Diversification

The Tax Man Cometh To The Farm

Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:34 GMT

Everyone can benefit from a practical reminder from time-to-time. In this case, Paul Neiffer wants to remind farmers that the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is set to expire at the end of 2025.

“We’ve had these tax cuts for eight years now, but farmers may not be thinking about this and what it could mean for them,” said Neiffer, principal of FarmCPAReport.com and a Top Producer columnist.

Neiffer addressed the topic of what farmers need to know now and address from a tax standpoint during the 2025 Top Producer Summit in Kansas City.

“Certainly, farmers are aware of the lifetime estate tax exemption dropping in half after this year. But I think a lot of these other provisions that would hit them, they’re probably not quite as aware of them,” he said.

Neiffer highlighted three provisions he believes U.S. farmers are likely most interested in seeing extended or made permanent. They include:

1. The 100% Bonus Depreciation. Neiffer said he believes the 100% provision will be made permanent, though it’s currently only 40%.

“We think that will come back to farmers,” he said. “The practical benefit is when they purchase equipment or farm buildings they’ll be able to deduct 100% of that item in the year of purchase. Also, there is a chance that trade-in of farm equipment will be similar to the old rules and non-taxable in most situations.”

2. The increase in the lifetime exemption for estates. If the current law is left unchanged, as of Jan 1, 2026, the present lifetime estate and gift tax exemption will be cut approximately in half. It currently is almost $14 million.

Neiffer is optimistic about the exemption. “I think the likelihood on the estate exemption is very good. I think that’ll stay at least at the current level,” he said.

3. The Section 199A Cap. This provision allows individuals, trusts and estates with pass-through business income to deduct up to 20% of qualified business income (QBI) from taxable ordinary income. Schedule F farmers are also granted the 20% deduction.

While Neiffer said there is some bipartisan support in Congress for extending the Section 199A deduction beyond 2025, he is ambivalent about that happening. “With that 20%, it would be a lot more costly to enact,” he noted.

Practical Next Steps Farmers Can Take
Looking ahead, Neiffer said he believes the likelihood of having a major tax bill before the end of 2025 is slim. At best, the bill would be ready by November or December.

For that reason, Neiffer’s recommendation to farmers is for them to plan on pushing income into 2026 but to have the flexibility to bring that income back into 2025.

“The reason is if the tax cuts don’t get extended that means 2026 tax brackets are going to be a lot higher,” Neiffer explained. “So, we would want to bring income into 2025. Now, farmers have the ability to do that using deferred payment contracts and some other elections that they can make – but only if they plan ahead accordingly. They definitely want to make sure they do that,” he added.

Your next read: It’s Tax Time: Your Guide To Calculate Farm Income

How To Translate Generational Misunderstandings

Tue, 18 Jun 2024 16:24:36 GMT

The week of June 10, Farm Journal is celebrating the next generation of American agriculture. Our goal is to encourage you to plan for the future and cultivate multigenerational success through the transfer of skills and knowledge. Think tomorrow, act today to align your asset, resource and financial legacy.

Communication between one generation to another can seem like talking a different language.

“I suggest you approach looking at another generation with curiosity rather than judgment,” says Kim Lear of Inlay Insights.

In her work, Lear shares generational theory insights and highlights how these are trends, not traits, but can inform better teamwork.

Why It Matters Now

Taking a refreshed approach to understanding on-farm team members from other generations is top of mind as today there are four generations actively employed across our economy.

When bringing more than one generation into leadership roles on the farm, it’s helpful to understand how to communicate.

“Dates given for generations are just a starting point. Generational theory is taking formative events from our growing years and seeing how they shape the people who lived through it,” she explains

A typical generation spans 15 to 18 years, and while general trends can be highlighted, Lear also notes there are exceptions.

“There are individuals who sit between two generations, and those people can serve important roles communicating between the generations. They are generationally bilingual,” Lear says.

3 Steps for Generations To Work Together
“We are in a unique time where we have four generations in the workforce,” says Kim Lear. She suggests three steps to bring together a productive team. 1. Prioritize clarity over brevity in communication. 2. Instill respect as the foundation. 3. Deliver feedback in a way that motivates to improve rather than paralyze with fear. Give a clear path for the road to improvement with the tools to get where they need to be.

3 Steps for Generations To Work Together

“We are in a unique time where we have four generations in the workforce,” says Kim Lear. She suggests three steps to bring together a productive team.

