On today's thoughts from the truck episode, I ponder a little bit about a quote and this quote, for a context comes from one of my top seven of all time books; biggest, most impactful books that I have read. One of these books, out of the seven, that lie on my mind altering, life altering type shelf at home. This book is called High Performance Ha…

Supplementing a Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product modulates innate immune function and ameliorates bovine respiratory syncytial virus infection in neonatal calves Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32780814/ Ultimate Message: We do have an ability to modulate immune responses to make them less damaging within the respiratory tract of…

Find the full article text at otovets.com/post/feeling-dumber-you-might-be-stressedStress makes you dumber. Period.Our brains have a limited amount of working memory in them. As such our brain seeks to utilize this limited resource in the most effective way. This means that when we are stressed the brain begins to shift blood to prepare us for acti…

Get this newsletter delivered to your Inbox every month! Signup for the Countdown to Success HERE! Happy February OTO, At Operators to Owners we encourage continual growth and learning. In the spirit of this initiative we will be experimenting with our monthly newsletter, the Countdown , and its layout throughout 2023. We are doing this to make it …

Take the Personal Growth Initiative Assessment at otovets.com/pgi Our Inner Work Life Tells a Story Struggling with feelings of burnout and stress at work are not unique to the veterinary profession. In fact, this is an endemic issue that pervades almost every level of our society. Scientists have begun to classify these internalized thoughts and f…

In Episode 72 we introduced the concept of Salutogenesis and my feelings about it's ability to impact our profession; specifically how it has the potential to aid us in discovering our Flourishing State or that state in which we are: "Being free from illness and distress but, more important, of being filled with vitality and functioning well in one…

Salutogenesis is a word few of us have heard before but could be the means by which we can rejuvenate our profession. Salutogenesis is the pursuit of knowledge around the study of the origins of health, contra the origins of disease, resulting in a better understanding of the "flourshing state" of mental, physical and spiritual health. More simply …

Bottlenecks have existed for as long as man has. From the drawbridge in medieval days, to the corporate board room and even within our own heads; these friction points decrease our efficiency and cause us to experience a variety of problems. These problems disrupt our lives and cause us untold physical and emotional pain. Therefore, the identificat…

Fostering motivation for personal development is one of the key values of OTO. Creating an environment of momentum, one that motivates you to continue your development is key to experiencing long term success in this endeavor. As a listener to this podcast, you're likely among the 20% of individuals that are doing 80% of the creative work in our in…

Have you ever wanted something but didnt know how to get it? Maybe you've started a new service and are struggling to get it off the ground? Maybe you've always wanted to provide a service or bring a product to the market but have struggled to get traction as it develops? Have you ever grappled with feelings of inadequacy or imposter syndrome? Then…

When is the last time you've sat down and thought about what actually is meaningful to you? Have you ID'd those niche's, specialties and hobbies that fill YOUR cup and provide you energy every day? The deeper that I dig into Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and the motivations it can create, the more I begin to understand the importance of meaningfu…

The Progress Principle: Learn More at https://hbr.org/2011/05/the-power-of-small-wins Today we discuss the characterization of virtuous cycles at work and how to craft them using small wins for yourself and your employees. We all experience good and bad work days….and there are so many factors that play into each; the type of work, the challenge of…

We are surrounded by peers who are in vicious cycles. Struggling with negative mentalities, poor workplaces or a lack of work-life balance. Recently one of my masterminders posed a question to me, "How do I get friends to start to try Personal Growth Initiative as a way to develop?" This is a great question. Those of you who listen to this podcast …

The Virtuous Cycle; a very cool sounding term for the concept of using small wins to build momentum. A virtuous cycle is a cycle of wins and progressive movement in areas that matter to you. This means you're making measurable or visible progress in your areas of salient interest. As Owners of our personal and professional lives it is up to us to s…

1 minute of planning or preparation is = to 10 minutes of execution. - John MaxwellWhen is the last time you planned before you took on a consulting project, home improvement project or personal growth activity? Do you know how to successfully create a plan to achieve your wants and whys?If not this episode is for you! Today we are going to go beyo…

Discovering what you really want saves you endless confusion and wasted energy. – Stuart Wilde Picture a world where no one knows what they want or why they want it. They simply go about their day checking boxes; fulfilling their basic needs and then ending the day. When I do this it conjures up images of sci-fi movies with these drones of people m…

What should we do about the nay-says among us? Those who tell budding vets to find another career or something with a better ROI. How would I handle such an individual and how could personal development, clarity and goal setting change their opinion. Join me today OTO'ers as I provide my perspective on these negative community interactions. Join th…

