Matt Ronkin

there was you know violent consolidation and just saw that same dynamic that was eventually going to come in row crop and so wanted to prepare the farmers to be better business people and to be better masters and have a better skill set in order to run their business you know and work on the business not just in the business so the family farms group was started in 1996. i came on as the ceo of the family farms group in 2021 um

you know, not having a strong ag background, I spent the first six months of my time as CEO on farm with our members and just trying to get an understanding of what were some of the challenges, what were some of the pinpoints, what were they doing to better themselves in terms of better business people.

you know, not having a strong ag background, I spent the first six months of my time as CEO on farm with our members and just trying to get an understanding of what were some of the challenges, what were some of the pinpoints, what were they doing to better themselves in terms of better business people.

you know, not having a strong ag background, I spent the first six months of my time as CEO on farm with our members and just trying to get an understanding of what were some of the challenges, what were some of the pinpoints, what were they doing to better themselves in terms of better business people.

And, you know, it was clear to me that to take the common approach to farming was going to end in a not so good way. And that's a little bit of ironic, right? Normally, you know, do the same things and get the same results. The reality of what's changing so much in farming and what has changed forces you to take a different approach.

And, you know, it was clear to me that to take the common approach to farming was going to end in a not so good way. And that's a little bit of ironic, right? Normally, you know, do the same things and get the same results. The reality of what's changing so much in farming and what has changed forces you to take a different approach.

And, you know, it was clear to me that to take the common approach to farming was going to end in a not so good way. And that's a little bit of ironic, right? Normally, you know, do the same things and get the same results. The reality of what's changing so much in farming and what has changed forces you to take a different approach.

And so I was passionate to change the name of our group to a community of uncommon farms. And the whole premise again behind this is business unusual, not business as usual. So you've got to build that skillset And think about yourself as the CEO of a very dynamic multi-million dollar operation that has all of the challenges that a corporate CEO has and not define yourself truly as just a farmer.

And so I was passionate to change the name of our group to a community of uncommon farms. And the whole premise again behind this is business unusual, not business as usual. So you've got to build that skillset And think about yourself as the CEO of a very dynamic multi-million dollar operation that has all of the challenges that a corporate CEO has and not define yourself truly as just a farmer.

And so I was passionate to change the name of our group to a community of uncommon farms. And the whole premise again behind this is business unusual, not business as usual. So you've got to build that skillset And think about yourself as the CEO of a very dynamic multi-million dollar operation that has all of the challenges that a corporate CEO has and not define yourself truly as just a farmer.

That's right. And so, you know, at our core, we define ourselves as business advisors, growth advisors, and kind of that aggregate, you know, MBA, if you will. And so, Farmers are very good at what they do. And so don't get me wrong, the instincts and the quintessential entrepreneurs and have the entrepreneurial mindset and the innovation mindset, et cetera.

That's right. And so, you know, at our core, we define ourselves as business advisors, growth advisors, and kind of that aggregate, you know, MBA, if you will. And so, Farmers are very good at what they do. And so don't get me wrong, the instincts and the quintessential entrepreneurs and have the entrepreneurial mindset and the innovation mindset, et cetera.

That's right. And so, you know, at our core, we define ourselves as business advisors, growth advisors, and kind of that aggregate, you know, MBA, if you will. And so, Farmers are very good at what they do. And so don't get me wrong, the instincts and the quintessential entrepreneurs and have the entrepreneurial mindset and the innovation mindset, et cetera.

It's how do you round that out and how do you put it into a framework the same way that a corporate CEO would look at their business. So everything from strategic planning, which is what you all started talking about.

It's how do you round that out and how do you put it into a framework the same way that a corporate CEO would look at their business. So everything from strategic planning, which is what you all started talking about.

It's how do you round that out and how do you put it into a framework the same way that a corporate CEO would look at their business. So everything from strategic planning, which is what you all started talking about.

These are family farms that succession planning is always a big piece of this, risk management, financial acumen, leadership, HR and people, and all of those where, yeah, quite frankly, where would they pick up those skills? And you didn't need those soft skills, especially as much as you do today, a generation ago. And most of the farmers have learned, you know,

These are family farms that succession planning is always a big piece of this, risk management, financial acumen, leadership, HR and people, and all of those where, yeah, quite frankly, where would they pick up those skills? And you didn't need those soft skills, especially as much as you do today, a generation ago. And most of the farmers have learned, you know,

These are family farms that succession planning is always a big piece of this, risk management, financial acumen, leadership, HR and people, and all of those where, yeah, quite frankly, where would they pick up those skills? And you didn't need those soft skills, especially as much as you do today, a generation ago. And most of the farmers have learned, you know,

business from the dad or from their uncle um maybe they've got a cohort or some kind of of network around them that they've learned from but for the most part they're doing it through instincts and so what we can introduce is is some framework around that and a guided tour if you will a sherpa tour through that in terms of setting up strategic priorities and plan the work and work the plan