06-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Juna 5,1993
TOWSON, Md. —He’s put in a
15-hour work day but is still sitting
in front oT his home computer
entering data and working on
budgets.
This isn’t a description of a cor
porate, ladder-climbing executive,
but of today’s dairy farmer a
shrewd businessman, responsible
for the workings of a large, high
tech operation.
While a Norman Rockwell
painting of a farmer in overalls sit
ting on his milking stool at
ol’Bessie’s side is probably etched
in the minds of many Americans,
the reality of a dairy farmer is a far
cry away.
On Lyle Tjossas’ 250-acre dairy
farm in Kasson, Minn., advance
ments in genetics play a role in
improving the quality of milk his
cows produce.
A lifelong dairy farmer and
member of the dairy organization.
21st Century Genetics, Tjossas has
been breeding his cows for the last
several years to try to produce milk
with a higher protein and a lower
fat content.
“People don’t realize the tech
nology you have to keep up on to
do that,” said Tjossas. “There was
a time when you milked the cows
twice a day, fed them and that was
about it But today, if you want to
be successful at it, there’s a lot of
things you have to do to achieve
that goal.”
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Dairy Farmers Are Business People
On Dave Hardie’s 720-acre
farm in Lansing, N.Y., keeping
track of his herd of SOO dairy cows
is made easier with the assistance
of computers.
The three computers on his farm
improve efficiency by being used
for everything from bookkeeping
to feeding the cows.
Data on each cow on Hardie’s
farm is entered into the computer,
including medical information,
how much milk the cow produces
and the type and amount of feed
the cow receives. .
“This helps us with ration
balancing,” said Hardie. “The
computer printouts help us deter
mine when we need to strengthen
the feed or make other
adjustments.”
Likewise, computers play a
major role on Hugh Weathers’
2,300-acre farm in Bowman, S.C.,
where computers assist with deter
mining the “herd performance” of
his 700 milking cows.
“Computers help us assess the
relative performance of each cow
to the other,” Weathers said. “This
aids us in our decisions as to the
profitability of each animal not
just how the 700 cows are doing as
a group, but as 700 individual
cows. We watch them as individu
al units of production.”
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Computers Play
Key Role
Milk Production Up
Research and experimentation
has resulted in improved methods
of selection, breeding and feeding
of cows. Probably the most signif
icant change in the past ISO years
of American dairy farming is the
dramatic increase in milk produc
tion. Today, farms can produce
much more milk with fewer cows.
For example, milk production
per cow 150 years ago was esti
mated at 375 gallons annually;
today the average has climbed to
more than 1,650 gallons per cow.
In 1991, almost 10 million cows
produced 148 billion pounds of
milk.
“The biggest, most constant
change in dairy fanning is nutri
tion the flexibility we have in
our feeding,” said Hardie. “The
difference in nutrition can increase
production in cows, and that’s the
name of the game. This efficiency
adds to a farmer’s bottom line.”
Sharing Expertise
Another way to improve the bot
tom line is to get help from the
experts. An emerging advance
ment in farm management is to use
outside consultants another
example of how dairy farms today
mirror typical American
businesses.
“The farmer who takes a more
business-like approach to farming
recognizes that he needs to have an
objective point of view available to
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him,” said Weathers. “Right now,
for example, we’ll be needing a
renovation of our milking parlor.
I’m going to hire experts to tell me
the pros and cons of various alter
natives and try to weigh that
advice. We did that a few years ago
when we built a new freestall
bam.”
Weathers, Tjossas and Hardie
learn about the newest technolo
gies, the latest advancements in
farm management and the most
recent findings in animal research
by studying the overwhelming
amount of information that’s avail
able. They read the trade journals,
subscribe to university newsletters
and attend seminars.
Like most executives, many
dairy farmers today have offices
with fax machines and multiple
line phone systems.
Another way Hardie keeps up
with all the latest advancements is
through his involvement with Cay
uga Marketing, a subgroup of the
Dairy lea Cooperative. This is a
group of about 25 of the highest
producing, most progressive far
mers in the area. While competi
tive like any other corporate
executives sharing similar jobs,
they also share the latest in new
fanning technologies to improve
milk production.
“It’s a different ballgame
today,** said Hardie. “This is a fam
ily farm, but you get tremendous
changes when you increase size,
acquire more machinery, and so
MM ••
on.
Family Farms Remain
Despite the technological
advancements taking place
throughout the dairy industry,
some things do stay the same.
Many of today’s 150,000 dairy
farms are still family businesses,
run by lifelong dairy farmers who
are committed to producing the
high quality dairy products Ameri
cans have come to enjoy.
Lyle Tjossas grew up on a farm
and his son now works with him.
Dave Hardie has been a dairyman
since 1951 and is a partner with his
son. Hugh Weathers’ family farm
goes back to his grandfather who
started farming in 1927. His father
remains active in the farm that
Weathers and his brother operate.
While better management and
science are keys to today’s dairy
farm success, it is the commitment
by today’s dairy farmer —24
hours a day, 365 days a year to
provide Americans with good
tasting, high quality milk and dairy
foods that keeps the industry going
strong.
Although each has his own
employees, Tjossas. Hardie and
Weathers need to put in a lot of
time on their farms. However, they
have numerous other professional
responsibilities as well, including
serving on the board of directors
for United Dairy Industry
Association.
This June Dairy Month, the
American Dairy Association
salutes these businessmen our
nation’s dairy farmers for all of
their hard work and long hours to
bring us an abundant supply of
delicious dairy foods.