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Expanded Itinerary
8:45 am - 9:00 am | Check-In
Ginger's Top Shelf will be catering homemade cinnamon rolls and coffee to start the day off right!
9:00 am - 9:15 am | Introduction
First Security employees explain why we're gathering and introduce staff.
9:15 am - 10:45 am | Perfect Storm Brewing in Farm Succession
There is a perfect storm brewing in agriculture and specifically farm transition. The age of the land owner is increasing at a time when there are fewer producers entering production agriculture.
With fewer producers, aging ownership, and escalating land values, the need has never been greater for a well thought out and communicated transition plan.
Steve Bohr of Farm Financial Strategies, Inc. and columnist for the Iowa Farmer Today will discuss the issues and options needed to prepare a family for a transition that could influence your family and community for generations.
10:45 am - 11:00 am | Break
11:00 am - 12:30 pm | From Challenges to Confidence: Mastering the Business of Farming
There are new challenges that each year brings to farming—whether it’s changing input costs, new equipment, or fluctuating commodity prices. However, year after year, the business side of farming presents more knowns than unknowns. Join Lance Ibeling of Hurley and Associates as he discusses how implementing a multiyear marketing plan and utilizing the right tools can better position farmers to achieve goals and minimize the stress that uncertainty brings.
12:30 pm - 1:00 PM | Lunch
Ginger's Top Shelf prepares a restaurant favorite - double smash burger topped with onion rings, bacon, cheese, and homemade cheese sauce with bourbon buffalo sauce on the side. Sandwiches will be served with homemade macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, a cookie, and water or lemonade for a drink.
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm | Striking a Balance Between Challenges and Opportunities for Iowa Farms
A new year and a new administration bring both uncertainty and opportunity for US agriculture. From the Trump agenda to voluntary carbon markets, 2025 will bring a mixture of influences on a struggling US farm economy. All is not lost, however. Peter Meyer of Muddy Boots Ag brings his pragmatic style to Charles City for an interactive conversation where he will lay out what to watch for in the coming crop year and beyond.
2:30 pm - 3:00 pm | Questions and Conclusion
Speaker Information
Steve Bohr, Farm Financial Strategies
Steve began his 32-year financial services career immediately upon graduation from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1992.
Born and raised on his families’ farm in nearby Wellman, Iowa, his heritage was deeply engaged in agriculture. In 1993, Steve founded Farm Financial Strategies, Inc. (FFS), a program to offer strategies to preserve the family farm.
Today FFS has 13 associates and does business in 7 Midwestern states and Arizona. While saving estate shrinkage was the original mission, keeping countless numbers of farms in the rural community has been the driving force behind day-to-day operations.
Steve is a founding partner in a firm called Next Gen Ag Advocates, Ltd. Where FFS is positioned to transition operating farms within the family, Next Gen’s mission is to match inheriting or retiring landowners with a local producer to operate the farm when there is not a next generation to farm in their own family.
He currently writes a popular column on farm transition and succession strategies in the Iowa Farmer Today, Illinois Farmer Today, and Missouri Farmer Today publications.
Steve is active at his church and owns and operates his family farm in southeast Iowa. He is married to his college sweetheart, Jennifer. They are the proud parents of Brody (age 26) and twins Baxter and Ayva (age 22).
Lance Ibeling, Hurley and Associates
Lance Ibeling serves as a Farm Marketing Consultant with Hurley and Associates in Grundy Center, IA. He resides in Parkersburg with his wife, Lindy, and their three daughters. Originally from Ackley, Lance remains actively involved in his family’s farming operation. He is dedicated to helping farmers create and implement customized marketing plans and educating them on tools and strategies to achieve their operational goals.
Peter Meyer, Muddy Boots Ag
Peter Meyer is a Principal/Crops Economist with Muddy Boots Ag LLC. Mr. Meyer’s career spans almost 40 years in agriculture, having traded grains and oilseeds as a broker and proprietarily on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade before holding the position of Agricultural Products Specialist at both Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan. Before forming Muddy Boots Ag, he spent 12 years as the Head of Grains, Oilseeds and Advanced Feedstocks Analytics at S&P Global. Mr. Meyer is currently a partner with both Regenerative Roots Solutions LLC, a firm focused on the promotion of sustainable farming practices, and JC Commodities LLC, a registered futures broker.
Known for his hands-on, pragmatic style, Peter provides unbiased analysis of agricultural markets to end users, producers, and investment firms throughout the world. His 2020 expansion into advanced feedstocks analysis has made him a go-to source of information for energy companies in the ethanol, renewable diesel, and sustainable aviation fuels business. Pete also lends his opinions on the broader agriculture economy to major US universities and annually participates as a scout on crop tours, logging over ten thousand miles yearly in crop inspections.