I simplify it this way. I don't delete fields or tables in migrations once an app is in production. Only manually clean them up after they are impossible to be used by any production version. I treat the database schema as-if it were "append only" - Only add new fields. This means you always "roll-forward", a database. Rollback migrations are 'not a thing' to me. I don't rename physical columns in production. If you need an old field and a new field to be running simultaneously that represent the same datum, a trigger keeps them in sync.