Ag View Solutions: who we are, what we do

Shay: And it all comes down to this. Two on, two out, bottom of the ninth.

Chris: The Farmers lead by one. Full count. Here comes the play at the plate, and it's the Ag View Pitch!

Shay: Everyone, to the Ag View Pitch. My name is Shay Foulk, and joining me today is Chris Barron. And it's probably the first time you've heard both of us on here in a while together, but we've been talking and thought, well, let's take a step back on Ag View Solutions and we work with producers a lot and say, hey, you know, take a second to work on your business and not just in your business. So we thought we'd do the same thing here, talk a little bit today about what Ag View Solutions is, what we do, and how we're working with operations across the country. So I guess, Chris, if you wanted to kick it off here and tell the listeners a little bit more.

Chris: I'll start out by what you said, Shay, about working on your business. There's probably some pretty big opportunities in the next several months during harvest for people to work on their business in their mind while they're actually during harvest. You can do a lot of thinking and keeping a notepad with you and writing some of those notes down as you're thinking through things. I think that's really a key component to just good business practices. A lot of times we have those things that go through our mind on you know, really good ideas, but then they just get bypassed because we're busy doing a thousand other things. And part of working on your business is making sure you document those concepts and ideas as they come up, because a lot of times you can apply those later on. I'll answer your question now that you asked.

Where we've been, you know, we started out realistically about 24 years ago with Profit Manager. My dad basically got me thinking that way. You know, we raised hogs for my whole career, you know, 20 years I spent, you know, in a farrow-to-finish farm operation with livestock. And when we got rid of the livestock, my dad challenged me to track records as good as we do, or as good as we did with the hogs. And his point was, you know, it needs to be on one sheet. You need to know your cost of production. You need to know if it, if it takes $300,000 to put the crop in, you know, how do you make $310,000, or how do you make $320,000, or, you know, how do you, how do you measure it, and then how do you improve it, and how do you make sure that you manage it, making sure that you're looking at farming from a business standpoint and not just farming, right?

And so that's really what led, led us to building the Tool Profit Manager. And actually did that when I was in college with a roommate at the time. I didn't even know how to turn a computer on, and my college roommate was, was a pretty smart computer person. And so I just basically wrote out the, the picture of what I wanted Profit Manager to be, and together him and I built, built the program, and it's, and it's grown obviously from there. Then what happened was we got into the machinery and equipment component of analysis, because one of the things we learned right away quick was that nobody really knew what their machinery and equipment costs were. And we've learned that now, that a lot of people people don't still really know how to calculate machinery and equipment costs and, um, to a per-bushel basis. And that's really critical because we sell our grain on a per-bushel basis.

And so what we do is we look at machinery and equipment on a per-pass basis. So we look at how many passes we do on a given farm or a given entity, we understand what the cost of that pass is, and then we back into those numbers, divide it by the bushels produced, and then we know what our cost per bushel for machinery is. And then we analyze that equipment throughout the year and do an annual balance sheet, you know, and do an appraisal every single year in the same exact way so that we know, based on our machinery equipment, when is it time to trade something. Should we run something a few more years or should we trade it? And machinery and equipment is the second largest line item expense, so it's a really critical one to get dialed in for that, that point.

And then, and then that kind of led to collaboration, the machinery, you know, we're working on machinery with people and they start looking across the fence and the neighbor's got a combine and I've got a combine, and if we shared, you know, what would that look like? And the economic piece of collaboration is a no-brainer. The challenge though is the people. And so as we started working with people trying to figure out How do we help people get along better? Then we started looking at business structure and family dynamics and okay, how do we now help with communication, help with, you know, with better interaction between father-son, you know, neighbor, cousin, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, all that kind of stuff.

And all those dynamics started leading into, okay, we can get the numbers right, but then it can get all screwed up when people can't communicate and when people don't get along or when there is the absence of structure. Structure. So that's how we started getting into, okay, we better start structuring this stuff at the same time as we develop these numbers, you know. And then, and then that led into just having us have a better understanding in the multi-generational dynamics of operations, and which has led us to helping a lot of father-son operations transition from one generation to the next. And, and, and back to the collaboration piece too, about 40% of the farm operations don't have anyone to transition over to that's family.

