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Grand Rapids, MI | OK...I guess I don't get it.....
For starters, I don't agree with the premise of the first post that "Everything is rosy according to Top Producer Magazine" I actually thought Top Producer did a reasonable job with the article. Certainly Rich Killiam's comments provide some balance that not everything is rosy. Of course the Family Farms folks will present it that way. I would expect almost everyone interviewed wants to paint their business in a positive light.
And FYI...yes ILFF is not the same as Family Farms. ILFF is one member of the Family Farms system, along with other farms.
Now I see several posters who wish to cancel thier subscription to Top Producer because of this article....Why? I don't get it. I didn't see anyone posting in the thread where the hate was being piled on ILFF that they were going to stop reading AgTalk. Is it just that some people only want to hear negative things about this group?
IHMO these types of systems are going to play a big role in the future in crop production. Given the market power on the supplier and customer sides of most crop farms today, I truly believe that farmers need to find ways to work together if we hope to be well rewarded for our input of time and treasure. Alan Lash, Harold Birch, and Leroy Jones are all very smart people that are well connected in the industry, and I give them kudos for taking a bold step. That being said, don't take this to mean that I agree 100% with the Family Farms model. I do know a fair amount about thier model, and think much of what they are trying to do is on the right track. I am not sure, however, that I agree with thier implementation. From the article it sounds like there are others who agree.
Sooo....what I don't get is why many people are much more interested in piling on hate, and hearing stories of failure from this group, than to study them carefully and take away what you can learn. Granted the article doesn't have a lot of detailed information, but to be frank the writer got more than I expected.
Now realize that I am a hard core business/econ guy, but this is exactly the type of article I would like to see if I didn't know much about this group. If I view them as competition, I want to know as much about them as possible. If I was looking to join a system like this, it's good to know what my options might be. IMHO this type of reporting provides much more value than another article about how someone turned an old combine into a (grain cart, sprayer, insert other readily available tool here) | |
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Top Producer Came Today IFF Again
