Healthy, comfortable, well-cared for cows are of utmost importance to dairy farmers. The FARM Animal Care Program sets the highest standards for farmers and their entire management team, including veterinarians, nutritionists, and hoof trimmers, to ensure the best care for their cows every day.

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It’s easy to see what’s important to the Hoffmans: cows and family.

“Family is pretty much the reason we are here,” said daughter Tricia.

Located in upstate Pennsylvania, Hoffman Family Farm began in 1976 with just 40 cows and 400 acres, operated by Tricia’s parents, Dale and Carol Hoffman (pictured). When the family expanded, so did the farm. As the children grew up and returned to the farm, the facility grew even more. And when the grandchildren came, the farm expanded yet again. Today, the farm is home to 800 milking cows that are milked three times a day and produce two million pounds of milk per month.

Responsibilities on the Hoffman’s farm are divided between family members and 10 employees. While Dale and Carol own the farm, their children have their own roles. Keith is the herdsman and Brad is the “crop and heifer man.” Tricia is both the calf feeder and office manager. Josh handles the financial and technological elements of the operation. Even the grandsons are involved full time. Brad’s son Colton is a fellow herdsman and other son Coy is a feeder. What’s more, other family members can often be seen on the farm on their days off.

“It’s just our way of life,” says Tricia. “We work hard every day by using routine, consistency and efficiency, plus surrounding yourself with people who also think like that.”

Dairy farmers across the United States are not only responsible for providing the nation and world with a safe, wholesome milk supply, but also safe, nutritious beef. Almost 20 percent of the U.S. beef supply is sourced from dairy cows. This is a responsibility the Hoffman’s do not take lightly. They know they must maintain healthy cows to produce a quality product.

As participants of the National Dairy FARM Program and the Beef Quality Assurance program, the Hoffmans follow strict animal care guidelines to keep their animals in tip-top shape. Tricia says the family’s relationship with their veterinarian is of utmost importance. The vet stops by every two weeks for a herd health check, and has provided plenty of useful tips to improve overall cow health. Working closely with him, she says, has allowed the Hoffmans to customize a routine and plan for their operation.

Other animal care guidelines the Hoffmans follow include vaccination protocols and employee training to ensure a calm, consistent environment around the cows.

To help share their story of quality animal care, the Hoffmans invite visitors onto the farm and regularly share information about their lives through their social media channels.

Beef Quality Assurance is a nationally coordinated, state-implemented program that provides information to U.S. beef producers and beef consumers of how common sense husbandry techniques can be coupled with accepted scientific knowledge to raise cattle under optimum management and environmental conditions. BQA guidelines are designed to make certain all beef consumers can take pride in what they purchase – and can trust and have confidence in the entire beef industry.

The FARM Program is proud to partner with BQA to provide educational resources to cattlemen and dairymen. 

^{Pictured: Jordan Matthews, Tim Strobel, Lloyd Holterman and Daphne Holterman}

“Let the cow be a cow,” says Lloyd Holterman. It’s a mantra that drives his operation, Rosy Lane Holsteins LLC, to raise healthier, happier and longer-living animals.

“All we do is focus on letting the cow fulfill her natural ability to make milk,” says wife Daphne. As members of the FARM Animal Care Program, Daphne and Lloyd, their family and partners work every day to make sure their 940 cows are treated with care and compassion. With 20 full-time staff, that requires constant collaboration and teamwork.

It all started in 1980, when Lloyd and Daphne began farming alongside of Lloyd’s parents. After six years of work and a two-year break, they returned to purchase the cows and equipment, finally buying the entire 226-acre farm in 1994. Today, they sell high-quality milk that is made into cheese, market genetics from their Holstein herd, and farm 1,700 acres of corn, alfalfa and other grasses.

Lloyd and Daphne are joined by partners Tim Strobel and Jordan Matthews. both worked on the farm as teenagers. Tim has been a partner for 17 years and Jordan for three.

First, some background. How long have you been involved in the agriculture – and specifically dairy—industry?

I grew up on a dairy farm in Somerset County, Penn. We milked 77 cows in a tie-stall barn, but expanded to a free-stall/parallel parlor while I was in college. While attending Penn State, I worked at the dairy barns and had internships with Farm Credit and Penn State Extension. I met my husband Mark while at PSU and shortly after graduation, we married and returned to his home dairy in Fulton County, Penn. I continued to work for my parents and brother for a short time until Mark’s family expanded their herd and I joined them as their calf and heifer raiser, which I continue to do.

In the simplest terms, explain to your average consumer what you do as a FARM Evaluator.

