January, 2009
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Congratulations to My Childhood Hero
Jim Rice, an outfielder for the Boston Red Sox, was finally voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame today. I was in high school in the mid to late 70’s when Jim Rice was playing for the Red Sox and he was by far my favorite baseball player of that era. He retired almost 20 […]
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Don’t Wait Too Long
The Department of Agriculture released many crop reports today. As a result, corn, soybeans and wheat prices were sharply lower on the cash and futures markets. In many cases, the drop was 10% or more. Prices has steadily risen over the last few weeks and there were many chances to lock in a profit on […]
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The Mustard Seed
I have given many financial seminars where I start out with the story of two employees.. Each employee is giving the option of receiving $1,000 per day in wages for 28 days or starting with a penny and having their wage double each day. Most people assume the $1,000 per day will be a much […]
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Super Bowl of Farming
The Super Bowl of Football is coming up in about two weeks. I have always thought that the game of football has many similarities to the business of farming. During the off and pre-season, the team is acquiring talent based upon their needs and goals for the upcoming season. As farmers, during this off-season, we […]
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The Rule of 72
During several of meetings with clients during each year, a client will ask me a question about how much money they will have in a number of years. Sometimes, for fun, I will try do this in my head and I will generally be very close. For example, they will state they have $100,000 to […]
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Down Time is Go Time
This time of year for most farmers is a period of down time. There may some crops that are planted, but dormant. Some farmers spend time maintaining their equipment for the new year. I think this time is what I call “Go Time.” This is the time to: Prepare and review your operating budget for […]
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Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
The old saying in real estate is that the only three things that matter are location, location, and location. To me, the three things that matter most in succession planning is communicate, communicate, and communicate. Verbal communication between each of the generations involved is the important first step. What does the generation passing on the farm want […]