Hands-On Dairy Cow Care Training This Spring

By Blake Jackson

The inaugural Animal Care Workshop, organized by the Center for Dairy Excellence in partnership with the PA Beef Council, Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania (PDMP), and Penn State Extension, will take place March 31 at Rohrer Dairy Farm in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Additional sessions will be held on four other dairy farms across the state during March and April, offering identical hands-on training opportunities for dairy producers and their employees.

Each workshop will be hosted directly on a working Pennsylvania dairy farm, providing practical, skill-based instruction focused on animal care.

The program is designed to help dairy operations meet training requirements in four key areas of the National FARM Program. A Spanish interpreter will attend every session to ensure accessibility for all participants.

“As you and your dairy team work to enhance efficiency and cow comfort, we hope you’ll join us at one of these animal care workshops this spring. We’re excited to host the workshops back on the farm for hands-on training,” said Valerie Mason-Faith, Risk Education Manager at the Center for Dairy Excellence.

“The workshops are offered at no cost, and they also qualify as National FARM training. After rotating through the four training areas during the workshops, you’ll get a physical certificate that you can save in your files to show your commitment to FARM standards.”

The four training modules include:

• Cull Cow Decisions, Down Cows and Transition Cows
• Animal Handling, Stewardship and Meat Quality Issues
• Dystocia
• Farm Safety

Lunch will be provided at each event, and strict biosecurity measures will be followed.

Following the March 31 workshop in Lancaster County, sessions are scheduled for April 2 (Lebanon County), April 9 at Breezy Farms in Centre County, April 21 at Mercer-Vu Farms in Franklin County, and April 28 at Pennwood Farms in Somerset County.

Producers can register for a free workshop by calling 717-346-0849 or visiting centerfordairyexcellence.org/animal-care. Participants should provide the names of employees who plan to attend.

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