When looking to buy new equipment or build new buildings, one of the key considerations is the cost of ownership or their fixed costs. The largest of the fixed costs is depreciation.

Although maintaining equipment takes time, it’s a worthwhile investment that can maximize your overall production. But if you want to maximize profitability for your farm, it’s equally as important to tune up your farm’s financial operations.

Milk production per cow will be somewhat decreased on pasture when compared to feeding in confinement. Per cow costs of milk production also decrease when dairy farms turn to managed rotational grazing and maximize cow numbers per acre.

When lecturing to the beef production capstone course in the division of animal sciences at the University of Missouri, I like to ask uncomfortable questions.

My parents and grandparents lived through the great depression of the 1920s – an event that dramatically changed their lives and colored their worldviews. The depression had a profound effect on the finances of my kinfolk and produced a family mantra I heard constantly: “Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without.”