I’ve been speaking to a lot of organizations around the country and the one thing I keep hearing from leaders and employees is that complaining is at an all-time high. I’m not surprised. There are two main reasons why we complain. • We complain because we feel powerless. • We complain because it’s a habit.

King Richard III, as many such monarchs do, made many enemies. Over time, one, Henry, gathered enough supporters and challenged Richard for the throne of England. Their forces met near Market Bosworth. While Richard’s forces outnumbered Henry’s, in the midst of fierce fighting, Richard is dehorsed. Shakespeare, in one of his greatest plays depicting this historic scene, has Richard cry out, “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!” He gets no horse, he is killed and the kingdom lost, for want of a horse. Legend says his crown was retrieved from a nearby hawthorn bush and delivered to Henry, who became the next king of England, Henry VII, father of the more famous, Henry VIII.

The dairy industry, as with virtually all other agricultural commodity industries, can and will have volatile price cycles over time. These price cycles provide both challenges and opportunities in making financial decisions. We will examine these decisions from two broad producer perspectives: 1. The steady and growing dairy operation and 2. The liquidating dairy operation.

Shuffling through the mail on a daily basis is a menial, yet important task that can rarely be described as exciting. Every once and a while, however, an envelope flashes through your hands that grabs your attention: “You may have already won $10 million!” Ummmmm, yeah, right.

Entry into farming is all too often thought of and treated as an event. At some undetermined date the farmer will “turn it all over” to the successor. After all, for years the farmer has been saying, “Someday, son/daughter/niece/nephew (circle the appropriate), this will all be yours.”

The most dramatic year in the dairy business in living memory, 2009, has turned dairy farmers’ attention worldwide to the ever-present issue of the cost of producing a pound of milk. Of paramount importance is making this reduction without incurring any adverse effect on the health or fertility of the cow. The initial response from the dairy producer in 2009 was to reduce feed input costs. Unfortunately that has resulted in a situation where health and fertility has suffered dramatically and refocuses the mind on thinking more “outside the box.”

I suspect that being in the dairy business these days is a lot like playing poker. “You have to know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em. Know when to walk away and know when to run.” The dairy industry continues to struggle its way through the worst financial crisis in modern times. For many areas of the country feed costs are higher than they’ve ever been and, for much of 2009, the price being paid for milk was at the lowest levels in years. And since feed costs are the single-highest cost on a dairy, it’s only natural for dairy farmers to try to reduce feed costs.

When will milk prices cover your costs? The operative word in this question is “when” – not “will” milk prices ever cover your costs again. Milk prices will cover your cost of production; however, for some milk producers it will be several more months into the future. For some milk producers, it will be a few months too late. Liquidations, foreclosures and bankruptcies are already taking a toll.