Cash Cow Farmer

Category: Management

General Farm Management Strategy and Structure

  • 3 Ways to Manage Income With Real Estate

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]More tips for tax management[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

     Don’t have time to read? Listen here:
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    Whether it’s farmland, commercial, or residential real estate, there are lot of income management techniques that real estate is good for.
     Last week, we talked about managing income. We’re revisiting that topic, but this time specifically around real estate.
     Today, we’ll be focusing on the tax advantages of real estate, which I learned from Paul Moore’s book The Perfect Investment, as well as a few real estate deals of my own.

     1) Passive Losses Through Depreciation
     Unfortunately, we can’t depreciate farmland, so farmland doesn’t apply here. Still, farmers can use this option for other real estate investments.
     Let’s say you buy a commercial multifamily apartment complex as an investor or partnering investor. Everything’s depreciable: the furnishings, the parking lot, the apartment building, and more. When you buy that asset, you’re depreciating everything a few years later; you have the depreciation expense.
     The depreciation expense and the operating costs are generally higher than the actual revenues coming from rents. And when you have expenses higher than rents, you don’t have to pay taxes on that. The depreciation is not actually a cash cost: it’s just a removal of the asset value over time. You’re not paying it every month.
     You can actually offset most of the income you get from rental property because of depreciation and operating expenses, which means most of that income will be tax-free.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”TRY CASHCOW FARMER FREE FOR 30 DAYS” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 2) Reverse Mortgage

     When you own land or other real estate free and clear, it’s possible to take out a “reverse mortgage” on the land. It’s 100% tax free, plus you can deduct the interest.
     Let’s say you buy $1 million in farmland. Over time, that land either appreciates or you pay down the debt and you have equity.
     If you have a million-dollar land and half a million dollars in debt that you’re paying down over time, you can go out and refinance that property. This is called a “reverse mortgage.” You can refinance it up to its asset value—$1 million—and put that money in your pocket, tax-free.
     That’s half a million in cash you’ve got for other investments, tax-free. And again, you can deduct the interest.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”SCHEDULE A FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 3) 1031 Exchange
     Generally, when you sell real estate, it’s appreciated from the value you bought it at. You have to pay capital gains tax on assets on which you’ve realized the appreciated value. But you can do a 1031 exchange to counteract that.
     I did this last year when I bought some farmland from my grandma, who’s 91 now. She grew up on the land, and her base was basically nothing: let’s say roughly $500/acre. When I bought that land from her for around $3,000/acre, she would have had to pay capital gains on $2,500/acre, which is about 20%. Huge.
     So she sells me the farmland, and the money goes to an escrow agency. Within six months, you have to repurchase more real estate, and you can actually pass along that basis to future real estate.
     You can do that forever, as long as the new purchase is within six months of liquidating the old asset.. If somebody comes and says they want to buy your real estate, you’ll have to go out and find something to purchase in exchange.
     It’s a bit of work, but you never have to pay capital gains tax. When you pass away, the basis is reset for your heirs.
     Let’s say my grandma bought other real estate for the same price. She had a $500 basis and bought land for $3,000. She basically kicked the can down the road.
     If she passes away and the market is $4,000, because everything is in a 1031 exchange, if my dad inherits it it’ll be at whatever the market is at. My dad’s new basis is not $500, but $4,000 or whatever the market was when grandma passed.

     Conclusion
     I really think you should read Paul’s book. It’s an easy read and pretty short. There are so many ways to help yourself manage your income; it’s just a matter of learning all the tips available.
     This post was based on an episode of the Cash Cow Farmer Podcast. To hear more content like this in audio form, subscribe to the show here.[/vc_column_text][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”40″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”40″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”30″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row dfd_row_config=”full_width_content” dfd_row_parallax=”off” dfd_row_responsive_enable=”off” dfd_enable_overlay=”off” css=”.vc_custom_1470889834038{background-color: #2d2d2d !important;}”][vc_column width=”3/4″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][ultimate_heading heading_type=”customizable” heading_tag=”h3″ heading_content=”FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION!” main_heading_default_weight=”400″ main_heading_color=”#ffffff” subheading_type=”customizable” subheading_tag=”h5″ sub_heading_default_weight=”400″]DON’T LET THE MARKETS WIN…SCHEDULE YOUR FREE SESSION TODAY![/ultimate_heading][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″ column_responsive_mobile_classes=”dfd-remove-right-padding” column_responsive_mobile_resolutions=”dfd-apply-mobile” css=”.vc_custom_1470810100672{padding-right: 2% !important;}”][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”15″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][bt_animation animation_type=”_flipX” duration=”2″ repeat=”2″ allow_margins=”yes” scroll_offset=”5px” no_hide=”yes”][ult_buttons btn_title=” FREE STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-large” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][/bt_animation][vc_column_text]

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  • Improving Success With Escapism

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Why you need to escape work to be successful at it.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

    Don’t have time to read it? Listen to the Podcast here:
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    Recently, I was reading a book (which is usually how these articles get started). It was called The Anatomy of Success by Nicolas Darvas.
     Darvas was an interesting guy. Back in the days of JP Morgan and Cornelius Vanderbilt, Darvas started as one of the world’s greatest dancers, then got into business. He made $2 million trading on the stock market.
     One thing he strongly advocated for in his book was escapism.
     Every truly successful person I’ve ever meet or read about has a hobby that provides him or her with escapism. The opportunity to escape somewhere at some time in our daily lives to free our mind and improve personal happiness is so important to obtaining and sustaining success. (more…)

  • Real Estate Valuation Strategy for Farmland – Cap Rate

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]1-jpg
     It’s always a challenge to value real estate, especially when it comes to farmland.
     After reading Paul Moore’s book The Perfect Investment, my perspective on valuing real estate at a professional and investment level was changed dramatically.
     So many farmers only think about the dollar per acre amount and not what Paul talks about in his book: “cap rate.” Today we’re going to unpack cap rate and how that makes a difference when you’re valuing real estate. You’ll learn how you can put a number all the real estate values that you operate on your farm. (more…)

