Management Skills in Dairy

							     Environmental
 Management Systems on
      Dairy Farms
Idaho Association of Soil and
  Water Conservation Districts

Cornell University

University of Wisconsin-Madison
          Dairy EMS

• Idaho
 Jeanne Brittingham
• New York
 Peter Wright
• Wisconsin
 Brian Holmes
           Dairy EMS

• Flexibility
• Incentives
• Resources
             Flexibility

• Dairy Farms
 Size
 Management styles
   Functional EMS
 Environmental Issues
          Incentives

• Save Money
• Reduce Costs
• Environmental Image
   Industry
   Neighbors
• Management concerns
              Resources

•   Time
•   Expertise
•   Management commitment
•   Costs
      EMS development
      Implementation
IDAHO DAIRY PILOT PROJECT

• A CONDENSED EMS APPROACH
  FOR SMALL AND MID-SIZED
  OPERATORS IN A REGULATED
  ENVIRONMENT
THE REGULATORY CONTEXT


• 1999: The Idaho Legislature gave
  regulatory authority over the dairy
  industry to the Idaho Department of
  Agriculture.
THE REGULATORY CONTEXT

• 2001 The web-based OnePlan
  Comprehensive Nutrient
  Management Plan

• 2003 The web-based OnePlan
  Comprehensive Planner

• 2004 A Certificate of Sufficiency
   A CONDENSED AND SELF-
   DIRECTED EMS APPROACH

• A 25-page condensed guidebook/workbook

• 11 small and mid-sized operators
     (65 to 400 milk cows)

• Uncoached

• Completed condensed EMSs in periods of up
  to five hours.
       Idaho Stakeholders

•   NRCS
•   Idaho Dept. of Environmental Quality
•   University of Idaho
•   Idaho Dept. of Ag.
•   Idaho Cattlemens Assoc.
•   Idaho Dairymen’s Assoc.
•   Idaho EPA
         Idaho Findings

• Conservation and Stewardship are
  not stand alone values
• Identifying problems are difficult,
  solutions are available
• Ability to revise plan is an asset
• Need EMS to reduce environmental
  liability risk
• Strong public relations value
    DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION
       ANALYSIS SUGGESTS
• Positive compatibility with current values
• Positive experience with trialabiltiy
  (revising their plan)
• Positive experience with the condensed
  complexity of materials
• Negative relative advantage in a regulated
  environment
• No data for observability
OPERATOR DECISION FACTORS
IDENTIFIED FROM INTERVIEWS

• Stewardship          • Regulatory issues
• Future orientation   • Liability
• Environmental        • Technical help
     concerns          • Information
• Solution options          availability
• Costs                • Financial help
      LESSONS LEARNED

• A self-directed approach with self-
  explanatory materials does not offer
  sufficient depth of understanding to
  demonstrate EMS advantages to
  small and mid-sized operators.
      LESSONS LEARNED

• Without financial reward, there is
  little incentive for regulated
  operators to adopt an EMS approach.
      FUTURE DIRECTION

• A revised, less linear, EMS approach
  for small and mid-sized operators
  New York Pilot Program

• PRO-DAIRY Management
• Agricultural Environmental
  Management (AEM)
• 5 pilot farms
• Agricultural Consultants
       EMS Management
          Schemes
•   PRO-DAIRY
•   AEM
•   NRCS Planning
•   ISO14001
•   Others
    PRO-DAIRY Management

•   Planning
•   Organizing
•   Controlling
•   Directing
•   Staffing

• Framework for study and improvement
    of management skills
PRO-DAIRY Management
      PRO-DAIRY Management

  Management applied to:

  •   Feeding            • Finance
  •   Milk Quality       • Intensive
  •   Heifers              Grazing
  •   Forage             • Dairy Record
  •   Manure/Nutrient    • Reproductive

EMS—Management applied to Environmental Impacts
Agricultural Environmental
   Management (AEM)
• Tier I Collect Information
• Tier II Assessment
• Tier IIIA Specific Issue Plan
• Tier IIIB CNMP
• Tier IIIC Total Resource
  Management Plan
• Tier IV Plan Implementation
• Tier V Evaluation and Revision
Agricultural Environmental
   Management (AEM)

         A roadmap of agricultural
  environmental policies and programs in
              New York State
                                    Framework
                                   for Planning




AEM Planner              AEM Tiered                      Education and
Certification             Process                          Outreach

