Professional Peer Group Opportunities

Chris

Barron: Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ag View Pitch. Today we're going to talk about peer groups. If you're in a peer group, you're going to want to listen to this. If you're not in a peer group, you're going to want to listen to this. If you're interested in a peer group, you're going to want to listen to this. I think you're going to want to listen to this. We have today with us Joe Paulsen and Andy Ruby, who are both working with us now actively in Ag View Solutions. And we are going to talk a little bit about the why, the who, the what, and the how.

Talk a little bit about some of the experiences, some of the things that we've learned with these groups and the opportunities that if you are somebody that is interested or even thinking about it, this is definitely for you to listen to this and, and, you know, think about what kind of opportunities it can generate for your, for your farm operation and for your business and for your family and for friendships, relationships, and things that can really be meaningful in the future for you as well. So with that said, Joe and Andy, how are you guys today? Great. Good, good, good. So let's start out with the why. And I'll pick on you first, Joe. Why should somebody think about getting involved in a peer group?

Joe

Paulson: How much time do you have?

Chris

Barron: We have a little bit of time, but go ahead and go right to the point, Joe.

Joe

Paulson: All right. Just to take your business to the next level or to help you know, solve, you know, we've all got problems. And if, if you have problems, a peer, a peer group is for you. And, you know, it can really help you get some clarity by having, by having 7 consultants come to your operation and help look under the hood.

Chris

Barron: Andy, any comments on the why?

Andy

Hruby: Yeah, I mean, I definitely agree with Joe. I think when, you know, when that opportunity for us to join a peer group came, the biggest why was I wanted the opportunity to meet operations that I could be transparent with and have them give honest feedback on areas to improve our business and what we needed to do different. Always kind of felt like we're out on an island a little bit and there's a lot of stuff you wanted help on or wanted somebody's input on, but you're not going to go to your neighbor a couple miles down the road and ask him what he thinks of it, of, you know, a certain situation.

Chris

Barron: Yeah, I always think it's interesting, like, you know, you both kind of commented on the idea that, um, what, what we can say to others in our, in our neighborhood, or, um, what we can't say even more importantly, and what we wonder, and just getting some confirmation on, are we making a good decision here? Are we not making a good decision? Or the complexity of things in our operations is just getting more and more complex. And I think a lot of times too, it's, it's, you know, sometimes we feel like we can't be vulnerable, we can't tell anybody about our fears or our frustrations or what might be going on in the family dynamics or whatever.

Well, You have an advisory board, like Joe, like you said, you know, there's 7 operations, um, the way we structure it, which we'll talk about here in a little bit specifically in how we structure it, but there's 7 other operations that are on your advisory board now. But not only are they your advisory board, but they care about you, right? We build these relationships over a 4-year period to where, you know, you're sharing with each other your challenges and your opportunities. And we find out really quick, we all have a lot of the same issues. We might not be farming in the same way, we might be farming 5 states or 10 states away, but we have that continuity and that respect and that opportunity to build those relationships.

And, you know, the thing I would say for my why is after being involved in a bunch of these peer groups, I see so many of these people are lifelong friends after that too, you know, that after the peer group experience, if you're, if the peer group experience is 4 years and it doesn't continue on and you get into another peer group, you're still close with those people that, that you build those relationships with. Any comments either of you guys on that, on the why part still?

Andy

Hruby: I mean, I think I would agree completely. To add to that too, what Abby and I have seen is, you know, we were fully committed to that group. So whenever there's a meeting, it's, it's on the calendar, we're going to be there, we're going to be involved to help whatever the host operation needs. But at the same token, not only do we gain a lot out of that group experience and the few days we're with the group, but it's the travel time there and home when it's just the two of us. And you know, you're, you're away from the day to day as an opportunity to kind of reflect and think about your own operation too. And every time on the way home, it's like, well, did you notice what this operation is doing or that operation is doing?

It's like, you know, we've said we needed to do this, or, you know, a year ago we said that we're gonna have it done by then, and we need to follow up and get it done. It's just always been good motivation and good reflection for the two of us to work, you know, to think about how we want the business to look. And like we always say, spend time working on the business.