  • 5 of Ghengis Khan’s Strategies To Conquer Modern Farming

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Strategy learned from the great Khan[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]0_22
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     You may be wondering: what was I reading to come up with this title?
     It’s true that I finished a book called Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. But I’ve studied Genghis Khan quite a bit in the past as well.
     The reason why is that the Mongol dynasty made Alexander the Great’s look pitiful. Genghis Khan reorganized the world: he connected China to the west and developed gunpowder. For around 100 years in the 12th and 13th centuries the Mongols dominated from Italy to China, to Russia, to India, to Turkey—basically most of the known world.
     The Mongol warriors would easily defeat the huge European armies. After engaging in battle for a short while the Mongols would ride away as if in retreat. They would then lead the overconfident European armies into a trip and easily defeat them.
     Granted, Genghis Kahn was about the worst human being you can imagine. He would go into a city and kill everyone if they didn’t cooperate.
     But on strategy alone, there’s a lot for farmers to learn from Genghis Khan and the Mongols.

     1) Speed and efficiency
     Speed and efficiency were the Mongols’ secret weapons. They would travel lighter than everyone, unlike big armies with huge caravans. Even though each warrior had five horses, as long as they had good pastures they were good.
     The Mongols would eat mice and birds, and their armor and clothing were sewn-together skins of field mice. They’d drink muddy water and turn raw meat into a form of jerky by sticking it under their saddles. While frozen lakes were a barrier to most, the Mongols would make skates and speed across them.
     Let’s connect that to farming. If you’re efficient, farming same amount of land with half the machinery as another farmer, that’s going to pay big dividends.
     I’ve got a neighbor with a 120-foot corn planter, and he can plant all of his corn in less than a week. It blows me away, since most farmers take a month or at least a couple of weeks.
     Everyone thought he was nuts buying that planter, but it’s paid off.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”TRY CASHCOW FARMER FREE FOR 30 DAYS” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 2) Winning battles without fighting
     The Khan would intimidate cities into submission before losing any of his men, which is why he was able to conquer so much, so fast. He’d go to the smaller cities and scare everybody, then overwhelm large cities who were brimming with refugees and conquer them.
     With farming, what I’m talking about here is reputation management. I know some farmers who say, “I don’t know why they wouldn’t sell land to me or rent the land to me.” The answer could be related to reputation.
     It doesn’t mean you have to go out and donate all your money, but getting things without fighting for them is the moral of this one. If you can have a good reputation in your community and give back, you’re going to get opportunities when people retire and so on. The community of farming is tight-knit, so keep your reputation positive. Pay it forward as they say…

     3) Strength in intelligence—not in numbers1-1_8
     Every morning, Mongol scouts had a routine making sure things were good within their army. Then they would scout everything, sometimes for years in advance, seeing what kind of weaponry and tactics various civilizations used.
     In agriculture, think about what happened when commodity prices drove way up. A lot of farmers, because of poor intelligence, set themselves up for failure with huge purchases and liabilities that could only be sustained under such inflated market prices.
     Khan was known for going into a situation way before and being smarter than the competition (in his case, they were enemies). If you can analyze the value of expanding your farm to certain properties, or buying certain machinery, you’ll be looking at basic return on investment and making sure your operation will be positively impacted.
     At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how much you farm. What matters is the bottom line. [/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”SCHEDULE A FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 4) Swift and reliable communication
     The Mongols were illiterate. Can you imagine trying to communicate across a growing empire or on a battlefield without written words? They would communicate by sound, with arrows that they would drill holes in.
     And all the orders would have to be spoken man to man. Remember telephone? Imagine playing it while in war. What they would do was develop the orders into a rhyming song and add verses as information got added, making sure it was catchy so it never got distorted.
     In agriculture, we’re not developing rhymes, but we are communicating with our employees. I’d say communication is one of the biggest causes of inefficiency in most modern farms. Almost everything that goes wrong ties back to miscommunication, whether it’s a truck driver who sells under the wrong entity or one who goes to the wrong field, or whatever.
     Have systems in place where your team has a daily huddle, a weekly recap, or something of the sort.

     5) Undeniable loyalty
     The Khan was ingenious in securing loyalty. He was extremely generous to his troops.
     Most generals would take all the good stuff and leave the leftovers to their men, so they were never loyal and would leave for the next best opportunity. But he had a rule that if a soldier died, his family would get a soldier’s share in the proceeds. So people were not afraid to die, whereas most of the time back then if you died your family was done for.
     You can garner that same loyalty in your own employees. If you reward them for their good work, you’ll have a loyal team that takes ownership for their work, and you’ll see tremendous results.

     Conclusion
     Farmers can take all the good strategies of Genghis Khan and be set to run a very successful operation.
     You should probably avoid all the murdering and pillaging, though.

     This post was based on an episode of the Cash Cow Farmer Podcast. You subscribe to it on iTunes here.
     Or if you don’t use iTunes, you can listen to every episode here.[/vc_column_text][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”40″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”40″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”30″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row dfd_row_config=”full_width_content” dfd_row_parallax=”off” dfd_row_responsive_enable=”off” dfd_enable_overlay=”off” css=”.vc_custom_1470889834038{background-color: #2d2d2d !important;}”][vc_column width=”3/4″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][ultimate_heading heading_type=”customizable” heading_tag=”h3″ heading_content=”MAXIMIZE PROFITS WITH CASHCOW FARMER!” main_heading_default_weight=”400″ main_heading_color=”#ffffff” subheading_type=”customizable” subheading_tag=”h5″ sub_heading_default_weight=”400″]POWERFUL FARM FINANCIAL SOFTWARE THAT IS AFFORDABLE & EASY TO USE![/ultimate_heading][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″ column_responsive_mobile_classes=”dfd-remove-right-padding” column_responsive_mobile_resolutions=”dfd-apply-mobile” css=”.vc_custom_1470810100672{padding-right: 2% !important;}”][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”15″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][bt_animation animation_type=”_flipX” duration=”2″ repeat=”2″ allow_margins=”yes” scroll_offset=”5px” no_hide=”yes”][ult_buttons btn_title=” FREE 30 DAY TRIAL” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-large” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][/bt_animation][vc_column_text]

