Part two: five additional best practices of top tier operations

Chris: We are grateful that you are joining us for another episode of the Ag View Pitch, as we know that your time is very valuable. Our team at Ag View Solutions is always here for you for any questions or comments that you may have. Please feel free to reach out to us at cbarron@agviewsolutions.com. And now here is your host, Chris Barron. Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ag View Pitch, and we are going to have an additional conversation from a prior podcast that I did here a while back called the 5 Best Practices of Top Tier Operations. And so we're gonna add to that list and we have a guest on with us who is a client that we work with in Washington State and we've got him on here, Jason, I'll introduce you here quick. Jason Monson from, what town are you in in Washington State?

Jason

Monson: We're between Colfax, Washington and Dusty, Washington.

Chris: Yeah, so Colfax. Colfax, Wimot County. Yeah, yeah, Colfax is where, where we stay, I guess, when we come and work with you, right? Yeah, yeah, sounds good. So you guys are in the middle of harvest. We're recording this on, uh, on the 25th of August, um, 2022. So, uh, you guys are in the midst of wheat harvest right now, right?

Jason

Monson: Correct. Yeah, we're having a really great harvest and probably got a couple weeks left.

Chris: Awesome, that's cool. Well, um, thank you for, uh, jumping out of the combine for a few minutes for this conversation. Really appreciate it. And, and one thing I do want to mention to everybody that's listening to this, if it's, uh, uh, not on your radar, just as a reminder, the Ag View Executive Business Conference, January 24th, 25th, 26th in St. Pete's Beach in Florida. If you are not registered yet, again, go to our website, click on conference, and you can get all the details and information about it. We're super excited about that. Just wanted to throw that plug out there again. So we're getting quite a few people registered and we are going to limit it to 100. And so, you know, once we get to that 100 number, the registration is going to be done. So I just want to make sure we get that out there to everybody. I think we got time yet, but, but make sure it's on your radar.

So with that said, Jason, so I do the best practices of top-tier operations. Number one was strong communication. So if you— I'll say this to everybody too, if you haven't listened to it, and I know a lot of you have already, the top-tier operations, 5 best practices of these operations. I had strong communication, strong financials, high productivity, disciplined marketing, and growth-oriented. And with growth, this is a reminder, it's not about just more acres, more head of cattle, more head of hogs, whatever whatever it is, it's about defining growth and making sure that you're, you're doing what you love with people you love and, and being as, as profitable and open-minded in the growth areas you can be. So that was the 5. And then, and then Jason, here's what you do.

You send me a, um, you know, and you always give me good feedback on our podcast, but you send me this, um, fairly lengthy and detailed and, and super awesome, uh, Oh, how do I want to say it? Email with just really good information here on 5 more best practices of top tier. So if it's all right, I'm gonna highlight them here quick for everybody to get a pen and paper out here and write this down or listen to this again. But Jason, you had number 6, advisory council. Number 7, you had empowered team. Number 8, you had core values. Number 9, you had gratitude and positive attitude. And number 10, which I love, is being decisive. And so I want to start at the beginning of that. So, you know, let's, let's make this the top 10 best practices of top-tier operations now. So Jason, you talked about an advisory council. Um, talk a little bit about that. What do you mean there?

What are you looking for?

Jason

Monson: I got to thinking after your podcast, I got to thinking about, you know, working with my brother and stuff the past, you know, years that we've been farming and stuff that's made the highest difference in our operation. And in the last 3 years, you know, working with you as a business coach and then working with her, we formed a board of directors, and 2 of those people on our board of directors are not in agriculture. And so that's made a real— they're entrepreneurs and businessmen, but they're not in the ag field. And so that's made a real difference on our farm to, hey, we're dealing with this, what do you think? And to hold us accountable, you know, just somebody to help us to think and hold us accountable to achieving our goals for the year and dealing with situations that come up.

It's just somebody that we can call and They have no stake in our operation or they have no ownership in it, but they have our best interest at heart. It's just somebody we can call and that's what's really helped my brother and I. They've given us some good advice and helped us to just avoid— maximize opportunities and avoid mistakes.

