Business and economics

Sorting dairy cows by stage of lactation may improve farm profitability by supporting the peak production of high-producing cows and lowering feed costs for low-producing cows. Understanding your farm’s feed costs in addition to your cows’ response to pen moves and diet changes is key to capitalizing on this strategy.

A significant portion of the milk check depends on the amount of fat and protein in the milk. The obvious goal is to maximize income by boosting component yields while managing input costs.

As the newest member of my company’s youngstock nutrition team and the most recent returning member to my family dairy, here are some best practices for hiring and inspiring your calf team from the eyes of a young professional.

Heat stress presents many challenges for dairy farms, including diminished milk production, reduced reproductive performance and stressed cow wellbeing. Long-term impacts can be felt for years in terms of the health and productivity of offspring.

By Katelyn Goldsmith, Vita Plus | Data is abundant on today’s dairy farms.  It can serve as a powerful tool and also be overwhelming at times.  Have you looked at a spreadsheet or report and felt a little lost?  What does this data mean?  What is it telling me?  What do I do with the information?  Following are six steps to unravel your farm’s data and put it to work.

By Bob Hagenow, Vita Plus | Here is an unarguable fact: A high-functioning and effective farm team – with all team members in alignment and focused on achieving established farm goals – has a distinct competitive advantage over a farm that operates without a team.

By Steve Good, Vita Plus dairy specialist | Price-protecting feed is one strategy to help control costs on your farm.  The current market environment and its fluctuating prices can make it difficult to budget for the cost of purchased feedstuffs, especially corn and protein.  A variety of strategies are available to producers to price-protect corn and protein sources and help control costs.  The following steps can help you choose the strategies that best fit your farming business.

By Stacy Nichols | Because feed represents more than 50% of the cost of milk production, dairy producers often ask how their feed costs compare to those of other farms.  As markets change, it’s important to regularly evaluate feed costs, ask whether you’re getting acceptable returns on your farm’s feed additives and dietary strategies, and explore whether you have opportunities to save on feed costs or invest in milk production for a greater return. With these questions in mind, Vita Plus dairy nutritionists recently conducted a benchmarking analysis survey of income over feed cost (IOFC) with 35 Holstein dairy herds in Michigan and Indiana.

Dairy producers and industry peers gathered together June 15 and 16, 2022, in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, to network and gain practical insight from agricultural leaders. This e-news provides summary articles from the event sessions.

The ping-pong game of Washington politics creates uncertainty as well as direct and indirect consequences for farmers across the U.S. During her presentation at the Vita Plus Midwest Dairy Conference, Constance Cullman, president and CEO of the American Feed Industry Association, highlighted some of the issues likely to affect dairy producers in the upcoming months.

“One of the things we do especially well in the dairy industry is volatility,” said Phil Plourd, president of Blimling and Associates, Inc. and host of The Dairy Download podcast, during his presentation at the Vita Plus Midwest Dairy Conference. Overall, Plourd said the outlook for U.S. dairy is mostly positive.

Tim Kerfeld, J Hall, and Rebecca Davis own and/or manage vastly different operations, but all are intensely focused on the long-term success of their farming businesses. They compared their management strategies during a producer panel at the Vita Plus Midwest Dairy Conference.

McComish Farms' succession plan, industry price swings, the future of the industry and consumer trends, and building for their growing family's future all influenced Amber and Joe McComish's diversification goals.

Heather Jauquet is passionate about sharing her dairy story with the local community and beyond. During her presentation at the Vita Plus Midwest Dairy Conference, Jauquet shared examples of leveraging her networks and finding effective ways to share her farm’s story.

Luke Laufenberg has joined his father and uncle full-time on the family farm and “technology implementer” is one of his many roles. Laufenberg shared the benefits of AMS his family has seen during his presentation at the Vita Plus Midwest Dairy Conference.

Randall Greenfield, Vita Plus vice president sales and business development, recently came across an article in which a farm owner said he was focused on “avoiding any catastrophic mistakes.” During his presentation at the Vita Plus Midwest Dairy Conference, Greenfield shared five things to watch to avoid catastrophes in a dairy farm business.