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  • 7 Strategies to Farm Like Famed Investor John Templeton

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]00
    Don’t have time to read? Listen to it here:
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     John Templeton is one of the most famed investors of all time.
     This is a guy who in 1939 bought $100 worth of all stocks traded under $1, and by 1943 he had four times his money. He’s up there with the greats.
     His strategies, and the way he built his wealth, were so brilliant that I think there are a lot of key values and structures that we could apply to our farming operation to help us be more consistent, profitable, and smart.
     For starters, his key values were hard work, punctuality, and commitment, which are obviously useful in any business context.
     Beyond that, here are 7 strategies you can use to farm like John Templeton.

     1) Buy depressed assets
     This strategy is exactly what Templeton did in the example of 1939 above. The stocks he bought under $1 were depressed assets.
     Farming is depressed right now, too. This year may be the best time to buy farm assets. At the end of the year, there are probably going to be some auctions that are worth going to, especially if you’ve got equipment that needs upgrading.
     You can see the fear in agriculture right now: people are concerned about commodity prices, and there’s going to be a lot of bankruptcy with people who are overextended and a lot of auctions where there just aren’t buyers. If you’re wanting to buy a little equipment or land, and you’re not yourself overextended, this is a great opportunity.

     2) Avoid the noise
     After living in New York City, John Templeton ran his investment fund from his home in the Bahamas, far away from the noise of Wall Street. He would spend hours on the beach every day reading through investment reports.
     The further he got away from the noise and the day-to-day emotions in the thick of things, the more successful he became. His investment performance just about quintupled when he moved to the Bahamas.
     It’s the same thing with a farmer: when you’re on the frontlines, you can’t make good choices. There’s too much information.
    01_2
    [/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”SCHEDULE A FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] Try to take regular trips. Go to the lake on the weekend; spend some time in a quiet wood somewhere.
     I try to leave the state for five days every month, resetting my brain. I call it “sharpening the saw.” It’s just like exercise, except mental. When I first started farming, I’d drive to California twice a year, a 25-30 hour drive, and in the car I solved most of my business challenges.
     Avoid the noise, so you’ll know what to do when you’re back in it.

     3) Don’t do what everyone else is doing
     Templeton said that if he wanted to outperform all the other investment managers, he couldn’t read or do the same things they were doing.
     You’re not going to outperform the herd if you’re traveling with it. In fact, you can use the advice from the herd as a contrarian indicator.
     In recent years, when you look at the crazy herd mentality that put a lot of farmers out of business, it’s clear that it didn’t work. Fortunately, I was too new, dumb, and poor to make really bad decisions when I started out farming. I wasn’t haven’t good yields because I was just breaking up land when the prices were good, but it allowed me to cash flow that freshly broken sod.
     If you could go back and recreate what happened, what would you do as a farmer? You definitely wouldn’t be going out locking yourself into several years of high-cash rent. You wouldn’t be buying high-priced land or upgrading all your machinery at once just to avoid some taxes.
     We need to rewrite our own histories and say, “This is what I would’ve done.” The opportunity will come again, and you can handle things differently this time around.

     4) Go where others fear going
     People would ask Templeton where the outlook for opportunities was good. According to him that was the wrong question: instead, you must look where the outlook is miserable to find good investments.
     Think about when oil got down to $30 a barrel and everybody freaked out. What if you’d bought a ton of oil stocks instead? You’d be sitting pretty.
     It was the same case with silver recently, and my best-performing stock this past year was in silver. When you can buy a company for less that what their assets are worth, you’ve got to do it.
    1-1_7    [/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”TRY CASHCOW FARMER FREE FOR 30 DAYS” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 5) Look to the future—not the present—when valuing assets
     Whenever John would look at buying a company, he would have his analysts forecast the price-to-earnings ratio five years down the road. Think about oil: if it’s $30 today, and we project it to be $50 in five years, the company will be worth a whole lot of money.
     It’s the same with agriculture. Set yourself up so that five years down the line you’re in a great position when times are tough. That’s the kind of forward thinking that will set you apart.

     6) Break complex things down into things that are simple
     When people asked Templeton what his approach was, he would simply say, “Buy cheap stocks.” Not cheap in regard to great value, just cheap depressed stocks.
     He’d figure out which were the good companies that were just in an industry that was hated. When the whole sectors go down, good companies get devalued. You can pick them up for pennies on the dollar.
     For the complexity of grain marketing, Cash Cow Farmer has a 5-step process for building a bulletproof grain marketing plan for our customers. Breaking it down into a process makes it way easier than trying to decide how you’re going to sell your grain at the top of the market and forecast the futures. If you don’t break marketing down, it becomes a behemoth that’s impossible to take down.

     7) Delegate weakness
     Most investment funds hire analysts and manage the business themselves. Templeton loved the analytical work, so he would outsource the management and just focus on picking winners.
     On the farm, if you’re good at operating machinery and growing commodities in the worst possible environment, that’s where you should focus your effort—not on business strategy or marketing if that’s not what you like to do. A lot of farmers love the work of producing grain, but sell it at inconvenient times and limit their profitability or even sell for a loss at times.

     Bonus: Time management
     Templeton always carried books and papers with him, so that if he had any extra time he would have something productive to do.
     While you’re sitting in line at Walmart, waiting to check out, there’s no reason you can’t check the markets, reach out to your team, or read an article about farming. Or while you’re sitting in line at the elevator, listen to podcasts or a book on tape.
     Anything to be productive. That’s the “John Templeton Way.”

