Farm4Profit Podcast

Time Management - delegationIntroductionReminders:Like, rate, review, shareSend to questions farm4profitllc@gmail.comRegister for the conferenceRemember to go out and nominate your farm or someone else’s farm for the  Farm Business Award – application at www.farm4profit.comWhat’s working for Ag – Sean Blomgren – Blomgren SeedBoone County dealer since 1989 carrying Monsanto Hybrids – Dekalb and AsgrowSelf IntroductionTalking about USC Seed Treating SolutionsHigh quality seed treatment gives the grower the opportunity to customize their chemistry to the challenges they may face or the goals they have in place for their crop.  Not a one size fits all program – prescribing to each individual farm.What about this seed treater has been “Working for your business” – boosting your bottom line?How is this seed treater different from others on the market?How can a farmer incorporate this type of seed treating on their farm to boost their bottom lines?Main Topic – Time Management - The only thing we can’t make more of is time.Prioritizing and delegating are two key word concepts that play a big role in gaining more time.  The problem is both of those are very difficult disciplines to master.Brick Theory – Think of your brain as a truck hauling a load of bricks.  Every time you think of something that needs to be done or accomplished you add another brick to the load.  Every time you complete a task you take the brick off the load. Most of the time the pace of the bricks being added to the load is faster than the pace we can complete them and unload.One thing you can do is have a running list of task to be completed.  I use ever note or a shareable note system on my phone. The point of doing this is to keep your mind free of distraction allowing you to be more efficient.  Studies say it takes 15 minutes to refocus on a task once you have been interrupted.  If you have a process in place to write down tasks or store tasks it will minimize distractions.One you have a list of tasks take the time to review them and prioritize them using three categories.  Time sensitive – what must be done first in order for other tasks to fall in place, or because of the time of year (planting), or to keep from something costing more moneyWill it generate more revenue – or will it become cost savings?Does it need to be completed by me or can someone else do it? – Time is money and your time isn’t free.  This concept of figuring out what your time is worth could be a podcast episode all by itself. Could a hired man or subcontractor handle the task will little guidance?  Place the least desirable tasks first thing in your day.  By doing this you get the things done early before you have a chance to push them off.  Also, if you can have someone else do the work for you that frees up more of your time to do high value tasks resulting in a better return on your time investment.Just because you hire someone else to do it doesn’t mean it wouldn’t cost you more to do it yourself. The key is to be productive while the others are taking care of the task.  ExamplesBook work – could be your least favorite and trained professionals may do it fasterLawn mowing – could a lower wage per hour handle thisRepetitive chores – is this a task you could check in on once a week or every 4 days Purchasing livestock – genetics are valuable, don’t let someone else screw up the future of you farm.Field prescriptions – who knows your field better than you doField work – what other management tasks could you be doing for more moneySummarizeUnpack your mind of the floating little reminders by making lists or task buckets. Then you can organize those tasks by importance and what skills are needed to complete them.  Take advantage of a fresh day to knock out the less desirable tasks. This also gives you something to look forward to after they are done, a more fun task. What is the true cost of doing a project yourself versus hiring it done?  The whole key is to make sure your time is spent doing the things that will make your farm more profitable, sometimes that is just thinking and planning for the future.ChallengeWrite down everything you do for 3 weeks.  This will seem like a pain in the ass but it will be a good exercise to see how much is repetitive and what can be delegated or removed.Calculate hourly rate- If you never find yourself with a shortage of things to do take a moment to calculate what your time is worth per hour.  What would someone have to pay you to get you to show up. Then break down the tasks on your to do lists by if you would pay someone that much to do it or not.  The outcome is if you wouldn’t pay someone $30/hour to do that task then you shouldn’t be doing the tasks, hire them done.Build up employees – by assigning responsibility to employees with potential you help them grow and become more productive.  Ultimately getting more out of them for your dollar driving higher levels of farm profitability.Conference Update/Reminder – 12/6/2019 Want Farm4Profit Merch?  Custom order your favorite items today!https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/ Don’t forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen! Website: www.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.comCall/Text: 515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. 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8 Ways to Increase Farm Profitability December 5, 2016 Nick HorobFarm Finance<https://www.harvestprofit.com/blog/tags/farm-finance#categories>As we’ve mentioned numerous times, we like to talk about actionable ideas that you can implement in your operation.Here’s a list of eight things that you can do to strengthen your operation for 2017 and beyond.8 - Meet With Your Local Grain MerchandisersMost grain merchandisers I know are a wealth of local market knowledge.  