Adapting to change will be a big part of survival in the dairy industry in the future, whether you are a producer, consultant or lender. King Hickman of GPS Dairy Consulting discussed dairy’s changing environment and shared strategies for staying ahead of the curve during the recent Pennsylvania Center for Dairy Excellence (CDE) dairy industry roundtable meetings.

Change is hard – especially for cows, who are creatures of habit even more than we are. Any changes in a cow’s routine can quickly add up to compromise her health and performance. Some of these changes are out of our control, but the more consistency we can build into a cow’s diet and routine, the more she has the resiliency to deal with unforeseen changes.

Hiring Latino immigrants in the U.S. dairy industry started in the late 1990s, according to University of Wisconsin research. Since then, the U.S. has seen an unparalleled growth rate in the Latino population.

What investments would you like to make to your dairy farm? If it’s anything like ours, there’s a long list of improvements and updates on the wish list. But there’s an equally important question often harder to answer: What investments would you like to make in yourself and your team?

“They either catch on or they don’t.” Those were the words from a farm manager when asked to share with me his new employee training technique.

Establishing and teaching protocols for crucial farm tasks forms the foundation of training farm employees.