The rental ground you farm may go through an ownership transition in the next 20 years - just like 60% of farmland in the U.S.  Building strong relationships with your landlords now can be a proactive approach to the land transition process. In his weekly Finance First post on www.farmfutures.com, Darren Frye, President and CEO of Water Street Solutions shares a few more ideas on how to reach out and relate to all of your landlords. Read it HERE.

Continuing education is a regular part of what goes on at Water Street Solutions.  A group of our clients are in the Peoria office this week learning from each other and from Water Street staff.  Here, Dean Heffta, Senior Director of Development, works through Forte' personality profiles with attendees.  Each person at the forum fills out a short online survey and the results are revealed during this session.  Those in the room learn ways to improve their communications with their partners, employees, family and Water Street advisors.

Re-evaluating how we've been doing things or trying something different than what our neighbors are doing can help take our farm operations to the next level. This month, Dean Heffta, Senior Director of Development at Water Street Solutions talks about how thinking differently can be an advantage on the farm in his Profits column in Corn and Soybean Digest.  Read it HERE.

The first thing we usually think about in terms of growing the farm is adding more acres. But are there other things you can do to increase your revenue - without buying or cash renting more land? This month in Money Matters in Indiana AgriNews, Darren Frye, President and CEO of Water Street Solutions talks about the other areas of your farm business that affect your profitability the most - and some things you can do.

INAgrinews_2013_Feb_More land isn't the only way to increase revenue

Water Street Solutions will award five college scholarships to ag students for the 2013-14 academic year. The award includes a $1,600 scholarship and tuition to attend the 2013 Agriculture Future of America Leaders Conference ($1,000 value). Students from Illinois, Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota and Kentucky are eligible to apply for these scholarships, and must be enrolled or intend to enroll in an ag-related four year degree program.

Click here for more information on how to apply.  The deadline to apply is March 15, 2013.

Land prices are rising, in part because farmers compete for it in order to grow their operations.  Darren Frye, President and CEO of Water Street Solutions looks at this another way - other ways to add profit without the expense of adding acres.  He talks about this with Dewey Nelson from KRVN.   Growing the Farm Without Adding Acres - Frye AUDIO

For the text of the interview, click here: Growing the Farm without Adding Acres

Kory Beyl, a Legacy Advisor with Water Street Solutions will be giving two seminars at this year's Triumph of Ag Expo at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha.  The title of the session is "How to Kick Start your Family's Succession Plan".  Beyl will discuss the risks involved in not having a plan in place, why you need more than just a will, and how to overcome some of the obstacles to getting started.  Beyl's sessions are Wednesday, March 6th at 12:00 noon and Thursday, March 7th at 1:00 p.m. in Seminar Room #1.

In the next 20 years, 60% of U.S. farmland, or about 108 million acres, is going to change hands. So what's going to happen to your rental ground - and how do your relationships with your landlords fit into that picture? In his weekly Finance First post on www.farmfutures.com, Darren Frye, President and CEO of Water Street Solutions talks about what you can do now to reduce uncertainty about your rental ground.  Read it HERE.

Everybody's thinking about farming more acres.  But what about squeezing more money out of the acres that you already have access to?  That's the idea that Darren Frye, President and CEO of Water Street Solutions talks about this month in AgriNews.  Read the column HERE.

Darren Frye, President and CEO of Water Street Solutions spoke to farmers today in Shenandoah, Iowa at a farm management seminar hosted by City National Bank.  Frye presented a session titled: Winning with Base Hits, where he talked about the importance of continuous good decisions, rather than swinging for a grand slam.  He also did a market outlook session for those in attendance.