Sharpen Your Dairy Skills while We Flatten the Curve - Webinar Series II
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EmailA second round of Michigan State University Extension webinars to help dairy industry advisors with continuing education during the current stay-at-home mandate.
In an effort to help dairy industry advisors with continuing education during the current stay-at-home mandate, Michigan State University Extension hosted four webinars beginning on March 30. With more than 700 views across these webinars, a second round has been added to meet the demand for online material. Through April 28, join MSU at 10 AM on Tuesday and Thursday mornings to get up to date on the latest research, financial tools, and software skills.
Join any of these live webinars or watch previously-recorded webinars in the series at the MSU Extension Dairy Team YouTube channel.
Tuesday, April 14, 10 AM EDT
Can your dairy benefit from the Payroll Protection Program?
- Karl Jones, Rabo AgriFinance
The newly-passed CARES act includes a provision for small business loans to cover payroll expenses, which can be forgiven. We will review the details of this program and how dairies can apply.
Dairy Revenue Protection strategies in the wake of COVID-19
- Cody Koster, Rice Dairy
The DRP program provides a mechanism for dairy producers to lock in pricing for their milk. After the steep decline in milk futures prices left behind by COVID-19, we’ll discuss whether this mechanism can help dairies survive the 2nd half of 2020.
Thursday, April 16, 10 AM EDT
Diving deeper into PCDart
- Doug Moyer, CentralStar Cooperative
Following Doug’s popular first webinar in this series, participants asked for an encore. In this 2nd session, we will cover some additional advanced features to evaluate herd performance and diagnose problems using PCDart.
Tuesday, April 21, 10 AM EDT
Managing calving intervals to increase average daily milk production
- J. Richard Pursley, Michigan State University Department of Animal Science
A secret to success among dairy farms with high milk production is to maximize the percent of the herd near peak milk production. There is no way to accomplish that without a successful reproductive program. Dr. Pursley will share his insights into how dairy consultants can help their clients achieve greater milk production through focused reproductive management.
Thursday, April 23, 10 AM EDT
Digesters and dairies – what is driving the new interest?
- Dana Kirk, Michigan State University Department of Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering
Anaerobic digesters offer dairy farms an alternative for manure handling while potentially generating a new source of revenue. However, they don’t come without challenges. Dr. Kirk will review the basics of the process, the current market for renewable natural gas, options for farms to consider, and whether digesters are a good option for dealing with dumped milk and food waste.
Tuesday, April 28, 10 AM EDT
Considerations for designing and retrofitting dairy manure handling systems
- Dana Kirk, Michigan State University Department of Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering
With increasingly strict rules on manure handling and spreading, some dairy producers are considering investments in manure handling and separation systems. Dr. Kirk will review different technologies and consider tradeoffs of different approaches to manure handling.
You can access the channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5zgDnjQ-cxRgp20rRUu06g or by using the QR Code below. For additional information, please email Dr. Barry Bradford at bjbrad@msu.edu.
