In 1975, Tom Walker, Sr. led his firm to deliver actionable financial information to independent farmers. It remains our favorite topic, for its essential nature, long production cycles, exposure to weather, disease, and global economic and political cycles. Through analysis, planning, forecasting, we have helped owners and managers of crop and livestock farmers as well as elevators and food processors effect turnarounds, growth, generation transfers, and sales, through market analysis, data mining, but mostly, through the basic (but not simple) process of periodic forecasts and plans.

Relative to agriculture, manufacturers enjoy shorter (but not necessarily short) production cycles and a 1:1 sales:asset ratio (a typical crop farm is 1:5). However, we find that the complexity susceptible to modeling, and especially, the lack of simple price discovery to measure themselves against the competitive environment, make for low-hanging fruit for the owner/operator of manufacturing firms who find that their returns don’t match their skill.

Our modeling capabilities gives us insight into the macroeconomic landscape. We use these to help our clients measure their competitive standing; the same processes shed light on a lender’s/financier’s portfolio, helping refining their understanding of risk and growth.