By Emily Mollenhauer: MDI State Director
It’s important to analyze progress and celebrate successes in all aspects of life and farming. At Minnesota Dairy Initiative, we want to applaud our enrolled farms for the successful progress that they made during fiscal year 2026. Each year seems to throw a different wrench in the plans that each farm has for the year. Whether it be low milk prices, drought, high input costs, or some other factor, MDI farms are resilient and respond to each hurdle with their best foot forward. The team aspect that MDI provides helps farmers plan for, and navigate the challenges of dairy farming with confidence and success.
Each year, MDI enrolled farms set goals at the beginning of the fiscal year. At the end of the fiscal year, MDI coordinators help farms analyze their goals to see if the met or made progress on their goals. All goals are sorted into one of the following categories: risk management; employee/family relations or communication; forage/nutrition production or management; herd health/reproduction; farm transition; financial management; milk production or quality; facility and equipment changes; biosecurity; and other.
In total, MDI enrolled farms set 358 goals during fiscal year 2026. 83% of these goals were met, or progress was made. This is a 2% increase from fiscal year 2025. Over 44% of the total goals that were set were related to milk production/quality or facility and equipment changes. MDI farms are setting high standards for milk production, pounds of solids, and milk quality. They are also striving to maintain, change, and expand their facilities and the equipment that they use to set their operation up for success.
We applaud MDI enrolled farms for their success on reaching these goals and thank the team members that have been instrumental for the farms to reach their goals.
| Goal Category | Total # of Goals | Yes, goal was met or progress was made | No progress was made or goal was not met | % of goals |
| Risk management | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.56 |
| Employee/family relations or communication | 15 | 15 | 0 | 4.19 |
| Other | 16 | 12 | 4 | 4.47 |
| Forage production/management | 18 | 18 | 0 | 5.03 |
| Herd health/reproduction | 69 | 59 | 10 | 19.27 |
| Farm Transition | 37 | 30 | 7 | 10.34 |
| Financial management | 41 | 36 | 5 | 11.45 |
| Milk production or quality | 80 | 61 | 19 | 22.35 |
| Facility and equipment changes | 79 | 67 | 12 | 22.07 |
| Biosecurity | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.28 |
| TOTAL | 358 | 300 | 58 | 100.00 |
