“Your Farm – Your Footprint” is a new initiative led by dairy farmers through Professional Dairy Producers (PDP) that empowers dairy producers to know and easily understand the environmental footprint of their farms.

“The only thing constant in life is change.” This quote is attributed to an ancient Greek philosopher, and I can’t think of a better way to describe today’s dairy industry.

As dairy farmers, we make large and small investments nearly every day on the farm. One of the most important – but often overlooked – is the investment we make in ourselves and our team members.

In fact, I’d say the dairy industry leads the way in many aspects of using measurement tools to make decisions. However, there is one area where we can learn from other industries: tracking our own learning and development.

Countless tasks demand the attention of dairy producers – immediate and long term. It can be easy to overlook the role education plays in successfully managing a dairy business.

We’ve seen a lot of headlines and news articles lately about trends and changes in the workforce. From the “quiet quitting” trend to tightening labor markets in nearly every industry to the transition back to the office after the COVID-19 pandemic, it is a new day in how we approach and work with our teams. 

To anticipate dairy’s future and identify how dairy producers can best prepare and position their farms for sustainable success, Professional Dairy Producers (PDPW) recently conducted a first-of-its kind, 360-degree view of the full dairy value chain’s perspective of the future.

In today’s fast-changing dairy industry, continuing education has never been more important. However, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for the training and development needs of each member of the dairy team.