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Merck Animal Health has introduced its newest training module in its Dairy Care365 series. “Handling Dairy Calves and Heifers: A Low-Stress Way to a Profitable Herd” focuses on helping dairies create and maintain a low-stress animal handling approach, as well as a safe, positive environment for young animals.
Virtus Nutrition will launch a new, video-centered learning website this week at the World Dairy Expo. The website, FattyAcidForum.com, will focus on helping nutritionists and producers with fatty acid balance in feed.
What emotion do you think I observe the most when I visit with employees and their supervisors? The answer is: frustration. Many employees are very frustrated with their jobs and their supervisors. Many supervisors are frustrated – even exasperated – because their employees are frustrated and less productive than desired.
They say it takes one generation to start a farm, the second generation to grow it into an empire and the third generation to run it into the ground. For most young farmers today, they are the cursed.
The issue isn’t skill, knowledge or networks. The issue is entitlement and inner drive.
Editor’s note: This article is the second in a series about coaching dairy leaders. The first article appeared in the April 1, 2014 Progressive Dairyman. Click here to read this article.
Coaching can generate results quickly for dairy leaders, yet there is much of coaching that is leveraged over time as skills are acquired and new perspectives are gained. It can be difficult to define return on investment (ROI) for coaching because of this very aspect.
What happened to common sense? Is work ethic part of the past? Why can’t my employees get the job done on their own?
These are questions I’ve heard frequently from business owners, not just in agriculture but all industries. It’s becoming increasingly perplexing and frustrating to manage people.
I am proud to be a part of the dairy industry in various ways. I am among the fifth generation of my family’s dairy farm, where I established the farm’s latest venture: the agritourism business, which entails on-farm activities, processing dairy products and Farmstead Adventure Camp.
After getting married this June, my husband and I settled into our new home on his family dairy in Washington County, New York, where I relocated my business as well.
In 2000, Malcolm Gladwell authored a book titled “The Tipping Point.” The tipping point, as he defines it, is that magic moment when an idea, trend or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips and spreads like wildfire.
Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, a drop in the crime rate.
How do you ever begin to put a value on one’s life? How hard would it be to see a loved one, employee or friend lose their life, a limb, hand or finger?
We all feel a bit overwhelmed at times tackling the never-ending to-do lists that are a part of our daily routines. We all know how hard it is to make time to focus on safety, especially with our fast-paced lifestyles.
Soil compaction squeezes the profit out of countless fields across the country, and it’s a particular challenge to many dairy producers because of the sheer weight of the equipment used in manure management.
With today’s massive machinery – particularly manure tankers and spreaders – soil compaction layers can form more than a foot beneath the soil surface. Freeze-and-thaw cycles and deep ripping can help reduce surface compaction.
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