As a FARM Evaluator, I visit our cooperative’s farms to do an assessment of their cattle and animal care practices. I not only look at what written standards they might have in place, but I also observe the cattle in their current environment and facilities to see what BMPs (best management practices) are working, as well as what needs improvement. I ask specific questions, but more importantly I spend time looking at what is actually happening on the various dairies. Each dairy has its own unique environment, geographic location and facility set-up that influences how animals are handled and cared for.

Walk me through a typical day as a FARM Evaluator. How many hours does it take?

A typical day can vary. I work part-time so I’ll spend a day every other week or so just making phone calls to set up appointments to do the evaluations. On evaluation day, I have my app on my iPad set up with the farm’s general information already entered. When I get to the farm, I do a little intro and explanation of the program if they haven’t been through it before. We go through the questionnaire and then do a walk-through of the facilities while I’m scoring the animals. I will end by going over both the positives and the things that require improvement or adjustments. I send a participation form and follow-up letter to remind them of anything we discussed, especially those things needing improvement. On occasion I will need to set up an action plan with the dairy farmer with a follow-up date when I return to confirm that improvements are being made.

Hours depends on herd size and time of year. Dairy farmers are more likely to sit and talk, ask questions, and get into detail when it’s not spring or fall, when there is a big push to get crops in or harvested. Smaller dairies (less than 100 in the herd) can be completed in 1-2 hours, while a larger dairy of maybe 5,000 could take 4-5 hours depending on whether all animals were housed at one location.

What are some of the overall benefits of this job?

I enjoy getting to meet so many different dairymen and women, as well as seeing the diversity within the dairy community. It’s truly remarkable to see something done so many different ways, and yet it’s still the same in many ways, too. Every person involved in dairy has a little bit of a different take on things. It’s been very educational for me.

The challenges?

Probably the biggest challenge I face are the logistics of creating a schedule that works when a dairy farmer is at the mercy of weather. You have to be flexible if it has been raining for a week and suddenly it dries up. No one wants to see me, even if I was on the schedule, and I completely understand that.

Tell me about a particularly rewarding experience while on the job.

One of the most rewarding experiences is when I make a repeat visit to a farm and see continued improvements being made. It tells me we are working toward the same goal to do the best job we can with our animal care.

What is one thing you often see during your evaluations that you think could use improving?

There’s one thing we can all do better – communicate. That could be verbal, non-verbal or written. Most people automatically think about this for larger dairies with more employees. They need to be able to share ideas and make changes to procedures in a way that includes everyone involved in a particular area of the dairy. However, even on small dairies with just family doing the chores, there can be miscommunication or inaccurate assumptions. Some dairies tackle this by having a weekly staff meeting or breakfast together to discuss the current situation and needs on their dairy.

As someone who works behind on the scenes, on the farm, what is one thing you would like to tell consumers who are concerned about animal care?

Most dairymen and women put their hearts and souls into what they do, and they work very hard to be good stewards of what’s been entrusted to them. And many farmers put the needs of their cows above their own. I’ve known some farmers who will call a veterinarian for a sick animal before they go to a doctor themselves. Are there farms that still need improvement? Yes and that’s why we work every day to get those farms on board with making the improvements needed to ensure proper animal care practices.

First, some background. How long have you been involved in the agriculture – and specifically dairy—industry?

I have been involved in the dairy industry for 34 years, having installed and serviced milking equipment for 10 years. My wife and I ran a 50-cow herd for 25 years. Now, the next generation has joined the farm. My daughter milks a smaller herd of cows and works with my wife to run a custom heifer-raising operation. I have been employed with Land O’ Lakes, Inc., as an FARM Evaluator for the last six years.

In the simplest terms, explain to your average consumer what you do as a FARM Evaluator.

My job is to work with dairy producers to assure consumers that all cattle on dairies are living and receiving the best quality of life possible. By asking the producer a list of questions and then observing all cattle on the farm, any weak animal care issues are identified. From there, I work with the farmer to improve these areas. I will often bring in outside consultants to help where needed.

Walk me through a typical day as a FARM Evaluator. How many hours does it take?

I work with a wide variety of farms. I work with farms with as large as 1,000-2,000 cows, as well as dairies milking 15 cows. Facilities range just as much – from large parlor/freestall barns to robots to small tie stall barns where they milk by hand. Because of this, time spent on the farm varies widely. An average visit runs 2-3 hours. Typically, an appointment is set up ahead of time. Once I arrive, I go through the interview questions with the producer. Then I ask for the total number of cattle on the farm, broken down by age groups. Walking through all of the barns and pastures is next, observing and scoring the cattle as I go. Once this is done, I write a report and share this with the farmer. If there are any areas that need improving, I work with the farmer to come up with an action plan to correct any issues.

