In 2013, the Center for Dairy Excellence released the results of a year-long comprehensive “Pennsylvania Dairy Futures Analysis,” showing trends in dairy production, processing and consumption, as well as opportunities for future growth in Pennsylvania. We conducted this analysis with the help of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn State and Saint Joseph’s University. When we released the results of the analysis early last year, the Center for Dairy Excellence offered 20 prescriptions intended to inspire the industry to strengthen our foothold in dairy. One of the most simplistic pieces of advice we offered in those prescriptions is that “getting better is essential.”

Those who grew up in the ’80s or before may remember the popular TV series, “The A-Team.” In that series, the team patriarch John “Hannibal” Smith coined the phrase, “I love it when a plan comes together.” At the Center for Dairy Excellence, we have the opportunity to watch time and time again as dairy farm families experience the benefits of seeing a plan come together.

The number one factor influencing success of any dairy farm business is its ability to focus on the business side of the dairy. When we think about companies doing a good job at managing the “business side,” we think of Fortune 500. Read about their defining characteristics and what dairy can learn from them in this week’s column from John Frey. PD Click here for the column.

In 1945, 80 percent of U.S. jobs were in businesses that made things. The remaining 20 percent were in service related industries. In his latest column, John Frey talks about how this has changed and the risks and rewards associated with the dairy business. PD Click here for the column.

Whether you’re making toast or milking cows, applying the principles of LEAN Manufacturing can enhance your operational efficiency. Learn how the principles of LEAN Manufacturing can be applied to the dairy business in John Frey’s latest column from the Center for Dairy Excellence. PD Click here to access the full column.

No matter how you look at it, Pennsylvania’s dairy industry is unique. The Keystone State has ranked among the top five dairy-producing states ever since the USDA started tracking milk production in 1964. However, over the past 10 years, Pennsylvania’s position as a national dairy leader has been slipping.

What will it take for an industry like dairy to avoid going the way of the pork industry? In John Frey’s latest column, he reviews four basic functions of business management identified by the Harvard Business Review as critical to the future success of an individual dairy farm business, or any business for that matter. Click here to read the full column at the Center for Dairy Excellence website.

A year ago the center set out with the help of its partners to better understand what Pennsylvania’s dairy industry will look like in 2020. The results from the analysis are telling. Dairy is clearly not immune to the cultural and market-based shifts affecting nearly every industry and every business around the country. PD Click here to read the full column at the Center for Dairy Excellence website.

Earlier this month, the Pennsylvania Senate Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee held an informational session to educate Ag Committee members and their staffers on the role that dairy plays in Pennsylvania. Center for Dairy Excellence staff joined Jay Howes from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Tim Moyer from the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board and Justin Risser, a dairy producer from Bainbridge, Pennsylvania, to provide those in attendance with a 90-minute introduction to Pennsylvania’s dairy industry, the role it plays in Pennsylvania’s economy and in rural communities across the commonwealth, and the opportunities and threats that exist for today’s dairy farm owners. This month’s Center for Dairy Excellence column includes an abbreviated version of the comments Justin Risser provided before the Senate Ag Committee. All dairy farm families should consider sharing their story with key leaders in their communities and on the state and national level.