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Change is only getting bigger so think big, lead bigList Item 1
Any progress that has ever been realized throughout history is the direct result of change. While this is an indisputable fact, many people say they just don’t like change. Here is how psychologist Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson explains...
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If it’s not management, what is it?List Item 2
During the first half of my career, I worked as a dairy nutritionist primarily in Ohio and the eastern Corn Belt and believe that ex- perience has greatly improved my ability...
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Successful dairy farms: What do the have in common?List Item 3
Several readers of my last article emailed me with a question that I have repeatedly heard from customers and audiences for many years: Are there traits or characteristics which are com- mon to successful dairy farms? If you were to ask 100...
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Success in business planning requires discussionList Item 4
Long-term business planning is a manage- ment function that not many dairy producers seem to enjoy. This is a conclusion I have drawn based on the few comprehensive busi- ness plans I have seen over my many years of work in the dairy industry. Too often when I see a good plan...
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The greatest legacy: preparing the next generation
Many of my clients have heard me say how fascinated I am with families who can work and operate a business together. It’s hard enough to just be family let alone with the added stress of working side by side for another 40-80 hours each...
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Three overlooked but essential business plan elements
A great number of very talented advisors ex- ists who might offer their opinions regarding important management areas to be included in a comprehensive business plan. If you survey ten such people you would probably see ten lists with different combinations and...
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Where I start planning with a dairy family on Day 1
Dairy producers are always asking me to describe what I do. I am often contacted after a peer or trusted advisor has re- ferred them. More times than not, one of the first topics they want to discuss is: “tell me what you do.” And also more times than not...
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Why you must develop a passion for information
I’ve been hearing a lot of conversation recently about the profitability of milking cows. The buzzwords include three-year price cycles, three-year pro- duction cycles, market stability, mar- ket risk, risk management and a host of others. I am hopeful some...
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Why in the world would I need to develop a budget?
I have been a proponent of annual budget- ing for quite some time. When my clients first hear me advocating the development of annual budgets they usually have one of the following reactions...
Newsletters
List of Services
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Build the barn, buy the cows, watch the milk flowList Item 1
This is often the mentality of dairy producers who are expanding their
businesses. Focused on the
present, they are all too
sure that once...
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I wish someone could tell us what to do next
Dairy families all across the country are making this very statement. For many, the fact that they have survived that recent milk price "slump"...
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Goals and Objectives: The Bullseyes of Managing People
The dairy industry just keeps getting tougher. Everyone seems to feel that it is harder to make a buck milking cows. Well guess what? Your parents and their parents and even their parents have been lamenting that same concern for decades. It's a fact...
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Dairy's Six Keys To Success
Everyone wants to know which of the thousands of issues, expenses, and management factors most influence the ultimate success or failure of a dairy business. If a dairy producer were to ask 100 different...
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Goals and Objectives Need to be SMART
In the Mel Gibson movie The Patriot, Gibson's character suggests to his two young sons that they "aim small, miss small" while preparing to ambush British soldiers who had taken their older brother prisoner. This phrase suggests that aiming for a small...
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