In the dairy industry there are many tools available to the individual dairyman. There are operational tools such as nutritionists, TMRs, DHIA, A.I. breeding, sexed semen, calving- ease bulls and whether to milk twice, three or four times daily. The list goes on and on.

Dairy and other agricultural producers confront a variety of risks in running their operations. This article will focus on price risk, specifically on the output side – that is the price of milk received. Over the past three decades, U.S. agricultural policy has begun to dismantle the myriad of support programs for basic farm commodities that have existed since the Great Depression.

Government policy provided strong support for milk prices with no price tag for producers until consumers began to question the program’s cost a decade ago. We are well aware of the price volatility since 2000. Very few of today’s taxpayers and policymakers would support a return to a government-funded dairy price support program, so how can producers manage these volatile markets? A written marketing plan should create a strategy that delivers milk price stability and cash flow security with a discipline that reduces the emotion of marketing decisions.

With the presidential election still fresh on everyone’s mind, achieving your financial security plan should be a personal priority. As future policies are hashed out in Washington, you’ll need to navigate the environment at home by making decisions on everything from low interest rates to tax-saving opportunities. Here are some strategies to consider.

A recent TMR audit on a 7,200-cow dairy operation focused on its complex feeding system. As dairy size increases and multisite dairies become more common, feeding operations are becoming more complex.

Tax season is here and many of us are meeting with our accountants to summarize last year’s balance sheet and plan for 2013. We likely consider different ways to minimize tax implications on our business, planning ahead and investing in various areas of our business.

The full impact of the 2012 drought continues to be calculated and reports of hay and forage shortages persist. Forages that are available are generally expensive. Not surprisingly, dairy producers are concerned about feed cost, quality and availability – and with good reason.

The recent hike in feed ingredient prices, at a time of moderate milk prices, has dairy producers and their consultant teams focused on ways to protect their income over feed cost (IOFC). With dairy farms utilizing more corn silage as the majority of their forage base in milk cow rations, the increases in market prices for the key protein ingredients have assumed greater significance in dairy farm feed budgets.