STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — It’s easy to get off course in the volatile and ever-changing dynamics existing in today’s dairy industry. The 2019 Pennsylvania Dairy Summit program will offer encouragement and guidance to help dairy producers and industry leaders who attend “follow your compass.” This year’s Dairy Summit offers a well-diverse program for dairy farmers, including a mix of presentations, discussions and breakout sessions that bring insight to management styles and a changing industry. The Dairy Summit is scheduled for February 5 and 6, 2019 at the Lancaster Marriott Conference Center.
Hosted annually by the Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania and Center for Dairy Excellence, this premier dairy event offers insight on the latest technology and management insight to enhance individual dairy operations, while offering views on industry dynamics and the factors shaping agriculture in the US. The breakout session topics for the 2019 Dairy Summit includes:
- Around The Table: “Finding Your Work Life Balance” with John Noullet and Jayne Miller of WellSpan PhilHaven. This session will focus on the factors that surround stress, how individuals can take control of stress and anxiety and offer resources to find that balance.
- At The Desk: “Developing Your Team Through Your Passion” with Tom Wall of Dairy Coach, LLC. This session will focus on how leaders and their teams can find success through productivity, accountability and dedication while offering resources and advice to meet team potentials.
- With The Cows: “Disease Prevention Through Colostrum” with Dr. Billy Smith of PennVet. This session will focus on the approaches to starting calves with high quality colostrum, including proper storage and preferred components, and their influences on disease prevention. Smith will highlight the importance of the quality of the immunoglobulin content in colostrum and how bacteria can impact its effectiveness.
- In The Fields: “Agronomic Benefits of Integrated Small Grains into a Dairy Rotation” with Dr. Heather Karsten of Penn State. This session will focus on integrating small grains into a dairy rotation, such as spring soil moisture management, soil conservation, helping with manure nutrient management needs and weed control.
- Around The Table: “Bridging the Generational Gap” with Haydn Shaw, leadership author and TED Talk speaker. This session will focus on how your business can have generations that work together as well as the twelve individual places that they come apart.
- At The Desk: “Making Peer Groups Work” with Dr. Robert Fry, Dr. Cory Myers and Dr. Charles Gardner. This panel will discuss the best management practices for discussion groups, how their respective groups have had success and how they kept going, and how to start up a group.
- With The Cows: “Comparing Calving Facilities” with Dr. Michaela Kristula of Penn State. This session will focus on the advantages and disadvantages of calving facilities and her research on the best management practices on designing and maintaining calving care.
- In The Fields: “Developing a Plan for Your Planting Needs” with Dr. Tom Kilcer of Cornell University. This session will focus on soils that drive the rotation which effects what the cows are fed. It is a whole farm view where we use alternative and regular crops in a mix that is specific to each farm and the animals they are feeding.
- At The Desk: “Working Through Mergers and Acquisitions” with Michael Peachey of Acuity Advisors and George Cook of Blakinger Thomas. This session will provide insight on the legal, business, finance, tax and process aspects of mergers and acquisitions.
- With The Cows: “Livestock and Climate Change: Fact or Faked?” with Frank Mitloehner of UC Davis. This session will mainly focus on the impact that livestock has on the environment and climate change. In addition, Mitloehner will discuss his research in air quality and environmental physiology in relation to livestock production.
- In the Fields: “Understanding WIP and Agriculture’s Role” with John Bell of Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and Matt Royer of Penn State. This panel session will focus on the Ag Workgroup’s recommendation of the WIP, how it will affect individual farms, the timeline involved, how it can be more individual and the entities that are involved on the process.
Thanks to grants and support from the Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania and the Center for Dairy Excellence, registration fees for dairy producers and all farm employees are set to be as affordable to farm operations as possible. And considering the challenging economics in the industry going into 2018, the Center for Dairy Excellence is committing an additional $50 for all dairy farmers so producer registration is only $75 for the first registrant and $50 for each additional person from the farm.
In addition, there is a discounted group rate for hotel rooms at the Lancaster Marriott; the rate is $121 per night for single, double, triple and quad occupancy, plus state and local taxes. Rooms will be reserved on a first come first served basis and the deadline for reserving at the Summit discounted rate is January 21st. The reduced group rate is only available as long as there are rooms remaining within the group block.
To learn more about the program, view highlights and register for the 2019 Pennsylvania Dairy Summit program, go to padairysummit.org or centerfordairyexcellence.org. Contact the Pennsylvania Dairy Summit Business Office with questions at 814-355-2467 or email info@padairysummit.org.
— Center for Dairy Excellence