How a mix of diverse backgrounds and a focus on education helps FBFM Bloomington better serve their farmer cooperators
FBFM isn’t just a network of offices helping farmers with their financial 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.
Centrally located FBFM Bloomington serves as a hub: both for internal training for other FBFM offices, and to serve farmers in the largest county (by landmass) in Illinois.
To do that, they use a diverse mix of agricultural backgrounds, a team approach, and a core focus on education.
Covering all the bases with well-rounded backgrounds
At some point in their careers, FBFM Bloomington’s team of five Farm Business Consultants has touched nearly every piece of the larger ag ecosystem.
Erik Halberg went to school for agribusiness economics and crop science, then worked at a grain elevator. Gabe Taylor is a farmer himself. Jack Rich worked as a credit analyst for a bank and also farms. Brandon Tate also spent time in the banking world, in addition to being an ag teacher. Joe Yaros was an IRS agent for 14 years before coming to FBFM.
This mix of experiences has created a well-rounded team that can offer the region’s farmers unique, specialized expertise. Whether a farmer has a question about a specific piece of tax code, needs advice for what financial information to present to a loan officer, or is curious about how commodity prices impact their transition plans, someone at FBFM Bloomington will be able to draw from personal experience for the answer.
That diversity of backgrounds helps clients, of course. But it’s been helpful within the office too. As the Bloomington team makes their way through on-farm summer visits throughout the community, they like to come back to the office and discuss with one another what they’ve been seeing. Are there any common issues? What are the frequently asked questions? Is there anything unusual coming up for a farmer that another staff member has dealt with before?
“I don’t care if you’ve been here 20 years, there will always be things in the tax code or things that come up that you haven’t seen before,” Yaros said. “So it’s nice to be able to come back and have those conversations with your coworkers.”
“There’s never a normal tax season,” Halberg added. “There’s always something.”
This flexibility and expertise from the Bloomington team also serves other FBFM offices. Since they have a bigger crew of Farm Business Consultants, and since they’re so centrally located, the Bloomington team is sometimes deployed to other offices when there’s been turnover and they need an extra hand.
FBFM Bloomington as an educational hub
Bloomington’s central location also means it’s an easy spot for statewide FBFM employees to congregate for meetings or internal trainings. Many of the Bloomington staff have helped out with those statewide trainings, which help educate employees on transition planning, client communication, or other topics.
This focus on education extends beyond just FBFM staff, though. Like other FBFM locations, the Bloomington group wants education to be the foundation of their relationships with local farmers.
They don’t just want to be the end-all authority, handing out instructions or decisions. They want to help educate cooperators so they’re fully informed about what’s going on financially with their operation.
“We’re a team, and I want you to understand the business side of your farm,” Yaros said. “I want to be able to express things to you and you understand it, and then we make the decision together.”
One critical tool for making those decisions is the in-depth analysis reports FBFM provides. Benchmarking analysis can help farmers compare their numbers with those of similar operations, and long-term financial projections can help them zoom out of the day-to-day and understand the big picture.
“I want them to have a good finger on the pulse of their operation,” Halberg said. “Our analysis packet is our bread and butter and what sets us apart. I love going through those reports with my clients because I can show them, ‘Here’s your gross crop returns per acre. Here are your crop inputs per acre: fertilizer, chemical, seed.’ I can show them comparatively what they’re doing well, where they can improve, and I can show them their financial trends.”
Leaning on client education makes for more informed decision-making, more financial literacy, and overall stronger farming operations in the community.
But watching a concept click for a cooperator can also be a boost for the FBFM staff. Seeing a client talk about depreciation deductions or long-term strategy for loan payments, for example, means that the FBFM team has done something right. The more that farmers understand the big picture of their operation and the more that they incorporate that understanding into their decision-making, the stronger their farms will be.
“I love meeting with clients and doing a tax plan or going through the analysis, and then they go, ‘Oh, I never thought of it that way,’ or ‘Oh, I didn’t realize what was going on,’” Halberg said. “It’s really rewarding, because this is their livelihood. We’re here to guide them in a good direction, and it’s rewarding when they say, ‘I’m grateful you helped me with this.’”
If you’re curious about how to build a more financially sustainable operation and need a little support from the experts, find your local FBFM office.
