Protecting Your Profits

Send us Fan Mail In this June installment of the "Protecting Your Profits" miniseries, Dairy Report Rundown, we were joined by Andy McCarty with Land O' Lakes, to share his take on the most recent USDA Milk Production and Slaughter reports. Andy shared trends he noticed in both reports and what he believes they mean for the U.S. dairy industry. He also provided important updates and...

Send us Fan Mail What areas should you be watching to manage risk and navigate changing dairy market dynamics during this busy planting season? In this month's "Protecting Your Profits" discussion, Kathleen Noble Wolfley and Owen teVelde from Ever. Ag shared six areas to watch this spring, including: milk supply expectations (US and global), support in the Class IV market, cheese ma...

Send us Fan Mail Healthy cows are about biology. Healthy farms are about economics. You need both. In this month’s “Protecting Your Profits" discussion, hear expert insight on biological vs. economic health from Dr. Joe Bender, Associate Professor of Clinical Dairy Production Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania – New Bolton Center. Biological health refers to the physical health of you...

Send us Fan Mail In this February installment of the "Protecting Your Profits" miniseries, Dairy Report Rundown, we were joined by Dr. Jim Lawhead with Penn State Extension, to talk through the January 2026 Lancaster DHIA data. Dr. Lawhead provided his insights into the trends in the data, as well as what the numbers can tell us about the health of Pennsylvania's dairies. He also of...

Send us Fan Mail How can you go from surviving to thriving when it comes to your farm’s financials? How do you navigate economic downturns with your current funds while still finding a way to plan for the future? In this month's "Protecting Your Profits" discussion, Ava Hasbrook, a Business Coach from Legacy Farmer, shared how dairy farmers can evaluate and forecast their long-term...

Send us Fan Mail With the release of the 2025 Pennsylvania Dairy Producer Survey results, we took some time to dive into the data and break down the trends, challenges and opportunities from the survey results — and discuss what this means for the state of Pennsylvania dairy. During our November “Protecting Your Profits” discussion,  Jayne Sebright and Valerie Mason-Faith from the Center for Dairy...

Send us Fan Mail In this October installment of the "Protecting Your Profits" miniseries, Dairy Report Rundown, we were joined by Andy McCarty, with Land O' Lakes, to talk through the most recent World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) and export reports. Andy provided insight into global feed and dairy market trends and what that means for domestic prices and demand....

Send us Fan Mail Cattle markets continue to set new record highs, creating some interesting opportunities for dairy farms. Whether dairy producers are selling beef on dairy cross calves, benefitting from higher cull cow values, or all of the above, it’s an important time to learn about how beef and dairy markets are becoming more intertwined – and how dairy farmers can manage against downside pric...

Send us Fan Mail In this August installment of the "Protecting Your Profits" miniseries, Dairy Report Rundown, we were joined by Dr. Joe Bender, DVM, with the University of Pennsylvania to talk through the most recent USDA Crop Progress report. Dr. Bender provided his take on how this season's crops are shaping up so far compared to prior years. He also offered some advice on best p...

Send us Fan Mail In this month's "Protecting Your Profits" webinar, Dr. Jody Kull from Penn State University shared how dairy farmers can use their farm's specific protocols not just as a once-a-year way to check a box, but how to develop them to prepare for anything that might happen throughout the year. She explained how dairy farmers can use these protocols to mitigate on-fa...

Send us Fan Mail In this June installment of the "Protecting Your Profits" miniseries, Dairy Report Rundown, we were joined by Dr. Brian Reed, DVM, MBA, to talk through the May 2025 Pennsylvania DHIA report. Dr. Reed offered his insight on significant and surprising trends in Pennsylvania's herd performance and reproductive health. He also provided advice and guidance on how individ...

Send us Fan Mail In this month's "Protecting Your Profits" discussion, Jacob Thompson and Andy McCarty, two experienced dairy business advisors from Land O’Lakes, were back to simplify the process of understanding your farm’s break-evens. They found a way to make a complex topic very conversational and resourceful, whether you're managing your farm's financials or helping...

Send us Fan Mail In this April installment of the "Protecting Your Profits" minisode series, Dairy Report Rundown, Rob Goodling with Horizon Farm Credit joined us to discuss recent dairy price reports. He provided valuable insight into the current prices, influencing internal and external factors, and what dairy farmers can do to protect their bottom-line.  To receive weekly dairy market...

