Episode 69: The Best of AgCredit Said It, Season 3
The AgCredit Said It podcast has become an incredible resource for farmers who enjoy listening in to conversations that make a real difference in their day-to-day lives. As Season 3 of the podcast comes to a close, we take a look back at our hosts' favorite moments from the show. Highlights include connecting with consumers on an emotional level, benefits of cooperative membership, and the best business structure for your operation.
Check out this recap episode for a quick listen to the conversations you’ll hear throughout the season, then go back and dive into the entire episode for the topics you enjoy.
Libby’s Pick: Ep. 63, How Farmers Can Connect with Consumers with Matt Rush
One of Libby’s top episodes of Season 3 was her conversation with Matt Rush. Matt discussed the importance of connecting emotionally with consumers rather than just sharing farm stories. He emphasized the need for farmers to make emotional connections to effectively communicate the significance of their work.
To learn more about how you can connect emotionally with the consumer, check out this segment, then hear the entire conversation in Episode 63.
Matt’s Pick: Ep. 57, How Patronage (and Other Association Benefits) Support Farmers and Rural Communities
Matt’s pick for Season 3 is a discussion between AgCredit Board Chairman Dusty Sonnenberg and AgCredit CEO Brian Ricker on the significance of being a cooperative member. In the episode, Dusty shares the value of cooperative membership and how it’s supported his operation over the years.
Hear the whole conversation with Dusty and Brian in Episode 57.
Phil’s Pick: Ep. 52, From DBAs to Corporations: Decoding Farm Business Structures with Ryan Conklin
The top pick from Phil was Epsiode 52 with Ryan Conklin. Ryan shared his best advice for setting up a business structure. He shared the pros and cons of different structures and recommends an LLC in most cases. “The LLC is the merger of the best parts of our two previous business entity options,” said Ryan.
Tune in to Episode 52 to hear the full conversation.
Here’s a glance at this episode:
- [02:42] Matt Rush shares the importance of making connections with other people.
- [12:06] Dusty Sonnenberg shares the value of being a member of AgCredit.
- [16:49] Ryan Conklin discusses the benefits of using an LLC business structure.
Connect with AgCredit on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Share questions and topic ideas with us:
Email podcast@agcredit.net
- Transcription
Voiceover (00:08):Welcome to Ag Credit Said It. In each episode, our hosts sit down with experts from all parts of the agriculture industry to bring you insights and must have information on all things from farming to finances and everything in between.
Phil Young (00:26):Welcome back to another episode of Ag Credit Said it. I'm Phil Young and I'm here today with the Matt Adams and the Libby Wixtead. So today we're wrapping up season three of Ag Credit Said it, which is crazy to think about. So we wanted to come together and share some highlights from our favorite episodes and just kind of recount the last season. So welcome guys.
Matt Adams (00:47):Hey Phil. How's everybody doing?
Phil Young (00:48):Hey, doing good? I'm doing great, doing great. We've been getting some rain here, so it's been a long time since we've had rain, so had a couple days of rainy weather, but doing good.
Libby Wixtead (00:59):Our office has been busy here this morning with the rain coming in and it's been very welcomed.
Phil Young (01:04):Good, good. Hey, we'll jump right in here, Libby, I'm going to go to you first season three Ag Credit set it recounting. What is your favorite episode or a highlight from this past season?
Libby Wixtead (01:16):So I know you guys are probably going to say the same thing, but this past season we have had incredible episodes and one of my favorite episodes was episode 63 with Matt Rush. Matt is just like, he's like my buddy now after seeing him at our Emerge experience and then having this conversation with him during this episode. And one thing that I really like about Matt is that he is very good with trying to connect farmers and consumers. And so in this episode, one of the clips that I would like to play is we are discussing about everybody in farming is telling you share your story, you got to share your farm story, you got to do this, you got to do that. Well, it's more than just sharing that farm story, it's actually connecting emotionally with that consumer. And especially moms are good at this. Farm wives, farm moms, they're very good at making this emotional connection with the consumers because typically females are the ones that are going to the grocery store buying food for their families. And I think having that emotional connection is such an important piece other than just telling your farm story. And so Matt goes on to just discuss that a little bit in this clip. So we'll listen to that here. Why is it important for us to connect with consumers and share our story?
Matt Rush (02:42):I start off by saying it's not important at all for us to tell our story and here's why. And you just said it at the very end. I said, I've built a career off of going around telling people we got to tell our story, we got to tell our story, we got to get out there and tell people who we are and why we do what we do. But the reality is no one cares if you're not in ag. You don't care because what do people ultimately only care about or who do they ultimately only care about? It's themselves.
