For Rodney and Cathy Carson of Martinsburg, Bedford County, there was never a question of their life's dream. "We wanted to farm," said Cathy. "Rod always enjoyed farming."

The couple moved to the Morrison's Cove area, rented a farm, saved money and eventually purchased their own farm in 1990. Today, their 107-acre farm includes a 120-head Holstein herd, milked in a parlor, three times a day. Through the years, they've also added a free-stall barn, an alley scraper, a trench for silage and new equipment.

After graduating with a degree in agribusiness management from Penn State in 2011, Jake, the youngest of the Carsons' children, knew he wanted to continue in the family business. "While I earned the degree, Penn State also opened opportunities to travel in the US and even other countries," Jake noted. "I saw different styles of diaries and applied the ideas I liked to our farm."

With the addition of Jake and his wife Kim to the business, Rod said, "We wanted to develop a transition plan and someone recommended Lacey Coleman, an Horizon accounting officer."

"We talked to a lot of people before we met Lacey," explained Jake. "It's a real jungle. There are 1,000 different ways to form an LLC. We needed someone to fill in the blanks."

From the Carsons' LLC research and experience, Jake thinks Horizon meshed both the accounting and legal areas of expertise. "Some folks were strong on the legal aspects of LLCs and forgot about accounting and vice versa. That's where Lacey worked for us, understanding both sides," he said.

"Once we decided on the LLC, it took some time to work through the structure," Cathy explained. "Lacey was very patient with us. She was at the farm a lot to make it happen."

For Lacey, reviewing the farm's financials with both generations was a key first step. "This allowed the entire family to set realistic short- and long-term goals based on financial feasibility. It helped bridge the gap of how and why certain management decisions are made," Lacey said.

Lacey notes that every farm has its own unique set of circumstances and an LLC structure isn't for all businesses. "After taking the time to consider their options and understand the LLC structure, the Carson family made a smooth transition into operating as a family farm entity," she explained. "They are fortunate to have a second generation that loves the farm as much as the first generation."

Since Rock Ridge Dairy LLC was established in 2014, Lacey continues to help the Carson family with any tax consequences or record keeping ramifications associated with their new LLC structure. "Her expertise definitely helped us through it," noted Jake.

Lacey also prepares their monthly records and provides payroll support, tax planning and tax preparation. "Working with the Carson family is an absolute pleasure!" Lacey said.

"We like our relationship with Horizon because everyone has a farm background," said Cathy. "They understand us."

As we prepare to welcome a new group of interns to our team this summer, we are celebrating National Internship Awareness Month. Let’s catch up with a few former interns who joined us as staff members after graduation.

They will share their experiences on their path from intern to employee. Introducing Danielle Ciccolini, who worked with our Susquehanna Valley credit and appraisal teams in 1999.

What have you been up to since your internship?

I interned in the summer of 1999, graduated from Cornell University in December 1999 and began working at Horizon on Jan 3, 2000, which was the official first day for the Horizon association.  I have been an Horizon employee as a credit analyst, portfolio manager, credit leader and credit manager and currently as the field operations manager. 

What was the most beneficial aspect or most important thing you learned during your internship?

The most beneficial aspect for me was observing a new organization forming. I rode with loan officers on field visits but also completed independent appraisal sale study work. (My husband would say it was helpful for me to learn to read a map.)

What did you take away from your intern days?

I built relationships during my internship that helped me move into a full-time role after graduation.

One word to describe my internship experience:

Adventurous

What advice do you have for young adults?

Take each opportunity you get to shadow more experienced folks in the workforce. Many of them are willing to share their contacts and help you start your career.

Rick Allen owns and operates Crabapple Valley Farms, a 78-acre farm. He serves as a director on the Fayette County Holstein Board and co-chair of the Fayette County Fair dairy show committee. We asked Rick a few questions about what inspired him to join Horizon. Check out his answers below, and be sure to say hello at our next event!

One fun fact about your business or career:
I developed an agri-entertainment business in 1980 out of necessity to supplement the dairy farm. Today, the Haunted Hayride is the main enterprise at Allen-Hill Dairy.

