Until recently, it was generally accepted that milk prices ran on a three-year cycle: one year of moderate prices followed by a year of very strong prices and then a year of weak milk prices.

With a new dairy market era emerging, Farm Credit East staff offer potential actions producers, consultants and lenders can take to drive dairy farm and financial management during this industry reset. One overarching theme: Waiting for a highly profitable year to recover finances is not a viable strategy.

Earlier this summer (well, it was winter down under) an Australian milk processor terminated the contracts of several dairy farmers because of an oversupply of milk. The processor cited the global supply of milk generally, and the increased production of milk in Europe specifically, as the basis for its decision.

There are two very generous tax breaks business owners have relied upon: bonus depreciation and Section 179 expensing. For those unfamiliar with what these are, bonus depreciation currently allows business owners to write off 50 percent of the cost of new capital assets in the year of purchase as long as such assets meet certain criteria.

As a farmer, chances are you’ve had the conversation of Social Security with your accountant, attorney or financial adviser, both during the early years of your business and today as you get closer to qualifying for benefits. Within the industry, there are times that there can be significant deductions, leading to years in which losses are recognized or carried forward.

As a CPA, I am often asked about dairy milk hedging strategies, particularly “to hedge or not to hedge.” There are many ways to answer this question, but the most common answer is: “It depends.” And hedging depends on many factors.

I was recently asked what I thought were among the key ingredients of a long-term and substantive consulting relationship between a dairy producer and his or her adviser(s).

Our K-12 and college students are well into another year of their education. You will soon see announcements for winter educational sessions. In this article, we stop and reflect on “learning.” In order to look ahead, let’s first look back.

Does marketing ever seem like an uphill battle? If you’re not equipped to climb the market’s peaks or navigate its valleys, marketing will always seem tougher than it needs to be.

One of the first questions I typically receive when I mention to farms that I am a labor management consultant is, “Am I paying my employees enough?” It is no secret that starting rates, pay structures and state-wide minimum wage is on every business owner’s mind.