Dairy

Here’s how farmers plow forward to improve their dairy business.

With more than 9 million dairy cows in this country, the U.S. dairy industry continues to produce more milk each year, now exceeding 20 billion gallons of milk annually. Roughly three-fourths is manufactured into powder, cheese, butter, yogurt, and other soft products. Consumption of fluid milk continues to decline as it must compete in the marketplace with other beverages such as soft drinks, juices, energy and protein drinks, and water. There is no self-regulation within the industry to balance supply with demand. Attempts at supply management programs are mostly met with disdain.

Despite a continuing drop in the per capita consumption of fluid milk, Americans are consuming more yogurt, cheese and ice cream, which has resulted in a 20 percent per capita increase in consumption of all dairy products during the past 40 years. During that same time period, however, milk production in the U.S. has increased more than 60 percent – from around 130 billion pounds to more than 212 billion in 2016.

A look at trends

Domestically, the dairy industry continues to produce far more milk than can be consumed. In the past decade, our dairy industry has been able to aggressively tap into the international markets, which has kept the milk price from completely crashing. In 2014, dairy farmers were paid record-setting prices due to expanding export sales. However, as recently as 2015, exports to China, our largest export customer, lagged due to a slowdown in their economy, resulting in a significant decrease in U.S. milk prices from the previous year. Economics and weather conditions in the southern hemisphere also contributed to the price volatility over that short period of time.

At the beginning of 2017, exports are recovering and the U.S. Dairy Export Council reports that about 14 percent of the milk produced in the U.S. is now going to exports, which is equivalent to one day per week of milk production. Around the world, a growing middle class is consuming more dairy products as their standard of living improves. However, although the extra demand for U.S. dairy products has helped buoy milk prices, the U.S. dairy producer must still remain competitive in what is a very competitive world market for dairy products.

Back in the U.S., the negative publicity regarding saturated fats found in dairy products is showing signs of relinquishing. Recent research is showing that milk fat is not the troublemaker it was purported to be for so many years. Butter sales have improved during 2016, and cheese and yogurt consumption continue to grow and lead the dairy categories. Still the industry walks a very precarious line between supply and demand when only a small swing of 1 to 2 percent movement of over-supply takes several dollars per hundred-weight away from the dairy farmer.

Dairy farms in the Northeast U.S. find themselves at an even greater disadvantage with higher operating costs in one of the most densely populated regions of the country. Conventional economic theory suggests that in a region where supply lags behind demand, prices should be higher. According to Economist Bob Wellington, the prices received by New England dairy farmers have little to do with the supply of milk produced in the region relative to the demand by the consumer.

Milk pricing throughout the country is complex, with 10 Federal Marketing Orders dictating the prices paid to the majority of dairy farms. In addition, California has its own milk pricing order that has been putting cheaper dairy products into the marketplace. Prices for milk are set based on regular surveys by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of manufactured dairy products – cheese, butter, powdered milk and whey – as they are traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Local supply and demand has no bearing on what dairy farmers in New England are paid for their milk. Ironically, the swell in the popularity of yogurt and cheese has actually decreased the price paid to dairy farmers.

During the past two decades, milk pricing has been a roller coaster ride for the U.S. dairy farmer, with as many years of prices being below the cost of production as above. As a result, dairy farms continue to go out of business at an average rate of more than 4 percent per year. More than 40,000 dairy farms have exited the industry since 2000 – a total decline of more than 50 percent. Ironically, total cow numbers have remained nearly the same, meaning the dairy farms that remain today are milking more cows and those cows are producing more milk over their lifetime.

The trend is likely to continue and for the foreseeable future there will be more periods with milk prices unable to cover operating costs. Dairy farmers who are paid the federally mandated milk prices face an uphill battle as they strive to maintain optimal milk production and keep their cows healthy while, at the same time, continually looking for ways to produce milk more cheaply.