     Need something to listen to while you’re waiting around at the elevator? Check out The Cash Cow Farmer Podcast, where we give advice every week on running your farm operation like a Fortune 500 company.
     If you don’t use iTunes, you can listen to it here.[/vc_column_text][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”40″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”40″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”30″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row dfd_row_config=”full_width_content” dfd_row_parallax=”off” dfd_row_responsive_enable=”off” dfd_enable_overlay=”off” css=”.vc_custom_1470889834038{background-color: #2d2d2d !important;}”][vc_column width=”3/4″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][ultimate_heading heading_type=”customizable” heading_tag=”h3″ heading_content=”FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION!” main_heading_default_weight=”400″ main_heading_color=”#ffffff” subheading_type=”customizable” subheading_tag=”h5″ sub_heading_default_weight=”400″]DON’T LET THE MARKETS WIN…SCHEDULE YOUR FREE SESSION TODAY![/ultimate_heading][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″ column_responsive_mobile_classes=”dfd-remove-right-padding” column_responsive_mobile_resolutions=”dfd-apply-mobile” css=”.vc_custom_1470810100672{padding-right: 2% !important;}”][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”15″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][bt_animation animation_type=”_flipX” duration=”2″ repeat=”2″ allow_margins=”yes” scroll_offset=”5px” no_hide=”yes”][ult_buttons btn_title=” FREE STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-large” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][/bt_animation][vc_column_text]

    SCHEDULE YOUR FREE SESSION TODAY!

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  • Top 2 government programs for low prices

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]When times are tough, there’s help at the local FSA[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]0_18
    Don’t have time to read? Listen to it here:
    [smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/cashcowfarmer/Top_2_government_programs_for_low_prices_Master.mp3″ social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]

     On some commodities, we’ve hit some pretty interesting times. This is especially true with wheat.
     Sometimes we just have to be patient for something bad to happen to put prices up. In the meantime, I want to talk about two programs that are essential to a farmer’s cash flow through a tough time like this, if they don’t have the grain sold in advance.

     1) Commodity loans
     We’ve talked about commodity loans, I don’t know, maybe 1,000 times? There’s a reason why, though.
     They’re useful.
     You can find the full information about commodity loans here, but basically if you’re going to put grain in the bin and you have any sort of opportunity to prepay for stuff, taking a commodity loan may be just what the doctor ordered.
     A commodity loan is for nine months. The interest rates are 1% above the rate borrowed by the U.S. treasury. Last year I borrowed the grain I did a commodity loan on at 1.25%, which is very very good.
     The only downside about commodity loans is that the government always seems to find a way to run out of money. So lending money to farmers is not as important as other things. The FSA could run out of money, technically, and run out of credit.
     But the downside doesn’t outweigh benefit in this case. Take advantage of commodity loans.
    1
     The rates are different depending on where you’re at, as you can see. It’s not a lot compared to what you’ll get at market, but at least you’ll have some cash at low interest to get you through. And if you can use it to prepay and get 10% discounts ahead of time, you’ll be ahead in the long run.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”SCHEDULE A FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 2) Loan deficiency payments
     This is something that hasn’t happened in farming in a long time.
     You can find a link to LDP rates, and how they’re calculated, here. But here’s how it works:
     LDP rates are determined by the amount the applicable commodity loan rate exceeds the determined value, which is the lesser of either:

    • 30-calendar day Posted County Price (PCP)
    • Alternative PCP, which is a 5-calendar day rolling average.

     In my area, the alternative PCP was $2.87 when I took this screenshot, and the loan rate was $3.03 for hard red winter wheat, so there was a $0.16 LDP.
     Basically, for the grain you have, you can either take a loan on it (a commodity loan, which we just talked about) or you can take an LDP payment. At the point of taking an LDP payment, you can’t take a commodity loan, but the government will give you the difference between that cash price and loan rate, which for the wheat example was $0.16. It’ll give you that price based on how many bushels you want to do it on.
     There are some mitigating circumstances: you have to have control of the grain, for example.
     LDP payments are something you can do for things like wheat. I hope you won’t need it for corn: that would meant the cash price is less that $1.83, which I don’t see happening. But for the folks who have wheat, this is a great way to get money out of it without selling it. Or you could take the LDP and then sell it, getting another $0.16.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”SCHEDULE A FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] More on PCP
     There’s the 30-day Posted County Price (PCP), then there’s an alternative PCP, which is a five-calendar-day average instead of 30. So if we have a huge drop in commodity prices, that alternative PCP will pick that up.
     In the wheat example, the alternative PCP was $2.87. The 30-day was $4.24. Obviously, the moving average is going to be a lot flatter because it’s a 30-day average. There’s a huge difference between the two.
     PCP is different in every county, again, so go to your local FSA to figure out. There’s a lot to it, but it’s worth doing your homework on. And it’s a part of farming if you want to take advantage of opportunities.

     Conclusion
     That’s it! I think I’ve made this as confusing as possible.
     But really, it’s actually simpler than it looks. You’ve got to pick one, a commodity loan or an LDP payment, and at that point it’s up to you. It’s different for everybody, which is why having a custom approach to this grain marketing is so important.

     Speaking of grain marketing advisory, check us out. We’ve got your back![/vc_column_text][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”40″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”40″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”30″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row dfd_row_config=”full_width_content” dfd_row_parallax=”off” dfd_row_responsive_enable=”off” dfd_enable_overlay=”off” css=”.vc_custom_1470889834038{background-color: #2d2d2d !important;}”][vc_column width=”3/4″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][ultimate_heading heading_type=”customizable” heading_tag=”h3″ heading_content=”MAXIMIZE PROFITS WITH CASHCOW FARMER!” main_heading_default_weight=”400″ main_heading_color=”#ffffff” subheading_type=”customizable” subheading_tag=”h5″ sub_heading_default_weight=”400″]POWERFUL FARM FINANCIAL SOFTWARE THAT IS AFFORDABLE & EASY TO USE![/ultimate_heading][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″ column_responsive_mobile_classes=”dfd-remove-right-padding” column_responsive_mobile_resolutions=”dfd-apply-mobile” css=”.vc_custom_1470810100672{padding-right: 2% !important;}”][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”15″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][bt_animation animation_type=”_flipX” duration=”2″ repeat=”2″ allow_margins=”yes” scroll_offset=”5px” no_hide=”yes”][ult_buttons btn_title=” FREE 30 DAY TRIAL” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-large” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][/bt_animation][vc_column_text]

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  • Do you run your farm like John DeLorean or General Motors?

