Nathan Kramer from Stapleton, Nebraska is just transitioning into farming.  His family has partnered with Water Street Solutions for about four years now.  Nathan has these comments about the relationship:

"They've not only helped me with the marketing but also showed me what they were doing and kind of transitioned me into the operation.  They told me what they were doing and also explained it and showed me a lot of the financial side of how things were impacting my operation.  I think it will make my transition smoother.  They've been a great asset and a great teacher for me."

"The relationship I have with my Water Street Market Advisor is great.  I talk to Sam about other things besides just marketing.  He takes an interest in what's going on with the farm and what's going on just in life and he really cares.  He knows my operation very well, maybe better than I do sometimes.  We talk once or twice a week.  He calls me up and tells me what he's done and it's not a big deal because I always know that he's got my best interest in mind.  A lot of the things that I would do if I was on my own wouldn't be the best thing.  It takes my emotions out of it by having Sam do the marketing.  He's not trying to push me away by any means.  It's how I'd prefer it be set up because my emotion gets in the way  and I get either too aggressive or too timid on the marketing.  He's looking at the numbers and seeing the charts and making a more unbiased decision than I can. 

Water Street's got something to offer for anyone that would accept the help.  They do a fabulous job.  It's a real personalized marketing plan.  They get to know your comfort level on the markets and really want to know your operation and always take your input into consideration on everything too."    

The best farmers seem to have a series of rules or processes that they follow, possibly just innately, that help their business out-perform others.  Dean Heffta, the Director of Development for Water Street Solutions has identified these and will be sharing them, piece by piece over the next few months, right here.  The first key to forging farm success is about turning values into action.  He talks about that here with Ken Rahjes from KRVN.  Turning Values into Action - Heffta AUDIO

Remember the little kids in the Family Circus cartoon, and how a lot of the naughty stuff that happened around that house was attributed to "Not Me"?  That's one of the images that I get in my head when I think about personal accountability.  But that's only one piece of it.  Read more about this on Darren Frye's post on Finance First this week on www.farmfutures.com.  You can read it by clicking here.

It's easy to follow the crowd, but harder to take a stance when you're alone in your decision. There can be advantages to thinking differently when it comes to your farming business. This month in Money News in the Illinois AgriNews, Darren Frye, President and CEO of Water Street Solutions, explains the opportunities that surface when you think like a contrarian.

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This is the final rule in The New Rules of Profitable Farming.  Sometimes it seems like it can be the hardest rule as well.  This rule is about setting aside your ego and developing one (or a few) trusted advisors who can help you improve anything about yourself and your business.  In this segment, Water Street Solutions President and CEO Darren Frye talks with Ken Rahjes from KRVN.  Be Open to Feedback - Frye AUDIO

This week Darren Frye, President and CEO of Water Street Solutions talks about learning from mistakes - and the mindset change that we need if we're really going to implement that into our business culture.  The post appears on www.farmfutures.com, or you can access it by clicking here.

We've been talking about The New Rules of Profitable Farming, and we're up to #3 this week.  To review, the first two suggest that you need to know the financial details of your operation and make those decisions, even if you have a consultant helping in this arena.  The second is that you need a plan specific to your operation.  Here we pick up with #3:  Leverage the Tools Frye AUDIO