Alternative solutions

Simply put, in light of nonexistent supply management and unpredictable volatility, the only way dairy farms can remain in business today is to either milk more cows, thereby improving efficiencies through greater economies of scale and lowering the cost per unit of output, or find niche markets that allow them to increase revenues through value-added marketing – or a combination of the two. Dairy farmers must be aware that making changes will likely come with a price tag and must be carefully considered, because the changes made today will probably affect their financial well-being for years to come.

Throughout the Northeast, dairy farmers have been faced with the question for many years of how to keep their businesses from failing in a volatile economic environment. All dairy farmers must face the reality of a difficult situation and assess if they have what it takes to keep milking cows – and be willing to make the inevitable changes that will need to be made. The decisions they make must be based on their individual talents and personal preferences of what they are willing or not willing to do.

In South Hadley, Massachusetts, Steve McCray decided he had to make the investment in processing his own milk in an effort to keep the dairy from failing. McCray’s father, Don, began the dairy at that location in 1955. Steve took over the operation when Don passed away in 2005. After the disastrous year of 2009 and knowing that relying on federal milk pricing was likely to put the dairy out of business, Steve began planning in earnest to process and market the milk produced by his 50 cows.

This was not the McCray family’s first venture into value-added – they had been making ice cream and selling it at their farm stand since the 1980s. The McCray dairy is one of the earliest dairies in the region to delve into agritourism as a way to supplement farm income. Today, along with the free petting zoo for children of all ages, their country-style storefront houses a small diner and bakery. Just outside is a miniature golf course open during the summer months and they also hold various farm-related events throughout the year – encouraging the non-ag public to learn about farming.

McCray began bottling his milk in the summer of 2013 and today about 75 percent of the milk he produces is processed and sold through a distributor, 10 percent of the milk is retailed out of the store with the remainder going to the regional handler for the milk-order price. He says it was a good move and that he’s making more money than if he’d continued selling it all through the marketing order. Only just a few years in, McCray is optimistic about future growth potential with his location in central Massachusetts.

Currently at a national average of over 220 cows per herd, the average herd size across the country has more than tripled over the past quartercentury with the majority of the expansion happening in the western portion of the U.S. lending organization Farm Credit East, in its 2015 Dairy Herd Summary, tabulated financial data for 487 dairies in New York and New England. Of those 487 dairies, 78 milked 700 cows or more with the average herd size well over 1,000 cows. Herds milking less than 300 cows represented about 50 percent of the survey — meaning there are still many more smaller and midsize herds in the Northeast compared with thousand-cow herds. But each year a steady number of smaller herds continue to exit the industry.

Although the herd size of a dairy farm — whether it milks 100 cows or 1,000 cows — offers no guarantee as to whether the dairy farm remains successful year after year, the long-term trend is for herds to continually grow larger in order to stay in business. Largersize dairy herds sell more milk per cow and sell more milk per laborer (greater labor efficiency), resulting in greater net earnings per cow. They have fewer assets per cow with a greater asset turnover resulting in a significantly greater return on assets.

Ironically, for herds in the Northeast during 2015, herds with 100 to 300 cows — that group which contains the average herd size in the U.S. — had both negative earnings per cow and negative return on assets, while both smaller and larger herd sizes fared better.

However, the Farm Credit East summary noted that being large is no guarantee of profitability. Only 20 percent of the 78 large farms were in the top profit group for 2015.

As the U.S. dairy industry continues to struggle with volatility and a chronic over-supply of milk, paying close attention to debt per cow and cash flow and continually looking for niche markets that may offer revenue-increasing opportunities will be critical to staying in business during the next few years.

Enter robotics

Another challenge that all dairy farms eventually have to face is replacing aging equipment. Building dairy farms has never been inexpensive, but over the past couple of decades as profit margins spend more time on the low side, taking the steps to replace old barns and invest in new technology becomes more difficult to afford. In Hinsdale, New Hampshire, Beth Hodge and her family at Echo Farm began milking Jerseys and Shorthorns in the mid-1990s. After more than 20 years in a small parlor that had been built with used equipment, it was time to make some changes.