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]0_20
    Don’t have time to read? Listen to it here:
    [smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/cashcowfarmer/Do_you_run_your_farm_like_John_DeLorean_or_GM__Master_Shorter.mp3″ social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]

     John DeLorean was a pretty interesting man.
     I learned a lot about him by reading a book called Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday. Holiday was a child genius who ended up being an executive at American Apparel. In the past year or two, it came out that their founder had a terrible personal life and dealt with all kinds of corruption.
     They tried to fire him from the company. Holiday was there, one of the youngest executives in the company, watching this unfold. He wrote his book based on his experience with his boss’s ego, including lots of great stories of how ego destroys companies.
     But the John DeLorean story was my favorite.

     The misadventures of John DeLorean
     John DeLorean was a designer at GM who wanted to produce futuristic cars. He was convinced that the culture of order and structure at GM was holding back creative geniuses like himself.
     Since he was a very good salesman, he felt confident in his ability to forge his own path in business. So he walked away from his job at GM in order to produce his brand of futuristic cars.
     He failed miserably.
     Without the Back to the Future reference, most people would likely never know what a DeLorean Car was. They were cool in the movie, but in reality, without the flux capacitor, the car was a piece of junk. It had some cool features such as the doors opening upwards, but the car was terribly inefficient.
    1-1_6
    [/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”SCHEDULE A FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] DeLorean was indeed a genius, but he couldn’t manage himself. He was the cause of extreme disorganization and failure in the DeLorean car company.
     If you can’t manage yourself, you can’t manage people.
     (By the way, I highly recommend the book Managing Oneself by Peter Drucker on this subject.)

     What farmers can learn from John DeLorean
     When I talk to farmers, a lot of the same issues from the John DeLorean story arise. They fail to manage themselves and are often making gut decisions rather than logical and planned decisions, especially when it comes to grain marketing. You can join us for a FREE Personal Grain Marketing Plan Webinar October 5th to help to show key steps to overcoming emotion and stress in grain marketing.
     They don’t like the structure. They just like running the tractors and don’t care about sitting in the office.
     The reality is, there’s work you’ve got to do in organizing and analyzing your finances in order to run a successful business.
     A lot farmers are geniuses at production, but when it comes time for sales, and to build a growth model, they’re not interested. They may lack the knowledge and structure it takes for marketing, and they may need to outsource it.
     It was DeLorean’s pride that led to his downfall. He believed he could do everything. Really, he should have gotten himself good business partners.
     In the same way, we have to focus on our strengths and get help with our weaknesses. For those of you who don’t want to learn new things, that’s OK. Just hire someone with knowledge to do that thing for you.
     Henry Ford was famous for implementing this concept. Once, when his company was being sued, Ford was asked scientific questions he didn’t know the answers to. He said, “I don’t know all the answers, but on my desk I’ve got a bunch of buttons, each of which would call someone who could answer any question you come up with.”
    2
    [/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”TRY CASHCOW FARMER FREE FOR 30 DAYS” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] Andrew Carnegie did the same thing. At one time, he was the richest man in the world, but he wasn’t an expert in industry. He was an expert businessman who knew how to lean on others.
     You should be passing off two main areas of their business, if you don’t have a lot of time to devote to them:
     1) Production – Know where every single penny on your operation goes; know what it takes to produce every bushel and where the inefficiencies are so they can be corrected.
     2) An organized sales plan – Have somebody help you form a plan. You can join us for a FREE Personal Grain Marketing Plan Webinar October 5th to help to show key steps to overcoming emotion and stress in grain marketing.
     Cash Cow has solutions to each of these: Farm Management Software on the production side and grain marketing advisory on the sales side.
     DeLorean bristled against the structure of GM, but only one car company in this story is still successful today—and it’s not his.
     What happened to DeLorean in the end?
     The DeLorean story doesn’t have a happy ending. He eventually began selling cocaine to try to finance his failure as a businessman . . . and he got caught.
     Identify your strengths and double down on them. But outsource your weaknesses. It seems that John DeLorean flipped that script, and that’s what caused him to fail.

    Too busy in the day-to-day to deal with finances and grain marketing? Let us help. Check out our solutions:     software on the production side and grain marketing advisory on the sales side. [/vc_column_text][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”40″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”40″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”30″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row dfd_row_config=”full_width_content” dfd_row_parallax=”off” dfd_row_responsive_enable=”off” dfd_enable_overlay=”off” css=”.vc_custom_1470889834038{background-color: #2d2d2d !important;}”][vc_column width=”3/4″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][ultimate_heading heading_type=”customizable” heading_tag=”h3″ heading_content=”MAXIMIZE PROFITS WITH CASHCOW FARMER!” main_heading_default_weight=”400″ main_heading_color=”#ffffff” subheading_type=”customizable” subheading_tag=”h5″ sub_heading_default_weight=”400″]POWERFUL FARM FINANCIAL SOFTWARE THAT IS AFFORDABLE & EASY TO USE![/ultimate_heading][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″ column_responsive_mobile_classes=”dfd-remove-right-padding” column_responsive_mobile_resolutions=”dfd-apply-mobile” css=”.vc_custom_1470810100672{padding-right: 2% !important;}”][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”15″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][bt_animation animation_type=”_flipX” duration=”2″ repeat=”2″ allow_margins=”yes” scroll_offset=”5px” no_hide=”yes”][ult_buttons btn_title=” FREE 30 DAY TRIAL” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-large” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][/bt_animation][vc_column_text]

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  • 5 key steps to run your farm like a fortune 500 company

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Something like 90% of businesses fail within the first two years.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]0_9
    Don’t have time to read? Listen here:
    [smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/cashcowfarmer/5_Key_Steps_To_Run_Your_Farm_Like_A_Fortune_500_Company_Master.mp3″ social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]

    The main reasons? Structure, strategy, and accountability.
     When you’ve got millions of shareholders you have to report to (like Apple, for example), Wall Street analysts break down your company and try to out-predict you, and you’re on a whole other level of business. Most small businesses don’t have that same pressure to perform, though, which can be both good and bad.
     With my background on Wall Street, helping businesses raise money from investors, I’ve learned a lot of strategies that Fortune 500 companies use. In this post, we’re going to apply those to the common farm.
     You can take these five steps to whatever level you want, but they’re essential to maximizing your business.

