View all past Braintrust Ag newsletters here.

Edition #30

March 2, 2024

Good morning and welcome to the Braintrust Ag newsletter. Today’s edition is jam packed full of advice… whether you like it or not.

A couple notes to begin:

• We hit 200 members! (currently at 209) Welcome all!

  • Become a member by clicking here.

• This week’s edition is a bit unique (and long): it’s advice from ag folks all over the place, so I hope you enjoy!

Alright, let’s get to the topics that will help you build a strong, sustainable ag operation.

-Clint

Here’s what we have this week:

• 💡 147 unique pieces of advice

THE BIG IDEA

What you wish you knew in your 20’s

Recently, I posed a question to the wide world of ag on X/Twitter. And those fine folks did not disappoint.

Here was the original question:

Well, there were 187 replies, the vast majority were packed with years of wisdom. In an effort to not let this advice drift away into the endless sea of social media, I’m preserving them right here, precisely for your inspiration.

When reading through the comments, it struck me that there were three buckets that most advice could roughly fall into:

1. Relationships

2. Operations

3. Financial

So I’ve organized them in those three categories to the best of my ability.

Relationships

I was pleasantly surprised by the number of comments that fell into this bucket. These pieces of advice included family, personal development, networking, and peer groups.

My big takeaway from these: take care of yourself, strive to maintain a quality work/family life balance, and invest in quality, long term relationships with folks who have an interest in seeing you succeed.

Operations

Here we’ve got frameworks and strategies to ensure profitable and sustainable operations. These pieces of advice included practical farming tips as well as big picture creeds to base decision making on.

My big takeaway from these: treat your farm like a business, take manageable risks, and think outside the box.

Financial

This last category was, frankly, what I thought would make up the majority of the comments. But, it was the smallest number.

My big takeaway from these: know your numbers, become good at bookkeeping and financials, invest/borrow on assets that appreciate, and avoid spending big money on assets that depreciate.

In Summary

This experiment shows the true value of connecting with other folks who have been-there-done-that. We can learn much from our experienced peers, so I encourage all ag people to join some type of support network, peer group, association, or community.

Many farmers and ranchers are willing to share their insights so you can learn from their mistakes, instead of making your own. I’m proud to be part of the broader ag community.

And, maybe consider joining the Braintrust Ag peer group.

Become a member today for lifetime access to everything. It’s a small one-time cost with NO recurring subscription.

MEME OF THE WEEK

That’s a wrap, folks.

Until next week, thank you to everyone involved in ag. Come engage on the community platform & let’s grow profitable ag businesses together.

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DISCLAIMER: All content, communications, and resources provided by Braintrust Ag, its principals, operators, or members is intended to merely be educational and entertaining. Nothing published by Braintrust Ag should be relied on as legal, financial, investment, or other professional advice. Investments and legal matters involve substantial risk and are not suitable for all individuals. It is recommended to enter into a client relationship with an ESP for obtaining professional advice.