The decade of 2020 has already been a financial and emotional roller coaster. David Kohl, professor emeritus, Virginia Tech University, suggests the next decade will be a turbulent ride of extreme economic volatility.

Cassidy, Paul and David visit with University of Missouri assistant extension professor Jordan Thomas on the management variabilities that producers can prepare for in a given year. Whether it be for calving, forage or marketing, cattle producers can sometimes be their own worst enemies in managing for profit. Thomas applies system thinking that helps minimize risk. The Progressive Cattle podcast hosts also discuss the outlook for the new year.

I was recently asked to give a presentation on “How to make money in the cow business.” Whether you are running 40 or 400 cows, money can routinely be made in the cow business, but it takes good planning, recordkeeping and decision-making.

The year has certainly flown by. After a drawn-out spring gave way to summer, fall is now here. We hope extended warm temperatures allow corn to continue to mature, allowing dairy producers to build adequate inventories of good-quality feed for the year ahead.

Growing your dairy farm requires a strategic plan, one that positions it for success in the long term. That plan forms the basis for incremental growth, focused on putting numerous small steps together to achieve the desired end result. The key to this step-by-step approach is knowing beforehand what that final goal looks like and developing a strategy to achieve it.