfirst into the industry! She graduated from the University of Wisconsin- Madison in 2017 with bachelor’s degrees in Animal Science and Life Science Communication, along with a minor in African Studies. She’s done everything from milking and calf care on multiple farms, forage research at the US Dairy Forage Center, writing for DairyBusiness Communications magazine and Agri-View newspaper, and even video production for Kuhn North America. Amanda is an Association of Women in Agriculture alumni and is part of the Young Dairy Leaders Institute Class 12.

Digital media and telling stories creatively have always been a passion of hers, and she really enjoys using her creative mind and scientific education to connect the dots and share information. And her love for cows and the people who care for them drive this process.

When she’s not working, you can find her traveling the world, running her bloody mary review blog, spending time with friends and growing her side media business, Amanda Mae Media, with family photo shoots and wedding videography. Amanda lives in Milwaukee, WI with her two fur babies, Charles (orange tabby cat) and Otis (corgi).

CLOSE

Caleb Burch, owner of Burch Dairy Consulting Inc., serves dairies as an independent dairy nutrition and management consultant in northwest WI. While not growing up on a dairy farm, Caleb has developed a deep passion for the industry and for nutrition.

With a business mindset and an analytical approach, Caleb completed his Bachelor of Business Administration/ Management at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.  After graduation, he worked in retail management for a short period, before he went on to receive a B.S. of Dairy Science from the University of Wisconsin – River Falls, realizing his strong career interests were around the dairy industry. Caleb then joined his father (Scott) in the independent dairy nutrition field, which evolved into the formation of Burch Dairy Consulting and now serves progressive dairies throughout NW Wisconsin. Scott has been an independent nutritionist in Wisconsin for over 35 years and continues to work alongside Caleb today.

Caleb still uses his background in business management every day as he has a strong understanding that people, profitability, core values and sustainability are at the center of every good business. He believes collaboration is key to success and holds close working relationships with key industry professionals.

Caleb carries a passion for improving a dairy’s profitability through income over feed costs. He is skilled in feeding transition cows as he knows this is a large driver of success on a dairy farm. Caleb values long-term working relationships and works hard to not only meet, but exceed, the needs of his clients.

Caleb currently resides in Chippewa Falls, WI with his wife, Allie, and two boys, Carson and Clayton.

CLOSE

Trent Dado, MSc, is owner of Dado Dairy Consulting, LLC serving dairies as an independent dairy nutrition and management consultant in the southern and western Wisconsin regions. He has years of on-farm and feed industry experience which grant him the ability to provide a holistic approach to farm-specific goals.

Trent completed his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Animal Science and Ruminant Nutrition, respectively, at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. His research focused on rumen fermentation and how feed additives and corn by-products may impact cow health and production. He also was involved in beef cattle research which focused on manipulating the growth patterns of cattle to optimize feed efficiency and profitability. Upon graduating, Trent worked as a Technical Specialist providing support to feed mills and nutritionists in the area of protein and amino acid balancing.

Trent’s expertise in forage production, feed management, cow comfort, and facility design stem from his time as an assistant farm manager at his family’s farm in Amery, WI. Both Trent’s and his wife’s, Mickie, family still farm in northwest WI. They currently reside in Fitchburg, WI.

CLOSE

Don Deetz, PhD, PAS is owner of GW Dairy Consulting, LLC. A native of west central Wisconsin, Don offers greater than twenty years of experience in providing dairy nutrition and management counsel to dairy operators, primarily in the upper midwest and northeast regions of the United States. Don provides exclusive, independent counsel in the areas of nutrition and management programs, featuring evaluations of herd production, health and reproductive performance records; forage inventory evaluations; planning and implementation of forage plans; and implementation of programs for growing dairy heifers.

Early in his career, Don was engaged in Extension dairy and livestock education with the University of Wisconsin, an experience during which he began to gain proficiency in farmstead organization and long-term facility design. Following completion of graduate degrees in the area of ruminant nutrition, Don has pursued his interest in dairy nutrition while performing in roles with feed and nutrition companies ranging from territory and field market sales; division sales leadership to field-based technical support. For nearly a decade, Don also conducted business with dairy families located in the central plains region on behalf of the animal productivity enterprises of Monsanto Dairy Business and Elanco Animal Health. These diverse experiences have gained Don a working knowledge in performance leadership allowing him to coach his clients toward achievement of key performance indicators, direction of long-range decisions and definition of business and production goals.

