Farmers Have to Balance What's Practical with What's Possible

Tim Hammerich

News Reporter

Two forces that definitely influence where agriculture is headed are what’s possible vs what’s practical. Grounded Capital Partners CEO Stephen Hohenrieder points out that while everyone who eats cares about what’s possible, farmers are the ones who have to deal with what’s practical.

Hohenrieder… “When I think about this continuum from convention to aspirations, you have those conventional farmers who want many of the same outcomes that more aspirational folks want as well. And so if you then look at the other end of that spectrum at the aspirational end of that spectrum, maybe you have academics or non-profits or family offices or regenerative ag groups who have a sense of what's possible, and maybe how things should be. And I find that so often that end of the spectrum is telling the conventional end of the spectrum, they're doing everything wrong. And the conventional end of the spectrum is telling the aspirational end of the spectrum, that they don't get it and it's hard. And that if they could, they would. And I think that both ends are right.”

Hohenrieder believes in investing in companies that are somewhere in between the conventional end of the spectrum and the aspirational end of the spectrum. He sees opportunities to build on top of what’s practical and move them in more of an aspirational direction.