About This Episode
Mike Grover grew up on an Iowa farm, graduated from high school in 1968, and went to Kirkwood in Cedar Rapids for electronics rather than into farming. He worked the consumer end of the business at a television store for almost 30 years and spent 42 years total in retail. He and his wife Vicki, also a farm girl, have been married 46 years and have lived their entire married life in Cedar Rapids. His earliest memories are hauling milk cans to the creamery when his father was starting out.
His father milked cows, ran hogs and fed cattle, eventually feeding out about 2,000 head of hogs a year from the early 1960s into the mid-1970s, a large operation at the time. A heart attack in his mid-40s, which he blamed partly on hog dust and the work around livestock, pushed him toward grain. He bought and developed real estate and rolled the proceeds into Iowa farmland, moving from roughly 2,000 acres to over 3,000 before retiring at 62 and leasing the ground out.
Grover's father was never afraid to try something, including a Sidewinder rototiller that plowed and planted in one pass and failed on rocks, making him the talk of the neighborhood. Most of his bets worked. Both parents grew up in the Depression and stayed frugal; his father drove his last car, a Lincoln Continental, for 13 or 14 years and it still looked new. Grover retired from retail at 62 to manage the land after his father's fall and head injury.
“The only way you get your money's worth out of a car is you buy the car and then you drive it until the wheels fall off.”
— Mike Grover
Key Takeaways
Grover's father fed out about 2,000 hogs a year in the 1960s and 1970s before a heart attack in his mid-40s moved him into grain.
He grew from roughly 2,000 acres to over 3,000, funding it partly by buying and developing real estate and reinvesting in Iowa farmland.
He retired at 62, leased the ground out, and was essentially debt-free by then.
The family rule on vehicles was to buy it and drive it until the wheels fall off; his father's last car ran 13 or 14 years and still looked new.
Grover's regret is being more conservative than his father, and he believes he could have done more had he taken a few more risks.
He came back to manage the farm at 62 knowing very little about farming, and found business principles transferred directly.
Full Transcript
Chris
Barron: And it all comes down to this. 2 on, 2 out, bottom of the 9th. The Farmers lead by 1. Full count, here comes the play at the plate, and it's the Ag View Pitch! Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ag View Pitch, and today we're going to do another Dad's Wisdom, and this one's kind of a unique one. From the perspective of, in my farm operation, we've worked with another family for a lot of years. And today I've got with me Mike Grover, and he is the manager of land and manages their farm operation currently now, and has had kind of a different path as he's gone through his career and a lot of wisdom. And so today, Mike, I'd like to have you introduce yourself, tell us a little bit about yourself, now and your wife and your family. And then I'm going to go back in history and pick on you a little bit to kind of pull some wisdom out of you. So Mike, go ahead. Okay.
Mike
Grover: Well, I'm Mike Grover, and I grew up on a farm close to Raleigh, Iowa. My entire childhood spent there. I did not go into farming as an occupation, but ended up on a different career path by going to Kirkwood in Cedar Rapids, which back in 1968 when I graduated from high school was still fairly new. I ended up getting into electronics and then working in the consumer end of it at a television store for almost 30 years. And then after that, got into some other retail endeavors and spent a total of 42 years in retail. Been married to my wife, Vicki, who is also a farm girl. We've been married for 46 years and we've spent our entire married life in Cedar Rapids. She worked for the city in the finance department. And right now we're both retired.
Chris
Barron: So you had kind of an interesting time growing up because your dad was very active in farming, obviously with livestock for a while, and then pretty much became a grain farmer. And you watched him grow up. Let's go back in history a little bit and have you tell a little bit about your, when you were on the farm, some of the things that you saw your dad doing, and when you went off to work and took a different career path, you still had the opportunity to watch your dad grow his farm operation. So talk a little bit about that.
Mike
Grover: Oh, absolutely. Probably some of my earliest recollections, maybe back about the time I was 4 years old when my dad was just getting started, he milked cows, he had hogs, some feeder cattle and the grain and so forth was fed through. I can remember going into the little creamery at Rowley back when he would have like the milk and a couple of those, oh, big metal barrel cans. Yeah, big metal cans or barrels that we would take in. And those memories are still pretty well embedded. Embedded in my mind. Then as he progressed, he mainly got into hogs. He did have cattle for a few years, but hogs were really the thing that he was more passionate about. And back, I'm going to say late '60s, probably, well, no, maybe I'm going to say early '60s into the mid-'70s would feed out.
He would buy them as feeders and then feed out about 2,000 head a year, which back at that time, that was a big deal.
Chris
Barron: That was a big operation.
Mike
Grover: Yeah.
Chris
Barron: And your dad didn't do anything small though, did he?
Mike
Grover: No, he didn't.
Chris
Barron: When he dove in, he dove all the way.
Mike
Grover: He dove in all the way. Absolutely. He absolutely did. Yeah.
Chris
Barron: Talk a little bit about, you know, the '80s and your dad bought a lot of land over the years and kind of your observation of what that looked like because he took the operation from the hogs and switched over to a crop operation and really grew the operation. You wanna talk a little bit about that?
