Last week, 48 farmers representing 27
dairy farms joined Yankee for our
annual Dairy Benchmark meeting. Total in attendance was 60, so we had a pretty
full room.
Based on feedback from last year, this year's meeting implemented a new format. We invited three farmers from outside our region to be on a panel. Panelists Dale Van Erden, John Mueller and Aaron Allen have all
consistently been in the Top 20 profitability group throughout the years.
We also had roundtable discussions in the afternoon covering six different
topics. The topics discussed were: milk pricing; feed efficiency; income over feed costs; heifer raising strategies; non-milk income strategies and spending habits during times of low milk prices. Folks could pick a table, discuss the topic for 15 minutes and then get
up and switch to the next table. These were very well received.
Two presentations were given - the opening talk, which went over trends and
results from this year's study and an outlook for 2016.
Once again, thanks to everyone who participated in the program! We are excited
about continuing to grow and build the program. Thanks!
