Edition #10

September 9, 2023

Good morning and welcome to the Braintrust Ag newsletter. Where the best ag business & transition content finds your inbox like Patrick Mahomes finds the endzone (except Thurs night).

A few notes to begin:

• If you’d like an invitation link to the community page sent to you, throw your email into this form & I’ll get it to you.

• Upcoming SOIL Gathering for paid members scheduled for next Thursday.

• There’s already been a couple farm accidents this fall — please slow down & put safety first as the tempo ramps up.

Alright, let’s get to the topics that will help you build a strong, sustainable agri-business.

-Clint

Here’s what we have this week:

• 🐑 Ag-adjacent Side Hustles

• 🌱 Seeds

• 💣 Insurance Industry: Part 2

• 🔨 All the Resources

• 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Why an estate plan?

• and more…

“AG-ADJACENT” SIDE HUSTLES

Well, last week’s poll results are in & the people have spoken. Thank you to all who participated in the poll.

With ~40% of the votes, we’ll spend the next few weeks discussing and featuring some “ag-adjacent” side hustles.

First, what is an “ag-adjacent” side hustle?

I’m willing to bet we’re all familiar with a side hustle or a side business. You know, a gig that you start up outside your fulltime job that provides some extra income to throw at your financial goals.

Well, that’s what an ag-adjacent side hustle is as well. Only what we’re talking about is a side business that compliments your ultimate farm/ranch goals by:

• placing you in the proximity of other ag folks & landowners to foster relationships

• utilizing assets that can also help with your current or future farm

• counter-acting the seasonality of most farm and ranch enterprises

• sharing labor with the farm to justify hiring quality help

This could be any number of side businesses (which we’re going to explore a bunch of options over the coming weeks) so long as they do two things: 1) compliment the farm enterprise, and 2) network you with other people in ag.

So, before you start one ask yourself, “does this gig nail those two requirements?”

Next, why start an ag-adjacent side hustle?

Let’s illustrate with a dock and a boat. It’s a beautiful sunny day at the lake. You’re standing on the dock, gazing out over the pristine water. In the distance, there’s a new Lund fishing boat that you’d love to hop on.

But, it’s much too far to simply step onto the boat and you’re a poor swimmer (like me).

So, we need to bring the boat closer to the dock.

In this metaphor, the dock is your non-farm full-time job, the boat is your future full-time farming career, and we’ll bring the boat closer to the dock by using an ag-adjacent side hustle.

That way, we can easily (and dryly) step from the dock to the boat.

A successful and scalable side business does 5 things:

1. Teaches you how to become a business-minded person and provides experience to apply to the farm

2. Provides greater cash-flow to put toward the start-up costs of your farming enterprise (we dug deep into a business plan and start-up costs in previous editions)

3. Justifies the purchasing of assets to be utilized on the future farm

4. Builds equity within the business that can be used for the farming venture (either by selling the business or leveraging the equity)

5. If retained, it diversifies income so all our eggs aren’t in just the farming basket, and may provide an avenue for future generations to stay on the farm

As you grow the business, you’ll naturally develop relationships, build equity, collect assets, and learn lessons that will help in the future farming enterprise.

So, that’s the “why” behind starting one.

Sure, but how do you start an ag-adjacent side hustle?

To answer this question properly, we would need to dive deeper than you probably want to dive on a Saturday morning. We’ll hit on this question periodically over the next few weeks as we identify & evaluate some ag-adjacent side hustle ideas.

But, a few steps to take initially are:

• Assess your skills. What are you better at than most that would bring value to someone else?

• Identify a need. You need demand for your product or service. The easiest way is to look around at other successful businesses & do what they’re doing in your niche.

• Inventory your assets. What are you starting with? Vehicle, equipment, computer, relationships, education, or anything else you currently have that you can use to provide value to others.

Then, combine those three results and brainstorm some ideas.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll break down some common and unique ag-adjacent side hustle ideas and I’ll explain how I would execute on them if it were me.

Do you have an ag-adjacent side hustle idea you’d like to see broken down & assessed? Shoot me an email: [email protected]

RESOURCES UPDATE

A frequent question is, “what resources are all available to members?" Here’s a current list members can access by clicking here:

SEEDS

• 🤠 Agritourism Directory: Agritourism is gaining in popularity across the US and can be a profitable way to diversify the right type & location of operations while connecting non-ag folks with knowledge about agriculture. Scroll through this list of agritourism businesses in Missouri for some ideas that you could adopt.

