As we roll into 2025, I’m very pleased to be working with the rest of the Country Guide team. Years ago, as a field editor, I split my time writing for Guide and Grainews and learned much more from Tom Button than I can summarize in one column. He wanted to produce a magazine with sophisticated writing on how farmers make decisions — especially business decisions — and that is something we aim to carry on, even as aspects of the magazine evolve. It’s interesting to think about what goes into those decisions, how they’re made, and how they’re implemented (or not).
One of the questions I often ask myself is what big shifts are underway right now, in agriculture, in media, or in other areas that may affect me and the people I know. I’m not sure I’m very good at spotting these shifts in time.
It’s a question I’ve been pondering more since listening to Eric Ryan on the podcast A Bit of Optimism. Ryan is the creator of Method, those cleaning products packaged in well-designed bottles. He has no passion for cleaning (a former roommate was outraged by Ryan’s success in the soap business, as he was infamous for neglecting dishes). But he loves design, and he looks at product categories, determines where existing companies have missed a cultural shift, then tries to fill it. For example, he saw a gap between people’s environmental and health concerns, and what cleaning companies were offering. Method plugged that gap.
Read Also
Editor’s Note: No pressure
What is your playbook going into this year’s crop? Not an easy question to answer right now, given the global…
Button is another who spots the shifts. He did it years ago when he adjusted Country Guide’s focus to how farmers make business decisions. Today, he predicts “psychological science will be the next big thing that will help farmers advance.” As he told Jeanine Moyer, it’s not just about getting help, but investing in yourself. After all, it’s the people on your farm who make things happen.
Spotting a shift is one thing, but following through is another matter. You can churn out one great idea after another, but they just float in the ether until you implement them. Ryan talked a little about this, too, and how potential investors screen for it. Some investors, he said, are less interested in the details of your plan for the startup than the founder as a person. Ryan said they want someone who will run through brick walls to get things done.
You can see how vital that “get it done” attitude is with a startup, but determination and resourcefulness are essential when creating a new venture on an existing farm, too. John Pruim’s new ice cream business, our cover story in the January issue, is just one example of entrepreneurship in the up-and-coming generation of farmers. Who would have thought a scoop of blueberry cheesecake ice cream years ago would eventually inspire Pruim to find and capitalize on such an opportunity?
Perhaps it’s more of an evolution than a shift, but as Evan Shout tells our associate editor April Stewart, farmers are making more multi-million-dollar decisions than ever before. Understanding key concepts, such as cost of production, is important for every farmer. And succession planning often starts when the kids are 17, not 40, he says.
Of course, we all know that life doesn’t always go according to plan. But sometimes, that’s okay, or even better than okay. Delaney Seiferling’s profile on Alanna Koch is an example of how rich life can be when we find opportunity in change, whether it’s planned, unplanned or even forced. As Seiferling writes, although transitions are difficult, “they often yield rich periods of growth, fulfillment and valuable learning.”
None of this is easy. We’re bound to run into obstacles, or at least some friction that slows us down, from time to time. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone fails. The trick is to contain and learn from the failures and find a way to keep moving forward. After all, as rancher Kyle Hebert points out in The Math Checks Out, sometimes sticking to the status quo costs more than trying something new.
As you sit down and set your goals for the next year (or five), I hope the articles in this issue inspire questions and conversations with your farm team. Ideas and feedback always welcome — email me at [email protected].
