Month: December 2013
Why I am a Farmer
They say that you can’t choose your fate, that your fate chooses you – that your destiny and life is predetermined for you. One could argue that this is true when it comes to farming and me.
Working in the corporate world, I often get comments such as “you don’t look like a farmer,” “why are you a farmer,” “Is there good money in farming,” and my favorite: “farmers don’t wear stilettos or dress like you.” Yes, I’m not your typical farmer, but then again who is? I come from a long line of farmers and choose to carry on the family tradition. No, my parents and grandfather did not pressure me into doing so. No, I do not have some trust set aside in which I get compensated handsomely if I do farm (don’t I wish!). I chose to be a farmer, rather it chose me.
Farming isn’t for everyone. Its long hours for often little margins. There are no vacation days, sick days or people to cover your shifts. Often it requires manual, physical labor and dedication that you don’t see in a typical 9 – 5 job. Sometimes it’s messy, dirty and smelly and the outcomes aren’t always what you hoped. There are no stock options or fancy compensation packages. There is no notoriety or front page articles on The New York Times. There are good days and bad days and days where you wish you had a different job. Sounds glamorous right?
I am a farmer for the love of the animals and the produce we yield. To be able to provide the public with a high quality product and be able to see their reaction when they are ecstatic over what they just experienced. To be able to educate people about my lifestyle, history, and my way of life. To know that you helped grow and nurture something wonderful, that all started from a small molecule. To do a job where the fulfillment comes back to you ten times and the emotional rewards are endless – that is why I am a farmer.
Tractor Tunes Tuesday
Good Morning!
Time for another edition of Tractor Tunes Tuesday. Here’s what’s popular in the tractor this week:
- Passenger – Let her go
- Jake Owen – Heaven
- Kacey Musgraves – Step off
- A Thousand Horses – Drunk Dial
- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – White Walls
- Little Big Town – Sober
- Miranda Lambert – All kinds of kinds
- Chase Rice – Ready Set Roll
- Dallas Smith – Tippin’ Point
- Will Hoge – Strong
The Business of Family Farming
As we sit down to celebrate the holidays with family, I’d be remised if I didn’t write about family farming. As a third generation farmer, I am lucky enough to have two generations before me still active in the farming community. Although my family is small (10+ people) we are in some way connected to farming (some more than others). Often, when planning out farming activities such as haying, I am met with push back about my “new ideas.” This was the case when I suggested we move from square bales to a round bale operation. My grandfather, still adamant today, that squares bales were tried and true and nothing can replace them. My father on the other hand, loves the convenience, ease and simplicity that the round bales can offer. I remember sitting down with my grandfather with my pro’s and con’s list to try to sway his vote. It took several times but finally I was able to convince him that we should at least do a couple round bales to try it out. When I said a couple, he took it literal and we only did a couple round bales of the outside windrows that year. Although many people would think it was a waste of time and effort, to me it was one giant step into “modern farming.” (A side note we still do about 5,000 – 10,000 square bales a year for customers and for our own consumption however, I am happy to report our round bale operation has grown!).
As the saying goes, family and business don’t mix. This does hold true for some industries, some jobs and some businesses, but when it comes to farming they go hand and hand like apple and pie. For someone like myself (I would consider myself a new aged farmer), it can be challenging to implement new ideas and especially technology with the tried and true generation. Through my experience, I have learned there are a couple ideas to help ease the transition.
- Make a plan – I have found that my most effective case for new technology or equipment is supported by a well thought-out plan. It could be a simple as highlighting the “who, what, where, when and how” of a new item. Or it could be more involved like a more detailed description of a haying schedule with diagrams and statistics. I often like to feature the objective (this comes from my accountant audit background) of each idea and the steps to get there using said idea. Most often you will tend to get more respect and attention if you have shown your intent and that you took the time to careful consider all aspects of the farm.
- Be patience – they say Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither are the family farms. With a variety of opinions and ideas, this holds especially true when dealing with a family and business.
- Lead by example – often I will show what others are doing by taking a field trip to a nearby farm. This gives a more personable and relatable concept to your idea (and a third party view) to help ease any questions or fears. My family has a good rapport with a local equipment dealer and often they will send equipment down for me to try out for a week to see if it works for my farm and show to the prior two generations.
Lastly, communication is key when dealing with any type of business – or family. Making sure everyone’s ideas and thoughts are heard and coming to group decision within the family is incredible important. At the end of the day you are still family and that should come first.
Tractor Tunes Tuesday
As a huge music fan, I always have my “tunes” blaring wherever I go. It could be in the Jeep, at the barn, out in the field or in the tractor. In honor of my love of farming and music, I decided to start “Tractor Tunes Tuesday.” Here I will highlight the top ten songs I am currently listening to (and some that are great to blare in the tractor!). I am open to all types of music and if you have any recommendations feel free to pass them along.
- She Thinks My Tractor is Sexy – Kenny Chesney
- Play It Again – Luke Bryan
- Roar – Katy Perry
- Oh, Tonight – Josh Abbott Band feat. Kacey Musgraves
- Aw Naw – Chris Young
- Counting Stars – OneRepublic
- Burn – Ellie Goulding
- Say Something – A Great Big World feat. Christina Aguilera
- Compass – Lady Antebellum
- Shameless – Garth Brooks
Why You Should Hire a Farmer
One of the most frequent questions I get is “where did you get your work ethic from?” Typically I respond “from my parents.” A true statement, however, it wasn’t until my corporate career that I really thought about that question and what it meant. I concluded that my parents instilled that value, though, the tool they used was the farm.