Chris

Barron: Yeah, it's easy to work in it, but working on it, right? Joe, any comments on, on, as we wrap up, the why peer group consideration.

Joe

Paulson: Yeah, I mean, I actually wrote down the same thing, Andy. You know, it forces you to get off the farm to work on the business and, you know, just, just having those 6 days on, on the calendar throughout, throughout the year, 3 in the summer, 3 in the winter, you know, it forces you to go think about your business in a, in a, in a different fashion. And that is, um, that, that's a, that's a huge, huge, uh, advantage. The other one, one last thing is, is, you know, talking about the why is, you know, in, in a couple of the peer groups that we've had or that I've been in, uh, or meetings, is two of the operations had things that they were wanting to, or that, you know, whether they were going to build a grain setup or they were talking about office space or whatever.

And both of these situations, you know, when we looked at those operations financials, we were like, yep, yep, I, you know, you need to do this. But yet the bank was a little hesitant and, you know, Both these operations moved forward and did these big projects, and it's been game-changing to both of their businesses. And, you know, it's good to have some— I mean, you got to have the input of your lender. I mean, absolutely, it's super valuable to have the banker's input, but ultimately you're the one that really knows how this is going to affect your business. And it's good to have other people come in that are looking at it from the same the same page that you are. And that, that can be really powerful. And it was powerful for the bank too, because the bank heard the whole thing and they were like, okay, you know, and, you know, obviously went along with both operations.

Chris

Barron: Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's so true. I think the— just the why for everybody to think about is, is, you know, your, your business. A lot of times we think, you know, we've got too much going on, we don't have time to do it. And to both of your guys's point, you don't have time not to do it is the thing, because that's going to be the game-changing difference in your operation for the next 10 or 15 years as you grow to the next level of whatever your definition of growth is, because it's going to be different for everybody. But, um, let's continue the conversation. There'll be some more why that'll blend in with this other stuff, but let's, let's talk about who And the first thing I want to comment on, and we'll get your guys' take, is that a lot of times I'll have an operation say, well, we're, we're pretty complicated, so I'm not sure.

Or we'll hear the other side of it is, I'm not sure I'm big enough, you know. And, and it's not really about size of the operation. It's— I always tell people it's about the desire for sophistication, the desire for professionalism, the desire for growth of whatever and however you define growth. So any comments on you guys on, on who, who is, who is this a fit for with peer groups? Who should be considering it? Andy, I'll have you go first.

Andy

Hruby: Okay. Anybody that wants professional feedback on their business and wants to improve their business, like you said, whether that's growth or financially or however you define that, but just anybody that's ready to take their business to the next level is a simple way of putting it, and willing to help other operations take their business to the next level. You know, as much as you want people to help you, you got to be willing to help them.

Joe

Paulson: Joe, I totally, I totally agree. And that next level can be anything. It can be a better looking balance sheet. It can be,, you know, better employee relationships. It doesn't have to be more acres, more cows, more hogs. It doesn't, you know, it's, it's just anybody that wants to improve their business. And I don't know anybody that doesn't want to improve their business, you know.

Chris

Barron: Yeah, sometimes I also hear, you know, we've got some issues that we got to solve first. And I'm like, no, you don't. We all have issues, right? If we're going to be honest. And that's how you solve those issues is with confirmation from your peers. And it's all, it's a lot easier. And you guys can, I'm sure can attest to this. It's a lot easier to take advice from our peers. I mean, you can have a consultant and I think they're important, but on the same token, you know, the peers are living in that world too and they see it, they felt it, maybe they've been through it before. And you know, so if you've got issues and you've got problems, it's a fit, right? Any comments on that?

Andy

Hruby: Yeah, real quick. I think, you know, I think of our own operation and that's exactly it. We had issues that needed to be resolved and if it wasn't for the peer group and helping address those and walking us through that process, it would've been a disaster. You know, I'm really glad that we didn't try to tackle that prior to the peer group. I think the peer group did a great job helping us navigate that and helping everybody involved open their eyes to what we had to do and what needed solved and ideas on how to go about it.

