With all of the bad news and market challenges dairy farmers have been contending with during the past year, Michael Hosterman, agricultural business consultant with AgChoice Farm Credit, has a bit of positive information for producers looking to make improvements to their dairy business during 2019 and beyond.

With the end of another year, now is the time to brush up on key financial ratios and cost drivers that will assist in evaluating your farm’s performance.

Economic conditions for dairy producers have been challenging over the last few years, mostly due to pricing pressures putting the squeeze on profit margins. Interest rates, however, were not a major factor, thanks to the Federal Reserve keeping short-term rates historically low in the wake of the recession.

Paying taxes is painful. We all hate to write a check to the IRS; however, sometimes paying taxes is more important for operational health and long-term wealth generation than spending profits to avoid them.

All too often it seems spouses may pay more attention to crop production than they do to their marriage partnerships, and the cracks can really show.

As a principal in the Agri-Food Management Excellence program and owner of his own consulting business, Larry Martin has worked with a lot of farmers across Canada to analyze and improve their businesses.

The Dairy Revenue Protection (Dairy-RP) insurance program has been in place for nearly two months. Some farmers have written endorsements, some are hoping there will be milk price increases before stepping in, while still others are in the learning mode trying to understand the program to determine if it’s worth getting involved.

Recently, a friend sat down beside me at dinner and asked, “What do you do when someone calls you and asks about this crisis we are going through? What do you say when one of your neighbors calls you and tells you it’s over – they’re selling out? How do you help someone else when you’re unsure yourself?”

As 2018 comes to a close, I’ve been asked to write about “balancing cow comfort and the bottom line.” This has certainly been a year when the focus has needed to be on making sure your operation was in balance, and there have been enough curve balls to test it.

Following is a list of events, websites, articles and other resources addressing farm stress. The list is provided as a service to dairy farm families and support teams. It is compiled from information collected from websites and other sources, and supplied by outside sources. Progressive Dairyman attempts to verify all resources listed, but appearance on the list does not represent an endorsement by Progressive Dairyman.