Fostering a teamwork ethic within a dairy operation enhances employee effectiveness. Forming a team is easy, but in reality, actual functioning as a team is a difficult task. Teams are made up of different types of individuals that must bring their collective strengths together for the benefit of the whole.

When we talk about economic resources, three types of resources usually come to mind: land, labor and capital. But a fourth resource – time – may be more important than all the others.

Proper management is the key to success in any enterprise, and the dairy business is no exception. Each successful producer must have records which are accurate and reliable to make sound management decisions.

Selecting an employee is among the most important decisions a manager makes. Getting the right person in the right position is crucial for business success. But how can you do that?

Selecting an employee is among the most important decisions a manager makes. Getting the right person in the right position is crucial for business success. But how can you do that?

Editor’s note: The following opinion editorial was submitted to Progressive Dairyman by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council. Ethanol continues to take hits from detractors both inside and outside of agriculture. An article in an early January issue of Progressive Dairyman put the bull’s eye on the back of ethanol production in relation to the price of feed grains and a few other points. We appreciate this forum for response.

A lot more women are rising before the sun these days, and it is not to make breakfast, get the kids off to school or clean the house. They are milking cows, feeding calves and doing daily work on a dairy operation.

Communication, although essential, is not always easy. Individual differences in personality, communication styles and skills and expectations all play a part in how well your family communicates.

It is still possible to maintain good reproductive performance in dairy herds without synchronization and timed A.I. (TAI), but it requires an effective systematic heat detection program that identifies approximately 70 percent of all possible heat periods.

Almost since the advent of A.I. breeding, producers and researchers alike have anticipated the development of the ability to sort or select semen in order to produce more female offspring. This technology is now a commercial reality thanks to technological developments in recent years that have improved cell sorting capabilities.