Management

You’re busy – milking cows, packing bunker silos and watching presidential candidate debates (well, maybe). With that in mind, Progressive Dairy looks at issues in the news impacting you and your dairy business.

A team is a group of people with different skills who perform different tasks and work together toward a common goal. All dairy workers, regardless of their roles in the farm, are team members. However, just being part of a team is not the same as working as a team player. You must be intentional about adopting the mindset of a team player; these are some of a team player’s characteristics.

“The only constant in life is change” is a quote credited to Greek philosopher Heraclitus that is especially relevant in today’s dairy industry. Not only is the dairy industry changing in general, but you may notice day-to-day life on the farm seems to always be changing as well.

Is it economically viable to divert resources to raising out bull calves on your farm? Does the dairy steer enterprise offer an additional source of cash flow to supplement your operation’s financial situation? Having timely and accurate records and feed closeout information can help dairy producers answer those questions and make informed decisions.

Forage may be in short supply this year, and one way to respond is to feed fewer mouths on the farm. Frankly, whether forage is short or not, it is always best to allocate your forage to the cattle that will return the most: the animals that are most productive. It is time to cull the animals most likely to be the least productive.

Dairy farmers are rapidly exiting the business. More than 2,700 dairy farms shuttered operations in 2018, a 6.8% decline, according to the USDA. It’s not a surprise given the industry has suffered five years of below break-even production, and supplies have outstripped demand, which has put downward pressure on prices.