Management

The dairy industry is volatile and unpredictable, and that isn’t likely to change. Dairy managers must embrace and adapt to that mentality to be successful, Michael Swanson, ag economist with Wells Fargo, told dairy producers attending the 2017 Vita Plus Dairy Summit, Dec. 6-7, in Madison, Wisconsin.

Most federal tax reform changes signed into law under H.R. 1 went into effect Jan. 1, 2018, meaning they will impact tax returns filed in 2019. However, dairy farmers need to understand how the law is impacting them early in 2018 so they can make good business decisions and plan accordingly in the months ahead.

Most dairies I work with utilize dairy software to help organize daily activities such as what cows to breed, treat, etc. While this can be extremely helpful in staying organized, what can make data even more valuable to a dairy is its ability to help us solve mysteries.

There is little to feel warm and fuzzy about in the U.S. cow dairy industry these days, so it is not surprising some producers are hearing about $35 per hundredweight and higher numbers for goat milk and warming to the idea of transitioning.

There are plenty of jokes shared among cow dairymen that praise one breed at the expense of another, but at the bottom of the heap in nearly every joke is the lowly goat.

For the dairy industry, and me personally, the end of calendar year 2017 was a rugged stretch. With the release of the latest dairy undercover video just before the Christmas holiday, there were six separate videos released since the middle of November.