Difficulty: Moderately Challenging
Step1
Take a dairy farm management training course. Even if you've worked on a dairy farm before, training facilities tend to keep abreast of laws affecting your operations. You may also learn new technologies for implementation on your dairy farm.
Step2
Constantly care for your animals. They're your assets and without them, you won't have a business. Seek medical attention if your cow is sick. Make sure that you feed the animals healthy meals and food that's within government specifications. Immunize your cows, and other dairy animals. Take them out to walk around, and clean their work and dwelling spaces.
Step3
Do proper farm machinery and milk machine maintenance. Problems may not become known until it's too late. Proper maintenance helps catch and correct potential problems before they get out of hand. Equipment that's down for repair, or inoperable for long periods, do not earn you money.
Step4
Keep records. This includes maintenance, financial and cow specific records. Financial records will keep you informed of how the dairy farm, as a business, is doing. Good accounting records help prevent you from going out of business and also help your accountant come tax time. Maintenance records show how your equipment is doing and if they need replacement. Maintenance will save you money in the long run. But if you're constantly repairing one machine, it may be cost effective to purchase a new one.
Step5
Maintain physical security. Keep your operation safe from external threats. Prevent your animals from wondering off. Have someone keep an eye on your cows the entire time they're out grazing. A lost or mutilated dairy cow won't produce profits.
Step6
Care for you workers--and you. Achieving good work quality and teamwork is an easy task for a completely family operated farm. Chances are that everyone is cross trained. Put new workers through an intensive training program that requires proficiency with every operation.
