Target Profit Teams

A target team offers new approach complementing the existing Dairy Profit Team program to help producers solve a specific operational bottleneck or develop a specific new initiative.

Target Team Fact Sheet and Application

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

The Program:

  • Target Teams have access to $3,500 in funding to cover 100 percent of the costs associated with the target team. They also must participate in a “start-up” training workshop.
  • The Center and Penn State Dairy Alliance, an initiative of Penn State Cooperative Extension, provide a “start- up” training workshop for new teams and assign a support person to each team to provide resources and share successful ideas from other teams. Click here for dates and times of upcoming team training sessions.
  • The $3,500 in funding could be used to cover up to 100 percent of all costs associated with the target team, including the cost of paid team members (up to $450 per meeting) and the cost of any discovery-related cost, up to $1,000 for any individual component or resource.
  • Examples could include:
    • Using a Practical Dairy Advisor -- an experienced producer hired by the Center and paid by the producer through the Target Team Program to provide consulting expertise to the Target Team farm
    • Using the PA Dairy Tool – developed by Penn State Dairy Extension to help drill down to specific bottlenecks in the operation. Find out more at the PA Dairy Tool website.
    • Culturing herd to identify bacteria causing high SCC or mastitis.
    • Forage, manure and water testing to identify feeding or water quality problems.
    • Putting together a business plan to initiate an expansion or modernization project.
  • When applying, the producer must identify the bottleneck improvement area or key initiative they want to address with the Target Team and the timeline in which they plan to accomplish their end goal.
  • The producer also identifies team members, which would include a core group of individuals who can serve as advisors on the issue. The team members can represent traditional and non-traditional areas – such as engineering, legal, planning.
  • Target teams must complete an initial and summary questionnaire to document change or improvement resulting from the team’s efforts.
  • The Target Team must meet regularly to evaluate the progress the farm is making toward accomplishing the goal and to develop/assign the next steps team members and the farm should take in accomplishing goal.
  • Upon completion of goal, Producers must provide documentation of accomplished results during the Target Team’s existence. Use of the PA Dairy Tool developed by Penn State Dairy Extension is strongly recommended for this purpose. Click on http://www.das.psu.edu/das/dairy/patool to find out more.

For more information, contact Program Manager Heather Hostetter at 717-346-0849 or c-hhostett@state.pa.us.