1. Prioritize clarity over brevity in communication.

2. Instill respect as the foundation.

3. Deliver feedback in a way that motivates to improve rather than paralyze with fear. Give a clear path for the road to improvement with the tools to get where they
need to be.

We Are Getting Older

The scales are tilting toward an older society, and there are fewer members of the younger generations.

“The story of aging is changing in America,” she says. “We have cliff diving birth rates and low immigration. Also, we are an ageist society.”

Today 62 million adults ages 65 and older are living in the U.S., which is 18% of the population, according to the U.S. Census. In 30 years, 84 million adults ages 65 and older will make up an estimated 23% of the population.

With the recognition of how our population is structured, and how your on-farm team members reflect their generational trends, you can evaluate your communication.

Next Gen Insights

Lear shares trends about Generation X (birth years: 1965 to 1979), millennials (birth years: 1980 to 1994), and Generation Z (birth years: 1995 to 2012).

Members of Generation X can exhibit fierce independence. For example, they can have an aversion to traditional sales tactics.

“If a brand crosses them, they are hard to earn back as a customer,” she says. “It’s telling — the divorce rate doubled during the Gen X birth years.”

As another data point, 55% of startup founders are Gen X.

As for millennials, the rise of double income households really took off as millennials grew up.

“Millennials are collaborative, empowered, networked, risk averse and in search of meaning,” she says. “But America has more single parent households than anywhere else in the world. It’s one way to understand why work-life balance is at the forefront of recruitment and retention.”

For Generation Z, our present serves as the backdrop of their formative years. Already, Lear has seen how Gen X parents and Gen Z children have relationships rooted in friendship.

“They are highly influential over each other’s decision-making. For example, Gen Z will bring job offers to their parents to vet,” she says.

Lear continues with an example of how Generation Z makes decisions.

“They are showing how they can abandon any obsession of convenience with an obsession of optimization,” she says. “For example, a regular stationary bike is convenient versus a Peloton is synched with stats and analytics. It’s the expectation of personalization and customization.”

Lear gives an exercise to test your transgenerational communication.

“Look at processes, procedures and norms. What are you holding on that is a sacred cow? And then ask your team to think about where can we focus on that’s more useful and more productive for us?” Lear outlines. “You’ll identify priorities and open up how our team talks to one another.”

How to Define Your Growth Metric

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 19:26:04 GMT

Business growth can mean more acres, employees or revenue. What does it mean to you?

“Defining growth leads to a vision of where you want your business to go,” says Chris Barron, consultant with Ag View Solutions and an Iowa farmer. “It is important to define what growth means to us, and then share that with our team.”

As you think about your growth goals, Barron encourages you to
consider these factors:

Purpose. Why is it important to grow? Consider how your farm’s growth contributes to your family, society and our industry.
Relationships. Transparent communication around why you are growing and how you’re growing is essential, Barron says. You want everyone to have clear expectations.
Goals. Strategic goals around growth help establish direction. “A lot of time operations have yield goals or feed efficiency goals,” he says. “That’s great, but what are some of your longer-term business goals? Get those clearly defined.”
Focus. Businesses should evolve, but they need to stay true to their core competencies. Farm diversity can be a strategic advantage, Barron says, but make sure you excel in every area of your business. “If we’re not good at something, hire it done,” he says.
Education. Network with the right people to encourage and challenge your operation. Also, he says, realize sometimes education is sitting in your office and just doing some thinking.
Risk Mitigation. Not all growth is positive or sustainable. As you make growth plans, have an exit
strategy. This is important if you have on-farm and off-farm family, he notes.
Health. Focus on physical and mental health. “We need to do a better job of taking care of ourselves with exercise, sleep and nutrition,” Barron says. “We have control over those things.”
Reflection. “This is about being self-aware,” he says. “What can you do to improve? This is also about showing gratitude for who is helping you in your growth journey.”

Listen to Barron discuss business growth on “The Ag View Pitch” podcast :

How Pork Cultivates Culture to Reach a Bigger Audience

Mon, 05 Jun 2023 15:00:00 GMT

Culture is a major focus in the Pork Checkoff’s most recently introduced strategic campaigns to reach and encourage consumption among Hispanic and African American consumers.

“If you look at the changing demographics in the U.S., one-third of the population is Hispanic, African American and Asian, and it tends to skew younger. As we look at the Millennials and Gen Z in particular, they’re the most multicultural generations in U.S. history,” explains Bill Even, CEO of the National Pork Board.

