Dad's wisdom: Part 1 with Gary Nelson

Narrator: Welcome to a special edition series that we are calling Dad's Wisdom. Enjoy the wisdom and perspective that our senior peers in agriculture can bring. We will be running the series over the next several months, so if you know of a farmer with many years of experience that you feel would be a good fit for an interview, please let us know. Enjoy.

Shay

Foulk: Welcome to another episode of the Ag View Pitch and the Dad's Wisdom series. And today we're here with Gary Nelson, and he farms in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Webster County. So we're here today. How's it going today, Gary?

Gary

Nelson: Real good. Beautiful day, just waiting for it to dry up and start combining.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, we're getting real close to harvest here. And so since it's wet out, I guess we can have a few minutes here to corner you and have a little conversation about how you got started farming and give us a little wisdom on, on some of the things you learned. You've had an interesting career over your lifetime and excited to get going on that. So why don't you give us a little history on kind of how you got started farming here in this location?

Gary

Nelson: Okay, how I got started was my grandfather farmed and I started with him. I was in 12th grade and And his, my uncle was farming before and needed to retire and step back a little bit. So I was a city boy living in town with my mom and my stepdad in Altoona and went to Southeast Polk High School and had a great VocAg FFA teacher and stuff. And that, and so the chance to take over the farm, the first year I was able to rent 80 acres from my grandfather, which was part of the ground that he had. My uncle had the rest. And so I actually got out of my senior year of high school at half midterm and been saving up a lot of money to as much as I could working and bought a tractor and got married and thought that's all I needed and got me this far.

Shay

Foulk: So what age were you? So you were what, 18 and you got married? Tell me a little bit about that.

Gary

Nelson: Yeah, I was 18, like I said, the middle of my senior year. And had a, you know, really hot girlfriend, and now she's my hot wife and stuff. And we've— we're completing our 46th year together of farming together and stuff and that. So we just took off and had lots of big dreams and high hopes and, and not a lot of money, but here we are today.

Shay

Foulk: So I understand it right, you guys got married and she still had 2 years of high school left, is that right?

Gary

Nelson: Yes, she did. It was very unusual. Her parents loved me, which, you know, to know me is to, you know—

Shay

Foulk: Is to love you, right?

Gary

Nelson: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they said we could get married, and she took her 11th and 12th grade classes in one year. I mean, I registered her in high school here because she was a Des Moines girl, and she rode the school bus part of the time, and she never went a full 5 days straight. We always had one day that, you know, I just needed her around the house at home, so And but yeah, we, that first year was different, but you know, we just, it was awesome. And really, you know, we finished growing up together.

Shay

Foulk: You guys must have been really mature at 18 and 16 to be able to accomplish what you did those first couple of years just to kind of survive and to grow together and to mature together.

Gary

Nelson: Yeah, we did. The main thing is I had a house that went with the farm. And that was a big thing and stuff. And so her parents agreed to it, wanted her to finish high school, and she did. You know, we honored that, and they were great, a part of our lives. They never farmed or anything, but just encouraging and stuff and, and stuff, and, um, you know, being there, um, in the good and the bad.

Shay

Foulk: So two questions: give me the time frame. So what year was that, and how many acres were you farming as a senior, just, just graduated from high school?

Gary

Nelson: Yeah, um, uh, like I say, in January is 1973, and I had rented 80 acres, and, and I had saved up enough money to put a decent down payment on a tractor. I bought a brand new tractor. It was a 1967 Minneapolis Moline, and I paid $7,500 for it. And I had, I had $2,000 to put down, you know, on it. And I started farming, and that's all that I had was a tractor.

Shay

Foulk: So how did you get the rest of the work done? Was it with, with neighbors helping some, or—

Gary

Nelson: yeah, I, um, did custom anhydrous work for our elevator, um, and so long hours there. And then two neighbors came in and, and one brought his crust buster over and I hooked onto it, and he brought his planter, and then another guy spread my dry fertilizer for me. So we planted my crop in one day, and then I went back to doing custom anhydrous for the elevator.

Shay

Foulk: Gotcha. So who really got you going then? You know, so your grandpa, but tell us a little bit more about that.