• 💵 Secret Sauce: This article discusses how becoming incrementally better in many areas of your ag business is the “secret sauce” for an operation. Small efficiencies across all KPIs will lead to efficiency and boost profitability regardless of the size of the farm/ranch business.

• 🚜 Electric & Autonomous: The University of Missouri is showing off their all-electric, fully autonomous tractor. The first of its kind, they say. With capabilities designed to collect data & analyze crop health through AI, its purpose is to make farming more efficient and sustainable.

• 🌫️ Pipeline Paused: The controversial Navigator CO2 carbon pipeline project took a loss in South Dakota as the PUC rejected the company’s application for a permit to construct the pipeline. Now, the company must appeal the decision or reapply for the permit.

• 🚜 Ranch to Table: Cattle producers can now team up with Certified Angus Beef (CAB) to label their direct-to-consumer beef with the CAB logo. Ranch to Table is a new partnership between CAB and producers seeking to leverage the CAB brand to boost demand for Angus (or to the cynical folks just black-hided) beef in other ways than just through the packing plant.

FINANCE

INSURANCE

A Macro-Look at P&C Insurance: Part 2

Click here to see Part 1

Provided By Endorsed Service Provider — Steve Hasche

Here’s some reasons why the insurance marketplace is tightening up:

1. The cost to rebuild your home is up dramatically due to the rising cost of materials and labor. Supply chain for materials continues to be an issue. We can all agree that everything has gone up in price. Carriers simply can’t survive paying these higher prices without charging more themselves.

2. The cost to repair your car is up dramatically due to the rising cost of auto parts and labor to fix your car. In addition, parts in vehicles now include some technology features. Replacing a side mirror or windshield used to be $500 - now it’s more than triple that.

3. The cost of medical care continues to skyrocket. Bodily injury on auto accidents is off the charts.

4. Litigation is expensive and settlements are rising at an unprecedented rate.

5. Both the frequency and severity of auto accidents are WAY up post COVID along with the rising frequency of auto fatalities.

6. ReInsurance (the insurance your insurance carrier buys to help cushion catastrophic loss) is at or approaching capacity in many markets, and rising rates are unsustainable.

These are significant issues affecting the property & casualty industry, and pricing correction is anticipated at least through 2024. It won’t be forever, but it is here now.

Want more? Discuss directly with Steve: [email protected]

SUCCESSION/TRANSITION

I recently met an awesome attorney who works with estate & elder law matters. With two offices in rural Indiana (and one in the ‘burbs) she has many farm family clients. When asked for some content on estate planning, she gladly helped! (also, you should follow her on X @jennyrozelle)

The Importance of Creating an Estate Plan: Part 1

(Provided by Indiana Estate & Elder Law)

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

How many times have we heard these familiar words of Benjamin Franklin? In all aspects of our lives, plans are a necessary course of action. We plan everything from finances to meals to our work day. Can you image what a cruise line would say to you if you just showed up on the Dock waiting to board the ship without planning the vacation first? You would be left on land watching the ship sail off into the sunset.

In order for any plan to succeed, planning must be a priority. Procrastination is our enemy. Not every person will have to enter a nursing home during their life time, but it’s a 100% guarantee that we will all die. The procrastinator in you will say, “I know I am going to die, but that’s down the road, it’s not going to happen today, I will plan tomorrow.” But no one really knows when that last day will be.

Yet, even though we understand the need to plan and we have a desire to plan, there is a large portion of us who just fail to do it. We have good intentions, but just cannot make it happen. This failure to plan also occurs in estate planning. I have heard people say, “I am going to be dead, so what does it matter, I cannot take “it” with me.” What people fail to understand is that you are planning, not for yourself, but for your loved ones, your family.

Why do I say it’s for your loved ones and family? Because you are dead and it is rare for people to die with absolutely nothing. Do you live in a home? Do you own a car? Do you have life insurance? Retirement? Personal Possessions? What about a bank account? How about a cell phone? A twitter/facebook/Instagram account? Debt? All of these mentioned items will need to be taken care of by someone you love who is grieving your loss if you don’t plan while you are alive. What you don’t plan for today becomes the burden to your family after you pass.

Look for Part 2 next week.

Disclaimer

This is not legal advice. This is in the nature of general information, not specific advice. For estate matters, always seek legal advice from an attorney within your jurisdiction.

MEME OF THE WEEK

That’s a wrap, folks.

Until next week, thank you to everyone involved in ag. Come engage on the new 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.