You may have thought for a long time that you need to start working on your family succession plan for the farm.  Where to start?  In this column of Finance First on www.farmfutures.com, Water Street Solutions' President and CEO Darren Frye suggests a financial analysis is a good tool in the early stages.  Read the column here.

Where you find yourself now is the place where your decisions led you.  In his monthly Money News column in Illinois and Indiana AgriNews, Water Street Solutions President and CEO Darren Frye talks about the importance of good decision making, and learning from past decisions.  Read the article here: IL AgriNews May 27 2011

Many areas of the eastern corn belt are far behind on planting progress, whether it's the first time this season, or round two.  It's a tough decision, often made based on emotion.  If you're looking for some advice, take a look at our new blog on www.farmfutures.com.  It's called Finance First.  Read it here.

Sometimes it's hard to see your shortcomings from your seat at the table.  A good way to reflect on your success or understand where you need help could come from the outside.  In this video, Arlan Suderman of Farm Futures talks about building your own Board of Directors for your farm.

There's some benefit of not thinking and doing the same way as everyone else.  Find out how to capture some of that benefit by reading Finance First this week on www.farmfutures.com.  You can read it by clicking here.

There is definitely opportunity in agriculture, even if it happens to be sandwiched in with the stress Mother Nature can provide.  Water Street Solutions' President and CEO Darren Frye spoke at this year's Commodity Classic on a panel with Arlan Suderman of Farm Futures....and they talked about this issue.  Here's the video.

If you're looking for a business tune-up, it's on the agenda June 7th and 8th in Bettendorf, Iowa as Top Producer announces the agenda for its Summer Seminar.  If you joined them in Chicago in January, you know the place was packed with top farmers from around the country wanting to work on their business and management skills.  Because of high demand, the group has added an additional seminar.  Two of our executives have been tapped to speak.  Darren Frye, our President and CEO will talk Wednesday at 1:30 on The New Rules of Profitable Farming.  Dean Heffta, Director of Development at Water Street Solutions will present The Seven Keys to Forging Farm Success at 11:00 that morning.  Click here for the online agenda and registration.

Our President and CEO, Darren Frye, has been asked to share his wisdom with the readers of www.farmfutures.com each week in a blog we're calling Finance First.  The first installment covers the importance of good decision making.  Farmers have important decisions to make almost daily - but sometimes, we're just not good at that.  Read the post here to get you thinking about how to do a better job.

Sometimes we have such a hard time making a decision, that we just choose not to make a decision.  It's called inaction and it has its own set of consequences.  Water Street Solutions' President and CEO Darren Frye talks here with KRVN's Ken Rahjes about what this means to a producer.  The Risk of Not Doing Anything - Frye AUDIO  For the text of the interview, click here: The Risk of Not Doing Anything

We're looking forward to a stretch of great weather and some long hours in the field.  And all of a sudden the gears shift from the rush of preparation to plenty of time in the tractor seat (as long as the equipment is in good shape).  Dean Heffta, Director of Development at Water Street Solutions talks to KRVN's Ken Rahjes about ways to spend that time to benefit your farming operation.  Tractor Time - Heffta AUDIO    For the text of the interview, click here:  Tractor Time