Dairy production system planning: A systematic approach

Planning a dairy production system involves integrating natural resources, human resources, and capital into a complete package. The system must bq economically feasible and environmentally compatible while providing a satisfactory quality of life for the owners and employees. The objective of this paper is to outline a systematic approach for gathering and processing the information to develop a complete plan. Evaluation of natural resources includes the areas of site location, available water, environmental considerations, feed production potential, and adequate spreadable area for manure management. A complete natural resource evaluation is critical in planning a successful operation. Human resource evaluation is critical for operations involving family members. Personal income goals, production system preferences, task preferences, lime scheduling preferences, and quality of life goals should have a large influence upon the planned production system,Failure to correctly match a production system with personal goals will usually result in major future adjustments. These adjustments may leave the system financially unstable. Capital resources include existing buildings, available equity, available credit, and financial obligations. Careful evaluation of these resources will determine what is financially possible for the producer. A systematic approach to planning a new operation or expanding an existing operation allows producers to develop a comprehensive plan. The plan is more likely to succeed if natural, capital and human resources are systematically evaluated.