Management

Today’s dairy producers have access to a lot of new and innovative technology. These technologies are positioned to improve health, cow comfort, reproduction, milk yield, milk components and more. If a producer adopted every new technology that was available, all herds would be over 100 pounds of milk, cull rates would be less than 20 percent, all cows would conceive, heifers would not cost more than $1,800 and all dairy producers would be extremely profitable. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

The following article is the third in a series of articles summarizing the “Supervisory Skills for Managers” DVD collection produced by Jim Henion. The series provides helpful management hints for owners and managers working with employees on dairy operations.

As farms grow larger and profits become tighter, farm owners and managers are working harder to get all employees focused on a common set of goals and procedures. The foundation of this effort is the basic mission of the farm business.

Have you ever considered what it takes to motivate cows to do their best work? It’s an odd question to ask, especially when directed at bovines. It puzzled me at first, until I simply pulled out a dictionary and looked up the definition of the word “motivate.”

Motivate means “to provide someone (or, in this case a cow) with a motive.” A motive is “a need (in this case let’s assume a behavioral need) that causes a person (or even a cow) to act (produce milk and stay healthy).” So when we say we want to “motivate” cows, we are really just saying: let’s provide the cow with an environment that satisfies her behavioral needs and allows her to be as healthy and productive as possible.

Instead of viewing cultural differences as an obstacle to communication and productivity, successful employers draw upon differences to enhance their businesses and improve their workplace. In order to do this, employers must understand how culture influences an individual’s job performance and his or her ideas about work.

The more employers know about the cultures of their employees, the more equipped they will be to develop and implement successful management strategies. The following are important issues to consider when managing Hispanic employees, particularly when designing and carrying out training activities.

Editor’s note: This article is the second of a two-part series entitled “Marginal Thinking.”

How do we compare to others? What can we do to improve? Are we making the right changes?
These are all questions the most progressive dairy managers ask regularly. Of course, most producers are basically doing the same thing (i.e., producing milk), but those that are the most profitable are doing some things better or differently. Benchmarking your dairy on key performance indicators (KPI) is a key ingredient to increasing profitability on your dairy.