Staying Relevant in a Changing Global Economy
Adapting to global shifts for the agribusiness economy is the key staying competitive. Looking at the average US Farm prices for major commodities, such as corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton, there is evidence that there has been very little growth helping our agribusiness community in the United States beat the top of the market within the last decade.
In Carl Casales’ keynote, he clearly impresses upon the audience that in order to be relevant long term, those in the agribusiness community must stay relevant. A few ways to do this may include:
Maintain financial strength
Working with your professional advisor to understand your financial statements is crucial to developing goals that will help you stay above this new normal. Having the resources to assess you financial health at your fingertips is imperative as you walk this fine line of doing what you love and being a significant contributor to the agribusiness community.
Scale systems and processes
When you have a good idea of what you’re doing well and how it affects you financially, you can begin scaling your systems and processes. Complete overhauls aren’t necessary, but find low hanging fruit where you can implement a small change that could drastically assist your business in producing more crops or teaming together with another farmer to share expenses.
Grow talent
You’ve been doing a great job of growing your businesses, now it’s time to grow your talent. You’ve heard it before, passing along your knowledge to key employees or family members will help you keep your business going well beyond the time that you decide you would like to retire.
Most importantly, Carl impresses that you must look beyond the horizon. When you are thinking about your business and where you want it to be, you’ll be able to work with professional advisors to help guide you to that path. Talk about your desired outcome and goals. By doing so, you can develop a roadmap that will provide you targets that will help your business stay on the right course of action.
A special thanks goes out to Carl Casale for speaking on the Global Issues on the Radar: Why They Matter to You. Carl is the CEO and President of CHS, the nation’s leading cooperative, owned by US farmers, ranchers and co-ops. They actively help producers, co-ops and customers growth their business with over 10,000 employees in the US and 24 other countries.
