When you think about price potential for feed in 2017, it’s important to look back at where we’ve been lately. The last four years have ended with record-breaking or near-record-breaking corn production and demand that has kept pace.

Our habits are important in establishing how we behave and how others perceive us. I worked with a supervisor who was habitually discrediting employees with negative body language and derogatory comments.

In my role, I have the opportunity to work with a wide assortment of dairy producers, utilizing varying degrees of technology on their operations.

Today, many dairy operations find they need the flexibility of exchange-traded options, which allow you to not only protect attractive margins, but also capture future incremental improvements.

It’s not too late to manage your risk for 2017. While the deadline to participate in the Margin Protection Program (MPP) has passed, producers still have the opportunity to plan and implement a risk management plan for 2017.

The years of 2008 and 2009 are still very vivid in the minds of the dairy farmers who weathered the huge drop in milk prices during those years. This period of time, known as the Great Recession, is also stuck in the minds of the rest of the world.

Ask a dairyman what keeps him or her up at night, and chances are it will be one of these issues: How will I afford to keep renting land at sky-high rates? Who is going to milk my cows?

In late October and early November 2016, I led a group from the American Forage and Grassland Council on a tour of New Zealand. The goal for our trip was to foster more of a connection with our colleagues and counterparts while learning more about their livestock industries.

Producing milk to fit the demands of today’s consumers should be a central focus of the nutritionist, producer and milk processor alike. Advances in milk processing, such as ultrafiltration, have allowed for unique product offerings that target the high-protein, reduced-sugar, lactose-free market.

It takes millions to get into farming. You either have to win the lottery or you depend on the hefty support of your family, which is sometimes like winning the lottery. Sure, there are stories of guys getting into the industry on their own, but those stories are getting to be rare and often when told are just that: stories.