Doing her homework, Hodge found that the cost of upgrading her conventional milking parlor and barn would cost about the same as purchasing a robotic milking system; return on investment for either choice was equal. The family chose a robotic milking unit manufactured by Lely, an agricultural equipment company based in The Netherlands and well established throughout New England. While proudly showing off the robotic milker that went into action in November 2016, she says there’s no question they made the right decision in going with the new technology.

Hodge shares that one of the biggest challenges with a dairy herd of 100 cows was scheduling labor and trying to accommodate everyone’s needs – family and hired help – for days off and personal and family time and still get all the work done seven days a week. It’s a challenge faced by all dairy farms – big and small. For Echo Farm, even though the robot is milking cows nearly all day long and the equipment needs to be monitored frequently, having the twice-a-day milking routine go away has freed up a lot of time for everyone. That time can now be used to focus on the other half of the Echo Farm business – pudding.

The Hodges, too, saw the writing on the wall many years ago that they couldn’t expect the business to survive with the milk coming from 100 cows and a milk price that was never going to be dependable. Starting in 1997, the family saw an opportunity for marketing puddings made from their milk. Today, about 25 percent of the milk produced is being processed at the farm to make a multitude of flavored puddings that are sold throughout the state of New York and New England in stores and schools.

According to Hodge, in recent years the family found themselves getting bogged down on the production side as they struggled with rising production costs knowing that they needed to improve labor and production efficiencies. Investing in the new technology has helped everyone at Echo Farm renew their focus on growing the pudding business while still being able to have time for growing families and personal time. By the beginning of spring 2017, just four months with the robotics in place, Hodge says that they’re still working through the learning curve with the new equipment, commenting that Lely’s technical support is outstanding. Hodge has reluctantly had to trim her herd from 100 cows down to 60 to 65 cows to get all the cows through the robot twice per day.

Dairy farms that pursue the value-added business model generally have smaller herds and have the time to attend to processing – whether it be pasteurizing and bottling milk or making cheese, yogurt or pudding – and marketing of their products. Revenue generated per cow is going to be higher but labor and asset efficiencies tend to be on the low side with smaller herds. As an example, a dairy milking 100 cows with a 70-pound average will produce about 2.5 million pounds of milk per year. Considering that any size dairy needs several full-time employees to get all the work done – a dairy that produces less than 4 million pounds of milk per year will fall short of the recommended minimum benchmark of 1 million pounds of milk per year for each full-time employee. Investing in robotics is a step in the right direction to help increase labor efficiencies on dairy farms. Other capital assets are similar. The milking parlor, for example, that’s built for a smaller herd is usually underused and represents a less-than-efficient use of capital.

Bigger producers

Herein lies some of the justification for larger-size dairy herds. Costs for labor, equipment and leveraging of financial risk are spread out over many more millions of pounds of milk per year, resulting in greater economies of scale. Even though there’s an increasing number of smaller herds moving toward the value-added business model with on-farm processing and private label branding of products, the long-term trend in the industry continues to favor the move toward expansion to large herds. However, in either case, expanding herd size or investing in processing and marketing almost always requires taking on more debt. In a very competitive economic environment, it takes a special effort and willingness for dairy farmers to spend the money to expand or create their own brand and go head to head against the well-established dairy marketing giants.

Selecting animals for breeding, no matter how it’s done, has lasting impacts on herd performance.

Dairy farmers are often focused on herd genetics. Each has its own priority criteria, such as milk output, milk components, good legs and hocks, size and build, grazing ability, somatic cell score, fertility or calving ease. Depending on the farm’s management system, different traits may be valued more or less than others. Thus the genetic merit of traits will differ, depending on farm goals and management practices.

“For conventional dairy, farmers are looking at fertility and longevity, as well as somatic cell score,” said Bradley Heins, associate professor, Organic Dairy Management, West Central Research and Outreach Center, University of Minnesota. Heins’ area of expertise is animal genetics in conventional and grazing dairy herds.

