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Healthy cows are about biology. Healthy farms are about economics. You need both. In this month’s “Protecting Your Profits" discussion, hear expert insight on biological vs. economic health from Dr. Joe Bender, Associate Professor of Clinical Dairy Production Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania – New Bolton Center.

Biological health refers to the physical health of your cows, including freedom from disease, longevity, and comfort. Economic health centers around the cow’s financial viability, productivity, and cost efficiency of your herd. It’s easy to pick out a biologically unhealthy cow – you’ll often see physical signs like lameness, sickness or thinness. Economically unhealthy cows, on the other hand, are harder to find. Dr. Bender shares:

• How to balance both sides of the biological and economic health equation (the cow level and the business level).
• How ratios demonstrate the economic health of your farm.
• How to move items from the liability side of the equation to the asset side.
• Practical ways to balance strong milk production with strong economic health, so you have the right formula to make a good product and take good care of your cows and employees.

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In this February installment of the "Protecting Your Profits" miniseries, Dairy Report Rundown, we were joined by Dr. Jim Lawhead with Penn State Extension, to talk through the January 2026 Lancaster DHIA data. Dr. Lawhead provided his insights into the trends in the data, as well as what the numbers can tell us about the health of Pennsylvania's dairies. He also offered advice on how dairy producers can use their 202 reports to make informed on-farm decisions.

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How can you go from surviving to thriving when it comes to your farm’s financials? How do you navigate economic downturns with your current funds while still finding a way to plan for the future? In this month's "Protecting Your Profits" discussion, Ava Hasbrook, a Business Coach from Legacy Farmer, shared how dairy farmers can evaluate and forecast their long-term stability with their current funds and discussed how to plan for the future now versus later. She also offered insight into measuring long-term strength, surviving economic downturns, and investing in your farm’s viability 10 years from now.

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With the release of the 2025 Pennsylvania Dairy Producer Survey results, we took some time to dive into the data and break down the trends, challenges and opportunities from the survey results — and discuss what this means for the state of Pennsylvania dairy. During our November “Protecting Your Profits” discussion, Jayne Sebright and Valerie Mason-Faith from the Center for Dairy Excellence, and Ginger Fenton from Penn State Extension, shared interesting findings and takeaways from the survey results.

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In this October installment of the "Protecting Your Profits" miniseries, Dairy Report Rundown, we were joined by Andy McCarty, with Land O' Lakes, to talk through the most recent World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) and export reports. Andy provided insight into global feed and dairy market trends and what that means for domestic prices and demand. He also offered clarity on risk management programs affected by the government shutdown.

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Cattle markets continue to set new record highs, creating some interesting opportunities for dairy farms. Whether dairy producers are selling beef on dairy cross calves, benefitting from higher cull cow values, or all of the above, it’s an important time to learn about how beef and dairy markets are becoming more intertwined – and how dairy farmers can manage against downside price risk.
In this month's "Protecting Your Profits" webinar, Bryce Windecker and Kathleen Wolfley from Ever.Ag discussed current beef market dynamics – from tariffs on Brazilian beef to ground beef demand and everything in between. Plus, they walked through strategies for how dairy producers can manage downside cattle price risk.

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In this August installment of the "Protecting Your Profits" miniseries, Dairy Report Rundown, we were joined by Dr. Joe Bender, DVM, with the University of Pennsylvania to talk through the most recent USDA Crop Progress report. Dr. Bender provided his take on how this season's crops are shaping up so far compared to prior years. He also offered some advice on best practices on how dairies can maximize quality and reduce losses in feed and forage inventories.

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In this month's "Protecting Your Profits" webinar, Dr. Jody Kull from Penn State University shared how dairy farmers can use their farm's specific protocols not just as a once-a-year way to check a box, but how to develop them to prepare for anything that might happen throughout the year. She explained how dairy farmers can use these protocols to mitigate on-farm risks and seasonal concerns such as mastitis, pneumonia and metabolic issues. She also shared real-life examples from farms who have developed their own protocols to successfully treat and navigate illnesses within their herds.

During the webinar, Dr. Kull covered how dairy farmers can use their protocols, how to identify clinical signs of illnesses, what monitoring looks like on the farm, and how to address concerns, illnesses, and diseases before they happen. Listen now!

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