Farm4Profit Podcast

How to Grow Your Farm

Episode Summary

Tanner and David are joined by farmers Corey & Q to discuss the ways others have grown their farms. The Farm4Profit crew received input from over 30 listeners to generate 20 ways to increase your farm size. Tune in to learn more about how others have grown their farms!

Episode Notes

Ways to help expand your farming operation

• Introduction
• Answer questions
  • Listener Question: How have others been able to grow their farms?  I’d be interested in knowing what have been working for others to grow!
    • Reminder to submit your questions to farm4profitllc@gmail.com
• Guests
  • Corey Hillebo  @corn_porkNbeans
  • Q Connealy  @Qconnealy19  wakeboardingfarmer.com
• What’s working in Ag?
• Just that, how about we jump right into it this week and share from our network strategies, tips, and techniques that have helped them grow their farms!  We heard back from over 30 listeners, friends, and those on twitter about how they were about to grow their farms.
• We’ve put together over 20 headings for ways people have picked up ground or expanded their operations and will be breaking it into two different episodes for you.
• No Silver Bullets, but we can share examples that have worked
• Purchasing the land
  • Auction
  • Land Listing
  • Private Sale
    • Pre-determined price
    • Creative Land Contracts
      • 20 year contract that started at a reduced price, with low interest rate and payments are based of the ISU Cash Rent Survey – payment flexibility @stalzer20 – Matt Stalzer of Haverhill, IA
    • Most logical buyer – land next door
    • First to become aware of the land for sale
• Custom Farming @plotner_mike Mike Plotner Union County Ohio
  • Purchased a combine in high school to do custom work which got his name out.  Worked on growing his mechanical and business skills.
    • Negotiation
    • Breakevens
    • Preparedness
      • Stepping up in times of need
      • Being timely
    • Doing a good job
  • Custom farming can lead to other forms of expansion too @mikebelan3 Mike Belan Lambton County Ontario
    • More custom farming acres
    • 50/50 crop sharing
    • Rent when done taking the risk
    • Sale when ready to get out
      • Let your hard work and quality job show off
• Run your farm like a business
  • Hire out what you aren’t good at. Do what you do best and find someone else to do the rest
    • 360 review
    • People will notice from the outside in
    • Positive perceptions will go a long way
  • Focus on doing better on the land that you have now to maximize the profitability there.  Then take the profits from your current operation to purchase more in expansion. Anonymous -  Central Kansas
  • Taking advantage of the discounts and package deals that come with larger acres and negotiating power.
• Taking care of what you already have and doing a good job
  • Mowing ditches and water ways
  • Removing or building fences
  • Practicing the latest technologies or conservation
    • Farmer did strip till and cover crops.  Land lord noticed that liked the program and offered the land for rent if he continued those practiced – anonymous Iowa
  • Clean and maintained equipment and acreages – nothing has to be new
  • “Keep Doing a Good Job and Someone will Notice” - @gbahan Gary Bahan Central Ohio
• Build strong relationships with current landlords
  • Keep in contact, share updates on their land, and show what you have been doing to benefit them.
  • Share your intentions as a farm, if they don’t know what you want to become how can they help you get there?
  • If you treat them well they may tell other land lords and it could expand that way. @landon707 – Landon Friesen Crystal City Manitoba CA
  • Landlords are most likely investors; if you can show them how you can help make them more money, then they will help you make more money.
  • Share soil tests and yield data
• Effectively including multiple generations
  • Impression of a successful family farm will provide positive views from land lords
    • Wished they had that in their family
    • Remember having it from their parents
  • Gives you the ability to delegate, connect more frequently with less effort, handle more tasks
• Advisory Team and Network Referrals @MarkPGuy North Central, IA
  • Agronomy Suppliers
  • Connections to extended family
  • Advisory Team
    • How will they know to send you referrals if they don’t know your growth goals?
  • Farm Managers
  • Lawyers – Estate Planners
  • NRCS Office – Anonymous North Central Iowa
    • Had been utilizing the EQUIP program and attending meetings about soil health.  Was being social and recognized.
• Having a Good Lender – not conservative – knowledgeable of options
  • Being able to take advantage of situations when they come up is half the battle.  You might get an offer, but if you aren’t financially well positioned at the time the answer might have to be “NO”
  • Knowing what loan packages are available with the FSA or USDA offices can help @HotMessFarms Brittany Willbanks - Missouri
    • Beginning farmer loans for purchasing equipment and livestock
    • FSA loans for purchasing farm ground
    • Applying for beginning farmer credits on rental agreements and land sold on contract.
  • A creative banker might be able to help tie in additional collateral to get the deal done
• Luck – Better lucky than good @Qconnealy19 the wakeboarding farmer from Nebraska
  • Born in to the right family
  • Good relationships by older generations
  • Landlords or family members that prefer farmland as an investment
  • Online fame
  • It’s almost like lightening striking, I would hate to be a kid again to try and make what happened happen again! - @Dylangrieco – Chad West Central Iowa.
• BAD Examples
  • Over Paying
  • Ambulance Chasing