“A grazing dairy looks at the same traits of fertility, longevity and somatic cell score. However, they also add in smaller body size and may look at other minor traits such as A2 or kappa casein,” he said. “Smaller cows tend to have less health problems, and have [a] longer productive life. Larger cows tend not to do well in grazing situations with all of the walking. Most graziers prefer to handle smaller cows because of management and they possibly may consume less feed and be more feed efficient.”

The cow’s phenotype, or outward expression of genes, is dependent not only on its raw genetic material but also on the environment in which it is raised, which can influence overall performance positively or negatively. Knowing what factors play a role in maximizing herd performance – no matter the genetics – can increase dairy profitability. This combination of genetics and environmental influence has economic implications on every dairy.

Selecting traits

Milk production of dairy cows has increased substantially in recent decades. Some of the change is due to improved facilities and management, leading to better cow comfort and health. Artificial insemination (AI), coupled with the ability to determine the genetic makeup of sires and the likely expression of selected genetic traits in the next generations, has also contributed to high production cows.

Various traits have differences in heritability. Heritability measures the probability that a given trait is passed on through the genes, from one generation to its offspring. Heritability varies from trait to trait, and heritability of traits can vary between breeds. The heritability of some traits is linked.

Heritability is a tool used to determine how closely an animal’s phenotype – or performance – is actually due to genetic merit, and how much is influenced by nongenetic factors. Heritability of 0.40 is considered high, indicating that the expression of the trait is likely to be passed along via the genes and that 40 percent of the differences seen in the trait between animals is due to genetics. The remaining 60 percent of the difference is due to environment and management factors. Low heritability, of 0.15 or less, indicates that the trait in question is not very likely to be passed to its offspring.

As per the Virginia Cooperative Extension publication, “Using Heritability for Genetic Improvement:”

Specifically, heritability is the percentage of all differences between animals that is caused by gene effects that transfer from generation to generation. The percentage that remains is not caused by transmissible genetic effects. Often, environmental effects are an important part of the remainder.

The percentage of protein and fat in milk tend to be the two most heritable traits, along with animal stature. Others, such as rate of mastitis or ketosis, daughter fertility or longevity are of low heritability, and thus the environment plays a significant role in their expression. But even low heritability traits can be selected for over time, and consistent selection of those traits of importance to the dairy will slowly increase their presence in the phenotype of the herd.

Performance records are kept on sires by each breed organization. Sire summaries combine several dozen traits, analyzed from an AI bull and its multiple offspring, and determine the likelihood that those traits, alone and in combination, will be passed onto its progeny. Producers using AI have an extensive record of sire genetics to use for breeding purposes. This information allows for selection of the traits deemed most important to herd performance.

But not all dairy farmers use AI. Many dairy farmers use natural service breeding and primarily rely on phenotype observations to select traits and improve their herds.

“Only about 50 percent of dairymen use AI,” Heins said. “In the grazing world, it is much lower. I am not all that in favor of breeding naturally, but I would watch for temperament of the bull, body size (smaller is better) and calving ease.”

Not just milk

Daughter calving ease, service sire calving ease, daughter fertility, udder characteristics or body condition score are just a few of the many traits that can be of importance in a dairy herd. Indicators of health status, reproductive capabilities and longevity are generally not as heritable as milk output. As farmers began to select for traits using genotype, milk output was often targeted due to immediate economic benefits. But selecting for high milk production often comes at a cost.

“There is an antagonistic relationship between milk and fertility. By selecting for increased milk production, we are selecting for reduced fertility in cows,” Heins said. “There is also a thought that if we select for larger cow body size, we will get more production. This is actually not true.”

High milk cows tend to have reduced fertility and an increase in health concerns. These lead to a shorter productive life and can negate the benefit of more milk, Heins said, referring to a University of Minnesota study. This study, spanning 40 years, showed a longer lifespan for medium-framed cows, as well as the same milk production as larger-framed cows.

As cows become increasingly inbred, the negative results of trait selection – such as for high milk – can cause complications. For Holsteins, reproductive issues have become more common and problematic. Holstein genetic selection has led to larger cow size, environmental issues related to cow comfort, as cows outgrow stall size and barns become crowded, which detracts from any inherent genetic potential of the selected traits.

