Sometimes bigger is not better. That is one conclusion that can be drawn from a recent University of Minnesota study of small- to medium-sized dairies.
The study data set combined animal health, production and farm financial data to help dairy farms create more financially sustainable operations. Financial resiliency was defined using the adjusted net farm income ratio. Combining financial and cow management strategies reactive dairies were able to mitigate downside risk.
Source: Hoard’s Dairyman, September 14, 2020. Link.
The main lesson learned from this project was that even though resilient dairy farms may not have the highest milk production per cow or net farm income on a pure dollar basis, they were able to retain a larger portion of the milk sales they received as profit.
INSIGHTS: Attention veterinary teams, sales representatives and marketing persons! Note the mention of culling practices, the average age of resilient dairy managers and the comments about educational opportunities. Opportunities abound!