Gary

Nelson: Yeah, my grandpa gave me the opportunity. That first year I had 80 acres and did a lot of custom work. And what's really, um, bizarre right now, um, this same elevator is still here. It's really grown. But now my son and I own a company and we sell most of the anhydrous applicators to this elevator that they use that I worked for when I got me started. Yeah, New Co-op from Fort Dodge. Okay. 36 locations.

Shay

Foulk: Okay. And then you guys have a company as well.

Gary

Nelson: Yes, Brokaw Supply. And so we— they're a great customer, great relationship. But I just thought it's ironic here. I worked, you know, doing custom anhydrous for them with one of their buyers. And now, you know, I own a company with my son that we sell anhydrous applicators to them.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah. That's awesome. That's great. So tell me a little bit more as time went on. So that kind of got you started. You're a couple of years into farming. How are things going?

Gary

Nelson: It was a great time in agriculture. I didn't know it at the time. I just thought it was always like that. My grandfather lived for 2 years, so he— I farmed with him '73 and '74, and then he passed away. And I thought I was pretty smart, but I was not. 2 years later, I was in financial trouble. So within 2 years after his passing, I just never went out and found that mentor, that older person that was successful to get advice from. And like I say, I thought I was pretty smart, but I was not. I was in trouble.

Shay

Foulk: So tell me about that. What, what, what were the issues?

Gary

Nelson: That was 1977. Uh, it was a lot of mismanagement. I started out working very hard physically, but I didn't look at, uh, pay much attention to management or grain marketing. I didn't pay any attention to grain marketing. No one had ever taught me. Just, you know, took it to the elevator and sold it and paid bills and stuff. And also, I did get in with a very liberal banker. I can remember going in wanting to borrow to buy a used plow. He says, just go buy a new one. And I did. And, um, in those days, things were booming, inflation was high, you know, and I had a great credit rating. Before that and just borrowed too much money, which was too easy to do.

Shay

Foulk: And then, so as that's going on, what was the conversation like? I mean, what, where did, how did you decide to keep farming? How did you keep farming working through that?

Gary

Nelson: Yeah, we hit bottom in 1977. I did have my second child born then.

Shay

Foulk: So you have two children?

Gary

Nelson: Yes, at that time. Then we had two, we have a total of three. But our daughter came along in that fall, and I can honestly say, you know, we were so, so poor I couldn't buy her a dress until she was a year old, you know. She dressed like a boy because our first child was a boy, you know, and at that age they don't really care. But just, you know, how tight money was. We thought about bankruptcy, but not very long. Just, you know, I felt we could work out of it, and I had a When I sold all the stuff that I couldn't afford and regrouped and got rid of, you know, stuff I couldn't afford and ground that wasn't profitable, we had a negative net worth. And you try and go to a bank with a negative net worth and they won't, they won't even talk to you.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, so, so how, how did they allow you to not take bankruptcy?

Gary

Nelson: Okay, um, we applied for with FHA and stuff. And, um, they, you know, we had to go before the committee and they just bluntly asked, why do you want to keep farming? You know, and, um, we could cash flow pulling out. And then, um, I did have my grandmother loaned me enough money to an unsecured loan to my net worth was zero, you know, on paper, I'll say unsecured. So we could obtain an operating loan and stuff. And we did, um, I probably had a negative net worth for 3 years, you know. And, and back then, just, you know, things crashed, you know how cycles go. I started in a great cycle, thought it was always like that and didn't know any better.

Shay

Foulk: That one heck of a lesson, didn't you?

Gary

Nelson: Yeah, that was my college education. I, you know, I should have gone to college, but I had the chance to farm and I took it. It wouldn't have been there after college, you know.

Shay

Foulk: All lessons are expensive, even college, even, even the real world, right?

Gary

Nelson: Yeah, we paid for that. And then There are just different things, like my fuel man. In the fall of '77, you know, the bank kind of just came in and took all of our crops we had, and I couldn't pay all my bills. I can remember my fuel man, I owed him money, and he had a truck stop, and I said, can I work it off, you know? And so I went in and worked my bill off with him and stuff, and it was great. People, you know, appreciated— he had to sign off that he wouldn't sue me or anything and give me time to pay it off. And, and I paid it off, and, and we were great friends for many years.