The Pork Checkoff has developed an intentional plan to speak directly to this group and engage in conversation about the nutrition, health, compatibility, flavor and cultural ties pork offers. By and large, the targeted age group is between 18 to 45. This reaches the GenZennials born from 1992 to 2000, a mixture of Gen Z and Millennials, and the end of the Gen Xers.

How Will Pork Campaigns Influence Culture?

The younger demographic wants to stay in touch with their culture, says Jose De Jesus, senior director of multicultural marketing at the National Pork Board.

“They don’t want to lose that connection to mom and dad and grandma and grandpa,” he says. “We know that so a lot of the content that we do is rooted in culture. When we do our planning, there’s got to be cultural nuances that bring it home to the consumer.”

This could include a word that is culturally meaningful. Or it could be incorporating “Spanglish” – a little Spanish and English combined – because that is how the Hispanic audience speaks when they are talking at home, De Jesus explains.

“We always have something that hits a nerve from a cultural perspective, because it’s important,” he says.

Reach the Audience Where It Is

Showing up in platforms that are relevant for this consumer audience is important.

“Take Tik Tok for example. Pork is striving for a big presence in this social media platform because that’s where GenZennials live,” De Jesus says. “Instagram has become very popular, particularly among Millennials. We do have a presence on Facebook and make sure we’re not abandoning it. But it’s our third platform behind Tik Tok and Instagram.”

The Pork Checkoff continues to adjust to make sure it reaches people where they engage the most.

“Tik Tok has been really good. We have videos that have upwards of 1 million views that we just launched maybe a month ago,” he adds.

Tik Tok allows more conversation between people, too.

“You get a chance to educate the consumer in a more organic way, which is what the social space should be – a conversation,” De Jesus says. “It’s not about preaching to the consumer.”

Multicultural Consumer Trends

One of the biggest trends De Jesus is seeing is around equipment. Pork Checkoff research shows that air fryers have become immensely popular.

Air fryers are easy and more nutritious than conventional frying, he points out.

“Both African American and Hispanic consumers tend to do a lot of frying,” De Jesus says. “A lot of the content we’re working on with our content creators involves what I call ‘gadgets,’ that can cook pork in minimal time in an air fryer. And it’s really good for you.”

Flavor is king, he says. These two groups of consumers often add more than salt and pepper in their cooking.

“It’s about adobo. It’s about chile. It’s about all these flavors that they may have seen their parents or grandparents use,” De Jesus says. “This flavor profile is still in play, so we work with chefs to come up with new ideas and recipes that uses flavors that are culturally relevant within these communities.”

A New Approach for a New Audience

Unlike campaigns of the past, Even says these campaigns are designed to reach a very targeted, specific audience.

“If you start seeing ads in Spanish, we’re not doing it right,” De Jesus explains. “We have a very precise approach to be able to reach consumer where they are at and in the way that they want to be reached with the messaging we know resonates.”

Pork Checkoff has moved on from traditional marketing of years ago because it wants to reach a different target. Research shows Boomers eat a lot of pork, but he says they also know that the younger generation will have to carry the load of pork purchasing moving forward.

“We want producers to know that their Checkoff dollars are being deployed in a culturally relevant way with the future consumers of the U.S.,” Even says. “This work is being done in markets where pork producers may not see it like they saw the “Pork the Other White Meat” TV ads from 30 years ago.”

We will be uniting together June 5-11 for PORK Week across all of our Farm Journal platforms to elevate the important role the pork industry plays in feeding the world. Share your stories and post photos on social media using #PORKWeek23 to help us honor the pork industry. From “AgDay TV” to “AgriTalk” to “U.S. Farm Report” to PorkBusiness.com and everything in between, tune in and join us as we acknowledge the most noble profession there is: feeding people.

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

Want to Drive Pork Demand? Fish Where the Fish Are

Want to Grow Your Farm? Ask These 10 Questions First

Wed, 17 May 2023 19:57:51 GMT

More than 50% of farmers intend to grow their operation, based on responses in Purdue’s February 2023 Ag Economy Barometer.

(Farm Journal)

If you’re thinking about scaling your farm, Michael Langemeier, Purdue ag economist, says it’s important to first ask these questions.

1. Why should I grow my operation?

Before an operation expands, consider the vision and direction you want your farm to take.