Most are willing and enjoy sharing this information with their farmer suppliers. Here are a few things to ask them about.  *   Inquire about local basis patterns. Basis follows certain local patterns and grain merchandisers can identify certain times of the year for you to target your basis “sales”.  *   Ask them how they manage their spreads. This is an intermediate/advanced topic that many producers should learn more about. Futures spreads play a large role in the P&L of a commercial grain facility. You owe to yourself to learn about them.   *   Ask what you’d need to do to be the producer they call when they really need bushels.  You want to be the person they call when they are filling a train, a short sale, etc. Ask them what it would take to be that producer for them.Schedule a meeting with your local merchandisers this winter.7 - Study Your 2019 Split TestsMost successful producers I know conduct split tests throughout the growing season.  It’s your job to sit down with anyone involved in your agronomy decisions (including sales people) to evaluate and learn from your tests.As you likely know, every growing season is different.  You don’t want to completely change your plan from year-to-year based on results that were based solely on a year-specific weather issue.  You should try to identify trends in your tests from year-to-year rather than making a rash decision (eg. to completely throw out a company’s seed).“If you don’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” You’ve measured it, now learn from it and improve it!Also, I’d be completely open and share your results with neighbors and peers.  Knowledge is going to spread regardless so why not learn as much as possible as soon as you can.6 - Don’t Buy Shit You Don’t NeedNo explanation needed! That includes stuff from us. If you don’t think we’ll add value to your farm, certainly don’t buy our course or software.5 - Shop Your Chemical PlanResistant weeds are costing producers a lot of money these days. They need to be dealt with but it’s my opinion that some producers are scared into buying an A+ mode of action (A+ = expensive!) when a B-quality mode of action (or generic) will work just fine.My recommendation is to solicit a bunch of advice this winter on what chemical plans are working best in your area with a focus on both effectiveness and cost-efficiency.4 - Set SMART Long-Term GoalsIn a business with as much uncertainty as in farming, it is difficult to make confident decisions. During good times, it’s easy to think that they are here to stay and vice versa (today!).These goals can include anything but they should follow the S.M.A.R.T guidelines below.  *   S - Specific  *   M - Measurable  *   A - Attainable  *   R - Relevant  *   T - Time-basedBecoming a better grain marketer is a good goal in theory but it’s not a SMART goal as it’s very hard to measure and it’s not time-based.Having more working capital is another good goal in theory but it’s not a SMART goal as it’s not specific or time-based.Write down your goals and track them! Our favorite old friend, a spreadsheet, is great for simple goal tracking.3 - Send Personalized Letters to All of Your LandlordsMost landlords love to hear from their tenants. They also want to hear how the growing season went on their farm this year.I’d send two personalized letters to your landlords every year.  One in the summer and one in the winter.Include details relevant to their farms, such as:  *   Dates  *   Pictures  *   Details of Improvements  *   Suggestions of Improvements  *   Yield maps  *   Fertility tests  *   Thoughts on the current ag markets  *   Flex rent hints  *   You get the point….You should be using these letters as an opportunity to solidify your business relationship while building and strengthening a personal relationship.Landlords typically don’t give you a lot of advanced notice when they are looking for a new tenant. If they do, they likely already “have one foot out the door.” Spend a few hours a couple times per year building a relationship with them.The key here is to be consistent with your communication. If you promise regular newsletters but fail to deliver, you’re doing more harm than good. If you start, keep it up!2 - Build and/or Update Your Balance SheetThis is very relevant to setting SMART goals. You owe it to your operation to have an easy-to-use balance sheet in place so you can track your goals and evaluate finance/risk management decisions.At the end of the day, your farm’s balance sheet is a no-BS view of your farm’s finances. You should know it backwards and forwards.Don’t rely on the bank to do this for you. You should be in a position to bring a completed balance sheet to your bank with “ownership” (understanding) of every line item.Most of you are likely already doing this but it’s important. So keep it up!Before #1, sign up for our free e-mail newsletter below if you haven’t already.1 - Have a “Living and Breathing” Farm BudgetI’ve thoroughly reviewed the financials of farms raising crops on 1+ million acres.The #1 trait I’ve seen in the most financially successful operations is the ability to make unemotional, numbers-based farm business and risk management decisions.It’s true that grain markets don’t care about one producer’s cost of production or balance sheet, but….…..it’s our opinion that farming is more profitable and productive (and fun!) for proactive, numbers-focused operations. Want Farm4Profit Merch?  