As hard as it may be to initiate legal and business strategy conversations related to divorce or death, a family farm successor and his or her spouse or intended spouse have good reasons to openly discuss and plan for their financial relationship.

“They just don’t make ’em like they used to.” I’m sure every reader has heard that phrase, and many of us have uttered it ourselves. If you’re talking about cars and trucks, then you are absolutely right; they don’t make them like they used to – they make them far better than they used to.

Dairy farming can sometimes feel like a merry-go-round. There are times when things are going well. The cows are comfortable and milking at their full potential. You’ve got a great crew operating at exceptional efficiency. The only thing higher than the morale is the milk price.

What separates the top-performing herds from the bottom? This is one of those questions people are constantly asking and attempting to answer. As a result, we have a multitude of complicated calculations measuring everything from energy-corrected milk to income over feed costs.

It’s no secret managing the transition period (three weeks before and three weeks after parturition) is a critical determinant of productivity and profitability on the dairy farm. During this time frame, animals have large abrupt variations inside and outside their bodies.

When it comes to nutritional efficiency, most dairies have room to improve. That’s the finding from Papillon Agricultural Company, a technology-based manufacturer of specialty nutritional products.

For many dairy operations, the vet bill is a line item often considered a necessary evil. It has been established by generations that the veterinary expense is not questioned, pushed or reconsidered.

Dairy farmers have plenty of people knocking on their door with the promise to deliver incredible results: vets, feed advisers, barn designers, fertility experts, material suppliers and many more. But of these, which one of them can actually help you add lactations to your cows’ productive life?

Let’s think about what is happening today with dairy farm business owners – you: Milk prices refuse to rebound despite continuing predictions that higher prices are ahead. Many parts of the country have had excess rainfall, delaying planting and hay harvest. The divisiveness of the presidential election shows no sign of lessening.

Two recent articles about supermarkets caught my attention. The first was from the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS). ERS reports retail food prices in 2016 were 1.3 percent lower than the previous year.