Planning is one of the most important but poorly utilized management tools of businesses. This is true whether the focus is on planning a start-up business, operations planning, expansion planning, strategic planning or other planning. Below are a dozen keys to successful planning that you should focus on before and during the planning process. The planning environmentBefore you begin the planning process you need to create the proper environment within your business. This will increase your chances of having a productive planning effort.

One of the critical time frames in a cow’s life is around the time before and after calving. Proper dry cow nutrition and management is critical, since decisions made during this period will have a tremendous impact on milk production and health during the next lactation. As producers begin to think about the next fall harvesting season, it is important also to keep in mind how the cows coming into lactation will be affected by season and the potential new forages that will be provided to this group.

When the Whittle family in Volga, Iowa, began contemplating a switch to sand bedding, they knew their manure-handling system would also need an overhaul to make it an optimal change. The end result incorporated sand settling lanes and weep cells, something they had never seen done before.

Manure spills are typically caused by the mechanical failure of equipment or strictly an accident, much more so than mere negligence, according to recently released information from U.S. extension agents. They can also be due to improper application or poor management of storage facilities. With proper planning and prevention, such a spill can be dealt with quickly before the 5 o’clock news is at your door.

Darin Mann, of M&M Feedlot in Idaho, discusses his operation. Manure from livestock operations can have a negative perception by the general public – it can smell, attract flies and, if not handled properly, can cause environmental concerns. But one family in Idaho is working hard to change that perception through environmental stewardship and an innovative approach to manure management, and by all accounts they are succeeding.

(Click here to listen to the podcast of this column.) A few weeks ago, I was privileged to act as a merit badge councilor for a group of Boy Scouts. I have been a merit badge councilor for Citizenship in the Nation (a merit badge) for over twenty years. I went to the dentist the other day to get a root canal, and the young dentist said, “Do you remember when you taught us about the Constitution in Boy Scouts?”

The battle with mastitis has always been an on-going, difficult challenge for the dairy producer. Research shows that in addition to the $150 economic loss per diagnosed case of mastitis from discarded milk, antibiotic treatment, decreased production and time spent managing treatment, mastitis also takes a toll on the dairy cow’s reproductive success. Several studies support the detrimental effects of mastitis, including research from the University of Tennessee. This study’s objective was to identify the presence and strength of the relationship between mastitis and reproduction within a 758-cow Jersey herd. Reproduction data was collected and analyzed over a 10-year period.