Why did you choose to work with Horizon for your financing needs? 
My father was a Farm Credit customer. I never considered another lender. 

Why did you decide to run for the Board of Directors? 
I serve on local and state boards with other agriculture organizations. When the opportunity came to run for the Horizon Board, I wanted to serve. 

How has the Cooperative changed through the years? 
In my 10 years, I witnessed a strong desire and commitment by management to help improve the lives of all Horizon customer-owners.

Advice you’d share with other customer-owners considering running for the nominating committee or a board seat in the future?
Make your intentions to serve known to a nominating committee member in your region. If the committee nominates you, research the history of the Farm Credit System. It is truly amazing how much this cooperative has done in the past 100 plus years!

Horizon has the pleasure of working with a dynamic Board of Directors that helps to provide strategic direction and oversight. Interested in becoming more involved with Horizon?

Dr. David Kohl, Professor Emeritus Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech University

The COVID-19 black swan event has three phases. At first, it was a dirty bird causing mass disruption in economics, businesses, households and personal lives. Then, a nasty, angry bird will rise during the second phase. Countries will point fingers and the blame game will result in disruption of commerce and trade with extreme market volatility. The angry bird will create widespread social, political and economic anguish. The third phase will be the phoenix stage. This is the mythical bird that rises from the ashes of destruction. The phoenix is more powerful, innovative, agile and resilient than before. 

Through these three stages, how can farms and ranches best navigate the white waters, whirlpools, waves and torrents in the wake of this sudden-impact event? 

Get your financials in order and monitor them on a monthly basis. Document your losses if government and financial assistance is received. Compare these losses to the last three years to determine what changes were beyond your control. Maintain good communications with your lender. 

What is your liquidity position and equity depletion rate? Start your analysis by calculating the burn rate on both your working capital and equity. Divide your losses into working capital. Working capital is a measure of financial liquidity calculated by subtracting current liabilities from current assets. To calculate the burn rate on equity, divide your losses into your total equity.  

Before liquidating any assets, conduct an analysis of potential deferred taxes. Deferred taxes on low-basis assets or fully depreciated assets can create tax liabilities. In some cases, the amount of deferred taxes can be burdensome. 

Seek financial and emotional help, if needed. Do not be ashamed. Many individuals and businesses are in a similar situation. 

Finally, good, old-fashioned outside the box thinking with other positive and realistic businesspeople, inside and outside of agriculture, can set the stage to rise stronger and smarter like the powerful phoenix. 

Dr. David Kohl, Professor Emeritus Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech University

A management mindset will be a critical element for success in the decade of the 2020s in agriculture. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated change and created disruptions in markets, consumer trends and how one navigates everyday life. While some will equate the disruption as a negative, others will view it as an opportunity.

For example, let's delve into the mindset of Producer “A” and “B” from the viewpoint of an agricultural lender. Producer A engages the lender and wants to know how their performance compares to others. Producer A seeks out what others are doing, is inquisitive, never quits and is always striving for improvement. This producer has balance and focus on the immediate operations, but also thinks longer-term with an eye on the horizon. They have a “glocal” mentality, meaning that they think globally about the variables that influence their decision-making, but have the ability to filter this information to their specific business and lives.

On the other hand, Producer B has the mindset of hoping to survive another year and wondering if their lender will provide financing. They often expect the lender to fill out the financial statements and have little understanding or motivation to know what the numbers are telling them. Producer B is waiting for commodity prices to save them financially. The “magic silver bullet” or the next big moneymaker is their hope and dream.

Contrast this to Producer A who is very process oriented, proactive and adaptive to the situation as the economic climate changes. Producer A often utilizes an advisory team, which is analogous to assistant coaches for input and perspective in the decision-making process. Producer A takes a proactive approach in preparing the next generation in alignment with their abilities, skills and passions. They believe that transition management is more than asset and equity transfer, but a new management team that often adds energy and foresight. Producer A creates a culture of sweating the small stuff and following the Five Percent Rule, coined by Dr. Danny Klinefelter, Professor Emeritus at Texas A&M. The Five Percent Rule means being 5% better in many areas of the business when compared to peers.

