About This Episode
Denny Berger started baling hay and shelling corn for neighbors around age 13 or 14 with his older brother. A farmer who needed corn scooped hired him, became his first landlord, and became the mentor who got him started. He rented his first 80 acres in 1972 and grew from there, raising hogs and cattle alongside his father. Chris Barron interviews him at the end of a day the operation spent working on the business rather than in it, in the middle of transition to his son Scott.
Asked what he would tell his 20-year-old self, Berger says do not be afraid to go into debt. His family paid cash for everything they bought, and looking back he thinks that caution cost them opportunities. His rule is to take risk when interest rates are low and avoid overextending when they are high. He describes borrowing against each incoming group of hogs, putting the note at the bottom of the pile, and paying it off when that group sold.
On transition, he says surround yourself with people who know, because what worked when his father handed the farm to him will not work when he hands it to Scott. Let the next generation decide and be there when they stumble; help them in the decision without making it for them. The operation spent the day defining core values to guide hiring, firing, reward and discipline, which surprised Berger. He had always thought of farming as a life, not a business.
“Just because you work hard don't mean you're gonna make a profit. Maybe do a little smarter too.”
— Denny Berger
Key Takeaways
Berger rented his first 80 acres in 1972 from the farmer who hired him to scoop corn, and calls that man his first mentor.
His one regret is being too debt averse: take the risk when interest rates are low, and simply avoid overextending when they are high.
He financed hog groups individually, borrowing on each group as it came in and retiring that note when the group sold.
For transition, he says advice that worked in the last generational handoff will not carry over; go find people who know the current rules.
Let the successor make the call and stumble, then help; coaching and guiding are different from doing it for them or undercutting them.
Working hard is not the same as making a profit; his advice to the next generation is to work smarter, and to define core values in writing.
Full Transcript
Chris
Barron: Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ag View Pitch, and today we are going to have another Dad's Wisdom. We are lucky enough to have with us Denny Berger from Traer, Iowa. Denny, excited to be here?
Denny
Berger: Overly excited.
Chris
Barron: Yeah, good, good deal. So, so yeah, I cornered you. We've just had a day of of working on the business as opposed to working in the business. Sometimes it's a lot more fun to work in the business. You spend a lot of time in the semi and where you're at in your career now, and you work with your son Scott. And so just have you give us a little bit of kind of background of your life as a farmer and just a little introduction of yourself, and then we'll kind of go through a whole bunch of questions on the dad's wisdom, and we'll dig as much wisdom out of you as we can get.
Denny
Berger: Okay, I started doing the odd jobs of baling hay and shelling corn with my older brother. I was probably 14, maybe 13. He was 16. We got a lot of jobs nearby, just area farmers, because that's what every one of them did. They all had livestock, so we all need to bale hay, we all need to shell corn, and that, that's what it was. And I helped Dad, of course. And a gentleman came over and said, hey, I need somebody to scoop corn, and I understand that you're a pretty good worker. And he became my first landlord and basically started farming on my own with the first 80 from that guy and grew. And to this day, he was a good mentor and helped me get started.
Chris
Barron: So what year would that have been-ish?
Denny
Berger: I had my first 80 when— in 1972.
Chris
Barron: Okay, that's pretty awesome. So, you know, talk a little bit about your family, um, tell a little bit about your, your kids and, and your wife and, and kind of how you grew up in, in the area as well too, a little more.
Denny
Berger: Well, uh, we're both graduated from the local school and She basically was my high school sweetheart. And she went 4 years of college away from my farming life. And I concentrated on farming and I guess tried to see what was out there in the world. And then she realized that it was me. And so— —came back from school. We got married. Raised our kids on the other farm place that we owned at the time. We owned 2 acreages, and, and we started farming, raising hogs and cattle with Dad, of course. And, and we just grew from there and ended up having 2 kids, one of each, uh, male or boy and girl, and, uh, never wanted to be outnumbered, so I guess we stopped with 2. Yeah, that's And grew together. She got her degree and too bad she never used it, but that's the way life is. I mean, she was a farmer's wife and she took that role very well.
