“Someday this will all be yours.” In today’s economy, most dairy families know that vague promises about transferring the farm to the next generation are simply inadequate.

Recently I worked with a family in Wisconsin who had a cost of production of $19 per hundredweight (cwt), and they were getting paid a lot less than that.

As farmers, we face challenges and feel stress every day. It is when it becomes unrelenting and overwhelming we begin to experience negative side effects. Dairy farmers are some of the smartest, most innovative, problem-solving, optimistic people in the world. It is good to take a moment to be reminded of this fact.

Think of a recent time when someone – employee, colleague, partner, family member, friend – was not listening when you had something important to say. Now think about how you felt, and describe your feelings in one word.

I was a decent fiddle player and often got standing ovations when I let it rip in nursing homes. Yet I hadn’t played for over a decade until I wanted to impress my fiancee. Let’s just say the fiddle should have stayed in the case, and it’s a miracle she retained her hearing, let alone that I’m now married to her.

When there’s conflict at work, the manner in which it is handled and resolved affects both the individuals involved and the organization itself. Whether the tension is between co-workers, managerial staff and laborers, or owners and employees, improperly managed conflict can cause disagreements, disputes and even litigation.

Editor’s note: The author, an Indiana dairy producer and freelance writer, continues her exploration of resources and methods to help dairy farmers deal with farm stress. Find a comprehensive list of programs, help lines, websites, videos and factsheets and other materials online (Farm stress: Sources and resources).

Do you ever feel like when you cross one thing off your to-do list, two more things get added? There’s no doubt responsibilities on the farm and at home can pile up quickly. And when faced with challenging times, it’s easy to lose perspective. Making decisions can be a struggle.

Recently I’ve talked about the tension that comes with great wealth transfer. Here is more information on that subject. Financial planner Anthony Williams describes a study by Investment News suggesting 66 percent of children will ultimately fire their parents’ financial adviser once they receive their inheritance. These children are called fleeing heirs.

Frustration is a stressor each of us can feel from time to time, especially for those in the dairy industry. From personal and family struggles to rhetoric in our community and prices in the marketplace, there are plenty of reasons to doubt who we are and what we represent.