MADISON COUNTY — This summer, Dipesh Khati, a rising senior at Colgate University, is conducting a study of dairy farming in Madison County.
Khati, who is double majoring in economics and applied mathematics, is interning at Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) of Madison County, where his work is focused on compiling a guidebook that breaks down the business of dairy farming.
According to Khati, the guidebook will also include recommendations from local farmers on cost-saving practices, as well as revenue maximizing strategies to increase the profitability of dairy farms.
“The goal for the guidebook is to help dairy farmers carry out record keeping, business analysis, and risk management more efficiently, and also to help dairy farmers find new avenues for sales,” he explained. “The [aim] is to help dairy farmers get a better sense of where they are financially and make them feel empowered. My goal is to help dairy farmers in Madison County at least break even. Farming is a work of passion. People often don’t realize how difficult dairy farming is. These farmers help us have milk, butter, cheese and other food on our table. I want to do my bit, however little [it] may be, in making sure that our dairy farmers are also able to put food on their tables.”
To complete his project, Khati is conducting interviews with local farmers in order to gain information on dairy farms in general, the challenges faced by dairy farmers, and the marketing and cost-saving practices followed by such farmers in Madison County.
Last summer, Khati, who is an international student from Nepal, completed an online business fundamentals class through Harvard Business School. This year, he decided to dedicate his summer to using his knowledge and skills to help Madison County farmers in some way.
“I was reading the annual CCE reports when I came across dairy farming and how dairy farmers were struggling with low milk prices,” he said.” I did a bit of digging on the CCE Madison County website and came to know how big dairy farming was in Madison County and how dairy farmers were continually finding it difficult to break even or make profits. My grandparents were farmers too. I spent the first five years of my life on a farm, so I felt a sense of duty to try to help dairy farmers in Madison County if I could. Given my skillsets in economics and business, I thought I could give it a go.”
Khati began his internship on May 24 and spent the first few weeks creating templates for business plans, balance sheets, and income flow projections. By the first week of July, he had started to look deeper into dairy farming and the economics associated with milk production.
“I plan to conduct my interviews and complete my findings by the end of the summer,” he said.
According to Khati, his research thus far has revealed that smaller dairy farms generally have a harder time breaking even and making profits than larger farms.
As of July 23, Khati had interviewed eight farmers and was planning to speak with at least five or six more.
“Every time I speak with a farmer, they give me the name and contact of another farmer who can help me with my project,” he said.
He added that although his project was initially focused on small farms, he has since broadened his scope to include dairy operations of all sizes.
Farmers interested in assisting Khati with his research should email [email protected].
