Legacy Farmer The Podcast

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

Everyone wants to sit in the leadership position and reap all the benefits that come with it, but no one wants the price of making hard decisions that come with weight, backlash, and impact on others. These decisions also raise your awareness. You can now see the impact of not only your decisions but the impact of all the decisions of your team members. This awareness is most sensitive when their decisions affect you. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

The number of hills you should be willing to die on in business shouldn't be that many. So many things we think we need to fight to the death for, just really aren't worth it. When we run up against a challenge, it's important to ask ourselves if it's a hill worth dying on, or if it wont even matter in a few hours, days, or weeks. Asking yourself this question also stops meaningless issues from stealing your time and energy. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

When you go out on your own and start your own business you completely remove any safety net and you are completely responsible for yourself and your family. There are farmers in their 50's and 60's that are still expecting their fathers in their 80's and 90's to save them. If you are still looking for someone to save you, you need to recognize that all the power and growth is found when you accept that no one is coming to save you. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

It's common to hear farmers say that it's hard to find good help. The truth of the matter is that they don't have the correct incentives set up to draw in the right people. If you do have a solid team in place, it is important to ask them what incentives they want to help drive up their productivity and efficiency. Incentives completely depend on the person. Some people want money, some want shorter working hours, the list is endless. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

Not knowing your numbers, poor leadership, deterioration of relationships at home, are all great ways to rot your operation to the core. You can't kick the big issues down the road and hope that they'll just go away. They won't, and the longer you do, the more painful it'll be when you finally face reality. These issues and rot can even be seen in the banking industry, and it's important for you to understand that when going in for a loan. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

You need to make a decision or the universe will decide for you. The longer you avoid handling problems or challenges, the more you'll pay for them later on when you finally decide to take care of them. The consequences later will always outweigh the price of taking action today. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

As we approach the 7 year anniversary of my decision to leave the banking industry and go out on my own, I reflect on the greatest lesson I have learned. Have patience and trust God's process. When things don't go the way we expect, it is very easy to get sucked into the worry spiral. Every time things get rough, God always opens another door that we didn't even know was there. We are all impatient and try to rush things when God just wants us to slow down and trust his timing. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

Sometimes, in business and life, there are doors we need to walk through that require a massive amount of courage. Some people get stuck behind those doors for decades, out of fear of stepping through them. When we attach all of those feelings to a driving force, it becomes much easier to generate the courage needed to do what needs to be done. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

There are 2 kinds of people in this world, one that makes decisions only based on price, and one that decides based on value. Those that decide only on price are stuck in a world of scarcity and will never be able to move beyond it. Those that focus on value can see the dividends paid out over years and even decades. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

Hope is not a strategy, knowing your numbers is all that matters. This will give you confidence in all your decision making. When working with our accounting arm of the business one of our members was ecstatic to find out that he would have his numbers available to him this year rather than next year, which allows for a level of planning that he has never had before. It allows you to be proactive rather than reactive. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

When you look at your business do you see chaos, or do you see a well-oiled machine? Chances are it's chaos, and chaos leads to burn out. Business structure, clean books, loan management, tax strategy, and cash-flow management all counter the chaos and burn out. If you have chaos in your business life, chances are it has spread throughout all areas of your life. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

Some bankers want to control every single transaction happening on their line of credit. I once witnessed a banker decline money for an air conditioner in the middle of summer in Kansas, and it shook me to my core. As a customer, you need to be ready to fight those battles and justify any spending you see fit. You must always be armed with the right information to challenge them and push back. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

It is so important to know how the decisions you make today will affect your operation later on, down the road, and the only way to know that is by knowing your numbers. Our Farmer Metrics software has given our members a level of understanding and confidence in their numbers that they have never had before. We need to be looking at our numbers far more often than once a year. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

Most of us in the Ag community were raised to be kind, giving, helpful, and that you shouldn't expect anything in return. This is great until you end up spending a ton of time working for free on the family farm to help family out. They have created the problems that they need help with, but it is not your problem to solve them. It's hard to say "no" but you need to protect the time you have on this planet to accomplish what you want. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