Custom order your favorite items today!https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/ Don’t forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen! Website: www.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.comCall/Text: 515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The laws of small changes Introduction What’s happening Reminders: Like, rate, review, share Send to farm4profitllc@gmail.com Register for the conference Jason Mauck of Constant Canopy - Keynotes What’s working for Ag – listener or farmer feedback (Nathan Anderson) Networking: Building, maintaining, and utilizing human networks. Creating friends of the farm rather than enemies Having those around you that you can ask for help, borrower equipment, trade services (grain bin moving story) Continued learning through others Hosting or attending field days to learn about best practices and meet others with more experience Connecting with area politicians Taking advantage of paid lobbying trips, talking to those in DC, get in conversations with those who have little in common with you. Breaking the stigma of an “Independent Family Farm” Farmers should be very dependent on others. That is the way is used to be with shared equipment and labor. Becoming “Interdependent” https://practicalfarmers.org/ https://www.iowafarmbureau.com/ https://agsolver.com/ Topic of the Week: Why do small changes matter? People don’t fear or resist change in general. It has to be exciting, clear, and obtainable to get the human psyche on board. People cut their hair, buy new equipment, try new food all the time = change It’s intimidating to think about cutting something out of your life completely. Instead of eliminating something completely to save costs take a look at the budget and find small areas of savings. 5% less spent on utilities (call and ask for a break), less in interest expense (call and ask or pay down quicker), inputs like wages, seed, chemicals, fertilizer (application rates or dealer price lowering), family living expenses (eat at home) Sell or produce for 5% more – more sources of revenues What would it take to boost your yields by 5%? 200 bushel is 10 more bushel 50 bushel is 2.5 more, 3 lbs per day rate of gain is just an extra 15 hundredths daily What would it take to sell your crop or animal 5% better than you have in the past? Use a broker? Follow a plan? Set target dates? Could you grow your gross revenues by 5% by doing something else? Custom farm, contract or sub work, become a dealer, network referrals, board position? If you could grow or raise your commodity for 5% less cost at the same time as selling it for 5% more your actual net profit increases. The profit you produce doesn’t just increase by 10% though it will be more! $50M into $62.5M is 25% more while $5 into $15 is 200% more (chocolate bars) Buy 100 chocolate bars for 95 cents each and sell them for $1 apiece. This leaves you with 5% margin or $5 profit at the end of the day. However, if you find a 5% off coupon and by them for 90 cents each and sell them for $1.05 you have a profit now of $15 or 200% more than before. Summarize This doesn’t just apply to purchasing and selling. Making small changes in habits, mental and physical health, management techniques and more will pay off. Management, health, and more to be covered in future episodes. Challenge What are some easy areas for you to make 5% changes in your operation? Where are the harder areas of changing going to be? Focus on assigning a dollar of impact figure to each category and focus on the areas of largest impact first. They may not be the easiest or most fun but will be the most rewarding. Conference Update - Jason Mauck of Constant Canopy will be one of the Key Note speakers Want Farm4Profit Merch?  Custom order your favorite items today!https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/ Don’t forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen! Website: www.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.comCall/Text: 515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This list is from INC.Com. Written by David Finkel a professional business coach. Here is a quick list of the simple things you can do to increase your company's gross and operating profit margins.  Speed up your design cycle (Decision Making).  This can allow you to accomplish more tasks in half the time, potentially increasing your profits over 30 percent. The faster you can make a decision the more efficient your team can become. Eliminate tasks and activities that don't add value to the company or customer.  Every dollar you save by eliminating the cost of things that don't add value to your company drops directly to your bottom line. Increase pricing.  If you bill hourly, review your billing rates and push them higher.  If you charge per product, look for ways you can command a higher price.  Could you bundle more value into a package?  Improve your marketing and sales scripting to effectively sell at a higher price?  Or could you just boldly increase your pricing?  Most farms/businesses set their prices when their business was first launched, and since they were so hungry for business, they set pricing levels low. Over time, the business likely only made nominal increases to pricing every few years, but rarely did the owner ever sit down and fundamentally rethink his or her pricing model. Well take a close look at your pricing now. Regularly review your administrative and operational staff levels closely.  Let your revenues grow faster than you’re hiring. If you have underutilized staff create methods of task that can add to your bottom line. Shorten your sales cycle.  How can you close your sale faster?  