Kohl's Notes
You’re known as the Road Warrior of Agriculture. What are the best ideas you’ve picked up from farmers and ranchers on your travels lately?
I did a lot of travelling over the past several months, and found all kinds of ideas that farmers are using to make their businesses better. Here are three of the best.
 Agriculture producers’ winners circle
Producers are becoming fewer in number, and despite the Internet and cell phones, they are also more socially isolated. With the help of lender and agribusiness groups, many are forming winners’ circles of five to 10 business units who meet quarterly. One-third of the meeting is informative, with an outside speaker. One-third is used for networking, and the remainder is for applications and actions. Peer benchmarking, strategic analysis of the business, industry problem-solving, socialization and fun for the family have been major topics. The outcome has been new energy, ideas and practices that have improved these producers’ return on assets.
 Personality profiling
Ask any agricultural producer to name one of their major challenges and labour
management will rise to the top. Recently at a three-day producer conference,
farm and ranch couples completed the DiSC Personality Profile and participated
in practical applications of the results. This profile provides an overview of how
other people view you in normal and stressful situations, as well as social settings.
Personally, I was exposed to this management concept in the late 1980s. It is one
of the top-10 management practices that have improved my personal performance.
Producers tell me that personality profiling improves communications with
employees, suppliers and working with the public. Some say it helps develop
team dynamics in the workplace and on advisory teams.
 Capital reserve accounts
The top tier of business producers is not afraid to make profits and pay income taxes. Some are visionary enough to place a portion of their profits in a capital reserve account, which can be utilized in emergencies or if an opportunity presents itself. One may question the short-run return of a bank account, but a longer-term view must be considered. Case in point: This past winter, a producer used the capital reserve account to purchase an asset at 28 cents on the dollar, lowering the enterprise’s break-even point by 33 per cent, resulting in instantaneous profits.
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