Instructions for New Users

User Registration

  1. Access the website: dpm.cac.cornell.edu

  2. Click the "Register" link in the top left corner or below the user log in box.

  3. Enter your email and create a password. Passwords must be at least 6 characters long, include on upper case, one lower case, one number, and one non-alphanumeric character.

  4. Click the red "Register" button. This will immediately take you to the main log in page. You can bookmark this page to use in the future. Log-in using the credentials you just created.

  5. Fill out the contact information page. Hit "Update."

Creating, Joining, or Sharing a Farm

  1. To create a new farm:

    • Select on "New Farm" in the left menu.

    • Fill out the business name and address and hit update.

    • You will be automatically directed to the data calendar page. See "Entering Data" below.
  1. To join an existing farm:

    • To do this, you will need a code generated by the owner of the farm record in the Dairy Profit Monitor system.

    • Select on "Join Farm" in the left menu.

    • Enter the code, hit the Submit button, and you will be able to access that farm's information and data calendar. See "Entering Data" below.
  1. To add another user to your farm:

    • If you are the owner of a farm record in DPM, you can grant access to the farm's record to other people (nutritionist, bookkeeper, vet, other members of the farm, etc). Once people are added to your farm, you can also change their roles or remove their access. Owners can see and do anything in the farm record, Members can add/update data and view reports but can't change roles, and Viewers are "read-only" they can view data and run reports, but can't make any edits. You also have the option to designate someone as the person responsible for payment.

    • Select "Farm Details" in the left menu.

    • Hit the "Generate single-use key to join farm" button.

    • A 9-digit code will be generated with a message in a green box. Copy and paste this and send it to the person you want to join your farm. Note: This person will be automatically added to your farm in the Member role, but you can edit their role from this page. This code may only be redeemed once so you will need to generate a unique code for each person you want to add to your farm.

Entering data

  1. From the Data Calendar page, select the desired month to start entering data. If there is a green "Complete" button for the month, all required data has been entered and you are able to run reports. If the data is not complete, the button will say "Enter Data" and the reporting options will be hidden.

  2. There are 9 data entry pages. A list can be seen on the left when you open a month's record. If a form has a checkmark in the box it means that all required fields are filled out on that form. At the top of the list, you can see if the data has been verified (looked over by PRO-DAIRY staff) yet. The month is complete when all the checkmarks are visible and there is no message on the Milk Check form that you are using the previous month's data.

  3. Section 1: Characteristics

    • This section will be filled out once then auto-filled from the previous month's entry. While it is easy to click past this page, please check it occasionally to make sure it is still accurate.

    • These characteristics are important as they impact which fields are required on later data entry pages and are used as sort criteria in benchmarking comparison reports.

  4. Section 2: Milk Check Data

    • Do not use decimal places, round to the nearest dollar.

    • Be sure to enter the milk check data corresponding with the month in which it was produced. For example, the milk check for milk produced in January is recieved on or around February 20th. Accordingly, data entry for the month's milk check will always be about 3 weeks delayed.

    • Knowing that farmers may want to run reports despite this delay, there is the option to copy and save the previous month's milk check data. A reminder will appear on both the milk check data entry form and the data calendar homepage that you have the previous month's data entered. Your data will not be verified until this is updated.

    • All of the data should come easily off the milk check.

      • If PPD is negative, use a minus sign.

      • Quality and Volume Premiums have their own lines. If you recieve any other premiums, add them together and enter on the Other Premiums line.

      • Contract Adjustment: Enter the monthly amount of added income or deductions as a result of contracting. Enter deductions as a negative number. This does not include your premiums for contracting or brokerage fees which will be entered later.

      • Enter all deductions, including CWT, Promotion (State and National) Deduction (this will be calculated for you automatically after you have entered total milk lbs sold), Hauling and Transport Deductions (including stop charge), and Coop Dues.  Any additional deductions associated with the sale of milk should be added together and entered in Other Milk Marketing. Other Milk Marketing does not include contracting costs (this includes balancing costs and two-tier pricing).

      • Contract Cost: This is the cost of your monthly contracting (premiums, brokerage fees etc.) i.e. if a fence premium cost you $400, then enter $400.

      • Do not include Coop Equity Deductions in Other Milk Marketing Expense as these are considered investments and hedging line items that are not associated with the normal operating parameters of the farm.

      • Enter your average Somatic Cell Count and Bacteria Plate Count in thousands, i.e. 2,000 not 2.

  5. Section 3: Herd

    • This information should be easily found on your herd management software or DHI sheets. The DPM Help Section has instructions for Dairy Comp 305 Commands and Dairy Comp 305 Report Configuration.

    • Animal Inventory: Enter end of month numbers for lactating cows (including sick/treated), dry cows, and heifers.

    • Culling Parameters:

      • Cows: Enter cows sold for beef, cows died, and cows sold and died < 60 DIM. Do not include animals sold as dairy replacements in these figures.