This will decrease your sales cost per transaction and free up a lot of hidden cash flow that previously was locked up in your sales staff. – biggest ones are early season discounts, interest expenses, and product condition. Increase the dollar value of every sales transaction.  Ask, How can I get each customer transaction to be for a larger dollar amount?"  What upsells, cross sells, or resales could you strategically implement?  What package offers could you test and introduce? Do the trucking yourself Manage quality (in the meat, grains, etc) Deliver to final destination Deliver on their schedule Beware the steep cost of attrition/retention. Customer retention is a strategic expense if spent wisely.  How can you increase your customer retention? Landlords Private Meat Sales Grain Merchandisers Employees Feed your winning sales people more leads (even if that means you starve your lower performing sales people of leads.)  This is not a time to be "fair", but to be strategic.  If every lead you give to John is worth $2,100 and every lead you give to Sarah is worth $3,200, then you've got to take this into account when you divide leads. Be transparent about this and let it be a spark to help John learn how to increase his own dollar value per company lead given to him. Think of this with employees. If one employee is better at a task, give them the option for overtime and send the others home. More worth your money. 9. Strategically map out systems. Look for ways to educate your staff on the ideal use of their time with your product or service. 10. Shift a cost from a fixed to a variable expense to give yourself greater flexibility.  This is a way to protect your cash flow.  It is extremely important for unproven tactics and strategies.  Flex leases, variable rate loans (inverted now), basis contracts. 11. Shift a cost from a variable to a fixed where the value is proven.  Make this shift only when you can negotiate a substantial price savings by doing so. Fertilizer, seed, insurance, interest rates (now) 12. Consistently look for ways to lower your fixed overhead.  Scrutinize your base expenses to eliminate non-strategic expenses that just don't add value to the company or to the customer. 13. Negotiate hard.  Take the time to plan out your negotiation strategically.  Create competition for your dollars.  Create a list of concessions you want, with extras for you to trade off.  Research the market to better understand the best deal you can expect.  Even hire an experienced negotiator to help you make the purchase on the best price and terms you can.  If the asset you're buying for your business is large enough, the ROI on your negotiation work can be immense. 14. Get clear on all the costs of inventory: cost of capital; storage; insurance; etc.  This will help you make informed stocking levels. – placing insurance premium equivalents into a reserve account can add up over the years and create a pool of income generating self-insurance. 15. Set optimal inventory levels and stick to them.  Constantly be on the lookout for ways to safely reduce your inventory levels.  If you have inventory you're unlikely to sell, scrap or donate it so that you can free up the space and write off the inventory. Want Farm4Profit Merch?  Custom order your favorite items today!https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/ Don’t forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen! Website: www.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.comCall/Text: 515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Landon Friesen @landon707 on Twitter • What is your cost of production? o This isn’t unique to farming. It is important in all types of businesses.  Coors light has to know what they have in each 12 pack otherwise they won’t be around to make more.  Just like in our introduction…..If you aren’t farming for profit you won’t be farming for long o If someone asked you break even how accurate will your answer be?  Your number needs to be flexible and include all expenses supported by the farm. (family living)  It will start off abstract or a wild ass guess • Early predictions will be estimates as all parts can change • Fuel, time, extra passes, interest hikes, sales, hired labor  Change the information as it becomes fact is key. It will seem like less work throughout the year if you make more little changes rather than sitting down for hours. Especially during the busy growing season. Some of the top producers we talk with have scheduled time each week to focus on this part. • After you lock in inputs • After you make field passes • After you make grain sales  Make you more confident in your sales • Early season sales are made to be above the rough target or sell into an overall profit model. • Later in the processes you can be more accurate in recording the margins generated from sales • Again, be careful chasing the peaks in the markets. Remember farmers never go out of business selling for a profit  Will help with acquisition/expansion scenarios • Time to upgrade combines? • Should I rent that extra 160 acres? • Can I buy the land from my land lord?  