Don received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls; a Master of Science degree from Washington State University; and a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. Don is a member of the American Dairy Science Association and maintains accreditation with the American Society of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS). Don and his wife, Teri have three children and live near Sioux Falls, SD.

CLOSE

Paul Dyk, MSc, PAS is owner of Forward Dairy Consulting, LLC. He provides independent nutrition and management consulting to his dairy clients with a focus on listening to and meeting his client’s goals.

Paul received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Dordt College (now Dordt University) with a double major in Animal Science and Biology. He obtained his Master of Science in Dairy Nutrition from Michigan State University with Dr. Mike VandeHaar. His Master’s work included a landmark field study looking at the relationship of precalving nutrition and management to metabolic health issues.

Paul has a diverse work background that has developed skills in dairy nutrition and management, teaching, and practical farm solutions. He worked for 5 years in the UW Extension service and 1.5 years in the Michigan State Extension service with a focus on developing materials for employee training, pioneering an employee newsletter, and organizing events around animal welfare and manure management. Paul and his wife owned and managed a dairy for 4 years that included both Holsteins and Jerseys. Paul was involved in the dry feed business for 6 years with two different companies focused on ration formulation and on-farm dairy consulting. For the last 8 years, Paul was involved in the liquid feed business as technical support for nutritionists in the Midwest. In this last role, Paul developed a TMR quality control program that has been applied across the US with a focus on objective lab analyses of TMRs, bunk management scoring, and the use of visual technology to identify opportunities in feeding systems. Paul’s focus has been to connect research to field application to measured economic results through production and animal health.

Paul is a member of the American Dairy Science Association and the American Registry of Professional Animals Scientists.

Paul and his wife, Neva, live near Fond du Lac, WI with their four daughters.

CLOSE

Jordan is owner of Hunt Dairy Consulting, LLC. His full-service dairy nutrition consulting firm serves dairies in Iowa, southeast Minnesota and southwest Wisconsin.

Helping his clients achieve maximum production while managing input costs and promoting animal health and sustainability are the fundamentals that drive Jordan’s business. He specializes in feeding and inventory management; forage and commodity procurement; record and herd performance analysis; calf and heifer management; forage and crop plans; feed center layout and efficiency; and team building.

Jordan also has cultivated in-depth understanding of advanced dairy technologies, including automated milking systems. Through continuing education and independent research, he has amassed a wide breadth of knowledge about these systems, which he shares to support his own customers and the entire GPS client base.

Prior to joining GPS and starting his own consultancy, Jordan worked as both a dairy nutrition intern and dairy specialist for a regional feed company. In his five years of serving herds as a dairy specialist, he expanded his client base and quickly was called upon to train his colleagues in utilizing dairy ration software technology. He also conducted calf nutrition research and calf management audits.

An honors graduate of Iowa State University with majors in Dairy Science and Agricultural Business, Jordan was active in the Student Affiliate Division of the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA), and has continued his involvement in ADSA as a professional member. He and his wife, Amanda, and daughter, Payton, reside in northeast Iowa, less than a mile from the family dairy farm on which he grew up.

CLOSE

Bob James, PhD., PAS is the owner of Down Home Heifer Solutions, Inc. Bob established his consulting business upon “retiring” from the Virginia Tech Dept. of Dairy Science where he had a productive career in extension, teaching and research. The majority of his research over the last 10 years of his career was conducted on dairies in the eastern and western US with a focus on improving feed management on whole farm nutrient balance and on calf facilities and management of on farm pasteurizers and automatic calf feeders. He taught applied dairy nutrition and dairy herd management courses and was the co-coach of Virginia Tech Dairy Challenge team.

