“Some days I am out on the farm like we are today doing site visits.

Sometimes I am out at a trade show working a booth and representing Focus on Energy.

Energy Advisor Jessica Mlsna knows what it takes to operate a Wisconsin farm.

“I have a bachelor's degree in animal science and a master's in agricultural education.”

“And then I did several internships and jobs with agriculture.”

Her time on farms brought her to Focus on Energy nine years ago where she works with about 200 businesses.

“I’ve always been kind of passionate about energy and the environment.”

She also gets to play detective!

“Sometimes we get those where it's like, oh, my bills are too high, I’m not sure what's going on here. and we get to play detective. So, it's the hardest part of my job, but I also like the challenge. at the same time, often I’ll bring the utility in, I’ll do an assessment, a walkthrough of their farm to see, oh, is there anything that's sticking out like a pump running too much or something like that. I’ll bring the utility in because they have a lot of insight on the data and that part of it. and then we'll all work together to see what we can do to help 'em get their bills back down.”

“I guess I’m always seeking someone else's opinion and that's good to have her.”

Anne Marie Elwing – “Born and raised on a beef farm in Fond du Lac County,” and her husband, own and operate wall-stone Holsteins in DeSoto. She is also the veterinarian area farmers call for their sick animals.

“At one time I was the only veterinarian in Vernon County.”

Vernon County Electric Cooperative worked with Wall-Stone starting in 2018 performing an energy audit. Lighting changes in one of the barns started the farm’s energy efficiency journey.

“We continue to build with the Focus on \Energy. We put in another barn, we put in a feeding center and then the parlor.”

Opened in January 2024, this state-of-the-art parlor is a technological energy-efficiency game-changer.

“So, we had maxed out our previous parlor, we're running cows through as fast as we could, but it was antiquated. There were no parts, there was no way that we could use it any further and fix it.

With cows getting milked three times a day, Mlsna understood keeping the cows comfortable was key.

“With Focus on Energy, the lighting, you'll see the water ring behind me. That was one of the additions. So, you can see the utter where goal is to have a hundred-foot candles in this building. So above surgical standard so that you can actually make the cow feel comfortable. A cow does not perceive depth. So, when she walks into this building, we want her to be relaxed and we want her not to see a shadow because whenever a cow sees a shadow, she thinks it's a deep hole."

Elwing says she realized she would be working with Focus on Energy and her energy advisor for years to come after seeing Mlsna’s deep understanding of Wisconsin agribusiness and energy-efficiency knowledge when working on the transition barn in 2021

“It was a huge investment in that barn because everything is electronically controlled off my phone for curtains, fan speeds, temperature inside the barn, humidity inside the barn. And that's where Jessica also came into play to go ahead and write those incentives with us to make sure that we were making the right decision economically to put that in play. We could have went very simply curtains and a few overhead fans and we said, this is not the future. We need to do the best for our cows and be very energy conscious and efficient in that building."

“They're not only bringing energy efficiency into their new builds, but they're also looking to upgrade their existing facilities as well---and move their business forward for the future.”

Elwing says working with Mlsna, Focus on Energy and Vernon Electric Cooperative goes beyond the cost benefits and energy savings.

The partnership will help one of their son’s keep the family business going well into the future.

"When you actually get using Focus on Energy, think about all the other things that are happening within that energy requirement, your requirement to be a good steward, to conserve, renew, et cetera. I think it actually opens the box bigger for me to say, 'oh, here's another avenue. Here's something I could do that's good for my community, my world.' And that's what we're doing, we're producing food for our community, our country, our world.”