When was the last time you Googled the name of your farm or business? Chances are something appeared in the results. In agriculture circles, you often hear about the importance of online and social media presence in the context of advocacy and connecting with consumers for conversations centered on our food supply.

Farming has been a very profitable business for the past decade. When there is a period of farm prosperity, the main asset farmers own – land – becomes more valuable as demand for farmland increases.

Based on the title, you might be wondering if prognostication is some kind of new forage management practice – and in a way, it is. Prognostication means “to predict, using current indicators as a guide.”

The U.S. farming sector has exhibited very strong financial performance during the past five to seven years in terms of income generation, cash flow and debt servicing capacity, and equity accumulation, but that strong performance has been accompanied by increased volatility.

“It’s hard to find any help that isn’t as confused as we are.”

For Mark Davies, the middle-generation son in this farming family, it was a dubious beginning for what should have been a major step on the road to a more certain future.

Most winter-feeding programs for dry cows rely on relatively less expensive, lower quality forages like corn stalks, prairie hay and winter range. These forages have low amounts of crude protein.