Chris

Barron: Sometimes those action items that you get at the end of the meeting are hard to swallow too, though, right? And we'll talk about that here in a bit. But you get a list at the end of the peer groups the way we run them that's a set of action items and accountability partners on every single one of them from your peers. And some of those are tough, aren't they? It's like, oh my gosh, I'm not sure I want to do this, but I know I have to. And you probably already knew you needed to, but it's that information. It's that here's, here's the deal. Uh, any other comments on who, who should be involved? Any other thoughts?

Joe

Paulson: Well, going back to the comment about, you know, being ready, it's like having kids. If you wait till you afford them, you're never going to have kids. If you wait until your operation is perfect, well then, because that's a, that's a pipe dream. There is no perfect operations out there. And that, that's a, you know, you just, you just got to jump in and do it. And everybody's at the same, you know, every, every, everybody's got issues. And that's the point of it.

Chris

Barron: And the nice thing is, is you're— these, these issues are being exposed to your— what will soon be your close friends, your confidants, your trusted advisors, and they're not your neighbors. You're not in competition with them. You know, they're, they're from other states, they're from different areas and stuff, the way we put these things together. So awesome. Um, next is what— and what I mean by what is what are some of the key things that if you get in one of our peer groups specifically, um, do you want to think about in terms of complete information, uh, transparency, vulnerability, What are some important things that the listeners that are considering a peer group need to think about? That, you know, what's going to happen? What are some of the things that they need to be prepared for? Joe, I'll go with you first.

Joe

Paulson: The transparency thing is huge.

Chris

Barron: You have to be— You were quiet on there. So you said the transparency.

Joe

Paulson: Transparency is huge. That's a very important quality. You need to be transparent. You know, you, you can't, you can't totally get help unless everybody has the whole entire picture. Um, you know, so, so the transparency is big. Vulnerable. Vulnerable. You got to be willing to lay it out there. And, um, you know, the fir— the first, the first operation that goes is, you know, kind of hanging it all out there, but you're all going to do it and you're all going to be there eventually. And that's what helps bring the whole team together. But, you know, you got to be ready to, you know, kind of, kind of do, do, do these things and be at one with, you know, being vulnerable.

Chris

Barron: Andy?

Andy

Hruby: Yeah, I think The only other thing I would add to that, or a couple things I guess, is I put stress relief and management improvement. I think after going through the peer group process and working on the action items they gave us, it definitely helped with our management and how we were looking at things, how we were delegating things, and then just some of the changes we made in our operation and the stress relief it had for Abby and I, and really helping us dial in where we wanted the operation to go. And I would also kind of change, you know, onto that would be Abby and I's relationship and her involvement in the farm. Prior to the peer group, she was always pro-farming and for it, but never really was heavily involved.

And her being able to come to these peer group, you know, operations and meet them and talk to other spouses and operators and really opened her eyes to, I would say, the business side of farming. And she's been a lot more actively engaged, asked a lot more questions, just her, her desire to want to learn more about it has been great. And in return, I think it's helped our relationship personally too, because it just takes you both to the next level.

Chris

Barron: Yeah, I—

Andy

Hruby: go ahead, Joe.

Joe

Paulson: My, uh, I took my wife to the, some of the peer group meetings, um, in the beginning and, uh, she was really against going because she had nothing to offer and, uh, because she didn't know anything about farming. She's a city girl. She's a school teacher, that kind of thing. And on the way home, she's like, that was not at all what I expected. And she had great input, um, and ideas and shared and, uh, really enjoyed the whole entire process. So, uh, you know, don't, don't be afraid of that. Like, who's going to go? Take your wife along. That's, that's, that's your partner or any of your, uh, you know, stakeholders within your operation. I kind of flop back and forth between my banker, my wife, my, uh, You know, executive assistant, um, you know, I've taken everybody to it.

