Young, Beginning and Small Farmers Symposium traditional operations panel

IANR Author

11/17/2021 Added

13 Plays

Description

Traditional operations panel discussion from the Young, Beginning and Small Farmer Symposium on Nov. 8, 2021

Searchable Transcript

Search:

[00:00:04.020]Without further ado, the main event, our first panel,
[00:00:07.770]which is entitled Young, Beginning
[00:00:10.250]and Small Farmers in Traditional Operations,
[00:00:14.140]Aspirations and Realities.
[00:00:17.260]And we originally had four panelists.
[00:00:20.670]Our first panelist, Zemua Baptista,
[00:00:24.579]who is from down in Beatrice
[00:00:27.380]and co-owner of Baptista Farms Incorporated,
[00:00:31.120]is moving cattle this morning.
[00:00:32.780]So Zemua won't be joining us,
[00:00:36.450]but we're here today
[00:00:38.000]with three amazing colleagues of Zemuas.
[00:00:42.220]The first is Joe Kenobi from Wizner,
[00:00:45.550]just up in the Northeast,
[00:00:47.180]an independent cattle feeder and farmer.
[00:00:49.930]Joe is an independent cattle feeder and raises corn,
[00:00:53.170]soybeans and rye with his dad near West Point,
[00:00:56.480]Allan, close to home in Cuming County.
[00:01:00.230]Joe is an avid follower,
[00:01:02.050]an active participant of Cornhusker football.
[00:01:05.770]Let's keep our questions of Joe focused
[00:01:09.660]on beginning farmer and rancher programs,
[00:01:12.310]global markets he's interested and corn,
[00:01:15.470]custom corn distilling for farmers,
[00:01:17.500]which is really interesting.
[00:01:19.860]Next up, Hailey mills from Ainsworth.
[00:01:24.670]She has a little one who's with her today,
[00:01:27.600]who's not on stage.
[00:01:29.460]How old is your baby?
[00:01:31.165]10 months.
[00:01:31.998]10 months old, cute as can be.
[00:01:34.840]And when I was introduced to him this morning,
[00:01:37.600]Hailey made sure that I knew
[00:01:39.150]that's really the next generation,
[00:01:41.860]truly beginning farmer rancher.
[00:01:44.920]Hailey and her husband, Mark, feed cattle
[00:01:49.291]in a farm near Ainsworth, Nebraska.
[00:01:50.650]So that's more up in the North Central region,
[00:01:54.570]just kind of north of Lone Pine
[00:01:56.460]and a little bit east of Valentine.
[00:01:59.150]In addition to their operation,
[00:02:01.930]Hailey, an alum of UNL and a founding member
[00:02:05.440]of the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program,
[00:02:08.970]just really spectacular.
[00:02:10.290]Hailey, make sure you get over there
[00:02:11.720]and see the new digs, really amazing.
[00:02:17.540]She creates off the farm value
[00:02:21.860]with her wedding photography business.
[00:02:24.700]So, another common theme we'll see today
[00:02:27.420]where people are being entrepreneurial,
[00:02:31.255]and we've already talked about their young son.
[00:02:35.190]Lance Atwater, Adams county,
[00:02:38.350]Atwater Family Farms and KDA Farms.
[00:02:41.270]Lance's a second generation farmer,
[00:02:45.430]is the owner of Atwater Family Farms.
[00:02:49.090]He farms with his parents and his wife
[00:02:51.290]where they grow corn, soybeans, popcorn,
[00:02:54.040]and non-GMO white corn.
[00:02:56.410]Lance also serves
[00:02:57.510]on the Nebraska Farm bureau Board of Directors,
[00:03:00.720]is a member of the Nebraska Farm Bureau
[00:03:03.010]Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee.
[00:03:05.400]I think that's where we may be first met Lance
[00:03:08.110]and serves on the Nebraska FFA Foundation
[00:03:10.980]Board of Directors, where he served as president
[00:03:15.360]in 2019 through 2020.
[00:03:17.980]Outside of farming and serving on boards,
[00:03:20.750]Lance's number one job is being a dad
[00:03:23.820]to his one-year-old son, Ryker,
[00:03:26.310]who I remember seeing that Facebook posting.
[00:03:29.440]So, a couple of a brand new parents here.
[00:03:32.900]And with that, I think what we would like each
[00:03:35.720]of our panelists to do is share a little bit
[00:03:38.220]in their own words about their journey,
[00:03:39.860]where they're at and some reflections
[00:03:42.520]and then we'll get on with asking them some questions.
[00:03:48.320]In no particular order, but Lance you're closest to me,
[00:03:51.290]So why don't you jump in there?
[00:03:52.790]Well, good morning everyone,
[00:03:54.170]and it's a honor to be here.
[00:03:55.950]I appreciate the invite.
[00:03:57.440]And as I told some people earlier,
[00:03:59.610]anytime I get to talk about farming
[00:04:01.720]and especially young farmers,
[00:04:04.460]especially since I am a young farmer,
[00:04:06.660]it's always a privilege because I think there is a lot
[00:04:08.980]of stories to share out there.
[00:04:10.990]We know that agriculture is a changing environment,
[00:04:13.470]whether you're in production agriculture,
[00:04:15.810]you're in the financial sector, supporting agriculture,
[00:04:18.250]or you're actually on the retail side.
[00:04:20.210]So I enjoy being able to talk about our stories out there.
[00:04:24.530]My story starts with,
[00:04:25.810]my dad was actually a first-generation farmer.
[00:04:28.660]He was born and raised in Santa Monica, California.
[00:04:32.120]And I always joke with people,
[00:04:33.270]he went from being a beach boy to a farm boy.
[00:04:36.410]He came back here, went to the university,
[00:04:38.990]and that time I think it was a diversified ag,
[00:04:42.210]is what he majored in, went back to South Central Nebraska,
[00:04:46.010]worked for some farmers in that area, met my mom,
[00:04:50.010]and then eventually, some opportunities arise
[00:04:52.220]that he was able to slowly start his own farming career
[00:04:55.720]and then make it into what it is today.
[00:04:57.780]And so, now I get to follow in his footsteps
[00:05:01.420]being a second generation farmer.
[00:05:03.277]And we really don't hear a lot of stories
[00:05:05.940]about first generation or second generation.
[00:05:08.020]There's a lot of friends of mine that are fifth,
[00:05:10.520]seventh that have been in the industry for quite a while.
[00:05:13.960]And so, I think there's so many opportunities out there,
[00:05:16.980]whether you're just getting started
[00:05:18.610]or you're carrying on the seventh or eighth generation.
[00:05:22.350]And I have the privilege of being elected
[00:05:26.100]by the membership of Nebraska Farm Bureau
[00:05:27.970]to serve our young farmers and ranchers.
[00:05:30.360]So I enjoy being able to share a story
[00:05:33.130]with our elected delegation in DC
[00:05:36.690]and make sure that at the end of the day,
[00:05:38.360]young people have a seat at the table
[00:05:40.380]because when we think about the future of agriculture,
[00:05:43.050]we're talking not only about me, people younger than me,
[00:05:46.070]but we're talking about our children.
[00:05:47.670]I have a son who just turned one
[00:05:49.770]and if he decides to eventually want to become a part
[00:05:53.280]of the farming community, whatnot,
[00:05:55.670]we need to make sure that there's an opportunity
[00:05:57.500]for them down the road as well.
[00:05:58.710]So looking forward to the discussion this morning.
[00:06:01.290]Lance, I think I left out, omitted
[00:06:04.230]where your farm is located.
[00:06:06.480]So Ayr, Nebraska, just south of Hastings.
[00:06:08.870]We farm in that general area.
[00:06:10.560]Okay. So we have a nice distribution of Northeast,
[00:06:12.860]kind of North central and South Central.
[00:06:15.554]Yep
[00:06:16.387]Nice, Hailey.
[00:06:17.400]Yeah. Thank you so much for having me.
[00:06:19.720]I'm really glad to be here today.
[00:06:22.790]And it's just really awesome to see,
[00:06:25.280]to think back to my college days
[00:06:27.010]and Lance and I were in school about the same time.
[00:06:29.320]Now we both are new parents, I guess now,
[00:06:32.210]and just to see, to kind of take hold
[00:06:35.410]in your own production, your own place in agriculture,
[00:06:42.610]and to kind of see what that looks like
[00:06:43.870]and to talk about the challenges that we each have
[00:06:46.520]in our unique areas of the state too,
[00:06:48.410]I think is really interesting.
[00:06:50.720]So I am from the Ainsworth area
[00:06:53.600]and then my husband and I are true farmer feeders,
