Veterinary medicine continues to change, and more female vets are working on dairies than ever before. While physical strength will always be a challenge, these animal health professionals are relying on brains over brawn to confront daily obstacles, including gender bias.

Even with milk prices trending up and 2020 looking to be even better, there is lots of uncertainty still in the marketplace. Continuing weather issues, trade and tariff issues, plus forage quality and availability all weigh heavy on producers’ minds as they struggle to finish the 2019 season.

Most farms recognize the benefit of meeting to discuss issues facing the farm. But it can be hard to see the value of doing this regularly before things blow up. Editor Walt Cooley talks with farm family decision consultant Andy Junkin about how to start meeting regularly and keep farm meetings on track and productive.

It has been made quite clear over the past couple of decades that Latinos are of a growing importance in our nation’s dairy industry.

For decades, our accounting firm has produced quarterly dairy farm cost studies for our dairy clients and others to use for benchmarking and profitability improvement.

The year has certainly flown by. After a drawn-out spring gave way to summer, fall is now here. We hope extended warm temperatures allow corn to continue to mature, allowing dairy producers to build adequate inventories of good-quality feed for the year ahead.

Dairy producers are committed to improving animal welfare every day, but the needs of the animal caregivers play heavily into it, said Dr. Michelle Calvo-Lorenzo, technical consultant for Elanco Animal Health.

Preserving the relationship with your banker is important during good times, and it is essential to your survival in times like these.

Why do banks require financial statements? Financial statements provide the bank reassurance that the operation is in compliance with covenants as set forth in their agreements.

Sometimes I wish I didn’t have real-life examples of how I make mistakes. One harvest, I was the combine driver who backed into the fuel truck while I was unloading my auger for cleanout to move to the next field. I’ve had many accidents while backing up, so I should have checked my mirrors.