Management

The transition of a farm can make or break not only the future of a business, but also the relationships among family members involved. A banker, an attorney and an accountant recently shared their advice on how to minimize drama when dealing with the transfer of farm assets.

According to neurology studies, the average human only thinks about seven to nine things at a time. Indeed, there are only a handful of things kicking around in that brain of yours and mine.

Responding appropriately to agricultural emergencies requires a specialized skill set. Evidence suggests the more exposure emergency responders have to agricultural situations, the more comfortable they will become when dealing with safety issues in those environments.

A common trend with employers is to start any new employee on a probationary basis. What does that mean? An employer specifies a set amount of time for any new hire to allow the company to evaluate that person’s abilities and if they are a good fit for the company before becoming a permanent employee.

In 2014, when producer milk was priced at over $24 per hundredweight (cwt), making money was pretty easy. In 2008, when prices fell to $12 per cwt, it’s doubtful any producer was making money. More recently, prices have hovered in the $15-to-$17-per-cwt range. Some have made money, but a lot of others have struggled.

Our firm has prepared and issued averages of our dairy clients’ income and expense reports on a quarterly basis for many years. We have done this for the purpose of providing comparable industry standards to benefit our clients and others working in the dairy industry.