Rr. Peters et al., A DEMONSTRATION PROJECT OF INTERDISCIPLINARY DAIRY-HERD EXTENSION ADVISING FUNDED BY INDUSTRY AND USERS .1. IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION, Journal of dairy science, 77(8), 1994, pp. 2438-2449
An interdisciplinary team of extension workers conducted a 2-yr demons
tration project using 30 herds with the objectives of increasing produ
ction efficiency and profitability and gaining experience in integrate
d problem solving. After 1 yr, 88% of the participants thought that th
e monthly fee paid to extension was a profitable investment. At the en
d of the project, 70% of the participants thought that increases in mi
lk yield per cow were due to a combination of improvements in two to f
our management areas rather than to changes in any single management d
iscipline. Additional labor was necessary to implement recommendations
. Two issues were key in successfully convincing dairy operators and f
amilies to accept management recommendations: 1) a coordinated team ef
fort aimed at integrated problem solving, followed by written recommen
dations and regular dialogue with the producer, and 2) possession of e
ffective social decision-making skill by the participant family. Most
farms in the project depended primarily on family labor and social dec
ision making to implement management changes. Only those families that
could jointly agree to implement a new management decision fully bene
fited from professional advice. A demonstration project of interdiscip
linary dairy advising was an effective method to gain problem-solving
expertise and to build credibility for extension services.