Chris
Barron: And so, yeah, well, you got done what you got done because of that support, right? Yes. You got— you better admit that. I think she's sitting in— she's sitting over here listening to us record this. So that's— yeah. Oh yeah, by all means. So that's awesome. So, you know, one of the things you mentioned too, you talked about, you know, you, you, in conversation there, you mentioned your dad. Um, what are some of the, the, if you think back at what were some of the things that you got that were nuggets of wisdom from him that you could pass along or that you have passed along?
Denny
Berger: Oh, probably the work ethic that we did on the farm. And, uh, my son gives me a hard time about counting. I'm always counting We always fed so many bales of hay, you know, so many buckets, so many scoop shovels of grain, right? I was always constantly counting what we did. To this day, I cranked the semi up and I says it takes 50-some revolutions to get— and, and I constantly ask him, well, how many things did it take to do this? And he says, I have no idea. But that's one thing that my dad instilled. We counted the cattle, we counted, you know, just inventory. Inventory, yes. And, uh, that's one of the things— we counted things. That seems to be lost nowadays.
Chris
Barron: But any other, any other thing you can think of? Good lessons?
Denny
Berger: Uh, make hay when the— when it's—
Chris
Barron: when the sun shines. Yep, yep. And then take off when it rains.
Denny
Berger: But for some reason, we never got to take off cranes, you know. But we do Yeah. And then that's the beauty of being your own boss. If you need to work till 9, 10 o'clock to get a job done, you work till 9, 10 o'clock and then maybe take the next day off and do something with the kids or something, but you don't push the time clock.
Chris
Barron: So that's one, one thing that I see a lot of times. You know, we talk— we were just talking about generations a little bit. We were talking about, you know, your dad, and, and you mentioned the kids. That brings up, you know, the family part of the farm. A lot of times, you know, and we hear this in a lot of dad's wisdoms, is, you know, quality of life or that balance or whatever that this, this generation, you know, you're going to have Gen Z and Gen Y, you know, a lot younger people, a lot different world, grow— growing up a lot differently. Um, looking back, um, you know, and maybe looking forward, but you know what How do you describe quality of life? I mean, how do you— and how do you balance that? I mean, how do you— looking back, you know, what would you change, or what would you recommend to listeners on managing that piece?
Denny
Berger: I guess definitely take time to be with the family, because the time lost is lost forever. I'm sure, like Some people, uh, basically tease you about what are you going to put on your tombstone. Boy, I wish I'd have worked harder. No, I wish I'd have spent more time with the kids. So, or family, I guess. Um, uh, balance that as much as you can, but yet realize priorities too. And that goes back to making hay when the sun shines. And if you have to make hay, maybe I'd include the family. You know, there's a balance there that you really need to, to do.
Chris
Barron: So with that said, you know, like you said, there's, there's the getting the work done. It's also that accountability back to the family side too, right? You have the accountability to the farm, but it's also having that accountability back is kind of what I'm hearing.
Denny
Berger: Well, and another thing, maybe you should take more involvement for the kids. You know, they could all— they They never turned me down about carrying a bucket of feed, you know, has to do chores, let's get them involved. So that, that, that is balancing the quality of time with them plus getting the job done.
Chris
Barron: Yep, yep, sounds good. Okay, so another thing I want to ask you is, you know, if you could go back and ask this to a lot of the Dad's Wisdom interviewees that we, we have this conversation, and I'll, I'll ask Excuse me, the question of, you know, if you could go back and tell your 20-year-old self something, or 22-year-old self something, now knowing what you know now, what would you go back and tell yourself?
Denny
Berger: Uh, don't be afraid to go in debt. Uh, we were big on paying for everything that we got, but I look back now and say, you know, risk is there for a reason, and you, uh, you benefit from risk. So I guess I'd tell myself, go ahead and take that leap of faith, and only because we know what, what you know now.
Chris
Barron: Yeah, yeah, future holds. And yeah, that's what I would say mostly is, uh, take that risk a little more, be a little more risky, but sure, don't go out too much, but What about, you know, you said you started in about '72-ish, so you would have went through some of the high inflation and high interest rates and that kind of thing. Talk a little bit about that, you know, because you talk about taking risk. How do you balance, you know, that, that high interest rate, taking risk and not taking too much risk? How do you, how do you, what's your perspective there?