“Are you interested in a commodity-based approach or a differentiated product strategy? Commodities will focus on cost control while products will be centered around value-added production and above-average prices for your crops,” Langemeiers says. “Start here and consider how growth impacts your direction.”

Once an approach is chosen, it’s time to decide which dominoes you want to play in the expansion game.

2. What ways I can grow my farm?

There are many ways to expand an operation: acquire land, new equipment and technology, upgrade facilities, etc. However, Langemeier says some producers need to think outside the box.

“Don’t just think about what you currently do or have always done. This step is a good time to do some soul searching to consider where you want to be in five to 10 years. Do you want to be the same enterprise, or do you want to make changes?”

Langemeier says this soul-searching step is especially important when someone is coming back to the farm.

“We’re seeing that a lot of students who come from farms want to go back, and we have to look into whether there are opportunities there or not,” Langemeier says. “There’s always new interest and ideas that come with the transition back to the farm.”

After establishing how you want to grow, consider your growth approach.

3. What should my growth approach look like?

A strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis is a common growth approach in business. Langemeier says another way to think about SWOT is in terms of internal and external analysis.

“Internal analysis means looking at key resources and capabilities of a team or operation,” Langemeier says. “Does someone possess a unique skill you can maximize? Take advantage of those unique skillsets.”

Internal analysis mainly centers around strengths, but weaknesses play a role here, too. Are there areas in your operation that need professional development? Langemeier says this is the time to work on both.

External analysis, on the other hand, examines economic and market trends.

“The easiest example is in livestock; raising pasture pork, poultry or beef, or offering direct meat from a producer rather than a grocery store, are all growing trends,” Langemeier says. “If you have those opportunities, think about how they might fit into your operation.”

While there’s more risk in external factors, Langemeier says “the risk can be worth the reward” for producers who understand what trends they can support.

4. How do I evaluate my farm’s growth ventures?

Now that the growth options are laid out, how does a producer choose which option to pursue?
These eight criteria can help:
• Strategic fit
• Expected returns
• Risk
• Capital required
• Cost and ease of entry and exit
• Value creation
• Managerial requirements
• Portfolio fit

Strategic fit is one of the biggest points to consider, according to Langemeier.

“A few years ago, many growers were interested in hemp production. I would ask them if hemp would require new machinery and if they were used to dealing with contracts,” he says. “If the answer was yes and no, then it probably wasn’t going to be a good fit.”

He says ease of entry and exit is the second criteria he points farmers to.

“If your farm were to pursue a new venture and it fails, would it mean you could lose the whole farm? Because there will be things that fail,” Langemeier says.

If a specific venture requires a lot of capital, he says it is pivotal to explore how the investment could affect balance sheets in the long run.

5. What skills are needed to grow, especially in people returning to the farm?

Taking stock of employees’ skillsets, this is the part where growers consider the strengths and weaknesses of human capital currently on the farm and those soon returning to it.

“When someone’s thinking about coming back to the farm, that’s the time to assess the skills that are currently needed, and then try to encourage the younger person to garner some of those skills,” Langemeier says. “We might have the skills to expand our operation, but do we have the skills to start a new venture in a different enterprise? Think about it from all angles.”

6. How do I finance?

Are you willing to take on debt to expand? If so, how much debt are you willing to take on? Langemeier suggests looking at debt as enabling you to take advantage of an opportunity, not as a negative.

“If you have 2,000 acres and are thinking about adding 1,000 acres, even if that’s leased ground, you’re still going to need more machinery and people. You probably don’t have that retained earnings, so you’re going to take on debt,” he says. “As long as you’re making a profit on those additional acres, and you can make the debt payment, it’s not a problem.”

Langemeier warns that a small profit margin can quickly turn into an issue when a venture flops. He advises producers keep a somewhat equal balance of debt and projected venture profits.

7. What business models do I use to grow?

Expanding internal growth with retained earnings and debt is a typical business model for most operations, according to Langemeier. He says there’s a new trend in this arena.

“I’ve seen a lot of production ag cases recently where a farm acquires assets from a retiring farm,” he says. “Not only do they farm the land, but they also buy the machinery, the bins and the whole farm. This really works for some operations.”

Another model that’s becoming somewhat common is a joint venture. Agribusinesses use this model frequently, but Langemeier says more mid-sized operations are leaning toward this option.

“One of the advantages of joint-venture contract turkey, laying or finishing operations, especially in the Corn Belt, is that there’s a partner with you,” Langemeier says. “It allows us to grow effectively.”