And so that's a pretty large percentage of farm operations that are out there yet today that really may not have a transition plan or really know who's going to take over the farm someday. And so that creates a lot of opportunities for existing farm operations if, if people can start to kind of look around and say, okay, who could I possibly work with? I always tell people it's easy to think of, you know, 10 neighbors that you wouldn't work with in a million years for whatever reason. But on the other hand, you know, can you think of 1 or 2 people in your community or in your county or in a neighboring county that maybe you could function with really well? And what would that look like? What do the numbers look like?

And how does that change your business to not only be sustainable but to be very profitable and to create a really you know, great growth opportunity for, for your farm operation and your family.

Shay: So let's caveat off that point there with this story. It really morphed into this business over time because you were living it, you know, as a farmer. When your father said, hey, we really need to know our cost of production, you started to dial in and realize, hey, there's a lot of room for improvement here. We can help a lot of people with this. These are you know, speaking to your truths, these are things that you have done and developed and implemented right here on the operation where we sit today.

Chris: Yeah, and that's, that's very true. I mean, I, I live and breathe this stuff too. Um, you know, we had— we have the same family challenges and issues in our farm operation as everybody else does. I mean, I, I grew up with, with my dad who was a great business person, but he was a not a very good communicator. You know, his way of communicating was yelling at you and, you know, saying, "What the hell are you doing? Go do this, go do that," you know. And I think part of it's generational, and I think part of it's just different personalities. And I always had more of a laid-back personality, yet I wanted to do the work. I was there getting stuff done. But, you know, I farmed with my brother and my brother-in-law, and other family members and some employees. And no matter how we do this in our farm operations, it's the communication that's always the toughest part.

And so, you know, we bring in a third-party consultant even in our farm operation. I'm not— I can't in my own farm operation be the solution because— and that's where the value of Ag View comes in and how we can help people is because we're a third party. We don't have that emotional connectivity to that operation. We look at it objectively and we look at it, you know, from, from an outside perspective, whereas, you know, when, when I'm trying to run the operation here and I just can't know everything.

Shay: Right, and I think a difference too is we're truly here to help. We are integratedly involved with the operations and the clients that we work with, as well as the, the people on the farm operation. So, you know, that, that takes us from where we've been and it lands us to where we are here today, you know, sitting here having this conversation for the listeners and for the people watching. So let's talk a little bit about how the business has morphed as we've learned more over time and where that's taken us to this point today.

Chris: Yeah, well, we've really become, I think, more of, you know, just in all the stuff I just described, you know, we've become more of a risk management business where we look at, you know, we just get done talking about communication. Communication risk, you know, is one big thing. You know, if you have a breakdown in communication, it can derail a an operation instantaneously. It doesn't matter if you have all the money in the world, if people can't get along and can't function, it's just not going to work. And so, you know, we focus on the people part really first. You know, when we come in and we look at, you know, how the operation's being ran, you know, what are the dynamics of the whole business? It's not just the numbers, it's, you know, what are the situations that you're in?

Because most farm operations can look across the fence and say, well, why, why is that person doing what they're doing? That doesn't look right. Well, everybody's doing the things they're doing because their situation is very different and very unique. And so when we come in, you know, we can, we can kind of help think about, you know, what are the threats that exist within their operation and help identify those and then try to figure out how do we mitigate those threats. So that's, that's kind of why we, you know, we look at that from a marketing perspective You know, we've been working pretty closely with Dwayne Lowery, obviously, since about May, and he's been a great contributor to Ag View Solutions in terms of just helping us bring some market perspective to growers. And so it's the marketing piece.

Since you've gotten, you know, out of the Army and you've come back and you're working with us, you know, you've brought a huge safety component to the operation. You know, that's a passion that you have. And so we're not only just doing, you know, risk management from the business standpoint, but one of the biggest threats in our farm operations is just purely the safety, you know. And so you've been very focused on that. That's going to be a huge thing, I think, as we go forward, as we build into that.