[00:06:56.450]which is kind of a dying breed
[00:06:58.300]and not in necessarily your area,
[00:07:00.730]but there are more challenges we're facing.
[00:07:02.470]We saw those become uncovered through COVID.
[00:07:05.300]I'm kind of excited to talk about that and how we're trying
[00:07:07.380]to future-proof our operation,
[00:07:10.980]how we're trying to diversify.
[00:07:12.400]And then, we've been married three years,
[00:07:14.750]so we've grown our cow herd in that time.
[00:07:18.500]And where we live in Ainsworth,
[00:07:21.190]is very far from a lot of things.
[00:07:24.730]I know right where we are, we're about three hours
[00:07:27.730]from a Walmart or even a town of 5,000.
[00:07:30.040]So where we are located,
[00:07:32.060]there are trade-offs for living there, but as young people,
[00:07:36.280]of course, we wish we had more amenities
[00:07:38.190]and things like that.
[00:07:39.023]But as young people, we have had so many opportunities
[00:07:43.000]where we live just because of less people,
[00:07:45.810]more landmass, that's the rule of numbers.
[00:07:47.950]And there's no way we would've been able
[00:07:50.290]to scale our cow herd and to try
[00:07:52.410]and future-proof our operation without living where we live.
[00:07:55.690]And so I have those relationships and neighbors.
[00:07:58.380]So that's something I'm really excited about.
[00:08:01.060]Something we're thinking about as we move forward,
[00:08:03.800]if and when we do have to make a pivot
[00:08:05.980]in our operation as farmer feeders,
[00:08:09.130]just relationships with packers, things like that,
[00:08:11.580]and being far from packers in a way.
[00:08:13.840]So we love where we live.
[00:08:17.900]Being on the line of where things transitioned
[00:08:20.240]from the sand Hills and being so close
[00:08:23.270]to feed and corn stocks,
[00:08:24.490]we think we're really positioned well as farmer feeders,
[00:08:28.230]to be able to leverage and utilize both
[00:08:29.830]of those resources in a unique area.
[00:08:31.730]So yeah, that's something I'm really passionate about.
[00:08:35.020]And then I was a member of the Engler Program
[00:08:37.810]and never really knew exactly what business I wanted to do,
[00:08:42.170]but being back in my hometown,
[00:08:45.400]kind of wanted a creative outlet
[00:08:46.980]and really work to scale
[00:08:48.490]and use the tools I learned from Engler to build a brand.
[00:08:50.910]And so, I do wedding photography
[00:08:52.980]and that keeps me really busy through the summer.
[00:08:55.080]And then I'm able to be super active
[00:08:57.330]and on the farm whenever I want every day.
[00:09:00.590]So I love to be able to do that and do that with the family.
[00:09:03.823]It's really cool.
[00:09:04.730]Lance and I were just missing about that, so
[00:09:06.590]Awesome, thanks Hailey. Joe.
[00:09:09.220]I'm Joe Kenobi from West Point
[00:09:11.140]and like Hailey, we're farmer feeders.
[00:09:15.030]I came home from college with an ag econ degree
[00:09:18.520]and decided to go home with dad
[00:09:21.420]to farm, feed cattle
[00:09:24.130]and see what kind of would happen there.
[00:09:28.340]Going into college,
[00:09:29.220]I really didn't know what I wanted to do.
[00:09:31.790]I didn't know if there was room at home for me.
[00:09:35.150]And that was kind of a big deal,
[00:09:37.720]going into junior, senior year
[00:09:39.210]when you kinda make your decision.
[00:09:42.008]But my dad had health trouble,
[00:09:44.280]and so that was kind of when decided, all right,
[00:09:47.430]the operation is going to split up.
[00:09:49.480]I'm going to come home
[00:09:51.240]and we're going to see what happens.
[00:09:53.120]And that was a really big moment to know,
[00:09:57.960]graduating from the university, that I wanted to go home.
[00:10:01.220]And that just made the decision so much easier for me
[00:10:04.690]because I knew that I had the backing
[00:10:07.540]of the university program
[00:10:08.993]that I went through, the ag program.
[00:10:12.230]I had to take a lot of animal science classes pretty quick
[00:10:15.700]in my last year,
[00:10:18.800]but I felt like I was ready to go back and start something.
[00:10:20.970]And there's a lot of programs
[00:10:22.150]that kind of helped me once I was out of school
[00:10:26.010]and back home to kind of get by
[00:10:28.410]and I didn't know if dad was going to be around very long.
[00:10:31.210]And so, that was huge to be able to know
[00:10:32.940]that I had all the support and there are programs available
[00:10:36.620]to kind of help me and I had a support group
[00:10:39.240]that I made at home and that's super important.
[00:10:43.590]And at that time, our family was going through a transition.
[00:10:46.690]I had my dad and two uncles at the time,
[00:10:49.660]and there was another cousin that was going to come back.
[00:10:52.160]So we've kind of went through the last six years
[00:10:54.740]since I've been out transitioning.
[00:10:58.230]There's probably three, four-year period
[00:10:59.690]when we couldn't do business together
[00:11:01.990]and it wasn't the same.
[00:11:02.900]We had this farm operation that everybody had their job,
[00:11:07.480]and now, through the years,
[00:11:09.240]we've kind of all split up
[00:11:11.040]and it was a good clean split.
[00:11:14.650]That's kind of interesting now,
[00:11:16.550]we all still work together
[00:11:18.440]and that's still really important that synergy
[00:11:20.473]of keeping close ties with your neighbors,
[00:11:24.200]family or not, to kind of share some labor
[00:11:27.830]and do those things because now we have a feed lot
[00:11:31.670]and I can have a couple of employees
[00:11:33.230]and my cousin can have a couple of employees
[00:11:34.930]and we can share labor, share equipment.
[00:11:37.200]And that really builds a resiliency
[00:11:39.670]that if I had to do it all on my own,
[00:11:42.130]it'd be really tough to grow.
[00:11:47.160]I mean, it just, you can't really grow
[00:11:49.040]without having that backbone
[00:11:51.880]and I guess that's one of the things
[00:11:53.860]that's really tough for a beginning farmer
[00:11:57.010]or a small farmer that you just don't have that backing.
[00:12:00.550]So it's really important finding something
[00:12:03.470]that works for you, that you can have someone help you
[00:12:06.480]through that phase.
[00:12:08.260]And that's something I feel like a lot of kids
[00:12:12.270]who want to back, they're looking for something
[00:12:15.870]for someone to kind of latch onto,
[00:12:18.710]just to give them a chance.
[00:12:19.650]And that opportunity is so paramount
[00:12:23.000]that there's something there for them
[00:12:24.160]just to get started, just to get a foot in the door.
[00:12:28.191]Great, Joe, thanks.
[00:12:29.810]Glenn, Mr. Chairman, kindred spirits sitting up here,
[00:12:35.020]back to that 2,500 bucks in that Oldsmobile
[00:12:37.740]that your wife had. Right?
[00:12:38.970]So I'll turn over to you
[00:12:43.290]to ask some questions and (indistinct)
[00:12:46.060]Yeah, well, thank you.
[00:12:48.110]First of all, Joe, you're right.
[00:12:50.883]It's so important to build that support group right away.
[00:12:55.640]Oftentimes the high capital requirements
[00:12:59.640]of agriculture means you may not be able
[00:13:02.610]to own that class when combined together.
[00:13:06.560]And when you're working in cattle,
[00:13:09.270]it's always easier to work with six people,
[00:13:12.410]rather than three people.
[00:13:14.300]So I certainly support that concept
[00:13:19.120]and something that we need to encourage.
[00:13:23.750]Lance and Hailey, two things both of you pointed out,
[00:13:26.820]I'm looking at your resume, Lance,
[00:13:28.449]you're raising non-GMO white corn, a niche area,
[00:13:33.500]and you've developed an expertise stepping out
[00:13:36.830]of maybe the comfort zone
[00:13:38.370]of what maybe many traditional farmers do.
[00:13:42.330]But I salute you for that,
[00:13:44.040]because I'm assuming it's paying well, I know it can.
[00:13:49.110]And Hailey your photography business,
[00:13:52.198]very important to diversify those early operations,
[00:13:57.070]whatever source of cash flow that you bring in,