While most kids spent Saturday mornings watching cartoons, I was down at the barn mucking stalls and feeding cows. Then it was time to walk cows as part of my 4-H project. It wasn’t until 11am that I was able to go back inside and “relax.” When I was older, I would take care of my 4-H projects before going to school, then after the conclusion of my school and my sports. Rain, snow, wind or lighting- it didn’t matter as the cows (and pigs) depended on me. My story isn’t different from many of my farming friends and those many people who proudly call themselves farmers.
Farmers don’t work a typically “9-5” job. They work many hours often being on call and ready for anything. Their work week doesn’t stop at forty hours. They are the type of people first in the office in the morning and last out at night. They understand that to get results, hard work and determination is essential.
Farmers are resourceful. They know how to take little resources and turn them into amazing results. It could be seeds that transform into a crop or turning broken equipment into functional. On top of that they know how to maximize their time as the work of a farmer is never done. Prioritizing is second nature.
Farmers are great business people. In the farming industry there are often slim margins and little returns. To be successful in the industry, farmers have to take a dime and make it into a dollar. They have to be their own marketing agents, financial professionals, bankers, and investors. To survive, they have to know every inch of their business and how to get the most of out of it.
Why should you hire a farmer? Farmers are the quintessential employee. Their loyalty, knowledge, dedication and compassion are just some the qualities they possess. They rival the work ethic, understanding, and talents of some of the top CEO’s. Should a resume ever come across your desk with the title “farmer,” make sure hire them – a decision you won’t regret!
My weekend weighing cattle
Good Afternoon!
This past weekend on the farm was busy one. We set out to weigh one of our pens of feeder calves. I had two 4-H’ers here helping along with my family and one of my trusted friends. There were only about ten calves (all born this year). We decided on Saturday as a learning exercise (and a workout) we would tape the calves to get an estimate of the weight.
I should preface that all of our cows are worked with and have daily human interactions. I’m a firm believer that to raise good quality cattle, the more human interaction and the more you work with them, the better they turn out. This is imperative when you have children on the farm or frequent visitors as we have. Even our bull pen is safe for our 4-H’ers to go into (supervised of course). The couple minutes a day or week of working with your cattle can save a headache or injury later on the farm.
However, I digress – back to the story. We taped our calves ranging from 590-860 pounds. It was a scene of many laughs as we haltered them and flung the tape around them hoping not to get pooped on or worse. The process took a little longer than we had hoped (about an hour) but it was a necessary item to cross off our chore list. We also did a couple of the show heifers to track their progress thus far.
On Sunday, we decided to use our portable scale and re-weigh the calves. These calves were all being sold so we decided to use the scale as it is more accurate (and to see how accurate our tape is). I have to say using the scale is MUCH easier and much faster. The calves are in and out in no time and require little movement and stress. The results from the tape were +/- 50 pounds. Not too bad, however, that 50 pounds could have been lost profit which adds up over time. Make sure whenever you sell cattle by the pound (live weight) that your measuring tool is accurate to maximize your return.
Supply Planning
Hello!
I recently posted a blog in reference to tax planning at the end of the calendar year. Moving with that same theme, I wanted to discuss supply planning. During the winter months (and in our industry the “down time”), I like to take inventory of my supplies and plan for the next year. Typically on our beef farm, we start shopping now for items such as baling twine, hay wrap, etc. One of our local dealers lets us buy these types of supplies (at a great price) and lock into a price guarantee. They also like to claim the sale for the current year and let us “buy now, pay later.” This allows us to manage our cash flow, lock in at a great price (save money too!) and plan for the next year’s crops. I don’t know how many times I have heard farmers complain about running out of items in the hay field which often leads to increase cost and lost time. My advice: shop around. Ask your local dealers, grain stores, equipment stores for their pricing and terms of the sale. Most times it is better to buy in bulk to get a greater discount. Ask a trusted local farmer if they want to go in on a large order with you to increase savings for you both and maximize your economies of scale. Don’t be afraid to ask!
Tax Planning for Businesses
Good Afternoon!
I hope wherever you are you are recuperating well from Thanksgiving. As this year starts to wind down, I thought I would share my thoughts about year-end planning. As a tax accountant, I always recommend doing year-end planning. First, it gives you the ability to calculate your tax liability and gives you the opportunity to reflect on this past business year. Second, as with any planning, it allows for the opportunity to implement tax saving strategies to (hopefully) reduce your tax liability. There is very little that can be done after the year-end close, and every opportunity should be done prior. Consulting with your tax advisor, there are several tax strategies to potentially take advantage of. For instance, looking at your cash versus accrual method of accounting and how it relates to your business. Also, are there any assets you can purchase prior to 12/31 to take advantage of depreciation? How about taking bonuses for your shareholders (if you have them and depending on your individual tax rate)? No matter what your business, planning now can save you a headache and lots of wasted money in the future!
*Suggestions and not tax advice. Please consult your accountant or tax advisor as it relates to you.
The High Heeled Farmer 