Twenty-five miles inland from the Atlantic coast, along the Savannah River, you can still see the rise and fall of the ocean tide.

With interest rates, inflation and input costs on the rise and milk futures trending in the opposite direction, a lot of dairy producers I talk to are asking me this question: Is it possible to be a profitable dairy farming business, despite these external pressures?

How to make sense of massive amounts of data generated on farms to help inform decisions, track progress and improve profitability.  

With all the talk around interest rates, inflation and feed prices, I’d like to take some time to work through how they will impact your farm and the dairy industry as a whole in 2023.

Farm profitability faces significant pressure in 2023 as availability and high costs for farm inputs continue to be concerns. Deciding when to buy products and at what prices is a challenge given global and domestic market uncertainty. To secure products at reasonable prices, consider creating an input purchasing plan.

It’s been quite a while since dairy operators have had to budget for interest rate expenses. But the Federal Reserve raised interest rates six times in 2022, and policymakers expect more to come in 2023 in an effort to slow inflation by increasing the cost of borrowing.

Reproductive performance continues to improve across the dairy industry. Herds routinely achieve 21-day pregnancy rates above 20%, up from 14% reported as the national average in the 1990s.

Quality beef is in high demand. One look in the beef section of a grocer’s cooler or a night out with a good steak dinner testifies that quality beef fetches premium prices.