PDPW helps dairy become Future Ready

Shelly O’Leary

Having turned the corner on its 30th year as Dairy’s Professional Development Organization®, Professional Dairy Producers® – PDPW – has remained true to its vision to lead the success of the dairy industry through education. In addition to providing best-in-class education to dairy producers and industry professionals alike, the producer-led organization has made a priority of helping members not just stay on pace but to leapfrog ahead of the curve.

With that objective in mind, the organization recently conducted a 360-degree view of the full dairy value chain’s perspective of the future. Partnering with the greatly respected Forward research group in a first-ofits kind study, PDPW sought to answer the question, “How can we help dairy producers better anticipate the future so they can be proactive and prepared?”

Eager to hear perspectives from all sides, the study specifically sought conversations with the nation’s leading dairy-food marketers and processors in addition to dairy producers across the nation. Food-system customers interviewed included some of the largest global dairybrand processors, marketers and retailers in the world. Dairy producers who participated hail from coast to coast, with an average age of 48.6 years and representing an average herd size of 2,069 cows.

With the goal of learning how

PDPW can help the dairy community be Future Ready™, three core questions were asked. Research shows the dairy community has some gaps to close but the results also show we are well-positioned to do so.

Where is the future of dairy going?

When asked to list the top-five most impactful trends likely to impact dairy farmers in the next five years, food-system customers and producers had di ering opinions.

Given the top billing of “environmental sustainability” by food-system customers, they cited the importance and urgency of dairy farms in helping them achieve their net-zero carbon-emissions goal by 2050. Environmental sustainability was not listed in the producer top five. That might be because of the producer view that they’ve been regularly working toward sustainability so it’s not something they consider to be a new or upcoming trend. Many dairy producers have long been engaged in practices such as re-using water, implementing cover crops, developing nutrient-management plans, testing soil, participating in watershed groups, composting and more.

Farmer efforts in support of environmental sustainability are a natural part of what they already do, but they don’t necessarily measure the progress. Fortunately the research shows the gap in perception can potentially be bridged by producers sharing their progress and working together with their up-the-chain customers to determine how best to measure results. An e ective way to do that is to welcome customers to the farm so they can see for themselves the progress that’s been made, while collaborating on how to measure future progress.

Producers also said in order to make more environmental-sustainability progress, they need a clear understanding of customer expectations as well as su cient research around viable on-farm solutions. They also noted a need for technical expertise and capital investment to successfully set a measured baseline and manage carbon-footprint progress through time.

Similarly, animal welfare is a topic successful producers consider a basic management principle. Again, closing the gap is a matter of producers more e ectively sharing with their customers the steps they consistently take in o ering the best care to all animals on their dairy. It’s also important customers know producers are committed to being aware of new research, best practices and innovations being introduced.

The top-three trends indicated by food-system customers naturally point to consumer desire to know where food comes from and the consequences of its production. On the producer side of the research, it’s not surprising to see labor and economics as their most important.

One interviewed producer commented, “The labor pool continues to a ect us ... I would say the last three to five years it’s been extremely hard to get labor, especially skilled labor.”

The findings clearly show producers are interested in training and guidance to help them manage labor concerns; they also feel robotics and other technologies are likely to play a critical role in reducing labor needs. In addition, many producers believe it’s

Priority Education And Training Topics

Food-system customers

1. Consumer insights, trends and what they expect of dairy

2. Sustainability practices that are carbon-reducing value streams that reduce carbon, training resources

3. People-management skills, quality labor training

4. New innovations and technology

5. Community-relations and communication-skills development important to develop programs that encourage youth in dairy careers.

In the meantime, food companies are eager to secure partnering relationships with dairy producers and suppliers as they pursue their commitments to be net-zero in carbon emissions by 2050.

“The research confirmed that customers want to partner with us (dairy producers),” said Linda Wenck, principal and director of Sustainable Food and Consumer Communications at MorganMyers. “While requirements to meet specific standards could certainly follow, for now producers can work toward being the go-to supplier for their customers.”

What does this mean for dairy farmers and their partners?

In simple terms, suppliers can expect to do business in a more-competitive landscape with more consolidation and potential integration represented by a blend of all business sizes. The research further showed customers are more concerned about how their suppliers deliver on their needs than about business size. Producers who adopt the mindset of being a preferred supplier rather than being merely the producer of a commodity product will help position themselves as the go-to choice for their customers.

It’s essential to bear in mind the merits of environmental sustainability in the opinion of food-system customers. They place a high value on having access to a quality product produced via sustainable production practices. It helps deliver on their 2050 net-zero carbon-emission commitments; it ’s also important to their shareholders as well as domestic and international customers and consumers.

“Food-system customers said animal welfare is table stakes today,” Wenck said. “In addition, dairies who know their en vironmental footprint and have a plan to improve it are in demand, as are dairies with strong people-management skills. Customers believe producers who retain good labor and keep them well-trained and happy probably also take good care of their animals.”

While farmers may believe their story isn’t interesting or worth developing, consumers are intensely eager to know about the people producing their food. Consumers will sometimes make purchasing decisions solely based on a farmer’s story.

“There’s nobody more qualified to tell their story than the farmer,” Wenck said. “Farmers are one of the most trusted professionals in consumers’ eyes.”

Current trends reveal that customers see a wealth of opportunity in the potential of dairy products – a welcome change from the days in which

Producers

1. Help policymakers, regulators understand realities of farming

2. Youth recruitment into dairy

3. New innovations and technology

4. Financial-management training

5. People management skills dairy received a black eye through one scientific report or another. With the current popularity of high-protein snacks, butter boards and a heightened awareness of the benefits of probiotics, dairy producers are in a solid position to secure strong relationships with their customers.

How can dairy best prepare or position itself to be future-ready?

Food-system customers and producers wholeheartedly agree education is the key to being proactive and prepared for the future. Owners and senior managers prioritize training for financial-management skills while dairy-herd managers cite education regarding people-management skills as most important. It was also noted that general workers need milker training and best practices for animal care.

Those interviewed largely agree that dairy processors and dairy food companies in the future will require dairy farmers to provide proof that they and their team members are taking courses or training programs for continual improvement in key areas such as animal welfare, labor management, sustainability and more.

They also believe farmers will need to track continuing-education units in the future. Fortunately a system is already in place to meet that need. Dairy

AdvanCE® or DACE – powered by PDPW – is an online management tool designed to help us ers find, track and manage attendance at training programs and efforts toward continuing education.

What’s next? When the Future Ready logo appears on PDPW publications and program materials, it indicates that the resource is designed to help foster a more-proactive and -prepared dairy community –one that’s ready for the future.

Simply put, continuing education is key to productive conversations and collaboration with all stakeholders along the value chain. Working together is how “team dairy” wins. Aim to understand what your customer wants, position your farm as a preferred supplier and demonstrate progress in sustainability with measurements that can be shared. You can accomplish those objectives by pursuing educational opportunities that include all members of your farm team.

For more background on the Future Ready™ objectives, findings and implications for future programming, tune into the Jan. 19, 2023, episode of PDPW’s The Dairy Signal®. Click on the Dairy Signal logo at www.pdpw.org to view or download the episode.

Shelly O’Leary is the communications and outreach specialist with PDPW. Email soleary@pdpw.org to reach her.