Finally, Producer A finds methods to challenge the status quo to maintain a competitive edge. The 2020s will be a decade of economic and financial divide for those that see disruption as an opportunity, rather than making excuses and not taking responsibility. 

1. Communicate

Begin discussing the future of your farm business now. Get everyone’s goals, objectives, concerns and questions on the table for consideration. Assuming what people are thinking and feeling about the business often leads to misunderstanding and will be detrimental to the whole process.

2. Evaluate

Complete a business evaluation from a financial and production perspective. This evaluation will help identify potential problems in these areas. It is critical to know if the business is earning profits, growing net worth and has the capacity to support another generation of owners and managers.

3. Build a Team

Identify trusted advisors who can provide important advice during the business transition process. Depending on the transition’s level of complexity, several advisors will be helpful to you in identifying and clearing the hurdles you may encounter. These advisors include an attorney, lender, accountant, consultant, financial planner and others who can provide valuable counsel.

It is very difficult for a family or business member to act as the facilitator of the transition team because he/she is busy running the business. Selecting a team leader or facilitator to direct the team is an important consideration.

4. Invest

Expect the process to be an important investment of resources, securing the farm business’s future that you spent a lifetime building. The transition process can take anywhere from six to 18 months to complete. During this time, expect to spend several hours in meetings with advisors, more or less depending on the complexity of your transition.

In addition, there will be some level of financial investment for the services advisors provide. It may take several thousand dollars to complete the transition process. There are financial resources available in some industries to help farm families complete a transition plan. Your advisors may be able to identify and acquire these grants.

5. Get Started

Begin the process by developing a timeline of when you want to complete your initial transition plan. Keep in mind it will take several months. There will be many tasks to complete by the business owners as well as the advisors. Plan meetings when the business is less busy with day-to-day operations. Appoint a team leader to keep the process moving.

Putting these ideas into practice will get you started on the right foot with your farm business transition process, and ensure a properly completed and implemented transition.

Many early 2021 in-person events are transitioned to webinars. Below is your one-stop-shop for all agriculture-related webinars. Check back for updates.

Farming for the Future Webinar Series: Join Horizon Farm Credit for a series of Farming for the Future webinars this winter to position your farm business for future success. Webinars include:

• January 7, 12 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. - What’s Your Business IQ?, Dr. David Kohl
• February 4, 12 p.m. – 1:15 pm. – Shifting Your Mindset and Shaping New Opportunities for the Future, Amanda Radke
• March 4, 12 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. – Weather and Farming: Using Information to Make Decisions, Eric Snodgrass

Learn more and register. 

How to Create a Transition Plan Webinar Series: Join Horizon Farm Credit, Horizon Farm Credit and PA Farm Link for a webinar series on what to consider for a farm transition plan and how to put your plan into action. Webinars include:

• January 11, 11 a.m. – 12 pm. – Introduction to Creating a Succession Plan
• January 25, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. – Analyzing Your Financial Position for Creating a Succession Plan
• February 8, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. – Communicating with Your Family about Transitioning the Farm
• February 22, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. – Questions about the Legal Implications around Transitioning the Farm

Learn more and register. 

2021 Virtual Sustainable Agriculture Conference: Pasa’s annual Sustainable Agriculture Conference is one of the largest gatherings of sustainable farmers, food system professionals and changemakers in the nation. The 2021 virtual conference will be held January 19 through February 5 and feature 90+ sessions with 100+ speakers. Learn more and register. 

2021 Virtual Dairy Summit: The 2021 Pennsylvania Dairy Summit is going virtual! The four-day event, February 8-11 includes a line-up of dynamic speakers, virtual farm tours and other exciting networking opportunities. Learn more and register.

2021 Virtual Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention: The 2021 virtual convention, held February 8-11, will feature three or more concurrent educational sessions each day on a variety of topics. Learn more and register. 

Penn State Extension Webinars and Courses: Penn State Extension offers a wide range of online courses and live webinars. View a listing of educational offerings in your industry sector. 