Effects some of your costs of production • your interest rates – detail pays • Negotiations with land lords and sales people • Summarize o Having the knowledge of what your breakeven is can make you a more confident producer. Livestock to crops one really should know what they can sell the finished product for to cover expenses and make profit. This allows a producer to be more confident in making quick decisions which could result in higher levels of profit. Get detailed and keep it updated throughout the year. Don’t be afraid to share it with others to help catch areas that may be overlooked. • Challenge o Where are you keeping your breakeven information now? Are you prepared to say yes when the crush plant or processing plant calls with a cash bid? How could you make sure your information is more accurate or more detailed? Who else knows what your breakeven is? Take time to focus on the answers to those questions to help drive you to be a more profitable farmer. • Conference Update https://www.farm4profit.com/uploads/8/6/6/6/86663378/farm4profit_farm_business_award.pdf https://www.harvestprofit.com/ Want Farm4Profit Merch?  Custom order your favorite items today!https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/ Don’t forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen! Website: www.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.comCall/Text: 515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

https://smallfarmnation.com/rules-for-starting-a-successful-farm-business/ Small Farm Nation – Get Growing They have a podcast and this list is from their 11 Farm Business Rules episode So, it seems that more and more people share the dream of running a sustainable family farm. Now, these guidelines, which they call 11 Business Rules for Starting/Running a Family Farm, Farm Rule #1 – Your Farm is a Business, Not a Hobby Most likely farming is in your DNA and you know it’s a farming business, not a weekend hobby. But, remember if you aren’t farming for profit you won’t be farming for long. If you want a hobby, that’s fine. That’s called a homestead, if anything, and you can look elsewhere for whatever income you want. But here’s the thing. If you want the farm to produce your income, it’s a business. Rule #2 – Nail Down Your Competitive Advantage If the business is easy to get into for you, it’s easy for someone else to do the same. There are a number of ways you can gain an advantage regardless of what specific farming strategy you choose. Then, have a strategic reason for every farm enterprise you operate, and every farm decision you make. If your motive is profit, and it should be because this is a business, right, then you have to assess what the most profitable farm enterprise is for you and your market. If it did nothing positive for our bottom line, think about removing the enterprise Just make sure you can answer this simple question. Are you ready?. Here it comes: my farm’s defensible competitive advantage is ___________________________ Rule #3 – Select the Best “Go to Market” Strategy Before You Start If you have something to sell, there’s a lot of ways to sell it, right? who are you going to sell to and how are you going to reach them? You have to define your go to market plan Rule #4 – Avoid Debt at (Almost) All Costs So, I say almost, because debt can be used intelligently to gain leverage. But that doesn’t mean most people use debt intelligently. Balance sheets are divided into assets and liabilities. Assets-good, liabilities-bad, right? Because that’s something you owe But would I use debt to buy a tractor to make my farm life easier? Because I can’t quantify the income I’ll generate as a result of that purchase to service that debt. So no way. I’ll get that tractor when I can afford to buy it. With cash. There’s enough to worry about in farming. Design your farm business to run without debt so you don’t add that level of stress. Rule #5 – Bridge the Gap Between What the Land Needs and What the Market Needs This is both a business and an ecological rule Rule #6 – Balance Profit With Passion Okay, so we’re talking about a business, right? Not a hobby. So the point is, measure everything that affects profit. You absolutely need to know your cost of production, down to the nickel. What does it cost you, ALL IN, to produce that product Rule #7 – Understand the Full Impact a Farm Business Does Have on Your Family Employees need direction which means someone’s in charge. That means there will inevitably be disputes and disagreements. The point I’m making is that there is no separation between work and home life on the farm. It is ALL farm life. All the time. Rule #8 – Know the Difference Between Profit Margins and Cash Flow If running a business is new to you, this next statement may sound strange. But there are lots of ways a profitable business can go out of business. Or file for bankruptcy. There have been plenty of businesses that had attractive profit MARGINS but poor cash flow management. And they went bankrupt, because they couldn’t come up with the cash to service the debt. And, there have been even more companies that grew too fast, so they went under. CASH IS KING Rule #9 – Protect Your Ass-ets I’m not a CPA or lawyer so I’m not giving legal advice. See your experts for that. But, in any business, you gotta protect your personal assets, especially in this litigious society. And, beyond legal structure, get the right insurance to protect you. Rule #10 – Quit Your Day Job Close the door behind you, burn the bridge and quit your day job. If you want to have a successful farm business—or any business—get rid of your crutches. Go out and do it. Rule #11 – Start Marketing Before You Start Farming I mean, how can you start marketing before you start farming? Start selling part of your (insured) crop before you grow it. Giving yourself 2-3 marketing seasons to catch great sales prices. Want Farm4Profit Merch?  Custom order your favorite items today!https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/ Don’t forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen! Website: www.