OFI 201: The Other Pivot In Agriculture | Why Businesses That Survive Are The Businesses That Change

SHOW NOTES

KEY POINTS: 

In agriculture when we hear the word pivot we usually think of 120-400 acres of irrigated ground.  An automated sprinkler system that is self-driven, applying a precise amount of water to a crop or pasture.

If you are a small business owner that services agriculture you need to know about another pivot.  This is the catch phrase used by so many in the business “start up” community.  To “pivot” means to change direction in your business to adapt to changing market conditions, new technology or new information and ideas that you can only obtain after you have started your business and got in the game.

Those of us in agriculture are pretty practical people.  Most business information is written for those who work in the city, work online and don’t get their hands dirty.  The truth is farmers and those who serve farmers have been “pivoting” for years.  We just called it “common sense”.  When things changed it was pretty apparent that we needed to change with them.

There is value for us in the world of “start ups” and “online businesses” if we can translate the information these entrepreneurs are writing about back to agriculture.  Never has there been more information available for free to help us with our businesses.  It is just that it all pertains to business that has virtually nothing to do with agriculture.

The industry that invented this definition of the word “pivot” has a philosophy of giving away a lot of valuable information before ever asking anyone to pay them for their expertise.  Gary Vaynerchuk’s book Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World is a perfect example of this.  The jabs are giving away valuable information for free, and the right hook is finally selling a product.

The information in this book and many other blogs, podcasts, videos and websites is very useful to any entrepreneur.  Even those of us in agriculture.  The trick is taking the concepts provided here and translating them back to an agricultural application.  It is all out there waiting for you.

“Pivoting” is just one of these concepts.  But it is an important lesson to learn.  Farmers and ranchers can get pretty set in their ways.  And most of us with businesses that service agriculture come from the same roots and can be the same way.

Technologies change, markets change and maybe our first idea was not the best idea.  We have to be ready to change our business models and adapt.  Otherwise we can become irrelevant or worse yet, extinct.

As an example, think of the business of being a custom applicator for pesticides.  For years timing and precision application were the game.  Putting a band of herbicide right next to a row of corn but never touching the corn so you could control weeds as best as possible without harming the corn plant.

Then along comes genetically modified corn that is not harmed by glyphosate.  The custom applicator hits a pivot point because of this technological advancement.  Now that farmers can broadcast Roundup over their entire crop and not harm it, does the custom applicator’s value shrink?  From the standpoint of having specialized equipment and expertise for banded applications of herbicide it sure does.

Then Mother Nature gets in the game and weeds that are resistant to glyphosate start to emerge.  Round Up is not as effective as it once was.  Time to pivot again.

Agriculture is always changing as farmers, researchers and private industry look for ways to improve output.  Those of us that service this industry need to be ready to change with it.  As a business owner you cannot afford to hang on to the “way we’ve always done it” for tradition’s sake.  Adaptation or extinction, it’s you choice.

Is your business prepared to make changes to stay relevant in the market place?

Links To Articles:

Forbes Article: LINK

Purdue Extension Article: LINK

MIT Article: LINK

INC Article: LINK 

Books About The Concept Of Pivoting In Life And Business:

LISTEN TO US ON SATELLITE RADIO! WE ARE CONTRIBUTORS TO “FFA TODAY” ON RURAL RADIO SIRIUS XM CHANNEL 147!

“FFA Today” airs on Rural Radio Sirius XM Channel 147 Saturdays at 7:30 AM Eastern and Sundays at 6:30 PM Eastern. Please let RURAL RADIO know that you like hearing us on their channel!  Here is how to contact them and leave feedback: Email: zacht@rfdtv.com Website:  RuralRadio147.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/RURALRADIO147