News

Ag Consultants assist with professional development

In the spirit of the Summer Games, the president of the American Society of Agricultural Consultants says you can’t make it to the Olympics without a good coach.

Erin Pirro tells Brownfield the current downturn in the farm economy is leading many who work in ag to seek professional development.

“When you want to make a change and you want to make it efficiently, it really helps to have that outside expertise from someone who’s not tied to the way you’ve always done things.  Someone who can look at a situation objectively and say ‘what if you did this?”

Pirro says the non-profit was founded more than 50 years ago and is made up of people with diverse backgrounds looking to help their peers in agribusiness.

“There are a few (members) that focus on financial management and profitability consulting.  Folks that work on family business issues, whether it’s general business planning or succession and estate planning.  We’ve got agronomists, folks that specialize in wineries, we’ve got an organic inspector.”

On its website the society says its purpose is to foster the science of agricultural consulting in all its varied fields.