Peter Mapstone, Pastureland Dairy, Manlius, New York, inherited a high-production Holstein herd. Finding himself with a major labor shortage soon after taking over the dairy, he began immediately grazing these confinement cows. Realizing that pure Holsteins were no match for grass-based dairying, he crossed with Jerseys with good results on the first-generation cows, an effect known as hybrid vigor. He’s bred in other genetics since then, and began crossing back to Holstein. Jersey genetics will again be bred into the herd, for a new generation of primarily Holstein-Jersey crosses.

Speaking at the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York’s (NOFA-NY) annual Dairy and Field Crop Conference in 2016, Mapstone said that selecting for the high production of that purebred Holstein herd wasn’t the most profitable approach to dairy farming. Ketosis issues, the cost of feeding a high-grain diet and injuries to the cows negated the benefit of more milk per cow output.

“Dairy farmers tend not to think over the lifetime of the cow. They try to get as much milk out of the cows today. Selecting for improved fertility and health of cows will actually be more profitable in the long run than selection for milk,” Heins said. “A farmer should select for net merit (NM$), an index that combines production, fertility, productive life, functional type and calving ability. This is probably the most appropriate index to improve profit of dairy farms.”

The NM$ is computed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and reflects relevant economic factors affecting dairy profitability. The index assists dairy farmers in weighing economically important traits when selecting herd genetics. Traits can be used to select for income or to reduce expenses. More information on using the index, as well as on other indicators that can be used to enhance herd performance, can be found here by searching “genetic improvement programs.”

Nongenetic factors

No matter how great your herd genetics, and how well-suited for your farm they may be, environmental factors have a major impact on any inherent genetic potential. If your cows aren’t comfortable and healthy, their genetic potential is compromised. A cow’s genetic potential for performance is also compromised by herd management practices.

Uncomfortable, stressed cows – due to overcrowding, stall size, improper diet or too little time for resting and rumination – are not performing optimally, no matter their genetics. Stressors such as these require the cow to focus on survival and not on maximizing normal functioning, such as milk output and reproduction.

Spending energy to compensate for environmental concerns, such as inadequate ventilation and heat or cold stress, means that cows don’t have the energy to perform their best, either. Immune system challenges due to poor nutrition, injury or respiratory and mastitis concerns, all of which can be caused by facility design and or management practices, take away from performance, no matter how optimized the genetic merit of the herd.

Dr. Jen Burton, also speaking at the NOFA-NY conference, explained that immunity and reproductive ability are heritable traits, and both require great energy from the cow. If an immune response is needed, the cow will have to switch off the reproductive response. Keeping cows comfortable and healthy means less immune response and more reproduction capability.

Health concerns limit lifetime milk. And it isn’t just lactating cows that suffer from poor health or nutrition impacts. Heifer nutrition deficits will impact that cow’s production during first lactation, if not longer. Calves and heifers that have experienced immune challenges such as respiratory disease will never live up to their ultimate genetic potential.

“Cow comfort can make a huge impact on reducing profit and milk production, as well as increasing the likelihood of health problems, culling and or mortality,” Heins said. “Nutrition can limit high milk output. If cows are not fed properly and to their requirements, we can see losses in milk.”

Heat stress in dry cows can cause lifetime drops in milk production for both the dry cows and their calves. Calves born to mothers experiencing heat stress in the last two months of gestation see their lifetime milk production decrease significantly, with heat stress having “major effects on the calf,” and a lifetime impact of 10 pounds per day of decreased milk output, said Dr. Albert De Vries, Department of Animal Sciences, University of Florida. In the Northeast, over 100 pounds of milk per cow are lost each year due to “milk not being made if dry cows are not cooled. It is basically profitable to cool dry cows anywhere except Alaska.”

Competition for resources such as lying time in stalls or access to feed occurs with overstocking. In the Northeast, dairy overstocking is commonplace. Overstocking stresses the cows beyond whatever environmental stress response they would have had if the barn was not crowded, and amplifies it.