We can all learn from other people's mistakes without having to make them ourselves. We have had so many members have one bad year that they end up paying for over the next 3, 7, or even 20 years, without even realizing that is what they are doing. This is exactly what you are doing by terming-out your losses from one bad year over multiple years. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

We all have the assumption that when we move back to work on the family operation that one day we'll take it over or at the least buy them out of the operation. This assumption holds true until we find out that the family member that we want to take over for or buy out is in massive, crushing debt. Until you see their numbers and cashflow, you know nothing about your family's operation. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

We are conditioned to see mistakes as failure, but the truth is we should see them as the stepping off point in the journey that God has laid out for us. At least in making a mistake you are doing something and decisions are being made. There is so much power in just getting off zero and making moves to get your life where you want it to be. Mistakes are good because they always bring lessons and growth. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

If you are stuck in victimhood you will never achieve anything, all while wondering why good things won't happen to you. It's easy to play the victim, it's much harder to find, and learn the lesson in each situation. Once I stopped settling and started taking action everything started to fall into place and God rewarded me. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

Come the busy season all farmers and ranchers start to feel the pressure of all they need to get done. The problems come in when they bring all that stress and worry home with them. They fall directly into victim mode about all the first world problems they face, completely overlooking how good they have things and not realizing that there are millions of people in this world that would kill to have their problems. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

Many people in the Ag industry try their best to avoid hard and uncomfortable conversations, it's just the kind of people they are. If you are not willing to have those difficult conversations, the underlying issues will just sit there and fester, and eventually destroy the relationship. There will be short-term pain, it's unavoidable, but the long-term benefits will be massive. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

So often we get in our own heads with worries and negative thoughts. Speaking positivity to yourself and reassuring yourself that things will be ok, and that you can overcome whatever is thrown at you is far more beneficial. The latter can completely change the trajectory of your day. It may sound too simple, because it is, but it also works. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

So many times in family-run operations we just blindly trust the family members we are in business with and we dread even thinking about having the hard conversations with them about where the business actually stands. Sometimes you need to demand to have the hard conversations and force structure into the operation, because it's your family and livelihood on the line too. Other Times, you need to walk away. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

There are two types of people in life. Those that face the truth, expose it, and learn from it. Then, there are the people that hide from it, and ultimately become victims, and blame everyone else for their problems. Those that face the truth become leaders. Facing the truth hurts when you do it, it'll piss you off, it'll piss others off, but it needs to be done. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

We often have members in Legacy Farmer that are deeply involved in the family operation. There comes a time for many of them that they need to cut the cord and move along with their own business. The distant promises of one day taking over the operation can be a massive anchor to what they could otherwise accomplish. Once the cord is cut, the family can start to bring their guard down and recognize the mistakes they have made. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

Think about those around you that you trust most. You trust them because you know them to their core, you know what they have been through, you know their pain. Saving money isn't what attracts people to Legacy Farmer, the story of Legacy Farmer is what brings them in. They come in because I share my pain, where I've been, and what I've done. Sharing your pain is the best way to filter out all the fake people in your life. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

One massive disconnect I see in many of the members of Legacy Farmer is that they are all looking for information on various parts of their operation, and in many cases they can find solutions to problem, but they don't fundamentally understand the solution so they haven't actually fixed the problem. This is why so many people come out of school unprepared, they listened to the lessons but had no real world application, so they learned nothing. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

Today I'm joined by one of our key team members, Joni Kremlacek. She handles every application that comes into Legacy Farmer, and she is the first person you talk to before being accepted to the program. She joined the team after her and her husband joined Legacy Farmer themselves as members. She talks about what she does for us day-to-day and also how Legacy Farmer has impacted her and her husband's lives. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