     1) Know your exact production costs
     You should know your production costs, down to the penny, for every commodity and field in your operation.
     This is the budgeting side of things. Budgeting is step #1: it’s the first thing you do in building a business. What’s it going to cost to run this business, acquire a customer, or to grow a bushel of a crop?
     This can get complicated, which is the whole reason the Cash Cow Farmer software was invented. It’s the easiest way to track where every penny is spent and made.
     Whatever method you use, have a system where data can be collected in one place and help you drive real decisions that impact your bottom line.

     2) Make a sales strategy
     Unlike most companies, we sell commodities rather than products like iPhones or refrigerators. And grain marketing is a lot different from traditional marketing.
     The biggest challenge for farmers is in forecasting production and having a sales strategy, where you’re taking into account your storage and logistics for basis, your insurance levels protecting future crop, price targets working with an advisor using futures options, and so on… You have to have a great strategy, or you’re going to fumble this thing.
     I’m actually at the tail-end of writing a book about this. It’s called The Grain Marketing Bible: 7 Steps To A Bulletproof Grain Marketing Plan. I’ve spent the last several months writing it, and it’s my gift to farmers.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”SCHEDULE A FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 3) Develop a board of directors
    1
     It’s good to ask advice from people who aren’t emotionally involved in your business. Having a board of directors is a perfect way to get that advice.
     Your partners should definitely be on such a board. You should also have a few other key people: bankers, accountants, legal staff, mentors, and other successful farmers and entrepreneurs. Obviously, you don’t want your neighbor farmer on the board if he’s not crushing it or if you don’t trust him with certain aspects of your business, though.
     A board of directors is a huge resource for being accountable to people. When five or six people say it looks like you need to build a grain marketing plan, you’re probably going to do it. Accountability is the main benefit, then having them ask you hard questions that you’ll have to dig deep into the market to answer.
     Sometimes it can be like herding cats: everybody’s got their own lives or businesses. You can consider paying them a small amount.
     Either way, accountability is how a Fortune 500 company stays successful.

     4) Quarterly reports with your banker or accountant
     For a farmer, “quarterly” might be more often than necessary. You might change it to an annual report. Your first few quarters might look bad if you’re financing and you sell at the end.
     However, you should have at least one annual report of what exactly happened in your business. When you do an earnings report, you can glean key takeaways about what you could do better: five key points you did well and five you’re going to improve, for example.
    2
    You’re going to go far if you do that sort of reporting. Your banker will see you as an aggressive, intuitive businessperson.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”TRY CASHCOW FARMER FREE FOR 30 DAYS” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 5) Have a 5 and 10 year business plan
     In the recent Tony Robbins documentary, Tony says, “People overestimate what they can get done in a year and underestimate what they can get done in two or three decades.”
     That’s one thing that entrepreneurs and farmers need to be thinking about.  There’s only so much you can achieve in a year, given your circumstances. But think ahead to the next 5, 10, and 20 years, and set goals for yourself.
     Let’s say right now you’re renting farmland. You might have an 80-year-old farmer who owns land next to you; maybe you should have a conversation, and let them know when they’re ready to hang up their hat to keep you in mind.  Forming those relationships now can pay off down the line.
     If you’re a 50- or 60-year-old farmer, this works in reverse too. You’ve seen a lot, and you can build the next generation on your farm. Sit down with your children or other young farmers to put together a long-term plan. For them to successfully buy farmland, they will have to plan years in advance.

     Conclusion
     Start planting seeds early if you want great yields 5-10 years down the road. Run your farm like a Fortune 500 company: with structure, smart strategy, and regular accountability.
     Farming is a business just like any other.

     If you’re interested in running a farm like a Fortune 500 company, try out our free trial.[/vc_column_text][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”40″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”40″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”30″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row dfd_row_config=”full_width_content” dfd_row_parallax=”off” dfd_row_responsive_enable=”off” dfd_enable_overlay=”off” css=”.vc_custom_1470889834038{background-color: #2d2d2d !important;}”][vc_column width=”3/4″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][ultimate_heading heading_type=”customizable” heading_tag=”h3″ heading_content=”FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION!” main_heading_default_weight=”400″ main_heading_color=”#ffffff” subheading_type=”customizable” subheading_tag=”h5″ sub_heading_default_weight=”400″]DON’T LET THE MARKETS WIN…SCHEDULE YOUR FREE SESSION TODAY![/ultimate_heading][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″ column_responsive_mobile_classes=”dfd-remove-right-padding” column_responsive_mobile_resolutions=”dfd-apply-mobile” css=”.vc_custom_1470810100672{padding-right: 2% !important;}”][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”15″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][bt_animation animation_type=”_flipX” duration=”2″ repeat=”2″ allow_margins=”yes” scroll_offset=”5px” no_hide=”yes”][ult_buttons btn_title=” FREE STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-large” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][/bt_animation][vc_column_text]

    SCHEDULE YOUR FREE SESSION TODAY!

