All dairy farmers are continuing to make adjustments to maintain that delicate balance between cash inflow and cash outflow. With the current unfavorable economic climate, several points must be kept in mind. Although this dramatic shift in the profitability of milk production is unprecedented in recent years, other businesses in and out of agriculture have experienced tight economic times and most have survived. Cash crop farmers are a recent example. In 1981 and 1982 they experienced price declines several times as large as the recent milk price declines while input prices continued to increase. The second point is that nearly all dairy producers have numerous options they can exercise to maintain cash flow. These options are outlined in the first part of this section. In the second part of the section, we will compare alternative ways to maintain profits. Also, in this section we will begin to highlight the importance of feeding to dairy farm profitability.