A father’s wisdom: Why we do what we do
06/04/13 - Columnists
By David Jones
Sitting at the kitchen table during my college years, I remember panicking about not knowing where I wanted to end up in life. In an effort to ease my worries, Dad shared with me the fact he never did decide what he wanted
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@DairyCarrie: Swimming with cows
06/04/13 - Columnists
Take the plunge into communicating your story with dairy consumers
By Carrie Mess
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Carrie Mess, and I am a dairy farmer and “agvocate” for the dairy industry.
As
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Dairy Management & The Law: Workforce sexual harassment policies
05/15/13 - Columnists
Sexual harassment is a growing problem among farmworkers.
As foreign national farmworkers increasingly stay in the United States for longer periods, many women are joining their husbands. The Department of Labor’s 2005 National
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Dairy Margin Manager: Markets or Margins?
05/15/13 - Columnists
By Chip Whalen
The best profit margin opportunities will not always correspond to the highest milk prices or the lowest feed costs.
Dairy producers have been fortunate to see elevated milk prices this spring, in response to
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MARKETING: Few things are certain, but count on volatility
05/14/13 - Columnists
By Matt Mattke
Attempting to forecast how high or low feed prices will go in 2013 and where prices will be at year’s end is a poor use of time. Unless you’re able to predict what the weather will be come spring, summer and
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Dairy Coach: ‘Just fix it’
05/14/13 - Columnists
By Tom Wall
Keep daily jobs from becoming dreaded chores. Failure to fix things sends the message to employees you don’t care – and neither will they.
Figuring you already have a relatively
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SUCCESS STRATEGIES: Have you been committed yet?
05/14/13 - Columnists
By John Ellsworth
This was not intended as an institutional question. I recently had a serious discussion with a producer who, believe it or not, was having financial difficulty. We talked about what we each believed was the root of his
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MARKETING: Immaterial? USDA reports shouldn’t Impact marketing focus
04/18/13 - Columnists
By Matt Mattke
Many clients have asked me what impact USDA’s discontinuation of monthly milk production reports would have on the markets. The reports were initially suspended through the end of fiscal year 2013 as a result of the
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Dairy Management & The Law: More states looking toward ‘ag-gag’ laws
04/18/13 - Columnists
By Attorney David L. Cook
In the wake of numerous high-profile undercover investigations by animal rights groups, many states with large agricultural industries have passed or introduced so-called “ag-gag” laws. Ag-gag laws
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DAIRY COACH: 5 steps to a better team
04/18/13 - Columnists
By Tom Wall
You need everyone on your team to be productive and effective. If you’re struggling to get your employees to perform better, why do you think that is?
There are typically a handful of reasons managers
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Success Strategies: What’s Next?
04/01/13 - Columnists
By John Ellsworth
The question posed in this headline is one each of us must ask ourselves at regular intervals. For some, it can be scary. Others consider it a positive challenge.
Regardless of how you view it, this question must be
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Dairy Coach: What’s your competitive advantage?
04/01/13 - Columnists
While labor is viewed as a major expense on many dairies, the true extent of labor costs should be measured in it’s return on investment.
By Tom Wall
I’ve heard a lot of dairy producers talk about “competition” over the
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Accounting for Profits: ObamaCare – be prepared
04/01/13 - Columnists
Whether you like it or not, ObamaCare is here to stay. Here’s an overview of major provisions you’ll need to know.
By Ralph Lizardo
When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as “ObamaCare”, was
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Dairy Council of California: Tracking efforts offer insight, value to the dairy industry
04/01/13 - Columnists
By Tammy Anderson-Wise
Twice a year, Dairy Council of California (DCC) brings together our team of registered dietitians and education experts to review nutrition trends and developments that will likely impact DCC programs and the dairy industry
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Dairy Management & The Law: Take steps to prevent public disclosure of confidential reports
03/25/13 - Columnists
By Attorney David L. Cook
The issue of confidentiality of farm records has been a concern for many years, since the industry is seemingly always under scrutiny by government regulators and an unsympathetic public. This issue was first faced with
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People Power: Still time to set goals
03/25/13 - Columnists
By Robert Milligan
Although 2013 is already a quarter over, it’s not too late to set or revise goals. In Dave Letterman style, here are my Top 10 suggested goals for you and your dairy. Pick two or three for your specific focus.
10) Get
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Dairy Coach: Employee management simplified
02/22/13 - Columnists
By Tom Wall
Three core principles – clarity, accountability and discipline – make employee management less complicated and more effective.
Chances are you’ve noticed there’s a lot of “expert
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Guest column: 2012 numbers are in, and it’s time for producers to stand up for change
02/22/13 - Columnists
By Gary Genske
Since the 2012 Farm Bill was delayed for consideration into 2013, it provides an opportunity for dairy farmers to help form new dairy policy for this five-year bill. The Dairy Security Act was proposed for inclusion in the
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Marketing: When analysts split on predictions prepare for anything
02/18/13 - Columnists
By Matt Mattke
Leading up to the 2013 Super Bowl, analysts were split as to who would win the big game. Many market analysts are sizing up the feed situation this coming year with the same ambiguity: Corn could be $4/bushel or $12/bushel
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Dairy Coach: How big is your rookie window?
01/24/13 - Columnists
By Tom Wall
You just hired a new employee, maybe a new milker, maternity pen worker or a feeder. How long do you think it will take “the new guy” to really know what he’s doing? How long will it take for him to work on
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Accounting for Profits: After the ‘fiscal cliff’
01/23/13 - Columnists
‘What do tax changes mean to you?
By Jamie Fortin
President Obama signed the 2012 Taxpayer Relief Act into law on Jan. 3, 2013. The act will impose tax increases affecting about 2% of individuals and 3% of small businesses, and
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Success Strategies: ‘Three pearls’ of life and business
01/23/13 - Columnists
John Ellsworth
By John Ellsworth
I recently attended my son’s graduation ceremony at the College of Engineering at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and had the pleasure of hearing the commencement address of Kristen Yetter,
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People Power: A time for leaders
01/23/13 - Columnists
Robert Milligan
By Robert Milligan
When excellent management isn’t enough
In the 1970s it became evident that hard work was not enough. With increasing size and competitiveness of dairy farms, conditions meant excellent
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Dairy Management & The Law: Fighting back against undercover animal rights investigations
01/22/13 - Columnists
By Attorney David L. Cook
From intellectual property issues and digester power line hook-ups to CAFO permitting, environmental issues and immigration, dairy issues are becoming more legally complex. This month, DairyBusiness introduces
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Dairy Financial Times: IRS kicks your audit risk up
12/27/12 - Columnists
By Danielle Emel
You are already coping with an unstable milk price, high feed costs, environmental requirements, employment laws, and numerous other issues. Now, I am going to tell you your chance of being audited by the
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