The financial part of farming could get a little more challenging in 2012.  We're seeing input costs rise while grain prices are receding, compared to where they have been the last couple years.  Making a profit becomes more challenging this year.  Ken Rajhes from KRVN talks here with Tim Brhel, an Ag Finance Specialist with Water Street Solutions about how to get to your financial A game for this year.  The Difference with 2012 Brhel AUDIO

For the text of the interview, click here: The Difference with 2012

We often think about legacy planning as something that happens at a single point in time when you sit down with a lawyer and an accountant.  But the heart of legacy planning happens daily in what you do in front of people, in how you communicate with them.  Here Dean Heffta, Director of Development for Water Street Solutions talks with Ken Rahjes from KRVN about looking at legacy planning another way.  Your Legacy is What You Model Every Day - Heffta AUDIO

For the text of the interview, click here: Your Legacy is What You Model Every Day

As we build larger operations, we need people to help us, but often we don't have the skills to get the best productivity from our people.  Today Darren Frye, President and CEO of Water Street Solutions takes us from working with machines to working with people.  Read his www.farmfutures.com post here.

Today Mike Gustafson, Chief Operating Officer for Water Street Solutions wraps up the series about the CEO farmer with Ken Rahjes of KRVN.  Learn what you should be doing to run your farm like a business and why that's incredibly important in today's economy. The CEO Farmer - Gustafson AUDIO

For the text of the interview, click here: Rules for the CEO Farmer

It seems like the rules in the competitive environment of agriculture today are constantly changing. This month in Money News in the Illinois AgriNews, Darren Frye, President and CEO of Water Street Solutions, discusses two of the "new rules" of farm profitability - and how to use that knowledge to your advantage on your farm.

ILAgrinews_2012_Feb_RulesProvideStrategy

Once you start managing people on the farm, the whole dynamic changes and you have to communicate more.  Especially if people are new to your operation (as in "not your family") it's important to lay out expectations.  In another segment on the CEO farmer, Mike Gustafson, Chief Operating Officer with Water Street Solutions talks with Ken Rahjes from KRVN about setting and communicating standard procedures.  CEO Farmers Set Procedures - Gustafson AUDIO

For the text of the interview, click here: The CEO Farmer Sets Standard Procedures

You can't do it all in farming today.  You need help with some of it and sometimes that means hiring a trusted advisor.  Darren Frye, President and CEO of Water Street Solutions discusses how to go about that selection process.  You can find the post on www.farmfutures.com or read it by clicking here.

If you're going to run a farm these days, you have to be a business person, a CEO.  Today Mike Gustafson, Chief Operating Officer of Water Street Solutions, continues his conversation with Ken Rahjes from KRVN about what it takes to be a CEO on the farm. The CEO Farmer - Gustafson AUDIO

For the text of the interview, click here: The CEO Farmer

Brigitte Franzen, a Certified Financial Planner with Water Street Solutions' Legacy Department is one of the speakers at an upcoming conference.  The Agri-Legacy Conference will be held on February 23rd at the Decatur Conference Center and Hotel in Decatur, IL.  Attendees will learn how to address a variety of legal and financial challenges, as well as bringing the family together for goal setting and thorough communication.  For more information and registration, click here.