Dairy Alliance
helps Pennsylvania
dairy industry
By Deborah A. Benedetti
Agriculture
is the No. 1 industry in Pennsylvania, and within this economic sector,
the dairy industry reigns supreme. More than 17,000 people work on nearly
10,000 dairy farms, caring for 616,000 cows, which annually produce 10.9
billion pounds of milk.
Like every successful business enterprise, the dairy industry relies on
research and development, education programs and expert advice to remain
competitive in an increasingly global economy. In Pennsylvania, the dairy
industry’s partner in success is the Dairy Alliance.
“Penn State Cooperative Extension’s Dairy Alliance initiative
is targeted to strengthen the dairy industry and enhance its productivity
and profitability,” Dr. Theodore R. Alter, associate vice
president for outreach, director of Cooperative Extension and associate
dean in the College of Agricultural Sciences, said. “The dairy industry
is a very essential and critical part of Pennsylvania’s agricultural
economy. In our service to Pennsylvania agriculture, the Dairy Alliance
is one of Penn State Cooperative Extension’'s top priorities.”
“Pennsylvania’s dairy industry is growing, unlike the dairy
industries in many of the traditional dairy states,” N. Alan Bair,
director of dairy industry relations for Penn State’s Department
of Dairy and Animal Science, said. “Tremendous educational resources
are needed to help our Pennsylvania producers continue to grow and to
implement the modern business practices that will help them remain competitive.
The Dairy Alliance’s role is to combine the resources of Penn State
and the dairy industry to meet this urgent need.”
Dr. Lisa Holden, associate professor of dairy and animal science
at Penn State, agrees. She noted that Pennsylvania is the fourth-largest
dairy state in milk production, with many advantages for growth in the
future. The state also has a good forage base, and its dairies are close
to markets.
“Through education, we can develop the human capacity in the dairy
industry,” Holden said. “Dairy Alliance focuses on human resource
and information management as areas that can make a difference at the
farm level. We are targeting economic development for the dairy industry
in Pennsylvania. We want to help the dairy industry not just to survive,
but to thrive in the future.”
The Dairy Alliance got its start in November 1999, when Bair and Holden
brought together a core group of dairy industry members, dairy producers
and dairy agribusiness representatives to talk about the industry’s
needs. According to Tammy Perkins, Dairy Alliance program manager,
this group identified many focus areas. The top three are:
-
Information Management — Dairy producers and their advisers
collect information about herd productivity, business performance
and other factors. Information management is a systematic, standardized
method for collecting, processing, reporting, integrating and using
that information. By integrating and interpreting production and financial
data, producers can increase profitability and improve their competitive
advantage in business.
- Human
Resource Management — People working in the dairy industry
need education and training programs to help them improve the performance,
profitability and overall success of their enterprises. The Dairy
Alliance focuses its efforts on three areas: developing the personnel
management abilities of producers, which include recruiting, interviewing,
evaluating, promoting, etc.; organizational development, which includes
motivating employees, continuously improving systems, creating effective
workplaces, communicating, training, organizing, etc.; and human resource
development, which involves training employees in technical skills.
-
Business Management — Dairy managers set goals, manage risk
and develop business plans. To do these business management tasks
well, they need current knowledge and training.
“Alan
and Lisa were instrumental in moving the Dairy Alliance concept forward
and pulling together the dairy industry, dairy producers and dairy-related
agribusinesses,” Perkins said. “This was a grassroots effort
to find out what these groups need.”
The Dairy Alliance team includes Perkins; Brad Hilty, information
management specialist; and Richard Stup, human resource specialist.
The alliance is part of Penn State Cooperative Extension, and alliance
programs are supported by Penn State faculty members with extension
appointments in five College of Agricultural Sciences departments: Dairy
and Animal Science, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Agricultural
Economics and Rural Sociology, Agronomy, and Veterinary Science.
“We are really focused on planning our education programs from
the farm up,” Perkins said. “We start on the farm and determine
what’s needed for farm managers and employees.”
The mission of the Dairy Alliance is “to enhance the economic development
of the dairy industry through leadership and focused educational efforts.”
Funding for the alliance comes from the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s
budget for animal initiatives, which is administered by the College
of Agricultural Sciences, Perkins explained.
The Dairy Alliance also is supported by a grant from Penn State Outreach
and Cooperative Extension’s Program Innovation Fund, according
to Dr. Patricia A. Book, associate vice president for outreach
and executive director, Division of Continuing Education.
