LOW-COST DAIRY MODERNIZATION OPENS DOORS FOR NORTHERN WI DAIRY FARMS

SITUATION
Dairy farms continue to have a tremendous amount of economic impact on communities in northern Wisconsin and throughout the state. This emphasizes the importance of maintaining the viability of these businesses and supplying the tools needed to create a profitable and vibrant dairy business. Dairy farmers have welcomed the high milk prices of 2007 but have been burdened with high input costs that have taken a big piece of potential profits for the year. Farmers have once again been reminded about how volatile the dairy industry can be and will need to continue to make sound financial decisions and seek ways to cut costs on their farms. As of 2006, there were 10,000 Wisconsin dairy farms milking and housing dairy cattle in tiestall/stanchion barns.  While some of these barns may serve their owners until retirement, many are facilities that will enter into the next generation of dairy farming from parents to children, or through sale of the property to a new owner. Low-cost modernization strategies, plans, and other innovations are vital to opening the doors to dairy farmers of all ages, financial situations and different facilities. The Wisconsin Dairy Modernization Survey of 2006 has shown that the average Wisconsin herd size has grown significantly in the last 5 years and is projected to increase by over 50% in the next 5 years. The survey also showed that dairy farmers have been satisfied with recent modernization, improving their health, quality of life and farm profitability. 

CURRENT ACTION
The Dairy Educator position is the result of a USDA Dairy Revitalization Grant co-authored by Mike Wildeck and David Kammel. This 60% grant funded position began its second year on May 15, 2007. After having the balance of 2006 to get my feet wet, I was able to plunge into 2007 and make an immediate impact on the dairy farmers of northern WI. I was able to make 46 farm visits throughout the year on dairy farms ranging in size from 5 to 900 dairy cows. Of these 46 farms, I wrote 24 formal recommendations that typically included CAD drawings of the building layouts, aerial photos, herd tables, milking parlor plans and written proposals based on University recommendations. This service has given the farmers of Northern WI the tools needed to make decisions related to growing or modernizing their dairies. It seems many times that dairy farmer’s need the reinforcement and a “little nudge” to move forward with projects related to modernizing their dairy. I have been able to deliver this reinforcement through informal tours of existing milking parlors, working the low cost parlor booth at Farm Tech Days and WPS Farm Show, and programs with information on low cost parlors, heifer/ dairy housing. I have also been able to make information available 24/7 by keeping pictures and dairy modernization resources available on Marathon County’s UWEX Dairy Modernization website (see http://marathon.uwex.edu/ag/modern/index.html).

RESULTS
In 2007, 45+ dairy farms called me to ask for help related to modernizing their dairy farms. They came to me to access the resources of UWEX in order to make an educated decision that would minimize the probability of making a poor business decision. Since all dairy farms are unique in many different ways, I was able to help all the farms despite their differences in size, goals, financial situation, management abilities and facilities. This emphasizes the importance of this grant funded position since each plan has to be custom made for these reasons. As of the end of 2007, I know of 7 different farms that I worked with that constructed

Sam Zimmermann, Northern WI Dairy Educator - 2007 Success Story

« 2007 Success Stories Main | Top