Young producers travel to the United States to study Family Succession

Since last Monday, the 16th, a group of 18 young entrepreneurs linked to Brazilian agriculture has been participating in the second edition of the Entrepreneurs Without Borders Program, in the United States. Promoted by AgroBravo in partnership with Iowa State University, the program develops themes related to innovation, rural entrepreneurship and leadership training for five days, always focusing on rural property management and family succession. Throughout the week, a group of Brazilians will have an extensive schedule of lectures with some of the most successful American agricultural entrepreneurs and technical visits to companies and research centers.

The course takes place at Iowa State University (ISU), in the American state of Iowa, an institution founded in 1858, which currently has more than 35 thousand students and is located in one of the most important corn and soy producing areas in the United States. Its location, structure and renowned researchers make it one of the most renowned agribusiness universities in the world.

FAMILY SUCCESSION

Behind each young Brazilian producer who participates in the program there is a common concern to ensure the continuity of the business of their agricultural companies and a well-executed succession, with little turbulence and in the most natural way possible. They are similar stories, with similar anxieties and doubts about the best way, the most appropriate time for this transition to occur and the final result of a process that tends to be long and can often even be exhausting and traumatic.

This is the key point of the Entrepreneurs Without Borders program. All the issues about management, innovation, leadership development and entrepreneurship covered in the lectures help prepare new professionals to take on command positions in companies that are in full swing and need to continue growing and adapting to increasingly competitive realities.

For Bob Riley, president of Feed Energy Company and collaborator on the program, succession is not a simple task, especially for those who are successful in the business. “For an entrepreneur, giving up leadership and passing it on to a successor is a very difficult and arduous task. It takes humility and courage to make this decision, although at the same time it is a necessity and not a choice for anyone who wants to ensure business continuity,” he explains. For him, when succession is done properly, ideas that make sense to the business are preserved and the chances of failure decrease. To achieve this, it is necessary to find a replacement as soon as possible, preparing and training him adequately to continue the business. “Companies that managed to pass the fourth generation achieved this because they trained a lot, started the process very early and tirelessly prepared their successors, working, in addition to business skills and qualifications, with studies, values ​​and ideals of the company, gradually and continuously, for a relatively long period”, he explains.

But this transfer of command will certainly encounter barriers and problems generated by generational conflicts, explains Karen Kerns, CEO of Kerns & Associates, a global reference in management consultancy for rural properties. For her, whoever is currently in charge of companies is quite different from the generation that will succeed them, especially in the way they see the relationship with the business. “Parents and children have different views on how to work and these differences need to be understood and overcome to generate a relationship of trust, which allows succession in a more natural way and without trauma”, she explains.

In this first moment of the program, the group also had a contextualization of the topic with the lawyer and professor at Fundação Dom Cabral, from Brazil, Matheus Almeida and the opportunity to learn about other experiences, such as that of Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Summit Ag Group. Rastetter spoke about the trajectory of his investment fund in the United States and its recent activities in Brazil, where it has farms in the state of Pará and two corn ethanol production plants in the municipalities of Lucas do Rio Verde and Sorriso, Mato Grosso, with production capacity of more than 400 million liters per year.

The first technical visit on the trip was to meet Stine Seeds, the company responsible for the genetics found in more than 60% of the soybeans planted in the United States. Its founder, Harry Stine, who received and accompanied the group throughout the visit, is 76 years old and is considered the richest man in the state of Iowa, with a fortune of 3,2 billion dollars. Stine Seeds develops cutting-edge research and genetics in corn and soybeans, which it licenses to companies such as Monsanto and Syngenta.

IMMERSION IN SUCCESSION

For the director of AgroBravo, Julio Bravo, the topic of family succession is so important that it deserves special attention from everyone involved. Therefore, for two years, AgroBravo has been offering its customers the opportunity to participate in the Entrepreneurs Without Borders Program in a true immersion with some of the most renowned professionals on the subject. “We care about business balance and the challenge of future generations to perpetuate family activities. That’s why we’re looking for important partners like the University of Iowa, who help us think about this topic so that the successful and the successor can win in this very complex process,” he explains. For him, although the group is made up of successors, it is extremely important that those who succeed also seek information and knowledge that will help them build a balanced and safe transition. “One of the company's main values ​​is to offer customers more than just travel, but mainly the opportunity to access new markets and ideas, which enable personal and professional growth for each person so that they can return to their origins, extending this experience and inspiring their employees, children and partners to be better in their businesses”, he guarantees.

SEQUENCE 

 Over the next three days of the program, the topics of the Agricultural Market, Investments in Agriculture and International Opportunities will be covered, with technical visits to companies and research centers. The trip culminates with two days dedicated to tourism in the city of Chicago, in the neighboring state of Illinois.