客户特征:Aaron & 塔拉·海尔米克(亚拿突畜牧)

Aaron and Tara Helmick run a diversified livestock operation with their four young children called Anathoth Livestock LLC in the beautiful Hans Creek Valley of West Virginia. 亚伦和塔拉都有农业背景, 尽管他们白手起家建立了这个企业. 它最初是一个奶牛场，后来他们转变为绵羊和肉牛. 

Aaron and Tara Helmick were married in 2009 and shortly after, decided to start a farm of their own. 他们开始寻找房产，并通过一个做推广代理的朋友, 在格林维尔找到了一个农场, 符合要求的租金是多少. 经过18个月的规划, 制定租赁协议，安排融资事宜, 3月13日，赫尔米克夫妇终于挤到了他们的第一头奶牛, 2010. They ran their grass-based seasonal dairy, which expanded three times, until January of 2020. 亚伦和塔拉离开奶牛场有几个原因, 虽然主要是由于劳动和生活方式. 随着规模的扩大，奶牛场越来越难以单靠他们两个人管理. The conversion to an organic dairy required more time in recordkeeping and removed the seasonality of their program. The Helmicks were running at a level of “unsustainable effort” and decided that transitioning the farm to a different commodity focus would allow them to spend more time with their growing family. 

关于 600 短毛羊 (more at times) comprise the core of the Helmicks’ current operation, 虽然他们也有一小群毛羊, 一家饲养羊肉和肉牛的企业. They transitioned to an operation consisting of predominantly sheep for two main reasons: lifestyle and income. Sheep could compete with the dairy income they had previously on the same land base (fewer overhead costs and higher margins) and they knew they wanted their young children to be involved with the farm so 牛肉 were a little too big and dangerous for their kids at that point. They also didn’t quite have the borrowing capacity to build the beef herd to the level they’d need to maintain their income level with the amount of land they had. The 牛肉 component of the Helmicks’ operation today is done through sell/buy marketing. 他们买被低估的，卖被高估的, 这是在相对较短的时间内完成的, 为了保持低管理费用. 他们还为该地区的其他农民提供承包放牧的机会. 

亚伦和塔拉同意, 手了, that the most rewarding aspect of their business is that they are able to work with their family. 他们在家教育四个孩子, 所以他们积极参与行动, 只要他们有能力. “我们想要一个家庭可以参与其中的企业, 事实证明，这对我们来说是一个很好的决定,塔拉分享道。. She continued, “Our children are with us every day and they learn a lot from being there. 另外，我们可以和他们一起度过别人不得不放弃的美好时光.” They joked that the children are very willing to go to Grandma’s house sometimes, 离开农场休息一下. “他们工作很努力，但他们很有能力. 他们能做的事情令人惊讶，”亚伦说. 

因为他们承诺要和家人一起工作, the Helmicks are very motivated to keep improving their farm to ensure it can support their family. “农场必须支付可持续的费用, comparable income to what we could make from off-farm jobs with our education and experience levels,塔拉分享道。, “我们每年都会查看我们的盈利能力，并分析我们可以做些什么, 这是值得的，我们每年都要做一次选择, 让农场运转起来.” 

就建立遗产而言, Helmicks夫妇认为遗产是他们的孩子, 不是那块地，也不是生意. “这是我们现在能够教给孩子们并灌输给他们的东西, 当他们和我们一起在农场的时候. My goal is for them to be productive citizens and be able to contribute to the community,” said Tara. “当他们离开这里的时候, 生活应该更轻松,亚伦补充道, “如果他们去为别人工作或有自己的生意, 我们希望他们有好奇心, 懂得如何学习，懂得如何工作.”

当Helmicks第一次变成绵羊的时候, 这是一个陡峭的学习曲线, 他们必须克服的挑战是什么. 然而, 亚伦和塔拉已经接受了一些教育培训, 在那里他们学会了学习SWOT(优势, 弱点, 机会, 威胁)分析, 所以他们尽量不把障碍视为挑战, 而是成长和进步的机会. “We’ve tried to change our attitude on challenges – we try to look at them and see the opportunity. 我们该如何为别人或自己解决这个问题呢?亚伦说. 他接着说, “我认为我们在整个旅程中面临的最大挑战是人, 我不是指劳动. 我们一直专注于我们的业务, but really didn’t understand the importance of daily interactions with people and building strong relationships.” Aaron quoted a saying his mentor uses: “Every problem is a people problem; thereby every solution is a people solution.“因此, the Helmicks have an ongoing commitment to build strong working relationships with everyone they come in contact with, 包括他们的房东, 扩展代理, 银行, 十博官网手机版官网下载提供商, 家畜市场, 和更多的. 

农业是最具挑战性的职业之一, 特别是对于刚刚进入这个行业的人来说. 作为初学的农民, Aaron and Tara admired the Amish practice where startup operators and younger generations are encouraged to first invest in assets that produce a cash return within a short timeframe, then assets that make work more efficient and produce returns in a mid-range timeframe, before finally purchasing the land after all of those early investments are cash flowing. Aaron noted that it was helpful for them to focus primarily on producing and managing cash flow, 而不是一开始就为资产负债表苦恼. 回顾, Aaron and Tara said that the mistakes they made became valuable lessons that helped them grow and take more ownership making improvements for their operation.

The Helmicks’ relationship with Farm Credit began in 2017 with a real estate loan, and they are grateful to their Farm Credit loan officer for helping them get through the major transition from dairy to sheep as seamlessly as possible. Their loan officer was there to help them through the process with patience and understanding. They appreciate the educational events and resources offered through the Farm Credit 知识中心, 也. 

至于亚拿突牲畜的未来, Aaron and Tara are continuing to hone their skills when it comes to managing a business, 同时把人和人的关系放在最重要的位置. 他们目前的业务有很多变动的部分, 但它比乳制品更简单，更灵活, which allows them to focus more on their family life and their four active children. 然而, the business will be entering a strategic building phase in the next two to three years. 亚伦和塔拉计划改变他们的商业模式, with the production aspect shrinking and the breeding and sell/buy marketing components growing. They also plan to leverage the relationships they’ve built with farmers and professionals in the ag community across the country in order to help other young farmers just getting started in the industry. 他们很感激这些年来得到的支持, so they hope to turn the tables by helping to educate other young farmers and share best practices and tools for smart growth. 

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