Shay

Foulk: That's awesome. Um, one other thing too that, you know, I've had an opportunity to talk to Dave, your son. Um, and like I said, you have two daughters as well. Um, Dave and I have talked a little bit, and he sent us some great information that was in the intro to this podcast, and One thing that I think is very important for a lot of us when we're going through these challenges is faith, and I think that's something that, that you found. Can you talk a little bit about your faith and maybe how that kind of really helped you through stuff?

Gary

Nelson: Yeah, um, you know, after our, our financial crash, you know, I, I went into a deep depression and stuff, and, and blaming myself and stuff, but just, um, knew that, you know, my Grandma— my grandfather helped me start farming, and then when I crashed, and, and, uh, my grandmother then helped me. And at that time, um, you know, we, um, just, you know, got our marriage back together because it was very hard. We had a lot of pressure and, and disagreements and stuff and, and, and that. And then I started going out and getting older area farmers and asking their advice and stuff. And I thought you could ask your banker, but like I said, I had a bad experience with a banker. Um, in fact, my banker— this banker went to prison for some of the stuff he did, not with me but other people. Just, it wasn't a good, good relationship. Yeah.

Shay

Foulk: So, um, but again, on the faith part, back to that for just a second, and then we'll get back to the lender part. But, um, as that— as you stepped into faith, how did that kind of help you through it then?

Gary

Nelson: My wife had grown up in a strong Christian home, and then when I was dating her, I realized that I could spend more time with her by going to church and Sunday school and youth group with her.

Shay

Foulk: You had that figured out.

Gary

Nelson: Yes, I did, and stuff, and you know, it just came down to, you know, you realize, okay, just when you come to a crisis in your life, you know, just how serious your relationship with the Lord is and stuff. And, and, um, I had a tough time period there and stuff. And just, um, you know, I wasn't going to let my family down. I sure wasn't going to let my grandmother down. And, and, you know, we worked hard to repay that unsecured debt. And can you imagine farming 3 years with a negative net worth? And then, you know, paying her off was a great thing, and then building from there.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, faith is a pretty big building block to get through that.

Gary

Nelson: A farmer's got to have faith because, I mean, look at the money you take and and put it out there and there's no guarantee of return.

Shay

Foulk: Exactly. So back to the banking thing then for a second, you brought that up. Um, you know, you said you got advice from farmers and I, and I guess we see that as a huge trend in today's world is, you know, you can get advice from, with all due respect to lenders, you can get advice from the lenders or you can get advice from your peers, but your peers are living in the same world, right?

Gary

Nelson: They are. Bankers need to get money out there. You know, they, they're salesmen. Um, I'll make a statement right now. It's easier to get into financial trouble because back then you would want to borrow to buy a piece of equipment. You'd go to your banker and do a cash flow, where now you usually finance with your dealer and stuff. No cash flow, just your credit score. And so I feel it's easier now to get in financial trouble. But back then, you know, I did it and just the banker was way too liberal. And I went with FHA And I remember my first cash flow projection, I had a Crustbuster with 5 broken teeth, and I had those 5 broken teeth and 1 spare in my cash flow projection, probably $25. You know, just how tight my cash flow projection was, you know.

And, and we went into some tough times there, but I got my financial affairs in order in the '70s, which I'm saying I got rid of some machinery I didn't need that I couldn't afford. And when the '80s hit, I was already lean and mean. And then in the '80s, I watched a lot of my neighbors hit bottom, you know, stuff where— and they had to sell off stuff that sold terrible price, you know. So I cleaned house at a good time when stuff was— yeah. And I remember the tractor that I purchased when I couldn't afford the nice new stuff. Uh, half the time you had to pull it to start it. And, and then we had a brand new Chevy Blazer, and, and I sold that and bought a, you know, a really rough old car but paid cash for it and stuff. And we learned a lot.

And then we were with FHA until they told us to leave, and I got up enough nerve to ask them if they'd ever helped anybody any worse than me, and they said no, I was the worst they'd ever helped and stuff. And so what a compliment it was, you know. And they were great to work with. If I went into an implement dealer and bought something and wrote a check for parts, the check had to be co-signed. So the business had to send it to FHA, get their signature, and send it back. That's pretty humbling to go in and write a check and say, we got to send this to FHA. And then they'll sign it, and they'll send it back to you. But just a lot of— they were strong in doing your homework and stuff and making you a manager.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, and I imagine that taught you a ton along the way. So keep marching forward in time then. Tell us kind of from there then, how did you start, you know, once you kind of started getting things built back up again, tell us a little bit more about how things went from there.

