Editor’s note: This article is part of a series of articles to review the four most common management philosophies that dairy managers employ. The first article in the series appeared in the July 1 issue and reviewed the authority-obedience philosophy.

Einstein was quoted as saying “In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.” We have spent several articles discussing the “how-to’s” and “what-for’s” of options as it pertains to hedging milk and feed in the futures and options arena.

“We have a team meeting on our dairy every two weeks. One of the topics we discuss during the meeting is things that need improvement. We review our protocols or provide re-training about important aspects of our dairy’s protocols."

“When it comes to money, ignorance is not bliss. What you don’t know can hurt you.” —Sandra S. Simmons, from the book Unleash Your Cash Flow Mojo: The Business Owner’s Guide to Predicting, Planning and Controlling Your Company’s Cash Flow

Legal battles between environmental groups and the dairy industry over land, air and water have been dragging on for the past several years. Complex regulations – and court interpretations of those regulations – impact the way dairies conduct their business.

For dairy farmers, it is more important than ever before to project and control taxable income. Publicly traded companies like General Electric and Apple have always known the importance of projecting income and making sure the actual results match their forecasts.

“Often what looks like resistance is a lack of clarity.” This is one of the observations in the book Switch: How to change things when change is hard, written by Chip Heath and Dan Heath.

What makes Lauren Raskovic unique is: First, she is a 15-year-old girl starting her own dairy farm. Second, she is the daughter of a race car mechanic with no farming background.

As summer slides into the cool days of autumn, the last tire has been placed on our bunkers and piles, and machinery is cleaned up and put away, it may be tempting to think all that remains of the 2015 harvest year is feeding it.

Promoting the U.S. dairy industry outside of the U.S. is usually left to industry exporters. But for Butlerview Dairy Farm in Chebanse, Illinois, hiring an Australian intern offered the opportunity of a foreign perspective – for both parties.