PA Farm News
June 17, 2008
Grow Dairy' Grants Fuel Investment in Pennsylvania Dairy Farms
HARRISBURG — Twenty dairy farms will be able to implement changes recommended by their Center for Dairy Excellence profit or target teams with the help of “Grow Dairy” grants. Each farm will receive $2,000 to supplement total project costs that address bottlenecks that limit on-farm profitability. The 20 projects supported by the grants will stimulate a $442,000 total investment in dairy facility and equipment improvements across Pennsylvania.
“Improvement projects range from installing new fans and curtains to adding new feed bunk and storage areas to constructing a completely new parlor and milk house,” said Center for Dairy Excellence Executive Director John Frey. “The Grow Dairy grants show what a small investment in Pennsylvania dairy farms can do to enhance long-term production and profitability. The effort will benefit individual dairy operations and Pennsylvania’s dairy industry as a whole.”
The grants also encouraged four farm families to establish target teams for their dairy operations. Any dairy farm in Pennsylvania can enroll in the target or profit team programs, which require minimal time and financial investments by the dairy producer.
Newly-enrolled farms in either program can receive $3,500 in funding to help cover the cost of paid team members and discovery-related resources, including the use of a practical dairy advisor. Discovery-related costs also include milk culturing, forage analysis, soil sampling, or business planning. Teams also have access to Penn State Cooperative Extension’s Profitability Assessment Dairy Tool (PA Dairy Tool) to find profitability bottlenecks on the dairy.
“Farms participating in the center’s profit team program have seen significant success with many of them increasing profits by more than $249 per cow annually,” Frey said. “Aside from the grant opportunity, there are many benefits to taking advantage of this valuable tool to improving profitability and resolving bottlenecks in their dairy operation.”
Once a team is in place, a facilitator is assigned to each farm to coordinate the meetings and manage the team. Profit and target teams are expected to meet regularly, with the target team working toward accomplishing the goal by the required end date.
Penn State Dairy Alliance, an initiative of Penn State Cooperative Extension, is a supporting partner of the target and dairy profit team programs. Dairy Alliance offers a two-hour, Web-based training workshop each month to help team members learn about the basic steps to form a team, establish team goals, and monitor team progress.
In addition to the training, the center will provide participating teams with a support person to provide additional resources and share successful ideas from other teams. These resources are made possible through the center with the assistance of the Penn State Dairy and Animal Science Department, Penn State Dairy Alliance and the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary College, as well as the support of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
HARRISBURG — Twenty dairy farms will be able to implement changes recommended by their Center for Dairy Excellence profit or target teams with the help of “Grow Dairy” grants. Each farm will receive $2,000 to supplement total project costs that address bottlenecks that limit on-farm profitability. The 20 projects supported by the grants will stimulate a $442,000 total investment in dairy facility and equipment improvements across Pennsylvania.
“Improvement projects range from installing new fans and curtains to adding new feed bunk and storage areas to constructing a completely new parlor and milk house,” said Center for Dairy Excellence Executive Director John Frey. “The Grow Dairy grants show what a small investment in Pennsylvania dairy farms can do to enhance long-term production and profitability. The effort will benefit individual dairy operations and Pennsylvania’s dairy industry as a whole.”
The grants also encouraged four farm families to establish target teams for their dairy operations. Any dairy farm in Pennsylvania can enroll in the target or profit team programs, which require minimal time and financial investments by the dairy producer.
Newly-enrolled farms in either program can receive $3,500 in funding to help cover the cost of paid team members and discovery-related resources, including the use of a practical dairy advisor. Discovery-related costs also include milk culturing, forage analysis, soil sampling, or business planning. Teams also have access to Penn State Cooperative Extension’s Profitability Assessment Dairy Tool (PA Dairy Tool) to find profitability bottlenecks on the dairy.
“Farms participating in the center’s profit team program have seen significant success with many of them increasing profits by more than $249 per cow annually,” Frey said. “Aside from the grant opportunity, there are many benefits to taking advantage of this valuable tool to improving profitability and resolving bottlenecks in their dairy operation.”
Once a team is in place, a facilitator is assigned to each farm to coordinate the meetings and manage the team. Profit and target teams are expected to meet regularly, with the target team working toward accomplishing the goal by the required end date.
Penn State Dairy Alliance, an initiative of Penn State Cooperative Extension, is a supporting partner of the target and dairy profit team programs. Dairy Alliance offers a two-hour, Web-based training workshop each month to help team members learn about the basic steps to form a team, establish team goals, and monitor team progress.
In addition to the training, the center will provide participating teams with a support person to provide additional resources and share successful ideas from other teams. These resources are made possible through the center with the assistance of the Penn State Dairy and Animal Science Department, Penn State Dairy Alliance and the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary College, as well as the support of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
POSTED 080617_0900 ET
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