It is January 1st, 2023. Although this occasion is less of an excuse for over-the-top celebration than it used to be, it is still the best season for taking inventory and measuring progress. 

December is the first month after harvest and the last month of our fiscal year. For a crop enterprise, the ideal time to measure your financial progress is when there is no crop in the field, minimal inputs are applied to the land, and grain inventory is known. It is also when we make tax plans and close the books on the last twelve months.

The narrative of '22 has been written and becomes another chapter in the history of our company. With 1981 as year one, 2022 is the forty second chapter. This is a large enough sample size to reveal several truths.      

Progress is not straight up. As I think back to the half dozen low points that most challenged my personal and financial stamina, despite a bleak fundamental outlook during those episodes, confidence in historical probabilities and our way of doing things was rewarded.

We correctly anticipated (guessed) the direction of change. A quote from Wayne Gretzky, considered the greatest hockey player of all time, as he explained his ability to score, comes to mind. "Skate to where the puck is going, not to where it's at." 

Just say yes. In general, risk has been rewarded. There have been times in history when the most successful strategy would have been to fold your cards and quit the game. If you are a farmer, think 1930 and 1980. However, as a peer and I discussed this summer over a beer at a celebration of life gathering, since the mid 80's, you would have done very well by saying yes to nearly every opportunity available. The only caveat being you need to have enough humility to stay within your area of expertise.

The point is the last forty years have been an exceptionally rewarding era to be engaged in the ag industry in this country. Being born the second son to Deo and Joan Koenigs in Mitchell County Iowa on 10/23/58 was the most influential variable in determining the course of my life. I was dealt a very good hand.

In summary, '22 was one of the high points in our company's history. Plans for '23 are to stay humble and hungry.

Hopefully your annual quality of life assessment leaves you filled with gratitude as well. 

Jim