Getting more milk in the bulk tank doesn’t necessarily require the best high-production genetics, or adding cows and overcrowding facilities. Changes in management can increase milk output without making genetic changes. And management changes can happen now with the cows you have. Optimizing cow comfort and welfare through facility design and animal management, selecting traits – high and low heritability – that match the needs of your dairy farming practices, and remembering that lifetime profitability has to do with more than high milk output, can bring about the best results for your dairy’s profitability now and in the future.

“I think that dairy producers and industry people focus too much on milk production,” Heins said. “Yes, milk production pays the bills, but there are other benefits that are hard to measure on dairies. If dairymen actually tracked costs for health treatments, fertility and other things related to cow health, they may find that selection for milk production may not be what it is all cracked up to be.”

Read more: Juggling Responsibilities While Managing the Herd

Pennsylvania’s Center for Dairy Excellence hosted five roundtable meetings across the state in mid-May to discuss dairy profitability and associated topics.

Pennsylvania’s Center for Dairy Excellence hosted five roundtable meetings across the state in mid-May to discuss dairy profitability and associated topics with executive director Jayne Sebright and risk management program manager Alan Zepp.

In Bedford on last May, Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding, plus field representatives, consultants, lending agents and extension experts, offered insight and ideas on dairy consumption, costs, foreign trade, immigration and production practices.

Zepp reviewed statistics that illustrate the state of the dairy industry. At close to 9.4 million head, the U.S. dairy herd is the largest since the 1990s. Milk production continues to rise, and butter, cheese and nonfat dry milk stocks all show significant increases over three years ago. Exports have not regained the volume achieved in early 2014 but reached $473 million in March of this year compared with $362 million in January 2016. The value of the U.S. dollar, although still relatively high, has been weakening. A strong dollar renders our exports less competitive.

Center for Dairy Excellence executive director Jayne Sebright leads the Roundtable meeting discussions of issues facing the dairy industry from the topics suggested by the attendees. Photo by Bob Ferguson

Secretary Redding reminded the group of the announcement to renegotiate NAFTA. He advocated working with Secretary Perdue and U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer on trade. “Fourteen percent of our milk is exported,” Sebright added.

Redding shared his recent conversation with Tom Vilsack, now president of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. “That very day,” Redding reported, “Vilsack said Australia and New Zealand were prepared to meet the U.S. price for Mexico. Our top export market is Mexico.”

Sebright pointed out Governor Wolf asked Prime Minister Trudeau to reevaluate his approach regarding Canada’s trade barrier on our exported ultra-filtered milk.

Zepp’s scorecard showed a U.S. all-milk price for March at $17.30 per cwt., obviously better than the March 2016 cwt. price of $15.30, but a devastating plunge from the $25.20 per cwt. in March 2014.

Turning to financing debt, Valerie Detwiler of CBT Bank commented that she has noticed farmer payments becoming farther behind. Zepp said, “Production costs should be lower in Pennsylvania.” Mike Hosterman, AgChoice Farm Credit vice president, noticed that New York dairy producers enjoy $1 per cwt. lower cost than those in the Commonwealth. “Pennsylvania has higher overhead and higher variable cost,” he said.

Penn State Extension educator Greg Strait reported that he counsels dairy farmers in this current situation to be certain to achieve the premiums such as a low somatic cell count.

Several meeting attendees noticed that dairymen often retain unproductive and unprofitable cows. “They care about their animals!” was the explanation. Amy Yeiser Leslie, industry relations specialist for American Dairy Association North East, quickly said, “We have to show the public that we care.” She explained that their promotions build consumer confidence as well as drive milk and dairy products demand. They work with schools and retailers, plus educate consumers about dairy production and the environment. Moreover, their training programs help the industry tell the dairy story. Currently workshops are scheduled for June 7 in Saratoga Springs, and June 8 for Batavia, both in New York.

Recognizing the immigration issues, Redding noted, “You can’t go to any discussion without talking about labor.” He explained, “The agricultural community has many opinions, but no solutions.” Further, Redding said, the views span H-2A to new proposals of green/blue cards to ‘ship them out.’ Compounding the issue is the lack of information on the numbers of guest workers. Stressing the need for a workable system with diverse needs such as seasonal or year-round, Redding said, “Dairy looks more like mushrooms than apples.”