Gary

Nelson: Yeah, we, you know, have 3 children and our son Dave graduated in 1993, went to Iowa State. We were living over by the Land O'Lakes Anser Farm and it was great watching him go over there. And start working. He realized if he went over there, he could do stuff and get paid for it.

Shay

Foulk: Where was that again?

Gary

Nelson: Now, the Land O'Lakes Answer Farm was over, um, east of Fort Dodge, and it was a great place. Um, it was a research farm. They were doing research in seed, chemical, feed, animal health, and stuff. And, um, just awesome place to work. Um, both me and my wife worked there part-time, and all of our kids worked there. And just a great environment. A lot of PhD people out there with their doctorates and stuff in different areas, and we got friends with them, and David got to be friends with them and, you know, asked advice on how for him to go to college. You know, should you go right to Iowa State or go local to a, you know, to a community college and stuff? And David went right to Iowa State, and Dave was gone 10 years. So in the meantime, I've always worked off the farm.

I used to do carpenter work and And the gentleman I worked for had to retire, and so then I tried doing that myself and a lot of shingling, and they're just hard work. And so then I got my real estate license and I did that 2 years, and just, um, when I leave the farm, I want to get paid. And with real estate, you do a lot of running for nothing. So then I went to school and became a real estate appraiser, and when you go to work, you get paid. And then, um, that taught me a lot, um, on you know, finance and stuff, because you work with lenders. I believe it was in 1986 that the housing crisis happened, and at that time all the appraisers were working for banks and they weren't all taking the same classes, and just, it wasn't regulated properly and stuff. And, and so appraisals were all over the board.

And so at that time they made appraisers leave the banks, be independently you know, business people and not, you know, working on commission or anything and stuff. So learned a lot, and that was my best, you know, area as far as I just really excelled at. It was a job that I really liked.

Shay

Foulk: So as you were going through all this and raising the kids and everything, working off the farm, you were doing some custom work at some point along the way. Is that true too?

Gary

Nelson: A little bit, yeah. Just mainly, you know, taking care of my crops first and then working off the farm to help with the cash flow, you know. And with grain farming in Iowa, you know, you've got all winter and stuff, you know, you can be able to pick up some different jobs in the middle of summer too.

Shay

Foulk: So you've done a pretty phenomenal job, learned some pretty major lessons as you grew up. We're gonna come back to the time here that we're at right now. We'll pause for a second, and I want to, I want to rewind a little bit and ask you the question of if you were back to give yourself advice, you're, you know, maybe not your 19-year-old self because you did learn some lessons there, but as you were rebuilding the farm, you know, what lessons, if you know, to the listeners that are out there, the young farmers and the dads and stuff, what lessons did you learn, or what several things would you give advice to from a wisdom perspective?

Gary

Nelson: Yeah, you know, the first 2 years I farmed, I asked my grandfather a lot of questions, and it went well, and I learned a lot and did well. But 2 years was not enough, you know. And when he passed away, like I said, I, I don't want to say I was a know-it-all, but I thought I was pretty smart. I was not. Um, my goal changed in 1977. My goal was to be an average farmer but a good manager. And so I started paying attention to marketing, and I'd recommend that to anybody, you know, any young guy out there, you know, you can still get out there and do it. You know, I started— I was a city kid basically and had the dream and wanted to farm and had the chance and, you know, rented 80 acres with just a tractor.

And, and here today, you know, we're farming with our son, you know, our Son was gone for 10 years and then wanted to come back, and, and, um, so we, um, you know, did some purchases together and stuff and brought him in, and now he's coming in more. But for a young person, just watch how much you borrow. I do a lot of reading currently. Most bankers will say 60% of their operations are profitable, 40% are not profitable. And those 40% are consistently not profitable, and that's not a good situation. You can lose money once in a while for a good reason, but you cannot do it consistently, continually. Nobody will want to— you're going to drown, you know. So you need to take— if you see something that's not working out, you need to, you know, get out the the pencil or whatever and make tough decisions that— and change your course because it's not, it's not going to continue, you know.