2021 Keystone Pork Expo, Poultry Progress Day and Horizon Manure Summit: The convention, now held June 23, is moved to Lebanon Valley Expo Center. Guests will enjoy quality educational sessions for pork, poultry, and manure haulers with outstanding keynote speakers. The PennAg Industries Annual Banquet will be held the evening before. Learn more.

Kristina McAllister, regional manager with Horizon, recently discussed the importance of taking care of ourselves and the resources available to help farmers.

Kristina, you grew up on a farm and your husband is a farmer. From your perspective why is it important that farmers take time to care for themselves, especially during this time?
Farming is a stressful job, even in good times, and the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic turmoil have only added to farmers’ stress. Most farmers I know don’t take time for themselves. There always seems to be field work to do, animals to care for and equipment to fix!

Squeezing in a bit of time for rest and relaxation away from the busyness and chaos is essential to help us be our best for our families, employees and businesses. With a refreshed mind, it allows us to better tackle the day’s challenges and react to situations, even those outside of our control, with a clear plan.

We all need to do a better job asking for help when we need it. Instead of piling more on ourselves, we need to be comfortable leaning on others when we need a helping hand or a listening ear.

What resources are available through Horizon to help customers in this area?
Horizon has several resources to help our customers manage stress and seek help. 

One new benefit we are pleased to offer is access to our Member Assistance Program (MAP). MAP is a confidential and free counseling service for Horizon customers and their family members. Help is available 24/7, 365 through a specific phone number. When customers and their family members call the MAP, a licensed, experienced clinician conducts a counseling session and assessment over the phone. Members and family members may opt for a video counseling session as an alternative. Reasons to use the MAP include concerns related to marriage, parenting, stress, depression, work, alcohol, drug use, abuse and grief or as a preventative measure. Online resources are also available for legal services, financial services, seminars, relocation center and a searchable database for providers.

Another new resource from Farm Credit, launched in the last couple of weeks, is a free, online farm stress management course. This course is offered through a partnership between Farm Credit, American Farm Bureau Federation, National Farmers Union, Michigan State University Extension and University of Illinois Extension. It is open public and helps farmers develop the skills to learn how to manage their own stress and support their friends and neighbors.

Are there any other thoughts you'd like to share with our listeners today?
We know that farming is a 24/7 job, 365 days a year. Farmers work hard every day to take care of their families and businesses. I encourage farmers to take advantage of these resources available, and don’t be ashamed to take some time off and take care of yourself.

Are you young and beginning in your career? Whether you’re a first generation dairyman, farming in the evening after your day job, or working as an Horizon loan officer – here are some tips to help you be successful!

Find a mentor.

A mentor serves as a trusted advisor. Someone who you can bounce new ideas off of and share your struggles with, and who is invested in seeing you succeed. Your mentor can be a family member, an individual from your community, an industry professional or a business partner. Many times you develop a personal relationship with your mentor but it’s important to maintain a certain level of professionalism – that way he/she can give you or your business a “kick in the butt” if necessary.

Ask for help.

It’s not feasible to be good at everything, let alone have time for everything (even though I try), so don’t be afraid to ask for help. Some of the most successful business owners I know are excellent delegators – they are good at asking for help; especially when they are facing challenges in their businesses. Use your resources. There are an abundance of industry experts available to help your business grow in areas you see potential.

Try something new.

You learn something new every day – if you want to. It’s easy to practice the model, “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” but in order to grow and improve your business or advance your career, it’s necessary to embrace new ideas and try new things, even if it means stepping out of your comfort zone. Take advantage of educational opportunities presented to you. Go on a farm tour, enroll in a class or watch a webinar. Learn from your peers. Absorb everything you can. And most important: don’t forget to share your ideas and experiences to help someone else learn as well.

Assess your progress.

Take time to reflect and analyze yourself and/or your business. Most importantly, celebrate your successes! Set goals and recognize when you achieve milestones. Next, look for areas that could use improvement. Great managers are always striving to be better.

Don’t work too hard.

It’s easy to work, work and then work some more. Especially when you’re just starting a business or are invested in a career you are passionate about. It’s important to have a work-life balance. A little time away from your “desk” will help keep you fresh-minded and energized about your work. Your friends and family will probably enjoy spending time with you, too.