Bob provided comprehensive management consulting directed towards development of programs which optimized health, welfare and growth of calves and heifers based upon the unique resources available to dairies and custom calf and heifer growers. Dr. James consulting efforts focused on achieving the essentials for success which included:

• management of the close-up dry cow
• excellent colostrum management
• provision of a high-quality diet to enable achieving the heifer’s biological potential for growth at an economical cost/unit of gain
• development of housing systems which optimize performance of heifers and the people caring for them
• development of KPI’s and calf management teams involving farm personnel, the herd veterinarian, key industry partners and the GPS consultant

Bob received his B.S. degree at the University of Delaware and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at Virginia Tech. He was an Assistant Professor at West Virginia University for two years with diverse responsibilities in extension and conducted applied research in reproduction. While at Virginia Tech, Bob had a dairy nutrition consulting business and raised elite pedigreed Jersey heifers. He is a founding member of the Dairy Calf and Heifer Association. He is a member of the planning committee for the Western Dairy Management Conference. Bob has been a speaker at producer and veterinary conferences across North America and internationally and has provided consulting advice to dairies and calf and heifer growers in the US, Mexico, Canada, South America, Asia and Europe. His training and work experiences have enabled him to work with innovative producers and industry leaders in calf and heifer management.

He resides in Blacksburg, Virginia with his wife, Ann, who recently retired as a Professor in the Animal and Poultry Science Department. They have two grown daughters and two grandchildren.

CLOSE

Helen Korzec is the owner of Korzec Dairy Optimization, LLC. She was born and raised on a farm and recently launched her nutrition and management consulting business after years of running commercial dairy farms. She has success in management of employees, cattle and commodity brokering using a practical, hands on approach. Helen has provided knowledge to farms spanning from the east coast, Midwest, and west coast. As part of the GPS Dairy Consulting team, Helen will provide a well-rounded knowledge base including transition cows, reproduction, milk quality, personnel training, young stock and calf nutrition, cost saving methods and nutrition services. She plans on utilizing her many connections across the US dairy industry to improve the herds she works. Currently, Helen resides South Dakota and part-time in the Southeast US.

CLOSE

Edwin J. Kreykes DVM owner of Dairy Health Services, located in Sanborn, Iowa since 1990 has been a respected dairy consultant for over 30 years. Before starting his dairy production medicine practice Dr. Kreykes was in a general mixed practice in Hartley, Iowa. He currently provides quality independent nutrition, reproduction, record analysis, biosecurity programs, milk quality, and other production medicine services for dairy herds in western and central Iowa and South Dakota. Other areas of interest include general management consulting, protocol development, employee training, and continuous improvement within the whole dairy enterprise. Extensive use is made of dairy records software programs PCDART and Dairy Comp 305 for monitoring of herd performance.

Dr. Kreykes is a 1975 graduate of Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa and a 1979 graduate of the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine. He has been a record analysis workshop instructor with the American Association of Bovine Practitioners and Dairy Records Management Systems (DRMS, Raleigh, NC) and he has served as a judge for the Collegiate Dairy Challenge program at both the Midwest Regional and the National contest level.

Dr. Kreykes is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, American Association of Bovine Practitioners, National Mastitis Council, Dairy Calf and Heifer Association and other regional and national organizations. He has served on advisory boards to various groups in the dairy industry as well as teaching nutrition and production medicine classes at the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Dr. Kreykes lives in Sanborn, IA with his wife Sandra. They have 3 daughters and 8 grandchildren.

CLOSE

Erin Mosley, PhD – As owner of Mosley Dairy Consulting, LLC, Dr. Mosley provides independent dairy nutrition consultation focusing on the utilization of currently available software and technology to aid in the evaluation of feed and cow health related data to help identify key areas of opportunity for production, health, and financial improvement. She got her start working as a nutrition manager for a large dairy operation in Idaho where her role focused on quality control for feed inventory, handling, and usage as well as data management, including preparation of routine financial feed related information, and monitoring cow health related data. Furthermore, she has worked with dairy personnel and industry professionals to monitor indicators of the ration’s effect on cow health and production.

Dr. Mosley is originally from Athens, Tennessee and received her Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Animal Science/Science and Technology in 1999 from the University of Tennessee. She then attended Clemson University where she received her Master of Science degree in Nutrition specializing in dairy cattle. Erin earned her Doctorate of Philosophy degree in May 2006 at the University of Idaho, where her research focused on nutrition and lactation physiology.

