Transcript Marketing and Management for Farm Couples

National Association of Farm Business Analysis Specialists
National Farm & Ranch Business Management Education
Association
North Central Farm Management Extension Committee
First Joint Conference
June 11 - 14, 2007 Rochester, Minnesota
“Building a Winning Team” – Marketing and Management for
Farm Couples
Bret Oelke – Regional Extension Educator
Objectives
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Provide an overview of why the program was
developed and how it was designed and
delivered
Share evaluation results
Discuss the future of the program
Why was the program developed
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Marketing and
management groups
and Annie’s Project
participants and alumni
requested a couples
program on marketing
and farm management.
Program development and delivery
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Marketing and
management group
material and tools used
as a base
Annie’s Project format
used as a guide
Designed specifically
for a couples audience
Include communication
segment
Sponsors
Grant County Farm Bureau
Program Objectives
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Improve Business Communication
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Enhance Marketing Skills
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Internally
Externally
Identify or develop marketing philosophy
Develop or implement a market planning
Expand Management Expertise
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Recognize skill areas
Explore areas for outsourcing or in-sourcing
Build a “Winning Team”
Session One
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Introductions
Overview of Program
Marketing and Management Resources
Understanding Markets
Session Two
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Session One Review
The Language of Marketing
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Marketing Terms
Reading and Utilizing Marketing Resources
Session Three
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Session Two Review
Building and Strengthening Supplier and
Buyer Relationships
Planning for Marketing
Session Four
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Session Three Review
Keeping Track and Utilizing Your Records
Developing, Improving and/or Maintaining
Positive Relationships with Landlords
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Defending your land base
Session Five
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Session Four Review
Assembling your “Winning Team”
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Internal and external members
Group Directed Discussion
Evaluation
Evaluation Summaries
Female participants
1. What do you feel was the most useful part of the program?
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General knowledge increased for me – we’re busy and with
everything else going on with family, my husband and I don’t
always have time to talk about this.
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Spouses attending together.
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Finding all the different websites. Suggestions for the land
rental contracts. Learning the terminology.
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Knowing where our partner stands in what they know and what
they do.
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Landlord rental agreements.
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Resource – website addresses for “free” information for farm
information.
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Learning how important it is to not only work the farm together
(in the field) but (in the office) as well!
Evaluation Summaries
Male participants
1. What do you feel was the most useful part of the program?
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The last meeting for rent agreements.
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Websites.
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Sharing the information with my spouse and friends as a group.
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Flexible cash rent information.
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It was all very good in every aspect.
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Education is important. Wife needs to help with overwhelming
tasks.
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The last session.
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To develop a written marketing plan and stick to it.
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Showing us the resources that we can use to find information
i.e. websites, etc
Evaluation Summaries
Female participants
2. What topics (not covered) do you feel
should be included in this program?
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I could still benefit from more general/basic
knowledge.
Expand on current topics.
For a basic starter program it was good.
Crop insurance.
More detail in marketing – examples of puts and
calls and why to use them with or without cash
contracts, etc.
Evaluation Summaries
Male participants
2. What topics (not covered) do you feel should be
included in this program?
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More long term marketing options.
Basic farm law.
What do those of us do that have sold December 07 in
the 2.70-3.00 area other than scale up to get price
average up.
Computer interaction.
More hands on things like actual do model is like the
insurance model.
Farm transfer ideas – parents to kids that are farming and
how to treat non-farming kids fairly.
Evaluation Summaries
Female participants
3. What would you change about the
program?
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Get more younger farmers involved. Staying
with time.
To go over more marketing examples.
Maybe separate beginner, beginner to advanced
people/couples. I don’t know if there were too
many couples that were overly advanced to
others in this particular group but it may happen
in other groups!
Evaluation Summaries
Male participants
3. What would you change about the program?
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Different room.
Try not to cover so many subjects, get more in-depth on
fewer.
Do them every week instead of two. Keeps the program
and information more fresh.
Fin Pack analysis details should be explained.
Not much, less time on the terms.
Nothing.
Speed up terms of marketing.
I would keep what you have and maybe develop follow-up
courses more in-depth, etc.
Evaluation Summaries
Female participants
4. I was surprised by…………………
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The wealth of resources out there – if you take
the time to find them. Also made me feel that I
was more an integral part of our business.
The land rent spreadsheets. It was interesting to
see what it should be. I knew they were high but
wow.
How much Farm Bureau does.
Evaluation Summaries
Male participants
4. I was surprised by…………………
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Nothing.
How well almost everyone behaved.
The openness of all questions of everybody, not
the tight lipped used to seeing.
How many resources are available for getting
information.
Evaluation Summaries
Female participants
5. I changed my mind about………………..
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Okay, so I get why we spend so much time on
number crunching, etc. now. I still wish it took
less time, ha! But I do get it.
Having a marketing plan.
Record keeping on the Internet using the
computer to get better organize.
Evaluation Summaries
Male participants
5. I changed my mind about………………..
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The teacher/preacher.
How important very good bookkeeping is. Get
you that extra, maybe needed land, rent if need
more land to farm.
Evaluation Summaries
Female participants
6. I now understand………………..
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There are so much more complexities than I realized, and
I grew up on a farm.
I need more education and understanding of marketing.
The concept of a marketing plan with incremental sales.
Taking some of the emotion out of it.
That working as a team is better and more useful than
work just as one.
Helping.
SWAG-Bret and GIGO-Margot.
How important it is to keep good farm records and
practice management skills always.
Evaluation Summaries
Male participants
6. I now understand………………..
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More than I did.
How to use the special computer programs
more.
Evaluation Summaries
Female participants
7. I plan to……………………………
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Stay more involved with the farming operation.
Be more supportive of the marketing plan. Try to create
and put together better analysis data.
Ask more questions on what is going on in the farm. Help
my partner follow his plan.
Continue to be educated in marketing grain to not just
cover cost of production but make enough money to be
able to keep up with updating equipment cost (trades,
etc.) and also be able to take a decent family living
“wage.”
Continue using the marketing plans we have put together.
Hopefully have the time to become more involved in our
area farm programs.
Evaluation Summaries
Male participants
7. I plan to……………………………
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Keep going to the meetings - marketing and
others.
Learn more yet.
Bring spouse into more planning and execution
of plan.
Use models in determining land rent.
To be more aggressive in forward selling.
Evaluation Summaries
Female participants
8. Other comments:
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Thank you. I appreciate it.
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You did a nice job. I would be interested in another program to
follow-up with more marketing, detail, more in-depth. Thanks!
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Be able to see the overhead better. Was hard to see.
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A better lit area.
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Thank you to Farm Bureau for being a sponsor. Thanks Bret for
organizing this group and to get more of the area producers
together to discuss what’s going on not only locally in the farm
but worldly as well. Thanks also to Margot for her reinforcement
of keeping good farm records.
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100% of Female respondents would recommend this type of
program to others
Evaluation Summaries
Male participants
8. Other comments:
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Need to advance the promptness.
I would attend another set of meetings again.
Open bar.
The land rent discussion was good.
I agree that more minds are better than one.
Need to discuss more “basic” marketing for less
experienced people.
100% of Male respondents would recommend this type of
program to others
Where do we go from here or what is the
future of this program?
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Tentatively planning on delivering this at three
locations in Minnesota with Farm Bureau
Young Farmers and Ranchers in cooperation
with Minnesota Corn Producers.
Available to other organizations across the
country
Thank You!
Bret Oelke – Regional Extension Educator
[email protected]