If you want to take your farm to the next level, diversified income streams could be the key, according to Matt Boos, founder of Agrigrowth Consulting.
“Very rarely do I ever see a truly successful farm that was just a row crop business,” Boos says. “They had a crop insurance business, a seed business, a trucking business, a tiling business, and the list goes on.”
Boos shares farmers often already have the foundation of these businesses, but are missing a few small pieces to getting them off the ground. He recently joined the Top Producer podcast with host Paul Neiffer to discuss how he helps farmers grow these opportunities.
“A lot of them have had these businesses have just kind of grown organically,” Boos says. “They had a neighbor that needed something, and they had extra help around. Or they had dump trucks sitting around for hauling manure and thought they could pick up more business.”
But to grow those revenue streams, he says it takes stepping back to look at who your customer is and how you can market to them. That’s where peer groups can be an important tool.
“Peer groups are the best advisory board a person could have,” Boos says. “It’s those people that are just farther ahead in the journey than you are that you have to surround yourself with.”
He emphasizes the importance of finding someone outside of your geography who has your best interest in mind and will objectively question why you do things a certain way.
“Finding those people shortens the learning curve,” Boos says. “No one needs a CPA, no one needs a consultant. People could figure all this stuff out on their own with enough time. But there’s a finite amount of time.”
To hear more from Boos, listen to this episode of the Top Producer podcast.