  • Letters to Nursing Homes
    • Letters from like that from Tillable
  • Referral Fees to Funeral Homes
  • Sleeping with land owners wife
    • Marrying a widow
    • Taking her special pizza
    • Eating her “edibles”
  • Long lost family members
  • Social Media Famous - Wake boarding in the fields and ditches for social media fame
• Trusting in yourself
  • Know your farm, know your business
  • Be honest and accurate with your numbers
  • Having fear, anxiety, and nervousness is natural for moments of growth
    • You’ll have 100 reason not to stick your neck out, but trust in yourself when the time is right and the opportunity is right, do it.
  • A good advisory team will help you sort through these situations
  • Have your farm positioned at all times for growth, don’t get over extended because you never know when the opportunity will come up.
• Being a good neighbor
  • Pay your respects if condolences are necessary, but be sincere.  We’ve heard of ambulance chasers……sometimes though a true friend, shoulder to cry on, or plain old support can go a very long ways.  A lot of my connections refrain from this for fear of being labeled the ambulance chaser….if it’s sincere your conscience will be clear
  • Help fix fence and do chores for livestock – help on or organize field help if a neighbor needs it - anonymous , North East Missouri
  • Join them for pie, take them pizza, drive them to bingo
  • Offering a helping hand when someone needs help.  Cutting trees, fixing equipment, or cleaning out grain bins.
  • Don’t ignore the women, treat them with respect.  They typically live longer.
• Be Faithful @mullerfarms Clayton Muller
  • Connections through religion are typically very strong
  • Give glory to God and build the trust of those that surround you.
  • Being patient and faithful that you are doing right in this world.
    • What goes around comes around
• Clubs, Boards, Leadership
  • FSA boards
    • Served for a period of time with a spouse of a future landlord.  Treated her and other board members with respect and it was never forgotten.  When the farmer retired he remember the kindness and respect presented and offered the farm – anonymous North Central Ohio
  • Church Boards
  • F-H & FFA Leadership – Fair Boards
  • Volunteering
    • The key to all this is demonstrating the golden rule, being timely, confident, kind and respectful
  • Being a pillar in the community a person of strong character @rjfran23 – Randy Francois “Francis” Eastern , IA
• Honesty and Integrity – Anonymous SW Kansas
  • Having professional conversations with current farmers (aging) or land owners.
  • Being honest in the conversation about wanting to rent or buy
  • Be clear about your goals and expectations of growing your farm
  • Ask politely for the opportunity to farm their ground when it becomes available
• Farm marketing/Branding – Anonymous Central Iowa
  • Facebook
  • Websites-Technology -Tillable
  • Be where your audience will be
    • Farm Managers
    • Attorneys
    • Real Estate Agents
  • News Letters
  • Field Days
  • Sponsored meetings
    • Can you hire someone to do marketing for your farm?
    • Should this person be on your advisory team?
• Being the apparent expert 
  • Interviews for papers and publications
  • Hosting/Sponsoring land owner meetings
  • Hosting/Sponsoring field days
  • Becoming a public speaker for conferences and meetings
  • Holding a political office
• Strategic Hiring/Networking
  • People with advanced skills
    • Sales, marketing, agronomy, prescriptions, etc…
  • People with strong networks
  • People related to rich land owners
  • Farm Manager
• You can’t complain about market pricing
  • Rent prices – if a landlord offers you may have to adjust your farming operation to make a profit in order to make the rent requested work
  • Commodity prices – landlords won’t want a tenant who “can’t figure it out”
    • Focus on knowing your break even and becoming the most efficient that you can.  It will afford you to pay higher rent and grant you a larger margin on rent that is below market.
  • Slander on a neighbor doesn’t usually get you very far
• Using Technology – Take advantage @Citrowske_L  Lance SW Minnesota.
  • Technology that is available to make you more efficient.
  • Technology that produces accuracy – reporting
  • Demonstrate superior knowledge
    • Intellifarms bin management
    • Writing scripts
    • Yield Maps
• Be patient, “Rome wasn’t built in a day” – growth takes years - @michael_bergen  Michael Bergen, Aurora Nebraska
  • You will get passed up, but your attitude when that happens will be noticed
  • Don’t get bitter, be happy for those who do grow, and that will get noticed
    • Also, lending a hand to the neighbor and being a positive person will probably get you better rental rates when the opportunity does come out
    • It helps keep life more fun too
• Summary
  • Be Patient
  • Use Technology
  • Quit Complaining
  • Strategic Hiring
  • Be the Expert
  • Marketing & Branding
  • Honesty & Integrity
  • Local Leadership
  • Be Faithful
  • Be a Good Neighbor
  • Trust in yourself
  • Luck
  • Having a Good Lender & beginning farmer knowledge
  • Advisory Team/Network Referrals
  • Multiple Generations
  • Build good relationships with current landlords
  • Take care of what you have now
  • Run your farm like a business
  • Custom Farming
  • Purchase it
• Challenge
  • Come up with something
  • Leave an idea for bad examples of ways to pick up ground on our social media pages to make this fun! @farm4profitllc   
• Closing
  • If you liked this episode please like, rate, review and share!
  • Check out the other archived episodes and leave us your comments.
  • @farm4profitllc   farm4profitllc@gmail.com
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