K·Coe Isom Client Stories

What

matters most to You growing profits. seizing opportunities. building business relationships. surviving market volatility. managing margins. building a legacy that lives on.

K¡Coe Isom is dedicated to the people who entrust us with what matters most.

get ting personal

with Business Strategy

Brothers Shane and Shawn Tiffany of Tiffany Cattle Company—a Kansas-based custom feedlot with 32,000 head and crop operations—are first generation owners of the property they grew up on, and hail from a long line of farmers and ranchers who love the land and agriculture. This foundation, coupled with their own extensive cattle backgrounds and a pure dedication to cattle customers and the public consumer, has resulted in 10 years of ownership and operation of their thriving cattle feeding and marketing services company. While the business has performed well for years, the Tiffany brothers were looking for new solutions, options and in-depth financial analysis, as well as exploring possibilities for expansion.

The ambitious duo was in need of a proactive consultant—who understood their business—and could strategically organize financials, manage risks, and implement their vision for forward momentum and growth strategy around their macro-life plans.

A K·Coe Isom AgKnowledge advisor came out to the feedlot, listened to where Shane and Shawn wanted to take their business and personal success, and then dove into Tiffany’s financials. Initially, it started with financial statements compilation and analyses, and calculating overall profitability, as well as drilling down into individual crops and the feedyard.

Through trusted oversight of the financial side of the business, Tiffany Cattle was able to purchase another feedyard. The Tiffany brothers leveraged the value and expertise afforded by K·Coe Isom’s ability to understand their business and vision of where they wanted to take it. A deal was structured and implemented by providing projections, key financials, purchase structure, and agricultural operations insight. Additionally, K·Coe acted as a liaison between lenders, accountants and attorneys to set up, structure, and finalize the purchase, allowing for comprehensive tax minimization.

Today, the relationship with K·Coe and Tiffany is evident, as they meet monthly—often around the dinner table—to evaluate opportunities, share ideas, and develop plans for the future.

services that mat ter most • AgKnowledge Consulting • Tax Planning & Reporting • Independent Financial Reporting • Estate Planning, including Trusts • Strategic Acquisition

“We don’t make any major business decisions without talking to K•Coe Isom. They are a partner who has taken a vested interest in our success. I appreciate that they can strategically organize our business so that growth isn’t a challenge. Being nimble and taking advantage of the right opportunities without restructuring our entire business model is key. The relationship we have with K·Coe gives us the sounding board and financial stability we need to be ambitious, while providing valuable insight for what has or hasn’t worked for other organizations.”

– Shane Tiffany, Co-Owner, Tiffany Cattle Company

“ Sometimes you have to go out on a limb. That’s the only way you’re going to make a difference, in your business, in your community and in the world.

By looking at sustainability from a multi-dimensional perspective, we’ve shown that growers can mitigate their risk and use their progress for a competitive advantage.”

– Kristin Weeks Duncanson, Owner/Partner, Duncanson Growers

Kristin and Pat Duncanson, owners and partners of Duncanson Growers—a Minnesota-based corn, soy and hog farm—knew something was afoot when they heard the word ‘sustainability’ used at national and statewide industry association meetings. When others heard, ‘sustainability,’ Kristin and Pat heard ‘risk mitigation.’

They saw an opportunity for their farm to improve its odds of survival given market volatility and knew they needed to get started immediately.

Duncanson Growers is a working example of how paying attention to the ‘triple bottom line’ (TBL)—social, environmental (or ecological) and economic—reaps benefits.

making a difference

in your world

services that mat ter most • ResourceMAX™ • CSO On-Demand • Competitive-Edge Program Design • K·Coe Conservation

Since completing a ResourceMAX™ assessment in 2014, Duncanson Growers has shared the results of operating the farm in a measurable and sustainable way with its partners, even exploring opportunities with new customers. Kristin and Pat continue to spread the word on how Duncanson Growers goes way beyond the basic questionnaire or checklist.

This ‘triple bottom line’ strategy helps Duncanson Growers make sound business decisions to tackle complex issues like natural resource challenges, win more contracts for wider distribution and gain loyal end-customers.

Establishing a

farm legacy

Since the 1880s, the Robinson family has been in the farming business, running Rob-See-Co, JC Robinson and Golden Harvest. Now, Rob Robinson, his brother Doug and his father, Ed, lead the charge at Robinson Meadowbrook, which specializes in corn seed production, crop consulting and land rental partnerships.

