Value-added opportunities for dairy farmers are one way to stabilize long-term dairy farm profitability, bring another generation into the business or grow without adding land and cows. As farm gate prices remain bleak over an extended period, some producers may be considering a move to on-farm, value-added processing for their dairy products.

Whether you have five employees or 50, employee management is no easy task. However, some systems work better than others. During the 2017 Dairy Calf and Heifer Association Conference this past April in Middleton, Wisconsin, three producers shared some insight into how they work with and manage their employees.

“Human resource management has to be recognized as a very important part of what we do,” said Rick Zimmerman, executive director of the Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance.

The most common question asked by a dairy farmer to his or her broker is some variation of, “Should I lock in my milk price?”

The basis of a dairy’s profitability – calvings and subsequent milk production – depends on the successful detection of cows in heat and correct insemination (technique plus time).

The landscape of dairy operations and the dairy industry as a whole are much different today than they were even a few decades ago. Operations are becoming larger, and multiple farms are being consolidated into one.

The expertise dairy producers need to have today to be successful is overwhelming. Everything from genetic selection, futures pricing, employee management, nutrient management and succession planning – not to mention milk production, feed quality and community relations.

I recently learned a former employee is on Facebook and other social media sites pushing an animal rights agenda. This individual no longer works for us (they worked for us two years ago), but their page lists our dairy as a former employer.

While drought concerns in many milk production areas of the U.S. have been reduced, the long-term need to conserve water has not. Joseph Harner, biological and agricultural engineer at Kansas State University, discussed potential targets for dairy farm water conservation efforts during the 2017 Western Dairy Management Conference, Feb. 28 to March 2 in Reno, Nevada.

An unplanned catastrophe can strike a dairy of any size at any time. A tornado or fire could level facilities and kill livestock in a matter of minutes.