Every fall, Madison, Wisconsin becomes the center of the dairy world. For nearly six decades, World Dairy Expo has brought together dairy producers, veterinarians, researchers, equipment manufacturers, genetics leaders and industry experts with a common purpose: advancing the future of dairy.
For Aerotech®, that mission feels remarkably familiar. Our own history was built around solving challenges on the farm, particularly one fundamental challenge that continues to influence dairy performance today: creating the right environment for animals to thrive. As World Dairy Expo prepares to once again welcome the global dairy community to Madison, we’re looking back at how the Expo became one of agriculture’s most important gatherings and how Aerotech’s decades of ventilation innovation have helped make climate control an increasingly important part of the conversation around herd health, cow comfort and dairy performance.
Where World Dairy Expo Began
World Dairy Expo began in Madison in 1967, originally organized through the World Food and Agricultural Foundation. From the beginning, the vision was ambitious: create a gathering that could bring together the very best of the dairy industry. Nearly 1,200 dairy cattle were exhibited at the inaugural event. During the years that followed, the organization evolved, expanding its commercial exhibits, educational programming and industry involvement. What started in 1967 ultimately became something much larger.
Today, World Dairy Expo describes its mission as being the premier forum for the global dairy community to learn, share, create commerce and showcase competition. That combination is what makes Expo unique. It isn’t simply a cattle show. It isn’t simply a trade show. And it isn’t simply an educational conference. World Dairy Expo is where all of those worlds come together. Producers can see elite dairy genetics in the show ring, learn about emerging research and management practices, discover new technologies and have conversations with the people developing the next generation of dairy operations. That spirit of continuous improvement has kept the industry coming back to Madison generation after generation.
At the Same Time, Ventilation Was Changing
Aerotech’s story reaches even further back. Founded in Michigan in 1947, Aerotech grew from the practical challenges of agricultural production. Its early development was rooted in understanding something producers experience every day: the environment inside an animal facility matters. Aerotech founder Nolan Mitchell developed ventilation concepts in response to challenges he observed firsthand on his family’s farm. That practical, producer-focused approach helped lay the foundation for ventilation systems designed specifically for agricultural environments. Over the following decades, Aerotech continued developing agricultural ventilation and cooling technology. The brand introduced products including Venti-Pack™ and Pack-II™ fans in the 1970s and expanded its ventilation, cooling and agricultural product portfolio through the 1980s and 1990s. By the early 2000s, Aerotech had developed an extensive sales and distribution network throughout the United States and had become a recognized supplier of agricultural ventilation and evaporative cooling systems. Munters acquired Aerotech in 2002, bringing together Aerotech’s strong North American agricultural presence with Munters’ global climate-control expertise.
Then, in 2025, another chapter began when Grain & Protein Technologies acquired the former Munters agricultural climate-control equipment business. Through those changes, the Aerotech name has endured because the principle behind it hasn’t changed: Engineer the environment around the animal
Why Climate Control Became So Important to Modern Dairy
Dairy production has changed dramatically since World Dairy Expo opened its doors in 1967. Herds have grown. Genetics have advanced. Milk production has increased. Facilities have become more sophisticated. Producers have access to technology and data previous generations could scarcely have imagined. And with those advances has come a greater understanding of the relationship between a cow and her environment.
Air movement, temperature, humidity, heat load and barn design aren’t simply building considerations. They are management considerations. When producers design ventilation systems today, they’re thinking about questions that extend well beyond moving air: How do we help cows manage heat stress? How do we maintain more consistent air movement throughout the barn? How can barn design support cow comfort? How can we create an environment that supports herd health and productivity? And how can we accomplish all of that while managing energy consumption and the long-term economics of the dairy? Those questions are exactly where ventilation engineering and dairy management intersect.
From Fans to Complete Environmental Thinking
That is also why Aerotech’s role in dairy has evolved. Modern dairy ventilation isn’t about putting the biggest fan available at the end of a barn. It requires understanding the facility as a system. Fan performance, air velocity, inlet design, barn dimensions, cow density, seasonal conditions, cooling strategies and controls can all influence the environment experienced by the herd. Aerotech’s portfolio has evolved alongside those needs, from exhaust and circulation fans to evaporative cooling and increasingly sophisticated ventilation strategies. Today’s Aerotech dairy solutions include technologies such as the Vortex™ and Atlas™ fan platforms and circulation solutions designed to help producers move large volumes of air efficiently and reliably in demanding agricultural environments.
But equipment is only part of the equation. The greater value comes from combining engineering, application knowledge and the producer’s understanding of their own animals and facility.
Bringing the Conversation Back to World Dairy Expo
That makes World Dairy Expo the ideal place to continue the conversation. At the 2026 World Dairy Expo, Aerotech is taking the discussion beyond equipment and focusing on something much more important: the cow. Aerotech will present a World Dairy Expo Knowledge Nook session titled: “Herd Health: The Role Climate Control & Ventilation Plays in the Health of Your Herd.” The session will feature Dr. John C. Prososki, veterinarian, dairy producer and founder of Prososki Dairy Farms and Wittenberg Embryo Transfer. Dr. Prososki brings a perspective that can’t come from a product brochure. He has spent nearly four decades working at the intersection of veterinary medicine, dairy management, reproductive genetics and production agriculture. On his own Wisconsin dairy operations, ventilation and environmental management have become important components of his approach to herd health and performance. During the session, he will discuss how climate control and ventilation fit into the larger picture of animal health, welfare, reproduction and productivity including lessons from the design and operation of his tunnel-ventilated dairy facilities. It’s exactly the type of producer-to-producer knowledge exchange World Dairy Expo was created to foster.
Nearly 60 Years of Expo. Generations of Aerotech Innovation.
World Dairy Expo and Aerotech have different histories, but they share something important. Both were built around agriculture. Both have evolved alongside the producers they serve. And both recognize that the future of dairy will be shaped by people willing to keep asking: How can we do this better? For Aerotech, answering that question means continuing to engineer better ways to manage one of the most important inputs on any dairy farm the environment surrounding the herd. Because when cows are comfortable, producers have a stronger foundation for health, performance and productivity. And after decades of innovation, one principle continues to guide us: Better air. Better environments. Better possibilities for the herd.
Join Aerotech at World Dairy Expo 2026 Visit Aerotech at World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, September 29–October 2, 2026, to meet our dairy ventilation experts and explore the latest Aerotech climate-control solutions. And join us Tuesday, September 29 at 9:30 a.m. for: Herd Health: The Role Climate Control & Ventilation Plays in the Health of Your Herd Featuring Dr. John C. Prososki Presented by Aerotech
We look forward to seeing you in Madison!
