Dairy Farm Business Summary Farm Name/# ______
Supplemental Information
2008
Forage Diet Level
Please indicate the average percent of dry matter fed to your milking cows that comes from a forage source.
Less than 50%______50% - 55% ______
56% - 60% ______Greater than 60%______
Did you forward contract purchased Grain in 2008? Yes ____ No ____
If yes, for how many months? ____
Somatic Cell Count
Please indicate the average somatic cell count(in thousands)for the year.
Less 100 ______100 - 300 ______
300 - 500 ______Greater than 500______
Dairy Replacement Information
Replacement heifers that entered your herd in 2008
Total number of heifers that calved for the first time
in 2008, home raised or purchased. ______
% of these animals purchased, not your genetics ______
% of these animals owned[1] ”Your genetics” ______
Replacement heifers currently being raised by the farm
% of animals being raised on the farm ______
% of animals being raised by a custom grower[2] ______
Number of heifers that were marketed to other dairies ______
in 2008
Overcrowding Number of stalls for milking cows[3] ______
Milking System Efficiency
Number of hours of labor spent per day ______Hr's
milking, including cleaning time[4].
Number of milking units ______
Automatic take-off's, please circle YES NO
OVER
Dairy Enterprise Efficiency
Number of hours of labor spent per day ______Hr's
milking, feeding, and scraping the milking herd
and dry cows[5].
Replacement Enterprise Efficiency[6]
Number of hours of labor spent per day feeding, ______
bedding, scraping, treating, and managing replacements.
Number of hours of labor spent per week doing tasks ______
associated with dairy replacements that aren’t done
daily.
Number of hours of labor spent per week doing tasks ______
associated with dairy replacements that aren’t done
daily or weekly.
PERMISSION TO USE DATA – By completing and returning this form, you are granting permission for this data and selected data from your dairy farm business summary to be used by the Department of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University for research, extension, and teaching. You will receive a report of performance factors for your farm. Strict confidentiality of the data will be maintained and only averages of the data collected will be published. If you have any questions, please contact your local extension agent or Jason Karszes at 607-255-3809.
______
[1]
This would include all animals raised on farm plus animals from your herd that were raised off-farm and returned to calve.
[2] Please include animals that have been sold but the farm has first option to buy back as animals being raised by custom growers.
[3] Total number of stalls available to house milking age animals that aren’t dry.
[4]4 Example - Milking and cleaning takes 3 hours each time and the herd is milked three times a day. Two people are working at this time, but one also spends half his time switching cows and does not spend the 1/2 hour cleaning. Labor hours would be [3(# of milkings) X 3(hours of person milking and cleaning)] + [3(# of milkings) X 1.25(hours second person spends milking((3-.5)¸2))] = 12.75 hours. Only interested in the number of hours per day that is spent milking and cleaning, not including the time spent moving or switching cows.
[5] Only looking for number of hours spent scraping dairy barn and dry cow facility, milking the cows, and feeding the dairy cows and dry cows. Do not include time spent spreading manure, taking care of dairy replacements, or doing anything associated with the crop enterprise. Intent is to look at labor requirements for the dairy enterprise only.
[6] Labor for the dairy replacement enterprise should be estimated by first looking at things that are only done on a daily basis. Once all the daily activities are accounted for, next look at things that are only done weekly. Once weekly activities are accounted for, then estimate those activities that may only occur monthly. Please include all hours of labor. If two people take 3 hours to move heifers, this would be 6 hours of labor. Account for all tasks, including the following, feeding, scraping, treating, vet care, pregnancy checks, moving animals, cleaning barns & hutches, breeding, heat detection, record keeping, etc. Please don’t include time spent spreading manure.