Know Your Numbers: Real Talk from a Farmer Panel

Farming is tough enough without flying blind and this is why financial clarity was a central theme at Traction’s employee event which hosted a farmer panel. Three operations attended, represented by Kendra Chastain (IN), Nicole and Jon Hall (IN), and Kirk Liefer (IL) . They shared how they’ve ditched or reduced spreadsheets, cut busywork, and truly know their numbers.

Their stories highlight what’s changing on today’s farms and why getting a handle on costs and cash flow is becoming a must.

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Why “knowing your numbers” isn’t optional

Margins are tight. A wrong guess on inputs, rent, or grain marketing can erase profits. Each farmer on the panel drove home the same point: you can’t manage what you can’t see.

“Knowing the numbers, I can’t even state how important that is.” -  Kirk Liefer

For Kirk, budgets, contract tracking, and field-level analysis aren’t just nice-to-haves; They are fundamental to deciding if cash rent is too high, or if there’s room for a capital purchase. 

Banker and farmer Kendra added a financial perspective.

“Working capital… current assets minus current liabilities… the number of farmers that don’t understand this would surprise you.” - Kendra Chastain

In other words, if you don’t know how much cash you have to operate, you’re guessing your way through the year. And that’s not sustainable. It doesn’t prepare your business for the future, nor does it set up the next generation with real-time, accessible, accurate information.

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Life before Traction: paper, desktops, and spreadsheet gymnastics

Before switching to Traction, every farmer on the panel lived through the grind of manual recordkeeping. 

“Spreadsheets and trying to get formulas right… got to be a real pain as we grew.” -  Kirk Liefer

Jon saw the same inefficiency when helping his in-laws:

“It was a lot of ‘here’s a piece of paper, go line by line’… add up how many tons… then you get to the end and you’re like ‘that doesn’t seem right.’”

Kendra, from her dual role as farmer and banker, put it bluntly:

“I still work with several people who use paper.  That’s not gonna be acceptable for the next generation.”

The theme is clear: as farms reach a certain size, spreadsheets and desktop software become a liability instead of an asset.

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Integrations that kill busywork and errors

One of the hottest topics was vendor integrations, specifically Keystone Cooperative and FS billing. These connections eliminate line-by-line data entry for bills that include chemicals, fertilizers, discounts, prepay, and custom applications.

Kendra didn’t sugarcoat the old way, saying they often look a mess.

When each invoice included numerous products and multiple field splits, she often gave up and lumped everything under “chemicals” just to move on. This frustration prevented her from properly managing her inventories.

“When you’ve got a mix of five to seven chemicals coming in on an invoice… I’m just gonna lump it all into chemicals and go, because I don’t have time. This integration is awesome in that respect.”

Nicole echoed the relief:

“Matching the statements up with those invoices is really a big win for us… the invoices are really nice because you can go individually and double-check a lot faster.”

And Jon summed it up:

“Just having data that pops in… clean, imported, done. And… the system is learning as well… once you spend the time the first time, it’s smooth after that.”

For Kirk, the time saved compared to PC Mars was night and day:

“The bill coming there… having everything split out and then just tagging it has been really efficient.”

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Features that move the needle

Each farm had a favorite feature, and while the answers varied, the theme was the same: less time wasted with fewer mistakes.

Vendor integrations:

‍“Right now, my favorite feature is the Keystone integration, just because the time savings impacts my life.” - Kendra Chastain

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Reports that make bankers happy:

‍“The reports to take to our banker are really nice… we’re not having to spend hours building those.” - Nicole Hall

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‍Scale tickets & CSV imports:

‍“You put an Excel sheet… CSV it over and boom, that made our lives a lot easier.” - Jon Hall

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Payroll that takes minutes:

‍“I did payroll this morning in my hotel… took five minutes… automatically goes to federal/state.” - Kirk Liefer

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Time saved is more than 'nice to have'

Every farmer agreed that the real payoff is time.

“I was able to pull all those bills in for the last seven months in a morning. That would’ve taken me at least a full day without Traction.” - Kendra Chastain

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“My mom’s not spending two or three days in the office doing all the accounting. I can spend an afternoon getting in all the accounting I need.” - Nicole Hall

This isn’t just about momentary convenience. The time saved using efficient systems can mean the difference between enjoying weekends with family or at church, instead of catching up on farm bookkeeping.

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Accountants: from gatekeepers to strategic partners

For years, many farms relied on accountants to “tell them how they did” at year’s end. The panel showed how that’s changing.

“Meeting with accountants is not as big a deal because we already know our numbers. There’s still a need for accountants, but giving them access [in Traction] is gonna save you time.” - Kirk Liefer

Nicole described how prepared reporting changes the tone:

“When we take the Traction reports to those meetings, our accountant is telling us, ‘you’re ahead of most growers.’”

Kendra added that her own accountant has started asking about Traction because so many farmers are frustrated with QuickBooks (view Traction vs. QuickBooks comparison). The shift is clear: farmers who know their numbers make better use of the time spent with their accountants.

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The next generation needs clarity, not folklore

Passing down the farm means more than passing down acres and equipment; it means passing down financial knowledge.

“Traction was a natural segue for us into understanding how things work regarding cash flow, cost of production, and breakeven. When you take those market value balance sheets to a banker, you pretty much have to have all those entities involved.” - Nicole Hall

“When people see something simple and easy, they’re gonna be more engaged to learn it… I could train ’em pretty fast.” - Jon Hall

“It’s good to see these younger ones really striving to know where their numbers are at… it's essential stuff apart from everything else.” - Kirk Liefer

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Takeaways

The blunt truth from the panel:

• If you can’t see it, you can’t manage it. Field-level break-even, cash flow, and working capital aren’t optional.
  
• Automate the ugly. Vendor bills, scale tickets, and payroll should flow in, not be retyped.
  
• Share the load. Multi-entity, multi-user access stops the pile-up and keeps everyone aligned.
  
• Bring your accountant in. Use meetings for strategy, not bookkeeping cleanup. ‍
• Train for tomorrow. The next generation expects real-time, accurate numbers.