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The cost of financial statements and tax returns is often seen as an annoying expense to meet an outside party’s requirements. However, the information contained in these documents can easily be used to calculate key ratios that can be valuable management tools when understood and used to make operating decisions.
Ratios allow a dairy owner to quickly understand whether the dairy is making money and where it stands compared to prior years and industry benchmarks.
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Summary: In a poll conducted January through March 2011, Progressive Dairyman asked readers whether the dairy industry, beef industry, veal industry or all three should be responsible for reducing the antibiotic residues. The results signified that this is not a dairy-versus-beef issue; this is an animal agriculture issue. See the results below.
[Click here or on the image above right to see the full list of the Top 25 articles of 2011. Click here to see the list from 2010.]
On July 21, 2010, President Obama signed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Title VII of the Act, entitled “The Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act,” amended the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) to establish a comprehensive new regulatory framework for swaps and security-based swaps.The legislation was enacted to reduce risk, increase transparency and promote market integrity within the financial system.
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Summary: Sarah Caldwell (then a Penn State senior) provided this report from the Dairy Science Club's spring trip to Costa Rica. Along with information about the students' itinerary, which featured several farm visits, Caldwell provided more than 20 photos from this once-in-a-lifetime trip opportunity.
Because this article was so popular, we asked Caldwell a follow-up question:
Q: During your college career, you've traveled on two international trips. Why do you think it's important for students to learn about dairying in other countries?
A: For students who want to continue in the dairy industry after graduation, a trip abroad can be very educational. On my two trips abroad to Costa Rica and Ireland, I was able to see firsthand the challenges and advantages producers in those countries faced. As far apart as we were, it was interesting to see how similar our industries are. In addition to the souvenirs I brought back to the U.S., I also brought new ideas and a fresh perspective for dairying in this country.
—Sarah Caldwell, 2011 Penn State Graduate, Sales Trainee for Dow AgroSciences
I have been asked twice in the last five years, “How do I turn my dairy around? How can I resurrect my farm from near death to a vibrant dairy that people look at and admire?”
What I did was break down these different areas of concern into several different categories.
Pinkeye is an infection that can sneak up on cattle, including dairy replacement heifers. Severe cases can leave lasting eye damage, not to mention performance setbacks.
The bacterium Moraxella bovis is the most common cause of pinkeye. However, other Moraxella species and some viruses also can contribute to pinkeye. Outbreaks among cattle, including heifers, peak in the summer because of increased exposure to ultraviolet light.
Studies have shown significant benefits of a proper colostrum- feeding protocol. These represent the need to rapidly thaw and feed 4 liters/quarts of high-quality colostrum within 30 minutes after a calf is born.
For farms wanting to use their own colostrum, getting a fresh cow milked, or banked colostrum thawed, in that amount of time can be a real challenge.
Michigan State University land value and rental rate surveys show that average farm land rental rates continue to increase. Some of the rent increases are a function of competition: As farms are getting larger, some are willing to work on smaller margins spread over more acres.
Q. What most concerns you about the dairy industry in the next five years?
Nik Sutter Fertile-Ridge Dairy LLC Mount Horeb, Wisconsin
Volatility is the biggest concern in a lot of different ways – not just feed, not just milk, but growing operations not knowing what land values are going to do; not knowing what credit availability is going to be in the next five years.While many of us have plans, I know that there are others that don’t. It’s just scary to think if a lot of different risks occur at the same time, what might happen to some of us.
Editor’s note: The following opinion was submitted by the author in response to current dairy reform proposals.
The world is running out of food Back in 1954, I was a young hired hand working for Law-nel Farms, a large (for that era), 65-cow dairy farm. The owner, Nelson Smith, was a former county agent and I was a “green” college graduate.
After milking the cows, the breakfast table was always a feast of Rella Smith’s delicious breakfast and a treasure of Nelson Smith’s conversation and wisdom.
