NIOBRARA COUNTY - Nearly every field of interest will undergo new developments and ranching is certainly no exception. Bringing such developments to the attention local ranchers was the purpose of the Spring Resource Rendezvous, which was held at the Niobrara County Fairgrounds on April 23. According to Conversation District Manager Lisa Shaw, the event was intended to “get new and exciting technology and information to the ranching community and the natural resource people.” This mission was realized through an eclectic trio of speakers.

The first speaker was Mary Jo Irmen, author of Farming Without the Bank and Life Without the Bank. Irmen promotes the Infinite Banking Concept, a method by which hardworking farmers can save what they have built. This system is dual-pronged, tackling both money management and the mentality that governs it.

“There’s really two parts,” Irmen said. “One is your mindset, which concerns how you think about money and how you utilize money. The other one is storing your money somewhere so that it has uninterrupted compound interest. You’ve got liquidity control and create your own banking system. First, we have to work on the mindset. It’s a little bit of asking, ‘Hey, how are we using money?’ How we’ve been taught to use money is incorrect and that’s why we’re not getting ahead. Then, we have to store that money some place so that we can use it for whatever we want, like buying land or buying equipment or buying cattle.”

This approach places two important elements in the farmer’s hands: liquidity and control. 

“Your money’s growing while you borrow against it,” said Irmen. “You don’t have to answer to anybody. You can pay it back when you want. You can borrow it for what you want. You are in control. It’s no different than saying, ‘Hey, I got money in a savings account and I’m going to go use it.’ You don’t have to ask the bank concerning what you’re using it for. It’s the same thing. It’s your money. You have access to it. It’s just that it’s growing because you’re using somebody else’s money. What we’re doing is putting money into whole life insurance, dividend-paying whole life. We can have access to it.”

Irmen was introduced to the Infinite Banking Concept by Nelson Nash, a now deceased insurance salesman who found himself fettered by a sizable amount of land debt during the 80s. Realizing that he had money in cash value, Nash began to borrow from that source of capital to pay the bank down.

“He understood how to structure policies correctly and what type of policies to use,” Irmen said. “I was introduced to him in 2010. I read his book, which is Becoming Your Own Banker. The rest is history.”

The second speaker was Paul Eitel with Broken Arrow Farm out of Newcastle. Eitel broached the topic of agriculture diversification, a strategy that he learned while growing up with his parents in northwest Nebraska and eastern Wyoming.

“With the economy of agriculture these days, you need to branch out into different enterprises to make a profit and stay afloat in the industry because stuff changes so quickly,” Eitel said. “So, instead of having your standard beef operation, you have something alongside of that. Traditionally, it could be sheep or something like that. My operation is a little bit different. We do have beef. However, we have other enterprises paired with that.”

According to Eitel, agriculture diversification draws new clientele, thereby broadening the business’s appeal and contributing to more robust revenues. 

“It gives you different customer bases,” said Eitel. “So, you’ve got more customers coming in from different places to give him a steady source of income.”

Moreover, diversification helps ranchers to compensate for where one enterprise might be falling short.

“Some years, one enterprise may have to cover another,” Eitel said.

Those who wish to learn more about Eitel’s business can do so by visiting https://www.brokenarrowfarm307.com/.

Those who wish to purchase Irmen’s books can do so by https://www.farmingwithoutthebank.com/.

Lucy Polly from the Department of Agriculture was the third speaker but was unavailable for comment.