Managing data has never been more important. The volatility of today’s markets demands that dairy producers be mindful of every aspect of their farms. At the Vita Plus Dairy Summit last month in Minneapolis, Minnesota, three dairy producers outlined the management systems they use to keep their dairies running lean. Sam Dilsaver Sam Dilsaver is a managing partner in Hillcrest Dairy located near Elmwood, Illinois. The dairy started in 2007 as a partnership between Sam and a family friend in California. Currently they milk 1,500 cows three times per day at this dairy. The cows are milking between 72 and 78 pounds per day with an emphasis on high components.

It is commonly believed that the disastrous dairy farm income situation in 2009 was caused by a “collapse in demand,” especially in the export markets for U.S. dairy products. This is not correct. Total dairy product consumption, both domestic and international, actually grew strongly in 2009. What collapsed was the U.S. dairy industry’s ability to compete in the growing world market in 2009. The resulting collapse in U.S. milk prices was deeper and lasted longer for U.S. dairy farmers than it would have if proper export marketing tools had been available. The immediate cause of the problem in 2009 was a 1.7 percent drop in total commercial disappearance of U.S. dairy products resulting from a 22 percent drop in commercial exports.

Failure often is succeeding at the wrong thing. Complex projects and programs seldom are fixed by single or limited solutions. Whether it be a government regulatory system, a military campaign, a sporting event or running a dairy farm, there are always a lot of things that can be improved or even need fixed. And to complicate things further, there is no correlation between the effort and the result. The big fixes can bring little improvement, while the small yield great change.

It’s surprising to see the many different things people do to save money on a dairy. It’s also very interesting to see how some systems work well and others create chaos. We could look at some examples! 1. Paper towels versus cloth towels for wiping cows’ udders 2. The pros and cons of speed milking 3. To have a night cowman or not This piece is going to give you some definite ideas to help you avoid being “penny wise and pound foolish.”

Think back to when you were a kid. If you broke something at the neighbor’s or got in trouble at school, how long did you wait to tell your parents? Chances are, someone else beat you to it, right? So how is that any different from the way you (or your kids) communicate bad news today? Most managers will agree that one of the most frustrating realities at work is that nobody will ever admit to breaking something or making a mistake. When you eventually ask “What happened?” and “Who did it?”, the most common replies are “I don’t know” and “It wasn’t me.” And as hard as you try to persuade your team to be up-front and honest about these accidents, that seems almost impossible to accomplish!

Today’s tough economy gives experienced farmers an opportunity to teach younger farmers planning and decision-making skills they might not learn in good times, a Purdue University agricultural economist says. Those looking to pass their operation on to next-generation farmers can show them how to plan strategically and make decisions under poor market conditions, says business planning specialist Angela Gloy.

Wisconsin Dairy Business Association members had an open floor to ask questions concerning immigration at the organization’s Annual Business Conference last month. The questions were fielded by three attorneys: Leon R. Sequeira, labor and employment attorney, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Washington, D.C.; José A. Olivieri, partner, Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Erich C. Straub, Immigration Attorney LLC, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Q. What’s happening with the Labor Certification Program that would allow you to bring people to the U.S. in 12 or 14 months and grant them permanent residency?

For Lee Jensen of Five Star Dairy LLC, it started the morning of May 12. He was sitting in the farm office preparing for a first-quarter meeting with his lender and consultant, when an unmarked car drove up to the parlor and out climbed five people. They said they were from the Wisconsin Department of Labor – Wage and Hour Division and OSHA (or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration). However, they did not provide any identification. They said they were there to inspect the employee housing and employees’ wage records.

Nearly 75 percent of our time is spent communicating our thoughts and ideas. However, we are not conscious that non-verbal communication, such as facial expression, eye contact, voice intonation, body posture and motions, can express more than the oral forms do. During the process of communication, messages are sent on both levels, in verbal and non-verbal mode. Non-verbal communication accounts for 80 percent of the interpretation of the message. If the non-verbal and verbal messages are incongruous, communication fails.

In 1999, a 34 year old dairy couple milking 80 cows in a 52 cow stall barn became interested in following Extension’s Model for dairy grazing. The first step was to reduce crop work and their swine enterprise to have the labor to add more cows. By 2001, the couple was milking 115 cows in the stall barn. The physical stress led to the stall barn being converted to a low cost swing 16 milking parlor at a cost of $38,000 in 2002. The pastures, the parlor, the low cost facilities, the crossbreeding, the labor efficiency and the annual financial analysis were the keys to their success.