TEAM MEETINGS FOR ROBOTIC DAIRIES

Most of us would rather be in the barn with the cows, or on a tractor, or even on the golf course, than in a meeting. But farm management team meetings are important for measuring past progress and setting future direction. Team meetings are even more important on robotic dairies because everything intersects at the robot. Everyone is involved. Nutrition, cow comfort, reproductive performance, health and lameness, robot performance, and more, all affect cow behavior and visits to the robot, so everyone needs to be at the table.

Have a clear agenda

The Cheshire Cat said, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

It was true in Alice’s fictitious Wonderland, and it is true on your dairy. Successful team meetings begin with a clear agenda. Everyone can contribute to the agenda. A good moderator can make sure the agenda is followed. Keeping everyone on track is an art. There has to be room to add relevant items to the agenda on the fly, but there also has to be discipline to stick to the plan and make sure there is time to complete it. Once the agenda is determined, make sure all the key stakeholders are included for every item. If a new forage is being considered, the decision may include an agronomist to talk about growing it, a nutritionist to talk about feeding it, and a robot expert who understands how the change might affect cow flow.

Bring the data

Share the agenda with those key stakeholders so that they have a chance to prepare for the meeting and bring the data that will be needed for a decision. Nothing slows a meeting down like hunting for needed information, or worse yet, speculating. If the agenda includes evaluating a different feed in the robots, cost, nutrient content, availability, flowability, and eating speed will all be important data points. Assign responsibility for each of them.

Encourage discussion

The shortest meetings can be the least productive meetings. Nothing will be accomplished if everyone nods in agreement, and leaves the meeting without commitment to the decision. Once I was in a meeting which included discussion of a new heifer training protocol. The discussion was intense, and there were some very pointed questions. There were even some apologies after the meeting. But it stayed civil and respectful, and we ended up with a compromise that accomplished the goal, and worked for the people who had to execute it.

Land the plane

When the discussion ends, there needs to be a clear and realistic path forward. Someone needs to own the project and have the means to complete it. Be sure to include a deadline. Most importantly the results need to be measured. Recently we evaluated a higher level of feed in the robots for a farm. We had input from the owner, the herd manager, the nutritionist, and the robot consultant. After the decision was made, the herd manager was responsible for applying the changes to specific groups for comparison. The nutritionist was responsible for adjusting the PMR as needed. The robot consultant gathered the data to evaluate whether changes in milk production, or milking frequency, would cover the cost of the extra feed.

Well organized team meetings can help to define where you are going, and how to get there. Cow Corner helps make meetings more successful. Contact me, whether you need help gathering the data, defining the agenda, moderating the meeting, or creating accountability for the outcomes.