Regardless of how long you’ve been farming, your key goals include long-term financial success and stability. Achieving these goals will be easier if you create a comprehensive budget that enables you to plan your finances, manage risk and track profitability.

The current business climate of high interest rates and ongoing inflation is challenging. It requires business owners to be proactive and strategic with cash management, debt management and requires an overall increased focus on every aspect of the business.

We spend a lot of time talking about properly saving and investing money to ensure a happy retirement, but if you are not investing in your own health, what good is monetary wealth?

While I could go with the ordinary list of things like global events, market volatility, geopolitical issues, global economics and poor financial records, the things that really keep me awake at night fall more into the symptoms or characteristics of what leads to financial issues on a farm. Let’s take a look at a few that top my list.

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.

To obtain a loan, your application must be approved by an underwriter – a specialist who examines your finances. To obtain capital on favorable terms, it’s helpful to understand what underwriters are looking for and take action to accelerate the underwriting process.

In the realm of capital and collateral, the appraised value of dairy real estate, including specialized facilities, takes on great importance.

Trust. It’s the glue that holds together the relationship between the bank and the borrower. And just like any other relationship, trust can take years to build through communication, setting expectations and following through.