Pivotal Issues Blog

By: Raylene Nickel Jeff Steffen learned a lot about risk management while growing corn and soybeans through the 1980s on his family’s farm near Crofton, Nebraska. Then, poor crop prices coupled with dry weather robbed profitability. Some years later, prices and weather turned around, but Steffen was determined to make changes to prepare for the […]

By: John Schwarz The old adage, “Good fences make good neighbors,” has stood the test of time. A good boundary fence, also called a partition fence, has many benefits, especially marking the property line, as people generally stay on their side. I coined the phrase, “Bad (or no) fences make even worse neighbors,” because when […]

By: Myron Friesen Problem We are looking for someone who lives in our area to help us with our estate planning. Our only planning was done about 30 years ago. The advisers and insurance people we have heard all seem to have a bias. Our friends said their attorney steered them away from what they […]

By: Bryan Doherty Strong prices for beef, due to a 50-year low supply of beef cattle, has encouraged dairy producers to breed cows and heifers to produce beef calves. The math is simple. Higher prices for beef calves compared to dairy calves is encouraging producers to follow the money trail for a better return. Ultimately, […]

By: The Daily Yonder Early in the summer of 2018, a nonprofit few Nebraskans have heard of bought a 22,613-acre chunk of land in Garden County. The next year, the nonprofit, tied to a P.O. Box in Salt Lake City, picked up another 3,331 acres of county land, buying it from a Colorado investment company. […]

By: Lisa Foust Prater The Oxford English Dictionary defines twilight as, “the soft, glowing light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon; or a period or state of obscurity, ambiguity, or gradual decline.” When farmers or ranchers without farming heirs look at the future of their operations, it may feel that they […]

By: Raylene Nickel When Brad Zimmerman decided to try growing cover crops 10 years ago, the Groveland, Illinois, corn and soybean farmer had a list of worries: “I was concerned about the cost, the time it would require, the possibility that the cover crop wasn’t going to grow, and the possible yield drag on my […]

By: Natalina Sents Bausch Few people have scrutinized more relay races than Mike Jay. The announcer started behind the mic at rural Iowa track and field meets in the mid-1980s while coaching at his alma mater, Columbus Community High School. Today, he travels the world calling out athletes’ accomplishments from the National Collegiate Athletic Association […]

By: Lisa Foust Prater When is the best time to tell your heirs about your farm continuation plan and how your assets will be divided after your death? Right now. “The best gift you can give your family is certainty for the future and a clear explanation of why you have made the decisions you […]

By: Seth Todd Direct-to-consumer is a hot topic in the livestock industry as of late, and ChopLocal, a platform designed to facilitate sales from meat producers to consumers, has a wealth of resources for farmers selling in that market. The website now hosts over five dozen sellers on their platform offering products from beef and […]