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  • 3 Tips To Successfully Hire Farm Workers:

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Good Help is hard to find but not impossible[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]27272_blogimage01_072816
    Don’t have time to read? Listen here:
    [smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/cashcowfarmer/3_Tips_To_Successfully_Hire_Workers_Master__File.mp3″ social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]

     It’s tough to find good help, isn’t it?
     I’ve made a lot of mistakes hiring farm workers, from hiring really close friends to not properly interviewing people, to not setting expectations.
     But successful hiring is extremely important, especially in something like farming, where a small group of people are doing complicated, stressful work in an outdoor setting.
     In our post last week we talked about Navy Seals. Navy Seals trust each other with their lives. That’s the same kind of camaraderie you need in a successful business.
     Everybody has to understand the mission they’re trying to achieve, whether it’s planting, chemical application, harvesting, or whatever. If a Navy Seal fails to communicate with precision, the mission may be compromised or worse, death.
    In farming, poor communication probably won’t kill you but boy, you’ve got big and expensive problems when things don’t run smoothly.
     Think about your best planting day, how everything worked perfectly: if you want to be an elite farmer, that should be an average day. And hiring the right people is key to becoming that efficient.
     With that, here are three things that help with hiring the right people on the farm.

     1) Clear expectations
     Farming is a unique job, and before you hire somebody you have to be totally clear about what’s going to happen day to day.
     In particular, focus on the absolutely stressful times. If the person isn’t used to working on 4-5 hours of sleep for a week straight, they might not be a good fit. But if you prepare them for “Hell Week” all month, they won’t be caught off guard.
     I try to scare people right away, as early on in the interview process as possible. Only the best should even interview with you: try and tell them this is not for the meek. If they want to sit in A/C all day, this isn’t going to work.
     Also, if you see someone screwing up their job consistently, to the point where you or someone else has to step in and fill their role, don’t hesitate to set them free of the work entirely. You can’t have cancer floating around your team: remove it as early as possible.

     2) Tests
     A little while ago, I was looking for an administrative assistant. I decided to write a status on my personal Facebook about it, along with a couple of videos.
     I had 30 or so people interested. I wondered how I should pare them down.  Then I thought of an idea for a test.
     I’ve read Gary Vaynerchuk’s book Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. The guy’s a genius. So I had the idea to give the 30 applicants a few assignments.
    27272_blogimage03_072816
     They had to

    1. Like Cash Cow Farmer’s Facebook page
    2. Read the book
    3. Post their top 10 takeaways on the Cash Cow Farmer Facebook page
    4. Share those takeaways and get some activity on that post

     I gave them five days: if they couldn’t do it in that time, they wouldn’t be a good fit. A lot of people dropped out. But one gal from Brazil had it done in a single day. (She works for me now.)
     You can do something similar. Maybe require your employees to read Unbeatable Mind by Mark Divine and bring 10 key takeaways. Or have them do a Strengthsfinders assessment to get some insight into how they tick.
     Or come up with your own test. The point is to weed out the candidates who aren’t good fits as soon as possible and allow the best people to prove themselves to you quickly.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”SCHEDULE A FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 3) Be a fun “servant leader” who follows up constantly
     Try to keep your work environment productive and fun. You’ve probably seen those startups that have ping-pong tables and video games all over their place. Think about how Google has all these restaurants on their campus, and a daycare.
     (Side note: I actually tried the Google strategy. I hired a live-in housekeeper to prepare my team breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was expensive. It worked in the sense that they liked it (obviously), but the increase in productivity versus the cost wasn’t even close to worth it. In fairness, it’s not a creative environment: it’s a blue collar environment. At Google, you have to elevate your mindset. We’re not solving crazy-huge problems in farming. But at least we tried something!)
     On the productive side, continually follow up with your employees who are on the ground.
     I’m always asking my guys what we could do better. They offer great suggestions, and I tell them to price it out and let me know if they think the investment is worth it. I try to empower them.
     On our farm, with half the machinery of what a farm our size normally uses, we did the same amount of work this past spring. Our team is just amazing.
     Everybody takes ownership. One guy’s in charge of the planter, another the sprayer, and so on. They crush their roles, and if they have trouble, they call the manager who gets them going again—a smooth process.
    27272_blogimage04_072816
     In regard to fun stuff, we do something I call the “Machine Gun BBQ”. We have BBQ at the farm every now and then, and we just go out and shoot targets. It’s always a competition, and I have a couple of prizes I know they’ll like.
     We have a really good time together.
     If you’re always yelling at the guys every time you’re talking to them, it’s not gonna go well. Listening, then suggesting or asking questions to see what they think is the most economical solution is a great strategy.
     At the BBQ this last week, the guys barely mentioned something about wanting more hours. I pressed into that, asked exactly what they wanted, and asked our manager if we had enough work to give them.
     They designed their own work schedule; I just OK’d it because it made sense for them and the operation. You’d be surprised at how well a system like that works.

     Conclusion
     Your employees have their own goals, but they must help their teammates too in order to make sure they don’t compromise the mission.
     You, as a leader, must humble yourself and admit that you don’t have all the answers—you can’t tell everyone what to do. Empower your team members to take ownership and watch as some of your best decisions and ideas come from team members themselves.
     That’s the role of a “servant leader.”

    This post is based on an episode of the Cash Cow Farmer podcast. To listen to more great content like this,     subscribe to the show on iTunes.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”TRY CASHCOW FARMER FREE FOR 30 DAYS” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text]This is another text box. Paste your written content here or delete this section by hovering over it and clicking the trashcan icon. No formatting necessary.[/vc_column_text][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”40″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”40″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”30″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row dfd_row_config=”full_width_content” dfd_row_parallax=”off” dfd_row_responsive_enable=”off” dfd_enable_overlay=”off” css=”.vc_custom_1470889834038{background-color: #2d2d2d !important;}”][vc_column width=”3/4″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][ultimate_heading heading_type=”customizable” heading_tag=”h3″ heading_content=”MAXIMIZE PROFITS WITH CASHCOW FARMER!” main_heading_default_weight=”400″ main_heading_color=”#ffffff” subheading_type=”customizable” subheading_tag=”h5″ sub_heading_default_weight=”400″]POWERFUL FARM FINANCIAL SOFTWARE THAT IS AFFORDABLE & EASY TO USE![/ultimate_heading][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″ column_responsive_mobile_classes=”dfd-remove-right-padding” column_responsive_mobile_resolutions=”dfd-apply-mobile” css=”.vc_custom_1470810100672{padding-right: 2% !important;}”][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”15″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][bt_animation animation_type=”_flipX” duration=”2″ repeat=”2″ allow_margins=”yes” scroll_offset=”5px” no_hide=”yes”][ult_buttons btn_title=” FREE 30 DAY TRIAL” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-large” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][/bt_animation][vc_column_text]

