Operations Managers Conference
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Item Identifying Drivers of Profitability on Commerical DairiesZoetis (2016-06)KEY POINTS Zoetis teamed with a Midwest agricultural banking and consulting institution to identify dairy operating measures that correlate with the financial health of contemporary dairy farms (Data on file, Dairy Scorecard Project no. 14CARGOTH01, Zoetis LLC) Somatic cell count, death loss, and net herd replacement cost were negatively correlated with profitability, while energy-corrected (ECM) milk per cow per day, heifer survival rate and 21-day pregnancy risk were positively correlated with profitability. Maintaining high volumes of quality milk per cow per day was predictive of higher profitability. Inferences from data suggest high productivity was achieved by having a skilled work force capable of maintaining healthy lactating and replacement animals, maintaining efficient reproduction, and limiting culling and death losses. Among herds of at least 500 lactating cows, size of the lactating herd and total quantity of milk shipped had no impact on profitability (expressed as net farm income per hundredweight (cwt) of energy-corrected milk). With its extensive portfolio of dairy products, service offerings and technical expertise, Zoetis is well positioned to help dairies achieve greater profitability by improving both cattle health and productivity measures.Item How Much Does the Welfare of the People Affect the Welfare of the Animals?Hagevoort, Robert (2019-01-22)This presentation will focus on the concept that animal welfare doesn’t live in a vacuum; it’s the outcome of an interaction between a human and an animal, and it can either have a positive or a negative outcome. The question explored in this presentation is how much does the well-being of our people affect the well-being of our animals?Item Dynamic Harvest and Storage for Improved Forage UtilizationLawrence, Joe (2019-01-22)Obtaining the right quality forage for the right group of animals is key to optimizing forage utilization on farm. Both your harvest strategy and storage options must be well planned but nimble to achieve forage quality goals in the face of the numerous challenges presented in any given harvest season.Item Calves & Heifers: The Future of Our DairiesReed, Kelly (2019-01-22)In this presentation, Dr. Kelly Reed will review the importance of calf & heifer programs in the success of our businesses. She will discuss how to identify bottlenecks holding back our programs and working through the management challenges of protocol compliance and consistent performance.Item Building Your TeamStup, Richard (2019-01-22)Collaborating and coordination are essential characteristics to an effective team. However, most teams struggle in this area due to member-related issues (e.g. absence, fatigue, motivation, training) or team-related issues (e.g. conflict, resentment, changes). This presentation will focus on ways to provide support, either through strategy or intervention, to teams who are faced with challenges.Item How Does Your Farm Culture Measure Up?Eiholzer, Libby (2019-01-22)It can be difficult to put a finger on what makes one farm a better place to work than another. Sometimes it just boils down to the "feel" or culture of the workplace. In this talk you will learn how to gauge the culture of your farm, learn how it can be perceived by workers, and the effect that this can have on their behavior. You'll also learn how you can make incremental changes to work towards creating a more positive culture. We'll also cover some of the misunderstandings that are common on farms with Hispanic employees and how to prevent them.Item Identifying Bottlenecks in On-Farm Labor Efficiency and Practical Approaches for ImprovementKarszes, Jason (2019-01-22)With labor being a growing concern over time, understanding where our time goes and how to evaluate it is crucial to improving labor efficiency on farms. Digging into some data from PRO-DAIRY’s labor allocation study, this session will discuss the results, where ranges are in labor efficiency across the industry, and methods for restructuring habits and routines to improve the efficiency in daily tasks.Item Pathogen based treatment – Prudent use of antimicrobialsWatters, Rick D. (2019-01-22)Pathogen based mastitis treatment has the potential to decrease farm costs and the use of antibiotic on farm. It allows farmers to tailor treatment protocols to limit antibiotic use to mastitis cases that will most effectively respond. Dr. Watters will share the current research on pathogen based mastitis treatment programs and practical protocols for implementing such a program.Item Developing a Virtual Dairy Farm BrainCabrera, Victor (2019-01-22)Dairy farms have embraced technological innovations and procured vast amounts of data, but integrating these data to improve whole farm-based management and decision-making has proven challenging. It is imperative to move towards systems that can collect, integrate, manage, and analyze relevant data in real-time and provide inferences and learning to maximize profit and reduce environmental impact.Item Employee Onboarding: The First Step to Develop and Retain the Best PeopleStup, Richard (2019-01-22)Safe, Productive, and Confident… from Day One. Onboarding is the dairy’s chance to make a strong and lasting impression that will shape an employee’s career with the farm. An effective onboarding program establishes the dairy as a professional employer worthy of retaining quality employees for the long term. It sets a positive safety culture, clears the employment law hurdles, and sets the employee onto the fast track toward high productivity. Learn about templates and resources that your farm can adopt to quickly implement an effective onboarding program