[00:14:03.080]removes a lot of additional risk to the lender,
[00:14:07.270]provides needed cashflow.
[00:14:10.050]So I certainly support what you're doing.
[00:14:12.950]I think you're obviously on the right track there.
[00:14:16.820]Yeah. Great. I can't remember what year it was.
[00:14:21.300]Maybe the first year I was here, I was visiting
[00:14:23.380]with the Nebraska Cattlemen Young Ranchers Program
[00:14:26.640]and we were out to dinner and there were 10 participants
[00:14:29.300]and half of the students, or half of the ranchers,
[00:14:33.350]came from cattle and land,
[00:14:34.677]and the other half didn't come from the cattle and the land
[00:14:38.390]and those complexities.
[00:14:40.150]There are systematic complexities
[00:14:42.910]that this plant pathologist really didn't appreciate,
[00:14:45.540]like the cost of insurance.
[00:14:47.500]Until you hit 100 head, you're a hobby rancher. Right?
[00:14:50.790]So could you each reflect a little bit
[00:14:53.790]about some of those elements or some of those surprises
[00:14:58.760]that you've had to navigate as young producers,
[00:15:02.010]small beginning producers, and how you maybe pick one
[00:15:07.040]that speaks to you and how you navigated it
[00:15:09.880]and how that worked out or how it is working out?
[00:15:16.500]Yeah. I can go.
[00:15:18.840]So, one thing is, when we're thinking about our operation,
[00:15:23.120]one thing that kind of became uncovered through COVID is,
[00:15:26.870]actually, about 70% of all of our inventory
[00:15:31.490]in the feed yard was supposed to sell March
[00:15:33.350]through may of 2020.
[00:15:34.890]So, you can imagine how challenging
[00:15:37.410]that would have been with packers
[00:15:39.380]being backed up and everything.
[00:15:42.210]And we got a call during that time
[00:15:44.810]and it was just an embarrassing bid from a buyer.
[00:15:49.013]And my husband's said,
[00:15:50.457]"Why would you even call and offer that?"
[00:15:52.570]He's like, he can't take that and he goes, "Because I can."
[00:15:56.160]And so, really, since that moment,
[00:15:58.280]we've really thought about how are we going
[00:16:00.110]to future-proof our business and just have a backup plan.
[00:16:03.940]And we really feel like we're in a position to do that,
[00:16:07.610]where we've diversified our cow herd.
[00:16:09.650]We're in a place where we talk to our friends
[00:16:12.000]in different areas of the state.
[00:16:12.833]It doesn't feel as competitive or cut through in our area,
[00:16:15.670]and so we're really looking to grow and diversify
[00:16:19.030]and just change how our income comes in
[00:16:22.380]and not rely on that packer.
[00:16:24.190]We gonna background more.
[00:16:25.750]We gonna shift our operation a little bit.
[00:16:29.050]And my husband, Mark, worked in ag lending in Omaha
[00:16:32.820]for seven, eight years before coming home.
[00:16:35.560]So his experience off the farm has really
[00:16:38.930]just helped us navigate those financial relationships
[00:16:41.840]and be prepared whenever we interact with our lenders
[00:16:45.820]and really make sense of those numbers.
[00:16:48.530]And that has given us way more opportunities.
[00:16:52.720]We talk about all the time, how that experience
[00:16:55.030]off the farm will pay millions in our lifetime,
[00:16:57.300]just for our relationships and our operation going forward.
[00:17:02.270]So those are things that were really important for us.
[00:17:07.475]And one thing we did is,
[00:17:08.845]we did not have grass for our cow herd,
[00:17:11.640]and we just decided, our first year of being married,
[00:17:14.030]to buy a bunch of bread heifers,
[00:17:15.880]which I don't necessarily recommend,
[00:17:18.830]but we knew we had to be ready
[00:17:22.030]when the opportunity would present itself.
[00:17:23.880]And so we really felt confident in that.
[00:17:25.500]So we bought a portion of our cow herd
[00:17:28.590]before we even had grass.
[00:17:29.840]and we were ready when the opportunity was there.
[00:17:32.530]And because we had it ready and we felt confident in that,
[00:17:36.630]so we found grass a few months before summer
[00:17:39.750]with our bred heifers.
[00:17:40.930]So those are just two things I'm thinking about
[00:17:45.020]that have just paid off for us is,
[00:17:47.872]we live in an area where there's opportunity
[00:17:51.690]and it's not competitive.
[00:17:52.610]We were ready to move when we felt like there was going
[00:17:56.570]to be grass available and capitalizing
[00:17:59.590]on the financing relationships, so.
[00:18:02.487]Hailey, we just to play on that a little bit.
[00:18:05.240]Joe talked a lot about networks
[00:18:07.580]and how those partnerships and that network is.
[00:18:11.640]So, while this is a day focused on young,
[00:18:15.030]small and beginning ranchers and farmers,
[00:18:17.600]the reality is that,
[00:18:18.970]in Nebraska and in this part of the world,
[00:18:22.090]there's another transition that's taking place
[00:18:24.840]with those that maybe don't have someone
[00:18:28.060]in their family to pass the land or the cattle,
[00:18:31.810]or their way of life.
[00:18:34.180]And so, there's this interesting convergence
[00:18:37.120]of the beginning and those that are later in life.
[00:18:41.320]And I often wonder what that sector
[00:18:47.360]of our society looks like when working with,
[00:18:51.900]and seeing the gritty beginning farmer, rancher,
[00:18:56.520]small producer, trying to get a start.
[00:18:58.910]Did you have any experience with that network
[00:19:02.946]of folks as you and Mark moved out on your journey?
[00:19:07.910]Yeah. I mean, we talk about this.
[00:19:12.210]I feel like it took me three years
[00:19:13.870]to be back in my home community
[00:19:15.590]and then just an ag operation to feel like,
[00:19:18.930]okay, I don't feel out of place.
[00:19:21.236]I belong here and I have a place here.
[00:19:23.440]And to just visit with people
[00:19:25.180]at different areas of the state,
[00:19:26.480]the challenges are really unique that we each have,
[00:19:29.340]but they're similar.
[00:19:31.569]And a lot of times you are just in a corner,
[00:19:34.150]and it really does help to see
[00:19:35.903]what other people are going through,
[00:19:38.440]the same stressful events you're going through
[00:19:41.280]that are just incredibly stressful.
[00:19:42.970]And thinking about, during COVID,
[00:19:44.970]when we had all our inventory to sell
[00:19:46.630]and just the mental capacity of, "That is scary."
[00:19:50.510]And so it's just awesome to be able to connect with others
[00:19:53.960]that have been through that and have been before us,
[00:19:56.010]because we couldn't be here without that, so
[00:20:01.830]Mike, I just heard a term from Hailey
[00:20:04.100]that I'm going to coin, future-proof your business.
[00:20:07.520]Did you hear that?
[00:20:08.353]Yeah. I have it written down twice
[00:20:09.630]and quotes around it.
[00:20:11.560]That's a great term, if you can.
[00:20:14.040]Can I repeat that over and over again?
[00:20:16.612]Yeah.
[00:20:17.445]Because I think that is a key element
[00:20:20.509]of what you're looking at,
[00:20:22.130]what happens when feeder calf prices crash?
[00:20:26.890]What happens when our grass runs out
[00:20:29.080]and we have to buy expensive hay,
[00:20:31.810]which, unfortunately, a lot of the Western areas
[00:20:34.500]of the United States are faced with that?
[00:20:37.270]Or in the green farm, what happens when grain,
[00:20:42.500]we're enjoying a tremendous prosperity right now
[00:20:45.650]in the grain regions,
[00:20:46.730]but we were pricing anhydrous ammonia the other day,
[00:20:51.110]and we're talking about $1,300 a ton,
[00:20:55.010]compared to a third that, a year ago,
[00:20:58.640]and talk about going to $1,500 a ton.
[00:21:02.420]So, you know what that means?
[00:21:03.910]You have to get $5 for your corn.
[00:21:06.520]It's not a welcome luxury.
[00:21:08.630]So future-proofing your business is so important
[00:21:13.290]and important to your lender,
[00:21:15.360]that you have a contingency plan.
[00:21:17.680]As you're sitting there with the lender,
[00:21:20.120]things are going good, you're making money, lenders as well.
