Local agricultural lender, Horizon Farm Credit, in conjunction with Colonial Farm Credit and Farm Credit of the Virginias, announced they are partnering with the State Fair of Virginia to construct a modern livestock show facility at the Meadow Event Park in Caroline County, Virginia.

“We are so excited to be able to support the youth of Virginia through this partnership” says Tom Truitt, CEO of Horizon Farm Credit. “The building will be available year-round to hold ag-related activities for the community and opportunities for our youth to compete.” 

Construction is underway on the facility with an October completion, anticipated in time for a modified youth livestock show. The 42,000 square foot facility, which will be called the Farm Credit Pavilion, is partially enclosed with a (dirt) concrete floor, climate control, and 675 square feet of office and restroom facilities.

The Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement recently announced the creation of its Community Education Program to offer organizations providing agriculture education to those within Horizon Farm Credit’s territory the opportunity to apply for up to $10,000 in funding.

“We are excited to be able to continue supporting the future of agriculture through this new program,” says Walter Hopkins, Chair of the Foundation. “The Foundation encourages all eligible organizations to apply for funding so we can be sure our community members have access to agricultural education opportunities.”

Funding options include up to $2,000 and up to $10,000. Applications will be accepted in two periods:

• Now – June 26: Decisions made by the Foundation on July 2 with winner notification by July 15.
• July 1 – October 16: Decisions to be made by the Foundation on October 22 with winner notification by October 31.

Qualified programs must benefit communities within Horizon Farm Credit’s footprint and be consistent with the values and mission of the Foundation. Requests that meet the selection criteria are considered by the Foundation Board. Only 501(c)(3) organizations or those otherwise exempt from federal income tax will be considered. Funds will not be awarded to the same or part of the same organization more than one time in a 12-month period and no more than three times within a five-year period.

For more information about the requirements, guidelines and restrictions of the Community Education Program and to apply for funding, visit FCFoundationForAg.org.

Listen to Jenny's episode here!

Jenny Kreisher:

Our guest today requires very little introduction, as she is somewhat of a celebrity around these parts. Jenny Rhodes is a lifelong ag advocate and has been raising poultry and growing grain in Centerville, Maryland for over three decades. Her love of education and helping fellow producers prompted her to join the University of Maryland Extension system in 1997, where she's now a principal agent. Ever since Jenny was a young girl, she's really taken a leadership role, not only within the ag community, but in her community as a whole. And she continues to do so today as both a member of the Delmarva Poultry Industry and our own Board of Directors. I honestly, Jenny, do not know how you do it all, but it's very much my honor to have you on the podcast today.

Jenny Rhodes:

Well, thanks. Thanks for having me. And I'll say that when you love what you do, it's pretty easy.

Jenny K.:

DO YOU MIND TALKING TO EVERYONE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND - YOUR VERY EXTENSIVE BACKGROUND IN AG AND YOUR OPERATION TODAY?

Jenny R.:

Sure. I grew up in agriculture. My mom and dad are really the first advocates of agriculture that I learned from. My dad was not afraid to teach us anything. And, at the age of eight years old, I was out driving a tractor and doing things. Other farmers are like, “Oh my gosh, I can't believe you're letting your daughter do that.” I guess that has made me be the person I am today. I'm really not afraid to delve into anything. But I was pretty lucky growing up. My mom was a nurse and she was able to stay home and raise us, and we all worked together as a family. I'm the oldest of five children, and pretty much all of us are involved, in one way or the other, in agriculture, some a lot more than others of my siblings. But we were in 4-H and we were in FFA. That's the start, I think, of your leadership and learning life skills.

And then on, I worked and went to college at night. I went back later and got my bachelor's and master's degrees. I've done a little bit of everything, but in my heart all I really wanted to do was own my own farm, and the poultry industry really gave me that ticket. I knew that, and today we still can't go buy a farm and pay with just raising greens, corn, wheat, soybeans. So the poultry industry was my ticket into getting into agriculture. Nobody in my family had really been in the poultry industry before. It was really a whole new experience for us.