And, and you, you need to face it and address it before your banker does. I'd hate to be a banker today, an ag banker, because like I say, right now people go out and then they come in at the end of the year and do their net worth statement and the banker finds out then what all they— if they trade machinery and stuff. We're back 40 years ago, you, you did all your work with the bank and stuff. So it's all in management, you know, um, just get the tools you need. And I believe FHA has started a program with their pairing mentors, older retired farmers with young guys and stuff, and it's very much needed, very much. If the young person doesn't have a solid sounding board, you know, to ask for advice So watch how much you spend, have a— have a—

Shay

Foulk: how much you borrow, watch, uh, pay attention to what some of your peers are telling you, learn from, from some of the older producers in the area. And, and, um, so that's all good advice. Is there anything else that you can think of, you know, um, that some of the operations that either are making some money or the ones that sit there, maybe that 40%, and saying, well, we're doing all we can do You know, one thing, common theme that we see a lot of times with operations is, and you've said this the whole way through, is that you were working off the farm almost all the time. And you guys have also an alternate business off the farm right now too. So talk to that a little bit about the importance of, you know, the farm needs to function on its own, but on those years when it's really lean or you're in a trough, that's kind of what keeps you in business, isn't it?

Gary

Nelson: Exactly, yeah. Um, grain farming in Iowa, you know, we don't— we tried livestock one time, we didn't have the facilities, and just— we're just now livestock people. So we've always worked off the farm. I'll challenge a lot of young people, I don't think they have a grasp on what their cost of living— what they spend on their cost of living. I know when we lost all that money, um, I shared, you know, my oldest daughter, I couldn't buy her a dress until she was a year old. But all we did when our kids was little was spend time with them. I can remember we wanted to take them to the state fair and Adventureland, and me and David picked up pop cans to go to the state fair, you know, and we just spent time with our family.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, now that's, that's critical. That's, that's an amazing story. Um, what else, what other, um, things would you recommend? So, you know We've talked about dealing with the money, we've talked about faith, we've talked about the lenders and all the challenges. Talk a little bit about, you know, transition, because, you know, you're getting the point where you're going to slow down a little bit, but at the same time you're still going to be involved and, and you work side by side with your son, with Dave. Talk a little bit about how, when you started thinking about transition and, and what your definition of transition is.

Gary

Nelson: It's never easy to think about transitioning. We're completing our 46th year. Our farm was started by my great-grandfather in 1889, which is 130 years. And, um, you know, so I've farmed, run the farming operation for 46 of those 130 years. And, um, you know, I feel very fortunate to have a son as qualified as Dave. And it's very tough, um, if you don't, you know, um, have that next generation to turn things over to, you know, it's tough and you just got to have some tough conversations. And, and that's like for a young person, their wife needs to be on board for all this too because there's some tough times where, you know, we could have been working in town and just, you know, regular cash flow and, and, uh, not near the money problems, I'll say. But our— both of our love and our dream was farming together.

And my wife has worked off the farm at times, and even, um, probably 5 years ago, I mean, she had a job. She was a— went to school, and she used to work for Land O'Lakes and was a— had a job in the seed selection for seed beans up at the for Land O'Lakes and they were cutting back and she lost her job. So she went to college for 2 years and got a CMA degree and was working in doctor's offices. I mean, she'd dress up every day and never come home dirty and here come home to us. And probably 5 years ago we begged her to come home and she didn't hesitate at all and quit her job, came home and working with me and our son right now.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, and she's very involved in the farm to the point where she does about all the same stuff you guys do.

Gary

Nelson: Yeah, she does. She controls 5 checkbooks, you know, and always asking us tough questions, you know, like, what's this?

Shay

Foulk: What'd you spend that for?

Gary

Nelson: Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's easy to spend money now, but you know, when you know you're gonna explain it and answer for it, you know, it's just a different thing and stuff. And then just a very qualified person. I used to joke that me and our woman, and our oldest daughter are the only two normal people in our family, but now she's got her doctorate degree and she's a principal of a school, a Christian school, and so now I'm the only normal one in our family. My wife is a strong personality and our kids have just taken the best of both worlds, I'll say, and run with it. So the joke is I'm the only normal one in our family.