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  • 6 Ways to Strategic Farm Growth in 2016

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]height_360_width_640_overlay_ep_33_headline
    Don’t have time to read? Listen here:
    [smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/cashcowfarmer/6_Ways_to_Strategic_Farm_Growth_in_2016_Master.mp3″ social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]

    Making money in farming is tough, but not impossible
     If you’re in farming for the money . . . it’s gonna be a tough life for ya.
    I’ve even heard Charlie Munger say that farmers make money maybe 1 in 20 years.
    However, the worst markets provide the best opportunities, and there is a lot of money to be made in farming when you’re really good at it. As this market gets tougher and tougher, people will be selling good stuff for a good price.
    I remember listening to Zig Ziglar in college, and Zig always said that in every market there are people making money and people losing money. It’s up to you to decide which one you will be.
    Here are six ways you can strategically grow your farm—even during the hard times.
    quote_2_4[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”SCHEDULE A FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 1) Employees
     Consider the employment levels on your farm. Does it make more sense to hire locally or to go abroad?
    I’ve got South Africans on my farm this year for the first time, and the farming economy in South Africa is disastrous right now. So they have a lot of interest in coming over to farm here.
    On the other hand, a lot of farmers have laid off their full-time guys, so if you want to pick up a good, experienced full-time guy, you could consider the local market. However, that may be difficult, depending on your area.
    Co-ops and seed dealers have brought the cost of labor really high, because they’ve been making tons of money off of the ag boom and really spoiling their employees. I know a guy just out of college selling seed and making $100,000 a year. That’s kind of hard to compete with…
    There are two lessons here:

     1) Don’t be afraid to compensate your employees well to attract the right people (if possible)
     2) Don’t be afraid to shop abroad. Take advantage of the many people who want to come into the US.

    (Note: To find workers from abroad, we used an agency called USA Farm Labor. I recommend it.)
    blog_nonlogo_2
     2) Input hedging
     Right now, there are opportunities to lock in low inputs for fertilizer and chemicals and fuel. You can buy oil contracts in advance in order to hedge against higher oil prices, for example.
    You can also buy natural gas futures to hedge the price of fertilizer coming up. This might be a good time to do that, especially if you can take delivery and have places to store that fertilizer.

     3) Fed-up farmers
     There are a lot of near-retirement farmers losing their passion fast because of these crazy, volatile grain markets. They love driving the tractors and working the land, but they want no part of the markets.
    As such they’re looking for partnership, whether it’s crop sharing or renting the ground out. They’re looking for opportunities to relieve the burden that has become farming.
    Farming ain’t what it used to be. It’s not ‘Work hard, make money.’ It’s ‘Market better, manage better, make money.’”
    quote_3_1
    The old-fashioned guys—the “Do-It-Yourselfers”—they just don’t have time to do the high-level managing stuff that separates huge profits from barely making money. If you’re willing to do that, why not partner up?[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”TRY CASHCOW FARMER FREE FOR 30 DAYS” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 4) Equipment acquisition
     With low oil and commodity prices, there has been a lot of equipment on the market—and not necessarily just in farming areas.
    My birthday’s in February, and every year I try to celebrate somewhere warmer than our minus one-thousand degrees here in South Dakota. A few months ago, I spoke to a man in Palm Springs, Florida who has a bunch of Kenworth semi dealerships. He was telling me about all the beautiful Kenworth trucks on sale from auctions in Texas, sold by companies going bankrupt. He said if I need to buy a semi, now is the time.
    I’m not sure how much opportunity is left in that exact situation, but when commodity prices are low and you need machinery, keep your ear to the ground. You never know what you’ll hear.

    5) Partnerships
    blog_3
     Crop sharing has actually been a very economic way to farm over the past several years, and will be in the future.
    It’s really good for us young guys out there, too, since you don’t have to have a giant line of credit. If you’re renting, you not only have to carry 100% of the input costs, you also have to pay pretty sizable land costs. The amount of money you need to borrow if you’re renting is double what you need to borrow if you’re crop sharing.
    In my crop sharing I follow standard ⅓, ⅔ economics. Your partner pays ⅓ of the fertilizer, chemical, crop insurance, and they get ⅓ of the crop. At the end of the year, you only get ⅔ of the crop, but remember you don’t have to pay any rent (which is a huge, risky amount of money).
    I would look at converting some cash rents to either flex leases or crop shares. They’re beautiful.

     6) Land buying
     Interest rates are still low, and the FSA has some good programs you can lean on to pick up land. Be patient waiting on land price to collapse.
    My guess is that by the end of the year, one of two things will happen:

    1)     If the commodity markets continue to rally, some of the people that have been waiting to sell land will sell before everybody freaks out.
     2) If commodity prices go back down to that $4 for corn or less, a lot of people will go broke. There will be land on the market at the end of the year.

    Savvy marketing will always keep the “dry powder” handy so you can act on opportunities when they present themselves and nobody else is ready.

     Conclusion
     Above all, keep your grain marketing strategy in-tune. There’s only so much you can do to minimize your costs. Grain marketing is where it’s at.
    I highly suggest you work with an advisor. We offer a free grain marketing strategy session, so you can see if we work as advisors. If not, we have lots of others we can suggest to you as well.

     To get more help on making it through tough times, check this out.
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