How to Prepare Your Agribusiness for a Down Cycle

How do you know what a bad season will cost you before it hits? This week Mason talks with Kim Dziuk, an agribusiness CFO on the Brady CFO team, about planning for the down years before they arrive. Kim walks through why she tracks cost per pound instead of price, how to model a bad season ahead of time, and what happened when a price drop pushed loan to value from 50% to almost 90%. Topics we cover: (2:36) From school district CFO to 12,000 acres of almonds (6:12) Why a CFO shouldn't just report the news (9:13) What works at $20M won't work at $60M (14:09) Modeling the upside, the downside, and your break even (15:20) The 102 degree day that shrinks harvest to two weeks (17:41) EOS for ag businesses: scorecards and rocks (25:19) Key person risk in owner led ag (31:31) Cost per pound vs. commodity price (33:35) When loan to value jumps from 50% to 90% (38:34) The labor data behind equipment decisions Links from the show: 🌐 Brady CFO | Fractional CFO Services for Agribusiness: https://bradycfo.com/agriculture/ 🤝 Connect with Kim Dziuk: :   / kim-dziuk-a25173104   🎤️ Connect with Mason Brady:   / masonbrady   Built to Grow is the podcast for agribusiness owners who want to grow valuable enterprises. Every episode brings you real financial leadership and business strategy built specifically for farming, food, and ag-based businesses. Follow, rate, review, and share. Questions or topic ideas? Reach out at marketing@bradycfo.com