Western Dairy Management Conference Making the Most from Manure

Sustainability of any entity requires a balance of resource management while addressing economic viability, environmental impact, and societal needs. No doubt, economic viability is always at the forefront of the decision making process on dairy operations. Over the last few years, environmental compliance and analysis of environmental impact have opened a new language for many in the dairy business. In addition to ever changing regulatory requirements (at the Federal, State, and potentially international levels) producers are faced with ever increasing pressures from an expanding urban society and a global market place. The volatility in production input prices (feed and fuel) combined with sinking prices received for milk and a particularly unstable banking market make most dairy operators (and processors) very nervous. The time-honored practice of adding cows during tough times isn’t working for many operators during these difficult times due to over supply of milk in processing plants. Financially, dairy operators are trying to figure out how to cut costs. Yet, various industries and food processors continue to initiate programs and/or respond to consumer groups’ concerns in order to inch toward greater sustainability for their supply chain and market outlets. Evaluate your system Managing manure to minimize costs and maximize revenue becomes more important when mil