Description
For this episode of the Truth About Ag podcast, co-hosts Evan Shout and Kristjan Hebert sit down with Dick Wittman, farm management consultant, educator, and longtime faculty member of Texas A&M's Executive Program for Agricultural Producers (TEPAP).
The conversation takes a hard look at an uncomfortable trend: using a proficiency checklist tracked over 25+ years, Wittman reveals that farm operators, even massive, sophisticated operations doing hundreds of millions in sales, are scoring worse on basic management fundamentals today than they were two decades ago. We talk through why: gaps in agricultural education, a generation that hasn't been tested by a truly bad year, and an industry-wide habit of avoiding the "boardroom conversations" around budgets, job descriptions, and strategic planning until a crisis forces the issue.
But this isn't just a story about what's going wrong; it's about the fixes. We cover succession planning as a daily discipline rather than a one-time event, hiring outside your family, the generational shift bringing more non-owner managers into leadership roles, and why building SOPs and a culture people actually want to work for matters more than ever. If you've ever wondered whether your farm would pass its own report card, this episode might change how you grade yourself.
The Truth About Ag podcast is hosted by Evan Shout and Kristjan Hebert of Farmer Coach and Hebert Grain Ventures. Each episode aims to bring you closer to the heartbeat of agriculture through candid conversations and honest discussions.
Website: https://www.realagriculture.com/
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