Hello,

We’re Barbara and Howard Doster, retired management teachers. Thanks for contacting our website, www.DHDoster.com . Howard wants to help you with machinery sizing and farm lease economics. Barbara is the personality management teacher. Together, we help you with farming together and multi-generation problems/opportunities.

We don’t give legal or accounting advice. We do suggest questions you might ask your legal and accounting professionals. We may even offer to go with you to those sessions, at no charge.

Professors and consultants have programs and processes. Farmers and other real persons have problems and opportunities. What are yours? Starting with the most important, write each problem/opportunity in a simple declarative sentence, beginning, “The problem/opportunity is…”

Many problems/opportunities are common to many persons. Each person’s circumstances are unique. We listen a lot. When we get together, we want to spend an hour with you and each of the persons on your management team. We want to help each of you identify the cause/reason for each of your significant problems/opportunities. Then, we’ll brainstorm alternative solutions and their likely consequences with each of you separately before we meet as a group. We’ll likely add some alternatives to those you think of.

For each significant problem/opportunity, we want to find out the solutions each of you; a, prefers; b, considers acceptable; and c, rejects. Knowing your preferences before we meet as a group really helps us facilitate and lead the discussion, often towards a consensus, as together, you decide how to live out the rest of your lives.

After we’ve met, we’ll assign other homework as we help you agree on your present business plan, and alternative “what if” contingency plans. You already have these plans. We’ll just ask you to write them on our forms so that we, and your significant others, can understand them better. Written plans are easier to evaluate and revise as surprises occur.

Once you learn the management process we teach, we’ll encourage you to create a Peer Farm Advisors group of one or two other couples; persons you like personally and respect professionally, but don’t compete with for land. We’ll suggest your PFA group meets three times per year to evaluate each other’s past performance, present position, and future what if changes you might make in your business plan.

We charge a lot, per day of face time, but you won’t see us many days. Having taught the management process to previous PFA groups, one for thirty years, we’re aware that, as you experience the process of teaching others, you improve your own performance. You might call this learning by doing. You might also realize that, in this process, you get better, and, at less cost, than if you hired us to just tell you what to do.

Call us. Our emails and phone calls are free: Howard@DHDoster.com

Cell: 765 412 1495

Howard & Barbara Doster