Send us Fan Mail In this month's "Protecting Your Profits" discussion, Michael Sherman, Outreach Specialist and Beginning Farmer/Veteran State Coordinator for the USDA Farm Service Agency in PA, shared what dairy farmers need to know about the Dairy Margin Coverage program and how to enroll. Dairy farmers have until March 31, 2025 to enroll in the DMC Program for 2025. During the we...

Send us Fan Mail In this February installment of the new "Protecting Your Profits" minisode series, Dairy Report Rundown, Zach Myers, Director of Member Services with Maola Dairies, sat down with us to discuss the December 2024 Dairy Products report. He covered key points, how the data measured up to expectations, and notable influencing factors.  To receive weekly dairy market updates v...

Send us Fan Mail In this first installment of the new "Protecting Your Profits" minisode series, Dairy Report Rundown, Nicole Colgren, Sales Director with Total Farm Marketing, sat down with us to talk through the December 2024 USDA Milk Production and Cold Storage reports. She covered the significance of the reports, key takeaways, external influencing factors, and what she believes the...

Send us Fan Mail In this month's "Protecting Your Profits" webinar, Kathleen Noble Wolfley and Colin Kadis from Ever. Ag projected the trends and opportunities that might be on the horizon for the dairy marketplace in 2025. They talked about milk supply expectations – both U.S. and global – new cheese capacity, importance of exports, dairy market outlook and domestic demand forecast...

Send us Fan Mail Markets change and they don’t care about what you think they should look like – or what you might need for your cost of production. Are you setting yourself up for long-term success by capturing opportunities before they’re too late? Are you adapting to changing feed and dairy markets to guide your approach to risk management on your dairy farm?     In this month’s free “Protectin...

Send us Fan Mail In this month's "Protecting Your Profits" discussion, Rob Goodling from Horizon Farm Credit breaks down 17 benchmarks that are part of the PA Dairy Performance Indicators project . From year to year, these benchmarks help us compare individual dairy operations to how the top dairies in the data set are performing financially. Rob shares an overview of the 2023 data...

Send us Fan Mail What daily responsibilities on the farm have the highest risk? The answer might surprise you. From animal handling and manure application to horizontal silos and working with heavy machinery, dairy farmers are exposed to a large amount of risk on a daily basis. According to 2019 data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the agricultural sector is the most dangerous in America....

Send us Fan Mail In this month's episode, Kathleen Noble Wolfley and Bryce Windecker from Ever. Ag explored market factors that are influencing feed price and shared strategies to help farmers mitigate feed price risk. They gave an update on key feed commodity markets, including corn, soybean meal, canola and cottonseed. They also shared a deep dive into basis trends in the Northeast and ways...

Send us Fan Mail If you’ve been wondering about the changes released in the FARM 5.0 Program and how they impact dairy producers, Beverly Hampton Phifer, Senior Director of Animal Care from the National Dairy FARM Program, joined us to talk through key changes and updates. From animal care standards to best practices for human resources, farm safety and overall workforce development, Beverly Hampt...

Send us Fan Mail In our June "Protecting Your Profits" discussion, facilitated by Valerie Mason-Faith, Risk Education Manager at the Center, we featured Kathleen Noble Wolfley and Colin Kadis from Ever. Ag. They provide an overview of April’s Pennsylvania Scorecard numbers, Class III and Class IV prices and futures, milk production dynamics, domestic demand, dairy exports, macro markets,...

Send us Fan Mail We held a special "Protecting Your Profits" webinar in March. Jayne Sebright, Executive Director at the Center, led the webinar and invited Cynthia Walters, Agricultural Program Specialist with the USDA, to provide an overview of changes in the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) Program for 2024. With the Farm Bill extended through December, DMC enrollment is now open, with dai...

Send us Fan Mail We hosted a special edition of our monthly “Protecting Your Profits” webinar to kick off a new year.  Rob Goodling from Horizon Farm Credit shared  17 performance indicators that have been gathered and analyzed by the Center, Penn State Extension, and Horizon Farm Credit as part of a joint project. A total of 220 herds of various sizes make up the data set in the findings that Goo...