It’s been a week since I sat and listened to a dairy farmer explain that he and his family are exiting the dairy business.

It’s been a week since I listened to a man apologize for his tears as he wept while communicating his love for the dairy industry.

It’s been a week since I listened to a man talk about his tenure in the dairy industry and how tough it’s been to stay in an industry he loves.

These were three different men, at three different stages of life, but all with the same fiery passion for one industry that would seemingly like to suffocate each of them, one small, toxic breath at a time.

Milk processors have come under fire recently as they have sent out letters to a number of their dairy farmers telling them they would no longer be buying their milk, as of May 31. These farms will either have to find another place to ship their milk or exit the industry.

These letters were sent to owners of well-known herds across the Midwest. Some of these dairy farmers have Dairy of Distinction signs in their yard. Others are commercial dairymen without any claim to fame. Low milk prices don’t care who you are or how many awards you’ve won – if you can’t find someone to buy your milk, you dump it down the drain and with it go your hopes and dreams.

How did we get here? Greed? Poor marketing? Diet trends that don’t favor dairy? Poor management? These and many more factors have contributed to this poor dairy economy.

How do we solve this? I have no idea. But I do know that regardless of what you’ve done in the past, how much milk you are shipping, how many cows you have, how pretty your farm is, how “Facebook famous” you are, how politically active you’ve been, if you’re a dairy farmer you need one thing: Prayer.

Regardless if you’ve never darkened the doors of a church, or you sit on the second row, piano side, every single Sunday, you need prayer. No matter if you believe or not, you need prayer. I don’t care how many poor decisions you’ve made in the past or if you’ve been named Dairy Farm Manager of the Year, you need prayer.

“Oops” is not in God’s vocabulary. While you may be wondering how things got so bad, none of this caught Him by surprise. If you’re a believer, it’s time to storm the gates of heaven with prayer. If you’re not a believer, no worries – contact me and I can tell you how to become one.

If you’re reading this today and you’re at the end of your rope, let go. He will hold on to you. He’s not in the business of telling you to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. And If you think there is any truth to that old saying that God helps those who help themselves … I’m here to tell you that’s pure hogwash.

He doesn’t tell you to worry, fret and fear until the problem is solved. It’s quite the opposite: God wants you to leave it up to Him to figure it out. He also wants you to stop being fearful, He’s on watch for you.

And here’s the kicker: He will never leave you. And you can take that to the bank.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.