 Planner Review          Tier I: Initial Questionnaire    Water Quality Symposium

 Planner Certification   Tier II: On-farm Assessment      AEM Workshops
                         Tier IIIA: Simple Nutrient       LPES for NYS
 Planner Updates
                            Management Plan
                                                          AEM Web Site
                         Tier IIIB: Comprehensive         and List-serve
                            Nutrient Management Plan
                         Tier IIIC: Total Resource
                            Management Plan (SWAPA+H)
                         Tier IV: Plan Implementation
                         Tier V: Evaluation
        NRCS Planning

1. Determine       5. Formulate
   Objectives         Alternatives
2. Identify        6. Evaluate
   Problems           Alternatives
3. Inventory       7. Make Decisions
   Resources       8. Implement Plan
4. Analyze         9. Evaluate Plan
   Resource Data
    ISO 14001 Requirements

•   Policy
•   Planning
•   Implementation and Operation
•   Checking and Corrective Action
•   Management Review
International Organization
 for Standardization (ISO)
• Worldwide federation of
    national standards bodies

• American National Standards
  Institute (ANSI)

• Global Recognition
                   DairyWorks       TM

      9000:2000


TheSIX
SIGMA
                   Dairy BTM
  WAY             Breakthrough Management
      Dry Period
                           Transition
                                                Metabolic Disorders
Systems as a gathering
of related processes
                                                                          Health
                                                          Disease
                               Ventilation
                                                                                  Reproduction
                                                 Air Quality                                      Genetic Selection
                     Stall Design

               Stall Maintenance             Body Comfort          Environment:
                                                                                        Replacements
                                                                    Whole Cow
                                                                                         Enterprise
           Cooling/Draft Protection          Thermoneutrality
                                                                         Age
                                     Water quality/quantity
                Availability                                             Stage
                                                                                       Manufacturing:
             Forage Quality:                                                            Cow Status
                                             Feed Consumption
             Relative Maturity                                        Inputs
                and Form                                                                                         Quantity
                                                 Nutritive Value                                                *Lbs. Milk
             Concentrate:
                                                                                                                 per cow
           Quality, Quantity and
                                                                           Timeliness
          Complement to Forages
                                                                                                 Harvest                     Salable
                                                                                                                              Milk
                                                                           Effectiveness
                                                                                                                 Quality
                                                                                                                 *SCC
                                                                                            Environment:         *SPC
                                                                                              Udder
                                                                                                                 Customer:
                                                                                                                 Processor

                                                                                                                Customer:
                                                                                                                Consumer
                                                                       Biosecurity/Herd Health
                                                                                                  Environmental Effect
Replacements
                           Weanling Calves                                      Physical Environments



                                             Baby Calves

                                                                                             People




                                                 Fresh


  Big Bred Heifers
                                                                                                        Genetic Future
                                                                                                      Reproduction
                                                           Feeding

       Transition Cows                          Milk Production Cycle
                                                         Milk Harvest/Quality




                         Dry Cows

                                                                                   Dairy Production Systems
Partnerships for Livestock
           EMS
• Organize a support system to
  reduce impacts on environment
    Involve Stakeholders
    Develop Tools
    Pilot projects
    Evaluate Results
    Propagate Results
Partnerships for Livestock
           EMS
Involve Stakeholders:
  NY Agricultural Environmental
  Management (AEM)
 Ag & Markets
 Farm Bureau
 Dairy Producers
 Dept. of Environmental
     Conservation
 NRCS
 Cooperative Extension
 SWCD
         Dairy EMS Pilot

• Assessment Tools – AEM
  Environmental Stewardship Goals
  Farm Nutrient Balance
  Farmstead Facilities, Manure Related
   Concerns
  Farmstead Facilities, Other Concerns
  Manure Storage
  Range and Pasture Management
        Develop Tools

• Dairified Assessment
  worksheets
• Farmstead Facilities, Other
  Concerns
• AEM Livestock odor
  management
• Guidebook
• Tactical planning
       Pilot projects

NY AEM
– over 6,000 farms through
 assessment
– over 1,000 farms through planning
– Implementation over 1,000 farms

5 farms for full EMS process
         Pilot projects

• 5 farms for full EMS process
  Progressive managers
  CAFO plans
   Certified planner
   Experience with consultants
  100% acceptance
           Miner Institute

•   Experimental Farm
•   Farm manager
•   Policy statement
•   Assessment (done by CAFO)
•   Principles
•   5 different objectives:
    Odors, Appearance, Solid manure storage,
     Nutrient pollution, Manure application
         Hemdale Farms

•   Also vegetable grower
•   Supplier demanded ISO 14001
•   Consultant
•   Quality control and assurance
    Pathogens, manure spreading
     nutrient management
          Aurora Dairy