Chris

Barron: So yeah, I think important. I think to add to what you guys are saying as an observation, um, two-part, I guess, you know, first of all, when somebody asked, you know, well, what all do we share? What all do we need to bring? And I tell them essentially everything except your underwear drawer. You probably should leave that back, but, you know, literally be open in every sense of your business. And, you know, one of the things, you know, to share my experience with it on the other side, because there's two sides of this, you know, you're the one side is you're participating and somebody is hosting and you're participating on that side. And then when you host, it's a whole different experience. And the first peer group I ever did, we had gone through all the operations and stuff.

And, and I'm one of these guys that I have to go to sleep early at night or I can't function the next day very good. And so that peer group had a tendency to stay up late and drink a few extra beers and talk and just cultivate those relationships, which is awesome. And I just can't stay up that late. I'm kind of like, you know, I got to go to sleep at some point, you know. And anyway, they, they conspired that I had to host. And so I actually ended up having to host for that peer group, which was a completely different experience for me from the standpoint of we brought a facilitator in to facilitate the meeting so I could host. And so, and that was a great experience for me because being a facilitator for this and not having ever hosted, I don't think it would have taught me as much as that did when I had to sit on that side of the fence.

Because when you're hosting, you organize things better. It forces you to do some things you otherwise would never do. You know, the shop is as clean as it's ever going to be. The offices are organized, you've got your financials, you know, everything kind of set up really well. And so I think that's, that's something that, you know, people need to understand, that there's kind of two sides to this, and it's very different when you host. And but when you do leave, another one of the whats for me is what comes out of it is when you leave that operation, most times with a takeaway, you take something home that has a direct impact on your business.

It makes it better either financially, communication is better, you know, the family dynamics is better, the employee relationships are better, the lender relationship, something will change by virtue of what you see in somebody else's operations. Any final comments? I'll hit you first, Joe, and then, and then Andy.

Joe

Paulson: No, I mean, you pretty well sum it up. I mean, that's, you know, That's what the peer group thing is all about, is you always take something home. Oh, always.

Chris

Barron: Yeah. Andy?

Andy

Hruby: Yeah. And then, and then with that too, is it's not— you're not talking to these people 2 times a year when you get together. It seems like the conversations in between the meetings are almost just as valuable of as you pick up things and want to follow up on things and have questions. Here's 7 operations you could call any time and be like, hey, You know, I want to pick your brain on this idea. If I send this over to you, can you take a look at it for me? So it's, it's definitely a 365 experience.

Chris

Barron: So I think we've kind of covered the why, the who, the what. Now what I want to do as we get to the nuts and bolts of it is just kind of talk about how our peer groups are set up and kind of how we operate and sort of why we do it the way we do. I'm going to give the 30,000-foot view. First of all, I'm going to explain to people that if you are interested in something like this, we have an onboarding form. You just email Joe or Andy or myself, and we will send you an onboarding form that basically describes your operation. You fill that out, and then you get put into the— what I would call the bucket of consideration. It takes a while. Some of these groups we've We've spent almost a year putting a couple of these groups together because it's so important that we get to know the operations.

Some of them are operations that we've actually worked with, but some of them are operations that we haven't worked with. And so we want to get to know you. We're going to have some phone conversations, some conference calls, and get to understand your business so that we can mesh you with other operations that we feel like you're going to get the most benefit from. As, as your advisory board. And so that's kind of how it starts. Some of the next steps, the quick 30,000-foot view of what we do in the peer groups, and Andy or Joe, you guys can jump in. I'll throw out the first part of this is that we meet twice a year. We meet when everybody can. We communicate with everybody in a, in a, in a condensed email and/or text or both. Where everybody can look at dates so that, you know, like Andy, I think you mentioned, you know, you don't miss this.