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.comCall/Text: 515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Try to be the dumbest person in the room  What’s working for Ag – listener or farmer feedback  Storing Grain in grain bags with @steveconaway1  You can’t learn much from those you know more than. o It’s a challenging concept, it’s humbling, it’s scary, and it must happen! o In order to generate new ideas and bring new concepts back to the farm you must reach out of your comfort zone. Pairing new or different concepts with your years of experience could take your farm to the next level.  Just because you have years of experience it doesn’t mean you are being the most effective. Think of it as a coffee shop in town has 25 years of experience pouring coffee that tastes awful. They may be great pourers of coffee and never make a mess, but the product they are serving isn’t any good. However, if they meet up with the owner of the across town shop who has high reviews on the quality of coffee they could learn the source of the beans. They now then are great coffee pourers with a great product too just by humbly networking with someone who has been perceived as better at it. o You must approach these conversations and experiences with an open mind. We tend to get defensive about the way we do things and resist admitting they could use improvement. o Doesn’t have to only be with another farmer. Could be a farm manager, an ag industry professional, or salesman. Just look for those who you respect and command the respect of others to learn from. This most commonly happens while joining ag related boards or attending meetings to network. o Remember most of the time we are the most critical of that which we don’t understand. Rather than criticize something be curious and see if you can learn more about it. o Then take the new concept, technique, or idea and learn as much as you can about it. Then it becomes less about what someone else said and more about the research you have done.  A good technique for focusing on a new concept is the 3-2-1 method. Focus a 90 day period of time on the idea and seek out 3 books or articles to read, 2 more people ask about or learn from their experience on the topic, and try to get to 1 class or field day to see it in action.  Example: Someone shares how vertical tillage has been a solution for certain areas of their farm. Find 3 pieces of research, articles, or books to read about the benefits of the practice. Talk to 2 neighbors or network users about their experience, and try and line up a demo or see a tool in action.  Summarize o The goal is to start identifying those in your industry that you view as successful. You may not what your farming operation to look exactly like theirs, but something about their business you see as a step in the right direction. It could be their understanding of finances, mechanical ability, or cleanliness of fields. Then swallow a bit of pride and put yourself in a position to learn from them whether it be through casual conversation or an organized meeting. Once you’ve learned about what helps them achieve the success they have conduct your research and begin implementing profit boosting techniques to your farm. Kaizen is the word the Japanese use for Constant and Never-ending Improvement. Adopting this mentality with help boost your farm’s profitability.  Challenge o Identify 5 techniques, skills, or practices that you see as successful in another operators business. Of those 5 find a way to learn about two of them in the next 30 days. Then begin the 3-2-1 process on each of them and take the steps necessary to implement 1 of the techniques, skills, or practices on your farm to boost productivity or ROI.  Conference Update o  Submit questions and topic suggestions Want Farm4Profit Merch?  Custom order your favorite items today!https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/ Don’t forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen! Website: www.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.comCall/Text: 515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How to form your advisory team. What’s working for Ag – listener or farmer feedback o Farm4profitllc@gmail.com o @Farm4Profitllc on Twitter  Taking prevent plant with Brian Sampson Forming an Advisory Team You don’t have to face crucial decisions alone. You can get a team of experts to help you with yourfarming decisions. Where do you start? Is an advisory team right for your farm? Could it become a board of directors? Which farms or operations are a fit for an advisory team?  Many of farms are set up perfectly for an advisory team.  The one who aren't are the farmers who go at it only being their way.  For the rest of you it is a fit! How do I form an advisory team?  You start by listing out the people you think would be a good fit for your advisory team.  They maybe people you already call for advice, or they could be people you've wanted to ask before and haven't.  Then, ask them!  This is the key part, the asking.  What we have learned is when you ask, more often than not, the team member feels honored to join.  This results in more attentive listening and invested advice. Who should be on my advisory team?  This will depend on your farming operation.  We suggest starting with agronomists, accountants, bankers, financial advisors, commodities broker, retired farmer, peer farmer, lawyer, land lord, veterinarian and so on.  Each team will be different based on the needs of your farming operation.  Also, think about reaching out to someone outside of the AG industry.  As farms continue to get more complex with various entities and structures including a CEO or CFO from a corporate setting could provide unique insight. How often should we meet?  