Miscellaneous Musings – National Land Conference Recap, Sustainable Future of Ag, and More

March 17, 2019

Now that our boys are a little older and therefore leave the grandparents slightly less exhausted after a few “sleeps” away from home, it’s been my pleasure to join Luke the last two years at the Realtors® Land Institute’s National Land Conference. We just returned from Albuquerque, New Mexico, home of the 2019 conference which, for those of us who have endured a particularly long Illinois winter, was a welcomed change of climate. While the other land brokers’ wives were pampering themselves at the spa, I was geeking out at the chance to learn from ag industry experts, my pen laboring to keep up with notes about a diverse range topics.

One or both of us participated in sessions or roundtables about industrial hemp, wind power in rural areas, global and political challenges for US agriculture, commodity market implications, the new farm bill, and so much more. We heard from three different economists who made a variety of predictions about commodity prices, interest rates, and the potential for a future recession. Let me tell you – three economists within 48 hours requires a lot of ibuprofen. Staying abreast of the ag market is not for the faint of heart! Our team certainly doesn’t claim to know everything there possibly is to know about ag or to be able to predict the future. But, you can always be confident that we’re constantly pouring knowledge into ourselves so we can continue to serve your growing needs – even if it does make our heads hurt a little.

Particularly of interest to me, and I suspect would be to you, were the sessions about generational differences and what that means for the future of ag. Baby Boomers own the majority of farmland across the country. As the Boomers begin considering retirement or liquidating assets, in some cases, the next generation has not yet fully grasped the legacy they have the opportunity to perpetuate, or what a wise investment land continues to be.

Readers of our newsletter include owner-operators, ag lenders, out-of-state owners across many generations, ag attorneys and everything in between. Obviously, we all have a vested interest in the land. I left the National Land Conference with a renewed passion for all of us to collectively continue to fight for the future of American agriculture. I feel it’s our job to help educate the next generations on the importance of carrying on the legacy of the land. I’m sure you do, too.

I’m not typically the one directly authoring newsletter articles to you (though I do clean up Allan and Luke’s grammar!). I usually stay behind-the-scenes, so you’ve likely not heard directly from my heart what a joy it is to serve you. We don’t take lightly the responsibility you’ve entrusted to us when you choose us to manage your farm, to help you buy or sell land, or to appraise your property – or maybe you’re the one referring folks our way. However it is we’re connected with one another…Thanks. From the bottom of our hearts, we are honored to partner with you in the sustainable future of agriculture! We are in this business FOR YOU and WITH YOU for the long haul, so you can be sure we’re going to do what we can to help advocate with our generation, and the generations to come, about the importance of carrying on the legacy.

Written by Allison Worrell – Director of Business Operations