Shay

Foulk: That's awesome. So let's transition into maybe the last kind of part that I want to touch on, and that's, you know, since about 2008, um, we saw another cycle in ag, right? You know, we saw a pretty big one in 2012, prices got really high, and during that time frame, you guys have grown, broke off Supply, that business. Tell us a little bit about your your travel through that time frame of that, that up and that down that we've seen, and kind of how does, how does Brokaw Supply fit into that?

Gary

Nelson: Um, David was wanting to come home and start farming. I'm going, okay, you're gonna have to work and help make it happen because I was too young to retire, and bring him in. I was farming probably 1,000 acres and, and being a real estate appraiser where I could come and go when it's spring and fall. I would leave that job and stuff. And a friend of ours from our church was saying that, hey, Brokaw Supply is for sale. And David never heard of it. And so then told him again. And so he checked into it and it was just a small implement business that sells fertilizer application equipment, started in 1957. And an investor bought it as Mr. Brokaw was passing away. Pressing and had it for, I believe, 4 years or so and just didn't know what to do with it and just kept it the same. And, and, um, so it was a challenge. And David took a job with them as their sales manager.

And, and when David went to Iowa State and then he was gone, um, he worked for Monsanto, uh, and then, um, Caterpillar. And he was in sales and he set sales records wherever he went.. And, um, so if you can do that and work for yourself, it's a win-win situation. And so he asked me if I wanted to be a partner with him, and he could have asked anybody, so I jumped at it. And it was 2008, and so we bought Brokaw Supply, and, um, David ran it.

Shay

Foulk: Is that a 50/50 purchase?

Gary

Nelson: Yeah, we owned it 50/50 and stuff, and then, and he ran it and, you know, received a salary and stuff to live on and that. And it was great timing, um, in the economy-wise. And, and, you know, we're farmers, and so it's great. We sell— we do a lot of business with co-ops and other farmers and stuff. And so we, we know what we're, you know, dealing with and stuff. And it just boomed. It went from a small company, um, you know, just really grew. Good timing and stuff. And, um, and we've gone on to— we merged with another company. We opened a store in Redwood Falls, Minnesota, and then we merged with another group of 3 gentlemen my son David's age, awesome young men. We've been together 4 years now, and we own quite a little bit of stuff, and it's called Ag Solutions Group.

We own, um, it'd be— in fact, since then we bought a Kubota dealership in Omaha, and then we have an online parts store, and we have a store in Marshall, Missouri, and then Concordia, Missouri too. And then our one in Minnesota sells Polaris now along with fertilizer application equipment. So we're diverse, and, and, um, uh, it just works out real well. And, you know, we know agriculture, and it's, it's funny, all the technology that's the boom that's gone on the last 6, 8, 10 years. David's always on top of that, so we're always having the latest and greatest. He brings it home and, you know, tries it out and stuff. And we've had a couple times where something was brought out, it wasn't quite ready and had to be tweaked, and then it came to market. So it's been a good situation. You know, we, we see stuff that's coming down the line sometimes before anybody else and get to try it.

And it's awesome.

Shay

Foulk: That's great. And, and again, just the benefits of having that sideline business on the farm that kind of makes the farm able to work. And so where's the farm at today? You know, what's the plan with you slowing down and Dave coming in a little bit more? How's he getting, how's he doing all that? How's he getting the work done at Brokaw? And, you know, within all the new business ventures and stuff. So how is he getting all that done and coming home and farming? So start with how many acres are you running and then what's the plan there to keep getting all that work done?

Gary

Nelson: Yeah, we're at 4,700 acres. And the last 5 years, David has stepped down spring and harvest and then right afterwards back to brokaw. And now we're, hiring a, um, general manager for the RoCoast store and taking David's position. And Dave is going to work there, there in the wintertime only in some different positions and stuff. So my plans are, uh, next year I'm going to commit to planting and harvesting, and we'll be bouncing in and out. And it's a way of slowing down and transitioning. Just watching a lot of people that don't do anything in and then gonna travel after they retire and something happens, they don't get to do that. So we're starting to travel more, and, uh, David's excited about it, and it's just— it's his turn, you know. I've, I've been farming since I was 18, and, um, he's very capable, you know, and just very fortunate to have him around.