At the time, I was married. A few years later, my now ex-husband decided that he wanted to leave. So he left and we carried on. I was not changing my children's lives. They were eight and 10 when we divorced, and it was very important for me to raise my children on a farm, just like I was. And people were like, “Oh, you're a woman, yada, yada, yada.” But I'm like, you know what, my mother and father instilled in us that we could do anything that we wanted to do. And that's what I've done. So my sons and I have always worked together, and today they help me on my farms, and they have their own operations. They both own their own grain and poultry farm. I'm pretty proud of that. And my dad, my brother and my mother really helped me to raise my sons also. It takes a team, but I was really the one that taught them about the poultry industry. And now they have their own poultry farms, and they do a really good job. They also have grain operations, too.

Jenny K.:

That's incredible. You've got quite a family legacy there.

HOW IS IT WORKING WITH YOUR SONS? WAS THAT SOMETHING YOU ALWAYS HOPED WOULD HAPPEN OR WAS IT KIND OF DONE BY SURPRISE?

Jenny R.:

Well, growing up, I always thought it was the worst thing in the world because we always had to stay home and work, and I didn't get to play any sports. I did get to play basketball, and I was not very good at it. But we had fun and that was the most important part of it - we had fun doing that. But later in life, I realized the things that I did with my family, working with my family, were much more important than any other sports. I was involved in FFA and those kinds of things. But working with your family – we were a family of seven and we worked all summer. I've told this story, it's my favorite story to tell.

We worked in a garden, we worked on the farm all summer and our vacation was really the county fair, the community's county fair, of which we were in 4-H. Each of us would enter like, a hundred things, in the fair. I don't know how that was a vacation, but it was for us and it's still my favorite week of the year. Growing up, we didn't know anything different, and I really wanted to work side by side with my sons. And certainly, they always have worked on a farm. But when I got divorced, yet at eight and 10, they still helped me a lot. They would get up and we would work in the chicken houses in the morning before school, then I would head out to work, but it all worked and it all got done. People were like, “Well, you don't spend any time together.” I’m like, yes we do. We work together. That's the best thing of all.

A lot of people don't understand, we don't need to go to the movies. I don't like to shop anyway, and we don't need to go shopping. The best thing is when you can spend time working with your family. And now my grandsons and my granddaughter too, we spend time working together. I enjoy every minute.

Jenny K.:

That's definitely team bonding. That's for sure.

Jenny R.:

Yes it is.

Jenny K.:

That's quite the work ethic. You are very well known around these parts for being a poultry farmer. I've done a tour at your farm before. You're very welcoming to anyone that's interested in learning about your operation. So kind of switching gears here to poultry, the industry. You've navigated several challenges as a poultry farmer. You've had avian flu outbreaks and you've had to put some serious biosecurity measures on your farm, so I know challenge is definitely no stranger to that industry.

HOW IS THIS PANDEMIC DIFFERENT THAN SOME OF THOSE PAST CHALLENGES THAT YOU AND YOUR FELLOW POULTRY INDUSTRY REPRESENTATIVES HAVE FACED?

Jenny R.:

When COVID-19 first came around and I was working from home, I really enjoyed working from home and working from my farm office. It's been very gratifying to be on the farm. But the first couple of weeks I'm like, “Oh, this is going to be good.” Poultry and agriculture is not going to be affected because a lot of times in economy downturns, agriculture does very well, but this is certainly a pandemic, like none of us have ever experienced. It has affected all of us, and I don't care who you are and what parameter you're in in life, it's really had a lot to do with many of us, that's for sure. But for us, we've always practiced good biosecurity.

The new biosecurity is social distancing. We've always done that really in the poultry industry. We come home from work or come home from being in town or going to get parts. We come in our house, we take off our shoes, we take off our clothes. Sometimes we take a shower, depending on where we've been. Then we put on our barn clothes and our barn shoes and go back down to the farms or chicken houses. It’s something that we’ve always done and I think a lot of people just don't have a clue. I've told people before that when you get home from work or wherever you've been, there's a lot of germs on the bottom of our shoes. You should be taking off your shoes. You should be taking your clothes off, and throwing them in the washing machine. And at least changing your clothes, if not taking a shower.

I think that's one thing the poultry industry has always been very good at as is biosecurity, and just washing your hands. We wash our hands before we go to the chicken house. People are like, “Why are you washing your hands before you got to the chicken house?” Well, because you don't want to take germs into your chicken houses, the same way when you get done working, you don't want to take anything out either. I think it's just the unknown of not knowing. You're in charge of these animals 24/7, and we're an integrated system, meaning every piece of that integrated system has to work. And I never in a million years ever thought about really, what happens when the plant workers can't get to the plant to harvest the chickens, and that happened.

