Dairy owners and employees can learn about feedbunk, milk harvest practices

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State Dairy Alliance and the Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania are hosting a series workshops on feeding management and milk harvest management.
These workshops are for dairy owners and managers. Thanks to a rebate offer that reimburses 100 percent of the registration fee, the workshops are free to all Pennsylvania dairy producers and their employees.
Each workshop features a business management portion followed by hands-on training at a local farm that demonstrates best-practices in feeding or milk harvest management.
Feedbunk. The feedbunk management workshops will be Feb. 27 at the Williamsburg Farm Show Building, Williamsburg, Pa., (Blair County) with afternoon training at Biddle Dairy; March 7 at Edgewood Restaurant, Troy, Pa., (Bradford County) with afternoon training at Lottahill Farm; and March 8 at Family Ties Restaurant, Townville, Pa., (Crawford County) with afternoon training at Apple Shamrock Dairy.
Topics will include how to economically feed for high production and feedbunk management.
Guest speakers are Jud Heinrichs, Penn State Dairy Alliance, and veterinarian Linda Baker, University of Pennsylvania.
Milk harvest. The milk harvest management workshops will be Feb. 28 at the New Centerville Firehall, Rockwood, Pa., (Somerset County) with afternoon training at Hillcrest-Saylor Dairy; and March 1 at Fulton Grange, Nottingham, Pa., (Lancaster County) with afternoon training at Red Knob Farm.
Topics will include: evaluating the economics of parlor performance using milk harvest costs: how labor costs and cow numbers contribute to efficiency; moving milking management and milking systems into the 21st century; and steps you need to take to decrease somatic cell count and improve teat-end scores.
Guest speakers are veterinarian Adolph Dossman, Lancaster Dairy Farm Automation; Brad Hilty, Penn State Dairy Alliance; Michael Hosterman, AgChoice Farm Credit; and Dennis Milhoan, Lancaster Dairy Farm Automation.
Each workshop will be 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Registration begins at 9:45 a.m. Advance registration is required for each workshop.
Registration. To register, call the Penn State Dairy Alliance office at 888-373-7232 or register online at https://estore.psu.edu/dairyalliance. The registration fee of $75 per workshop is due at sign-up. Forms to apply for the rebate will be distributed at the workshop.