With uncertainties in the export market and insufficient demand to absorb the gains in dairy productivity, the Northeast shares the national problem of surplus milk. A representative from a cooperative exclaimed, “Cities don’t want milk anymore. Urban areas want almond and soy milk.” He added that now more milk is being dumped.  For Federal Milk Order No. 1, which encompasses states from Maryland to Maine, approval was granted for $11.4 million animal feed and dumpage category in January.

Sebright summarizes the roundtable meeting discussions, “We need to develop demand or diminish the supply for balance in the industry to be restored.”

Zepp’s monthly update with April data showed class III futures prices pushing up to $17 per cwt. for early fall, while USDA lowered their 2017 milk production estimates. Also, export values are stronger than 2016. Significantly, consumer confidence, which appears to drive demand, is the highest since 2000.

Sebright is optimistic. She noted, “Demand is now growing domestically and for exports. The industry is showing potential.”

June is a national dairy month and it’s a great time to promote dairy products and raise awareness for dairy farming among the greater community.

June is a national dairy month and it’s a great time to promote dairy products and raise awareness for dairy farming among the greater community. With less and less of the general public directly connected to agriculture, it’s imperative for farmers and the corresponding national promotion programs to actively spread the word.

The American Dairy Association North East is the local affiliate of the National Dairy Council and a regional consolidation of three promotion organizations including the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council, Inc., Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association and Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program.  The organization is funded by dairy checkoff dollars from more than 12,000 dairy farms in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and northern Virginia.

“For every 100 pounds of milk sold, 15 cents is deducted for promotion,” explained Katie Dotterer-Pyle, the former producer relations coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association and owner of Cow Comfort Inn Dairy in Maryland. “Of that 10 cents goes towards local dairy promotion and 5 cents goes to the Dairy Management Inc., the national dairy promotion organization to promote the industry as a whole.”

The organization fosters relationships with consumers, the media, health professionals, educators and more to promote the health benefits associated with dairy products. Through social media, blogs and in-person training events, the promotion efforts benefit all participating farmers.

In addition to benefitting from the consolidated efforts of the American Dairy Association North East, there are five marketing strategies you can implement on your own farm. These are tools that Dotterer-Pyle has used with success on her own farm.

1. Participate in Checkoff Trainings– The trainings can be held for as few as 10 farmers within a given area. The day-long training helps you better prepare for educating and interacting with the general public in regards to farm life. “The training helps farmers write an ‘elevator speech,’ teaches dairy farmers how to drive dairy discussions and learn what consumers think of you as a farmer,” she explained.
2. Farm tours– Invite the community in to experience in person how a dairy operation works. Showing people in person allows for conversation and an opportunity to answer questions.

“We’ve had people visit that think we still milk by hand,” she said. “People don’t know what a teat is or what a milking machine looks like.”

Farm tours can be given one at a time, to small groups or an open house can be planned. “Even if your schedule is super busy, make time for farm tours,” she urged.

1. Social media– Dotterer-Pyle admits that she has received a lot of eye rolls when she encourages other dairy farmers to participate in social media. But it’s not a fad, it’s here to stay. The key to success is picking the right platform.

“Facebook is an older crowd. Younger people are on Snapchat and Instagram,” she said. “You have to go to where the customer base is.”

Posting is the easiest part of the process. In October 2016, she shot a four minute video about the milking process. It garnered 250,000 views. “Answering questions to the post takes the most time, but it’s the most important part,” she said.

1. Avoid jargon– Today’s consumers aren’t familiar with farming lingo. Think of ways to relate technical terms to something the general public can grasp. “I’ll compare a hoof trimming to a manicure,” she said.
2. Break out of your silo– “It’s important to go to other groups and interact with people who aren’t dairy farmers, those are the people we’re trying to reach and convince to buy dairy products over other plant-based products on the market,” she said.