Shay: Well, and working through a lot of these things in the business too, it even comes back to a safety standpoint and risk management standpoint. From mental health. When you look at the profit management and, you know, these dealings with family and the dealings with business collaborations and structuring, there's a lot going on there. And, you know, with Mental Health Awareness Week here on us in October, something that we need to point out is, you know, we're doing this because we really care about the operations that we work with, and we've, we've taken a lot of experience. And the other thing too is not that, not that operations are doing things poorly at all by any means, It's to take good operations and help make them better and help make them great, grow them.

You know, you might have 5 things going on in your business between your profit centers, business, the insurance, communication, safety, marketing, whatever it is. And you might be doing 4 of those extremely well. And how does Ag View Solutions fit in to help you with the 2 that you think you can really improve in? So this isn't a, a business that is just focused on fixing what's wrong. It's helping you get to that next level.

Chris: We don't have all the answers. We're there to help kind of find a few of the solutions in the gap areas. Because like you said, most of the farm operations anymore are so good agronomy-wise. I mean, we've figured out the production side so well, and we've got great seed companies and crop protection businesses and all these, you know, co-ops and different people out there helping us do that. And we do those things because it's fun. I mean, I, I like nothing better than to, you know, go jump in a tractor or go jump in the combine, but what's making us money? You know, where, where's the revenue coming from? You know, and it's not that you can't be running the combine and thinking about a lot of things and coming up with some good solutions, but you better be documenting that stuff, and then you better implement it.

You better figure out, okay, how do we, how do we implement this then this winter? You know, great idea, but What are you going to do with it? You know, right? You got to take action. And that's where we're here, hopefully, to hold people accountable. You know, so, you know, we say we're going to do this and we're going to do that, but then do we really do it?

Shay: And that builds into one of the offerings of where we are today that built into our peer groups, right? And so one of the things that the members of the peer group really enjoy is having that sense of accountability, working with operations that are truly progressive and have the same vision and same goal where they've sat in the combine and they've had the idea and they've documented it. Now they just need help implementing it and learning from other operations out there. And, you know, another, another point of value that we're bringing is by doing what we're doing right now. This podcast, uh, it was started just to provide value to our clients, and, and we've grown to a larger base where we're hopefully providing value to a lot of listeners out there, a lot of new farm operations that maybe haven't heard of us.

But, you know, this is something that you can take with you in the combine, whether we're talking about the Harvest Series that we have going on, agronomic things, marketing, or, or business, or Dad's Wisdom, right? And the video series as well, of just being able to tune in when you have time, get the endorphins and the thoughts flowing in your mind, and, you know, take you to that next level.

Chris: Well, it helps all of us, I think. I mean, And, you know, I'll— we're going to be working on the dryer this afternoon, working on things out in the farm. I mean, we take half an hour and record this, and we don't sit down and have this major script. I mean, we think about what we're going to talk about, but at the same time, we're just trying to get better at doing business. And that's what we're in the business of doing, is helping everybody improve, helping everybody become more efficient. And that helps us too, quite frankly. You know, part of the reason I love doing this and helping people as it helps us. And one of the things, you know, and a lot of people have heard me say this if they've heard me speak before, but it's the old Zig Ziglar comment, you know, if you help enough other people get what they want, you'll get what you want.

And that's, it's just an absolute cool thing when you can help somebody through a challenge, come up with a solution, and then they can go on to the next thing. You know, and we deal with the same thing here in our operation every day.

Shay: Yeah, well, and that's a great point. So with, with the farming operation here of being involved, you're, you're learning from the people that we work with, the clients that we work with, uh, the peer groups. I think everybody's commented that they got more out of being a member and watching someone else's operation and diving into that than they actually did of their own operation. Not that they didn't learn anything, but It's so insightful to learn from other people. And then myself, I farm with my father-in-law in Northwest Illinois and taking a lot of the things that I've learned here already in my short time and applying that to the operation. You know, we're truly— we're growing together, I think, and we're working together towards that. So let's talk a little bit more about, you know, where we're going, where does this lead from here?