But we have gotten through it and we've learned a lot of things. I think the companies, everybody, has learned, and we're all learning about the things that we can do, and that we all have to work together. Communication is key to making producers and everybody up the line really understand. I think a lot of it was, and I didn't really understand this myself until after all this, that when you look at our food chain, 50% of our food goes to the grocery store and the other 50% goes to restaurants and institutions. When that part got shut down. It just put a real big kink in the system. But we're marching through.

Jenny K.:

What are some things that you all are doing to adapt to some of those problems that you're seeing? The restaurant piece was one thing that, like you, I didn't think about as part of our food supply chain, but it's clearly a large part.

WHAT ARE SOME THINGS THAT YOU AND YOUR FELLOW PRODUCERS HAVE DONE TO ADAPT AND ADJUST TO ALL THIS?

Jenny R.:

I think a lot of it is to listen to the companies, the veterinarians, and the grow out managers. They're trying to make decisions on how the birds grow, and they're thinking about placings. You'll listen to national news, I do a lot of listening to the national rural news (I call it), and processing plants may never be back to 100% of what they were just because of the social distancing and what they have to do. So as we do that, we have to think about placements of birds. Some companies, there's five here on the shore, I'd say two companies are probably kind of full steam ahead. They're still placing the same amount of birds in the houses. And then other companies, the company that I grow for, said we can look for some extended layout.

So, we are looking at our budgets and we are looking at our expenses, and what are the things that we can cut. As a county ag agent, I have a lot of those talks with people. Look at all of your expenses, right down to your cell phone bill. It might be $5, but $5 a month - that adds up. We have a dumpster. Look at that bill, maybe that’s something. They used to come and pick ours up every week, now they come every other week.

We're looking at every single thing, every expense. When I pay my bills and looking through my QuickBooks, I'm looking through my expenses. What are the things that I can cut out? And I think the other thing is, if you were to get into that situation where you think you can't make your payments – for example, we have quarterly mortgage payments. Say we get to that point where layouts are that long and we may not be able to make our payments. First thing is of course, to reach out to Farm Credit or to your bank and communicate. Let them know what's going on. But I've told people to know what it costs you to personally live.

When you go to the bank, they want to know what is costs you to personally live. You may be pretty frugal, and maybe it doesn't cost you that much to live. That may give you other cashflow for your farm. I think the financial piece is just so important, and the management piece, like keeping your farm clean, cutting grass, and picking up trash. It doesn't cost a lot to go and pick up trash, or whack a few weeds here and there. It takes a little bit of labor, but no matter what you should take pride in the way that your farm looks. And we all do. My dad, our whole family, we all take pride in our farms. When somebody pulls onto your farm you want them to say, “Oh, this is a really nice farm. Jenny does a good job taking care of her farm.”

Jenny K.:

That’s great advice.

WHAT ARE SOME THINGS THAT DPI AND EXTENSION ARE DOING RIGHT NOW TO SUPPORT PRODUCERS, TOO? HOW ARE THEY SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY RIGHT NOW?

Jenny R.:

Our job at Extension is through education. We have started a weekly lunch with your favorite ag agents. We partner with University of Maryland Eastern Shore, which is Jennifer Timmons, and Georgie Cartanza at the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension. And then Dr. John Moyle is our poultry specialist, and myself. Every Wednesday at lunchtime we invite anybody to get on and we talk about what's going on. We want people to have an outlet just maybe to vent or to ask questions that they don't understand about what's going on. We kind of left it open probably the first month. We just had one today, and we talked about neighbor relations. It always helps when you have a topic.

Out of bad things come good things. We will continue to do this because it's easy. You get on your computer, they get on their phone, they can still be at home, and nobody has to travel anywhere. Biosecurity is not an issue. We can have people on from Pocomoke to Delmar to Centerville. It’s also not just for growers, but we asked the allied businesses to come on. There was a gentlemen on today from the Maryland Department of Ag because we were talking about neighbor relations. We can all work together to do these things. We invite anybody really to get on and to listen.

Then on the DPI side, we've done some lunch and learns, talking about solar and some other opportunities out there. They've really been working on the legislative side to help our legislators to understand. We had an Eastern Shore delegation Zoom meeting. That was held on a Friday to talk with them about what's going on. We have neighbors and other people that really don't understand the impact of COVID-19, and don't understand why there's not chicken in the grocery store. Because, certainly Jenny has 80,000 chickens right down the road, but why is there not any in our grocery store? That’s what we need to try to explain.