[00:21:25.440]You made good progress this past year,
[00:21:29.520]but what happens if?
[00:21:31.480]If you can look at your lender and say,
[00:21:33.417]"Well, we have a plan.
[00:21:35.520]This is not, "We're gonna may have to cut back.
[00:21:38.950]We may have to cut cows. We may have to get one more year
[00:21:43.670]out off of that combine that won't start."
[00:21:47.610]We have a plan, but that's what a lender wants to hear,
[00:21:51.860]is that you're future-proofing your business
[00:21:54.380]for future on positive contingencies.
[00:21:58.290]So congratulations on that phrase.
[00:22:01.160]We'll remember you every time we use it.
[00:22:03.600]Yeah. Lance, before we started, so harvest is over
[00:22:08.040]and you're fertilizing and just exactly what Glenn said,
[00:22:14.570]pretty expensive, and then there's the supply concerns
[00:22:18.530]around supply chains. Right?
[00:22:20.050]So even thankful that you're having access
[00:22:23.000]to the fertilizer that you need.
[00:22:24.560]But in your role in working with beginning farmers
[00:22:29.260]and ranchers in the Farm Bureau,
[00:22:32.150]you have tapped into that network of young,
[00:22:35.910]beginning and small producers around the state.
[00:22:38.640]I mean, can you share a little bit
[00:22:41.570]about kind of what you hear in that circle?
[00:22:43.710]And then as we're thinking about,
[00:22:46.220]if we've got the chairman
[00:22:47.200]of the Farm Credit Administration. Right?
[00:22:49.840]And anything in the access to programs,
[00:22:55.360]and maybe we could dive into that a little bit.
[00:22:58.200]What programs are you able to access?
[00:23:01.830]Do they work smoothly?
[00:23:04.090]What's that ecosystem look like?
[00:23:06.680]Well, I think the first thing is when we talk
[00:23:09.500]about farms and ranches,
[00:23:10.810]not just necessarily here in Nebraska,
[00:23:12.700]but across the country,
[00:23:14.430]we have to realize that,
[00:23:15.370]not all farms and ranches are the same.
[00:23:17.140]I mean, my neighbor that might live down a mile,
[00:23:21.140]does things differently.
[00:23:22.490]And so, that's what makes agriculture farming,
[00:23:25.790]ranching unique, is that we all have a different way
[00:23:28.210]to try to, at the end of the day,
[00:23:30.020]achieve that same goal of being profitable.
[00:23:33.120]Because I think I appreciate hearing the business aspect
[00:23:36.680]because too often, we hear it out
[00:23:38.230]in the media about, farming's a lifestyle.
[00:23:42.010]And there's no doubt, farming is a lifestyle,
[00:23:44.820]but we have to run farming, ranching as a business
[00:23:48.440]and we have to put that business hat on.
[00:23:50.770]It's having those serious conversations with your lender.
[00:23:53.650]I mean, I go into my lender with a book this big,
[00:23:57.060]of A, B, C, D, E, F, G, all the way down to Z
[00:24:01.430]with different scenarios.
[00:24:02.510]I mean, this is worst case scenario,
[00:24:04.250]this is my realistic scenario, and this is wow.
[00:24:07.900]Hopefully, this is really going to work out.
[00:24:09.650]We're going to have a good year,
[00:24:11.560]because let's be honest, agriculture farming, ranching,
[00:24:14.860]it's a volatile business.
[00:24:16.370]If you had told me three years ago,
[00:24:17.940]we were going to have a worldwide pandemic
[00:24:20.200]that was going to completely have an impact on the markets,
[00:24:24.030]whether it's the beef, it's the swine, corn, soybeans,
[00:24:29.350]since I've been back on the farm since 2014,
[00:24:32.460]graduated the university and then worked for a co-op
[00:24:36.380]for one year in precision ag,
[00:24:39.620]I thought maybe there'd just be a normal year in farming
[00:24:42.510]that we wouldn't have an issue and
[00:24:45.340]every year, it's either weather-related, it's trade-related,
[00:24:48.780]it's something coming out of DC.
[00:24:51.440]and so we have to be able to adapt as a farmer.
[00:24:54.780]We have to be able to, this year, the challenges,
[00:24:58.090]inputs are sharable.
[00:24:59.390]We've locked in a lot of our fertilizer.
[00:25:01.250]We have already taken some of our chemicals on hand
[00:25:03.770]because there's talk you won't get it.
[00:25:05.440]So you have to be able to be business-minded,
[00:25:08.120]but you also have to be ready to adapt to what's out there.
[00:25:12.070]And that's what I hear from a lot of farmers I work with,
[00:25:15.230]the ranchers that I get to represent,
[00:25:17.960]is that I think there's a lot of people out there
[00:25:19.607]that want to do this.
[00:25:22.060]But it's how do you get in?
[00:25:23.250]Or how do you get started?
[00:25:25.010]If you don't come from a farming, ranching family,
[00:25:27.840]how do you break into that?
[00:25:29.510]Is it the networking piece?
[00:25:31.060]Maybe you have a neighbor down the road
[00:25:32.610]that's going to be retiring.
[00:25:33.680]Can you work out a situation
[00:25:35.440]that you can start to rent that land,
[00:25:37.980]work out an agreement to purchase the equipment?
[00:25:40.810]Unfortunately, agriculture is very capital intensive.
[00:25:43.250]So we need a strong relationship
[00:25:45.540]with our lending institutions,
[00:25:47.180]whether that's your local bank,
[00:25:48.500]it's farm credit services, wherever that may be.
[00:25:53.050]And so you have that aspect,
[00:25:54.920]but then you also have the aspect of,
[00:25:57.290]those that are transitioning the farm.
[00:26:01.040]All of us that are going to eventually take over the farm,
[00:26:04.200]like I will for my dad, how's that work?
[00:26:07.110]And it's interesting.
[00:26:08.900]I mean, I admire my dad
[00:26:10.500]because he started our farm from scratch,
[00:26:13.610]didn't inherit land, didn't hurt equipment.
[00:26:16.410]And I understand why I said I would like to talk
[00:26:19.610]to some other first generation to second generation,
[00:26:22.290]because it is challenging out there,
[00:26:24.380]going from first to second.
[00:26:26.800]And the reason I say that is,
[00:26:27.810]my dad, my mom built our operation
[00:26:30.550]by blood, sweat, and tears.
[00:26:32.510]And so, as I told my dad here just a week ago,
[00:26:34.770]I said, "It's like your baby
[00:26:36.400]and you're handing your baby over,
[00:26:38.240]like when I take my son to daycare,
[00:26:40.370]you're handing him over, trusting that all that hard work,
[00:26:44.030]everything you've done will be okay going forward."
[00:26:48.384]But we also have to have the tools to be able to do that.
[00:26:50.720]And that's been some things
[00:26:51.710]that have been very concerning with me,
[00:26:54.110]of coming out of DC with policy
[00:26:56.250]that could hinder passing on the farm
[00:26:58.820]to the next generation,
[00:27:00.120]making it harder for my sister and I
[00:27:02.850]to take over the farm,
[00:27:04.710]if they eliminate some of the programs, some of the things
[00:27:07.660]that allow the next generation to take over.
[00:27:11.800]There's a young couple on our Young Farmers
[00:27:14.090]and Ranchers Committee that she said,
[00:27:15.640]she's like, we wanted.
[00:27:17.610]I think they could have inherited their family's ranch,
[00:27:20.510]but she said, "At our young age,"
[00:27:22.150]she's like, "We can't afford it."
[00:27:23.820]So they had to basically get out of the ranching business.
[00:27:28.360]Now they're getting back in slowly
[00:27:29.930]by purchasing cattle and whatnot.
[00:27:32.490]So we have to be thinking futuristic
[00:27:35.070]because in the next 10 years,
[00:27:36.940]there's going to be a lot of transitions happening.
[00:27:39.230]And so how do we make sure lenders are prepared
[00:27:42.070]to handle that, to build that confidence?
[00:27:44.250]How do we make sure tools are ready?
[00:27:45.590]And that gives to the next point.
[00:27:47.300]My wife and I, three years ago, we purchased our first land.
[00:27:50.580]We use the FSA Beginning Farmer Loan Program,
[00:27:54.120]which was basically a program
[00:27:56.410]between our lender that we use
[00:27:58.940]and then obviously FSA, that allowed us to make that work.
[00:28:03.050]Now, back three, four years ago,
[00:28:05.470]land prices weren't doing what they're doing.
