Legacy Farmer The Podcast

In our latest podcast episode, I share a personal story about my family's experience when our farm operation went under almost 20 years ago. Financial instability shook my grandad’s $10 million operation, and in the blink of an eye, everything he worked his entire life to build was gone. This tragedy is all too common, with many farms facing a similar fate every year. We explore the emotional stages, starting with denial, where my grandad lived in denial about the impending collapse, protecting his ego rather than facing the hard truth. The reality hit when the bank cut him off, and the impact on my dad is something I’ll never forget. Tune in to hear about the challenges and emotional toll when a family farm goes under.

When Is Enough, Enough? Owning up to our actions, understanding the results we've created, and deciding where we want to go next can be incredibly challenging. This struggle is evident in many areas of life, including our body and fitness. Most people aren't satisfied with how they look and often postpone necessary changes, returning to their comfort zones. This pattern isn't unique to fitness—it's a common theme in various aspects of life. Reaching a breaking point or hitting rock bottom can be the catalyst for new action. So, where are you in your journey? Chances are, deep down, you know there are changes you need to make. You probably also understand the direction your current path will lead if you don’t take action. In our latest podcast episode, we dive into the question: When is enough, enough? And when is it time to make a change? If you’re ready to make a change and need guidance on where to start, we’re here to help. Book a call with our team to discuss how we can support you at www.legacyfarmer.com

Whenever someone starts a business, and assumes all the risk, the very first thing they focus on acquiring is money. You can’t be drowning and build an impactful business at the same time. The whole process is hard and unrelenting. Each new phase the business enters as it grows has its own set of challenges for the owner. If you are doing $1 million in revenue right now, you are not the same person you have to be to do $10 million. Eventually once the business becomes more stable you begin to see money as a tool.   Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here:  www.legacyfarmer.org

We all have different perceptions around things in our lives, at different points in our lives. You think different things about your parents as a teenager than you do when you are a parent yourself. The key to perception is challenging it. Is what you are seeing the truth, or, is your brain telling you a story, and influencing what you are seeing? Don’t let false stories stop you from confronting the truth at the root of a situation. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here:  www.legacyfarmer.org

The ego misleads, the numbers don’t. Once you know your starting point and the decisions that got you there, you can start to build your way out. Only getting out of your comfort zone and making hard decisions will get you back to stability. The ego is what blocks the reality of the truth of knowing your numbers. Are you running your operation based off your ego or off the facts?   Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here:  www.legacyfarmer.org

Many of the older generation of farmers are set in their ways and reluctant to change. The members of the younger generation have to be willing to adapt and change with the world around them if they want their operation to survive. Once you have gotten an operation up and running and, most importantly, stable, you figure out your own way of doing things that works best for you. This makes the process personal and leads to the reluctance to give it up or embrace change when needed. Doing things our own way has a shelf life and won’t last forever.   Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here:  www.legacyfarmer.org

This time of year can be extremely scary and stressful for people in the Ag Industry. It’s a time with high bills and low income, which can cause people to panic and start to tell themselves stories that they aren't financially stable, when they really are. Knowing your numbers is the best way to alleviate all of that stress and worry. Without knowing your numbers, the stories will control you for the majority of the year. If you are listening to those stories, and living in scarcity, it is affecting all other aspects of your life, not just business.   Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here:  www.legacyfarmer.org 

The farming and ranching industry has a very high suicide rate, and it’s only gotten worse over the last decade or so. Many times we think that if we just had money it would solve our problems. What we don’t realize is that the problems run far deeper than that and once the surface-level problem of money is gone, all we are left with is the deep, festering, real issues below it.     Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here:  www.legacyfarmer.org 

All business owners go through pits and peaks when starting and growing a business. It’s very important to be able to recognize when you are in a bit and to not let yourself get stuck there. Our lives can be broken up into the 4 categories of body, being, balance, and business. Many times when the business is struggling it is one, or multiple, of the other categories pulling it down. Focusing on those other areas first can solve a lot of your problems without even touching the business. Taking action is key. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here:  www.legacyfarmer.org

We all get into what we are doing to build something better for the next generation. We all have a vision on how we get to that point, and if things don’t go exactly as planned, we can start to feel like a failure. Sometimes, we also have to reevaluate the path we are taking to make sure it’s the most sustainable. Holding the goal of handing down a legacy is the most important, but you have to be flexible on how you get there. You also might have to be flexible on how exactly you hand down the legacy. What you have in mind might not be the best solution. If you know there are problems in the business, just take actions and get them fixed.   Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here:  www.legacyfarmer.org 

