Employees Continue Learning

Employees continue learning
By Terry L. Batchelder

Dairy Manager programs improve middle managers’ proficiency and performance

Tom Craig knows that well-trained and educated employees can improve his dairy business’ profitability. That’s why the Bellafonte, Pa., dairy producer has used the Dairy Manager Program as an educational resource for most of his 12-full-time and nine part-time employees.
     “We have a young staff and want to promote from within,” says Craig, who operates a 560-cow dairy. “The Dairy Manager courses keep them up-to-date. But probably the real advantage is that most programs are overnight, giving employees a chance to talk with other people in their fields.”
     The Dairy Manager Program is a joint project of the Northeast Dairy Producers Association (NEDPA), the Cornell University Dairy Management Group and PRO-DAIRY. The groups collaborate on topics for the programs.
     The Dairy Manager Program’s goals are to develop and enhance the knowledge, reasoning, technical and managerial skills of key employees on Northeast dairy farms. To develop technical skills, programs use hands-on exercises and application of knowledge learned in classrooms.
     To date, we’ve offered these Dairy Manager programs:

Maximizing the Feed Management Program
Maximizing the Heifer Management Program
Leadership Training, which included time management, personality styles, motivating, coaching, team building and situational leadership methods. (See Learn to lead…and to follow, page 32).
Herd Health and Hoof Care
Record Analysis for Heifers

     In the first day of the two-day feed, heifer and herd health programs, participants learn and apply practical production skills and principles on the workshop topic. They receive training in the proper use of monitoring tools and computer software programs that are necessary to problem solve and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the production management area. For example, in the feed manager program, participants learn to use a temperature probe to evaluate how effectively forages were packed in a bunker silo.
     On day two, participants use their new skills and diagnostic tools to analyze either the herd, feed or heifer program at a local dairy farm. After gathering data, participants compile their results and present them to the dairy producer.
     This hands-on, real-world exercise

John Fleming, the feed and crop manager
on Hardie Farms Inc., monitors forage quality from the seed to the cow.

helps middle managers develop the ability to analyze their own operations and make decisions using factual data and reasoning skills, not intuition and emotions.
Craig sees the results of this hands-on learning after his employees return from Dairy Manager programs. “It’s not so much that their participation results in changes in farm protocol,” he says. “But there are changes in the attitudes of people. They better understand why we do what we do and the importance of being accurate.”

Meeting the three Ps. Since job specialization is more and more typical, successful businesses, including dairies, must properly train production management teams. This is particularly important when factors

Managing so much
   John Fleming came to his career at Hardie Farms Inc., Lansing, N.Y., at the right time. The farm was in the midst of an expansion and its owners, Skip Hardie and Steve Palladino, quickly turned responsibility over to Fleming.
   Today the 36-year-old Cornell University graduate has become a partner in the business and plays a pivotal role in the feed and crop programs. As manager of those two areas, he feeds cows the majority of the time, works with the nutritionist some of the time, manages the silos, feed inventories and forage quality, and oversees the cropping program. He does everything from ordering seed to monitoring manure rates.
   What’s it take to do be a manager of so much? Five things, says Fleming.
1. Like what you do.
2. Be self-motivated. “I have a lot of space to fill each day with what needs to be done. You can’t be babysat.”
3. Look ahead to what needs to be done.
4. Prioritize.
5. Get along with people.

across a number of jobs on a dairy influence business profitability.
     That training should help production teams understand and develop three major traits: proficiency, performance and, ultimately, profitability. The Dairy Manager’s continuing education programs emphasize these three.
     1. Proficiency depends upon developing technical skills. For example, feed managers must be proficient in several areas: practices related to field crop production, assessing and positively influencing forage quality, harvest and storage methods, TMR mixing, feed delivery procedures and milk production.
     Nutrition doesn’t rank first as a proficiency area for feed managers. If the other areas of proficiency aren’t met, changes in the nutrition program have little or no impact.
     John Fleming, feed and crop manager and a partner in Hardie Farms Inc., Lansing, N.Y., came to the job more than 10 years ago with a background in crops and nutrition. But he still profited from the feed manager program. “The first feeding seminar was excellent because I was just getting into the position,” Fleming says. “It made a difference in how I manage the silo and in cow production (now at 26,800 pounds with 740 cows). It gave me checkpoints to evaluate if the (feed) program is off base.”
     The course also gave Fleming evaluation tools, such as the Cornell forage screen to check length of cut, that help him evaluate forages produced on most of the farm’s 970 acres.
     Hands-on learning made a big impression on Fleming. “You get right into the feed, check pH levels and evaluate rations and cow performance.”
     2. Performance of workers can be enhanced in as many ways as there are people employed on dairy operations. To be effective, methods must match an employee’s needs and style. But most often, performance is tied to a manager or owner’s skills with people and their ability to create an environment that encourages growth, pride and self-esteem. Businesses with this environment believe in change, embrace learning and respect people.
     Encouraging employees to attend Dairy Manager or other educational programs sends a message that they are important to your business and that you want them to perform to their potential. “We’re big on encouraging people to attend continuing education programs,” Fleming says. “They’re open to anyone on the farm who wants to go.”
     3. Profitability is impacted by middle managers’ decisions, proficiency and performance. This seems evident. But on many farms, few middle managers understand that their performance has a huge effect on cow performance and a business’ net returns.
     Many dairies fail to involve middle managers in setting performance and production benchmarks, developing partial budgets for necessary tools and equipment, or monitoring cost control systems. Consequently, profitability isn’t maximized.

Much more. The Dairy Manager program includes many other components. It supports applied research that directly relates to production practices and decisions that middle managers face. Studies have looked at the effects of overcrowding, head gates and feed bunk space on feed intake and milk production. Currently, the program is studying alternative ballast systems to hold down plastic covers on bunk silos.
The Dairy Manager Program also supports local, regional and national tours so producers and employees can see and compare different approaches to managing dairy businesses.

Terry Batchelder is director of education and training for the Dairy Manager program.

Coming up
Dairy Manager will hold a workshop on whole-farm analysis and technical production management on Dec. 7 and 8 in Mt. Morris, N.Y. Topics to be covered include a systems approach to analysis, dairy economics, job analysis, benchmarks and communication. Technical updates include discussions on herd health, cow comfort, nutrient management, transition cows and heifer management.
Cost is $100. To register or for additional information, contact Dee Brothers at Cornell University. E-mail: dab2@cornell.edu Phone: (607) 255-4478.