[00:28:07.200]So how do we now do that with young people
[00:28:10.060]that want to purchase land
[00:28:11.170]and now it's going for $12,000 an acre?
[00:28:13.770]And then you also have limits and caps
[00:28:16.110]that they're only going to deal with so much.
[00:28:18.120]It's pretty hard to walk into a lender and say,
[00:28:20.387]"I want to buy this 1.9 million farm.
[00:28:23.330]I'm only 30 years old.
[00:28:25.720]I'm also going to be taking over my family's operation."
[00:28:29.400]How do we do that to get to people
[00:28:32.820]and especially if you don't come from a farming background?
[00:28:35.570]How do you get people to break into this?
[00:28:38.820]So I always say, agriculture has a basket of challenges
[00:28:42.330]at the end of the day because there's the policy challenges,
[00:28:45.040]there's the trade challenges,
[00:28:46.100]there's beginning young farmer challenges.
[00:28:48.520]There's the generation, that's ready to turn it over,
[00:28:51.820]but how do they plan,
[00:28:52.930]so that they can turn it over successfully,
[00:28:55.410]but also be able to live off of what they built over years.
[00:28:59.211]So there's programs out there.
[00:29:02.400]I just don't know if these programs are necessarily geared
[00:29:05.800]for what the future is going to be though, so.
[00:29:08.850]Thanks, Lance.
[00:29:10.750]As somebody who didn't grow up on a farm,
[00:29:12.910]who has the responsibility to navigate
[00:29:16.070]and lead the institute,
[00:29:18.080]hearing firsthand from our producers and our families
[00:29:21.610]and what they face is just really helpful to me.
[00:29:24.880]So thanks for sharing.
[00:29:27.780]I thought that your comment on land values is very astute.
[00:29:32.150]What might've been possible
[00:29:34.020]just the short four years ago,
[00:29:37.520]is almost impossible with today's prices.
[00:29:42.600]And you have to be careful of the enticement
[00:29:46.930]of low interest rates.
[00:29:50.080]And the opposite of interest rates is principal.
[00:29:53.090]And you have to pay back principal
[00:29:55.190]with after-tax income, big difference.
[00:29:58.830]I mean, back when I was beginning farmer,
[00:30:00.520]we had 15, 18% interest rates.
[00:30:03.870]We didn't have to worry about income tax problems.
[00:30:06.670]So that was an issue,
[00:30:08.580]but with $12,000 an acre land of your financing,
[00:30:12.970]70% of it, or 50% of it,
[00:30:15.920]it is a whole new set of challenges.
[00:30:18.630]Along to that,
[00:30:19.887]I know there's been some land sales in our area.
[00:30:22.920]We're not just necessarily competing
[00:30:24.990]against your neighbors to purchase that land.
[00:30:27.920]We have investors flying.
[00:30:29.590]I mean, just in our area here, the land that sold,
[00:30:32.880]flew in out of state, bid, got on their jet, flew out.
[00:30:37.100]And so it's an environment right now
[00:30:39.400]that's very competitive.
[00:30:41.340]Investing in agricultural land,
[00:30:44.410]investors see that as an opportunity.
[00:30:46.260]So it's not just getting the financing,
[00:30:49.250]but it's how do you get this land
[00:30:52.400]at a reasonable fair price
[00:30:54.330]for the landowner plus for you?
[00:30:57.190]And it was interesting,
[00:30:58.130]I had a farm manager ride with me, my age,
[00:31:01.110]and I really appreciated his perspective
[00:31:03.070]because he sees the future of ag
[00:31:05.780]He tells his landowners owners,
[00:31:07.080]if they're going to sell,
[00:31:08.480]why don't you give the person
[00:31:09.610]that's farming it the best chance at it,
[00:31:12.130]see if you can work out.
[00:31:13.460]And then if not, put it on auction or sell it.
[00:31:17.270]And I wish there was more of that.
[00:31:19.830]And I think more of those stories have to get shared
[00:31:22.120]because if we don't, we are going to end up
[00:31:25.090]in an industry that it's gonna be tougher.
[00:31:28.090]If you're not large and farming thousands of acres,
[00:31:31.810]it's going to get a lot harder
[00:31:33.490]to try to break into this a little bit, so.
[00:31:36.290]But you're very right in that,
[00:31:38.830]there's a lot of interest in land,
[00:31:40.730]not only from the neighboring farmers,
[00:31:42.880]but also from the investment community.
[00:31:45.820]In periods of uncertainty, land is kind of equated to gold
[00:31:51.090]because with gold,
[00:31:51.970]there's not a real rate of return on gold.
[00:31:54.390]You're right. Right.
[00:31:56.560]Land may have a small return,
[00:31:59.370]but it still has a return relative
[00:32:01.210]to low interest rates is still up.
[00:32:02.820]That brings us back to the interest rates,
[00:32:05.070]the non-depreciable asset being land,
[00:32:07.990]and the relative risk of everything else
[00:32:10.200]when interest rates are so low,
[00:32:11.330]you'll take the few percent on the $10,000 land
[00:32:15.360]even though, yeah, because interest rates are so low
[00:32:20.240]and it's just a kind of going back on what Lance said.
[00:32:27.410]I lost my train of thought, go ahead.
[00:32:30.220]I do that regularly here.
[00:32:32.000]That's okay, Joe.
[00:32:34.549]Maybe this is a good.
[00:32:36.470]We've been at this for about 30 minutes,
[00:32:39.360]so maybe what I'd like to do is to invite
[00:32:44.150]those of you at your table, just let's go ahead
[00:32:47.300]and get noisy and a little muddy here.
[00:32:49.610]Why don't you a chat a little bit
[00:32:51.560]about what you've heard thus far,
[00:32:53.630]and then we'll open it up for you
[00:32:55.130]to ask questions off the panelists.
[00:32:57.520]That'd be terrific.
[00:32:58.610]So let's go ahead and take about five minutes
[00:33:01.210]to just have a discussion about what you've heard
[00:33:04.310]and then we'll ask you some questions from the audience.
[00:33:09.390]Absolutely. My name is Shay Keester
[00:33:12.150]and I'm actually originally from North Dakota,
[00:33:14.360]but I came down here for Animal Science Engler Program
[00:33:16.950]and Beef Scholars.
[00:33:18.950]So my question is, so I planned to return back
[00:33:21.950]to a traditional operation and, Hailey,
[00:33:24.470]you talked a lot about that future-proof your operation.
[00:33:28.230]And we talked about kind of the financial logistics of it
[00:33:31.230]and having a backup plan there.
[00:33:33.190]But what other aspects do you think go into future-proofing
[00:33:37.790]that operation outside of working with the lender
[00:33:40.960]because that's mostly what we talked about
[00:33:42.536]in your panel discussion today?
[00:33:45.440]Yeah. I think we're really just looking
[00:33:47.826]at the big picture of the industry we're in
[00:33:51.150]and how our world is changing
[00:33:52.840]and just really trying to think ahead.
[00:33:54.510]I mean, that includes thinking
[00:33:55.810]about how consumers make decisions.
[00:33:57.930]We saw through COVID,
[00:33:59.730]like you had talked about the importance
[00:34:01.940]of our local packers and things like that.
[00:34:04.420]So those are all things that we think about
[00:34:06.670]and being a cattle feeder and a small cattle feeder,
[00:34:12.240]to sell our product to a mass market,
[00:34:15.460]even though we get grid information back,
[00:34:18.440]it really doesn't mean that much
[00:34:20.050]because they contract cattle
[00:34:22.420]and it's just a number on a paper to them.
[00:34:24.280]We're losing that power
[00:34:25.600]of feeding good Highway 20 cattle.
[00:34:27.660]So we're losing that, so we're thinking about,
[00:34:31.020]okay, we're losing our leverage here,
[00:34:33.430]what are trends in the industry?
[00:34:35.040]How can we change our operation going forward?
[00:34:39.110]We have relationships we've built across industry,
[00:34:43.840]as we go through and make the big transitions in the farmer.
[00:34:46.890]Reason, we're trying to future-proof our operations.
[00:34:49.800]Specifically, it's not the industry,
[00:34:51.040]but also because the transition to the next generation
[00:34:54.180]for operations is going to be challenging,
[00:34:56.660]just with siblings involved.
[00:34:58.120]We're the only ones back on the operation,
[00:34:59.810]but we know there's going to be that change,