“The Dairy Alliance is engaged in critically important outreach
for Pennsylvania’s dairy industry,” Book said. “We strongly
support the alliance’s efforts to share the research and expertise
of Penn State faculty members and Cooperative Extension educators to
help empower dairy owners, managers, employees and agribusiness professionals
to be competitive in the dairy industry within the state and beyond.”
The initial programs being offered by the Dairy Alliance include:
- Dairy
Accounting and Benchmark Standardization. The two goals of this
program are to standardize the methods by which information about
dairy operations is collected, processed and analyzed, and to define
a standardized set of benchmarks for monitoring dairy business performance.
These goals are achieved through a coordination of efforts between
the Dairy Alliance, faculty members from the Department of Agricultural
Economics and Rural Sociology (AERS) and the many professionals providing
business services to progressive dairy producers. Input for developing
a set of guidelines for data collection and processing and pertinent
benchmarks was sought from dairy business professionals through regional
meetings held throughout the state. Dairy Alliance staff and the AERS
faculty will develop guidelines and tools that dairy professionals
can then use to generate more uniform sets of data for benchmark comparisons.
The result will be better management advice and decision making at
the farm level.
- Cow
Sense Workshop: Identifying Problem Cows Before and After Calving.
The program covers topics on detecting problem cows and offers hands-on
experience in basic examination practices. Instructors are faculty
members in the departments of Veterinary Science and Dairy and Animal
Science, Cooperative Extension agents and Dairy Alliance staff.
- Management
Essentials for Dairy Success. This five-part seminar series is
designed to help dairy managers learn new skills for supervising employees
and developing an effective work environment. It is a joint effort
of Penn State’s Management Development Programs and Services
and the Dairy Alliance. The modules cover: Supervisory Roles and Responsibilities
and Leadership; Performance Management and Motivation; Coaching Skills
and Improving Performance; Problem Solving and Decision Making; and
Time Management, Delegation and Meeting Management and Action Planning.
Instructors include Dr. John Park, associate director, Management
Development Programs and Services; Holden and Stup.
The Dairy
Alliance also is involved in planning and supporting other dairy programs.
A sampling of these programs includes: the Capital Region Extension Dairy
Team program to help dairy managers train employees responsible for livestock
feeding, held last March; Managing a Hispanic Workforce, held in January
in Harrisburg, Pa., and Rochester, N.Y., to assist dairy managers in meeting
the challenges and opportunities that come with managing a workforce comprised
of people from various cultures (Cooperative Extension faculty and staff
from Penn State and Cornell University jointly organized the one-day conference);
and the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Management Conference on “Implementing
Competitive Business Strategies,” planned for March 7 and 8, in Camp
Hill, Pa.
Other Dairy Alliance activities include making presentations at dairy-related
programs, meetings and conferences, participating in the College of Agricultural
Sciences’ annual Ag Progress Days and meeting with dairy professionals
throughout Pennsylvania.
The Dairy Alliance also has organized tours of dairy operations to help
Penn State Cooperative Extension and Dairy Alliance faculty and staff
keep up to date with what’s happening at dairy farms and businesses.
In September, the alliance arranged a tour for Dr. James H. Ryan,
vice president for Outreach and Cooperative Extension, and Dr. Terry
Etherton, Distinguished Professor of Animal Nutrition and head of
the Department of Dairy and Animal Science. They met with dairy owners,
managers and employees at Frey Dairy and Turkey Hill Dairy in Conestoga,
Pa., and Brubaker Farms in Mount Joy, Pa.
The tour illustrated how two types of family dairy farms operate in today’s
economy. Frey Dairy, owned by Tom Frey, has 1,000 cows, while Brubaker
Farms, owned by Luke Brubaker and his sons Tony and Mike,
has 460 cows. Turkey Hill Dairy, near the Frey Farm, is the largest producer
of ice cream in the eastern United States and distributes fluid milk through
Turkey Hill convenience stores.
In addition, the Dairy Alliance is affiliated with the Professional Dairy
Managers of Pennsylvania, founded in 1994 as a discussion group to address
the educational needs of progressive producers in south-central Pennsylvania.
Perkins is executive secretary of the organization.
 The
Dairy Alliance is organized as a partnership involving the dairy industry,
dairy producers, dairy-related agribusinesses and Cooperative Extension.
It is not a membership organization, Perkins explained. “You are
a partner of the alliance if you are a member of one of these groups,”
she added. Dairy Alliance staff guide the alliance, with advice from the
alliance partners.
To keep everyone involved in the dairy industry apprised of current research
and developments, news, educational programs and other events, the Dairy
Alliance developed a Web site: www.dairyalliance.org.