Dr. Mosley lives in Canal Winchester, OH with her husband and children.

CLOSE

Nathan Pokowski, PAS, is owner of KowFit Dairy Innovations, LLC serving dairies as an independent dairy nutrition and management consultant in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. He began his career on his grandfather’s farm where he spent most of his summers growing up working for a small beef operation. Outside of farming, Nathan was involved in sports and boy scouts and in 2006 he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. He attended Michigan State University where he received his Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management.

After college, Nathan relocated to pursue a career as a dairy nutritionist in British Columbia, Canada. While in Canada, he helped producers manage quota and produce milk economically by focusing extensively on income over feed cost without sacrificing animal health. As his family grew, he decided to move back to Michigan where he continued his career as a dairy nutritionist for a regional feed company. In 2016, Nathan completed his ARPAS certification, and he currently serves an ARPAS board member.

Over the past 4 years Nathan has worked in allied industry where he has helped manage and budget various commercial research projects that consist of ration analysis, dry cow management, feed and forage management, gut health, and immunity. He has served as account manager and leader for teams across North America. Nathan is passionate about helping producers maximize the potential of the rumen. He believes that high quality forages and dry/transition cow health are the backbones for sustainable production.  He focuses extensively on helping producers harvest and store high quality forages to maximize the amount of forage in the diet.

Nathan currently resides in Michigan with his wife Ashley and two boys, Landon and Easton.

CLOSE

Bill Powel-Smith is owner of LandCares, an innovative soil health and dairy forage consulting business serving customers throughout the Midwest. Bill has extensive technical experience in soil and water management, tillage and compaction solutions, planter setup and growing highly digestible forages. He provides comprehensive, whole farm, multi-year guidance, training and support as dairies pivot land management away from intensive cultivation and row crop production to a low intensity, low input, highly profitable and sustainable forage plan.

LandCares provides innovative soil health practices that result in higher quality and higher yielding dairy forage at a fraction of the cost of todays’ labor and equipment intensive methods. Bill uses hands on training and side by side coaching to teach how to dairy successfully with lower cropping inputs, significantly less tillage and with much more timely and efficient plant uptake of dairy manure nutrients.

Bill grew up on the east coast, received his BS in animal science, economics and agronomy from Cornell University, and relocated to Wisconsin with his wife Linda after graduation. He started a nutrition and large herd management business in 1988 which had him consulting from coast to coast for the better part of 20 years.

He was sought after by farm owners going through expansion and left consulting to help manage several large dairies in Wisconsin over a 12 year period from 2002 through 2012. During this period, Bill became a master herd manager and was recognized as having some of the best cattle management and livestock welfare practices in the US.

In 2013, Bill joined Pioneer Seed to delve into the area of forage production and took on the personal challenge of understanding critical factors in improving corn and alfalfa digestibility. Within two years at Pioneer, he was awarded the coveted Leader of Distinction Award.

Ready to devote his full attention to soil health and farmland profitability, Bill left Pioneer and started his new business, LandCares. In 2021 he brought his LandCares business to the GPS team and broadened the scope and depth of the GPS offering to include cropping and soil management.

Bill and Linda live near Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. They have three grown children and raise a plethora of farm animals.

CLOSE

Bonnie Tapp grew up on a small dairy farm in Northeast Iowa. As our Office Administrator Bonnie provides support in accounts payable, accounts receivable, financial reports, payroll, invoicing, and assists with event coordination.

Bonnie brings GPS Dairy Consulting proficiency in all areas of office operations with more than 25 years experience. Early in her career she was co-owner of Ooodles Restaurant in Calmar IA and Elms Motel in West Union IA actively involved in every aspect of the business; also worked in banking for over five years. She was more recently employed as a bookkeeper and secretary for Mihm Transportation in Fort Atkinson IA; and office manager and financial secretary for two local parishes in Calmar IA and Postville IA.

Bonnie currently resides in Austin, MN with her husband Bryon.

CLOSE