I also do volunteer work with the National Chicken Council. They're out of DC, and they are advocates of chicken. I've done a lot of tours with them where social influencers come into my farm. I’ve been working with them and figuring out how we can get federal assistance to farmers that may need it. I don't believe that every person needs federal assistance, but if there's a farmer that's going to be laid out a long time, what can we do to help them? DPI, myself, others have been working with Farm Bureau, grain producers, and National Chicken Council on what things we can do to help farmers. Because really, in the Corona Food Assistance (CFAP) Program that was rolled out by the USDA, poultry was left out of that. I understand, poultry is usually not part of a lot of the USDA programs, because we don't own our birds. But, because of the pandemic, they're trying to figure out a way that if they share a reduction in income then to get some type of assistance to that farmer. We're still working on that. One size does not fit all in ag, and we really want it to go to the people that need it and not the people that don't need it. That's the tough part.

Jenny K.:

I love the steps that DPI, Extension, and the National Chicken Council are taking to pull the community together to advocate for themselves. That is crucial right now.

AS YOU TALK ABOUT ALL OF THE EFFORTS YOU'RE INVOLVED IN, DID YOU KNOW YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO BECOME AN ADVOCATE FOR AG? WAS THIS SOMETHING THAT YOU ALWAYS HAD THAT DRIVE IN YOUR LEADERSHIP DRIVE?

Jenny R.:

No, I really didn't.

Jenny K.:

No? I don't believe that.

Jenny R.:

I know. I think you never know in life where it might take you, but I had a mentor and really didn't even know it. I am really a big proponent of mentors and I try to mentor other people. There was a person that mentored me, and he actually worked with Farm Credit. His name was Kenny Bounds, and he is still my mentor today. I think sometimes you're being mentored and you don't even know it. It's when you call, “Hey Jenny, can you do this?” Or, “Hey Jenny, can you do that?” I think sometimes we don't always step up. And for me, I'm a graduate of LEAD Maryland. I was in Class IV, and I think that was probably -

Hunter is eight, Cole is six, Oliver is four, Audrey is one and a half, and Henry is a little over a year. They keep me very busy when I have all five of them. It's just a joy. They were actually here last night and we were all swimming in the pool, and that's just the best for me. When they're here and we can eat together, or even if we're working together, it really doesn't matter because we're all together and we're all spending time together. When I see my sons talking with each other and conferring and asking, “Well, what do you think about this? And what do you think about that?” I see them both kind of being leaders in their community. I look for both of them to step up, but when you're young and you've got a family - I think leadership is all about the right time. And you can be leaders in different ways. I have a lot of women that say they want to be a leader, but their kids are small. And I understand. I couldn't do all that when my kids were young either, but once they got older, and I think LEAD Maryland really helped me. That was really the first time. When I was at a LEAD Maryland seminar and my chickens were delivered that day, and I was a nervous wreck. But that's part of really being a leader.

Jenny K.:

That actually tees up my next question perfectly which is:

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO YOURSELF WHEN YOU WERE JUST STARTING OUT, STARTING YOUR OPERATION? WHAT'S SOME ADVICE THAT YOU CAN IMPART ON SOME YOUNG PRODUCERS THAT MIGHT BE GOING THROUGH THAT SAME NERVOUSNESS AND FEELING?

Jenny R.:

Well, common sense always prevails, I think, thinking about different things. And you may be scared or worried about things, but educate yourself first. No question is ever dumb, reach out to another person if you really don't understand the situation you're in or what's going on. I think sometimes communication is just so important. In all things, my mother always said this: Everything happens for a reason and you're not really sure. But everything does happen for a reason, and it really makes you a better person in the end. You may fail. My life has not been perfect, that's for sure. I have failed at a lot of things, but when you fail, it makes you work even harder to move ahead. Especially when people say, “Oh, you can't do that.” I'm like, “Don't tell me I can't do that because I will show you that I can do that.” I think determination is a lot of it also.

Jenny K.:

I totally agree with you. I've really appreciated this conversation, Jenny. Two Jenny's on the same podcast, I was looking forward to this day. I just have one more question before I let you go and back to your oh so busy schedule.

WHAT DOES JENNY RHODES ADVOCATE FOR IN AGRICULTURE?

