NY Dairy farmers urged to apply for Dairy Profit Teams in statewide program launch

[EditorBob]

Check out our look at this program in June's Farming: The Journal of Northeast Agriculture here: http://www.farmingmagazine.com/article.php?id=3466

NEWS***

New York dairy farmers may apply for funding to offset the cost of establishing a Dairy Profit Team, under a program by the New York Center for Dairy Excellence.

The NY Center for Dairy Excellence will establish 45 news teams across the state this year, under an initiative launched this spring.

``Dairy farmers have asked for this program. They’ve seen how this program can be successful for other farms, and they want a program that available to all dairy farmers, all over the state,’’ said Mark Kenville, director of the NY Center for Dairy Excellence.

Applications for farm teams will be online as of June 1. Visit www.nyfvi.org; click on ``New York Center for Dairy Excellence,’’ then ``Programs & Initiatives,’’ then ``Dairy Profit Teams.’’

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, until funding is exhausted.

Dairy Profit Teams are a group of advisors that help a farmer work through defined issues and opportunities on the farm, and develop strategies for change. Team members are often agronomists, veterinarians, animal nutritionists, bankers, and others. They may come from agribusiness, Cooperative Extension, or elsewhere.

Team members offer solutions and suggestions. The farmer is ultimately responsible for farm management decisions.

New York’s Dairy Profit Teams are based on similar programs in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and elsewhere. Recently, the New York Center for Dairy Excellence and NY Farm Viability Institute conducted a pilot project that established 15 teams around the state.

Under the statewide initiative, teams will be eligible for up to $2,400 in reimbursements, or, roughly $100 per meeting for each of five team members and a team facilitator. Typically, the reimbursements cover 80 percent of the cost of running the team in its first year.

Teams are required to meet at least five times over approximately one year. Teams may start as early as June, or as late as October.

In selecting teams for the statewide initiative, a volunteer review committee that includes a farmer, extension educator, agribusiness representative, and university researcher, will strive for diversity across farms, including herd size, production practices, geographic region, and more.

Successful farm applicants will assemble their teams and work within the team to identify goals and issues for the team to address. Farmers will select a team facilitator from a list of approximately 50 trained facilitators.

Team facilitators will provide training for the team in conducting a Dairy Profit Team, will help keep meetings on tasks, and more.

The New York Center for Dairy Excellence is a nonprofit group which jumpstarts programs to strengthen the dairy industry. The NY Dairy Industry Task Force, a volunteer group of farmers and representatives from agribusiness, Cooperative Extension, nonprofit groups, and others serve as the advisory group to the NY Center for Dairy Excellence.

The Center is an initiative of the NY Farm Viability Institute, a farmer-led nonprofit group that awards grants to projects that help farmers improve profitability. Both the NY Center for Dairy Excellence and NY Farm Viability Institute received funding from the NYS legislature and Department of Agriculture and Markets.

For more information about the NY Dairy Profit Team program, call (315) 453-3823 or email mkenville@nycde.org.