Division of Extension
This article provides an overview of the Dairy Margin Coverage program for the 2026 coverage year, with emphasis on program changes implemented for this year and what past margin history implies for risk management decisions.
To help producers navigate complex financial decisions, the Dairy Management program at UW-Madison has released the AMS Transition Budgeter. This web-based tool allows farmers to move beyond “back-of-the-napkin” math and visualize the long-term financial impact of retrofitting their farm for robotics.
The session and discuss how Dairy Margin Coverage can be used as an effective risk management tool.
Challenger safety is essential for innovation, continuous improvement, and creating a workplace where open and respectful dialogue takes place.
Being part of a team and contributing to something larger than oneself, naturally creates a desire to be heard and to add value. Contributor safety ensures that individuals feel supported as they bring their unique skills and perspectives to the table.
Farm business managers must create opportunities for learning and professional development among their teams in order for their operation to succeed in a competitive agricultural sector.
Inclusion safety forms the foundation of psychological safety by ensuring individuals feel accepted and respected. When employees feel or are excluded, motivation and engagement drop while turnover rates soar.
Psychological safety is a critical foundation for team success. Learn ways to build trust; encourage learning; and create, maintain, and build high-performance teams in your farm business.
A glass of milk and a cookie may feel like a small gesture, but when repeated across millions of homes nationwide, this familiar Christmas Eve tradition quietly represents weeks—even months—of milk production.
Understanding the total value of annual compensation statements is important for both employers and employees. Paychecks reflect only part of the compensation; the statement shows the full range of benefits and rewards provided by the employer.
While many people think of AI chatbots as sophisticated question-answering tools, research shows these systems can do much more. Advanced AI systems hold the potential to reshape how farmers and other agricultural professionals work.
A safety culture in agriculture saves lives, protects resources, improves efficiency, and ensures sustainable growth. Farm employers know that having a positive safety culture is good for their workers and for their business.
The goal of the ‘Production Records: Planting & Harvesting’ template is to provide a central location for a farmer to keep track of planting and harvesting records for each crop they grow. These records will help a farmer identify where each crop is planted, how many acres, and total yield harvested.
MCO offers protection against unexpected drops in operating margins — the difference between revenue and input cost. Interested producers should contact their crop insurance agent to learn more about how MCO could work for their operation.
The goal of the ‘Production Records: Harvesting’ template is to provide a central location for a farmer to keep track of when and how often each crop is harvested, the measuring unit, the amount harvested each day, total units harvested for the season, total crop acreage, and total yield.
The goal of the ‘Production Records: Planting’ template is to provide a central location for a farmer to keep track of each crop planted during the growing season. The information in the template will help the farmer identify where a crop is planted, as well as and how many acres are planted.
Farms are busy workplaces with the potential for injury lurking around every bend. A proactive tool to guard against future mishap, and an important part of improving your overall farm safety culture, is “near miss” reporting.
Automation is no longer a distant vision. Technology is being used to fill labor gaps, trim costs, increase efficiency, and boost precision. Success, though, still begins with a solid plan.