This will depend on your farming operation again!  Some of the operations we talked to reach out to specific team members with questions throughout the year and host a full team meeting in the Winter.  Depending how complex your farm business is and how formal of a role you want your advisory team to play this may be different.  We have learned of a farming operation who has their advisory team functioning as a board of directors with voting rights, they meet monthly. Do I compensate my advisory team?  The decision to pay your board or team will be your choice.  You will retain team members longer when purchasing their services or compensating for their time.  However, you can also get quality advice from the right personalities for free too!  Summarize o Start by doing self-reflection on your ability to accept criticism. Flight school pilots are separated from good and great by those who can accept criticism the best and own their faults. They are all trained the same but the best are humble. You need to ask the people to be a part of your team, otherwise they may not even have a clue. Think about your weaknesses or areas of challenge and recruit members to fill those gaps. Each farm will be different so figure out what fits best into your schedule for meeting and which way you plan to compensate your team members.  Glen Newcomer (twitter) learned about creating a when I die folder from his advisory team.  Challenge o If you have people you call now for advice, take the next steps to make sure they are considered your advisory team. Then make it a point to have regular and focused conversations about improving your farm. If you already have an advisory team together we challenge you to think outside of the box for an additional team member (CFO, CEO, HR, etc…)  Conference Update o Farm4Profit Farm Business Award – Nomination details to be on the website, awarded to the farm/farmer most running their operation like a business.  Submit questions and topic suggestions o Farm4profitllc@gmail.com o @Farm4Profitllc on Twitter  Remember if you aren’t farming for profit, you won’t be farming for long. Want Farm4Profit Merch?  Custom order your favorite items today!https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/ Don’t forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen! Website: www.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.comCall/Text: 515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Planning and budgeting – goal setting (Episode #2) Calving Story What’s working for Ag – listener or farmer feedback Cheap beer (focusing on family living expenses) costs from outside of farming expenses that still need to be carried by farm profitability Cutting the cable or using streaming entertainment services. monthly reoccurring charges for memberships/subscriptions that aren’t used any more Consulting with service providers for reduced rates, packages, or alternatives. (Energy, insurance, 5% changes) future podcasts Find us on twitter @Farm4ProfitLLC Individually on Twitter @IowaBankerman - Tanner @IowaLandGuy - David Send us an email farm4profitllc@gmail.com Connect through our website www.farm4profit.com Leave us a voicemail at 515.207.9640 Connect on Facebook @Farm4Profit Building an Instagram at Farm4Profit Planning and budgeting – goal setting Most often this is where it starts, just having a plan is progress even if it’s in your head. In today’s world with competition at its peak you can’t afford to not have a plan. Better yet, Write it down, type it up, enter it into a program Services available all over: https://farmlogs.com/ https://conservis.ag/ https://granular.ag/ https://www.harvestprofit.com/ https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/decisionaids.html https://quickbooks.intuit.com/online/ https://www.card.iastate.edu/ Share it with others – welcome feedback Family Team members (Banker, broker, accountant) Peers Example of what sharing with your peers can gain for you. An individual living in a suburb made a resolution to exercise more and chose CrossFit as a form of exercising to do that. The closest gym to him offering this style of workout was a 30 minute commute & in the opposite direction of where he worked. After working out for 3 months he built relationships with other members of the class & shared he may need to discontinue the class because the time commitment was too long. As soon as he shared this he had an option for a route that shaved 12 minutes off the drive time and the knowledge of a new gym closer to his work. Just by sharing his plan he gained from the perspective of others. Get detailed Over all is great, but dividing down to a field by field, acre by acre, or animal by animal basis will provide insight more insight Using unit by unit strategies could result in letting a farm go, searching for my ground or genetics like your highest profit characteristics, or searching for cost reduction strategies with a more focused effort. Company from prior conference was Ag Solver https://agsolver.com/ If you can’t do it get help Or you don’t enjoy it Pay for help or get it for free (future) There will be more material in future episodes about how to form an advisory team to help with this. Also future episodes on how to get more of this service from your bankers, salesmen, and tools for free. Review it Periodically Monthly or after seasonal swings and big market movements (trade deals and crop reports and planting progress) Huge tool in considering prevented plant or crop choices Make in season adjustments Compare at the end of the year/season Keep your original plan/budget and then compare. Learn from the