Chris: That's awesome. One question, you don't have to answer this in detail if you don't want to, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Do you advise, or do you think it's important that people, you know, pay for those people to be on an advisory board? So like, if the, you know, somebody listening here is like, you know, well, I can get 3 or 4 people that, you know, either are, aren't involved in ag, and, and they could come in, and I'd be willing to be transparent and share all my financials and information with them. Is that a paid position, or is that something that you just kind of gotta C, depending on the person and the situation.

Jason

Monson: Well, it's, uh, our board of directors isn't paid. We've offered it, but they don't, they won't accept it. So, you know, I think it should be paid. I think it should be paid like any other company would pay a board of directors. But these individuals, we have 3 board members right now, and these people do not want to be paid, but I definitely think they should be. But it's, we have a contract with them that we signed and basically what we expect and what they expect of us, and then we kind of set out for the year, you know, quarterly meetings, and they're high-level strategic meetings, but that's how we kind of, it's a work in progress.

Chris: Now that's really super cool. That's awesome. That, I mean, that's something that I think all of us, you know, all of us as producers can do, and that's great. So that's the number 6 of our, you know, of what's now our 10 best practices of top-tier operations. So, and having an advisory council. The next one you had here was an empowered 'Equipped Team.' So basically, you know, teamwork. And you talked about just having clearly defined roles, and, you know, you kind of mapped out some things underneath that empowered, equipped team. And, you know, like I said, I give credit where credit's due. I mean, these are all yours, so I'm throwing this at you and have you speak to this a bit. But you had, you know, under that empowered, equipped team, you had, you know, roles, responsibilities, clearly defined. You had trust, you know, that trust and respect with the team.

Again, that accountability, which I think is really critical. You know, we work with a lot of operations on just building out an accountability chart. The other one that I love in there too is with your equipped empowered team is forgiveness. You know, we all make mistakes and things can happen, and so making sure that, you know, everybody's okay with being open and and that kind of thing. And then the last, well, two other ones here, cross-training. That gets missed occasionally. You know, we sometimes our training and farm operations is, you know, get in the tractor, I'll show you for 3 minutes what needs to be done, and then you leave. And, you know, you wonder why something gets broke and our training's not maybe as good as it should be. And then successors identified and trained.

And, you know, so like, who is the next person in line I love that one too because it's like, you know, if you're out all of a sudden out of the picture tomorrow, who's— who knows what you know, you know, to take care of things. And so let's go back to the beginning of that on empowered, equipped team. Um, talk a little bit about the trust and the accountability. What, what do you— what other things do you think of there?

Jason

Monson: Well, I put that down because, you know, you know, I farm with my brother and, you know, we've We're both very different, but we both have a very different skill set, and we're able to do different things. And I think it's just important to— they kind of all tie together, but just realize that one person can do this and then the other person can't, and you just appreciate the differences. And then realize that your role, it might look different, is all important, and everybody— every job whether, you know, I can harvest. Now, every job, no matter what it is, has equal value, and it's all important to me. It's not just, it's not a, it's a team effort.

Every person from the 14-year-old working for us today to my dad, every person has an equally valuable role to make it all function as a team, and I think, I just think that that's why I kind of put, you know, people need to be appreciated and there also needs to be forgiveness because sometimes people have to do things they don't do normally just to make everything kind of flow throughout the day. And so there are mistakes that happen and so I just think there needs to, I think it all needs to be realized that it's just a huge group effort to accomplish our goals or whether the goal today is to harvest or if we're going to plant or whatever the goal is for the day. Is that it realizes it takes everyone and working together as a team.

And that's why I also put like cross-training, you know, something does happen that you do have a backup, you know, that can at least, you know, run the combine. Even they might not run it as good as you can, but at least it's still moving forward. I just think that just the whole team is just, you know, I think labor and agriculture in general is just Having a dynamic team is absolutely going to be critical to moving your business forward. If you don't have the right people on the bus or the right people in the seats, you're not going to be able to accomplish anything else. You're not going to be able to accomplish your business plan or pretty much anything else without the right people, you know, on your— you know, we view them as team members. We don't actually call them employees.