Finding a partner to go-in on the venture isn’t always easy. However, Langemeier says producers often look in the wrong places.

“Some farmers say they don’t have any outside investors, so I tell them to think about family or non-farm heirs. Pitch it as a way of investing in your business so that you don’t have to make them partners or an operating entity,” he says. “Land, for instance, could be an outstanding source of outside equity with non-farm heirs.”

8. How would an expansion impact my current operation?

When considering growth options, it’s vital to your growth success to consider how each option will impact the farm’s balance sheet and income statement. Langemeier suggests running three projected scenarios — worst, most likely and best case — through a spreadsheet or a software, like the University of Minnesota’s FINPACK system .

If you choose to run the projections by hand, this is the process Langemeier suggests:

a. Impacts on cash flow and balance sheet

“A growth change will impact both — don’t just look at cash flow,” he says.

b. Debt versus equity

“Maybe the change will reduce your liquidity and increase your solvency too much,” he says. “If that’s the case, you can’t pursue that particular venture.”

c. Time management

“There are only so many hours in the day, and some of us sometimes work too much,” Langemeier says. “Say you’re going from conventional to organic, it’s going to be management intensive. Be realistic about what you and your team can handle.”

9. What challenges would an expansion create?

Construction delays, cash flow shortages, depleted working capital, short-term inefficiencies and management bottlenecks are often at play when starting a new venture, according to Langemeier. He advises producers to be proactive.

“If a venture creates massive cash flow shortages and eats into your working capital, you need to have a plan to deal with those issues. If you don’t, it will lead you into other challenges, like inefficiencies, and you’ll end up with a failed venture,” he says. “Make sure you have a contingency plan.”

10. What is my sustainable growth rate?

Calculating a sustainable growth rate means saying what a growth rate would be if retained earnings is the only money used, and then compare that to what a growth rate would be if only debt was used. Langemeier says this equation has other variables that often go unchecked.

In the debt scenario, he says you have to think about the downside of debt — the chance of going bankrupt and variability.

“Even if your operating cash flow is low, the lender still wants his payments,” Langmeier says. “You have to think about the coping strategies to make those debt payments even when corn is at $5, compared to $6.50. Make sure you run all the numbers imaginable.”

The Main First Step When Considering Expansion

With all 10 points in mind, Langemeier says the first stage of growth shouldn’t include producers running to formulate a 50-page business plan. He says step one starts with a conversation.

“You should be having regular farm and family meetings, at least once a year, to brainstorm with your employees and family members about the things you could do differently on-farm, and allot time to consider continued improvement, opportunities and threats,” he says.

According to Langemeier, these meetings will offer more than exploring growth; they will ensure farm, family and employee survival.

Find Trusted Partners To Help You Succeed With Hemp. Here’s One Way.

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:54:25 GMT

When you start a new endeavor, one of the best ways to learn how to succeed often comes from other people—those individuals who are willing to share their knowledge, resources and first-hand experiences with you.

That’s certainly true if you want to grow hemp in 2020 for the first time, or even if you’ve got a couple of years of production and marketing under your belt.

“The No. 1 piece of advice farmers are telling us is you have to know who you’re working with, and that can be hard to know sometimes. It can be tricky to identify those sketchy players and figure out your trusted partners—from purchasing your seed to processing, and all the way down the line,” Portia Stewart, Farm Journal content strategy director, producer media, told AgriTalk Host, Chip Flory, earlier this week.

One way to accomplish that is to attend a Farm Journal Hemp College this winter . Later this month, the company is hosting a nationally focused hemp program in Chicago, featuring industry speakers and farmers from around the U.S. To learn more information about the agenda and register for the Chicago event, click here: https://bit.ly/2QVqnsv .

The Hemp College is being held in conjunction with the Top Producer Seminar, Executive Women in Agriculture and the Legacy Project.

“Real farmers from across the United States will tell you their secrets to what has worked and what has not worked for them with hemp,” Stewart said. “You’re going to get detailed policy updates. You’re going to have an opportunity to network and talk to people who might be good partners and really suss out what hemp could be for you.

“We also like to level set and make sure that you know we’re giving you all the information available, so that you don’t get in over your head. It’s really about making a good choice for 2020 and beyond, if you’re taking a close look at this crop,” she added.

