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Malta, Illinois | That is a complicated question. When we hear BTO our radar instantly goes up and we go into defensive mode with snide comments and insults. There are certainly large operations that deserve that sort of treatment but I think many well run and successful operations get unfairly lumped in with the bad ones. There may even be more bad ones than good ones. I don't know. The successful ones that I am aware of have bun run by the same family for quite some time and have family members actively involved in daily operations. They have at least somewhat of a land base and obviously rent a very large percentage of their acreage. They have employees that stay with them for a long time because they give them a lot of responsibility and treat them very well. They have people approach them and ask them to rent their land because of their reputation. They have a very close working relationship with a local lending institution who understands their needs and helps them plan for the future. They also seem to care at least somewhat about the land. Then you have the Johnny Come Latelys who have no land base, run around paying outrageous rent, hire anyone who can hold a steering wheel, carry an enormous debt load, shop lenders when their current one gets nervous, and care nothing about the land. I know of a few of those types that have been in business for a very long time and somehow keep going. There have been bankruptcies and liquidations but they are still rolling and still farming a lot of ground. | |
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What skills does it take???