(03:11):And I said, you know what? We need to stop telling our story and we need to start doing what you just said there at the end. We need to start connecting to other people because when we connect to people, then we can share why what we do is important to them. And I know it's just whatever, it's semantics or whatever, but really and truly in ag, we can have all the facts, we can have all the figures we can have, all the data can have. I mean, we have colleges of agriculture that can help us prove our points so we can have all the science and data behind us, and then we go out there and we're great at regurgitating information to people about what we do is good for you down to the DNA, whatever. Nobody cares. The HSUS will put up a picture of a herd, abandoned, abused puppy dog and puppy dog is going to win over facts every time, right?
Libby Wixtead (04:04):Absolutely.
Matt Rush (04:04):So it's about how do we connect to people in a way that then we can actually share what we do, why we do it, how we do it, but ultimately why it matters to them. Because if people in agriculture are notorious, I say this all the time, we were perfectly content to sit on a tractor, sit on a horse, and just do our jobs and we'd like to be left alone to do our jobs, but in the absence of our voices, those who don't know us, don't understand us or don't like us, are redefining who we are. And it's up to us to start making those connections again so that then people can actually see why what we do is important to them. I mean, ultimately the soccer mom just wants to know that what she's buying at the store, which she has no concept how it happens anymore, she just wants to know that it's okay. So it's up to us to be that face of ag and to make that emotional connection
Matt Rush (05:06):Agriculture has one of the coolest connections, man. We have an emotional connection. We have an emotional connection to our farms. We have emotional connection to our animals. We have an emotional connection to what we do. I mean, we feel like it's a calling right? To be an act,
Libby Wixtead (05:22):Right?
Matt Rush (05:23):And so when other people can see that emotion, because emotion overrides fact every time, remember. So if other people can see that emotion and make that connection, man, then we've got 'em and we will have 'em for life. So just like the lady you met at whatever place that was, and she were like a novelty item because you raised pigs, you and your family raised pigs, you got your kid there. You were like, who? I mean, I'm sure she thought you were from Roswell, New Mexico or something, right? I mean, out of this world, that's a huge emotional connection that you instantly have just because of that.
Matt Rush (06:04):The problem that I think we have in ag is though is what I've just said is we start giving data points when at the same time we need to find out, hey, what are they concerned about? What is the consumer actually want to know? And maybe we can dial it down where it's a lot simpler to actually tell our story. We don't have to have all this vast amounts of information and knowledge. It's actually we just need to be able to find out what somebody wants to know. And then once we make that connection, then bam, we got what those of us in ag have got to start doing more of.
Libby Wixtead (06:39):And I think that girl, it's like she probably has never met a farmer before,
(06:45):And just the fact that she was just like, I mean her eyes got so big they did. And I just had that moment of, and knowing that this podcast was coming up, I was just thinking, here's my opportunity. Here's my opportunity to make that connection of a mom and how my kids love to be in the operation. Like you said, that emotional connection of what it's a family farm, and you're right, she would've like, if I went on and blah, blah, blah, blah about it would've just glazed over her. But the fact that I'm like, oh, my little girl just loved this little thing that you've made because we love pigs. She made that connection to her of, we like your product because of what we do on the farm. And so it was neat.
Matt Rush (07:33):And the other thing too though is, and I'm sure everybody who listens to this, anybody who listens to this probably like, oh my gosh, how many times are we going to have to hear this same thing about telling your story, okay, get over yourself and you need to hear it again because there is so much misinformation out there that we have to be constantly vigilant and constantly on aware of what people are saying or posting. For example, night before last, my wife and I were sitting here in the living room and one of our friends posted this article about how horrible pigs are and how they eat their young and they eat their own feces and they eat the, and I mean, it just went on and on and on, and I wasn't in the mood for it. I made a snarky remark, I'll be honest about it, after all this diatribe and all these comments underneath it like, oh, never eat pork again. I wrote this comment about, and after all of that, it magically turns it into bacon. It's like a Christmas miracle. And I was like, but then she commented back and I said, okay, now in all fairness, we need to have a conversation about this, right?
Libby Wixtead (08:45):Offline, not on social media maybe.
Matt Rush (08:48):No, I did it right on the thread. I did you. Okay, yes. I said, in all fairness, a lot of what that article said was actually true, but it's in reference to wild pigs and feral hogs that are out that are running rampant through this part of the country anyway, and
Libby Wixtead (09:07):They're causing issues
Matt Rush (09:08):And they're causing major. And I said, you could never eat those. I mean, if you were starving, you couldn't eat that stuff, right? I said, my friends who raise pigs, it's in a climate controlled environment. It's a shower in shower out facility. You've got vets that come by multiple times a week. I said, this is totally different than what that article said. So I said, I would just encourage you, again, didn't get preachy, I didn't get angry or anything like that. I said, I would just encourage you to investigate a little bit more about where production, where the port comes from in the store, how does that happen versus an article on the internet. So that happened, that happened recently. So yeah, we got to be telling our story, but more than that, we got to be connecting to people and doing it in a way that they'll actually hear what we're trying to say and then want to know more and want to follow what we're doing.