Horizon Farm Credit is invested in helping young and/or beginning farmers succeed! Contact your loan officer or local branch office for more information about educational opportunities and young or beginning and small farmer programs.

The agricultural industry has faced many challenges during the global pandemic including uncertainty of markets, volatile prices and even the health and well being of our families and employees.

Gary Heckman shared his perspectives on how to maintain a positive mindset, especially during times of uncertainty.

You have a long career of working in the agricultural industry. What have you found over the years about why maintaining a positive outlook is important for farm businesses and their families?
I’ve been serving the ag sector for more than 40 years and have met and worked with many farms and farm families. I’ve observed a lot of things during that time. All farms have common uncontrollable things they deal with daily – commodity prices, prices paid for their inputs and weather. At the same time, all of them also have many controllable aspects of their farm businesses. That might be their crop management, how they manage their labor, risk management programs they put in place, business strategies, etc. Some farms struggle with how to deal with all these decisions. Others don’t. So, the big question is, what's the difference? Those that have appeared to struggle less take a more positive outlook in how they deal with these things. And by taking that positive outlook they feel in control, they feel more confident, they have a plan and they expected results, and usually they get better results.

I enjoy quotes, and over the years, a few really impacted my life. One of those quotes is, "You become what you think about."

To me, this quote means that the more you concentrate on something in your mind, the more apt you are to achieve that. If you have negative thoughts or you have a negative outlook, you're likely to have negative results. If you have positive thoughts and consider your success, you're likely to have positive results. Farms with a positive mindset seem to struggle less and have a vision of where they want to go and what they need to do to get there.

What strategies do you use or have you seen others use to help stay positive?
There are three strategies that stand out in my mind that I believe can help anybody be more positive and as a result be more successful. 

First, it starts with being thankful and sharing gratitude every day. Hank Wagner, a dairy producer from Wisconsin, was a speaker at the 2009 Pennsylvania Dairy Summit. 2009 was a very difficult year for the dairy industry. Hank shared things that he was doing for himself, his family and his workforce to keep them more positive and get thing accomplished. One strategy he used with his team was asking family members and employees to start each day by thinking of three things that they're thankful for. By doing that, having those positive thoughts on your mind right out of the gate, a sense of accomplishment, a sense of fulfillment, it does help to keep you on a positive track. That’s been a strategy I now use. I try to identify three things in the first hour of each day and that way they can have an impact on me for the full day.

Second, everybody knows that things will go wrong. And when this happens, it's often pretty easy for us to point our finger at something and blame that individual or that situation. So to have a positive outlook on things, I think first in these situations we need to look at ourselves and look at what might we have done differently that would have produced a different outcome? Rather than us just blaming someone else, let's reflect back on ourselves and say, "What if I would've done this?" or, "What if I would've done that? Could that have had a difference?" By practicing this, it helps us learn how we might have a more positive influence, if that situation arrives in the future.

The third strategy is surrounding yourself with positive people. This is one of the criteria that's high on my list whenever I meet someone new. If they're good old negative Nellies, that's probably the last time I'm going to spend time with them. Ask the people who come onto your farm to bring positivity and good ideas. You don't need other people dragging you down. Over the years I've been on many farms, calling on farmers. And I really appreciated when the farmer says to me, "I'm glad you stopped by today. I needed a little boost." To me, it was just a sign of the impact that we can have by being positive ourselves, but also by having others around us that are positive.

Are there any other thoughts you'd like to share with our listeners here today?
Everyone goes through ups and downs during their lifetime. It could be a personal relationship, some family dynamics, maybe financial circumstances, health situations, other outside influences or many other things. And what I've observed and experienced is that the quality of your life is directly related to how you handle those ups and downs, how we take charge.

Today, we're in uncertain times once again. Remember that you have more influence over the outcome than you realize. Think about the outcome that you want out of a situation and concentrate on it. You're likely to achieve it as you set that new path forward. Concentrate on what you're thankful for, share your gratitude to have other positive influences on your family, coworkers and other friends. Lastly, have faith in your ability to handle the challenges. It's amazing what we can accomplish when we put our minds to it.