Employees, so we call the people who work for us, we call them team members, and we try to make people feel like family, and we do have a lot of family working for us, and that's probably why, that's another reason I put the forgiveness is I think it's actually harder with family sometimes working, you know, that realize that people do make mistakes, and to, you know, and then also to just appreciate everybody, family and non-family working for you.

Chris: Yeah, that's, that's excellent. You know, I'd add to that too, one of the things that, that I've observed anyway is sometimes we don't treat our family the same as we do, you know, other people or whatever. Give you an example of that is, you know, I've asked people before, even in our own operation, you know, when, when somebody's maybe not treating a family member very well, you know. And usually it happens like in the middle of harvest or when you're planting or whatever, you know. And, and, um, just kind of not very good communication. But it's, it's— I always ask the question of myself, or I always think to myself, if I'm going to reply to somebody and, and I've got an issue with them, whatever it is, they made a mistake or something happened that you didn't want to have happen, am I talking to them the same way I would talk to my best landowner?

And if my best landowner made a mistake or did something wrong, how would I communicate with that landowner? And am I communicating with my employee or my family member in the same way? And I think that sometimes is a good mindset to have, you know, just to make sure we're being professional with each other and stuff. I think that's, that's key.

Jason

Monson: Yeah, no, it is. Your team, your team Working for you is everything, right?

Chris: Yeah, it's— you can make all this stuff happen, you can have all the machinery and all the money, but the people is what makes the, makes the wheels turn for sure. So let's move on here. Um, number 8, you had, uh, core values. Um, you talked about the, you know, your board of directors, um, you know, and just holding everybody accountable and having a good vision and everything, but But talk about core values. What do core values mean to you and your business?

Jason

Monson: Well, you know, like our core values, we identified them and we kind of in 2018 we started on it. We made a one-page business plan. So it's our core values is how we try to manage, hire, fire, and make decisions on our farm. So to us it's a simplification to make decisions and just manage our business by having those defined and saying, you know, we're going to make this decision. This is like one of our core values is integrity. Well, if I make this decision, is it ethical, for example? So to us it's just having those defined and then having our employees know, you know, our team members know what they are. Is, you know, this is how we hire and fire people. This is how we make decisions. This is how we manage our business and run our lives. And so that's, I think that's where I see the importance of them.

And so everybody can kind of see, you know, this is what sets us apart and this is what, and also people know what's expected too.

Chris: What would you say to an operation that doesn't really have clearly defined core values, what's the benefit of sitting down and figuring out what they are?

Jason

Monson: Well, you'll— when you sit down and go through the exercise, whatever exercise you do, you'll really define what is important to you. And I think it will really add clarity just to your business and to, you know, your life. To me, that's the— it just gives you a filter to make decisions in all aspects of your business.

Chris: And like you said, you said it pretty eloquently, you know, core values drive how you hire, fire, reward, and discipline your employees. And it also helps you to govern yourself, ourselves too, right? I mean, we, we, you know, you, you can, you can say you have core values or you can live core values. There's a pretty big difference there, isn't there?

Jason

Monson: Um, yeah, that's the challenge is, well, once they're defined, is actually living them and, you know, holding, you know, actually, you know, implementing them. So it's a lifelong process.

Chris: Yeah, and it, it sets the culture, you know, too. It's, it's a pretty good deal.

Jason

Monson: So, well, hey, I think it defines the culture. I am— that was probably a defines the culture is if you are gonna— well, every business has a culture whether they created it or not. But I think the core values will enable you to have the culture that you want.

