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Farm Management Specialist Dale M. Johnson
Q: How important is dairy farming to Maryland?A: Marylanders consume about 22 gallons of milk per person annually. This totals over 125,000,000 gallons of milk. Our 500 dairy farms have 50,000 dairy cows that produce over 100,000,000 gallons of milk annually to help meet this demand. Farm gate sales of Milk and related products are almost $200,000,000 a year. So from a production and financial viewpoint, dairy farming is very important to Maryland.
Q: How does this relate to land usage? If the land wasn?t in dairy production, are there other more profitable enterprises that it could be used for?
A: Those dairy cows utilize about 200,000 acres of feed stuffs. The cows consume the corn, hay, and other crops from this land and convert them into a higher value product which increases profits for farmers. If we didn?t have dairy farming some of the land might be converted to high value nursery, fruit, or vegetable crops. But it is likely that some of the land would be developed. So, dairy farms help to keep open space. What person driving down the road doesn?t enjoy the bucolic scene of a herd of Holstein cows lazily grazing in a pasture making milk for school lunches?
Q: Will dairy farming be viable in the future?
A: Since 1994, I have conducted a financial analysis of Maryland Dairy farms. The most recent years, 2007-2009 show that dairy farms participating in the analysis generate about $60,000 profit per farm. This is the return to the farm family?s labor and management. This is higher than the median household income of $51,000 for Washington County where many of the farms in this study reside. Dairy farmers enjoy their livelihoods and as long as they can generate a reasonable living, they want to continue farming. The number of dairy farms has constantly declined over the past decades but dairy farms will be around for the foreseeable future in Maryland.
Q How does this financial analysis that you do benefit dairy farmers?
A: My analysis helps us understand the economics of dairy farms in Maryland. The data have been used in formulating government policy relating to the dairy industry. All dairy farmers in Maryland can use the data as benchmarks to compare their farms to. I send out an individual financial analysis to each farm participating in the study to help them see the specific strengths and weaknesses in their operations. They can then focus their management on areas that need improvement.
Q: Is there any interesting changes taking place on dairy farms?
A: Traditionally cows are confined much of the time to a dairy barn where they are fed a machine harvested ration of corn silage, hay, and grains. The manure collected from the barn is then spread back out on the fields. This system is capital and labor intensive. Some dairy farmers are converting to ?management intensive grazing? methods. The cows are rotated through small pasture paddocks of grass and legumes where they harvest their own feed and spread their own manure. This requires less capital and labor from the farmer. My analysis shows that farmers employing this method reduce their costs and generate a higher profit per cow. Some agronomic studies have also indicated that these methods may be more environmentally sound.
Q: How do you involve dairy farmers in educational activities at the University of Maryland?
A: I teach a course at the University that helps students from across campus understand farm management and agricultural practices. One year I was able to take the students on a field trip to see how different types of dairy farms operate. Other years I have had dairy farmers come in to speak to the students to explain the production and economics of dairy farming.
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Last updated: 02/9/2011