These Aren't Family Farm Decisions Anymore

Spring 2022. Commodity prices at records, fertilizer at records, a war reshaping the wheat market week to week, and Western Canada coming off one of the worst droughts on record.Evan Shout's read on it is not that the year is dangerous. It is that the decisions in front of producers stopped being family farm decisions and became business decisions, with more zeros and more downside than the way most operations are set up to handle.What's Inside- Why the operations that pre-bought fertility the previous summer were sitting on a large margin advantage, and why the rest could not- The reason insurance stays a hard sell: a combine sits in the yard where you can see it, and a policy is a piece of paper- What he means by cash being a treasure chest, and how working capital turns into the ability to hold inventory and buy early when everyone else cannot- The downturn he was already planning for, where commodity prices soften and input costs do not follow them down- Why he expected a wave of land movement, and the difference between consolidation that happens by choice and consolidation that happens by necessity- What a reactive industry looks like: financial statements arriving four months after year end, and what replaces them on the farms he works with- The entrepreneurial operating system in plain terms, what hitting a ceiling means, and why goal setting is usually the first thing to get dropped- Why he thinks the hardest shift in agriculture is away from doing it aloneRelated EpisodesFarmer Coach: the program he and the Hebert Grain Ventures team launched four months after this conversationOnly One in Five Farms Has a Written Plan Connect with Evan: Website: https://maverickag.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/EvanShout                https://twitter.com/Maverick_AgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-shout-985483209/ Farm Forum Event 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMv88zxEqm8Evan’s first episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17HzGD_oSEw Connect with Growing the FutureWebsite: growingthefuture.caYouTube: Growing the FutureInstagram: @growingthefuturepodcastLinkedIn: Growing the FutureSubscribe to the Growing the Future Podcast wherever you listen, and register for Convergence Conference 2027 at convergence.ag. Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.