Chris: That's awesome. Well said. That's way better than I could have said it. So that's why you're on here, man. That's why we're having this conversation. That's great. So that's core values. That was number 8. Number 9, you had gratitude. And, you know, and then you kind of expanded that by saying, you know, having a positive attitude, being thankful for partners, family, employees, vendors. You know, you talked about how farming is high stress and, and risk and, and the people. You know, I think that's, that's phenomenal. That's really a great number 9, you know, just gratitude. You know, one time I was in a farm operation. And a lot of times as producers, we don't always recognize the best things in people. And Shay made the comment to a senior member of a farm operation that, you know, how often do you step back and celebrate your success?

I was like, man, that's a pretty good comment. You know, we don't always celebrate when things go well and make sure we recognize people. So I'm going to shut up for a second and have you tell, you know, kind of what you meant by gratitude.

Jason

Monson: Well, yeah, I think it comes from, you know, celebrating the people. You know, it's just being thankful for things that go right and just— it's the right frame of mind because there's things that just the nature of agriculture, commodity agriculture, what we're in, it's just things are— the wheels are going to fall off the bus. And I think it's just if you just every day there's daily blessings. And for us personally, it's our faith. It's, you know, what we have, whether it's a good crop like we have this year, we have a bad crop like we had last year, it's all— everything we have is from God. And to realize that, you know, every day, no matter what the day is, there is a blessing and something to be thankful for. And I think That framework will just really help you no matter what's going on.

And especially in agriculture, I think it just— whether it's harvest season, planting season, whatever season it is, there's always something to be thankful for no matter what's going on. And I just think it helps the— it just helps the day go by, or it just really puts the day in the proper perspective.

Chris: Mm-hmm. No, that's awesome. That's great. Yeah, I couldn't have said it any better again there, you know, really appreciate your insight here. The— that was number 9, was gratitude, and number 10, we'll call this number 10 of the top-tier operations. So it's— you had the word decisive, and you talked about being willing to change Making quality decisions without paralysis, you know, and that— I love that too because it's like sometimes there's paralysis from too much analysis, right? There's too much data and it's like, well, how that— you know, I can't even make a decision here. And, you know, the other side is, is not enough. So you have paralysis, you just don't do anything because you don't feel like you have enough information.

And I always like Shay's analogy is always, you know, there's a reason there's a whole bunch dead squirrels in the middle of the road because the squirrel runs out to the middle of the road and can't decide which way to go and he gets ran over, you know. And, and I think that's, that's a good analogy as well about the importance of being decisive. But I want to hit a couple things here and then I have you explain this. But, you know, you talked about innovation, you know, always learning and improving in excellence, you know, for the business and He talked about just not being afraid to fail. I thought that was awesome too, you know, analyzing these opportunities and things, you know, and, and, you know, and also figuring out what do you— what should you stop doing too.

It's not always what you need to do more of, but sometimes it's like, okay, we're not doing this anymore, this isn't working. I thought it was great, you know. You also talked about adapt faster than your competition. In other words, just paying attention to what what's going on around you and where those opportunities are. Don't worry what your— if your competition's not doing it, doesn't mean you shouldn't try it or whatever. I love that. And then just strategic management, you know, that, that drive for success and, and, and putting that plan together and just capitalizing on those opportunities of change. So again, I'm going to shut up and have you kind of talk through being decisive and what are the key values of that?

Jason

Monson: Well, I think, well, I'll preface this because it's indecisive in our business, it's commodity agriculture, so we're growing, everybody's basically growing the same product that we are, wheat. So this is how we distinguish ourselves from our competition is having confidence in our numbers. I think this one ties back all the other 9, is is you have confidence in your business plan and you have confidence in your numbers. So when an opportunity presents itself, you can say whether that's an equipment deal that's coming through, you just know the right numbers. Or you look at a land deal that's coming through, you can just know the numbers and make an immediate decision.

I think it comes— it's just having the confidence to seize the opportunity, to realize that to take a pass on this opportunity, probably the We made some changes this harvest and we've not farmed farms before and those have been some of the best decisions we've made is just saying no and realizing that you made the right decision and accept the decision. And then also is, you know, just in our— in agriculture, timing and attention to detail is everything because the details really matter and getting this Getting the work done in a very timely manner and the right task at the right time is actually very critical to me. And then always looking for new opportunities, and so that's whether it's going to the, you know, going to conferences in the winter, you know, talking, getting outside your area.