And, you know, as the business is today, we just want to continue to provide the most value to the farmers and clients we work with.

Chris: Yeah, I think the big thing really, Shay, is that if we can continue to do a good job of listening to what are the needs that farmers have, and we have a pretty good idea because we're living and breathing it too. And that's the thing I like about, you know, you coming back and you're not just doing quote-unquote consulting or working with growers or whatever, you're actually on the farm doing stuff with your father-in-law. And I think that's, that's a testament to understanding what's really going on on the farm. Because if you don't live it, it's pretty easy to tell somebody what to do and, oh, you can fix this by doing this. Well, good luck, because the real world comes into play. And so you got to understand, you know, what, you know, who are you working with, how are they trying to help you.

And, and we even see that sometimes with other industries that really are trying to help us as farmers, but they sometimes don't really understand the emotions and the challenges and how we're dealing with issues of lack of profitability and all those kind of things. So it's easy to give advice, but it's really hard to implement it. And so I think that's where we're unique in that aspect as we move forward. You know, we're living and breathing it too, so I think we can bring that to people. The peer group thing too, I just want to say I can say something about that is, you know, we've had one peer group for about 4 years now, and we've been to all the farms, and what we're doing there I think is an awesome opportunity for farm operations to learn from their peers.

We don't know everything, and one thing we've learned is that, you know, if we can put a group of 7 or 8 farms together and have them take turns going to each farm with with 2 meetings a year, one in the summer and one in the wintertime, and we all get to go and spend a couple of days at that farm and do a SWOT analysis, interview the farm, the people that are involved in the operation, whether it's spouses or bankers or whatever. We all learn, like you were saying a little bit ago, I mean, we all learn from that peer group experience. And then at the end of the day or at the end of the meeting when the peers and we document, you know, here are some, you know, some action items that your peers are telling you that you could do for your farm operation or for your business to improve. That's massive.

I mean, how many other industries, you know, could have, you know, 7 of their peers come in, drill into their operation, look at their financials, look at their family dynamics, look at all the the issues and opportunities, strengths, weaknesses, and threats that they have, combine all that stuff in a couple of days and say, here, you know, here's what we think you should, you should be doing and what you should be focused on, and then be there to hold you accountable as time goes on and be there to, to be your friend and to be, you know, connected to your operation and really care. And one of the best things I thought Shay and You know, we went to our second peer group meeting and, and what, you know, we heard it over and over again. And people for the first time when we brought, you know, 7 operations together, they all came there. Nobody knew each other.

And, and during the course of the 2.5 days that we were there on the farm that was hosting us, it was a large dairy operation in Wisconsin. They did a phenomenal job of hosting us. And it was just really cool because everybody showed up. Nobody knew each other. We were all kind of awkward that first night eating dinner and networking and talking. By the time the meeting was done, everybody was hugging and, you know, it's like, this is really cool because, you know, now all of a sudden you have lifelong friends just in 2 days, you know. And the other cool part of it is, is we were all at a dairy and 6 of the 7 operations knew nothing about dairy.

And by the time we all left, we, we learned a ton about the dairy industry And how many things, even though that's different than the crop operations, we learned a ton of things about just making good business decisions, how, how they looked at their business, how they used consultants. That farm operation uses consultants in about 3 aspects of their business just to bring outside perspective in. And I think it's just, it's this great opportunity. So I, I went from 5 or 6 years ago being a little skeptical on peer groups and what could we learn and does that really add value to being a huge believer in peer groups now after living it.

Again, you know, you can— it's easy to criticize something you don't understand, but when you live it and start to do it and start through the process, then you can be critical of it if you want, but you can also realize how much value there is in something if you do it.