Libby Wixtead (10:04):Again, great clip for Matt, and we will listen to what Matt Adams has to say about what his favorite episode was.
Matt Adams (10:14):Well, thanks Libby. Tough act to follow right there always. But I think one of the big things there, again, what Libby touched on this season, just an incredible amount of information we've been able to give back to our members and our listeners, all the potential members out there. Part of it really resonates with me is we go back to episode 57. Phil sat down with Dusty Sonnenberg and Brian Ricker and we talked about, we look at AgCredit and the farm credit system. What are the benefits, how pasture range and other association benefits support farmers and the rural communities being a farmer and a member and employee, that's a big thing for me. One thing I look at AgCredit and the farm credit system, it's a necessity for agriculture. Just like crops need nutrients and rain. Our industry is dependent on every aspect of it.
(11:10):The equipment guys are dependent on the farmers. The farmers are dependent on us. It is just one big circle. So when we look at what an association really can do for our members, we talk about that patronage, we talk about the other benefits, and Dusty really kind jumps into it. If you listen to his clip talks about what it means to be a member, how ag credit was there when he got started, what's the benefits, help him grow for the future. And it kind of goes back to what Libby talked about with Matt Rush. Farmers tell their story. We as Ag Credit, as an industry leader in lending for rural America, we need to tell our story out there. And that's what this clip kind of goes back, not only being a board member, but with Dusty, what he really looks at from the member perspective of what AgCredit has done for him.
Dusty Sonnenberg (12:06):So we'll go and listen to that right now. I think I can honestly say AgCredit's been there every step of the way. And first off, in the financing, that's the big part from the first operating line to put a couple of animals in the barn and an operating line to get the inputs. When I was renting ground, when I bought my first tractor onto bigger lines for putting up buildings and buying farm ground every step of the way it's been there from a financing standpoint, but probably as important as that has been the opportunity to work with my loan officer as a sounding board and to bounce ideas off and share what the vision is and have somebody that is an interested party but doesn't necessarily have the interest that they're biased in one way or the other to provide just good sound advice, sound wisdom, experience with other situations that they can share to help make some of those decisions along the way. So I think as much as it has been, obviously having that financial piece to be able to do the things, it's also been that analysis or sounding board that folks within the system have been able to provide some of the expertise, if you will, and knowledge along the way.
Matt Adams (13:15):So there again, guys, go back and list that episode if you really want to dive into some of the benefits that AgCredit and the farm credit system can do for you as a whole, because with all of our listeners, you might be in a different area where you're not a part of our association, but you are covered under the Farm Credit System. So the benefits are out there to help keep agriculture going. So Phil, you're on the hot seat now buddy. What is your best take from this season?
Phil Young (13:43):Yeah, I really enjoyed, I think it was episode 52 back in February of this year, Libby sat down with Ryan Conklin. He is an attorney at Wright and Moore, and Ryan is somebody that we interact with a lot here at Ag Credit. He writes for the leadership or Leader magazine here. He also spoke earlier in the year at our Emerge conference, and so did kind of a session there as well. And so I just always enjoy what he has to say. I've sat through his sessions, I've read his articles, and so he just is a topnotch guy. And so Libby and him sat down and they talked about how to, what's the best way to operate your farming operation? Is it A DBA? Is it operating as a sole proprietor? Is it a partnership structure, an LLC or a corporation? And all of these are kind of overwhelming topics.
(14:32):If you have no experience in maybe running any type of these operations, there's tax consequences with it. There's obviously, there's a big part of how you report to FSA, all that stuff. And so making that decision is an important one. And so that's episode 52 and probably one of my highlights a little bit from that episode since you did the interview is you and Ryan Ryan's catchphrase and any attorney's catch phrase is, it depends. You'd ask a question and he would be like, you know what? That's a great question. It depends. And he'd kind of make fun of himself on the fact that he wasn't being a straight shooter and that kind of all attorneys kind of line up that way. And so that made me laugh. But yeah, really it does depend on your situation from what I gleaned from that episode. Is there, there's benefits to different things you can choose.
(15:26):So one of them was a partnership. There's some flexibility there, but the con to that one is there's liability issues. So if you get sued, you open up your personal assets potentially to lose your personal assets if you structure it that way, if something would happen, corporation is, there's restrictions on assets as far as getting them in and out and they're kind of complicated. But the benefit to those is there's liability protection in corporations. And so I don't want to say the silver bullet that he talked about, but one that's super popular now is when the creation of the LLC came out. He said that's probably the gold standard as far as entities go. And so he said it combines the tax benefits of a partnership and the liability protection of a corporation. And then there's also some great flexibility in how you can transition that LLC to the next generation or have people come into that operation and adding membership and even having somebody manage that operation that isn't even an owner. You make a manager that maybe isn't a member owner of that operation or that LLC. So really good episode, and you guys go a lot in depth on different topics and FSA and the benefits of maybe a partnership and FSA, but he kind of highlights the fact that partnerships really aren't a big thing anymore and a big part of that's liability stuff. So here's a clip from that episode and take a listen.