Some of the featured speakers and topics at the Chicago event include:

How to Grow Hemp: A Farmer’s Perspective
Speaker: Dion Oakes, Farmer, Monte Vista, Colo.

Best Practices for Tillage, Harvesting and Processing Hemp
Speaker: Corbett Hefner, VP Research & Development, Formation Ag

The Agronomics of Hemp Production from A to Z
Speaker: Bryan Parr, Legacy Hemp

Hemp Seed Genetics, Availability and Selection
Speaker: Jeff Kostuik, Director of Operations, Central Region, Hemp Genetics

Hemp’s Hefty Pitfalls
Speaker: Chris Adams, Adams Family Farm

Legislative Outlook for 2020
Speaker: Jonathan Miller, Frost Brown Todd Attorneys

Top Producer Summit 2020

Farm Succession Planning Gets A Boost From An Ethical Will

Paul Neiffer: Help, I Have An Ugly Return!

What Makes Tosh Farms’ Hog Operation Top Notch

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 05:07:39 GMT

Last month, Jimmy Tosh of Tosh Farms was presented with Farm Journal’s annual Top Producer of the Year award . Tosh, the leader of a diverse and innovative family-owned farming operation is also a master pork producer.

Sponsored by BASF, Rabo AgriFinance and Case IH, the Top Producer of the Year contest is in its 20th year and represents the best in the business of farming. Three finalists are chosen from numerous applications by a panel of judges based on entrepreneurial originality; financial and business progress; and industry and community leadership.

Here’s a closer look into their farm operation.

Tosh Farms: 17,000 acres of white and yellow corn, soybeans, canola and wheat.
Tosh Pork cares for 37,000 sows on 11 sites that produce 850,000 market hogs annually; pigs are transferred at three weeks old to one of 83 wean-to-finish sites
Largest pork producer in Tennessee and 28th largest pork producer in the U.S.
Feed mill produces 5,500 tons of feed for pigs each week. Corn is purchased from local farmers to meet pigs dietary needs.
Bacon By Gosh is the transportation division for the operation. They use 52 semis, 85 trailers and 64 automobilies to transport grain, feed, pigs and employees. A truck wash is part of their biosecurity plan, which cleans, disinfects and drys trailers in between loads of pigs to prevent the spread of disease.
Today, the team includes nearly 400 full-time employees. Jimmy and his wife, Alonna, have two sons, Jamey and Jonathan, who are involved in the business and will succeed Jimmy.

Hog Production

Tosh Farms partners with the Pig Improvement Company (PIC) and maintains a herd of PIC boars to use in their AI program. Read their in-depth commitment to animal care.

They also use an in-depth biosecurity plan. Besides a shower in/out policy on sow farms, they also clean and disinfect wean-to-finish barns in between groups of pigs. Semis and trailers undergo a thorough cleaning process. After being cleaned and disinfected, trailers are heated to 160°F to kill any microorganisms that might still be present.

Tosh employees a staff veterinarian, Seth Kranztz, DVM, to ensure the health and wellbeing of animals on the farm. All members of the animal care team, including farm workers, transporters and contract farmers, participate in the Pork Quality Assurance Plus (PQA Plus) and Transport Quality Assurance (TQA) through the National Pork Board.

“My main responsibility is to protect the health and well-being of all the pigs that we raise,” Kranztz says.

Creative Marketing Partners

As the operation grew, Tosh Farms created a contract system for area farmers to produce hogs. This has helped more than 80 independent family farmers in Tennessee and Kentucky continue farming, all while building equity in their own operations. Click here to see Tosh’s typical contract with a contract finisher.

Managing Hog Cycles

Growth of Tosh Farms’ scale doesn’t happen by accident. Jimmy was one of the first users of the personal computer to manage his farm finances. In fact, the first spreadsheet he created he still uses today.

Surviving the financial farm crisis of the 1980s, as well as the late 1990s and late 2000s, which were extremely difficult financial years for hog producers, takes a keen focus on business. While other hog producers were leaving the industry, Tosh Farms became a leader.

In northwest Tennessee, the operation doesn’t experience the wide corn basis and cheap feed compared to hog operations in the Midwest. So, Jimmy has supplemented his feed rations with non-traditional ingredients and even manufactured a system to process these ingredients into feed pellets. Jimmy believes the early adopters of technology reap the most benefits. As a result, he’s always looking for new and innovative production, marketing and management opportunities that cut costs.

Watch for additional coverage later this year.