Dairy Alliance

March 20, 2008
Wildwood Conference Center
Harrisburg Area Community College, Cameron Street, Exit 67, Harrisburg, PA
For directions to the Wildwood Conference Center, click here.
For a list of hotels near the Wildwood Conference Center, see this list.

Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Fee:

Without discount: $125 per person
With WIB discount for PA dairy producers and their employees only: $50 per person

 

About the conference:

A one-day conference designed to help middle managers in all agricultural fields develop their leadership skills and network with their peers. Conference topics are selected by a committee of agricultural middle managers to ensure that presentations are on timely subjects of importance to managers. Interaction with other middle managers is a key feature of this program.

Keynote speaker:

The keynote speaker is Peter Gelber, manager of High Brighton and Barrington Dairies in Montezuma, GA. These two operations comprise 7,000 mature cows. Farming operations cover 3,000 acres and are triple-cropped. Pete is a 10% owner in the operations, which are part of Ron St. John's Alliance dairies. Pete's specialty is in building morale and keeping people "psyched up" about the dairy. He worked his way up through the organization as a middle manager, satellite dairy manager, and owner. Pete attended SUNY Cobleskill and is a graduate of Cornell University's Dairy Science program.

 

Program benefits:

Middle managers are critical to the success of dairy businesses. They put management decisions into practice and deal with the challenges of day-to-day operations. This conference helps middle managers develop the skills they need to make positive changes in the dairy while keeping front-line employees happy and productive. As one of our recent conference participants observed, “If you can’t keep people happy, you can’t keep cows happy.”

 

Program content:

NEW TOPICS FOR 2008!

• Managing Your Cows' Day to Improve Milk Production
• Making the Most of DHIA Records
• Immigration Law Update 
• Managing Cow Comfort
• Communicating with Hispanic Employees in the Parlor
• Managing with Teams
• The Manager's Role in the Feeding System

Program agenda available here

Manager Feedback:

“One thing I took home from the conference was the idea of an employee handbook. We had thought about one for a while, but weren’t really sure how to get started. John Pagel (workshop presenter) encouraged us to prepare one so that things are more outlined for new hires. That way they know what is expected of them and where we want to take our business in the future.” Dan McMonagle, assistant crops manager, Penn England Dairy, Williamsburg, PA (Quote from Farmshine newspaper)
 

“I learned how important it is to have the right records available to demonstrate to employees how our farm compares to other operations. The records can help reinforce what we are doing and get all of the employees on the same page for making the dairy more profitable.” Phillip Julian, herd manager, Walnut Run Farms, Lititz, PA (Quote from Farmshine newspaper)

Sponsor:

Lancaster Dairy Farm Automation
Professional Dairy Managers of PA

Registration:

Register online with your credit card
Or complete a registration form and fax or mail it to the Dairy Alliance office.

For more information:

Email askdairyalliance@psu.edu
Phone toll-free 888-373-7232