As the third generation, Rob oversees a sophisticated operation with multiple entities that include a partnership with Syngenta, domestic and international land holdings, numerous product lines and consulting services.

After working with K·Coe Isom on restructuring the entities to maximize working capital, Rob asked for estate planning ideas. K·Coe Isom’s Next Gen team met with Rob and his wife, Cheryl, to better understand their goals and family dynamics. Because the plan would have a ripple effect, K·Coe Isom spoke with all the family members, key employees in the operation, and collaborated with Rob’s attorney, who was a seasoned estate planner himself. Rob now has an estate plan that meets his goals: preserving the assets he and his parents built for the next generation.

services that mat ter most • Farm Programs • Entity Restructuring • Tax Planning • Independent Financial Reporting • Estate Planning

“ Our farm operation is complex with a lot of moving parts. So whether it’s tax planning or estate planning, one thing will undoubtedly impact another.

The people at K·Coe Isom are true professionals that know financials in the context of ag operations. They did a great job explaining the tax consequences and options. They made it understandable so we could get group consensus.”

– Rob Robinson, CEO, Robinson Meadowbrook

“ We would not be farming today if not for K·Coe Isom’s efforts.”

– The Sidwells, Four S Farms

The Sidwell family farms in Northern Colorado and Southeast Wyoming. Several years ago they rented a sizeable irrigated farm in Northeast Nebraska. At that time, they applied for Direct Decoupled (DD) payments on the farm given the historical crop base and yields, and received these payments with no indication from the Farm Service Agency (FSA) there might be a problem.

Imagine the family’s surprise one day when they received a letter from FSA saying they did not qualify and FSA wanted a six-figure payment returned. Not only that, but the agency indicated that two additional years would be reviewed. The family had to get the situation corrected or risk losing the farm.

The Sidwells spoke with a Colorado attorney that knew of K·Coe Isom’s specialty work in farm programs.

turning the tide

back in your favor

services that mat ter most • Farm Programs

K·Coe Isom’s farm program team immediately recognized the complexity of the case. After considerable research and several meetings with the Sidwells, we established that they had met the requirements. This was wonderful news but now our team had to convince FSA. K·Coe Isom built a comprehensive appeal record, met with all the parties to the case and explained how the Sidwells met the requirements.

The Sidwells not only won their appeal and avoided returning their past payment but the FSA also dropped its audit of the other two years. K·Coe Isom’s 40 years of farm program experience and our reputation with FSA made the difference.

Imagine living in the middle of more than half a million acres of the world’s finest and most productive almond orchards in California’s fertile Sacramento River Valley.

Two well-known agriculture families—the Koehnens and Paivas—had their roots in this land of plenty.

In 2004, they joined forces. Their vision: to provide first-class processing, packaging and shipping to customers worldwide.

The families brought together over 100 years of experience in farming, beekeeping and hulling/shelling.

With that much industry knowledge, they knew what it would take to be successful. For Riverwest, it meant going international.

staying produc tive ,

profitable and independent

Riverwest called on K·Coe Isom to identify tax strategies and innovative tools for reducing their risk while venturing into foreign territory. By using an ICDISC (Interest Charge Domestic International Sales Corporation), which provides a tax break for qualifying U.S. exporters, Riverwest injected working capital into the operation, securing the livelihood of hundreds of workers while enabling the company to reach a highly lucrative international market.

Committed to remaining independent, the founding families asked K·Coe Isom’s consultants to lead them through the process of setting up trusts that ensured the next generation would be set up to carry on the family business.

Today, Riverwest is one of the biggest, family-run, nut processors, shipping natural California-grown almonds from their backyard to destinations around the globe.

services that mat ter most • IC-DISC for Exporters • Succession Planning • Independent Financial Reporting • Estate Planning

“ As owners, we have made strategic moves to grow the business. Each time we do, we call our business advisors and K·Coe Isom is definitely one of them.

They always come up with creative legally sound ideas for keeping money in the business. And that’s what lets us stay locally-owned.”

– Mike Koehnen, Owner, Riverwest Processing

At K·Coe Isom—the nation’s largest consulting and CPA firm dedicated to the food and agriculture industry— we focus on what matters most to you. And we know your business because many of us grew up on farms and are actively involved in our own farms and ranches.

We are food & ag.

The firm is embedded throughout the U.S. food-supply chain— from policy to plate—working with people just like you— producers, input suppliers, processors, packagers, distributors, biofuel manufacturers, equipment dealerships, landowners, lenders, and many agencies and policy organizations— to positively impact the future of farming and food production in America.

Join us. kcoe.com