With the enrollment period now in full swing, dairy producers are evaluating whether the government’s Margin Protection Program is right for them, and if so, at what level. You have until Nov. 28 to enroll in the program and make your coverage decisions for 2014-2015.

Terms like “record crop” and “bin buster” in the headlines have dairy producers’ attention turned away from feed costs. It is easy to let fundamental news and reports from the USDA shape your attitude toward feed costs. It happens slowly and with subtlety. We take in the headlines about a plentiful corn crop and gradually develop a bias that feed prices will be relatively low not only now but also indefinitely.

The extra point in football has been called pointless. The National Football League has discussed getting rid of it because the kick is easy, almost always made and just takes up valuable game time to move the kicking unit on and off the field. What if the NFL decided to add a wrinkle to the extra point kick? Let’s say the opposing team could line up, and when the whistle blew to start the play, they could move the goalpost one way or another to fool the kicking unit.

As a dairy producer, many different issues and risks are pulling you in a thousand different directions. As you began this new year, you probably assembled a list of priorities, such as a list of things to change or a list of things you’d like to get a better handle on.