By Marlee Jackson

At Autauga Farming Co., slips of paper highlighting the farm’s mission rest between a wooden conference table and its glass top.

Implemented just a few years ago, Andy Wendland said the simple concept keeps the farm’s values top-of-mind for their seasonal labor force.

“I took this idea from a peer group,” Wendland said.

He made the remark to farmers from seven other states who visited his family’s Autaugaville operation in December — the newest peer group he and sons Drew and Dan joined to improve their executive-minded approach to farming. 

Improved communication and strategic goal setting are hallmarks of the groups, said peer group organizer Chris Barron.

“You have to think about (your operation) like a business,” he said. “You just happen to farm.”

Through his Iowa-based Ag View Solutions, Barron intentionally constructs peer groups comprised of farmers with similar backgrounds. Common denominators often include farm size, diversification and structure. 

The Wendlands’ group is mostly row crop farms, though one dairy is included for additional perspective. They span from Maryland and Montana to Iowa and sweet home Alabama.

The geographic diversity is deliberate, Barron said.

“You can get more into the details of your business when you talk with someone who isn’t your competitor, someone across the country,” he said.

Brothers Terry and Chris Patterson journeyed from north-central Iowa to Alabama for the group’s first in-person meeting. It’s their second peer group — an investment of time, finances and emotion that’s prompted real change in their corn and soybean farm.

Barron said 95% of participants commit to another group after their first four-year intensive wraps up.

“Chris Barron has changed our operation,” Terry said. “He digs deep and can see things from the outside.”

His brother added, “I knew we needed help. I just didn’t know how to get there.”

Over the course of four years, the peer group will visit each member’s farm. In addition to a farm tour, they conduct in-depth interviews with the host farm’s team, from lenders and laborers to farm partners.

They parse through each element of the farm; ask deep, sometimes-uncomfortable questions; and conduct a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis that’s then presented to the hosts at the end of Day 2.

The interview process is daunting — and impactful.

“It’s draining, and it’s emotional,” Chris Patterson said. “Families are tough. That’s why you’re going there, but all members of your team have to be willing to accept change.”

The brothers said their first group encouraged them to improve communication, impartially analyze their farm, collaborate with others and, importantly, craft a succession plan.

Before that peer group, estate planning was one of the Pattersons’ pressing problems. None of their combined eight children are returning to the family farm, having found success in other fields.

“Finally, we’re in the process of working on our transition,” Terry said. “We have the infrastructure in place. We just need the person.”

Feedback from that first group encouraged the Pattersons to invest again in professional development. 

During their visit to central Alabama, the brothers and fellow group members unfamiliar with agriculture in the Deep South peppered the Wendlands with questions. They picked up practical farm tips, plus easily implemented concepts — such as posting visible mission, vision and value statements. 

“We learn from everyone here every day we are here,” Chris Patterson said. “The things we take home provide value to our homes even before we host. We were strangers when we started. These people will be lifelong friends when we’re done.”