If somebody in the family dies like the day before, you might miss it or something, but, you know, there'd have to be a really good reason why, because we plan these out at a minimum of 6 months ahead, and usually we try to do it a year out so that it is a priority. That meeting is, is a priority. That's where you're working on your business with your advisory board and your other, you know, your peer group, your team. So those are some priorities that are very important to understand that we take very seriously. With that said, you know, if we meet in the winter and we meet in the summer, everybody's operations are different. You might have some guys doing wheat, some guys chopping, some guys doing stuff. And so it, we, those dates get set. They're very important. Then what we do is in the, uh, wintertime, uh, start there if the operation is hosting.

We're going to meet on a, you know, whatever day it is. We have some groups that start on a Sunday, some that start on a Wednesday, but it's a 3-day deal. So we show up at 2:00 in the afternoon and we start and then we do the next full day and then we're done at noon the next day. And so just real quick, some of the content that's in there, day 1 is introductions and/or updates of all the operations with the exception of the host. That evening we have a social. The host operation covers all the expenses because you only got to do it once out of the 4 years. You're, you're covering all the, the meals and that type of stuff. Everybody covers their own travel and hotel. But what that does is creates an opportunity for the each of the operations to share kind of where they're at. The first meeting is introductions, but after that it just updates kind of what's going on.

Some people bring slides and pictures and different things like that. They— everybody gets about 20 minutes to do that update. That evening is a social dinner. The next morning is the presentation. Sometimes we do the presentation of the host operation at the end of that day. Just kind of depends on timing and scheduling. That operation does its PowerPoint presentation, history, where they've been, where they're at, and where they want to go. Most importantly, what are the things that they want to have the peers look at? What, what are the issues that they have? What are the opportunities they have? And what's important to them? With that, we go out, do a physical tour. By noon that day, on day 2, we kick the host operators out of there and we start interviews. Interviews are whoever the host operation selects.

It might be a lender, it might be a CPA, it might be an attorney, it might be family members, it might be employees, might be spouses, you know, it might be business partners, it might be suppliers. And so there's a lot of different choices that we all have, and it depends on who we work with locally and who knows our operations the best. We do up to 7 or 8 interviews during the course of that day, that afternoon, that evening, or later on that afternoon when we're done with interviews, we start the SWOT analysis, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. With that, what we do is look at, you know, as the peers, we look at, and I'll start out with strengths. Somebody takes that role and they're going to present the strengths the next day to that operation. And so the peers are very interactive. With the presentation the next day.

So we, the next morning, or excuse me, that evening, we do another social. Sometimes those socials are where the best information comes out. You know, everybody is having a drink and relaxed, and maybe the whoever was being interviewed that day, somebody didn't get asked a question, or they didn't want to ask a question in front of everybody. Somebody didn't want to make a comment that they should have made. Sometimes those come out in the socials. And we have dinner that night. The next morning, we meet early. The host operation is not there. The peers are. They finish the SWOT and then they do the action items and recommendations, which are the key to the whole thing. Those are 10, 15 different recommendations that you get from your peers. Each one of those has an accountability partner assigned to them.

Their role and their expectation is to contact that operation and say, how's it going? You know, this is the thing that you were going to do that I'm accountable to follow up with you on. How's it going? And it just kind of sets the tone. At the very end of the meeting, we do takeaways. Sometimes they're emotional, sometimes they're not. But oftentimes, you know, the blood, sweat, and tears we all put into our operations can be emotional, especially when the spouses are there. You know, sometimes, you know, like Joe, like you said, you know, they realize that this is not a farm meeting. This is a business meeting. It's different than a farm meeting. It wouldn't matter if we were— if it was a bunch of dentists or a bunch of attorneys or a bunch of whatever.

This is a business meeting about our businesses and about our families, about our operations, our challenges, opportunities, and those types of things. So, um, then that's kind of how we wrap it up. That's my 30,000-foot view. Start with you, Joe. Is there anything I missed or any other comments on kind of how we do this that I missed? And then we'll hit Andy up.