Jenny R.:

Educate people so they understand what we do. We, as farmers, want the same thing as everybody else. Everybody wants a clean Chesapeake Bay. We want good air quality. We want cheap food. And I think as farmers, we want the same thing. The reason we do what we do - we take a lot of pride in raising crops and raising animals. Yes, it's a business, but it's also a way of life. I really want people to understand what we do and why we do it.

Jenny K.:

I love that. And I think you are off to a great start, I appreciate your time today, Jenny, and thank you for everything that you do for Farm Credit and for agriculture in general.

Jenny R.:

Well, thanks for having me on, I appreciate it.

Kurt Fuchs, Senior Vice President (SVP) of Government Affairs for Horizon Farm Credit, was awarded Young Professional of the Year for 2019 by the Caroline County Chamber of Commerce last week at the Chamber’s annual Best in Business Awards Dinner.

According to the Chamber, the award recognizes a Caroline County business leader who is 40 years or younger and has shown leadership in their dedication and commitment to our community through their interest in business, community service, peer mentoring, and/or personal achievement. The Chamber conducts an annual survey for nominations for Best in Business, so those who receive the award do so because they were nominated by their peers.

“I am honored to receive this recognition from the Caroline business community,” says Fuchs. “It is a privilege to be able to serve agriculture and rural communities throughout the region, and in particular those farm families and agribusinesses right here in the Green Garden County.”

In his role with Horizon Farm Credit as the SVP of Government Affairs, Fuchs works with legislators, government agencies, industry groups, and centers of influence to anticipate and mitigate legislative, regulatory, and political risk to the Association and its member-owners. In addition to his duties at Farm Credit, Fuchs serves on numerous civic and professional boards including the Choptank Ruritan Club, LEAD Maryland Foundation, Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc., and the Pennsylvania State Council of Farm Organizations to name a few.

“We are very proud of Kurt for receiving this award,” says Tom Truitt, CEO of Horizon Farm Credit. “His professionalism is evident through both his work and his involvement in the community. Kurt is a dedicated employee and citizen who strives for the best.”  

For more information about the Caroline County Chamber of Commerce, visit carolinechamber.org.

Every agricultural operation is vulnerable to crises, no matter how equipped you are. One of the biggest missteps a business can make during a crisis, is a lack of communication with their internal and external audiences. Without a proper communication plan, you risk diminishing internal morale and losing trust with your stakeholders. Being proactive and transparent in your communication is key to protecting your business’ people, assets and brand.

Crisis communication plans are designed to provide guidance and easy-to-follow steps to prepare for, manage and recover from a crisis. Effective crisis communication relies heavily on the preparedness of the internal team of your business. Creating a crisis communication plan can seem daunting, but our guide below can help alleviate some of that stress and allow your business to be proactive during a crisis, rather than reactive.

Crisis Communications Team

A business’ crisis communications team should be made up of the key decision makers who know the ins and outs of the operation. The composition of the team may vary depending on the size of the business, but keep these three roles in mind: main decision makers, communications, and subject matter expertise. If the crisis has to do with a piece of equipment, a staff member who operates that machine should be on the team. You may also consider relying on your network and existing industry relationships if the crisis is not limited to your business alone.

SPOKESPEOPLE

Plan out who from your operation should speak or write on the following communication channels:

• Social Media: _____________________________
• Press Releases: ____________________________
• Website Updates: __________________________
• Mobile App Updates: ________________________
• Phone Messages: ___________________________
• Signs: ____________________________________
• Emails: ___________________________________
• Letters: ___________________________________
• Meetings: _________________________________
• Newsletters: _______________________________
• Media Interviews: ___________________________

You will find that it is often one or two people who are deemed the spokespeople during a crisis because it is easier to keep consistent messaging. However, if your business is open during the crisis and you have staff speaking with external audiences, they will need to know what to say about the crisis and how to respond to questions. In this case, putting together talking points for them is crucial to ensuring your company is communicating consistently.

Any employee who is not authorized as a spokesperson should not make statements, comments or declarations internally or externally to vendors, media, on social media, etc. All employees should direct inquiries to the designated, and trained, spokespeople.

Verify the Crisis Situation

When a crisis occurs, it is crucial for the communications team to discuss the following:

• The severity of the crisis and how it currently impacts the business
• What needs to happen internally to adjust to the crisis
• What needs to be communicated internally and externally to address concerns
• What could happen if the crisis continues/grows into something more severe

DEVELOP MESSAGES

When thinking about what messaging needs to be developed, the crisis communications team should first consider the key audiences of each message. (The below examples may or may not fit your business, and you may need to add others.)

