Management

Whether an owner of a dairy operation or ag-related company, a manager or an employee looking to excel, there are four competencies everyone should work to improve.

With the current financial squeeze in agriculture, many have reduced their labor force and, therefore, asked for more work from fewer people: themselves, employees and their own family members.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law on December 22, 2017, is the largest overhaul of U.S. tax code in 30 years. Most of the tax-cut provisions are effective immediately for tax year 2018. However, many are temporary and scheduled to sunset or phase out in future years, if no further congressional action is taken.

Recruitment and selection are not the fondest areas of work for most dairy farm managers, leaders and owners. It, therefore, is important to productively focus your energies. To better understand the importance of focus, we start with a discussion of the circles of concern and influence.

Once again, a federal court has issued an opinion regarding the constitutionality of a farm protection (frequently called “ag gag”) statute. This time, it was the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which upheld part – and struck down part – of Idaho’s “Interference with Agricultural Production” law.

Installing a new milking system of any kind is a significant investment. As more farms install automated milking systems, various methods are used to measure profitability.