Farm Business Analysis Banquet

Monday evening the Farm Business Management program at the South Central College in Faribault held its annual Analysis Banquet. I have attended for many years (yes, it's free food) and there is always a big crowd. Farmers get a look at their own farm business analysis and also see the averages in our area plus all of South-central Minnesota. This is a great opportunity to compare your farming operation to other similar farms.

Looking at the overall numbers, it was a very good year for livestock. Cattle, dairy, hogs, turkeys, if you were feeding livestock you did well in 2014. On the other side, if you were raising corn and soybeans it was not great. For a number of years corn and soybeans did well and now it's livestock's turn. What is the old saying -- every dog has it's day. Those of us who have been involved in production agriculture for a while know that we have cycles. This reminds me of what my grandfather used to say, in the good times anybody can make money farming. The key is to not give it all back in the bad.