Jesse Petersen

Have you ever sat down at your computer, wanting to look for ways to improve the dairy or thought that the cows had been off a little this week only to be overwhelmed with data that, at times, seems to even contradict itself? If you have then you’re not alone. Many managers face this challenge and with the constantly improving technology it is easy to feel buried by all the new information. So, how do we resolve this issue?

Recently my favorite professional football team had the opportunity to play in the conference championship game. Anticipation was at an all-time high, but just a few minutes into the game our starting quarterback became injured. The backup came into the game and soon it was clear that the team was not prepared with another effective option to get the win. Just like that, the millions of dollars and thousands of hours that were expensed for a championship season were all for not. It was clear that the team was not well enough prepared for this difficult, but yet still predictable, situation. Life on the farm isn’t far off from the game that I just described. We put in countless hours and large financial investments to hopefully see our farms succeed. Is our backup ready?