[00:35:01.900]and so we're gonna lose cashflow,
[00:35:03.330]we're gonna have to give up equity
[00:35:04.800]to be able to make buyouts and things like that.
[00:35:07.290]So those are things where,
[00:35:08.290]we don't know what's going to happen,
[00:35:09.330]but we're trying to make decisions for.
[00:35:10.780]So I feel like we have relationships in place,
[00:35:14.310]in the industry that if we have to custom-feed for a while,
[00:35:17.400]if we have to just shift more to backgrounding,
[00:35:21.100]if we're shifting more onto the cow-calf side
[00:35:23.620]for a few years, we're looking at the cow herd numbers.
[00:35:25.880]So that's the big picture, but it's just thinking about,
[00:35:28.960]okay, if we lose this relationship
[00:35:30.650]with this packer, we're out.
[00:35:33.170]What are we going to do with those?
[00:35:34.080]So we're just really thinking ahead,
[00:35:35.650]thinking about industry trends,
[00:35:37.070]and it's the little decisions each day.
[00:35:39.820]So we're working with someone local
[00:35:42.270]to kind of give him a start.
[00:35:44.370]So he does day work,
[00:35:45.440]but then it has kind of a little couple of pens
[00:35:48.970]that he can feed cattle, so we're backgrounding with him.
[00:35:51.630]We just have relationships locally
[00:35:54.750]that we really try to support and just thinking
[00:35:57.590]about where the industry is going is so important
[00:35:59.230]'cause it's definitely changing.
[00:36:00.330]Five years from now,
[00:36:01.163]farmer feeders will look really different, so.
[00:36:05.050]Thanks, Shay. Other questions? Jesse.
[00:36:16.240]Is this on? Am I good?
[00:36:18.170]Yep.
[00:36:19.220]Awesome. I have a couple that came in online
[00:36:21.410]far from the audience.
[00:36:23.240]So in the fall, the USDA and FCA did a symposium
[00:36:26.560]for beginning and young farmers.
[00:36:28.070]They talked about programs that the USDA offered,
[00:36:30.270]aspects of the programs that worked well,
[00:36:32.889]and other things they can explore.
[00:36:34.740]The question is, what programs do you use, if any,
[00:36:40.450]and what programs would you like to see the USDA
[00:36:43.090]or your local lender offer to be a one-stop shop?
[00:36:50.120]Go Joe, yap.
[00:36:52.300]Personally, we were kind of invested
[00:36:55.380]in some more conservation type practices when I've been back
[00:37:00.120]and it really kind of opened the door
[00:37:03.200]for us to kind of bridge the gap
[00:37:05.570]between farming and feeding cattle.
[00:37:09.160]At least on our operation,
[00:37:10.430]We started planting rye,
[00:37:12.100]to take advantage of a program through Equip,
[00:37:16.390]which is through NRCS
[00:37:19.843]because my dad and his brothers had been in the CSP program
[00:37:24.050]through NRCS and they enjoy doing that
[00:37:27.170]and kind of being able to upgrade some equipment
[00:37:29.680]to more conservative practices, anywhere from,
[00:37:34.940]just keeping track of irrigation, water management,
[00:37:39.380]cover crops, limited tillage, that kind of thing,
[00:37:43.010]which they were all about.
[00:37:45.470]And so me being able to buy rye plates
[00:37:49.490]and use my planner to do rye,
[00:37:51.210]has allowed me to do that custom on the side
[00:37:54.910]and kind of have supplemental income
[00:37:58.280]in a time of year that we're not as busy,
[00:38:00.440]right after silage, in between silage
[00:38:02.760]and white corn and harvest.
[00:38:05.060]And so it's good to have those programs
[00:38:07.090]just to kind of get started in something different.
[00:38:10.900]And I know there's a lot of different things you can do
[00:38:13.590]with CSP and Equip through NRCS.
[00:38:17.220]And it's just a really good thing
[00:38:20.900]to kind of leap forward with.
[00:38:24.120]Great, thanks Joe.
[00:38:25.130]Do do either of you want to jump in on that?
[00:38:28.600]Well, I'm just gonna go to the point
[00:38:31.050]that I do see going forward that,
[00:38:35.190]pardon me, sometimes I wish I would have went back
[00:38:37.070]to law school because I think there's really going
[00:38:38.880]to be a need for this going forward.
[00:38:40.410]And Hailey touched on it, is this transitioning thing.
[00:38:43.980]And I don't think people realize,
[00:38:45.530]how big this is going to be coming.
[00:38:48.400]You have a lot of landowners
[00:38:49.640]that are going to be passing
[00:38:50.790]those farms onto the next generation.
[00:38:53.920]And those new owners are going to have to figure out
[00:38:58.610]what they're going to do with that farm,
[00:39:01.040]whether they're going to sell it,
[00:39:02.550]rent it to the current tenant and whatnot.
[00:39:06.070]But you have a lot of family farm operations
[00:39:09.110]that are going to be transitioning just like my family.
[00:39:12.220]And I don't think there's enough resources out there
[00:39:14.770]to help people navigate their transitioning process
[00:39:18.290]because we're not talking about farms that are,
[00:39:21.587]$100,000 value anymore.
[00:39:24.330]We're talking million dollars worth of farms
[00:39:27.660]that eventually, myself, Hailey, Joe,
[00:39:30.680]we all have to be able to buy out
[00:39:32.680]and we're going to need the support from the lender
[00:39:34.500]to figure out how we're going to have that plan in place.
[00:39:37.160]But you also have an equation that there's probably siblings
[00:39:40.400]in that operation that are not going to be inheriting
[00:39:44.340]or wanting to be active in the farm,
[00:39:47.390]but they're still going to be entitled
[00:39:49.110]to the value of that farm.
[00:39:51.240]And I just don't think there's enough resources out there
[00:39:55.820]to help people navigate that.
[00:39:57.530]And I think there's an opportunity for either banks,
[00:40:01.410]those that may be our attorneys, looking for a niche area,
[00:40:05.560]to help people navigate that.
[00:40:08.030]Because as Hailey is saying, yeah, that's like me.
[00:40:10.640]I have a sister.
[00:40:12.060]Luckily, she wants to be engaged in the farm,
[00:40:13.950]she wants to be part of it,
[00:40:14.990]but she wants to go in the medical field.
[00:40:18.410]So she's not gonna wanna do the day-to-day stuff.
[00:40:22.030]And I just don't think we're.
[00:40:23.710]I'm afraid we're not prepared for this wave of transitions
[00:40:27.540]that are going to be coming.
[00:40:28.600]And so I think there's an opportunity out there
[00:40:31.370]for someone to get into that.
[00:40:32.950]Yeah, great, Lance.
[00:40:34.250]We have three other panels today
[00:40:36.900]and some of those panels have panelists
[00:40:38.980]that will pick up on themes that you're talking about,
[00:40:42.340]specifics dive deep into the programs.
[00:40:44.780]But I know, later today, we'll hear from Alan Phenolic
[00:40:48.490]on farm ranch succession planning
[00:40:51.010]and the complexities there
[00:40:52.950]and what that looks like.
[00:40:54.030]Others like Jessica Grosscopf who've worked
[00:40:56.530]with producers in that space.
[00:40:58.340]We have the Center for Ag Profitability.
[00:41:00.200]So you're really setting a great foundation
[00:41:03.531]for later conversations.
[00:41:06.030]Hailey, anything to add to?
[00:41:07.780]Are you taking advantage of some
[00:41:09.140]of these programs at the chatbox. Go ahead.
[00:41:12.403]I wanna add that it might be a good niche
[00:41:14.510]if someone's a lawyer and a family therapist at that.
[00:41:17.240]I think that would be a good combo, a lot of schooling,
[00:41:20.910]but I think that would be necessary.
[00:41:22.980]So just specifically for us,
[00:41:26.320]it's hard to make decisions and you go to,
[00:41:29.200]I think about every farm succession thing we could go to,
[00:41:33.110]but it still doesn't change
[00:41:34.360]the day-to-day relationships things that you all deal with.
[00:41:38.790]So it's complex for sure and communication is.
[00:41:43.024]I think this.
[00:41:44.500]I did the returning to the farm program with my parents.
[00:41:48.422]It would have been in 2011.
[00:41:49.840]I think that was when Dr. Hanson, the university had it.
[00:41:54.070]I'm not sure if the university still has that program.
[00:41:57.650]That was a helpful resource. I think though,
