Most farmers want to grow their business. My daughter and I farm 2,300 acres in northern Indiana, and poor prices have somewhat depleted our working capital. I’m seeing land prices discounted around 15% from levels two years ago. How should we decide if it’s time to grow, and is buying land the best way? S.C., Indiana

Predictably unprofitable, irrational growth is by far the No. 1 financial problem facing Midwest farmers. Yet, we all need to have growing operations to be satisfied with our success.

We have well-known Midwest farm operations selling their century family farms so they can keep growing with high-end cash rent acres. Why? What does it take in this Midwest capitalistic farming economy to prioritize the importance and sanity of growing your equity vs. your acres? How do we return to being more satisfied with the bottom line vs. the top line? Did $7 corn permanently brain-damage a generation?

If your working capital is somewhat depleted as you put it, a change in its status is probably atop the list of deciding when it’s time to grow. Of course, this is largely dependent on the size of the expansion, and there will always be a maximum size your financial position can shoulder at a given point in time.

Banks are increasingly intolerant of the things we do to deplete working capital, so having this conversation with your banker is a good place to start. There’s no shortage of stories of regulators passing new thresholds down to banks, so it’s wise to find out if your ability to finance a land purchase is still based on the same criteria you were previously used to.

Jerry and Jason Moss operate Moss Family Farms Inc. [email protected]