Labor management
Published:
7/22/2011
Written by:
Gregorio Billikopf
Whether dealing with family members or hired personnel, sooner or later there will be some challenges that will arise. It is unlikely that we find ourselves at a loss of words when dealing with family members. Communication patterns with those closest to us are not always positive, however, often falling into a predictable and ineffective exchange.
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Labor management
Published:
7/21/2011
Written by:
Gregorio Billikopf
Bruce Burroughs, of Vista Farming in Merced, discriminates when he selects employees, and he is proud of it. Of course, Bruce knows that it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of such "protected" characteristics as sex, race, color, religion, age (40 or older), national origin, and disability. Bruce knows, however, that he is not required to hire unqualified workers.
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Management
Published:
4/20/2011
Written by:
Andy Pressman
Rising energy costs and environmental concerns are causing dairy farmers to alter their management practices. Dairy farmers are analyzing their energy inputs and investing in cost-effective energy conservation and energy efficiency measures. This publication provides an overview of how dairy farms can implement efficiency improvements and energy-saving technologies that can reduce energy consumption and energy-related costs.
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Farm management
Published:
2/23/2011
Written by:
Monica Wadsworth
A survey conducted in Wisconsin in 2008 showed that many farmers and agricultural professionals have found real labour savings, better working conditions, increased cow comfort, and more profitable dairy farms after the dairy modernization.
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Automatic Milking
Published:
2/23/2011
Written by:
Monica Wadsworth
An AMS affects all parts of a farm operation, not just the milking, and it is important to have a realistic picture of what to expect. Only a small proportion of the 10,000 AMS installations worldwide have been unsuccessful to date. Failures are due mostly to unrealistic expectations of the technology and the impact that it will have on farm labour, lifestyle and business.
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Personnel
Published:
9/3/2002
Written by:
Richard Stup
What should a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) look like? It depends on the process that you are trying to describe. There are many different ways to present an SOP. Your goal as a dairy manager or advisor is to create a written document that helps workers to do their jobs accurately and consistently.
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Dairy economics
Published:
7/28/2011
Written by:
Monica Wadsworth
High feed costs and low profit margins are challenging dairy farmers to do more with less. A tool create by Michigan State University Extension can help you evaluate and manage cash flow. And it’s in an easy-to-use Microsoft Excel format.
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Farm management
Published:
4/25/2011
Written by:
Marcia Endres
Besides being an economic issue, as replacing dead cows costs money, high cow mortality is also an indication of an animal welfare problem. Crowded barns, high levels of concentrate feed, lack of dairy personnel training and lack of experience to identify early stages of disease and apply timely and appropriate treatment are all factors that contribute to the loss of animals on the farm.
Regarding a cow as an individual rather than only focusing on groups could help reduce some of the problems leading to high mortality in our dairy operations. Look at and see each animal, and treat them early.
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Farm management
Published:
2/23/2011
Written by:
Jeffrey Bewley
Precision Dairy Farming is the use of technologies to measure physiological, behavioral, and production indicators on individual animals to improve management strategies and farm performance.
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Farm management
Published:
2/22/2011
Written by:
Jeffrey Bewley
It is important to keep in mind the business principle of “control the controllables” during hard times in the dairy business. This principle suggests that most of a business manager’s energy, time, effort, and thoughts should be focused on the parts of the business over which he/she maintains control.
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Farm management
Published:
3/21/2002
Written by:
John F. Smith
Joe Harner
It is extremely important that a producer conduct a financial evaluation to determine how realistic the dairy operation expansion would be. Producers who want to expand need to consider the amount of capital that is available for expansion, the return on the dairy expansion compared with use of equity for other investments, and the cash flow benefits from the expansion.
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Automation
In 2008 the Pollocks invested in automation, with a new 60 bail rotary, automatic take-offs, automatic cleaning and an automatic sorting gate.
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