Insights

The needed skill in a tight labor market Written for Progressive Dairy. Originally published Jan 2023. How often have you seen a highly skilled manager fail in leading their team? Some signs are high turnover, lax standards, and low morale. How often have you seen employees or owners in charge...

Farmers who choose to lead have an advantage over those who just manage. Originally published at Farm Futures in their November/December 2022 issue. Old employee management and leadership techniques can be a bottleneck to farm growth and profitability. There comes a time on most farms when the founders cannot do...

Rank your employees from basic skills to MVPs, then focus on how to help them level up. Written for Farm Futures and originally published at https://www.farmprogress.com/commentary/how-assess-your-teams-performance on 6/27/2022. Gone are the days when employees were cheap and easy to come by.  Labor, including working with family, is always one of...

Partnerships are a great idea. You pool together talents and money to go farther than each party could by themselves. Written for MILK Magazine/DairyHerd and originally published at https://www.dairyherd.com/news/business/what-makes-partnership-successful on 5/23/2022. Some partnerships are large endeavors, and others are smaller. But no matter their size, some flourish, and others don't....

There is more than one way to handle conflict Written for Farm Futures and originally published in their May/June 2022 print issue. The Father and son sat across from each other, building tension. The topic was compensation within their family farm as part of their transition plan. This meeting occurred...

Hold quarterly team meetings to keep goals moving forward and communication flowing. Written for PROGRESSIVE DAIRY and originally published in the March 2022 issue. Are you sometimes left wondering if your employees understand the farm's priorities and goals?   Do your employees ever feel they get conflicting messages and wonder, "What...