Who: Jeff Boivin, General Manager, Cow Palace, LLC, a large commercial dairy.
Where: Located near Granger, WA in the heart of dairy country in the Yakima Valley.
Jeff's first dairy experience started at 12 years of age when he obtained a job on a neighboring dairy in western Washington. His experience over the next few years led Jeff to decide he wanted to continue to work in the dairy business. Jeff continued in that direction while attending Washington State University graduating with a BS degree in Dairy Science in 1987.
After graduating from WSU, he worked in management on large dairies including the dairy he first worked at when he was 12. Jeff has been the general manager of Cow Palace, LLC since 2002.
Ownership and collaboration: Develop a "WE" attitude in all employees and get them to work as a team:
- Protocols are developed for all jobs.
- Employees are engaged in the process of developing protocols and encouraged to take ownership of the job they are doing.
- Goals are set with employee input and these are monitored over time.
Maybe the biggest challenge is to get people to do the job the right or correct way every day.
Show them "why": By nature, the smooth operation of a large dairy requires almost everyone to make a lot of decisions every day. Jeff strives to teach the "WHY" of a protocol in training so the employee has the tools to make proper decisions when necessary. The teamwork and training seems to be working as Cow Palace has a high percentage of long-term employees.
Heightened management: With increasing feed and other costs, Cow Palace has been using the commodity markets to hedge in margins when possible to try to eliminate some of the market volatility. In the future, Cow Palace management will be increasingly involved in political and environmental issues that affect the dairy itself and the dairy industry as a whole.
More than a nutrient. The Diamond V role: The decision to feed Diamond V Yeast Culture to all cows and younger calves was made by Jeff based on the large amount of science presented by Diamond V to back up the efficacy and mode of action of the product.
The dairy continues to use Diamond V because of results and the technical support provided by Diamond V technical experts in various aspects of managing the dairy. The Diamond V TMR Audit program has been integral in bringing about positive changes in managing the feeding operation. Jeff is adamant that the TMR Audit program has led to feeding fresher wet feeds, silage, and getting a better, more consistent TMR in front of the cows every day.
Jeff states, "The extra set of eyes from outside observers on our system holds us all accountable to a higher standard of daily performance. It takes away some of the load-to-load error of getting the nutritionist's formula in front of the cows, so every meal is as consistent as possible."
Producer Spotlight - Jeff Boivin 
