Regardless of which hemisphere you call home, if you run a dairy, maintenance issues can sneak up on you. The CIP Detectives were recently called to an 800-cow operation in Japan to catch any culprits that could be affecting milk quality. The dairy in Japan was ISO-certified for environmental management and had been successfully operating for more than 100 years. They had a 60-stall rotary parlor with a 90-lb-per-day milk average.

Ag communications consultant and owner of CMA Consulting Charlie Arnot recently said this summer’s consumer and news media attention on food brands and agriculture production should be an “inflection point” in how agriculture perceives crisis management and the defense of traditional farming practices. Progressive Dairyman Editor Walt Cooley asked Arnot to explain his statement.

What is consciousness and why does it matter to your dairy? Consciousness is the capacity to catch and learn from reality, to be attentive and paying attention to our internal world and to the world that surrounds us. It is what allows us to adapt to our environment and to act in order to get the most out of our potential in life. As humans, we are able to think and act beyond instinctive impulses and conditioning – we are able to “manage” ourselves. And even though we can manage ourselves, being autonomous is a possibility, not a gift – we need to develop it through conscious choices.

I’ve been hearing a lot of conversation recently about the profitability of milking cows. The buzzwords include three-year price cycles, three-year production cycles, market stability, market risk, risk management and a host of others. I am hopeful some of these discussions have caught your attention. Obviously the year 2009 is a driver of many of these conversations; it was difficult for most dairy producers. Recent milk and feed markets have renewed these concerns over industry profitability.