Many veterinary professionals struggle to create balance between their professional and personal lives. This struggle can lead to some intense internal and external conflicts about what is most important in their life. Conflicts such as these can severely effect a professionals mental health, well-being and lead to dissatisfaction and burnout for t…

Today's podcast discusses why I preach Input as the first tenant in the Professional Development Plan. This lesson is based upon the book: The Half-life of Facts by Sam Arbesman. Once we understand that what we know has a finite shelf life it becomes easier to aggressively pursue new information and knowledge to make sure "our facts" are just that;…

Welcome to our newest podcast. It's been a long minute since I've seen you guys but I'm excited to share a little bit of the changes that have happened since we last talked. What made me need to be away from you guys for about 5 months and an overview what's new for OTO and where we're headed from here. So tune in and learn more about the direction…

Have you ever been fired by a client? It stings and many times it can become a he said she said experience. What if it didnt have to be that way? Our human brain likes to process interactions in strict yes/no contexts. That is to say yes, I was at fault or no, I wasnt. But what if instead we approached being fired from a learning perspective? Could…

Estimates of calf starter energy affected by consumption of nutrients. 2. Evaluation of models to predict changing digestion on energy content in calf starters Big 3 Infographic at otovets.com/cuttingedge Link: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(19)30082-7/fulltext Big Take Away #1 Let’s open with a great quote, “Estimates of …

There is no "right" answer to this question, only clarity to be gained by asking yourself it. When we think about how we do what we do for a living we can begin to classify it into 3 different categories. We can either be the 1/3 of Americans that have what they would define as a Job. We can be the 1/3 of Americans that have what would be defined a…

Symposium Review: Precision Technologies for Dairy Calves and Management Applications Big 3 Infographic at otovets.com/cuttingedge Link: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(20)30554-3/fulltext Big Take Away #1 The authors concluded that disease affects activity in calves, but the differences in greater or lesser activity are mo…

Today we ask the hard question. Can your boss be your mentor? Many Boss-Employee relationships evolve naturally to a Boss-Mentee relationship due to the continuous positive and negative feedback needed in the modern workplace. But is this healthy and how can you seek to establish a healthy Boss-Mentee relationship? This question and more are answer…

The effect of feeding Levucell SC™ rumen specific live yeast on feed intake and weight gain performance of calves during weaning Big 3 Infographic at otovets.com/cuttingedge Link: https://www.wageningenacademic.com/pb-assets/wagen/files/JAAN/JAAN_back_issues/S2049257X17000018a.pdf Big Take Away #1 Even in the face of a moderately aggressive milk li…

Did you know in the modern workplace?... 80% of learning takes place informally through a mentor or co-worker. Yet......54% of individuals claim that they don’t currently have a mentor personally or professionally. Did you know in the modern veterinary practice?... 29.7 percent is the average employee turnover rate; double the national average (AAH…

Effects of employer management on employee recruitment, satisfaction, engagement, and retention on large US dairy farms Big 3 Infographic at otovets.com/cuttingedge Link: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(20)30499-9/fulltext Big Take Away #1: Durst in 2018 identified 6 common management failure areas on a dairy; specified goa…

One of the #1 demands from new graduates and new hires is good mentorship. Yet it is a skill we receive 0 training on in school and it has little to no formal training in the currently provided Continuing Education programs. Today, OTO will begin a three part series that dives deep into experiences people have enjoyed and learned from with their me…

Youth and adult public views of dairy calf housing options Big 3 Infographic at otovets.com/cuttingedge Link: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(20)30496-3/fulltext Big Take Away #1: It would be remiss of us as agricultural industry reps to ignore the power of public perception. BUT we DO NOT need to view it as wholly negative…

Maybe you've landed your unicorn associate... Or maybe it's that dreaded time of the year for associate contract renewal... Either way you're nervous if you will be able to retain your talent this year. How can we go about reducing this problem? How can we improve our likelihood to retain our clinic's talent? Today we will talk about my THREE steps…

Short communication: Economic impact among 7 reproductive programs for lactating dairy cows, including a sensitivity analysis of the cost of hormonal treatments Find the Big 3 Infographic at otovets.com/cuttingedge Link: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(20)30275-7/fulltext Big Take Away #1: Improving fertility and breeding e…

Landed that precious interview for your associate opening? Maybe you have an interview at your dream clinic? Either way what should you do or expect to experience at the Interview? Today we will talk about the techniques I use when evaluating potential associates and students at our practice. We will discuss how you can turn the interview process i…

