What is Adding Value?
Stories and articles about thoughts and lessons building a farm-based business.
Where can I subscribe to Adding Value: The Podcast?
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify Podcasts
Stitcher
Why Should I Read What You Have to Write?
Well, you can start at the beginning to get the general gist of it. I grew up in the suburbs and urban centers of the Rust Belt. Now I own a 120-acre farm with my wife.
She’s the farmer (and lawyer). She grew up on a farm (the farm we purchased to be even more precise). She knows things like how to drive a tractor, how to milk a cow, how to weld stuff, and what to look for when walking a fence line. She has degrees that are useful on a farm like genetics and dairy science. If you want a happy, successful, flock of sheep (or cows or chickens), she’s the person you want.
What do I bring to this operation?
Really, It’s Just the Ol’ City-Boy Out of Water Story?
No. Adding Value is not actually about me being from the city and now on the farm; if you want that story, go watch the only story in the genre that matters. But, this is the most complicated business I’ve built, and I thought my lessons learned might useful for the next person to come along that wants to try the same thing.
Who Are You Really?
Hi, I’m Jeff. I am a Clinical Associate Professor for the University of Wisconsin’s Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic (that’s a mouthful!). At the Clinic (amongst other things) I started and managed our Rural Entrepreneurship Project and work with tons of agriculture and food and beverage businesses (plus the other clients that we work with, of course). FYI: we provide free legal services for startups throughout the state of Wisconsin if free lawyers might be something relevant to you.
I am also a (part-time) attorney at the law firm of Ogden Glazer + Shaefer where I work with numerous clients in agriculture, food, and beverage from farms to breweries to wholesalers to restaurants.
I’ve started numerous businesses. I’ve worked in a lot of places doing a lot of different things. I was a software developer for multiple Fortune 500 companies before I was a lawyer.
I have a wife, one dog, and one cat. I have a BBA, an MBA, and a JD. Now, I have a 120-acre farm in Southwestern Wisconsin.
You can find out more about me at LinkedIN.
What Can I Expect for Content?
You can expect everything from generalized complaints about not knowing what I’m doing to deep dives on the supply chain of getting Icelandic sheep wool to market. Sitting here today writing this in late July of 2021, I know a little bit from the basic research that I’ve started. But, I’m hoping to write as I learn and impart those lessons.
One of the things I’ve started to learn is that there aren’t actually a whole lot of resources for people starting farm-based businesses. The audience is actually more diverse than you might expect: farmers who are looking for ways to save or keep a small farm operating but don’t have a business background, to business people who have no idea how to run a farm to regular manufacturers who have no idea how the raw materials got to their loading dock to consumers just curious about how all of this works.
Ultimately, even the specifics of farming won’t be terribly relevant here. The greater point is to explore starting a business in value-added agriculture. It is critical to us that we build this business in a way that respects the land, is responsible about protecting our climate, builds a healthy community, and still turns a profit. This is a tall order, and I’m hoping to shed some light on how we accomplished the feat (assuming we do!)
Value-Added Agriculture?
I’m sure eventually I will do a deeper dive on what Value-Added Agriculture means. But, in the meantime, and for our purposes, we can say that farms are the basis of a wide range of consumer products - from basic produce to finished products like sweaters. Growing basic raw materials is what we call farming - carrots, sheep, cows, trees, whatever. Then something (generally) has to happen to the raw material (the carrot, sheep, trees) to make the finished product like baby food, sweaters, and paper. We call that Value-Added Production. When the same person that grows it also does some portion of the processing, either on-farm or off, we call that Value-Added Agriculture.
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