Leland Kootstra and his colleagues at California-based accounting firm Frazier LLP, specialize in working with forward-thinking dairy farm owners and operators to be elite businesses. On Episode 94 of the Uplevel Dairy Podcast, Kootsra shares the quick list of the three areas that he sees the most successful dairy farm business owners mastering as they set themselves and their dairies apart and ahead for the future.
- They dial in on the details.
“As I think about my existing client base and I think about that top 10% of operator and really what sets them apart, they are dialed in as far as the details,” Kootstra says.
“They know what it’s costing them. They know what their schedules look like. They are dialed in because they have worked so hard to become efficient,” he adds. That includes “right-sizing” the operation, whether that be honing in on the right number of employees on the team or the right number of heifer calves being born for that specific operation.
2. They use risk management tools.
“The ability to adopt, understand and utilize risk management is huge,” according to Kootstra. “I think we still spend too much time thinking about the cost of some of those tools versus what that cost actually buys us.”
He notes the value of dairy-specific tools that limit exposure, like DMC and DRP.
He explains, “These operators have spent so much time, so much effort, so much money making sure that they are as efficient as possible, that they’re controlling as much of the volatility as they can. Why would they expose themselves to volatility outside of their control?”
- They are wise in their practices.
Lastly, Kootstra sees his top 10 percent thinking beyond the bottom line and holding a strong awareness of their environmental and animal husbandry practices and the perceptions that go along with them.
“We are living in an information age. We have access to information and our farms are also exposed to widespread social media,” Kootstra says. “Being wise about how we operate our dairies, how we utilize, understand and research environmental risks, I think is huge.”
