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Consolidating farms to maintain family business

A strategic alliance has helped one group of farmers survive tighter times. 

Rick Fruth is a partner with New Vision Farms which is a 7,500-acre crop farm in Northwest Ohio managed by a collaborative group of farmers.

“I saw an industry consolidating around me, didn’t want to go out and try to bid land away from my neighbors and friends, and decided a better path was to find key neighbors and friends and collaborate with them.”

He says the partnership evolved from trading services and equipment to formally partnering and creating a board of directors among themselves to manage the business. “We still consider ourselves a family farm, we’re just three different families.”   

He says the farm also tries to stay away from general commodities and grows popcorn, soybeans for seed and export, fresh green beans and hard red wheat to maintain its competitiveness.

AUDIO: Brownfield interview with Rick Fruth during the Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference in Frankenmuth, Michigan.