Denny
Berger: Well, I guess it wasn't always high. So that's the time to do the risk-taking. But on the other hand, when they were high, just don't overextend yourself. Do what you got to do to keep the banker happy, of course. And just do what you have to do to pay off the loans and borrow. Borrow on each piece. And like I was telling you earlier, we did a lot of hog rotation, and a group of hogs that come in, we borrowed on it and put it at the bottom of the pile. And when we sold them, it was at the top of the pile, and we paid them off. And any extra, then, then we got to invest in machinery and something to make the farming better. But, uh, yeah, don't overextend when they're high interest rates, but use the low interest rates as an opportunity.
Chris
Barron: Yeah, and that's the key part, right? The time— timing is everything, right?
Denny
Berger: Yeah, when, when you think it's can't get any worse, that's probably the time to start running. Okay, gotcha.
Chris
Barron: So one of the things we were doing here today with you guys, and we do with lots and lots of operations, is we're working on the midst of transition Um, as you've been, you know, for probably a number of years kind of thinking about transition and, you know, figuring out you can't be everything to everybody and doing the things you want to do, you know, you get to a stage in life where it's like, okay, um, you know, you've got a son Scott coming on, um, more than capable of taking over the farm, pretty much running a lot of the things now. What you've done so far in transition, if there was anything that you could do to give advice out there to people listening to this on transition. Is there anything that you've learned or anything that you would say, you know, if people are looking at transition, thinking through it, working through it, any, any comments?
Denny
Berger: Surround yourself with people that know. Always— just because it was good for the prior generation doesn't mean that it's going to be good for the next generation. Go to people that know stuff and You'll learn a lot. Just because it worked for when Dad transitioned to me doesn't mean it's going to work when I give things to Scott. There's people that know and things that have changed. It was very tough to let go, but you need to let go so they can stumble and fall but be there to pick them up, I guess. Yeah, don't let them go too far, but Right.
Chris
Barron: Yeah. And, and try not to, you know, we talked about micromanage today. You're like, I don't like, I don't like that word micromanage. But because there's, there's coaching and there's guiding and, you know, and there's a difference between, you know, coming in and undercutting somebody and, right, and, and, you know, kind of giving guidance.
Denny
Berger: That, that's right. Don't, uh, help them in their decision but let them decide. So You know, if they're going to make the decisions, they got to learn the hard way sometime. But be there to say, well, you know, maybe you shouldn't have done that, or help them as much as you can, but don't do it for them.
Chris
Barron: Yep, for sure. So anything else as far as anything I didn't ask, or again going back and thinking back about your history growing up, any, any other life lessons that you want to throw out there to the, to the young farmers that are similar to age and Scott, you know, and the 30-somethings and the 40-somethings?
Denny
Berger: Well, back in my time frame, you worked hard, you succeeded. Maybe it's time to work smarter. Mm-hmm. It's not always working hard, you know. You go out and do chores, you go out and plant the seed and do everything the way it's supposed to. Just because you work hard don't mean you're gonna make a profit. Maybe do a little smarter too. Mm-hmm.
Chris
Barron: So what one thing we ask producers a lot of times is define growth. You know, what, what's your definition of growth, or how would you define growth? Growth, tough question, right? Because a lot of people, you know, a lot of people are like, well, I farm X amount acres, or we have X amount of head of cattle, or whatever. But is that growth if you do more? You know, that's kind of my question.
Denny
Berger: You know how You know, do a good job with what you got doesn't mean big is better. Be efficient in the amount you do and growth will come to you. So definition of growth is, uh, yeah, I hate to say more the next year than you had the previous year, but in theory that's what it is. I mean, if it's time to get a nicer piece of equipment, then You've grown.
Chris
Barron: And, and it's like you said too, you know, it's thinking about, you know, the, the next generation. It's the transition you're going through, and all those things are growth, right? They're different phases of life, but it's growth.
