How to survive a milk market downturn

Dairy farmers across the US feel the pain of being below their break even. That’s why it’s more important than ever right now for the communication lines to be open between the producer, stakeholders and lenders.

As Jay says: “Plant the tree today. Even if you haven’t done something, now is the best time to get started. The best time to go to your banker and try to restructure your financing is after a year of strong profitability, which we had in 2022.”

He adds: “So I do think that opportunity still exists.” But Jay warns that it will probably not exist for much longer.

His most profitable, proactive dairy farm clients are having monthly conversations with their lenders, partners, and anyone else with a vested interest in the dairy financially. They’re not going bare bones on rations. They’re not completely going bare bones on labour. They’re being very selective of capital projects.

And one thing they are not doing is making drastic decisions.

“The worst time to make a long-term decision is when you’re in short-term pain,” Jay says.