      • Youngstock: Separate younstock culls and deaths into 2 groups; culls < 3 months old and culls > 3 months old. This is important as youngstock are culled for different reasons. Calves are culled mostly due to the calf management program, while older heifers are usually culled due to reproduction issues or injury. Again, do not include animals sold for dairy replacement.

      • Dead on Arrivals (DOAs): Defined as dead within 5 minutes of birth, not any longer. Enter the DOA % for the month.

    • Herd Parameters:

      • Pregnancy Rate: Will not yet be calculated. For an accurate measure of current reproductive performance use the most current and complete pregnancy rate that would be calculated as of the end of the month taking into consideration how often your individual farm conducts pregnancy exams.

      • Herd DIM: The average for all cows in the herd that month.

      • Age of First Calving: Average for all of the heifers calving that month, in months.

  6. Sections 4-7: Feed Section, Lactating Cows Only

    • It is very difficult to calculate monthly, accrual feed costs without computing monthly inventories, payables, and pre-paid expenses for both grains and forages. However, utilizing feed management software, or by keeping accurate records on total feed delivered to lactating cows in a given monthly period, and using daily batch sheets, we can arrive at a sound total cost.

    • This section is where you enter tons fed, cost per ton, % dry matter, and % shrink for forages and grains fed to lactating cows only. This allows farms to compare themselves to other dairies for the lactating herd, which accounts for the largest use of feed in the business.

    • Each ingredient should be line entered in one of the four categories: Raised Forages, Purchased Forages, Raised Grains, and Purchased Grains. The process for entering a feed item is the same for each section.

      • Enter the name of the feed and tons fed (on an as-fed basis).

      • Cost/Ton: For purchased grains and forages, this value is what you paid including any discounts for volume or timely payment. For raised grains and forages, enter your true total cost to raise one ton of that particular forage or grain including harvest costs.

      • Percent Shrink:This number will be an estimate; use the averages below as guidelines. Shrink occurs during filling, fermentation, and feed out of forages and grains. For more information on shrink, access “Preventing Silage Storage Losses” under the help menu on the website. This number will be higher for forages than grains.

        • Silage Bags: 9-17%

        • Uncovered Trench with walls: 25–35%

        • Covered Trench with walls: 16–25%

        • Conventional Tower: 12 - 17%

        • Uncovered Trench without walls: 35 – 45%

        • Covered Trench without walls: 17 – 24%

      • Average Percent DM: It is important to have a weighted average DM for forage fed during the month, as this will give an accurate representation of Feed Conversion Efficiency which is also used as a diagnostic. Enter this as whole number, not a decimal.

  7. Section 8: Select Financial Parameters: Vet, Medicine, Hoof Trimming, Nutritionist Fee, and Bedding Costs

    • Cash paid for Vet, Medicine, and hoof Trimming is the only required field.

    • Nutritionist fee: May be included in the cost of feed, or it may be a separate charge.

    • Bedding Costs: Enter the total monthly cost for your bedding. This is becoming a major cost of many farms and should be monitored. This includes all bedding, not just bedding allocated to the milking herd.

  8. Section 9: Labor Data
    • Enter all hours worked on the farm during the month including: Owner and Management Hours, Salary Hours, Hourly Hours, Family and Unpaid Labor Hours.

    • Do not use decimal places, round to the nearest labor hour.

    • There are two options for data entry on the labor page:

      • Enter the total labor hours (including unpaid family, salaried, and owner hours) for the month under the Hired Labor Hours line OR

      • Breakout the owner, salaried, and unpaid family hours from the hired hours. Most farms use standardized numbers for their owners, salaried, and unpaid family labor. If you choose to enter into these lines, the hours will be carried forward from month to month. They can be adjusted to reflect changes in season or as needed.

    • In this section, it is important to adjust for and include only labor hours worked during the month, not the labor hours paid for. Some months have 5 weekly pay periods where others have 4. To arrive at a more accurate representation of total hours worked, divide total hours by total number of days paid for, then multiply by the number of days in the month. For example, if June had 5 pay periods you would divide total hours by the 35 days of work actually paid for, to get an average day, and then multiply by 30, the actual number of days in the month of June.

Reports

To view your reports, click back to the data calendar page. Once all of your data is entered correctly for the month the data button will turn green and you will be able to review each report. If there is an error in your data, you will receive an internal message through the DPM website from one of the PRO-DAIRY staff. If all of your data was entered correctly and there are no errors or questions, you will receive a green check mark on the right hand side of the monthly data.

Once your data is complete, you will be able to view the monthly report, the monthly milk check report, the 12 month report, annual summary by quarter report, trend graphs, a comparison report, and the comparison trend graph report.

 

Additional Questions?

Contact: DPM administrator at dairyprofit@cornell.edu.