Healthy communication can be defined in many ways, but in general, all these ways include three main themes: clarity, respect and promoting understanding. Making sure you are building healthy communication habits, especially surrounding topics like your mental health, doesn’t just happen. It is a skill that is learned by practice and planning.

High prices cure high prices. Low prices cure low prices.This adage has never been truer than in today’s volatile commodity markets.

How do you walk away to end an unpleasant or dangerous conversation when it is occurring in your head? One way to interrupt internal conversations is to take a break from your daily routine. Vacations can do wonders for morale, but respite can also be gleaned from shorter, more frequent intermissions to your daily life.

Our local farmers are under financial pressure, face unpredictable weather and market swings, and are under an overwhelming cultural expectation to “rub some dirt on it” or “cowboy up” and get through it regardless of how they feel. All of these things just compound the strain and lead to silence and, in some cases, tragedy.

Succession planning protects the family operation before crisis forces decisions no one is ready to make.

A hundred head of recently weaned calves wandered the downtown streets of Boise, Idaho, on the first cold morning of October. Steam rolled off their backs, a mass of tipped-over trash cans behind them. A tightly packed alley of wandering souls staring blankly into a haze of flashlights and headlights. A cacophony of chaos filled with the rumble of lowing calves rising into the crisp morning air.

Although many farmers want to preserve their family legacy, they also need to consider their needs in retirement. Effective succession planning can balance these needs, but because of legal, financial and operational complexities, it’s important to approach this issue with a comprehensive framework.

Fertilizer prices have eased since the 2022 spike, but for most farmers, they still feel painfully high.