• Internal
  • Staff
  • Board Members
  • Partners
• External
  • Key stakeholders
  • Community members
  • Customers
  • The media
  • Law enforcement
  • Public officials
  • Residents

A crucial part in messaging during a crisis is to have empathy and to show transparency for all audience members. Stay in tune with your key audiences and what they need to know from your business. What questions might they have that you CAN answer?

Before you send a mass communication, think about what you’re trying to accomplish and make sure the messaging clearly conveys that. For example, if your business has to close its doors for a period of time, let your audience know how they can be in touch with you and what they can expect when you are back to business as usual. Remember: there is a fine line between keeping the messaging positive, and not turning a blind eye to the fact that there is a crisis impacting your business and the community.

COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

Be sure to refer back to your spokespeople before communicating on any channel. Most messages can be tailored to fit all of the below communication channels:

• Social Media
• Press Releases
• Website Updates (especially on the home page if a major change takes place)
• Mobile App Updates
• Phone Messages
• Signs
• Emails
• Letters
• Newsletters
• Media Interviews

Your business will most likely not need to communicate on all of the channels above, but it is something to consider. Where do you normally communicate with all of your audiences? Make sure to hit those channels first and the most often. Although it may be difficult, try to respond to questions or comments within 24 hours. You want your audience to hear things about your business from you first.

Check on any pre-scheduled or planned communications as well to make sure that the messaging is not ill-timed or tone deaf to the crisis. If you’ve planned anything that is no longer relevant, determine when will be the appropriate time to revisit.

Notification and Assignments

Once a plan and messages have been developed, one or two members of your crisis communications team should be reaching out to all internal members of the business. The team should make the following information clear: the status of the crisis, what actions have been taken and what actions will be taken, equip each person with talking points, but make it clear that any official media inquiries should be directed to a spokesperson, and make any necessary assignments. The assignments to staff should generally cover what specific people or departments need to do and/or say during the crisis – it will take a team to overcome any crises, so make sure everyone knows the goal and how they can help do their part.

Monitor and Provide Feedback

Once the approved messages have been released and everyone internally and externally has been communicated with, the crisis communications team should continue to monitor the situation and develop more messaging and strategies as the crisis unfolds. It’s best for the team to check in with each other daily as the crisis is going on, and at least every other day as the crisis begins to subside. Analyze common themes and trends your audience members are talking or asking about most. Have you communicated about that yet?

Post-Crisis Response Review

Once the crisis is over and you’re back to business as usual, the crisis communications team should meet to asses all communications. Discuss what worked and what didn’t work, survey all employees and stakeholders to gauge if perception in the brand has changed, and save all feedback to include in your plan to be better prepared for the next crisis.

Navigating a crisis is never easy, but having a communications plan prepared can help ease the initial stress. Farm Credit was created to support our nation’s farmers in both good times and bad. We want to help you navigate these challenges and come out of the situation stronger than before.

Before we can start planning for another year of growing, we must first evaluate our business and production performance for the past 12 months. Completing a year-end financial check-up will help you analyze your successes and failures, in addition to revealing your opportunities for growth into the next season. 

Five key steps to implementing a year-end financial check for your farm business:

1. Update Your Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Statement

A balance sheet is a financial snapshot of your business at a specific point in time. Preparing an end of year balance sheet year-over-year provides you and your lender with a baseline, and allows for the preparation of accrual adjustments. Accrual financial statements deliver a more accurate picture of your operation’s actual income and expenses, and gives you the ability to recognize relevant expense or income trends. They also allow for the calculation of accurate cost of production, the ability to measure competitiveness, and can help improve planning.

Comparing year-end profit and loss statements can also help you measure your success throughout the year and better track your expense ratio. Are you meeting the benchmarks you set out for yourself throughout the year? Are you lowering your expenses per every dollar of earned income?

2. Schedule a Year-end Tax Planning Appointment with Your Accountant

Working together with an experienced agricultural accountant can help you identify proper year-end planning to help position your farm business, prior to filing your taxes. Are you ready to upgrade equipment? Should you prepay next year’s operating costs? Are you planning to purchase a new farm entity or transitioning part of the farm business to the next generation?  It is never too early to begin gathering your financials to prepare for filing your farm business taxes or to set-up a meeting with your accountant to review your financial progress.

