Controlling Your
Dairy Destiny
It’s no secret that
the costs of
producing milk have
outpaced the income
from conventional
sales. Many of our
dairies are in
crisis and many more
have already folded
under the pressure.
Invest in a track
that will
demonstrate the
multiple avenues to
success in a dairy
operation. Leave
this track with
innovative ways to
individualize your
existing dairy, to
buffer the current
market, and provide
for a position of
strength for the
future. Get the
insight, gain
experience, and make
the connections
necessary to control
your dairy destiny
with confidence.
Thursday, February 4th
9:00 –
9:20am Welcome,
Introductions and
Logistics
9:20 –
10:00am Controlling
your Dairy Destiny:
How’d We Get Here?
John Bunting, Delhi
NY
Reflecting upon and
understanding the
policies and actions
that have resulted
in the current
circumstances is
essential if we are
to create a new
model of dairying.
John Bunting will
give us some
background that will
enable us to move
forward without
repeating past
patterns.
10:00 –
10:45am Cheese
in the Hills – The
Birchrun Hills Farm
Story
Sue Miller, Birchrun
Hills
Farm
Sue Miller tells the
story of their
dairy, describing
how value added
cheese making has
allowed them to
position themselves
successfully in the
emerging market and
buffer themselves
from volatility.
10:45 – 11:00am
Break
11:00am – 12:15pm
Antitrust and
International Trade
Policy: How They
Affect Prices
Michael Stumo, CEO,
Coalition for a
Prosperous America
A farmer can do
everything right in
production and
marketing, but be
economically
overwhelmed by price
depression and
market access
resulting from
agribusiness
concentration and
wrongheaded trade
agreements. This
session will discuss
the state of
agribusiness
concentration,
international trade
policy, and what can
be done to correct
them.
12:15 –
1:00pm
Three Generations of
Milking;
Three Decades of
Grazing
Kim Seeley, Milky
Way Farm, Troy PA
Kim Seeley shares
his family dairy
story, a story that
involves over three
decades of grazing,
the development of
an on farm store and
restaurant and
marketing to
institutions.
1:00 –
1:45pm Lunch
1:45 –
2:45pm Ecology
as a Model for
Organic Dairy
Production
Francis Thicke,
Radiance Dairy,
Fairfield Iowa
Using a real-farm
example, Francis
Thicke will explore
ways to utilize the
efficiency, energy,
and organizing power
of nature’s ecology
in order to design
and manage a
grass-based dairy
that is profitable,
environmentally
sound, and builds
ecological capital.
2:45 –
3:30pm
Controlling Your
Dairy Destiny:
What’s Next?
John Bunting, Delhi
NY
Taking what we have
learned about what
isn’t working, John
Bunting will
continue by
addressing how we
can build on what is
working, creating a
new dairy model.
3:30 –
3:45pm
Break
3:45 –
4:30pm MooEcho
Farm Experience -
Buffering the Bottom
Line Through Grazing
Duane Hertzler,
MooEcho Farm
Duane Hertlzer
provides a tour of
his farm, which
integrates grazing
into a more
conventional dairy
management system.
4:30 –
5:00pm
Our Dairy Destiny
Francis Thicke ,
Radiance
Dairy, Fairfield
Iowa
Francis Thicke will
distill the day and
offer some comments
about the future of
dairy farming.
