Feeding and cropping management practices are critical to the profitability of a dairy business. Twenty-five Pennsylvania dairies were sampled 4 times for corn silage and total mixed ration (TMR) for the harvest years 2016 and 2017. These farms monitored monthly milk margin and income over feed cost and completed an annual financial analysis. The objective was to demonstrate how cropping and feeding management influence financial performance annually as well as monthly. Project farms were categorized by their net return over labor and management (profit) and then compared for differences in milk margin (Table 1). High net return groups averaged greater milk production, average components, and average gross milk price when compared with medium and low groups. The high group had lower feed costs regardless if based on home raised costs or standardized market costs. Medium net return farms had the lowest average milk production by group, but also had the highest milk components, which improved their overall milk price. No direct relationship between corn silage harvest performance and feeding management with annual financials was detected. Producers can implement good management practices related to forage quality and feeding management but if hired labor or loan payments are excessive, profitability will be challenged. Table 1 (Abstr. 79). Monthly milk price and feed cost data combined for years 2016 and 2017 grouped by return over labor and management

Value	1-Low	2-Med	3-High	Average
Milk/milk cow per day, lbs.	73.7	72.3	79.9	75.9
ECM/milk cow per day, lbs.	74.7	75.6	81.3	77.7
Milk fat, %	3.7%	3.9%	3.7%	3.8%
Milk protein, %	3.0%	3.1%	3.0%	3.1%
Cost of production w/ labor and mgmt., $/cwt	$22.22	$20.25	$17.39	$19.76
Gross milk price, $/cwt	$18.11	$18.63	$18.24	$18.31
Milk cow feed cost, $/cwt
Using home raised costs	$6.65	$7.24	$6.59	$6.80
Using standard monthly market costs	$7.98	$7.93	$7.68	$7.84
Milk margin (gross milk price – feed cost), $/cwt	$11.46	$11.39	$11.65	$11.51