Joe

Paulson: I think you did a great job. I mean, that is the 30,000-foot view. We are, as facilitators, we are like guides through this journey. And, uh, you know, we, we, we help facilitate this environment. And then, you know, the active participants are, are, are really all the peer, the peer, the peer group members. And Um, you know, it's, it's a fantastic process and it's, um, you know, how it can really help some operations get some clear clarity on where they want to go and get everybody on the same page and pulling in the same direction, whether that's, you know, uh, you know, a stalled out transition between, between a father and a son. You know, we've seen them, you know, restart that back up and actually successfully get through it because of this process.

You know, because it's a lot different when, you know, a group of peers comes in and tells you, hey, this is the direction we think you should go or how we should do it. It's a lot different than the son telling dad we need to do this. Or I've, I've seen it really help give some transit, some traction to a stalled out transition.

Chris

Barron: Andy, I think your mic is off, Andy.

Andy

Hruby: I would say to add on to that, Joe, would be stalled out in any part of that, whether it's transition or conflict or whatever. It's— that part's always been great. And you know that, and kind of one other thing to add, maybe in a little more detail than a 30,000-foot view, is, is you have the opportunity to see these 7 other operations that are going to be in your peer group prior to meeting. So you know, you get to see that questionnaire form and really make sure that you fit well and you're comfortable with that group. But, you know, I think you could almost have a whole nother podcast on the process, Chris, and the time that's spent on the backside of really trying to align these operations up to bring as much power to that peer group as possible.

I think that's, you know, I think that's what makes the peer group such a great experience is the time that's spent getting operations that really fit together well.

Chris

Barron: Yeah, I appreciate that. That is a challenge too. I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into that, and I appreciate you guys being on the team now to help with the sweat and the blood and the tears because it is a, you know, it is a process. I mean, it, and that's what I think is the differentiating, uh, component that Ag View has that we have is that we're committed to spending a ton of time matching the appropriate people together. And will we get it perfect every single time? Probably not. But if you don't do that, you're not going to get nearly the experience that you're going to get by having that process done on the front end. And to your point, Andy, another thing that I failed to mention, when we send out that onboarding form, we send out an information document which talks about the economic commitment.

It explains the structure that I kind of went through in sort of a comprehensive, detailed way so that they can kind of understand what they're getting into and how that process works. And then if somebody does, we do fill out that onboarding form, then that opens the door for additional conversations with one of us so that they can kind of see what they're getting into and make sure that it is a right fit for them. And then to your point, Andy, that was a really good catch that, you know, when we send out, when we've got that group selected and we send out those onboarding forms to them, our expectation is, is that they read through everybody else's that's going to be in their group so they can agree then and say, yeah, this looks really interesting and I think I can learn a lot from these operations.

Or, or maybe it's like, you know, I have a question about this or this and we can have that discussion. And then it ends up being a decision then for, for them instead of us. Right. You know, we're not saying you absolutely have to do this. We're saying, you know, here's an opportunity for you. You consider this, you look at it, and we're going to present it to you in a way that, that it's not a sales pitch at all. It's— this is an opportunity, and you can either take it or leave it, and, and it's perfectly fine with us either way. Um, the other thing that I'd say that's really interesting is these groups that we've put together, we've got about a 98, um, reinvolvement where when we get a peer group done they're ready to jump in another peer group, you know.

And so there's options at the end, and we won't get into that today, but there's options at the end of the 4 years where that group can stay together and do additional education or circle back to another operation that maybe has made some significant changes or has some new issues and challenges that they want the peers to come back and look at with them. So a lot of opportunities, a lot of things. Any Any comments? And either one of you can go first, or Andy, why don't you go first? Any final comments, things we didn't mention, or—

Andy

Hruby: yeah, two things real quick. I think probably most importantly is your geographic privacy. We do a really good— try to do a really good job of having people that are far enough apart that you don't have to worry about there being any conflict with you being transparent with your information. That's You know, not to say there won't be two operations from the same state, but we make sure that they're far enough apart within that state and that both operations are comfortable with that. That, that allows you to be as transparent as possible.