[00:42:01.729]I mean, we need those type of programs out there
[00:42:03.617]and I think we need to make sure we're going
[00:42:05.210]to the next step with them, so.
[00:42:07.806]Yeah.
[00:42:08.969]Well, Larry, Jessica,
[00:42:10.630]I don't see Alan here necessarily. There he is.
[00:42:13.790]Do we still offer that type of? There it is.
[00:42:16.650]So Jessica Grosscopf has some pamphlets.
[00:42:19.580]It's on your table.
[00:42:20.550]I'm placing out some brochures
[00:42:21.924]and if you want, we'll give them out.
[00:42:23.130]So take a look for those here on your table
[00:42:25.770]and then we can put the URL in the chat
[00:42:28.580]for folks that talk about that.
[00:42:32.750]Mike, I'd like to interject what Joe had said
[00:42:36.037]and kind of combine that a little bit
[00:42:37.733]with what you were talking about lands
[00:42:40.410]with the intergenerational transfer.
[00:42:43.220]I know in addition to our farm operation,
[00:42:45.210]we own a farm management appraisal land brokerage company.
[00:42:48.630]It works in Western Iowa.
[00:42:50.780]And in a lot of cases, for 38 years, 39 years,
[00:42:55.010]we're working with a second generation
[00:42:56.940]and starting to have conversations
[00:42:59.080]with the third generation.
[00:43:01.100]And I want to tell you whatever you feel about
[00:43:03.890]sustainability or anything else,
[00:43:06.390]you'd better learn to be conversant.
[00:43:08.100]Joe, I heard you talk about cover crops,
[00:43:10.520]I heard you talk about working with the NRCS,
[00:43:14.180]that gives you a leg up,
[00:43:17.230]possibly on that farmer down the road
[00:43:20.850]that says, "Cover crop is just a pain in the patoot.
[00:43:24.700]I'm not going to do that."
[00:43:25.840]or somebody else, having a fresh look at that
[00:43:28.330]and being able to talk to those new generation owners,
[00:43:33.180]get your foot in the door.
[00:43:34.590]And that absentee landowner,
[00:43:39.390]we're finding there's a huge emerging niche of people
[00:43:44.080]that realize the value of farmland,
[00:43:46.130]but they also realize the value
[00:43:48.320]of sustainability and conservation.
[00:43:50.842]So, being conversant and being able to back it up
[00:43:54.040]with practices, Joe, like what you're talking about,
[00:43:56.580]is very important in that relationship.
[00:43:58.690]Yeah, that's great, Glenn.
[00:43:59.880]And the human lecture with Frank Mitloehner last month,
[00:44:04.960]really focused on our beef industry.
[00:44:07.720]And next Friday, the 19th of November,
[00:44:10.710]we have a Soil Health Summit
[00:44:12.750]that'll be in this very room,
[00:44:14.430]all focused on these dimensions and these elements.
[00:44:18.250]Jesse, additional questions.
[00:44:21.661]Yes, thank you. Yes, thank you.
[00:44:25.580]And my name is Jordan Spots.
[00:44:27.300]I live at Southern Lancaster County.
[00:44:29.810]And my question is actually for Mr. Kenobi.
[00:44:32.590]And you'd mentioned about some of the transition
[00:44:34.760]that took place in your operation,
[00:44:36.760]and it sounds like it's a fairly amicable split.
[00:44:39.244]I know it's not always the case,
[00:44:40.077]but I wonder if you could share a few insights
[00:44:42.500]into how that was done and some
[00:44:44.790]of the specifics around of it.
[00:44:46.760]Sure. So we kinda knew
[00:44:51.230]that as my dad and uncles were getting older,
[00:44:57.560]this was going to happen eventually.
[00:44:59.650]I mean, it usually does.
[00:45:01.655]And like you're saying it was an amicable split
[00:45:04.470]and that's not how it always goes.
[00:45:07.300]And so they kind of wanted to get ahead of it,
[00:45:09.820]prices were good.
[00:45:12.040]My dad had had health problems,
[00:45:13.460]so they kind of wanted to just get ahead of it.
[00:45:16.840]And my cousin and I both wanted to come back.
[00:45:21.120]I was just graduating college.
[00:45:22.500]He had a job up in Norfolk and he wanted to return
[00:45:26.060]and so it was all good that they all decided
[00:45:30.410]that they're gonna split it equally,
[00:45:33.000]as equal as possible, as fair as possible,
[00:45:36.010]which is usually a reason that it does not end amicably.
[00:45:41.230]And they asked about every lawyer friend, every person,
[00:45:45.650]that's ever been through a family operation split.
[00:45:50.290]And eventually they decided on going
[00:45:52.820]with a firm out of Omaha,
[00:45:54.720]who was basically just going to tell them,
[00:45:57.570]what to do, how to do it.
[00:45:59.990]One of the main issues was,
[00:46:01.260]they had a partnership and a corporation
[00:46:03.770]and that there was some land in the corporation
[00:46:06.550]and that is never easy to split a corporation up.
[00:46:10.869]When you start a corporation,
[00:46:11.850]they really don't want that to be dissolved.
[00:46:14.260]And so going through a professional,
[00:46:18.240]was definitely very, very helpful to navigate that part.
[00:46:26.120]And it was in my mind, a pretty fair split, very even,
[00:46:33.860]and there are not many hard feelings, surprisingly.
[00:46:38.584]At least my dad is very proud of the fact that,
[00:46:41.950]they can all ride in the same pickup today.
[00:46:44.890]And we all still kind of trade labor back and forth,
[00:46:47.650]like I said earlier, and it's just,
[00:46:51.210]I think my dad is the oldest
[00:46:53.470]and he had to swallow a lot of pride to accomplish that.
[00:46:57.200]And I think that's why he's proud
[00:46:59.170]of being able to say that they can all talk,
[00:47:01.980]they can all have coffee together.
[00:47:03.950]They're brothers at the end of the day,
[00:47:07.500]but as you know, brothers can fight
[00:47:09.790]and it's good that they could get along
[00:47:12.420]and everybody swallowed their pride
[00:47:13.940]and I think it took a lot of effort.
[00:47:20.380]Thanks Jordan. Thanks, Joe.
[00:47:24.890]Hi. Can you hear me?
[00:47:26.650]Yep.
[00:47:27.700]My name's McKenna Freebird.
[00:47:29.170]I am from Wayne, Nebraska.
[00:47:31.520]And a little more on the transition, I guess,
[00:47:35.630]I have kind of a question for everybody.
[00:47:37.740]Joe, how did you guys implement these conversations?
[00:47:43.340]I grew up on an operation.
[00:47:45.410]I'm the fifth generation
[00:47:47.040]and my grandpa had actually passed away
[00:47:51.480]when my dad was 28
[00:47:53.120]and these conversations were never had.
[00:47:55.770]And so the closer I get to 28, the more I'm curious.
[00:48:00.460]How do we implement these without being like,
[00:48:04.467]"Hey, what's going to happen here?"
[00:48:07.560]in a professional manner to prolong the operation.
[00:48:11.690]And if you guys haven't had these conversations yet,
[00:48:14.280]how do you plan on implementing them?
[00:48:16.820]Great question.
[00:48:19.400]So I also, I don't know if Lance had to drag his parents
[00:48:23.730]to the succession program,
[00:48:26.840]but I'd kind of got my mom to elbow my dad a little bit,
[00:48:31.950]that we should go to Lincoln for two days
[00:48:34.370]and go through the program
[00:48:35.780]just to kinda get him on my level.
[00:48:38.860]I know you could read the pamphlet,
[00:48:41.430]but they go through kinda everyone's perspectives
[00:48:46.970]and where we're all coming from
[00:48:48.160]and what our goals are going to be down the road.
[00:48:50.870]And I guess that was an easy, easy way
[00:48:53.300]for someone else to tell my dad
[00:48:55.670]where I was coming from
[00:48:57.680]and someone to tell me where my dad is coming from.
[00:49:00.530]And a lot of us had had
[00:49:02.090]Ron Hanson ag economics classes before.
[00:49:07.370]And he will tell you that you are not owed the farm
[00:49:10.380]at all, not one bit.
[00:49:12.930]And that's kind of really important to be reminded
[00:49:17.530]that we're not owed anything.
[00:49:19.420]And I think coming from that perspective
[00:49:22.760]and then going forward and saying,
[00:49:24.017]"Well, this is what I'm worth.
[00:49:25.210]This is what I bring to the table."
[00:49:27.490]And kind of having that back and forth,
[00:49:29.150]whether it's you and your family at the dinner table
[00:49:32.890]or you go into a program like that,
