Improving the Efficiency of our Farming Operations

For the last several years, the Center of Excellence has worked with the PA Department of Agriculture to provide its DART and Profit Team Training Programs to producers in Lancaster and around the Commonwealth.

Profit Team Training Programs

With a focus on improving dairy productivity, the Center for Dairy Excellence works collaboratively with the Penn State Department of Dairy and Animal Science, Dairy Alliance and the University of Pennsylvania College of Veterinary Science to facilitate the program. The funding for the Dairy Profit and Target Team Program has been made possible by a grant from the First Industries Fund in Pennsylvania. The Center provides a "start-up" training workshop for new teams and assigns a support person to each team to provide resources and share successful ideas from other teams.

More than 100 producers are now enrolled in the program. Producers participating in the program in its first year saw 25 percent more milk production and $249 more profit per cow. For more information on Profit Team Training, click here.

Dairy Advocacy and Resource Team (DART)

In another cooperative venture, the Center of Excellence works withthe DART program,developed by the Pennsylvania Dairy Task Force's Education Committee with program support from the Pennsylvania Dairy Stakeholders, Penn State Dairy Alliance, Penn State Cooperative Extension and the Center for Dairy Excellence. Industry meetings are held in six regions of the state to provide participants an opportunity to network with others in the industry and to get resources to help the producers they serve improve on-farm profits and productivity.

Each DART meeting has a primary focus of improving on-farm profitability, with these objectives for the program:

• To work with on-farm dairy professionals to positively influence the attitude and profitability of Pennsylvania's dairy industry;
• To broaden participants' professional network to improve the type and quality of information available to producers;
• To provide a consistent opportunity to share new ideas and practical information, allowing for long-term goal setting to enhance profitability through improved use of available resources; and
• To serve as a grassroots resource for the Dairy Task Force.

Overall, the DART program is targeted at all industry people who are on dairy farms on a routine basis. Veterinarians; lenders; accountants; consultants; cooperative extension; sales and service people from the feed, seed, fertilizer, artificial insemination and genetics, DHIA, milk co-ops, milk processors, pharmaceuticals, milking equipment, farm supplies, and construction sectors; custom harvesters, heifer growers; insurance agents; and government agencies (FSA, Soil Conservation, Farmland Preservation) are the kind of people who should participate in the DART program.

For more information on DART, click here.