Symposium review: Decomposing efficiency of milk production and maximizing profit Find the Big 3 Infographic at otovets.com/cuttingedge Link: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(19)31086-0/fulltext Big Take Away #1: Once maintenance requirements are met by a lactating animal all energy consumed above that maintenance value DOES…

Wondering why you can't find your "unicorn" associate? Wondering how to find your ideal practice? Today's episode focuses in on how you develop a feeder system that will provide you vet and vet tech prospect for years to come. Discover a key statistic that we as owners can leverage in our search for ideal candidates. Understand what you as an assoc…

Pre- and postnatal heat stress abatement affects dairy calf thermoregulation and performance Find the Big 3 Infographic at otovets.com/cuttingedge Link: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(20)30165-X/fulltext See the referenced research graphs by joining OTO at otovets.com/facebook Big Take Away #1: Prenatal cooling had no effe…

Short...simple...and to the point. Today's episode is a thank you to the OTO community for joining me for 50! episodes of Thoughts from the Truck. Thank you for being willing to help one another. Thank you for filling my cup. Thank you for choosing to work on yourselves, your business and your career! Here's to another 50 OTO'ers!…

Association of transient, persistent, or delayed subclinical hypocalcemia with early lactation disease, removal, and milk yield in Holstein cows Find the Big 3 Infographic at otovets.com/cuttingedge Link: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(19)30971-3/fulltext See the referenced research graphs by joining OTO at otovets.com/fac…

My 30 ways in 30 days series will provide an extensive list of 30 different consulting opportunities any new student, associate or owner can learn, frame out and implement in 30 days. Today's podcast continues our dive into these 30 consulting topics. Just like last week, today's dive will also drill down on three of my favorite consulting opportun…

Consensus recommendations on calf- and herd-level passive immunity in dairy calves in the United States Find the Big 3 Infographic at otovets.com/cuttingedge Find the full article at: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(20)30383-0/fulltext See the referenced research graphs by joining OTO at otovets.com/facebook Big Take Away #…

My 30 ways in 30 days series will provide an extensive list of 30 different consulting opportunities any new student, associate or owner can learn, frame out and implement in 30 days. Today's podcast continues our dive into these 30 consulting topics. Just like last week, today's dive will also drill down on three of my favorite consulting opportun…

Inoculation with rumen fluid in early life as a strategy to optimize the weaning process in intensive dairy goat systems Find the Big 3 Infographic at otovets.com/cuttingedge Find the full article at https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(20)30261-7/fulltext Find the IASTATE wet and growing cost pdf at https://www.extension.iastat…

My 30 ways in 30 days series will provide an extensive list of 30 different consulting opportunities any new student, associate or owner can learn, frame out and implement in 30 days. Learn new techniques to grow your consulting portfolio and resume. Over the next three weeks I will cover these 30 consulting topics. Every week we will discuss 10 ne…

Calf care personnel on dairy farms and their educational opportunities Find the Big 3 Take-Away Infographic at otovets.com/cuttingedge Big Take Away #1: Only 50% of individuals employed in calf care have a high school diploma or GED. This makes the understanding and uptake of recommendations much more difficult, potentially effecting compliance. Wi…

This week’s Thoughts from the Truck episode will continue our discussion from last week. Learn how you can better market your expertise AND how you can separate yourself from every other consultant by becoming a teacher! How you market your budding consulting service says a lot about how good you think it is. Learn why you must make your new servic…

Gradual weaning does not improve performance for calves with low starter intake at the beginning of the weaning process Link: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(20)30198-3/fulltext Big Take Away #1: This study re-enforces the common belief that we need to be sure to wean our limit fed or low milk ration calves based on starter…

So you did all the work to develop a new consulting program; you put in the hours, connected with the clients and paid your dues! Now it's time to grow this program! There are 3 key points to growing your expertise and your consulting program: 1) Learning to Sell Yourself 2) Marketing Your Service 3) A Mental Switch from Doing to Teaching Think of …

Dietary restriction improved feed efficiency of inefficient lactating cows Link: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(19)30641-1/fulltext Big Take Away #1: We need to facilitate a mental shift from total lbs of milk shipped or average per cow on our operations to improving efficiency. This is an important transition that I think…

We have 171 work days left in 2020 to impact our clients. How will you increase the impact you have on them? One of the biggest way's you can do this is to provide them value through consulting. Today's podcast will focus on how new, emerging or seasoned vets can seek to build up a consulting service; even if they have no previous experience in the…

How benchmarking promotes farmer and veterinarian cooperation to improve calf welfare Link: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(19)30910-5/fulltext Big Take Away #1: The authors found in their pre-benchmarking interviews that while farmers ID’d the vet as having expertise on respiratory disease, diarrhea and pain management the…