Organic Dairy Performance in 2015

Organic dairying in 2015 provedto be a pretty profitable method to produce milk that is very competitive with the best of dairy systems. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach teamed up with CROPP Cooperative/Organic Valley to analyze the 2015 profits on 44 organic dairy farms

Increasing Dairy Base with Millionaire Model Dairy Farms

Those in the dairy industry need to recognize and promote dairy’s importance to the rest of the economy as each cow generates approximately $13,000 in economic activity in the form of jobs, goods and services created by a cow, along with paying taxes on the profits generated. Few recognize the ability of young producers especially to profit strongly with dairy as a career. For example, families in NE Iowa in 2000 and 2002 garnered approximately$100,000 net return to labor after an equity charge milking 100-140 cows with low/mediocre milk prices. In 2004, with much higher milk prices, the five model farms averaged $153,314 net return to labor with a decent quality of life as well, while one family, a seasonal dairy, achieved$244,141 net return to labor. Thus, it is quite possible to milk the dairy industry for high levels of profit

Economics of Conventional and Hybrid Grazing Dairies Relative to Organic and Organic No-Grain Dairies

The economics of various dairy production systems is a topic of frequent conversation in Extension’s work with Iowa dairy producers and industry professionals. This article attempts to shed further light on the economics of four dairy systems: 1) Conventional/Confinement dairy (CONV) 2) Hybrid Grazing dairy (HGRAZ) 3) Organic dairy (ORG) 4) Organic No-Grain dairy (ORG-NG) This study uses the “Millionaire Model Dairy Farm Performance in Iowa” publications and data from both 2015 and 2016 to compare relative profitability of these systems. Bottom line is that depending on manager skills and desires, all the systems studied have merit for the future of the Iowa dairy industry. The most profitable system depends on the milk prices; maintaining high levels of labor efficiency; producing decent volumes of milk production per cow and per farm relative to their system; ability to secure quality feed resources; and managing acceptable levels of capital efficiency (depreciation and interest/equity charges). It is hoped this study will assist current and aspiring dairy producers, in any of the systems, to analyze and benchmark their dairy operations to better plan for future profits

Budgeting for organic dairying

The Pl identified the major types of farms producing organic milk based on typical breeds, production level and amount of grains fed. This information served as the basis for developing the nine organic dairy budgets

Using Adobe Connect to Connect with Dairy Producers

From 2007 through 2009, ISU dairy extension programming has successfully experimented with using Adobe Connect to connect with Dairy Producers

Transforming a Milking Parlor at Low Cost—Developing Dairy in Iowa

As dairy operators look for ways to make milking easier, some may feel that a modern parlor is not within their budget. However, an up-to-date milking parlor can be an option for every Iowa dairy producer. With relatively lowcost remodeling and retrofitting, old stall barns and parlors can be cost effectively transformed into modern milking parlors when properly designed, installed, and operated. Iowa State University Dairy Extension has been a leader in this area, from many parlor tours and events to showcase options for dairy producers and the industry, to the development of excellent quality written and visual media to assess / properly construct a Trans Iowa Low Cost parlor. The goal of Trans Iowa Low Cost Parlor Design is to “transform” the dairy industry by making the milking parlor option available to every dairy operator’s budget situation. Information can be found at: http:// www.extension.iastate.edu/dairyteam, ISU Extension publication PM 2033, or contacting author

Tri-State Agriculture Lenders Seminar, 2017

Educating Agricultural Lenders on Risk Management as it relates to a Dairy Farm has economic implications for loan success and dairy farm profitability. Due to demand from Agricultural lenders, the 31st Annual Tri-State Agricultural Lenders Seminar was held in Dubuque, IA to increase understanding and management of commodity prices and market risk. One hundred seventy lenders and media personnel attended the seminar. Pre-post evaluations showed knowledge learned in all subject matter areas, with lender’s personal comments showing individual impacts as well as the success of this program and continual need in the future

Millionaire Model Dairy Farm Performance in Iowa, 2015

A Millionaire Model Dairy Farm (MMDF) project was created by this author in the 1990’s. Its goal was to show beginning and transitioning dairy producers how to become “millionaires” by practicing a hybrid grazing and confinement operation within 25 years of a dairy career. It has been a very successful Extension program. In 2012, organic dairy producers were added and in 2015, conventional dairy producers were added to the data. Note the small number of herds in each data set may or may not be representative of an average of those types of farms

Organic Dairy Performance and Profitability in 2014

This study analyzed and evaluated the performance and profitability of 31 organic dairies from 5 states using Dairy TRANS Financial Analysis software. The 2014 organic dairy data, with a few exceptions, shows profits. Profits earned have been deemed to be very competitive with the best of other dairy systems as well. Profitable organic dairying depends on many factors such as productivity of labor, land and cows, but labor efficiency may be the most important. Producers are also urged to consider using the Dairy TRANS Financial Analysis to analyze and further improve dairy profits regardless of the production system being utilized