Ryan Conklin (16:49):The LLC is the merger of the best parts of our two previous business entity options. So before you could set up an LLC, you would either have to choose from a partnership, which often was much better on the tax side, flow through taxation, easier to manage your income and expenses there, but it was non-existent on liability protections for personal assets. So if you have a farm accident, and even if you weren't involved in that accident whatsoever by virtue of being a partner in that business, the liability would actually trace back to your personal assets. So for a lot of farm families, that's very concerning because one accident could wipe out the whole family. So that's on the partnership side, and we solve the liability issue with having a corporation. So a corporation provides that shield for your personal assets, and as long as you're operating it correctly, your personal assets get protected from accidents that occur within that corporation. But corporations have a trade off on the tax side
Ryan Conklin (18:01):With an S corp or a C corp structure, you have heavy restrictions on moving assets in and out. They're not as ideal for succession planning because they have so many limitations. So here comes the LLC, which is the merger of those two entities. We get all the tax benefits of a partnership with flow through taxation, but we get the liability shielding of a corporation. And it's really, those combinations have allowed us to make the LLC into the premier farm business entity today.
Phil Young (18:35):I hope you guys go out and check that episode out. Really good. It's very practical. A lot of meat to that episode. So Matt, Libby, any other closing thoughts here on season three, as we get ready to ramp up for season four,
Matt Adams (18:49):Season three has just been filled with so much information. We sit around as a team, think about what other information we can bring to our listening audience and our members. And I think season, season four, we're going to be in for a real treat. We're really trying to look at what's that return on investment on your farm? How are we going to bring profitability back to the farm? What's the best bang for your buck out there? And at the end of the day, what we talk about everything here, our favorite clips today, we talk about the benefits of a cooperative structure, how to structure your farm. Everything ties into it's a business and we got, it's a business, but it's a legacy, it's a family legacy, but we have to run a business because agriculture is so intertwined that everything we do, we have to be trying to do it the right way for the future and the future of farming.
Libby Wixtead (19:51):Yeah, absolutely. And kind of going off of just my episode with what you guys talked about, you're talking about a business, well, you have to have an end user. You have to have an end user, you have to have a consumer, whether you're doing direct selling to a consumer, whether you're selling your corn and it's going off and getting traded to another country, there's so much that goes into it. And just having that connection and making sure that you are out there in front, making sure that your product you are growing has an end user and that is going and speaking with your congressmen and women that's getting involved with your commodity boards. And also just having those conversations like Matt Rush said in his episode of just talking to people at the grocery store and saying, Hey, I grow beef, I grow pork. Having those conversations and just spreading that story of agriculture.
(20:49):And again, it is a business and I know a lot of farmers don't really like to have that connection piece on that end user part, but that is so deeply important on the business side as well. One thing I would encourage from my episode as well is to listen to the poem that Matt Rush wrote. It can be very emotional connection just to your farming and what you guys do. And we are so appreciative of our customers, of Farmers of American agriculture and is so important to us, and we are very appreciative to be able to work with you guys everyday.
Matt Adams (21:26):Definitely Libby. And I'll say one thing that kind of resonated with me with Matt Rush and from sitting down talking to him at our conference and afterwards is he talks about telling the story, telling your story, but it's how you tell that story. Tell it a little different. Everybody's farm's a little different. It's putting that in motion. It's being proud of our industry and your farm and promoting it out there the way you want people to see you.
Phil Young (21:54):Yeah, I just think that this podcast is a great tool for everybody. I think it's just a great tool that you can have in your toolbox to learn to grow, and hopefully you're using this medium if you're a listener and others, whether you're reading articles or listening to other podcasts or going to conferences, make yourself 1% better every day. And so that's what we try to provide with this podcast. As we head into season four, like Matt highlighted, we're going to be a little bit more practical maybe on the financial side having return on your operation. So definitely maybe tune in for some great episodes ahead. So thank you again for listening to Ag Credit Said it. We appreciate your support of the podcast and look forward to bringing you some new episodes in season four. It begins in November, so be sure to subscribe to AgCredit Said It in your favorite podcast app so you don't miss an episode. We'll talk to you soon guys. Thanks.
Voiceover (22:51):Thank you for listening to Ag Credit Said It. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. While you are there, leave us a review to help others find the show. Let's talk ag in between episodes. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at AgCredit. For more tips and resources, visit agcredit.net.