Improving the Welfare of Southeastern Dairy Families Through the Adoption of Sustainable Production Systems

Improving the Welfare of Southeastern Dairy Families Through the Adoption of Sustainable Production Systems

Summary

The survey instrument related to this objective has been completed and will be mailed by July 1, 2013. Data collection should be completed by fall. Data should be analyzed and results tabulated by summer 2014.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Dairy Benchmarking
In 2011 there were seven farms that signed up for the benchmarking service. This number is considerably less than the program goal. Several reasons contribute to the lack of participation including producer reluctance personnel changes related to the original collaborators.

It should be noted that the farms presented here are a mixture of conventional and grazing/hybrid dairy farms. Because of the small sample size, it is impossible to make any inferences as to which production system is the most profitable.
Curiously, most of the farms have a relatively low depreciation and interest expense percentage of dollars generated. This is most likely due to the fact that most of the farms have a very low debt-to-asset ratio. It is also worth acknowledging that that the mean ROA is a very strong 34%. Again, this is likely a sampling issue.
To bolster enrollment in the benchmarking program, project collaborators are taking every opportunity to promote the program. Even though the sign-up has been less than desired, there have been some beneficial outcomes already.
As a result of the recruitment effort, one of the project collaborators was invited to deliver a series of workshops on farm financial management to dairy farmers in Georgia. In January through March 2013, six of these workshops were conducted in Georgia to approximately 100 dairy farmers, their families, and related agribusiness people.
The project team intends to build on this momentum to enroll more producers and expand the benchmarking program.
In 2013, the team intends to do the following:
1) Complete the 2012 financial analysis
2) Meet with the producer advisory committee to determine some ways to increase enrollment.
3) Continue promoting the program.

• Summary Table for 2012 Benchmarking Analysis

Accomplishments/Milestones

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Collaborators: