News to Use

  1. Beef with a Business Mindset

    May 30, 2024

    To view the original Farm Progress article, click HERE

    Beef with a business mindset

    Beef Brief: One of the tools used by beef herd managers is called FinPack, a financial analysis software service.

    May 29, 2024

  2. Ohio Crop Production and Enterprise Benchmarking for 2022

    Feb 5, 2024

    Ohio Crop Production and Enterprise Benchmarking for 2022

    Link to article: https://aede.osu.edu/sites/aede/files/publication_files/OhioFarmBenchmarking2024.pdf 

  3. Corn Silage, it's what's for dinner - at what cost?

    Mar 11, 2021

    Feed costs are the largest single expense item  for dairy farms.  Old news.  After years of skimpy margins, feed costs have been reviewed, adjusted, and reviewed again.  Rising grain prices launch the cycle all over again.

    Forages are the foundation of the dairy cow’s diet and are the most likely feed to be home-raised.  As a corn-belt state, corn silage is included in most rations for Ohio’s dairy cows.

  4. Dairy numbers considered, a look at 2019 and 2020

    Mar 11, 2021

    The first half of 2019 was miserable, but as cow numbers finally trended down, milk prices gained strength with Class III increasing steadily from $13.96 in January to $19.37 in December.  The industry looked forward to 2020 and a long-awaited opportunity to rebuild cash reserves.

  5. Farm Business Podcast

    Mar 28, 2019

    Curious as to what's involved in a Farm Business Analysis?  If so, check out our podcast HERE

  6. Helping farmers know their bottom line

    Mar 12, 2019

    LOUISVILLE, Ohio—In this rural town, a short drive from Canton, Ohio, Mark Thomas had been running a 400-cow dairy farm for years.

  7. Crop Production Costs - Do you know yours? A quick look at the 2016 Ohio Farm Business Analysis

    Feb 27, 2018

    Author(s):

    Dianne ShoemakerHaley Shoemaker

    Which number is closest to your total direct and overhead cost of production per bushel of corn: $3.08, $4.17, or $6.21? Do you know? Forty-two farms completed their 2016 farm business and crop enterprise analysis in 2017. The four lowest cost producers averaged $3.08 per bushel, the median COP was $4.17, and the four highest cost producers averaged $6.21 per bushel.

  8. Cutting costs on your dairy farm

    Oct 19, 2017

    A penny per hundredweight trumps a dollar per cow in 2016

    For the country’s dairy farmers, there doesn’t appear to be anything “sweet” to anticipate in ‘16. On the contrary, slimming down production costs is essential. With a 4-year average total cost of production of $19.66 – which is already adjusted for bull calf and cull cow income –there is a yawning chasm between production costs and milk income per cwt.

    Where to start slimming? First, let’s determine “what is”. What are the big players in the list of costs?

  9. Don't cut your dairy profitability

    Oct 19, 2017

    How is your time best spent? Trying to cut expenses by a dollar per cow or a penny per hundredweight? For every hundred cows you milk, you will save $100 for every dollar you cut in production costs per cow. If each of those cows are putting 24,000 lbs. of milk in the tank each year, finding one cent per cwt in savings will save $240 per year. A penny per cwt. trumps a dollar per cow in 2016.

  10. Dairymen, who has your back?

    Oct 19, 2017

    During this year of financial challenges, it is easy to feel alone. Fact is, you shouldn’t. Dairy farmers and dairy support businesses you don’t even know are feeling challenged right along with you.

    With the June Class III likely to settle around +/- $13.20 per hundredweight, the good news is that will be around 50 cents higher than May’s $12.76 Class III.

    Currently, milk prices trading in the futures market for the rest of the year are looking more positive, although still below many farms’ full cost of production.

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