Reproduction and DHIA are focus of December PA Dairy Tool Workshops
Consultants can "drill-down" to bottlenecks to profitability.
An effective reproductive program is key to profitability for dairy producers, so to help identify specific bottlenecks to optimize reproductive performance, Penn State Extension is offering drill-down workshops in December and January. A second series of workshops in December provides an easy-to-understand method to supplement and enhance available DHIA information.
The reproduction workshops will give attendees a fresh perspective and analysis on all the components that affect reproduction, using the Reproductive Drill Down tool, which is an additional component of the Profitability Assessment Dairy Tool (PA Dairy Tool) Program. The Drill Down Tool is designed to provide an innovative way to specifically determine where key weaknesses exist with the goal of finding the areas which pose major risks, creating a bottleneck to profitability. Class size for the reproductive workshops is limited to 20, allowing for maximum hands-on interaction, farm visits, and they are designed specifically for educators, consultants and their dairy producer clients.
The DHIA workshop is designed for consultants, educators, nutritionists and veterinarians, and will give a comprehensive, in-depth look at four spreadsheets to analyze milk quality, milk components, milk yield and culling and replacement on animals. Because the PA Dairy Tool uses herd specific data, it offers a practical method of identifying needed changes and monitoring progress. Participants are asked to bring laptops to get maximum benefit from the workshop.
Melinda Smith, dairy producer from Woodbury, said, “What I liked about using the Reproductive Drill Down tool is that, with so many areas in which you can get better, it points out what most affects the bottom line. It narrows down and pinpoints where to get the most return. Using the reproductive tool was like having a lot of consultants on the farm.”
For Jan Itle, herd manager for Valewood Farms, Loretto, the aspect of the Drill Down Tool that was extremely effective was prioritizing specific areas of concern and assigning a value to dollars lost. “It helped to take the variety of different records and tell a story. By identifying specific bottlenecks, we were able to focus our entire team on the effort to improve.” While they have not yet reached all of their goals, she said working with the Tool “has made a lot of impact” on their reproductive program.
The PA Dairy Tool uses benchmark information to help producers identify the areas of greatest financial loss as well as areas of greatest opportunity to improve the bottom line. In development for three years, the PA Dairy Tool has been tested on over 100 Pennsylvania dairy farms. It helps identify priorities for change, begins the process for eliminating the most costly bottlenecks, and demonstrates concrete ways to increase profitability.
The web-based version of the PA Dairy Tool is currently available. Consultants who participate in these training workshops may use the online tool with their clients for eight months, free of charge.
Specifics of the workshop are:
Reproduction Drill-Down Workshops
December 4 & 11, Blast Intermediate Unit, Canton
January 17 & 24, 2008, Allensville Planing Mill, Allensville
January 22 & 29, Blair County Cooperative Extension, Altoona
Day 1 workshops are from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; Day 2 workshops are from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
DHIA Workshops
December 11, 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Centre County Visitor Center, State College
December 14, 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Lebanon County Cooperative Extension, Lebanon
Workshop instructors will be dairy educators from Penn State Extension, as well as faculty and staff from Penn State’s Departments of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Dairy and Animal Science and Veterinary and Biomedical Science.
Cost for each of the workshops is $40.
Details of the workshops, including online registration, program agendas and brochure can be found at www.das.psu.edu/dairy/bottlenecks. Registration is currently underway.
