Farm Management

With near-record milk prices this spring, it certainly appears to be a good time to be a dairy producer. The long over-due market turnaround has dairy farmers across the country smiling, but financial experts advise producers to sit down and look through their profit and loss statements to truly understand the strength of their farm’s financial portfolio.

Summer is a great time to do a mid-year check on your financial and business goals.

Its suggested to do mid-year planning in June or July.  You can review the overall performance of your company, progress of your strategies, team development, and plan for a good year end.

If you are managing your dairy herd solely from the farm’s financial statements, you may be missing opportunities to maximize profitability.

“Dairy farm finances come as a result of managing the biology of the dairy cow well,” explains Mike Lormore, head of U.S. cattle technical services for Zoetis. “That doesn’t mean you don’t need to have a good financial plan. In today’s market, you absolutely need to understand how to use risk management tools. To have a profitability improvement, sometimes you need to only be 1% to 3% better in several different key areas."

The MSU Extension dairy team has multiple employee training programs available for dairy farms in Michigan.

Although the games are won or lost on the field, the success of any sports program is also determined by the ability of the coach to lead the second team. Success here includes developing the team culture that attracts great players, recruiting players, developing players, aligning players in their best role or position and developing game strategy.

The high cost of feeding excess heifers and the low price for them at the sale barn is a double hit to the pocket book

In the future, cows could produce between 37,000 to 78,000 pounds of milk per year. Most projections are indicate an average of 57,500 pounds.

To prepare for the use of Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) medications, it is recommended that producers go through a number of steps such as establishing a vet-client-patient relationship, planning for possible health challenges and making sure your record-keeping system is prepared to track VFDs. However, there may be alternative methods for disease prevention and control that can help minimize the use of medications subject to VFD regulations.