| RME-DV002815 MSN125154 |
| Success for Small Beginning Dairy Farmers |
| North Central Risk Management Education Center Unrestricted Grants 2009-2010 |
Producer Demand
Wisconsin has more than 14,400 dairy farmers. Eighty percent of those (11,600) are small dairy operators that manage herds with less than 100 cows (WI Ag Statistics). According to the last Ag Census available (2002), about 26% of these small farmers (3,000) are relatively new or beginning farmers with less than a decade in the business of managing a dairy farm. Small beginning dairy farmers produce about a fourth of Wisconsin dairy products. Small beginning dairy farmers are especially vulnerable to economic and financial challenges as they do not have the economic resources nor the experience to deal with increasing market uncertainties. Small dairy farms are the soul of Wisconsin agriculture and we need to protect them. The Specific Aim of this project is to develop and implement the online Wisconsin Benchmark Dairy Ratio tool. This project will prepare and deliver three full-day workshops to Wisconsin small and beginning dairy farmers related to production and financial decision-making using this tool. Because these workshops will emphasize personal attention, one-to-one counseling to the participants as well hands-on and computer exercise practices, we will limit the number of participants to 20 in each workshop. Higher number of participants would not lead to an effective learning environment.