Farmers are Blogging
I have enjoyed doing my blog for about a year now and have now started to see some farmers using a blog to communicate with their landlords, neighbors, bankers and others that might be interested.
Reading the latest issue of Successful Farming, I noted an article on the Martin Family Farms in Logan County, Illinois. The title of the article was “Communication keys their success”. It was a very good article on how communication between parents and children, employer and employee, and tenant and landlord are extremely important to a successful farm operation (or any business).
Doug Martin decided to create a blog to keep his landlords apprised of what is happening on the farm. Many of his landlords are located in very distant states such as California. By using the blog, the Martin’s keep their landlords informed and share what is happening in a real-time efficient manner. “Anything we can do to communicate to our landlords that they are a part of us, helps them feel a part of the operation.” I think like most things in life, landlords would rather be part of a good farm community than simply leasing their land each year to the highest bidder.
I would strongly suggest trying to do a similar blog. I think it would well be worth the effort even if you are not computer savvy.
Here is the Martin Family Farm blog.
Paul Neiffer is a certified public accountant and business advisor specializing in income taxation, accounting services, and succession planning for farmers and agribusiness processors. Paul is a principal with CliftonLarsonAllen in Walla Walla, Washington, as well as a regular speaker at national conferences and contributor at agweb.com. Raised on a farm in central Washington, he has been immersed in the ag industry his entire life, including the last 30 years professionally. Paul and his wife purchase an 180 acre ranch in 2016 and enjoy keeping it full of animals.
Thank you for the link. I’ve been reading your blog for a while long (after finding it on Joe Kristen’s blog) and am always interested in finding more farming blogs that are knowledgeable and update on a fairly regular basis.
I’m also a CPA in Iowa, so it is helpful when you post about various farming tax issues, as we do have a few farm clients and I am always on the lookout for a better understanding of their operations. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that I do wonder about farming for a living from time to time (even though I have no practical experience, nor are any of my relatives farmers).