For Immediate Release – July 14, 2010

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Professional Dairy Managers Of Pennsylvania Offers August 5 Program on How to Make Money at Dairy Farming

Bellefonte, PA – Dairy producers across the country agree that at no time in the history of modern dairy farming has the need for improved profitability been more urgent. The Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania is recognizing the need to help dairy producers find new strategies to increase their income with a special workshop beginning at 8:30 am on Thursday, August 5 in Martinsburg, PA.

The morning educational program on “How to Make Money at Dairy Farming” will be followed by an afternoon tour of the Kulp Family Farm near Martinsburg organized by Phil Kulp, who introduced the farm to great response at the 2010 PA Dairy Summit in February.

“It is PDMP’s goal to give dairy producers specifics they can take home and put to work,” according to the organization’s president Glenn Gorrell. He referenced the portion of the program featuring dairymen Sean Jones, Lester Jones & Sons Inc., Massey, MD; John Knopf, Fa Ba Farms, LLC, Canandaigua, NY; and John Mueller, Willowbend Farm, Clifton Springs, NY, noting, “Some of the best advice will come from our fellow dairy farmers who have remained profitable in times that have been especially challenging for dairy producers.”

Michael Hosterman, Ag Business Consultant with AgChoice Farm Credit, will kick-off the day’s session by outlining five areas that are key to profitability in dairy farming. He’ll be using information gained by studying five year trends at Top 20 farms. Then he’ll bring it home for the audience by discussing ways the keys are tied to industry skills and management that are within the control of the dairy farmer.

His presentation will be followed by the panel of producers talking about “Strategies for Thriving in Good Times and Bad.” Jones, Knopt and Mueller will relate their success to the five keys to profitability identified by Hosterman. Each of the farms represented by these dairymen has been a leader in The Farm Credit Benchmark Study. President Gorrell points out, “PDMP is founded on the principal that dairy producers can improve by studying the successes of other farmers and then evaluating how best to implement those practices in their own operations.”

To round out the program, Hosterman will be joined by fellow industry experts Michael Peachey from Acuity Advisors and CPAs and Jeff Mamett of Pfizer Animal Health as they offer some predictions about how the future will look for farmers. This will be an interactive session which will also draw on the experience of all the producers in the audience to search for answers about dairy’s future.

Bringing the discussion into a Pennsylvania perspective, Phil Kulp will give an overview of Kulp Family Farms and then after lunch everyone will head out to tour one of the state’s dairy success stories. The Kulp family used careful strategies and a bit of good fortune to grow their dairy operation over the years to its present size of more than 2,000 cows, while they remain committed to stewardship of their animals, the environment, and their financials.

PDMP is offering “How to Make Money at Dairy Farming” to position dairy farmers for a secure future in dairying by helping them make better personal decisions about their operations. The $25 per person fee for PDMP members is designed to make it possible for a farm’s entire operation team to attend. To help producers who do not hold PDMP membership, the organization continues its offer allowing a non-member to attend one Issue Forum at the member rate. The standard non-member fee is $75 per person. Online registration is available at PDMP’s website, www.pdmp.org.

PDMP is an organization of progressive, positive-minded dairy producers and agribusiness leaders. Its mission is to advance the dairy industry in Pennsylvania through improved productivity and profitability. PDMP Premier Partners providing support include: Acuity Advisors and CPAs, AgChoice Farm Credit, Cargill Animal Nutrition, Elanco Animal Health, Lancaster Dairy Farm Automation, Lancaster DHIA, Land O’Lakes, Pennfield Dairy Profitability Team, Pfizer Animal Health, Pioneer Hi-Bred, and Triple H Construction. For more information on PDMP, visit their website at www.pdmp.org or email info@pdmp.org.