Dairy Profit Teams

A traditional Dairy Profit Team offers participating dairy farms a broad-based approach to making better decisions and improving profitability through the use of a profit team. Participating farms enrolled in the program must have the goal of increasing profitability and total milk flow from the farm.

Profit Team Application

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

More about the Dairy Profit Team Program

The Program:

  • New Profit Teams are eligible to receive up to $3,500 in the first 18 months of operation to offset the cost of paid team members. Funding for profit teams in existence prior to Nov. 1, 2007, has also been increased to $3,000 in total.
  • 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.
  • Once accepted into the program, the producer chooses team members, which could include key farm management, lender, nutritionist, veterinarian, accountant and A.I. or DHIA representative, as well as a team facilitator. The facilitator’s role is critical to the team, so facilitators are encouraged to attend Facilitator Training Workshops.
  • The producer can enlist the service of a Practical Dairy Advisors (PDA), who is an experienced producer hired by the Center to serve as an advisor for a dairy farm involved in the profit team or target team programs.
  • The Profitability Assessment Dairy Tool (PA Dairy Tool) developed by Penn State Dairy Extension is available to help the team drill down to specific bottlenecks in the operation. The Center will cover 100 percent of the cost, up to $1,000 in total, associated with using that tool.
    Please note: To use the PA Dairy Tool, farms must have detailed financial data available for input into the tool. The spreadsheet they must use to collect data, along with instructions on how to complete the spreadsheet, are available online at http://www.das.psu.edu/das/dairy/patool.
  • Other resources can be used to help the farm evaluate the operation and identify ways to accomplish the targeted improvement. The Center will cover 100 percent of the cost associated with those resources, up to $1,000 for any individual component or resource for the team.
  • The profit team meets either monthly or bi-monthly to evaluate the farm operation, include both financial and performance records. Target areas of improvement are identified, and goals are set for each area. Action plans are prepared.
  • Activities and results are monitored, and additional plans/strategies are developed as the Team meets routinely. Next highest priority items are incorporated into the plan/activities as time and manpower allow.
  • Progress continues, and the profit team becomes a sounding board for new on-profit improvement ideas and to troubleshoot existing challenges on the farms.

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