A lot of people like to tell themselves that once they fix their financial problems, everything will come together in their life. The issue is, once you fix the financial problems, all you are left with is the real problems. When it comes to solving financial problems, for some people it’s quick, for others, it can take years. When you are trying to build something great with your life, it will come at the expense of those you hold closest. Be it your time, or energy spent with those people. It is a heavy price to pay. You are constantly sacrificing time WITH the people you love most, FOR the people you love most, even though it can feel wrong in the moment. As a father and husband, this will weigh on you. You should recognize the pain on both sides and understand what your family is going through as well.    Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here:  www.legacyfarmer.org

On the farm there is usually a massive disconnect between leadership, and just telling people what to do. When you are telling people what to do you are just managing them, you aren’t teaching, building them, or growing them, like you would if you were leading. Leadership means leading people to become better versions of themselves. It’s important to lead your team members because they will come up against things they weren’t trained for and that you, yourself may not have come up against. Without your leadership, and helping them grow, they’ll just come to you for every issue rather than coming up with a solution themselves. You don’t want every small decision going through you.   Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here:  www.legacyfarmer.org 

There are times in our lives where we do take risks, but on the flip side, we must understand when to hold fast and protect what we have. Seekers take on unmanaged risk and always swing for the fences. Which is fine as long as you are considering all the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd order consequences that come with failure. Hiders are risk averse and avoid it at all costs. This is also fine as long as it’s managed and not all consuming. When you are the one that has built up the assets, you are much less likely to risk them. Risk is much more a young man's game, and with age comes the hiding and preservation. Balance is key.   Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here:  www.legacyfarmer.org 

Right now, because of the economy, both people in the Ag industry and banks are getting apprehensive about taking out, and loaning out, money. Many people are trying to figure out how to recover from poor financial decisions they made back during the pandemic because borrowing money was easy. Greed drove both the banks and farmers to make poor decisions over the last few years. Our Farmer Metrics software is a great pattern interrupter to get you making decisions based on your numbers and not just on the feelings of what you want. Each year that you go through the cycle of making uninformed decisions it gets harder and harder.   Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here:  www.legacyfarmer.org 

Everyone hates hearing the truth when it’s something they don’t want to hear. We hate feeling exposed and having our faults pointed out. This is especially true when talking about finances. We don't want to fail our business financially, and we especially don’t want to fail our family financially. But, we live in a world of reality and ignoring the truth won’t help us improve ourselves or fix our problems. The longer you avoid the truth, the more you are prolonging the inevitable, and the more painful those lessons will be to learn.  Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here:  www.legacyfarmer.org

Sometimes it can feel like all your neighbors in the Ag industry are constantly growing and expanding their operations. It may look good from the outside but the majority of them do not know their numbers and are guessing with each decision they make. Even if you put together an annual cash flow projection, neither you nor your banker are looking at that again after you create it. In Legacy Farmer, we update those projections every month. When times are uncertain, like they are right now, your goal should be to hit singles, not home runs. Just hit a single and survive.  Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here:  www.legacyfarmer.org

Zero percent financing is very enticing, it makes you think you’ll save a ton of money, but it’s injecting the opportunity to fail for the year. It lulls you into a false sense of security, feeling like the bank account is full and you don’t need to be as careful with your spending. If you aren’t religiously tracking your numbers you wouldn’t even see the dangers coming until it is too late. It is often best to keep things simple and remove all the complexity to keep things running smoothly.    Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here:  www.legacyfarmer.org 

When you have a son or daughter come back to the family operation, are you setting them up for success, or failure? Are you dropping them in the deep-end with oppressive amounts of debt and no knowledge of how the business works? Or are you giving them space to make small mistakes and learn what they need to know to be successful later down the road? Wanting to help your kids is a great thing, but saddling them with $500K to $1M debt, and no understanding of the significance of that money, isn’t the way to help.   Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here:  www.legacyfarmer.org 

So many of our members in the Ag industry share the same problems, no matter where they are in the country. One issue that arises most often is dealing with bankers. There are issues with farmers not knowing their numbers, but there are equal and opposite issues with bankers not fully understanding the Ag business. You have to be on top of your numbers so you can give your banker the information they need to not question you, and know you are a great customer.   Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here:  www.legacyfarmer.org 

When you have a safe job, you get comfortable. This is stagnation, and you can use manufactured pressure to motivate and push yourself. The most successful people can generate the discomfort they need to stay motivated and get themselves moving. Once your business becomes stable you can unnecessarily and accidentally revert back to this mindset and make things harder than they need to be, this is called the “build and burn.” The key to this is finding a balance.   Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here:  www.legacyfarmer.org