The Pennsylvania Center for Dairy Excellence announces an exciting new program for young dairy producers: “Young Producer Learning Groups.” These groups are lead by five of the state’s experienced and successful dairy farmers and will be idea-sharing sessions.
“Many of our state’s younger producers cannot access the formal training opportunities available to them because of timing, cost and traveling constraints,” says John Frey, executive director of the Center for Dairy Excellence. “The learning groups are a way to bring this group of producers together to expose them to informal training and resources while giving them the opportunity to learn from each other.”
The five dairy producers helping to coordinate the learning groups are Candy Cooney of Ulysses, Potter County; David Bitler of Fleetwood, Berks County; Duane Hertzler of Loysville, Perry County; Steve Paxton of Grove City, Mercer County; and Harold Schaulis of Somerset in Somerset County.
The groups began forming after the first of the year, and initial meetings will be underway in February and March.
The Northern Tier group, led by Cooney, was the first to meet. “Group members gathered from three counties from different styles of farms – milking between 50 to 100 cows in both tie stall and freestall set-ups,” said Cooney. “The group members were excited and gave themselves homework for the next meeting. They are to bring ideas of what has worked or not worked on their farms in the areas of saving money and how to ‘work smarter, not harder.’”
“Most dairy producers recognize they learn the most by visiting with other farmers,” Frey says. “By touring each other’s farms, participants can share what works effectively on their farms, and invite outside people to provide expertise in problem areas, and troubleshoot common issues.”