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Missouri Department of Agriculture

Ag Business Development

Dairy

In Missouri dairy operations are exploring several avenues to protect or increase their income per cow. Some of these are intensive rotational grazing, networking with other dairies, more formal arrangements like joint ventures utilizing centralized milking systems, contract heifer raising, on farm bottling & processing and producing organic milk. With rising fuel and power costs another area that is being looked at again is Anaerobic Digesters. The new digesters are better designed and more efficient. That along with larger operations, increased regulations concerning manure management, and operations proactively trying to manage odor generated on the farm have spurred renewed interest in anaerobic digesters. EPA’s AgSTAR program is helping to fund the technical design of some of these projects. One of the projects was on a dairy and built to handle 1000 cows at a total cost of $355000 and they are projecting a payback period of less than 5 years.

Two organizations in Missouri, MDGC and Missouri Dairy Association, are trying to shore up the dairy sector by either attracting dairies in from other areas or by expanding current dairies that are in operation. Another project is the Southwest Missouri Family Dairy Farm Project that is promoting “a group learning style to teach producers three things: 1) how to develop a written business plan, 2) how to use a computerized record-keeping system, and 3) how to adopt management-intensive grazing techniques. Once group members master these important business concepts, they meet monthly to learn more through group-directed pasture walks, seminars, and field tours.”

Resources:

• Dairy Science, Joe Horner, Commercial Agriculture Program, 223E Mumford Hall, Columbia, MO 65211-6200. Tel: (573) 882-9339
• Dairy Outlook, Ken Bailey, 210A Armsby Building, University Park, PA 16802. Tel: (814) 863-8649 Fax: (814) 865-3746
• Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research (University of Wisconsin-Madison), includes the World Cheese Exchange, an international cheese database, and technical fact sheets on cheese
• Minnesota-South Dakota Dairy Foods Research Center
• Understanding Dairy Markets (University of Wisconsin Dairy Marketing and Risk Management Program)
• California Dairy Research Foundation
• Cal Poly Dairy Products Technology Center
• Northeast Dairy Foods Research Center
• Western Dairy Center
• Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center
• Dairy Foods Online
• Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy Farmers (also see Grass-Based Dairy Seminar cd-rom)
• “Dairy grazing can provide good financial return” (Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, University of Wisconsin)

Associations and Organizations:

• International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA)
• Missouri Dairy Association, David Drennan, 1954 Sumter Ridge Court, Chesterfield, MO 63017. Tel: (636) 519-9300 Fax: (636) 519-1403
• MDGC, Dr. Alan Wessler, 201 Ray Young Drive, Columbia, MO 65201 Tel: (573) 876-5248 Fax: (573) 876-5498
• University of Missouri Commercial Agriculture Extension Program, Rex Ricketts, S102 Animal Sciences Research Center, Columbia, MO 65211. Tel: (573) 882-4553
• Southwest Missouri Family Dairy Farm Project, Greg Bishop-Hurley, 206 B Waters Hall, Columbia, MO 65211. Tel: (573) 884-4640 Fax: (573) 882-1467
• The U.S. Dairy Export Council
• Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association
• Wisconsin Specialty Cheese Institute

Examples of Dairy Value-Added Businesses:

• Land O’Lakes
• Tillamook County Creamery Association, producer-owned cheese processing cooperative since 1909
• The Specialty Cheese Company

Missouri Contacts to Assist You with Dairy Value-Added Projects:

• Program Manager, Ag Business Development, (573) 751-2969