This month Cooperative Resources International’s (CRI) director of consulting services Jim Henion will release the final installment of a recent DVD series called “Supervisory Skills for Managers.” Henion has spent the last three years crisscrossing the country to interview dairy producers about management. He videotaped his interviews with nearly 50 dairy producers in 19 states during production of the series. Producers discussed management issues such as recruiting, hiring, motivation and teamwork.

The following article is the first 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.

Human resources have two roles in risk management. First, people are a source of risk (shortage of employees, people doing sloppy work, an employee refusing to take on additional responsibility or a key employee leaving two months after completion of a one-year training program). Second, people are important in handling risk (people using their ingenuity to solve unexpected problems, employees going the extra mile for the good of the organization, a key employee redesigning her own job to avoid unnecessary delays in getting work done or an employee persuading a talented friend to apply for a position in the business).

On many dairy operations, consultants are an integral part of the decision-making process. Their advice can significantly improve the profitability of your dairy. Getting the most from a consultant’s advice depends on adhering to this three-step process: 1) Build a relationship with the person to establish trust and get the services you desire. 2) Do what they say. Follow through with consultant’s recommendations to solve problem areas. 3) Push the consultant to help identify the next problem areas to solve.

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

Time is a resource. Your time is valuable, your employees’ time is money and good time management results in increased productivity and self-esteem. Good time management is a major component of business success. On dairy farms, time management influences labor efficiency, employee attitude and performance, which in turn influence cow performance. So improving time management skills can result in greater success for you, your employees and your business.

Visiting other dairies, I’ve noticed that oftentimes, the heifer program gets overlooked. Sure, the silage looks great, the office is spotless and the cows are eating a nice ration. But the heifers fend for themselves in overcrowded pens eating throwbacks from the cows (that is, if the dairyman doesn’t consider this “wasting” it). When confronted with this issue, the usual response is, “Well, they’ll get the good stuff when they start making money.” Granted, especially during times of low milk prices, cutbacks have to start somewhere.

Japanese dairy producers seek out ways to increase milk quality and decrease the incidence of mastitis. Bill Gehm was most proud of the milking system he was installing at a Japanese dairy when the dairy’s owner interrupted his dinner. Sitting in a restaurant, a Japanese corporate dairy officer accompanying Gehm on his tour relayed a hurried message from the dairyman.

When dairy producers have a record of the mastitis pathogen profile for their herds, control measures and treatment decisions are improved. While elevations in bulk tank somatic cell count (SCC) can be an indication of herd mastitis problems, the personnel milking the cows are typically the initial component in the decision-making process for clinical mastitis treatment. Strategic milk culture programs are the only mechanisms to determine which microbial agents are causing mastitis problems.

A recent economic analysis estimated each clinically lame cow costs the dairy producer approximately $300. Costs associated with lameness include decreased milk production, reduced fertility and increased culling risk, treatment costs and labor requirements. Surveys indicate incidence of lameness on dairies varies between four and 55 cases per 100 cows per year and is dependent upon farm, location and time of year. Clearly, lameness is a costly disease and reducing its incidence will have a very favorable impact on dairy profitability.