I recently had a member tell me that he wasn't the smartest guy in town and couldn't understand his recent successes. When you are starting out, your success has nothing to do with having smarts and everything to do with courage and willingness to constantly take action. So many of you are so stuck in your day-to-day habits that you refuse to walk through the doors that God has presented to you. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

Today I'm joined by Tyler and Hanna Sharp, who run a cattle operation on their own, as well as a joint-family cattle operation, gun store, seed store, and a gas station, in Kansas. We take a deep dive and discuss how Legacy Farmer has impacted absolutely every aspect of their marriage, family life, and business. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

Your worldview dictates how you react to situations in your life. This holds true for all those around you in your personal and business life. It is important to recognize others' worldview so you can see how it is impacting their decisions as well as how they interact with you. You need to find people in your world whose worldview aligns with yours. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

When you inherit the farm operation, you also inherit all of the bad decisions and problems from the prior generation. Often when younger people go off to college, graduate, and return to the farm, they do so with big ideas and big dreams, but are instead greeted with a mess that had been created over decades. The decisions we make today will ripple through our operation forever. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

If you want to get off the hamster wheel and see radical results, you will have to walk through the fire and make massive changes. Be sure when you prepare to make these changes that you are only listening to feedback from those that matter. There is no shortcut here, all results are earned. These changes and results aren't temporary and last a lifetime. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

Today I am joined by an integral member of the Legacy Farmer team, Andy Schreck, and he shares his life experiences and what he does here at Legacy Farmer. From being taken aback by how easy it was to get plunged into $600K debt at the age of 19 with only his father as cosigner, to realizing he wasn't alone in his struggles, to all of the time wasted trying to figure things out on his own. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

If something you are doing is not increasing your value per hour then it is a distraction and most likely not worth your time. It is important to keep the main thing that you do, the main thing. Focus on the 20% of activities that are bringing in 80% of the income, and feeding your family. If you build your business decisions on feelings, you will fail. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

We are projecting that 2023 will be one of, if not the most expensive year ever to raise a crop. Interest rates are up, inflation is up, and this means expenses are up. In times where things are least stable it is most important that you know your numbers and make decisions based on them and not emotion. Not doing this can lead to disaster. If you had a great 2022 make sure you don't lose it in 2023. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

We are told if we go to college and get a degree, we will be best suited for what is to come — that was not the case for me. All of what is taught in Legacy Farmer I learned on my own, well after college. We'll spend tons of money on college but will never spend that same money on ourselves to go learn things to bring ourselves or business to the next level. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

Recently, while going over the onboarding process and cost of our program with a potential member he said "this all sounds great but I need to check with my banker." How does it make you feel, as a grown man, to have to go ask your banker for permission to invest money to advance your operation to the next level? Your banker does not, and will never take your operation as seriously as you do. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

So frequently when working with family on the family farm we are far too afraid of confrontation with older, more senior members of the family. Often when we collide with family members it leads to weeks or months of not talking to each other and no changes being implemented. If you want to be a true leader then confrontation is part of the job so get comfortable with it. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

In this country we are conditioned to feel as though the banks, the government, or any other large institutions have authority over us. We feel inferior or as if we are slaves to these institutions. The bank is a for-profit institution and is in the business of serving you. Do not hesitate to find a bank that will service you how you want. You and the bank should have a relationship built on mutual respect. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

There are two teams in every game, and usually the better prepared team wins. The two teams in the Ag industry are you and the bank. So many farmers go into gameday with little to no prep and not knowing the other team's plays or signals. The bank certainly knows all of your plays, so be sure you know theirs. Legacy Farmer and Farmer Metrics teach you all their plays. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org

So many times we find that the banks have no idea what their financial position is with their customers, this makes it so much more important for you to know your numbers so you don't get caught out in a bad situation. We have one member that has swung their borrowing power $1.2 million just by not shooting from the hip, knowing their numbers, and not making emotional decisions. Check out the Impact Legacy Farmer is having on the American Farmer here: www.legacyfarmer.org