Producers retain employees by being good employers. In this column, I will share some thoughts from producers, who I feel are very good employers, along with my observations of why these producers have retained their best employees. I frequent nearly 30 dairies in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa, and I have the opportunity to observe and learn from some very good employers.

As a child growing up on a Midwestern dairy farm, I heard my father tell people, “Farmers are the only crowd that buy everything at retail, sell everything at wholesale, and pay shipping both ways”.

It is well known that dairy producers face a variety of risks. These include biological factors, adverse weather, unusually large variations in both output and input prices, competition from foreign producers, as well as general fluctuations in national and world economic conditions.

World Dairy Expo and World Ag Expo are like the Mall of America for dairy producers and dairy farmers. They are one-stop shops for all the needs of today’s dairy producer. Even smaller, regional trade shows give producers more options than a Super Wal-Mart. In addition to visiting your neighborhood dealer, who may have some of the things you need, make an effort to visit a trade show. These shows feature more products and more experts than you can find locally.

Change is accelerating to an incredible pace in the dairy industry. In just the past few years we’ve had to deal with issues like: BSE, rBST, organic, high grain prices, volatile milk prices, feed grains for fuel production, high demand for milk components, cloning, sexed semen, consolidation, immigration, etc. It makes me think of Billy Joel’s song, “We didn’t start the fire.”

How do you make a good dairy a great dairy? Is it adopting all the latest gadgets that are introduced? Is it changing protocols all the time to stay on top? Neither of these are the answer for Jim Collins, author of the best-selling book, Good to Great. His answer is to focus on: “First who, then what.”

The Holstein beef market is a fascinating and integral part of the beef supply chain. Holstein steers have been largely overlooked in academic research. The primary motivation behind this study is to develop an understanding of, and document the driving forces that are active in, the markets for Holstein feeder steers and finished steers.

Transformations go on around us every day on the dairy – heifers become cows, grass becomes hay and fall weather quickly turns to the bitter cold of winter. But, over the last year, we’ve seen even bigger changes in the dairy industry.

Now is the time to capitalize on high milk prices and make up for the low milk prices of 2006. By developing a marketing strategy to lock in long-term cash flows, producers can offset low milk prices that are certain to return following the effects of high prices, which include improved profitability, herd expansion and milk supply growth.

Since other feedstuffs are typically priced to reflect the corn and soybean market, the cost of almost all feed ingredients has increased. Since feed is the largest single cost in producing milk, most producers review their feeding program to see if there are ways to reduce these costs. Any changes made to rations should only occur after a thorough review of the feeding program and must take into account the impact a change could have on other aspects of the overall operation.