And, and, um, we're looking forward to it. And, and, uh, he does not want us to retire. Um, that's like when David asked to start coming in with us, a lot of times I, I watch a lot of people, a lot of times first thing the son does is put a chrome smokestack on the tractor and, and just, that's so cosmetic. But David's first thing was he wanted to get the planter ready for spring and I'm going, well, I suppose you could, you know. So I needed a playhouse for our grandkids, so my wife and I built a playhouse and I always watch Dave getting the planter ready. That was his first thing. He loves precision and preciseness and stuff, and, and we have way more precision agriculture than what I would have if I was by myself, you know, and stuff. And, uh, but he loves it, and, and we sell it, and we got to know the ins and outs and how it works. And so it works well.

Shay

Foulk: So that's the synergy and the magic between the, the business that you have on the side and the farming operation. So that's awesome. So any, anything else that, that you can think of? You know, we've talked about a lot of stuff here, um, you know, everything from faith to the farming to the financials. And, um, you know, so if you were to again, you know, throw some advice out there and bring some of that wisdom forward to these young listeners and even these dads out there, you know, what's the advice for, for each of them as we kind of wrap this up?

Gary

Nelson: Yeah, for the young, the sons out there, you know, um, understand where your dad's coming from when we share, share something, you know, watch because, you know, how did he learn and get to where he was at today, you know, and stuff. Uh, you know, David is a self-made man. Some of the sons out there are just glorified hired men, and David's come in and, and, uh, with management skills that, that are awesome.

Shay

Foulk: But you've allowed him to do that too.

Gary

Nelson: Yes, I have. And, and And encouraged him to, and I just offered quite a while back to just go and do real estate appraisal full-time, let him take over the farm. But, you know, um, he didn't want to do that. He wants to farm with us and stuff. And so we've grown the farm together, uh, and that to get it to where it's at today. I, um, you know, we went to a few different farm managers we worked with and, and just increased acres and stuff, and they seen the capability, but For a young person out there, spend time with your kids. Work hard spring and fall, but then step back and spend time with your family. I see too many young people putting in crazy hours and then their marriage is gone and they're by themselves. It's all for nothing and stuff.

And for the older guys, I've been grooming, I'll say, Dave to take over for a long time, and, and, uh, it's just exciting to see him, you know, up and, and make wise decisions and stuff. And you got to turn things over slowly. Um, I'm still going to do the marketing, um, and stuff, and David's been doing, uh, work with options and stuff and that, and he's done real well. So the last thing that I'll turn over is the, the marketing, and, and he'll be ready. He's got a degree in agronomy, loves the, the challenge of matching the seed and fertilizer to the right soil and stuff, and just does a great job at that. He's very organized. I'm not an organized person. We, we complement each other when we work together. He's organized, I'm not, and you put us together and, and it works very well.

Shay

Foulk: That makes a good team. And, and, uh, so I guess any, any final thoughts?

Gary

Nelson: No, just for the young person, you know, you got to have the dream and the sparkle in your eye and, and go after it, you know. Ask advice, um, you know, there's nobody that's a know-it-all out there and stuff. And, and gather from several different sources. We have some awesome people working with us from our accountant, uh, in different areas. It's been great, um, working with him to bring David in. And, and you just got to do things legal too, um, you know, and you got to have operating procedures and stuff, and, and you got to have things in writing. It just helps everybody's memory and stuff. And, uh, you know, do it legally, protects both sides.

Shay

Foulk: And even though you're transitioning, that's something that you can do. It's a process, and you can still wear whatever hats that you, you know, bring to the operation that are the strongest. Kind of, for example, with you guys, it's like the marketing for you and, and, uh, and being here in the spring and fall. So, so, well, we really appreciate this. This has been an awesome conversation. Um, I can't think of anything else, I guess, off the cuff right now, but we will, we'll call you back up again if we, if we need some more wisdom down the road.

Gary

Nelson: And just, uh, you know, see how it turns out. And, and just, I'm an encourager, you know, and, you know, just get out there and do your hardest and it'll work.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, I like the message, you know, it's faith, family, and farming, and it's— that's awesome message. So, well, thank you very much, and we will be back to everybody again here. And that is it for today's Dad's Wisdom and the Ag View Pitch., and we will catch you next time. Thanks a lot.

Narrator: Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Dad's Wisdom. Please make sure to leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts, and for any questions or ideas that you would like discussed, please email us at cbarron@agviewsolutions.com. Have a great day.