Human beings are unique. We are born with certain tendencies and natural reactions. You may well have completed leadership or personality profiles to better understand your tendencies and natural reactions.

The COVID-19 crisis has caused great disruptions in the labor market. One of the few opportunities for dairy farms in this crisis may be to attract well-qualified candidates who would not have previously been available.

Crop managers and dairy managers with crops have been planning all winter for planting to arrive. Now it is time to be a doer (plant, spray, etc.). Right? Well, yes and no.

Imagine what the dairy business and agriculture will look like in 30 years. We all recognize that dairy and everything else is changing at unprecedented rates. In this article, I suggest leadership, team building, supervision and interpersonal relationships that will be increasingly important to your personal and dairy business success.

Imagine what beef production and agriculture will look like in 30 years. We all recognize that beef production and everything else is changing at unprecedented rates.

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 often refer to the incredible changes in dairy farms from my time growing up on the family farm in the thumb of Michigan to today. Let’s think about what has happened with feeding cows. When I was growing up, we fed bales of hay – pretty poor-quality by today’s standards – and grain, depending on production.