Dairy Financial Conference to Feature Two Panel Discussions on Climate-Smart Opportunities & Performance Indicators

The Panel Discussions Will Feature Several Industry Experts With a Wide Range of Perspectives

Brett Reinford from Reinford Farms, Curt Gooch from Land O’Lakes, Matt Royer from Penn State, and Mike Hosterman from Horizon Farm Credit will lead a dynamic panel discussion on climate-smart solutions and how they offer opportunities to enhance dairy farm profitability as part of the 2023 Dairy Financial and Risk Management Conference. It is one of two panel discussions that will be part of this year’s conference, planned for Wednesday, September 13, from 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Sheraton Harrisburg Hershey Hotel in Harrisburg. Dairy financial consultants, lending representatives, and interested dairy producers can register for the conference online at www.centerfordairyexcellence.org/financial-conference.

“When we make investments on our farm, we try to look for more than just the financial benefit. We review the tangible and intangible benefits. Some of the environmental investments we make have provided these benefits,” said Brett Reinford of Reinford Farms, one of the speakers at the Financial Conference. “The climate-smart panel discussion at the Dairy Financial Conference will dive into this and more, with insight from individuals across the industry.”

The goal of the panel discussion is to share opportunities for dairy within the climate-solutions arena, featuring perspectives from individuals in all sectors of the industry. Attendees will learn how individuals are taking advantage of these climate-smart opportunities, what obstacles exist in integrating those opportunities into individual dairy farm businesses, and how you can take this information and guide your dairy clients.

In addition, there will be a panel discussion about where Pennsylvania stands with performance indicators with Samantha Gehrett of Penn State Extension and Rob Goodling of Horizon Farm Credit. The panel discussion represents a joint project between Horizon Farm Credit, Penn State Extension, and the Center for Dairy Excellence. Through the project, these groups have identified 17 key benchmarks, calculated from Pennsylvania dairy farm data, that serve as a measure to compare individual dairy operations to how the top dairies in the data set are performing financially. The Performance indicators panel will present these benchmarks from five categories: liquidity, solvency, profitability, repayment capacity, financial efficiency, and general dairy measures.

View the full program and speaker line-up:

• The Dairy Market Equation: 2023 Overview and 2024 Outlook with Dr. Ken Bailey
• Breaking Down Dairy Policy: Farm Bill and FMMO Reform with Dr. Chris Wolf and Paul Bleiberg
• Climate-Smart Opportunities for Dairy with Brett Reinford (Reinford Farms), Curt Gooch (Land O’Lakes), Matt Royer (Penn State), and Mike Hosterman (Horizon Farm Credit)
• Calculating Where PA Stands: Performance Indicators with Samantha Gehrett and Rob Goodling

The cost to attend this year’s Dairy Financial and Risk Management Conference is $250 per person, discounted to $200 for those who are representatives of the Center for Dairy Excellence Allies for Advancement.

View the full list of speakers and sessions, along with registration information, at www.centerfordairyexcellence.org/financial-conference. Call the Center at 717-346-0849 for more information.

The Center for Dairy Excellence is a non-profit organization initiated by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture in 2004. Bringing together people from more than 40 different dairy organizations in Pennsylvania, the Center’s mission is to enhance the profitability of the dairy industry by empowering people, creating partnerships, and increasing the availability and use of resources. Learn more at centerfordairyexcellence.org.