The Art of the Open Mind: Navigating Risk in the New Era of Agriculture
Jacob Little talks fast. He has to. In the world of crop insurance and government policy, the landscape shifts with the speed of a West Texas thunderstorm, and Little, of Crop & Range Insurance, is in the business of keeping producers ahead of the rain.
Fresh off the stage at the Empire Ag Elite Retreat in San Antonio, Little’s recent appearance on the "Your Ag Empire" podcast wasn’t a dry recitation of policy updates. It was a masterclass in strategic maneuvering, delivered with the kind of sharp, actionable insight that separates the hobbyists from the empire builders.
The topic at hand was the "alphabet soup" of the Farm Bill and the myriad programs designed to keep American agriculture afloat. But beneath the acronyms lies a deeper philosophy: in a year of tight margins and high stakes, passive loyalty is a liability.
The Broken Gear of Blind Loyalty
Agriculture runs on relationships. Handshakes still matter, and doing business with the guy you see at church is a tradition as old as the plow. But Little warns that this admirable trait can sometimes curdle into a competitive disadvantage.
"I get to interact with a lot of people... and as tight as things are in ag, you as producers need to be aware that if you're married to a memory, is that memory even valid?" Little asks.
It is a provocative question. In an industry where legacy is everything, questioning long-standing partnerships feels almost heretical. Yet, Little argues that the financial reality of modern farming demands a colder calculation.
"Is your loyalty putting you at a competitive disadvantage?" he presses. "Some of you, I'm sure, have had the same ag chem dealer forever, the same seed dealer forever, and you don't wanna really ruffle the feathers."
The danger, he explains, isn't in the loyalty itself, but in the complacency it breeds. "I'm not saying not be loyal, I'm saying make sure they're still earning your dang loyalty."
He uses a mechanical metaphor to drive the point home: "Jonathan's just a tooth on your gear. Make sure all the other teeth of your year are pretty solid." If one provider—be it insurance, chemical, or seed—is coasting on history rather than performance, the whole machine grinds to a halt. "It is wild seeing the level of broken some people's stuff is, and it was broken because of loyalty."
Navigating the "Alphabet Soup"
Beyond the philosophical shift, Little offered a granular look at the tactical changes reshaping the financial landscape for 2024 and beyond. The "One Big Beautiful Bill," brings critical updates to payment limits and entity structures.
For years, producers have navigated a complex web of LLCs and joint ventures to maximize their eligibility for government programs. The rules have changed.
"If you are an LLC or you are an S Corp, all the members now get their own payment ID," Little explains. "Last year, if you were an LLC, you had one payment limit. It was $125,000. Now you have one payment that's $155,000."
This adjustment levels the playing field, allowing entities to stack limits in ways that were previously reserved for general partnerships. It is a technical nuance with massive implications for the balance sheet. "We just don't wanna leave those dollars in the paper," he says.
Perhaps the most liberating update is the decoupling of crop insurance from Farm Service Agency (FSA) decisions. "Crop insurance and FSA are unhooked," Little states flatly. "If it pencils at insurance, do it. If it pencils at FSA, do it."
The system, he suggests, often relies on confusion to force errors. "The system relies on the confusion to make us make a wrong decision," he observes. His advice? Ignore the noise. Run the numbers independently for each program and take the win where you find it.
The Livestock Opportunity
For cattle producers, the message is clear: get in the system. Little notes a historical disconnect between livestock operators and the FSA, a gap that is costing ranchers money.
"If you're a livestock producer and you don't have a relationship with the FSA, you need to get one," he urges. Programs like LFP (Livestock Forage Disaster Program) and ELAP (Emergency Assistance for Livestock) work in tandem. When drought triggers one, it often opens the door for the other—covering costs for hauling hay, feed, and water, for example.
"If you know that your county's triggered for LFP and you've got some pretty far hay trips you're making, start logging them," Little advises. "There was more high-quality forage brought into the state of Texas in '23 or '24 under ELAP than ever."
The Price of an Open Mind
The through-line of Little’s talk is simple: agility. The producers who thrive in the coming years won’t necessarily be the ones with the best soil or the newest iron, but the ones with the most adaptable mindset.
"Open-mindedness might save you or make you more money today than it maybe ever has," Little concludes.
It is a call to action that resonates. In a world where the government pays a larger share of crop insurance premiums than ever before ("Fact, okay?"), and where market volatility creates both peril and profit, the most dangerous phrase in farming is "we've always done it this way."
Empire Ag exists to challenge those assumptions. As Little proved in San Antonio, sometimes the most profitable thing a producer can do is sit down, look at the numbers, and ask the hard questions—even of the people they like the most.
"Have an open mind," Little says. In this economy, it might be the most valuable asset on the farm.
