A panel at the Commodity Classic in March talked about Controlling What You Can Control with regard to the financial aspects of your farm.  At the end, Max Armstrong asked members for their best advice.  Click on this link to the video.  This video is 6 minutes long -- and the discussions are around using the financial tools available -- but understanding those tools first.  Learning, understanding and reflecting was another focus.  And there's some discussion here about the importance of succession planning.       

Do you have enough to do right now?  You want to be pro-active about your marketing plan, but it seems to get pushed to the back burner because you're just busy with fieldwork.  In the big scheme of things, now's really the time to be paying attention to this, as some of the opportunities for pricing can come during the growing season.  Take five minutes to listen to this interview and you can get a much better idea of how this works.  KRVN's Ken Rahjes talks with Water Street Solutions' Market Advisor Chip Nellinger.

May 17 2010 Marketing Discipline During the Growing Season - Nellinger.mp3 (1.43 mb)

For the text of the interview, click here:  Marketing Discipline

If you need some help through this process, call us at 866-249-2528.  If you'd like someone from Water Street Solutions to contact you, e-mail me at klang@waterstreet.org.

There's a video that's going viral that I just saw -- it's baseball sized hail hitting a swimming pool in Oklahoma.  While the affect is dramatic, the damage is certainly not as severe as what would happen with that hail hitting a corn field.  That's why we need to talk about preparing for the hail season.  KRVN's Ken Rahjes spoke with Water Street Solutions' Director of Crop Insurance Sales, Steve Jackson.

May 10 2010 Hail Insurance - Jackson.mp3 (920.54 kb)

Planting season is a dangerous time as we run ourselves ragged trying to get the crop in.  It also provides some good thinking time.  So here's something to think about -- where will your farm be if you suddenly lose one of your partners to illness or injury?  We don't like to think about that - but if we plan, the future will be a lot less stressful.  For more information, check out this article from Illinois AgriNews.

IL AgriNews 4-30-2010.pdf (514.10 kb)

Transferring the farm successfully from one generation to the next is not as easy as it might seem.  The best transfers happen with a thorough discussion and planning session (or two or three) well in advance of the actual transfer of assets.  Many families have a lot of those "things" they'd rather not talk about -- but in this case, it's best when everything is out on the table.  Water Street Solutions' President and CEO Darren Frye talks with KRVN's Ken Rahjes about making the process a success.

April 26 2010 - Succession Planning - Frye.mp3 (2.75 mb)

Here is a link to more information about the book discussed in the interview.  The book is Crucial Conversations:  Tools for Talking When Stakes are High.

For the text of the interview, click here:  Succession Planning Starts with a Crucial Conversation

What if the unthinkable happened and you lost your farming partner to an accident or illness?  Once the initial grieving ended, you'd be wondering how you can possibly continue to farm without the capital you need to buy out his interest.  No matter how morose, these situations need to be planned for, according to Darren Frye, President and CEO of Water Street Solutions.  Darren talks here with Ken Rahjes from KRVN.

April 19 2010 Protecting the Future of a Farming Partnership - Frye.mp3 (3.15 mb)

For the text of the interview, click here:  Protecting the Future of a Farming Partnership

What are the best farmers doing that you're not?  We asked a panel of ag business experts that question at Commodity Classic, and got a variety of answers.  I'm sure you'll learn something if you click here to check out the video.

For the text of this video segment, click here:  Characteristics of the Most Successful Producers

Well I thought HE was going to do it.  Sound familiar?  Something on the farm that you all agreed needed to be done - wasn't.  Rather than point a finger, let's look at the process for setting up the project, and make sure responsibilities were clearly communicated.  Water Street Solutions' Director of Development Dean Heffta talks with KRVN's Ken Rahjes about using a process captured in the acronym RACI.  Make sure someone is Accountable, Responsible, Consulted and Informed.  Listen to the interview.    

April 12 2010 Establishing Responsibility - Heffta.mp3 (3.27 mb) 

For the text of the interview, click here:  Establishing Responsibility for Better Results

How do you plan for profitability?  It's really about having a system and then employing the discipline to use the system.  A recent article in Illinois AgriNews explores the topic with input from Water Street Solutions' Director of Finance Joe Delheimer and Vice President of Insurance Deb Etheridge.  View the article here.

IL Ag news March 2010.pdf (58.32 kb)

There are never enough hours in the day.  Come on, you've said it.  But let's think about where we could all be if we could do a better job of delegating.  It sounds like a simple process, but there are a few tricks to doing it well.  Water Street Solutions' Director of Development Dean Heffta talks here with KRVN's Ken Rahjes.

April 5 2010 The Power of Delegation - Heffta.mp3 (3.66 mb)

For the text of the interview, click here: The Power of Delegation