[00:49:34.830]I think is really important just to get the ball moving
[00:49:36.990]because we don't have forever.
[00:49:41.220]You'll lose people close to you.
[00:49:42.960]Another thing in that program there,
[00:49:46.060]they said that they'll have a basket
[00:49:49.210]and they'll put every everybody's name in the basket
[00:49:51.760]and then they pull one.
[00:49:53.630]And they said, "All right, dad or mom, you're gone."
[00:49:59.370]And they said the dead will inevitably try to speak,
[00:50:04.600]'cause of course you want to tell them,
[00:50:05.817]"well, don't do this. Don't do that."
[00:50:09.450]And it's just those kinds of exercises
[00:50:11.060]that make you think differently
[00:50:13.320]that you want to make it so everything is fluid,
[00:50:16.450]that anyone could take over or know what's going to happen.
[00:50:20.310]Or like Lance was saying earlier,
[00:50:21.660]you have that list A to Z and you can go through.
[00:50:24.260]Well, if this happens, then we're going to do this.
[00:50:26.320]If this happens, not just from a profitability standpoint,
[00:50:30.320]but a succession standpoint.
[00:50:33.788](indistinct)
[00:50:35.280]In my situation, it started that I wanted
[00:50:38.850]to come back to the farm.
[00:50:40.310]And it was the first process is,
[00:50:42.290]how do you bring a family member back into the farm
[00:50:46.330]and not destroy the family?
[00:50:47.980]Because, again, the farm has to be run as a business.
[00:50:52.180]We have these Monday morning meetings, my parents and I,
[00:50:56.260]before our employee comes of setting down for the week.
[00:51:00.300]And we always say, at the end of the day,
[00:51:02.440]we need to be able to go home and know that we're family.
[00:51:05.060]But it's hard because you're bringing
[00:51:06.960]in family business together.
[00:51:09.240]So when I came back,
[00:51:10.820]we started off with the returning to the farm.
[00:51:13.190]And I think they knew down the road
[00:51:15.250]that that was going to be,
[00:51:17.240]how do we start this transition?
[00:51:19.400]And then I will be honest.
[00:51:20.640]It kind of got, I was back farming.
[00:51:22.400]And then for me, personally, I was like,
[00:51:24.120]I need to plan because to be able to eventually take over,
[00:51:27.073]it's going to take the capital,
[00:51:29.480]I have a wife, we have our own goals,
[00:51:32.460]how do you mesh this all together?
[00:51:35.270]And then I'll be upfront.
[00:51:37.428]On my mom's side, there was family farm ground
[00:51:43.130]that she had on her side.
[00:51:45.130]And I think it actually took an experience
[00:51:47.630]of going through a situation where,
[00:51:51.160]the family dynamics added up and it got very ugly.
[00:51:55.700]It came to the point where attorneys were involved
[00:51:58.570]and it came to a point
[00:51:59.970]where there wasn't siblings talking to each other.
[00:52:02.360]And I think that opened their eyes
[00:52:04.660]to realizing that they don't want
[00:52:06.550]that to happen with my sister and I,
[00:52:08.640]and that they need to get a plan
[00:52:10.410]in place if they want me to succeed,
[00:52:12.930]but also have it so that they can be able
[00:52:15.320]to live the rest of their lives off of what they built,
[00:52:19.750]but then most importantly,
[00:52:20.880]we'll be a family at the end of the day.
[00:52:22.780]And so I think sometimes it takes the experience piece
[00:52:26.440]of it to get it going.
[00:52:28.640]But I just say, and it's a tough conversation
[00:52:32.070]because it goes back to what Joe,
[00:52:35.460]we're not owed the farm
[00:52:36.500]and so it does feel like you start having
[00:52:38.240]those conversations it's, "Well, what am I inheriting?"
[00:52:42.990]And so it's a tough one to sometimes have,
[00:52:44.873]because I broached it with mine,
[00:52:46.740]but I think you gotta be upfront and be real with them.
[00:52:49.440]I mean, don't go and say, "Well, what am I getting?"
[00:52:52.490]But you need to state what your plans are,
[00:52:56.300]where you want to go.
[00:52:57.390]and hopefully, they'll be able to share
[00:52:59.990]where they want to go, what they want,
[00:53:02.590]and then you can start opening
[00:53:04.320]that path of how do we work this out
[00:53:07.250]and get a plan in place.
[00:53:08.430]Because if you have a plan in place and can be adaptable,
[00:53:11.510]I'd say a key word is adaptable in agriculture,
[00:53:14.520]be adaptable, you'll be successful in transitioning.
[00:53:20.510]That's where I said,
[00:53:21.410]there's a need for that out there
[00:53:23.470]because it's tough conversations
[00:53:25.002]to have at the end of the day.
[00:53:26.797]Okay.
[00:53:27.630]Can I highlight just
[00:53:28.463]Oh, go ahead.
[00:53:29.296]You last word is your word.
[00:53:30.540]Go ahead Hailey.
[00:53:32.059]No. Well, I just want to address this
[00:53:33.470]and show you two very different scenarios
[00:53:35.960]between my family growing up
[00:53:37.600]and now my husband's family is.
[00:53:40.810]okay, so when I grew up, I'm the oldest of three,
[00:53:43.660]grew up on a diversified farm and ranch.
[00:53:45.810]My whole life I've been told,
[00:53:47.977]"Do not expect any of this. This is not yours."
[00:53:51.200]I've just had this expectation in my mind,
[00:53:53.187]"If you want to come back and be a part of this,
[00:53:55.090]there's room for you, but if you're not,
[00:53:57.750]don't expect anything."
[00:53:58.770]So that's been just given.
[00:54:00.480]My whole life, I've lived with that expectation.
[00:54:02.790]Now, my husband's operation, my husband's dad is 77.
[00:54:07.410]So he's almost two generations removed,
[00:54:10.130]if you look at age wise as far as differences in that.
[00:54:13.670]So he's the member of the silent generation
[00:54:17.360]and he's very like dead silent.
[00:54:19.670]He'll not tell you what is gonna happen.
[00:54:21.690]He is, "We'll not share."
[00:54:24.070]And my husband is the youngest of three
[00:54:27.270]and they've lived their whole lives
[00:54:29.100]with that expectation like,
[00:54:30.390]oh, this is part. We're entitled to our peace,
[00:54:33.620]we're entitled towards that.
[00:54:35.210]And so that's just two differences.
[00:54:37.606]Look at the difference in that.
[00:54:38.690]I've lived with my whole expectation.
[00:54:40.130]It's just expectations.
[00:54:41.610]And so, now we're trying to make decisions blindly,
[00:54:46.400]because we don't know what's going to happen,
[00:54:47.790]no matter how many of these things we've been to,
[00:54:50.550]no matter what.
[00:54:51.720]He is an egg you cannot crack.
[00:54:55.331]And if anyone wants to prove me wrong,
[00:54:56.620]you're welcome to come visit.
[00:54:59.005](audience applauding)
[00:55:00.371]So maybe not, he might chase you away.
[00:55:01.500]So it's just expectations
[00:55:04.610]and having those conversations early.
[00:55:06.260]And now I think about what my family,
[00:55:08.290]what I want to do for the next generation.
[00:55:10.900]So it's just so important.
[00:55:12.020]And then we actually ended at,
[00:55:14.851]we were with a consultant talking about this
[00:55:17.160]and the gentleman was like,
[00:55:18.937]"Let me guess. Your family's Dutch."
[00:55:21.840]And he's like, "Let me guess. Your dad's an old German."
[00:55:24.070]And I was like, well, how did you know this?"
[00:55:25.527]And he's like, "I don't know.
[00:55:27.023]I've been through hundreds of these."
[00:55:28.690]And they just communicate and this just makes sense with us.
[00:55:31.680]So it's just so widespread.
[00:55:34.070]I know it's so hard,
[00:55:35.010]but let's set expectations for the next generation
[00:55:37.830]and talk about it because it's important.
[00:55:39.920]Mikayla, thanks for your question.
[00:55:41.360]and thanks to our panelists.
[00:55:42.520]Would you join me in thanking Hailey, Joe and
[00:55:45.704](audience clapping)

The screen size you are trying to search captions on is too small!

You can always jump over to MediaHub and check it out there.

Comments

0 Comments

Young, Beginning and Small Farmers Symposium traditional operations panel

Description

Searchable Transcript

Comments icon comment

Related Channels

Comments