Local cooperators can lean on FBFM Atkinson’s staff thanks to decades-long relationships and familiar faces
FBFM isn’t just a network of offices helping farmers with their financial management: it’s a group of like-minded professionals working to improve strategic farm management. In each location across Indiana and Illinois, local professionals make recommendations based on their own understanding of the region, the realities of farming, and your specific operation.
In Atkinson, long-lasting relationships, ag knowledge, and frequent face-to-face time power an environment of trust and rapport with cooperators.
Serving parts of Henry, Rock Island, Mercer, and Knox Counties, the Atkinson office is small but impactful. With only two full-time staff (farm business consultant Miriam Mock and office manager Angel Weber), the office still manages to file about 500 tax returns each year.
Mock especially has watched that number grow over the years. She’s been with FBFM since 1998 and has served Henry County her entire career.
“Most of the cooperators have been with us the whole time I’ve been here, and I’ve been with FBFM 28 years,” Mock said. “Usually when we pick up a client, we’re with them for a very long time.”
The agricultural landscape in the region has shifted over that timespan. When Mock started with FBFM, more than half the region’s cooperators raised hogs. But with the pork industry’s consolidation, that number has decreased substantially.Most focus solely on grain.
Inside the Atkinson office, the staff’s ties to the local ag community are strong: Mock and her husband farm part-time, and she’s also on the local Soil & Water Board. Lynette DeSmith, who works part-time to help Atkinson with winter document processing, farms full-time. She’s also been a local 4-H leader for close to 50 years.
Weber also works on her family’s farm, running grain carts and combines. Since Weber often goes out to cooperators’ farms in person throughout the year to help them get documents in order or set up bookkeeping software, that background comes in handy.
“When she speaks to farmers, she can speak their language,” Mock said. “She can have intelligent conversations where the clients are very comfortable and know she’s on the same page as them.”
Building up the next generation
Mock has also been passionate about bringing in local interns. Black Hawk College is nearby, so interns will often come from its work-study program. But local high school students involved with FFA have also joined.
Interns have been able to help the Atkinson office with its workload, especially with simple (but time-consuming) tasks like scanning documents. But the program also gives students real, hands-on experience in the industry.
“We’re trying to give them an opportunity to see the different types of accounting roles,” Mock said. “We do some practice skills, where I create a fake account and have them go through the process.”
Tailoring the work to cooperators’ specific needs
Many of the Atkinson office’s cooperators have been farming for decades. This often means they’re not as active with technology, like Zoom or accounting software. But that doesn’t mean FBFM’s level of service changes. Weber especially takes on the responsibility of traveling to meet in person with older clientele to get their financial data in order, help with software setup, and make sure tax prep is happening year-round. (She also handles payroll duties for farms who outsource that side of the business to FBFM.)
Weber’s hands-on work with cooperators helps ensure their financial data is organized and ready for tax season or other larger strategic plans. For instance, with that aging client base, the Atkinson staff has been working recently on many long-term transition and estate plans.
Summertime on-farm visits are often a great time to start tackling those challenges. Planting is done, tax season hasn’t yet started, and both farmers and field staff can find time in the schedule to sit down at the kitchen table and start hashing out long-term goals and retirement plans.
Over the summer, Mock is usually on farm visits three or four days a week, with each lasting about three hours.
That’s when it’s particularly helpful to have Weber and (Lynette DeSmith) in office. Thanks to their years of experience with FBFM, both are deeply familiar with the clients and workflows. Even if Mock is busy, the rest of the office can step in and assist when the phone rings or someone drops in.
“Miriam’s running all over God’s creation, meeting with everybody and going over their tax plans and estate planning and budgeting,” Weber said. “There will be some who call in with follow-up questions or because they can’t remember something that was discussed, and we can help out.”
Whether it’s during in-person meetings at the farm or just giving the Atkinson office a ring with a quick question, local cooperators know they can rely on the FBFM team. Having the same familiar faces to reach out to for help means that farmers can easily follow Mock’s biggest advice about communication: “If something comes up, don’t wait until January to bring it up,” Mock said. “We’re here to help all year round.”
If you’re looking for year-round support on your farm or just want to say hi to your own regional FBFM team, find your local FBFM office.
