Recently, I met with Jim Ostrom of Milk Source in Freedom, Wis. We talked about a variety of topics, including his view of the future, the steps to achievement and how to overcome obstacles. Here are a few excerpts from that conversation.

Kevin: Jim, what are the keys to your success?

Jim: The key to our success is the team. I’ve got two partners. We all three focus on different areas of the operation. I focus on the business side, including risk management, negotiations, planning and the next new projects. Todd focuses on construction, facilities and operations. John handles herd management, health and production.

Watch "Leave a Legacy" Episode #5!

Leading the Change – Legacy Project Workshops: The next series of Legacy Project workshops are scheduled for Lincoln(July 20^th), Des Moines (July 21^st), and Champaign (July 23). Sign-up online, or call the Farm Journal Events Hot Line for more information: (800) 909-3681. 
 

For hard-charging, successful agripreneurs, the life-altering change of sudden retirement is hard. Nothing is more disheartening than the thought of giving up a lifetime on the farm and the image of letting go.

Coming up on Leave a Legacy TV (Thursday, May 20): 

                                                  To begin, we meet the ‘first family’ of one of the world’s largest cheese producers.  Next, host Kevin Spafford invites John Hohenberger (farm operator in Leland, Illinois) and Josh Sylvester (of Legacy by Design) to join the roundtable discussion about what families may expect from the succession planning process.  Finally, Jim Ostrom shares the keys to success for the innovative Rosendale Dairy in Wisconsin.

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Given today’s razor-thin margins, environmental pressures and capital requirements, leadership development is often the least concern for farm managers. Yet leadership development is key to continuing success.

Our Leadership Skills Inventory will help focus your limited resources on developmental needs.

• Formal educational opportunities -- seminars, workshops, college courses and TEPAP
• Defined experiences -- nothing teaches quite like hands-on doing. What kinds of experience should you have to better serve in a leadership capacity?
• Enlist the help of mentors -- the advice, counsel and guidance of experienced voices can be very reassuring in the face of risk and the unknown.
• Adopt a networking mentality -- we can always learn from the experiences of others.
• And never miss the opportunity to learn through firsthand experience and exposure to the methods of others -- even outside of agriculture.

News & Resources for You

A Call to Action: I realize that families don’t talk about succession as they should, but how can we if the outcome is always displeasure?

We are American Farmers: It is our privilege to share with you, “We are American Farmers” – from Farm Journal, February 1952.

From Legacy Moment eNewsletter (April 30, 2010)
Please join us for future issues, delivered via email each Friday.

If you’re going to build a barn, you begin with a plan. If you’re going to assemble a piece of equipment, you rely on instructions. If you’re going on a trip, you may use a map.

Building an operation that is bigger-than-self is no less daunting, and far more important. A business plan is critical for long-term success, clearly defining the objectives of your operation and enlisting a team to achieve business goals.

If you don’t have a plan, now is the time to create one. If you do have a plan, use our Business Plan Self Assessment to review it---you may note the depth of your plan and notice areas for improvement.

 News & Resources for You

How to Know When It’s Time: How do we know when it’s time to seriously consider succession planning?