Denny
Berger: True. You know, I mean, pass it on if you can, but yep, if they don't want it—
Chris
Barron: what another thing I want to ask you about real quick, then I'll have a final question, but I want to ask you a little bit about something that I think is pretty important to you guys, and I think is important, and we worked on core values today with your operation. And, and there's a lot of farm operations out there that have probably never really sat down and worked through their core values. What you went through, that experience today, um, probably something different from what you've gone through, right? As far as, you know, like you said, you know, you just go out and work harder, you know. And you with your son went through this, this whole process of figuring out, okay, what are our core values?
So when we hire somebody when we need to fire somebody potentially, unfortunately, or we need to, you know, you know, help them out, you know, with these core values: Hire, Fire, Reward, and Discipline. By those, what was your experience today, or what'd you get out of that? Uh, what'd I get out of it? Was it a surprise?
Denny
Berger: Yes, I didn't know what to expect. Coming into it. Um, I guess that's business. Uh, I never thought of farming as a business. It was a life, but it's becoming more of a business. So you need that, that background to do business. So I guess it's the route to go.
Chris
Barron: Yeah. I mean, well, it was an eye-opener, I think, to you too. And, and this leads me to another question, I think, for for you, or kind of where I was going to go with this, is one of the things that's very important to your family and to a lot of the operations we work with is faith, right? Is God and faith and family. Any comments on that, you know, and the importance of that as it relates to your farming operation and your family?
Denny
Berger: Very important. Is it going to be a basis for growth. Is it going to be a resistance? I'm nervous where the world's going with lack of faith. Will we have to adjust our core values to the world to live in it? I'm nervous about that, just because of where faith is going. Mm-hmm. Where it started, but to where it is today. In my generations, there was no Sunday activities other than church. Now there's more than— There's way more activities than church, right? And is that good? I don't think it is. Right. Um, so yeah, it's good to have the core values, and I hope they don't have to adjust on them to get along in the world, but maybe they will.
Chris
Barron: Things are changing, and that's why I just was curious. I know faith and family and all, you know, it's important to all of us in agriculture in particular, and I think it's just something that sometimes we don't talk about, and I think it's important to bring it up. Because it is important and it's what holds a lot of us together. It's what keeps us together, whether it's core values, whether it's faith, whatever it is. But I think it's communicating it. I think it's talking about it. And I think it's talking about it within our teams, within our operations. And so—
Denny
Berger: I'm just afraid that maybe it's going to get infiltrated with evil. And I— that scares me the most is we've let We've kept bending our values to adjust in the world.
Chris
Barron: And probably, probably got to be careful how close to that cliff we get, I suppose what you're saying.
Denny
Berger: You know, 20 years ago, marriage was sacred. And now look at the divorce rate.
Narrator: A lot of changes.
Denny
Berger: Not even going to bring up transgender. Yeah, anything like that.
Chris
Barron: But just a lot of changes. Yeah. So the last question. I want to ask you, Denny, is if you— and I've warned you on this question, right? So, you know, if you were gonna look at a young farm operator, maybe 30-something-ish, I guess that's young to me and you, but, you know, 30-something trying to grow their operation in this environment, what things do you think they should pay attention to and be really focused on?
Denny
Berger: Hold true to yourself. If you want something, stand for it. Don't give in to outside pressures. Stand your ground, because right is right and wrong is wrong. And if you stand by those, you will succeed.
Chris
Barron: Awesome. That's a great way to put it. And I think also— That's gonna resonate with a lot of people because a lot of times I think we have ideas in our mind and we're pretty sure we're right, but we can be influenced by others.
Denny
Berger: Well, and I truly think there's a right and wrong. Mm-hmm. So there's— you can't go wrong with being right and doing what's right.
Chris
Barron: Yeah, awesome. That's a great way to wrap it up, Denny. Iowa farmer, Traer, Iowa. Really appreciate the opportunity to visit with you on this Dad's Wisdom. Thank you very much. You're welcome. All right, and thanks everybody for listening to this Dad's Wisdom, and we will catch you again next time on the Ag View Pitch.
Narrator: Thank you for listening to another Dad's Wisdom episode brought to you by the Ag View Pitch. We believe that sharing these stories, experiences, and wisdom is crucial to improving our businesses and learning from others. If you have someone that would be good for a Dad's Wisdom, please email us at cbarron@agviewsolutions.com.