Dairy advisory teams forming in NY. An impressive display of unity and innovation.

The great thing about agriculture: when it's tough sledding, people join together and work to help out wherever or whomever they can.

This has been demonstrated many times over in decades past. Willie Nelson's Farm Aid concerts during the farm crisis of the early 80s; Midwest farmers shipping their hay free of charge down to farms in the Southeast during drought years so that cattle could be fed. The magazine Successful Farming held a national confab on crop diversification during the farm crisis, and bused in any farmer who wanted to attend from points across the country.

So it's probably no surprise to read this week about a volunteer effort in New York state to help dairy farmers manage through the current economic downturn. The publication Farm and Dairy details the effort, in which teams of dairy experts, from finance specialists to nutritionists to herd management advisors to robotics and technology pros are assembling to give farmers a 360-degree analysis of their dairy farm. They hope to form 22 teams this year.

Big kudos to all who are working to mount this effort and help dairy farmers weather the storm.