Mark Hartshorn of Hartshorn CPA, LLC in Hagerstown, Maryland suggests several steps you can take to make sure you’re adequately prepared for your meeting with you accountant.  Before you head to your meeting, make sure you have your books already updated. Depending on how you keep your records, this could mean having bank accounts reconciled through August/September, or having written record of the year’s income and expenses, in addition to projections through year-end. When you meet with your accountant, you will also want to discuss who (what contractor/vendor) should receive a 1099, as they are due January 31, and who you should receive a W-9 from. If you haven’t started planning for retirement yet, ask your accountant what tax deductions you may be able to benefit from by starting a retirement fund.

3. Review Your Annual Budget & Examine Your Cash Reserves

Once you have completed your year-end financial projections, it is important to compare those figures to your annual budget. Did this year progress the way you anticipated? Did you find yourself with higher input costs or lower projected income than expected? Being financially aware of your budget will help you to make better business decisions, help you to prepare for the coming year, and allow to you to review your cash reserves on hand. It is always a good management decision to set aside three to six months’ worth of living expenses for an emergency fund.

4. Reach Out to Your Farm Advisor Team

Every farm has a unique resource team supporting their farm operation. Your team may include a financial advisor, farm insurance agent, crop insurance representative, and/or an attorney. Remember to check-in with them as needed - you do not want to overlook an opportunity!

Connect with your financial advisor to discuss your current or future investment options. If you find yourself with additional income, it might be the right time to start or adjust a retirement savings plan.

Remember to review your farm insurance coverage and make sure to update your policy coverage, if you have made any big changes to your operation. As you are finishing your harvest season, also remember to complete your crop insurance production reporting forms to ensure the most accurate yield information is available for the upcoming year. Be sure you check in with your agent prior to sales closing deadlines.

Revisit your existing will and make necessary updates. Did your family unit grow, your business restructure, or did you purchase additional assets? We recommend keeping your will updated and in a secure location to help your family be better prepared for the future.

Consulting with reliable advisors and completing the current year-end updates will certainly help to support your future success.

5. Schedule a Check-in with Your Lender

The fourth quarter of the year is a great time to check-in with your lender to discuss your successes and any challenges you faced during the year. Lenders look forward to discussing your future plans or any changes you may have made to your business plan or marketing plan. Loan Officer, Paige Hargett, adds, “Detailed record keeping is imperative for your lender to understand how the year went, even the bad is welcomed as we want to better position your operation for the upcoming year. Our main goal is for you and your operation to be successful.”

During your check-in with your lender, think about two specific areas of conversation: evaluating the best use of debt dollars and reviewing your revolving line of credit.

Evaluate Your Best Use of Debt Dollars.

Year-end is an excellent time to take advantage of discounts for seed and fertilizer, and it can be tempting to put these expenses on a credit card. Keep in mind, you may be able to avoid the higher interest rates associated with credit cards by reaching out to your lender about setting up a lower interest rate line of credit to cover your farm’s operating needs.

Take time to review your existing loans and be aware of what interest rates you are paying on each of them, focusing specifically on your intermediate (vehicle and equipment) and long-term (home/farm mortgage) debts. You may have the opportunity to lower your rates and/or decrease your loan terms, which will save you interest costs over the long haul.  Does it make sense to prioritize paying down a high interest rate loan or double up on a credit card payment? Work with your loan officer to identify and evaluate each source of debt and determine the best debt dollar use strategy for your operation.

Review Your Revolving Line of Credit.

Doing an end-of-year review of your revolving line of credit is imperative. You should ask yourself whether or not there is an intermediate debt that should be termed out as you weren’t able to pay it off as expected throughout the year. Is there enough credit available for year-end prepaid purchases to take advantage of discounts?

Farmers often utilize a line of credit as a tool to help manage their annual operating costs.  Lenders encourage you to use credit lines for appropriate short-term expenses. Prior to using your line of credit for a major farm improvement, piece of equipment, or something that qualifies for longer term financing, contact your loan officer to talk about financing options. We want to help you make sure you are using your line of credit in the most effective manner possible. Fully revolving the line of credit on an annual basis is a requirement of renewing your credit line, so monitoring its use and repayment is essential.

We hope this list gives you an idea of what you should be thinking about during your year-end farm financial check-up.