Mike
Grover: Sure. Yeah, Dad, well, it was about the time we got married. Dad was in his mid-40s. He'd suffered a heart attack and he thought a lot of that may have had to do with being around the livestock because it was a lot of work. The hog dust and the different elements and things he thought, you know, were starting to take a toll on his health. So then he got into the grain end of it. And he also not only got into the grain end of it, but kind of diversified into some other things. He got into buying some, buying and developing some real estate. And then he would take what he made on that, put it back into Iowa farmland and turned it into a really good-sized operation. He farmed, let's see, he farmed that until he was 62, then retired and then went into leasing what he had.
Chris
Barron: Yeah, so he grew from how many acres would you say he was farming when he had hogs and then grew it to what, about what size?
Mike
Grover: Oh gosh. I'm trying to think. I'm not sure. I'm going to say he went probably when he had hogs. I can remember it was around a probably a 2,000-acre operation then. And by the time he retired and got into the real estate and bought some more land, ended up with Over 3,000 acres.
Chris
Barron: And that, and, and that's a testament to success when you can start farming and, you know, work through that your whole life. And then, and by the time you retire, I mean, he pretty much got to the point where he was pretty well debt-free through that.
Mike
Grover: Absolutely.
Chris
Barron: Yeah. Yeah. So, so, so what's, what's the secret to that success? Because I guarantee you there's a lot of people here listening saying you know, how do we manage our businesses different? And this may go back to what you do. I mean, you stepped away from the farm and we're gonna get to what you do on the farm now and the involvement that you have. But, you know, what are some of the things that, you know, if you were to throw some advice out there to some of these people listening here, especially younger farmers that are in their 30s and 40s, you know, what things do they need to pay attention to and maybe be focused on?
Mike
Grover: One of the things about my dad is he was never afraid to take a chance, and he did a lot of interesting things over the years. Especially, I can remember one year, um, oh gosh, this is going back, I'm going to say maybe around 9, yeah, probably late '60s. He had this machine and it was a rototiller, it was called a Sidewinder. And it did the entire planting, plowing, everything in one operation. It was a rototiller. It had the planters on the back of it. And he thought that would really be the way to go. Well, it wasn't. Didn't work so good. Because it did not work so good because there were rocks, there were all different kinds of things that, you know, would cause the machine to malfunction. He had a lot of downtime with it. And everything else. And he was quite the talk of the neighborhood at the time.
Chris
Barron: That's weird. Most farmers usually don't talk about other farmers, but that may have happened with your dad, huh?
Mike
Grover: Yeah, it probably did because he was always one to just do things a little bit different. Well, that thing didn't work out for him too well. But the interesting thing of it is the majority of the things he did did work out for him very well. Right.
Chris
Barron: If you do enough things, a few things aren't going to work, but if enough things do work right, all of a sudden it can kind of start to multiply and things can get a little better.
Mike
Grover: Yeah. And he was always a man that worked very hard. You know, he was up early in the morning and worked a lot of times very late into the night like many of them still do today. He believed in putting the money back into the business. He believed in continually improving. He was always tiling or doing something to improve, you know, improve the land and so forth.
Chris
Barron: That makes me think of a question with, you know, just as an observation of having the privilege to know your family and seeing what has always worked really well with both your mom and dad, they were always pretty frugal too. They didn't spend extra money on things. Talk a little bit about that. You know, what's some advice you might give operations? Because that's one of the things we see with a lot of our clients is, you know, that overhead, that what we call return to management. There's always, you know, one operation that's got a higher number there and some are a little bit lower and, and, the cost of raising a family is expensive, and, you know, you gotta— there's kind of a balance there.
Is there any advice you can give to people to, you know, try to figure out how to manage that part of it better, but yet still get along with the family and provide for the family, you know, in an equitable and a good way?
Mike
Grover: My parents were always very frugal. They were not spendthrifts, but had pretty much everything that they needed and wanted within reason. I know when— this might be a little off the subject, but I know when I graduated from high school, they bought me a new car, and it was a '68 Chevy Nova at the time. Nothing real fancy, but it was still a new car, which was you know, a pretty big thing back in 1968. Well, my dad, I believe at that point, he himself had never had a new car his entire life. And he always believed, he says, the only way you get your money's worth out of a car is you buy the car and then you drive it until the wheels fall off. And I never forgot that. So of course, me being, you know, going to Kirkwood, having this new car and then getting a job, working a couple of years, I thought, hell, I'm gonna go buy myself a new car.
So this car wasn't quite 5 years old yet, and my dad, he was— that really, that really upset him when I decided I was going to trade that car because he always said, well, the only way you get your money's worth out of it is to drive it until the wheels fall off.
Chris
Barron: He expected you to still be driving that Nova.
Mike
Grover: Oh yeah, probably. Yeah. And the interesting thing was when he passed, he had a Let's see, the last car he owned was a Lincoln Continental, and it was, I'm gonna say, 13, 14 years old when he died. And it still looked almost brand new. I mean, he took good care of it, but again, you know, had a nice car, but everything they had, they took care of.
Chris
Barron: So that might be how you get 3,500 acres paid for is you don't buy a new car every year, maybe.
