Dairy Business Management
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Item Performance trends for NY dairy farms from 2018 to 2023MacKenzie, Mary Kate (PRO-DAIRY, 2024-12)In “Six Year Trend Analysis 2023,” author Jason Karszes presents characteristics of the 118 dairy farms that participated in the Cornell Dairy Farm Business Summary each year from 2018 to 2023.1 The report illustrates changes over time in key performance and financial metrics for a subset of the New York dairy industry and compares the top 25% most profitable farms to the remaining 75%. This article shares highlights from the data and explores possible drivers of success for individual farms while considering impacts of changes in the broader economic and regulatory environments.Item 2023 Production and financial benchmarks for New York organic dairiesMacKenzie, Mary Kate (PRO-DAIRY, 2024-11)Financial benchmarking provides a valuable tool for farm managers to assess business performance and identify strengths and weaknesses. Yet information about the financial performance of organic dairies in New York can be difficult to find. The Dairy Farm Business Summary and Analysis Program (DFBS), housed at Cornell University, dates to the 1950’s and is arguably the most robust and longstanding dairy benchmarking program in the country. Participation in the DFBS is voluntary, and the number of certified organic dairies completing the annual summary has fluctuated over the years. After generating organic dairy benchmark reports for 2010 and 2011, the DFBS program did not publish any organic dairy data from 2012 to 2022, due to low participation by organic dairies over that period. In recent years, the number of organic dairies in the DFBS has risen, reaching the threshold to publish aggregate data for 2023. The resulting report “New York Organic Dairy Cost of Production: 2023 Benchmarks and Financial Performance” is available on the PRO-DAIRY website. This article summarizes key points from that report.Item Dairy Profit Monitor Trends July 2023 through June 2024Koval, Lainey; Karszes, Jason (PRO-DAIRY, 2024-10)Given the unpredictable nature of the dairy industry, it is important to monitor the performance of your dairy business on a regular basis. The graphs in this report show trends in the monthly average and range (one standard deviation above and below the average) for dairy performance metrics measured in the Dairy Profit Monitor (DPM) from July 2023 through June 2024 for 66 farms, located primarily in New York State. The graphs also include averages for the same farms in the year prior (July 2022 to June 2023) as a comparison.Item Comparing New York dairy farm characteristics, costs, and performance across four quartiles of profitability: 2023Karszes, Jason (PRO-DAIRY, 2024-09)For farms that participated in the Dairy Farm Business Summary and Analysis Program (DFBS) in 2023, earnings were impacted by a significant drop in the net milk price received, which fell 18 percent from the record high prices in 2022. While there were increases in cow, calf, and crop revenue that partially offset the drop in milk income, the overall decrease in farm revenue coupled with a one percent increase in costs resulted in a 66 percent decrease in net farm income and an average rate of return of 4.0 percent without appreciation. While the average showed significant decreases, variation continued to be wide in earnings and some farms continued to make financial progress. DFBS data from 2023 provides insight into key measures of productivity, efficiency, and financial performance for New York dairy farms during a year of weak to poor earnings.Item 16 Years of Change: PRO-DAIRY Dairy Profit MonitorKoval, Lainey; Karszes, Jason (PRO-DAIRY, 2024-09)Offered since 2008, farmers have used PRO-DAIRY’s Dairy Profit Monitor (DPM) to benchmark and monitor their business operating performance. PRO-DAIRY farm business management specialists have reviewed this data to identify trends and quantify progress over the past 16 years.Item Core Values: Bringing them to lifePutnam, Barry (PRO-DAIRY, 2024-06)Item Core Values: What they are and how to establish themPutnam, Barry (PRO-DAIRY, 2024-06)Core Values. We all have them. They are guiding principles for how you live your life. Today, some dairies are defining and redefining their Core Values, and asking employees to participate in the process. These dairies will use Core Values as their compass to carry out daily activities and make decisions.Item Component production per cow per day: Ranges and selected measuresKoval, Lainey; Karszes, Jason (PRO-DAIRY, 2024-04)Milk component yield has become a key management focus for dairy farms over the last two decades. The combination of the impact that components have on milk pricing and two-tier milk pricing programs have been driving this focus. Using data from the Dairy Profit Monitor for the period of August 2022 to September 2023, herd performance metrics over 12-months from 110 farms were used to create five performance groups with 22 farms in each quintile. The pounds of components per cow per day were used to sort herd performance measures, with the highest quintile of data being the highest component herds.Item Hired labor on New York State dairy farms: Cost, efficiency, and change from 2016 - 2022Karszes, Jason (PRO-DAIRY, 2023-12)Hired labor plays a significant role on dairy farms, with more than nine thousand jobs provided by New York dairy farms in 2019. As farm size grows, hired employees provide a larger percentage of the labor needed to work the farm. In 2021, authors J. Karszes and C. Wolf presented an in-depth look at hired labor on larger dairy farms over a 10-year period in E.B. 2021-05 “Hired Labor on New York State Dairy Farms: Costs, Efficiency & Change from 2011-2020”. Since then, hired labor has continued to increase in cost. This paper presents updated trends, costs, and changes over the last seven years through 2022. From 2016 through 2022, 112 farms utilizing hired labor participated.Item Comparing New York dairy farm characteristics, costs, and performance across four quartiles of profitability in 2022MacKenzie, Mary Kate; Karszes, Jason (PRO-DAIRY, 2023-10)In 2022, the milk price paid to farms reached a 30-year high, according to data from New York dairy farms participating in the Dairy Farm Business Summary and Analysis Program (DFBS). These data also show that 2022 was the third most proftable year in the past thirty, after 2014 and 2007. The average rate of return on all assets without appreciation for the same 130 New York dairy farms rose from 4.2 percent in 2021 to 11.6 percent in 2022. Despite this increase in average earnings, variation across individual farms was high, and not all farms were proftable in 2022. DFBS data from 2022 provides insight into key measures of productivity, effciency, and fnancial performance for New York dairy farms during a year of strong earnings.