What are some of the overall benefits of this job?

Working with such a variety of farms is very interesting to me. Something I enjoy is asking questions when I see something a farmer has done to improve his operation. I ask them how they like it, what they don’t like and how they would do it differently if they could do it over again. Then, on other farms, I am able to help other producers improve their operations by providing them real-life examples of what works and what doesn’t. Producers seem to really appreciate this.

The challenges?

Probably the biggest challenge is working with producers who are cash strapped for whatever reason. Sometimes I see an area that needs a major renovation and the producer is just not able to make a large investment at that time. I then work with the farmer and sometimes consultants to see how we can improve this area in small stages. Maybe at first for little-to-no cost, just a change in management practices. Sometimes having a new set of eyes looking at a problem can help a producer to think out of the box.

Tell me about a particularly rewarding experience while on the job.

During the first round of FARM, I did an evaluation on a farm that had recently moved from a tiestall/pasture facility to a robot/freestall barn facility. While in the tiestall barn, they were trimming cows feet once a year (pasturing cows only needed to trim once a year). Moving to the freestall barn, I noticed they were having a lot of lameness issues. After talking to the producer, I suggested they begin trimming feet at least twice a year. When I returned to the farm for the second round of FARM, the producer informed me that when I was there for the first round, he had 15 cows on his cull list – 11 of them for lameness issues. Since then, they were able to get a foot trimmer and turned all 11 cows around! Stories like this makes me feel I am able to make a difference for the farmers I work with.

What is one thing you often see during your evaluations that you think could use improving?

Young cattle care is probably the biggest area of improvement. That’s not to say everyone is doing a poor job in this area. Often there are a several small things that can be done to improve young cattle care. Routine foot care on mature cattle would be a close second.

As someone who works behind on the scenes, on the farm, what is one thing you would like to tell consumers who are concerned about animal care?

Often times the consumer is told that farmers are all about the money. This could not be further from the truth. There are much easier ways to make a living. No matter what size the operation, dairy farming is a 24/7 job. More than that, it is a lifestyle. Farmers are very compassionate about what they do. Whether it’s caring for a sick cow in the middle of the night or helping a newborn calf drink its first drink (and when the farmer has the flu and should be in bed), animal care and making sure consumers get the safest, freshest product is at the top of their list all the time.

In his role working with dairy producers for the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program, Fabian Bernal can confidently say that animal care and farming practices are better than ever before.

“We have learned a lot from farmers and their cows, and we’re improving the care that cows receive as a result.”

Bernal’s love of animals started at an early age, having grown up on a small dairy farm in his native Colombia. He later moved to the U.S., where he attended Western Kentucky University and he completed his master’s majored in animal science. There, he was mentored by well-known agriculture consultant and veterinarian Dr. Jenks Britt and decided to focus on dairy. Bernal has worked for Dairy Farmers of America, Inc., for five years leading industry initiatives related to animal health.

As a FARM Program evaluator, Bernal is responsible for making sure farmers’ management practices adhere to the key elements of the FARM Program. The evaluator’s role is to visit farms to collect data, make assessments of on-farm practices and have meaningful conversations with farm owners about continuous improvement.

“The FARM Program is about looking at the industry in an objective way that allows farmers to obtain meaningful feedback,” he said. “It’s also an opportunity to share with consumers the great story we have to tell about the dairy industry. And now we have the data to back it up.”

That data can range from basic information about the farm to animal measurements like body condition injuries or locomotion scores. Bernal then makes sure to analyze and discuss this data with the farmer, so they are always aware of such vital details.

But that’s far from Step 1 in the FARM evaluation process. First, Bernal encourages farmers to complete a pre-evaluation self-assessment form, which acts as a checklist of things the farmer should take care of before the evaluator arrives. When he gets on the farm, he does a preliminary interview with the farmer, learning the basic rundown of the operation. Then, the evaluation begins. For a period of 3-8 hours, Bernal checks on the animals and collects his data – marking down anything out of the ordinary. At the end, he’ll have an exit interview in which discusses his findings with the farmer.

“Documentation often could be better,” Bernal says about a common issue he discovers during his FARM Program evaluations. “We find that it frequently gets placed on the back burner. We’re telling people to make sure there’s evidence to document their practices.”

What Bernal enjoys most about his job as an evaluator is how the process initiates meaningful conversations, because those conversations can lead to real change. During one evaluation, he met a foreign employee who was a successful veterinarian in her home country and had her own ideas on how to improve care for the operations’ calves. Later on, Bernal discovered the farm – in consultation with the farm’s vet – had enacted a special training program for calf care with the help of this employee.

