The straight line

Those of you reading this article every year must think we sound like a broken record, not much changes here. Much of what we expected to see over the last year continues to be what we expect over the coming year. Mergers: The mergers just keeping coming. Across the Midwest (IA, NE, SD, MN &...

Sales dollars decreased considerably with lower grain and energy prices. Better corn and bean margins on steady to lower volumes. Agronomy margins down on steady to lower tons. Energy margins up slightly on steady to lower volumes – propane volumes down considerably with drier 2014 harvest. Feed divisions showed improved results. The drier harvest led...

A new tax bill was signed into law on December 18, 2015 retroactively reinstating several key tax provisions that had expired December 31, 2014. These include: Increase in the first year write off of certain assets – known as section 179. Bonus Depreciation – 50% through 2017, then reduced – eliminated in 2019. Credit for...

The Baby Boomer generation reached its peak in 1957 at an annual birth rate of about 4.3 million people. It’s hard to believe that these Baby Boomers will turn 59 years old in 2016. An important rite of passage that comes with this age is that they’ll soon be eligible to withdraw funds from their qualified...

Interviewing job candidates has never been easy. But now, a growing list of legal pitfalls is making a tough job even tougher. Fortunately, there are techniques that can help you hire the right person and stay out of trouble while you’re doing it. Here are some of the most important: Talk less, listen more. Most interviewers talk...

If your company uses wire transfers, you’ve solved some of the headaches involved with paper checks. With wire transfers, you know that a payment arrived and isn’t “lost in the mail.” You also avoid some of the risks of forgery and other check fraud schemes. However, wire transfers have their own pitfalls. If you don’t have...