Management

As farm ownership progresses through generations, it becomes more and more likely that owners may have one or more children or heirs that are not actively involved in the business.

Think of a recent time when someone – employee, colleague, partner, family member, friend – was not listening when you had something important to say. Now think about how you felt, and describe your feelings in one word.

As farmers, we face challenges and feel stress every day. It is when it becomes unrelenting and overwhelming we begin to experience negative side effects. Dairy farmers are some of the smartest, most innovative, problem-solving, optimistic people in the world. It is good to take a moment to be reminded of this fact.

“What is unique about you and your farm that you can build into your brand?” asked Tera Johnson, director of the Food Finance Institute (FFI) and founder of teraswhey, in her keynote presentation at the Resilient Farms Conference, held earlier this year in Wisconsin Dells.

In today’s unpredictable dairy economy, farmers have looked for ways to diversify their income streams. This isn’t a new way of thinking, though organizations have realized offering a place for brainstorming and sharing of best practices to occur is a way to help those searching for ideas.

You’re busy – milking cows, packing bunker silos and watching presidential candidate debates (well, maybe). With that in mind, Progressive Dairy looks at issues in the news impacting you and your dairy business.