What’s Your Number?

Profile Picture of Post's Author Jesse Petersen | Posted July 3, 2023

Have you ever sat down at your computer, wanting to look for ways to improve the dairy or thought that the cows had been off a little this week only to be overwhelmed with data that, at times, seems to even contradict itself? If you have then you’re not alone. Many managers face this challenge and with the constantly improving technology it is easy to feel buried by all the new information. So, how do we resolve this issue?

First, know your goals and know your farm. Most herd management data is designed to provide answers to almost every question that a farm manager can ask, but if you ask every question then you will most likely find yourself more confused than before. Instead, work with your consultant to find key indicators that help demonstrate “tipping points” on the farm. One way that your consultant may do this is by looking back at previous years data and what indicated a change was coming before it actually occurred. A few of these data points may be peak milk data, MUN numbers or days in milk. Not every number will mean the same to every farm, so make sure that these numbers help you meet your goals.

Second, keep it simple. Set up a custom folder with easy-to-read reports and a smaller set of data to make it easier to confirm that the farm is moving in the right direction. Another tool that I am starting to really enjoy is the GPS My Dairy Dashboard. It allows for all data to be simplified, customized and found in one location.

While keeping it simple, don’t forget to possibly include some of the more classic data sets examples, including Penn State shaker data, feed pushups and time in the holding pen. Depending on the farm, some of these data points may correlate with others that are captured in some form of electronic data. Again, work with your consultant to confirm where those data points may be or to find an easy way to track this data

Third, return and report. This simplified data will only help the farm if it is utilized. Set a regular time to review these points. A friend of mine used to always says this quote by Thomas Monson which is, “When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates.” I’d invite you to take this challenge to heart and see where it can take your farm for the rest of 2023.

View the PDF of this blog post here.

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