Have you heard of the four-legged milk stool? A popular analogy among author Gary Sipiorki’s talks and Money Matters column articles, he makes the argument that financial awareness is as critical of a “leg” to the dairy industry as cow comfort, feed and nutrition, and healthy working relationships.
Gary’s new book, Dairy Money Matters, combines this advice, along with 20 years of noteworthy articles, into a single “survival guide for farm finance.”
Written across both highs and lows in the dairy industry, this 125-page book provides timeless advice for how to navigate financial decision-making on your farm. Its contents offer an approachable way to better understand agricultural business management through bite-sized lessons and morsels of insight.
Gary’s lessons and examples are designed to teach what questions you should be asking in any given financial situation your farm faces – low milk price times, farm transition, business planning, dairy investment decisions, and more. This resource is a starting point of how to start thinking about your numbers on a deeper level, and how your decisions affect the larger picture of your business.
The tables and discussion points within the text serve as starting points to having productive conversations with your accountant, lender, and peers. The examples given also include sections to fill in your own farm numbers and compare key ratios to the ideal.
Visit on.hoards.com/MM18 to learn more about this brand new release from the Hoard’s Dairyman online bookstore!
The author is the special publications manager. Aisha is a graduate of University of Wisconsin-Madison with degrees in Life Sciences Communication and Environmental Science. She is responsible for the Hoard’s Dairyman bookstore and creating educational resources for farmers, students, and dairy industry professionals.