Mike
Grover: Yeah, possibly. But no, they were never ever careless with their money. And he also, he was very good investing in the stock market and doing, like I say, some kind of diversified things that really paid off well for him.
Chris
Barron: So I think that's been a really good tribute to your dad and your mom and the things they've done. I'm gonna pick on you now a little bit, Mike, because you've got a ton of wisdom that, you know, not only learned from your dad and your mom, but, you know, you and your wife have done really well and have had a really good career. And as you said, you know, you worked through the company with Smulekov's, you know, so you were selling furniture and TVs and appliances and all kinds of stuff there. But then when you retired, your life changed. Talk a little bit about, you know, you thought you were retired and now you're not retired again, right?
Mike
Grover: Pretty much. I was still working at Smolikoff's when my dad became ill and got to where he couldn't take care of things anymore as far as managing the operation he had suffered a fall, a subsequent head injury, and he only lived a couple years after this. But I was 62 and he asked me if I would retire and maybe I could help him out. And of course I told him I would think about it. I thought about it for a couple days and I said, "Sure." And of course I knew really very, very little about farming, but I mean, business principles are pretty much the same no matter, right? No matter what you're doing. So it was just a matter of kind of jumping in feet first and learning it. One of the things too, you can't be around something your entire life and not pick up certain, you know, things about it. So it wasn't like I had, uh, had jumped in never, you know, having set foot on a farm.
Chris
Barron: So, um, so what, what would you say, Mike, you know, now that you're actively involved in the farming operation again and, and managing the land and, and, uh, moving forward, what, what have you learned that, that is different? Or is there anything that is different or anything that that, you know, if you look back, you know, what I learned there sure helped me now.
Mike
Grover: It's very, very different today, of course, than what it was when I was growing up. Almost a shock to jump in with what, you know, with the way things are done today compared to the way I remember growing up. I think some of the biggest things, probably everything, you know, the computer world has entered into it. It's just a lot different.
Chris
Barron: Gotcha. One of the things I told you I was going to ask you, and you said, "Hell, I don't know," and you kind of laughed. But what, you know, is there any big mistake that either, and you can pick on your dad a little bit here too, you know, or any big mistake or lesson that you learned, something that you did that somebody listening to this might benefit from that, you know, you made the mistake, but actually it either worked out or you learned a lot from that process?
Mike
Grover: One of the things, well, like I said about my dad, he was one that was always trying new things. He was never afraid to take risks. And probably one of the things that I often think about is, as far as myself, I was never that way. I was much more conservative and I probably could have maybe done a lot more had I taken a few more risks. But as far as, you know, my dad thinking of anything that he should have done differently, I really can't because, well, that's he. I mean, he just really did well.
Chris
Barron: Yeah. And that's, and that's the thing, you know, I think you said it really well, being willing to step out of your comfort zone and maybe try something new or do something new. So one of the last couple of questions here, and I'll quit picking on you here, Mike, but what, what's something that, that you think that you you know, learned over the years that is kind of that one key thing you either got from Dad or one key thing that you may throw out to some of these younger listeners here on, you know, what to stay focused on or one key thing that you might finish up with?
Mike
Grover: I think maybe the biggest things I got from like my parents For one thing, the work ethic. And I think this is one thing that you find maybe more with farm people than other segments of society is a very, very good work ethic. And I know back in 1970 in Cedar Rapids when I was applying for jobs and people knew that you were from a farm, that kind of got their attention because back at that time, They knew that the farm, you know, the kids that came from the farm knew how to work and would have a good work ethic. The other thing was, I mean, my parents grew up during the Depression. They were very frugal. And that was one thing they passed on to me was like, don't spend all your money. Or if you went to town and you wanted something, it was like, if you don't have the money in your pocket, you can't have that. And that's one thing that has always stuck with me.
My wife and I have been people that even from our younger years have lived debt-free. So that was, you know, things that were deeply embedded in me that I'm just very, very grateful for.
Chris
Barron: That's awesome, Mike. Appreciate this conversation. And I think, you know, you've pushed out a lot of wisdom. Is there any, Last question, is there anything that I haven't asked or anything that if you wanted to throw any, any one other tidbit of, of wisdom out there, either from yourself, your wife, your family, or your dad, and we'll wrap it up?
Mike
Grover: I think you've pretty much covered it all, Chris.
Chris
Barron: Yeah, well then that's okay too. That's all right too. Hey Mike, uh, really appreciate it. Mike Grover, uh, lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, uh, with his wife Vicki, and you have one son that lives in Dubuque, right? Yes. Yes. Yeah, lives in Dubuque and works at Georgia Pacific. And maybe we'll have to make him a farmer someday too. So, you know, you went through kind of a whole career off the farm and now you're back on the farm. And we love having you back on the farm. And from that, again, everybody appreciate you listening. Again, if you have a dad out there, grandpa or somebody that we can reach out to and have a conversation with and gain some more dad's wisdom, and hopefully this is beneficial to everybody, and we will look forward to the next Dad Wisdom, and we'll catch you next time on the Ag View Pitch. Thanks.