factors that changed and why. Summarize Start with a plan, basic. Work through the details and then share your plan with others. This will help keep you accountable and maybe share insights you were missing. Make adjustments throughout the year and revisit it frequently to make sure you are on track. At the end reflect on how it turned out and what needs to be done differently next time. Challenge What does you budget look like now? Not talking if it’s in the green or red, but does one exists. If you do have one are there ways you get add more detail or more accurate information to it? DO you know someone with more skills than you have to add insight? If you don’t have one start now to take the steps to get started on paper. Write it down. Conference Update What’s working for Ag section to be featured on 12/6/2019. Sharing the most profitable actions from farmers from all areas. Submit questions and topic suggestions Find us on twitter @Farm4ProfitLLC Individually on Twitter @IowaBankerman - Tanner @IowaLandGuy - David Send us an email farm4profitllc@gmail.com Connect through our website www.farm4profit.com Leave us a voicemail at 515.207.9640 Connect on Facebook @Farm4Profit Building an Instagram at Farm4Profit Want Farm4Profit Merch?  Custom order your favorite items today!https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/ Don’t forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen! Website: www.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.comCall/Text: 515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What the Top Tier of farmers are doing (Episode #1) Share ways to contact us and encourage involvement – leave a recording Find us on twitter @Farm4ProfitLLC Individually on Twitter @IowaBankerman - Tanner @IowaLandGuy - David Send us an email farm4profitllc@gmail.com Connect through our website www.farm4profit.com Leave us a voicemail at 515.207.9640 Connect on Facebook @Farm4Profit Building an Instagram at Farm4Profit What’s working for Ag – listener or farmer feedback Early Planted Beans Yields were similar of better than that of those planted later I the area in 2018 Were able to finish the bean planting or get progress ahead of normal pace Allowed for corn to be planted into optimal conditions Is custom hired spraying pre-emergent you weren’t competing with other producers for sprayer time. Didn’t have to switch out plates from the planter from the end of last spring. Top 20% - high level of future podcasts Plans, Agendas, Budgets (future)x Review & Update Frequently Know their cost of production (Future)x They understand their financial position Have created an advisory team (Future) Who should be on it Accountant, Agronomist, Banker, Financial Advisor, commodities broker, livestock buyer, business owner, Peer Experience, Technology, Lawyer, Landlord? and more How often do you meet Are you willing to set it up as a board with voting structure You make the recommendations and take to a vote or discussion Be proactive (Future) Successful farms don’t see themselves as the victims Take on problems as challenges Work to predict problems and prevent Don’t get surprised and take things in stride Get better before they get bigger Focus on making the most out of every acre Use technology to gain efficiencies (future) Become a great leader by bettering themselves and setting examples (future) They put time and priority into running their farms (focus) Always learning Great start, you’ve tuned in to check us out Attend conferences (future) Read news letters Networking group and advisory team Be in a room where you know the least (future) Steve Jobs quote? Many CEO’s in very successful businesses live by the idea of surrounding themselves with people who have greater skills or knowledge than they do. Whether it is specific to a skill or understanding by being with them you can learn to grow in your knowledge and abilities. Listen more than you speak when with these people. Immediately write down and reflect on your time spent with these people Don’t spend what they don’t have Or what they don’t have a clear ability to pay for Summarize Top performing farmers and business owners have plans and understand the financial position of their business. They work to be proactive in their thought processes and share those with an advisory team. The top performers are always learning and focusing on bettering themselves before expecting others to change. Challenge Look at yourself and your farming operation. Which of these characteristics or practices do you already have in place? Which areas could you use work on? Now which concept above could be the easiest for you to implement next? Our challenge is then for you to start practicing that in the next week. Then tune in to the next episodes as we will share ways to make the process of adopting those tips and techniques a little easier. Remember most of the time we are the most critical of that which we don’t understand. Rather than criticize something be curious and see if you can learn more about it. Conference Update December 6th, 2019 Submit questions and topic suggestions Find us on twitter @Farm4ProfitLLC Individually on Twitter @IowaBankerman - Tanner @IowaLandGuy - David Send us an email farm4profitllc@gmail.com Connect through our website www.farm4profit.com Leave us a voicemail at 515.207.9640 Want Farm4Profit Merch?  Custom order your favorite items today!https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/ Don’t forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen! Website: www.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.comCall/Text: 515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.