And then the other thing too is kind of circling back to the who is, you know, if you're not sure if this is the right thing for you, or if you got something going on, I just really emphasize the fact to reach out to one of the three of us, because we probably know somebody that has been in a similar situation that has gone through the peer group process. So we could put you in contact with, to get, to get that one-on-one of like, what, tell, tell me how the peer group helped you through this particular situation that may be similar to what I'm trying to go through.

Chris

Barron: Really good. Good comments, Joe.

Joe

Paulson: Circling back to, you know, does size matter? And I want to emphasize that it absolutely does not matter. I don't care if you're farming 600 acres, or if you're farming 300 acres, and you're looking to figure out how to, how to go to the next level, you know, the This is an unbelievable opportunity to look underneath the hood of some other operations that are either where you want to get to or, you know, different complexities. I mean, there's— it's a fantastic fit for anyone.

Andy

Hruby: Yeah.

Chris

Barron: And just to tack on to that, you know, I know in your group, Joe, we did range in size from I think, but a large dairy with, you know, 15,000 acres. And, and I think Andy's group's got a— I think they range from about 46,000 acres down to a few thousand, you know. And so, you know, it's like you said, it's really, you know, we're going to vet everybody very detailed, and we're going to make sure there's personality synergies. We're going to make sure that there's business and growth synergies and all of those things. And that's the due diligence that we're committed to and that we will do to make sure that, like Andy said, we'll get the right people together regardless of what their, what their business is.

I mean, we've got businesses that are construction companies that farm too, trucking companies, other businesses, crop protection, you know, equipment dealerships, all those kinds of things. And they all overlap. And those are all creating tons of opportunities and a lot of farm diversification too. A lot of operations that have a lot of diversified business interests too, and those all create complexity, but they also create opportunities for growth and all that. So I'm going to shut up for a minute. I'm going to give each of you guys the last word and I'll wrap it up. So Andy, you can, you can go first and we'll wrap this up.

Andy

Hruby: I'll keep it short. Um, the peer group process has been life-changing for Abby and I, and we want to pay that forward and help other operations do it. So just pursue it with an open mind, and it's, it's quite crazy the benefit it brings back to your business.

Chris

Barron: Awesome.

Joe

Paulson: Joe? I mirror what Andy said as well. I mean, it was being in the peer group was a kind of a life-changing experience for me as well. Um, it, it's, it's, uh, I encourage anybody that has any kind of interest whatsoever, shoot me an email, Andy an email, Chris an email, um, you know, Shay, uh, and, and, uh, get on the phone with us, have, have a conversation. And, uh, you know, we, we We love this stuff. So give us a shout. We love talking about it. And we're transparent.

Chris

Barron: So— Sounds good. Reach out. My final comment is that we're committed to everybody we work with. We care about these people and we will guarantee you, you know, life-changing and impactful benefits out of this. Again, I think it's, it's an opportunity. It's, it's maybe not for everybody, but I think it's something you want to open your mind to and you want to at least fill out the, the onboarding form and look at what, what can come out of it. I know when I first looked at this idea with another company that started it and I looked at it from my perspective and I'm like, I don't need that. I'm not sure I'm interested. I don't know why I could get out of it. And then I experienced it, and you can't, you can't explain it.

I mean, we've done the best job here I think we could have or can do to explain it, but the one guarantee I give everybody is after the first meeting, you will have an experience that's not explainable. You'll, you will walk away and say, wow, that was amazing, and I can't believe this opportunity presented itself. And that's one commitment that I will leave with everybody, and And so with that said, any last words from either of you, otherwise we'll wrap it up.

Joe

Paulson: We're good.

Chris

Barron: You guys good? All right. Well, thank you very much. And really, you know, Joe and Andy, you guys are a huge asset to Ag View Solutions. You guys are— you live it, you breathe it. And that's what we want to do with our clients. We, we farm, we live it, we breathe it. We do this ourselves, too. And so we're not, we're not just doing this for quote unquote our businesses. We're doing it for everybody involved. And with that said, we really appreciate it. Thanks again, Joe. Thanks again, Andy. Thanks everybody for listening. We will catch you again next time on the Ag View Pitch.