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.

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.

For dairy farmers who were betting the “three-year cycle” would shore up balance sheets, 2017 become a supreme disappointment. The year was modestly profitable for the lowest-cost producers, but for the average farmer, milk checks have failed to generate significant profits, if any at all.

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.

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.

If you like old Westerns, then you are familiar with the popular scene where the heroine of the story is tied to the railroad tracks as a speeding locomotive races towards her peril. That scene aptly describes the scenario lingering in the dairy community.

Recently, many dairy producers have seen their revenues decline as a result of milk check deductions. Dairy risk managers who want to protect their profitability must account for these deductions as they calculate their forward margins and consider adjusting existing margin management strategies.

Milk prices improved somewhat in 2017, but price announcements don’t tell the whole story. Market deductions are cutting into the totals dairy farmers actually receive in their milk checks.

As a Hudson Institute-certified coach, I have been taught to always ask, “How old are you?” This is not rude. This is a helpful piece of information to assess what key issues need to be talked about. Scott Zimmer of Bridgeworks has helped me with decoding helpful language for communication between the generations.

When it comes to operating a successful business, few relationships are more important than the one linking producer and lender, according to Rob Barley, partner at Star Rock Farms and Star Rock Dairy in Conestoga, Pennsylvania.