And he’s learned much more: “Every farmer has a different management style, goals and ideas. This job allows you to have a better conversation with the farmer about those goals – and how you as the evaluator can be a part of them.”

This post was written by Marie Goedert, a dairy farmer in Fort Morgan, Colo. 

June 6, 2015, was one of the hardest days of our lives. That was the day we were notified that our farm was under investigation for animal abuse, based on video footage of a few of our workers taken by an undercover Mercy for Animals activist who was employed at our dairy.

While we had already terminated the employees in question prior to any knowledge of the video, we decided to take this whole situation as a learning experience to improve our on-farm practices.

As we have grown our dairy from a 300-cow herd to a 2,500-cow operation, animal care has always been a priority since the beginning. What we quickly learned during this situation, however, was that we failed in keeping proper documentation. For example, we didn’t have anything verifying our trainings or employee agreements. Now, we keep records of everything and make sure they are readily available.

After the video incident, we started learning more about the tools and resources available to us through the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program. We worked with our cooperative field representative and staff from the FARM Program to create an improvement plan for our dairy. We had all of our employees sign cow care agreements. But it wasn’t just about getting their signatures; it was more about sitting down and making sure they understood our farm values and expectations around animal care.

For as long as this farm has existed, we have never allowed our employees to hit our cows. We trusted the people who worked here. We told all of our employees that animal abuse wasn’t tolerated on our farm, but I think we took for granted that they really heard what we were saying. Now, we’ve made it a priority that employees not only know our policies, but understand why they are in place.

The situation taught us that these expectations of animal care aren’t just something about which you train employees when they’re first hired, but something that needs to be communicated frequently to reinforce the concepts — and to continue to do things better on our dairy every day.

It’s also important that our employees realize they are our eyes and ears. If anything is happening that goes against our policies or endangers our animals, it’s their obligation to report it to us. Along with new trainings to keep our employees informed, we have posted signage around the dairy to remind our employees that if they see something, they need to say something.

The FARM Program helped us get through one of the most challenging times we’ve ever experienced on our farm, but we can say we’re a better operation now than we’ve ever been. This situation was a wake-up call for us and our employees. Now, continuous improvement — a principle of FARM — is something we work at every day. Our values and commitment to animal care hasn’t changed, but how we communicate and safeguard that commitment has.

(Photos courtesy of Marie Goedert)

In his December column, NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern discussed how the FARM Program helps farmers handle the demands of the ever-evolving marketplace.

“Helping dairy farmers confront the shifting tide of public opinion on animal care practices is one of the defining challenges faced by NMPF in the 21^st century,” Mulhern said. “The roster of standard operating procedures and recommended practices on dairy farms is evolving, which is really nothing new.  What is new is that this evolution is being driven increasingly by both measurable animal welfare outcomes and by societal pressures about what is acceptable, as expressed by the clear and unequivocal expectations of our customers.”

That’s where FARM comes in, he said, to deal with those demands so farmers don’t have to. For the dairy industry, that’s an advantage,

“The consequences of not acting prudently and proactively, but only reactively and defensively, can be seen on an almost daily basis elsewhere in animal agriculture,” he continued. “In the egg industry, the shift to cage-free housing has come rapidly, even in states where there is no legislative mandate. Just last month, Taco Bell joined other fast food restaurants including McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts and Panera Bread in switching to cage-free. Food marketers across the country are demanding cage-free housing even if lawmakers are not. As a result, essentially all the new hen housing being constructed focuses on open colonies, not cages.

“The same is increasingly true in pork production:  Demands for gestation stall-free farrowing operations are leading to big changes in hog housing, as more and more food companies make such a system the cost of serving the market.”

NMPF has been playing a role in this conversation, as well. The organization’s board of directors voted in October to move up the deadline to end tail docking to January 2017, after which it will no longer be an acceptable practice on farms participating in the FARM Program. Though a controversial decision, Mulhern said, veterinary science simply did support the practice.

“We need to unite around preserving important animal husbandry tools for our herds, such as disbudding, or the therapeutic use of antibiotics, or the use of quality feed ingredients that may have a genetically modified trait,” Mulhern concluded. “Fighting to hold onto practices that aren’t credible or defensible to our consumers will only undermine the rationale and support for our national, science-based, independently verifiable dairy animal care FARM program. It would lead to a confusing hash of marketer- or state-directed demands that only add costs and exacerbate the challenges facing farmers. That’s an outcome we must fight to avoid.”