Every farm business faces a host of risks from weather, disease, markets and ever-changing ag policy. However, there are five major risks every farm transition plan should consider and develop contingencies to address.

Livestock Gross Margin Insurance for Dairy (LGM-Dairy) is a subsidized insurance policy that provides protection to dairy producers against the loss of gross margin (market value of milk minus feed costs) for specified portions of milk produced by their dairy cows. Livestock Gross Margin Insurance for Dairy establishes a floor (minimum) on income over feed costs (IOFC), ensuring that the gross margin will not be less than the amount specified in the LGM-Dairy policy. It is a risk management tool very similar to using a bundled options strategy.

In the previous two parts of this series, the extreme importance of drinking water for dairy cattle was emphasized. Click here to read the first part of this series and here to read the second part of this series.

By weight, water is the most important nutrient in a milking cow’s ration, easily making up greater than 80 percent of total intake by weight. We hope you have been motivated to have your farm’s drinking water tested for the things that most often lead to water quality issues:

Dairy producers spend a great deal of time, effort and money ensuring dairy cow rations are fine-tuned to the “nth” degree. A few milligrams of this, a few parts per million of that, all to ensure no stone goes unturned in the quest for the perfect ration. Unfortunately, in the process the most important nutrient of all often goes barely noticed and only lightly considered. What nutrient? Water.