File this under the mental categories of “serendipity,” “it is a small world” and “networking matters”…

Two weeks ago, immediately after our excellent guest speaker presentation by Penrose Brewery owner  Eric Hobbs, I headed downtown for the introduction of a new beer crafted by Monmouth College Chemistry Prof. Brad Sturgeon—a future speaker in the class—held at Market Alley Wines (owned and operated by Susan Schuytema, our first speaker of the semester).

While there—several samples of Sturgeon’s “Stout No. 2” into the evening—I was introduced to Mr. Paul Rickey, a 1976 business graduate of Monmouth College who had come to occupy space between Prof. Sturgeon’s refrigerated dispenser and I. It was then shortly learned that Paul is a long-time local “legacy farmer” and also that we have many local friends in common. Paul told me that we “need a farmer” to speak in the Midwest Entrepreneurs class. I agreed—honestly and happily—and spoke to him about his business at length (over several more samples of “Stout No. 2”).

Arrangements were made… By chance at the time, Mr. Rickey was scheduled to speak the same week as another ag-based local entrepreneur; Will Zimmerman. Thus “ag-week in Midwest Entrepreneurs” was serendipitously created.

I had been hoping to find a local farmer to speak in the class for some time. I had hoped that Mr. Rickey would dispel all notions that (1) farming is not a sophisticated business, and (2) farming is not an entrepreneurial activity. He did just that.

Today’s class blogger is Tyler Baxter. Below he nicely captures the essence and feel of Mr. Rickey’s intriguing entrepreneurial tale as told to the class on Thursday 19 March.

Cheers!

Prof. Gabel

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“Agriculture week” in Midwest Entrepreneurs ended on a high note with guest speaker appearance of Paul Rickey. Mr. Rickey is a fellow Monmouth College alum from the class of 1976.

As he told the class, Mr. Rickey has never been too far from home, growing up in Seaton, IL, a small town exactly 26 miles from Monmouth. His family has been farming there for generations.  Since a young age, Rickey had an outstanding work ethic and could not get away from the farm for too long without either going back on weekends during college or even after classes here at Monmouth College.

Currently, Rickey farms just under 1,000 acres, and technically as well as literally works for his mother (who owns the land he farms).  It was Rickey’s parent’s decision to have him attend college, because they believed strongly in a good education.  Sure enough, right after graduation he headed home for the farm.  Ironically, Rickey says that his college education did not become a huge factor in his career until recently, where his business skills are becoming more important due to governmental regulations, competition, and increased need for loans. When he graduated from Monmouth College, Rickey’s peers and many other farmers did not see farming as a business.  However, Rickey seems to really grasp the business aspect of farming, with ample knowledge on commodity trading and the technological advances and finance that goes into running this increasingly complex type of operation.

Paul Rickey has a large amount of experience in not only row crop farming but, early on in his career, livestock. He compares raising livestock “to having children… but worse.” He described tending to livestock as a “guaranteed 7 day a week job” with the animals needing constant attention. During this operation, he was responsible for 50 heads of cattle and a skid steer was the main machine for organizing manure and other materials.

Mr. Rickey has always believed in staying in the family business on the farm and the land he farms has been in his family since 1847.  Rickey was the only son in the family, so the weight was on his shoulders when it came to taking it over.  Rickey recalls the price of the 160 acres he lives on being bought for $1,300 in 1847. He stated that it is worth over $1,500 per acre. He expressed very well how times have changed since he has been farming, and he also recalled the 1980 depression, and the negative impact on farmers.  He sees this trend happening again, but his experience allows him to be ready to take on another farming recession and he wisely has the equity to back up his operation in a down time.

Currently, Rickey specializes in row crop farming and he has recently invested in the newest GPS self-steering system in his tractor.  This year will be his first season with this technology and we could all tell how anxious he is to try it out and to test his patience with not being able to touch and control the wheel.  He also does his own spraying, which he says is rare now in days, because spraying can be very dangerous and also very time consuming.  He now hires enough help on the farm to be able to work a regular 5 day a week schedule and he also gave us a very detailed schedule of a “normal” season.  He will start his planting around April, spray all summer long, he will have a short lull where he can have a brief break, then he will spray repeatedly for weeds, then come late September, Rickey will start the plowing process until winter time (this year it was around December when he finished).

Mr. Rickey also gave us a few pieces of advice for any career, not only farming.  He expressed the importance of a good relationship with your local banker.  His local banker plays a huge role in his entrepreneurial business and can significantly impact his financial situation by approving or disapproving large loans that are crucial to Rickey’s complex and risky business.  He also spoke about not being too stubborn to keep up with technological advances.  He has invested a great deal of money in new technology, but it seems to be paying back great returns every season.  Education is another big piece of advice Rickey believes in, and the separation in work ethic between us students who are still in college as upper classmen, to the ones who could not make it through freshman year.  A great quote from Mr. Rickey is, “show up on time ready to go.”  This may not seem like much, but punctuality and good work ethic can get you a long way in a career.

In conclusion, I would argue that our visit from Mr. Paul Rickey was not a lecture, but an adventure.  He has been through generations of experience and has seen more than most of us can imagine in his field of work.  Ironically, Mr. Rickey never used to like speaking to students, but he made it seem like it was second nature to him.  Not only is he a great speaker, but also a good friend and neighbor to our very own “Dicky J” (Finance Professor Dick Johnston).  I think I speak for all of us in class when I express my gratitude for getting to have Paul Rickey join us in our class during agriculture week.

Tyler Baxter