Shay: Yeah, right. And I— you, you had a key point there at the beginning in that we don't have all the answers, you know. You and I and the Ag View Solutions team, Dwayne, we don't have all the answers here, but we know a lot of people that we can reach out to and say, you know, maybe, you know, we don't have the solution to this, but we have this operation that is in need of your help, whoever it may be. Or, you know, doing the peer group facilitation to have that peer learning take place. And I think that's so important because a lot of times you don't know what you don't know. But if something's wrong, we might not be the right people per se to get you where you need to be, we can help with a lot of things. But if not, you know, we're, we're going to refer you to the right people.

We're going to get you where you need to go because that's the importance of building the business and building the operation is truly providing value to the people that we work with.

Chris: Yeah, we're that outside set of eyes. We can sit down and kind of help you crunch the numbers. We can help you get things dialed in. But ultimately, at the end of the day, the producer is the executive director of their business. And so we're not going to come in and say, "You need to do this, you need to do that." We're going to help you put all your information together and then help you develop solutions for your operation so that you can, you know, move forward and feel confident that you've at least done everything you can do. You know, I mean, we can't make the markets better, we can't change the weather. But we can manage around those things, and that's really what we're there to try to do.

Shay: Any last thoughts on, you know, who Ag View Solutions is and what we do?

Chris: Yeah, I think we're farmers. I mean, that's— we are there to partner, to go side by side with them. Like I said, I can't in my farm operation be our consultant, because I'm too emotionally connected to our farm operation. But I can go to a whole bunch of other farm operations and see things that they can't see. Or if I have a conversation with father and son and we separate them and I have a conversation with dad, I can tell dad things that the son's trying to tell him and the son could could say the same thing all day long, 1,000 times, and beat their head against the wall, and dad's never gonna listen. But if I say, "I think you need to consider, you know, trading that tractor," and the son might be saying that for the last 2 years, and the dad's like, "No way," you know, and he listens to me.

Or conversely, the other way, you know, the son might be so smart that dad knows nothing. So then when I have a conversation, or we as a team, have a conversation with the son and say, "You know, your dad's got some experience here. He kind of knows what he's talking about. Maybe you should throttle back for a year, let this play out." And then, you know, so that's a lot of times is just being a mediator or facilitator of communication that, or the conduit, really fixes a lot of things. And so I think that's really the key thing for us to be thinking about, you know, as we go into it. New planning season of setting up for 2020, setting up for a good business opportunity. I think we just need to kind of look out at the horizon and say, what things do we need to be doing to improve our business?

Shay: How can we work on our business in 2020 and not just in our business?

Chris: It's just like we started the conversation, you know, we can spend a lot of time working in our business. It's a lot more fun to go in the shop sometimes than it is the office. But the office is where the solutions are going to come from.

Shay: There's a lot of ways the people listening can get a hold of us. Number one, listen into the Ag View Pitch. We're posting anywhere from 2 to 5 pieces of content a week just to provide value to the producers out there. So definitely check us out on there. Share, share with friends and family or anybody that you think needs to hear this message or could get value from us. You can reach out to Chris.

Chris: 319-533-5703. That's good that you know my number. Yeah, I don't even hardly know my number.

Shay: You can, uh, you can join us on Facebook, and, uh, you know, there's a lot of different ways that you can reach out to us, so please do that. We really enjoy every operation that we work with. I mean, we learn something every time, and, uh, you know, if you have any questions, please reach out to us. So Chris, thanks for having the conversation today.

Chris: Thanks, Shay. You're doing a great job too. You've brought the professionalism of our business up a lot.

Shay: Well, appreciate it. Proud to be part of the team. So thanks everyone for joining us here and we will catch you next time on the Ag View Pitch. Thanks again for listening, everyone. If you would like to hear more content from Ag View Solutions, listen to our other podcasts such as Dad's Wisdom or our current Harvest Series. Ag View Solutions works as an integral part of operations like yours, side by side for farm profit management, business collaboration and structuring, facilitating industry-leading peer groups, and coaching and consulting tailored to your farm's unique needs. We know that no two farms are the same, and we are here to help make your farm be the best it can be. You can learn more at agviewsolutions.com, email us at agviewpitch@gmail.com, or call Chris Barron at 319-533-5703. We really look forward to talking with you.