• Policy statement
• Objectives
  Odor control and pollution
   prevention
• Tactical plan for:
  Silage leachate
  Anaerobic digestion
            EZ Acres

• Involved processor and
  community in policy formation
• Objectives
  Nutrient control
  Drinking water protection
• Tactical plan
  Manure storage
          Willet Dairy

• Policy statement
  Community acceptance
  Employee education
• Objectives:
  Odor and Water Quality
• Tactical plan for CAFO
  implementation
  Develop written SOP’s
   PRO-DAIRY Management

• Tactical plans:
  Steps needed to accomplish a goal
  Translates decisions into actions
  Where you are  Where you want to be


• Tactical plans:
  What must be done?    How will it be done?
  Who will do it ?      When will it be done?
   EMS and Agricultural
      Consultants
• Seminar
• Public and Private
• Need to take the CAFO plan to
  the next step
• Commitment of time and effort
      EMS Advantages

• Improve environmental
  performance beyond
  compliance
• Prevent pollution
• Involve the whole organization
• Improve efficiencies
• Public relations
• Meet customer requirements
       Dairy Pilot Results

•   Working model of EMS process
•   Farms with EMS
•   Consultant interest
•   Evaluation

• Perhaps a system that moves
  the dairy industry forward
 Wisconsin Dairy Environmental
Management Systems Pilot Project
 Brian Holmes, Biological Systems Engineering
 Karl Hakanson, Environmental Resources Center
 Janice Kepka, Environmental Resources Center
Wisconsin
The Badger State




               77,000 farms
                    on
                15,900,000
                   acres
~ 16,764 dairy farms
 w/1,256,000 dairy
  cows that average

17,728 lbs. milk/cow
  and 74 cows/farm
  -- 34,000 dairy farms in 1990 --




#1 cheese production
 #2 milk production



 ~ 80 Dairy CAFOs
 ~ 120 CAFOs Total
Wisconsin Delivery Approaches


 Work with agricultural and environmental
  interests to develop and promote AgEMS


 Develop and test web-based environmental
  self-assessment tools
Wisconsin Delivery Approaches

 Develop EMS Guidebook & related materials


 Coach EMS pilots on dairy farms and UW
  Agricultural Research Stations


 Farmer organized AgEMS class in Lake
  Michigan watershed
Wisconsin AgEMS Partners
Broad support from agricultural & environmental interests



    Dairy Business Association
    Dairy Quality Assurance Center
    Farm Credit Services
    Trout Unlimited
    USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
    UW Cooperative Extension Service
    WI Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer
        Protection
    WI Dept. of Natural Resources
    Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board
  Environmental Management System

          Guidebook                                               AgEMS Guidebook
              for Wisconsin Farms                                - Worksheets & templates

                                                                 - Comprehensive
                                                                   Environmental
                                                                   Assessment Resources

                                                                 - Functional approach

                                                                 - Performance-based

                                                                 - Farmer-friendly


   A self-directed process of continual improvement through
commitment to environmental stewardship & business efficiency.
Web-Based Environmental Assessments
Results
On-line assessments tools:
What we learned...
   Farmers & educators are looking for ways to ID
            environmental issues

   Software & hardware complications (and consent
           forms for research) hinder use

   Useful tools need to be understandable,
            comprehensive & flexible

   May need assistance (vs self-assessment);
           assessments prompt more questions
Results
Comprehensive AgEMS guidebook

What we learned...

   Management systems thinking is not common

   Important concepts cannot be explained in two pages,
           i.e., the details are important
Results
Developed EMSs on two large dairies &
two UW agricultural research stations

What we learned...

   Farmers can readily ID many environmental issues and
           are eager to solve problems

   Farmers like an “expert’s” eye to ID problems
            and make recommendations

   It takes what farmers have the least of: time
Results
Insurance premium reductions
 if EMS used

 What we learned...
     We need more tangible benefits like this!

     Risk reduction is one aspect of
            environmental management

     Unregulated farms need other incentives
Results
State-wide understanding, interest
           and support
 What we learned...

    It takes time for people to realize an EMS is not
            just assessments and/or BMPs

    People are ready to move beyond “command
          and control”

    It is vital for the agricultural and environmental
             communities to work together
Results
WI DNR collaboration
 What we learned...

    Parts of the State’s regulatory authority wants to
           move beyond simple compliance and believes
           the EMS concept can play a key role

    Other parts of the agency are not supportive
The Mind




The Most Important
Farm “Technology“