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Rental Agreements for Farm Buildings and Livestock Facilities

February 8, 2013

Farm buildings and livestock facilities often outlast their owner’s need for them, but are still usable. Other operators want the services of certain types of farm buildings but are not in a position to invest in new facilities. Both parties can benefit by developing a lease arrangement.

Beef Cow Rental Arrangements for Your Farm

February 8, 2013

Managing risk is required for many farm enterprises to be profitable and sustainable. Leasing assets, rather than purchasing them, is a form of risk management as it typically requires less capital. Leasing or sharing arrangements between farm operators and property owners have long been used to acquire control of land.

Strategies for Success in Turbulent Times: Ten Strategic Initiatives

January 31, 2013

Farm businesses are facing increasing complexity and uncertainty in today’s turbulent business climate. Farms continue to be family based businesses and are modest size compared too much of the industrial sector, but an increasing number of farms are becoming multi-million dollar gross sales businesses with a sizeable work-force and rapidly increasing financial capital and land resources.

Farmland Values – Will the Boom Turn Bust Presentation

January 30, 2013

Top Producer Seminar presentation by Dr. Brent Gloy.

Structural Change in Agriculture: Implications for the Farming Sector

January 28, 2013

The global food and agribusiness industry is in the midst of major changes – changes in product characteristics, in worldwide distribution and consumption, in technology, in size and structure of firms in the industry, and in geographic location of production and processing.

Alternative Futures for Agriculture: A Scenario Analysis Exercise

January 25, 2013

The point of scenario analysis is not to predict how the future will unfold, but rather to consider different scenarios that might occur and what the economic environment might look like in these scenarios. Participants then use these situations to consider what strategies their businesses might use were these situations to occur.

Farm Growth: Venture Analysis and Business Models

January 14, 2013

Continued consolidation and concentration in the agricultural industries has stimulated numerous discussions and debates about the advantages and disadvantages of large vs. small firms and why the general trend/direction of most structural change in agriculture is to larger scale businesses.

The Wealth Effect in U.S. Agriculture

January 8, 2013

Since 2009, wealth in the U.S. farm sector has surged along with booming farmland values. Similar to nonfarm households, farm enterprises historically have used wealth to support consumption and investments when income fades. During years of low income, farmers tap their existing wealth to finance spending on capital investments such as buildings, vehicles, machinery and other equipment.

Is the Current Farm Prosperity Sustainable? What to Watch

January 1, 2013

Many are asking whether the current prosperity in farming is sustainable. The answer is not obvious, but the following “what to watch” list might provide a useful perspective to answer this question.

Drought, Livestock, and Income Taxes

December 12, 2012

Many Midwestern livestock producers have been adversely affected by weather conditions in 2012. Because of reduced feed supplies, some livestock producers have reduced their herd size through larger than normal sales of livestock in 2012.