Guests:Dr. Mike Hutjens, University of IllinoisScott Brenner, Hunter Haven FarmsThe Real Science Exchange is back this week and we are joined by Dr. Mike Hutjens from the University of Illinois and Scott Brenner with Hunter Haven Farms in Pearl City, Illinois. The evening discussion centers around Maximizing Dairy Return on Investment (ROI).Real Science listeners might recognize Dr. Hutjens from his lecture with the Real Science Lecture Series in July 2020. Here is a link to his presentation: https://tinyurl.com/y4axw967.Dr. Hutjens’ research and broad experience paired with the practical day-to-day experience from Scott paint a great picture of the reality of the ROI for today’s dairies.Dr. Hutjens looks back on 2020 to highlight key areas where the industry pivoted to match the changing demand from COVID effects. 5:58Scott talks about his focus on his feed input costs and understanding the value they will see from locking in lower-cost soybean meal. 8:03Also, in the area of feed costs, Scott discusses the importance of figuring the value and costs of your individual ingredients—amino acids, for example. 17:37Dr. Hutjens reminds us of the need to keep an eye on global supply and demand for the corn and soybean markets when you evaluate the potential costs for the feed ingredients. Brazil and Argentina harvests play into the cost for the Illinois dairy. 20:45On the output front, Dr. Hutjens discusses the need to understand maintaining optimal peak milking to garner the most you can from each cow and gallon of milk. 35:32Automation continues to be on the mind of dairies as they balance hurdles with the workforce and the cow care needed to continue to increase outputs. Scott discusses what automation looks like on his farm while Dr. Hutjens discusses industry-wide trends. 45:50If you have questions about how to maximize your dairy ROI or suggestions for future sessions, feel free to email anh.marketing@balchem.com.