My wife and I recently sold our dairy herd. If we can find jobs and rent out our land, we are hopeful we won’t have to sell our farm. We live in east-central Wisconsin between Madison, Green Bay and Milwaukee. We are both 55 and have spent our lives working on our dairy farm. We don’t have college degrees. We are wondering what types of jobs you think we may be eligible for. Are there resources available to help displaced Wisconsin dairy farmers find employment? We would like to continue living on the farm. We are willing to commute up to 45 minutes one way to work. We both have reliable transportation. We haven’t saved for our retirement. We are hopeful we can earn enough money to provide a living and allow us to save for retirement. We believe we can get enough land rent to make our payments on our mortgage. We owe $220,000 on our 110-acre farm. What are your thoughts?

Doug Hodorff: After considering your options, I am going to make some assumptions. As for jobs available, I am assuming you have many talents that you used during your farming career. Seems that there many jobs available, ranging from trucking or construction to mechanic or general laborer.

The one thing that worries me is your statement about not saving for retirement. I think I would consider selling your land and trying to build some wealth with your dollars left after paying off your debt. If you retain ownership of the land, it seems you would have a small amount of money left. At your age, you will be paying for this land until you are 75! Do some soul searching and reconsider your options. Work with a tax planner to figure out your future.

Sam Miller: Fortunately, the unemployment rate in both Wisconsin and the U.S. is at very low levels, meaning there are ample job openings. The skills transfer from operating the farm business will likely make you both desirable candidates for future employment. Farmers have many transferable skills, such as time management, familiarity with machines and animals, strong work ethic, systems management, and many others. Start with the Wisconsin Farm Center at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. They can direct you to resource assistance for displaced farmers finding employment. You can contact their help line at 800-942-2474. Good luck turning the page for the next chapter of your lives.

Katie Wantoch: I’m sure the decision to sell your dairy herd was a difficult one. These are uncertain times we are in, and there are no easy solutions. With careful thought and the proper tools, decisions like this can lead to you and your wife being in a better place. There is life after dairy farming, and it can be as equally rewarding and fulfilling. However, you and your wife will likely go through a grieving process as you determine your next steps. The key thing to remember is that grieving is normal, and everyone goes through the grieving process, says Bob Milligan, a specialist in human resource management with Dairy Strategies LLC. “When you get up in the morning to milk the cows and there are no more cows to milk, you are going to grieve. And the grieving likely will last periodically over a long time. At the end of the process, some will even wonder why they didn’t make changes sooner,” he says.

Just remember, there is no shame in asking for help. Seek assistance with someone you trust who can provide assistance in managing grief, finding employment (such as the Job Center of Wisconsin) and community resources (coveringwi.org). You can also reach out to the local Extension agriculture educator or technical college instructor for financial assistance in budgeting your income and expenses to make educated decisions about your future.  You, your wife and your family’s personal health and well-being are what is most important. Remember to take care of yourself, and don’t carry the burden of grief on your own.

My brother and I milk 180 Holstein cows. For the past two years, we have been using sexed beef bull semen on the bottom third of our herd to get beef bull calves, which we sell. Before that, we used to breed all our cows to AI Holstein bulls. Every year we sold 30 to 40 fresh heifers to dairy farmers. There is no market now for dairy heifers, so that’s why we switched to beef bulls. We plan to continue selling beef bull calves until the dairy farm economy improves. Do you have any idea when that might be? We’d like to start breeding all our cows and heifers to AI Holstein bulls again.

Doug Hodorff: I am not a fortune teller. The dairy economy is in a time of transition. Operating costs have risen over time and now the industry has to find its way through these times of low milk prices. I would continue breeding the lower end of your herd to beef bulls. I question your desire to return to breeding with Holstein sires. The industry has an oversupply of replacement animals and feed costs on replacement heifer raising costs are upside-down. At this time, raising extra replacements is not a profitable venture. I would suggest you focus on improving milk production. A pound of milk per cow per day would be a positive for your cash flow now.

Sam Miller: The dairy economy has been difficult for the last several years. I commend you for making adjustments to your business model to adapt to the current dairy economy. The advent of genomic testing and sexed semen quickly changed the dairy landscape, resulting in excess dairy replacement heifers. Many other farmers have adopted the same strategy, bringing dairy replacements in line with demand needs. Given these technological advances, you may not be able to go back to your prior plan of selling fresh heifers to dairy farmers.

You may want to analyze the cost raising of these dairy replacements compared to what you can get for selling them vs. selling a beef calf at less than a week old. The economics may surprise you, and you will likely want to continue on your current path. Start this analysis by completing a partial budget analysis of the cost to grow replacement heifers and subtract it from the expected sale price for the animal compared to the return from selling a beef Holstein bull calf. Your banker, Extension ag agent or farm technical college trainer can assist you in this analysis.

Katie Wantoch: Unfortunately, I don’t have a crystal ball and have not been a successful gambler or lottery winner. So, I’m probably not the best person to ask about when changes will happen in the future. I do think the current dairy markets may be our “new normal,” at least for the near future. It sounds like you and your brother have taken the next steps to review your business plan and changed your management strategies with the use of sexed beef bull semen. The market prices of beef bull calves are likely to continue or strengthen due to the loss of cattle this past winter and ongoing floods in various parts of the U.S. 

My suggestion would be to monitor your cow herd and heifer inventory so you are culling cows and maintaining your cow production, genomics, etc. It might be time to revisit your business plan to determine your short-term and long-term goals for your operation. This will help you to maintain or exceed your cash flow and other farm operation needs.

Agrivision panel: Doug Hodorff, Fond du Lac County dairy farmer; Sam Miller, managing director, group head of agricultural banking, BMO Harris Bank; and Katie Wantoch, Dunn County Extension ag agent specializing in economic development. If you have questions you would like the panel to answer, send them to: Wisconsin Agriculturist, P.O. Box 236, Brandon, WI 53919; or email [email protected].