That's what one of the best things has been is, you know, working with you, and Chey is getting out there and talking to different people and networking or peer groups and seeing what other opportunities are there and what can we bring back to our farm and implement and change. One change that we made is we hired an agronomist that was at that year's executive summit last year, and that's been a real positive change to help us achieve one of our goals on our business plan. And so I just think it's in our environment and this rapid time of volatility is I think there's a huge amount of opportunity and you just have to always be willing to adapt and sometimes make radical changes. It's been real beneficial to our farm, especially if you have a board of directors or business coach that can kind of guide— that's the advantage of that too, is this kind of ties it all together.

They can check in or say no, run from that. Or so I just think in agriculture, the opportunities, you just don't have, you just don't have time to make decisions because the way things move and the competition. You have to be, you just have to know where you're at and have confidence in what you're doing.

Chris: Mm-hmm. That's awesome. I mean, I again couldn't set it better. The decisiveness is just such a key thing. And, and, um, well said, well said. Um, so one notable, um, I always like at the very end of these podcasts, I was like, uh, one more, one more question. Or wait, maybe there's an, you know, one last, last question. And, and, uh, when we look at the— you, you actually had number 11, but I'm going to call it a notable. You had professionalism. And I think, you know, your operation, just to give you a little credit too, I mean, your operation is is the example of professionalism because of the focus that you guys have on business. And, you know, you, you had that in there, you know, professionalism in all aspects of the business, whether it's machinery, crops, livestock, buildings. You know, those are your words.

Just talk about professionalism for a minute as we kind of wrap up. What's your, what's your perspective of professionalism?

Jason

Monson: Well, we're always selling ourselves to somebody, and so whether that's our landlords, our vendors, our warehouse people, you know, we're dealing, you know, our banker, we're always, we're constantly, we're in a people business and a service business, you know, that's how we view it, and so we need to, you know, whether it's landlords, grain, or whatever it is, we need to treat everything like it's, like everybody's, we need to treat everything with respect and that, like it's our own. And so people will trust us.

Trust us with their land, trust us with their, whether it be the hired kids that we have driving wagon for us today, people need to trust us and realize that, you know, we're professional in what we're doing and we take safety Seriously, we take all aspects of our business seriously, and I think just— and by communicating that, it enables people to trust you with their— whether you want— they want you to spray for them, harvest for them, or whatever. They realize that you're a businessman and you will— your word is your bond. Mm-hmm.

Chris: Awesome, that's great. So I really appreciate this, Jason. You know, uh, like I said, I, I did the just, you know, the, the 5 best practices, top-tier operations, and then you sent me this email with a ton of wisdom. And so, um, I really appreciate that, Jason. I'm gonna roll through these, uh, real quick again just in a summary. Any other comments that you have with regard to, you know, professionalism or any of these things?

Jason

Monson: No, I, I just thank you for the opportunity, and thank you for working with our business.

Chris: Well, it's a pleasure. And, and, um, again, let's, uh, let's review these, you know. So we did the first 5. So again, if you haven't listened to that, go listen to it. I'm not going to address those now, but, you know, I'm going to give Jason credit where credit's due here. Uh, number 6, advisory council. Number 7, having an empowered team. Number 8, defined core values, having those core values so that you can have the principles of the business. Number 9, gratitude and just a positive attitude for your business, your operation. And number 10, being decisive. I think those are all great things that, that we can all do in our business. I definitely took some notes. I'm going to take some notes, try to improve some things in our business. I hope this is helpful. To you, the listener, and can take some things home and apply some things to the business.

Jason, again, Jason Monson, Washington State, in the middle of wheat harvest. Thank you so much for taking the time to have this conversation. Really appreciate it.

Jason

Monson: Yeah, well, thank you, Chris.

Chris: You bet. And again, everybody, thanks for listening, and we will catch you again next time on the Ag View Pitch.