Perkins said the Web site was designed with the needs of its users in
mind. Because many dairy farmers and others in the agricultural community
have computers with small monitors and slow modem connections to the Internet,
the Web site downloads quickly and has an easy-to-use format. Information
about the Dairy Alliance also is available by phone toll-free at (888)
373-PADAIRY (888-373-7232). 
Dairy
Alliance staff members meet with Pennsylvania dairy farmer Abe Harpster
(second from left) at Evergreen Farms. In the photo, from left,
are Brad Hilty, Dairy Alliance information management specialist;
Harpster; Tammy Perkins, Dairy Alliance program manager; Richard
Stup, Dairy Alliance human resource specialist; and Chet Esber of
Evergreen Farms. The Dairy Alliance was created “to enhance
the economic development of the dairy industry through leadership
and focused educational efforts.”
|
Dr.
Lisa Holden, associate professor of dairy and animal science at
Penn State, was instrumental in bringing together a core group of
dairy industry members, dairy producers and dairy agribusiness representatives
to talk about the industry’s needs. The Dairy Alliance was
formed as a result of this meeting. |
N.
Alan Bair, director of dairy industry relations for Penn State’s
Department of Dairy and Animal Science, played a key role in establishing
the Dairy Alliance to help meet the educational needs of Pennsylvania’s
dairy industry. |
|
Recognizing
exemplary outreach teaching, research and service This
Penn State faculty member is sharing research with individuals,
organizations and communities to make life better:
|
 Dr.
Errol M. Aksu
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Director of Medical Student Teaching Program Penn State College
of Medicine at The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Dr. Errol M. Aksu is extending outreach to state hospitals across
the Commonwealth in an effort to enhance the care of those suffering
from chronic mental illnesses. He is accomplishing this through
the integration of training and research. For nine years, in addition
to his full-time teaching duties, he has been involved with the
state hospitals in Danville, Harrisburg, Wernersville and Allentown,
traveling hundreds of miles each week to help with the coordination
of continuing education at each hospital. He has conducted seminars
for staff, rotations for psychiatry residents and clinical consultations
and delivered countless lectures at each of these hospitals. His
outreach endeavors integrate teaching, service, administration and
clinical care to support patients suffering from mental illnesses,
their family members and staff at these facilities.
|
Pennsylvania
dairy facts
-
616,000 cows
-
Average number of cows per herd: 64
-
9,700 commercial dairy farms (with 10 or more cows)
-
10.9 billion pounds of milk produced annually
-
$1.7 billion farm value of milk, up from $1.5 billion in 1998
-
Pennsylvania ranks fourth nationally in milk production, with
10,931 billion pounds of milk from 616,000 cows. California
is first, with 30,475 billion pounds from 1,466,000 cows;
Wisconsin is second, with 23,071 billion pounds of milk from
1,365,000 cows; and New York is third, with 12,040 billion
pounds of milk from 701,000 cows.
- Pennsylvania
has 47 percent of the dairies in the Northeast United States
and 36 percent of the cows. (New York has 35 percent of the
dairies and 41 percent of the cows.)
- The
average production per cow in 1999 was:
California — 20,519 pounds per year
Pennsylvania — 17,745 pounds per year
New York — 17,175 pounds per year
Wisconsin — 16,902 pounds per year
United States — 17,764 pounds per year
Northeast — 17,252 pounds per year
-
Pennsylvania wholesale milk prices for the 12-month period
from March 1999 to February 2000 averaged $14.95 per hundredweight,
which was 9.5 percent below the same time period a year earlier.
- Production
costs averaged $13.51 per hundredweight of milk for the 12-month
period ending March 31, 2000. This is 1.9 percent more than
production costs a year ago.
— Source: USDA/Pennsylvania Ag Statistics Service,
1999
- The
milk from every 20 cows creates one full-time job.
- Just
a 2 percent growth in the Pennsylvania dairy industry creates
570 new jobs.
- More
than 17,000 people are employed on Pennsylvania dairy farms.
- Another
12,000 people have jobs processing, transporting and selling
milk. This number does not include the jobs of those who make
and sell equipment and farm supplies.
- In
the last reporting year (1997), Pennsylvania farmers paid
$351 million in labor costs and $160 million in property taxes.
 Pennsylvania’s
top 10 dairy counties are:
Lancaster — 96,100 cows
Franklin — 44,100 cows
Bradford — 29,800 cows
Berks — 24,000 cows
Chester — 20,400 cows
Lebanon — 20,300 cows
Somerset — 19,400 cows
Crawford — 19,000 cows
Bedford — 18,600 cows
Cumberland — 18,100 cows
|
|
