Next-Gen Spotlight: Lindsay Baneck Is In the Business of Selling Memories
Lindsay Baneck grew up on her family’s farm about halfway between Madison and Milwaukee. Her parents are first generation operators growing corn, soybeans, wheat and hay. They also keep roughly 70 head of Angus cows. Along with the traditional operation, they run Jelli’s Market, a direct-to-consumer, U-pick produce business selling strawberries, blueberries and sweet corn, and more recently they added an orchard with a neighbor. After attending college, Baneck chose to return to the farm full time. As a manager, at 32 years old she has her eyes on the future.
How did you decide to come back to the farm?
I think deep down I always knew I wanted to come back and be involved somehow. Going to college at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls opened my eyes to the fact we have something special here on our farm. My dad talked to me when I was finishing up school. He said, “hey, you know, you're welcome here. You don't have to be here, but you are welcome here.”
What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten about running a farm?
You can't change the weather, but you can change your attitude. That's something that we always live by. I mean, it’s basically, just about being positive. In 2019, my mom’s heart stopped beating and so she is now dealing with a brain injury. Luckily, she's still here with us, but I had to assume her responsibilities.
I think going through everything with her was a life changing experience. That gave me a different outlook on life. If we can survive that then I can handle a drought or a hailstorm. You can get upset about things that are inevitable but at the end of the day, being healthy and having your family around is the most important thing.
What was the hardest part of getting started in farming?
The biggest thing I had to adapt to was my age. A lot of times people in the industry didn't respect me because I was young. It helped people respect my dad, but I had to make a name for myself. I'm his daughter, but I might do things a little differently than he does. We have a lot of the same ideas and goals, but we also have different ideas and goals.
What goals do you have for the future?
I have a two-year-old daughter and I want to make sure that I start integrating her in this business. My older sister has a son and so I want to get him interested in the farm. I’m focused on setting our farm up for success so that if they want to take over someday then things are ready. All my goals are geared toward success and sustainability. That's a huge word these days but for me, sustainability is making sure that our farm is profitable and set up to be passed on to the next generation.
What is the hardest part of working directly with consumers?
Communication is key. We have a Facebook page for our produce farm. We try to communicate as much as we can but that's a full-time job in itself. There are so many people who are not connected to farms anymore, and I think they romanticize the idea of being on a farm. We're getting so far removed from the farm that people are craving that experience. Those of us in this industry have to communicate with them but I also need to do chores, be a mom, go spray the strawberries, and make sure my employees are getting paid. How do I do all those things in a day and not lose my mind? That's a huge struggle but I also remember, you have to communicate with your consumers because if you don't, they're not going to come buy your stuff.
What is your farm’s biggest opportunity?
Our biggest opportunity is getting consumers connected to the farm. I heard the other day agritourism is selling memories. People want those memories. Everybody's concerned about input costs these days. Getting people connected to you really doesn't require a ton of “input costs” on your end. It requires time and effort, but it's not going to break the bank to get people out there to spend their money on your farm.
How do you use technology on the farm?
With our specialty crops, like strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, there's a lot of manual labor that goes into it. So, I am ready for the robots. When they're affordable, I will have all the robots, all the droids, and all of the drones. I'm all for it. With the drones, my dad just said we’re getting one. It's going to spray for us because we can't get helicopters for fungicide around here anymore. So, my dad is riding that train and I'm like, let's do it!
What advice would you give other young farmers?
Don't be afraid to ask for help. I think there's a mindset with the older generation that everything has to be a secret and you can't ask for help. You don't need to give everybody your life story and you don't need to tell them your financials but if you need help with something, ask for help. Somebody out there can be a sounding board for you and so use people. People are OK.
