Dairy System Monitoring (DSM)

DSM (Dairy Systems Monitoring) was developed in 1999 by Chris Lewis, Senior Dairy Consultant and partner of BakerAg.

DSM is an up-to-date tool that takes financial and production information through the milk season and shows a farmer each month how they are tracking against their budget and, if they wish, against other farms that are using DSM.

Using data captured at the end of each month from the farm manager and dairy company website and updating this against the budget developed at the start of the season, we generate a revised position which is uploaded onto the internet.

Farmers access the internet site to see their revised reports and how they are doing against a benchmark developed from the results across similar DSM farms.  This allows farmers to see exactly where they are against what they budgeted and compare the relative strengths and weaknesses of their farming systems.

This process developed over time now enables our DSM clients to plan their flight path, monitor and amend the system during the journey (over a season) and have monthly benchmarks against the achievements of their peers.

Further to this, the service and reports give members the opportunity to ask “what-if, and why”, and get specific feedback. With a well coordinated client-consultant team approach you have an interactive tool that will direct, motivate and build on high performance farm systems.

We need to ensure our clients see DSM as a tool and not an end result. The service is about having a plan, then monitoring and responding towards achievement of your specific targets. You can compare your performance with your peers – while helping you to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your business.

 

DSM is utilised by five independent consultancy firms delivering benchmarks for the Waikato, Taranaki, Hawkes Bay, Tararua, Manawatu, Wairarapa, Rotorua, Takaka, Canterbury, Otago and Southland districts.

We provide DSM as a packaged service. Not only do you get monthly updated models and benchmarking, there is the opportunity to be involved in three to four DSM group meetings each year, a study tour and an end of season individual interpretation (report card) for the year and a presentation to DSM subscribers on overall trends and insights into gaining profitable results going into the next season.

Key benefits are:

  • Monthly updates of results against budget.
  • Having a budget on Farmax Dairy that can be used for scenario planning.
  • Benchmarking to compare business performance with others.
  • Three networking meetings per year to meet other users and discuss the results.
  • Annual report of the individual business's strengths and weaknesses.
  • Farmer access to valid Farmax Dairy models.
  • Over the years a database develops for each individual farm, effectively becoming an interactive diary.

Please contact us to see how we can help

Angela Tanner Email angela@bakerag.co.nz