The Epperson family is always looking for new ideas and practices to incorporate on their 2,800-acre operation. From precision farming to forming an international soybean marketing limited liability company with other farmers, the Eppersons incorporate new technology and opportunities.

David Epperson has always been willing to try new things. In 1959, he bought his first 435 acres of farmland south of Trenton, Mo., because his high school vo-ag teacher got him interested in the career choice--not because his family was rooted in agriculture.

"I've just always wanted to farm even though my father wasn't a farmer," said Epperson. "My vo-ag teacher helped me realize that. My wife, Peggy, came from a farm, so that has helped, too."

Now at age 65, he's still trying new things on the 2,800 acres of cropland and pasture he and his son, Mike, and grandson, Colby, now farm. Mike and Colby have inherited David's openness to new things.

"The Eppersons are aggressive, top-notch, state-of-the-art farmers," said Richard Rothermich, manager of the Trenton MFA Agri Services Center. "They are always looking for new opportunities they feel will turn them a profit."

Taking advantage of new opportunities and making them work is how this farm family is able to derive all of their income from the family farm.

Mapping their fields
One of the family's new undertakings involves precision farming. Mike and Colby decided to get involved with the practice last fall. Trenton MFA Agri Services Center employees helped them install a yield monitor and GPS receiver on their combine and set it properly. Now the Eppersons have yield maps of their fields and the beginnings of a set of data.

"We're just beginning this and are still in the infancy stage," said Mike. "There's a lot we still don't know. But it's a place to start. We want to eventually get the most we can out of each acre we crop."

That's important to the Eppersons because they need a lot of corn to feed their livestock. David has 370 cow/calves. Mike has 700 feeder pigs (some under contract, some not) and about 200 Holstein steers that he feeds from 200 pounds to 650 pounds. Mike feeds most of his corn to his Holsteins. "I see it as a value-added practice," he said.

In addition to monitoring yields, the family soil-tested their cropland on a grid early this year and plans to apply their lime this spring using variable-rate technology. They might apply their fertilizer using the technology, too.

"We're going to know a lot more about our fields down the road," said David. "It's going to give us a set of data to build on. In three to four years this is going to be really interesting."

Finding new markets
The Eppersons get a lot of their new ideas from other farmers they meet through an adult education program at the Grand River Technological school. Both David and Mike attend separate farm management group programs at the school.

"It allows us to exchange ideas with 35 to 40 different farmers in a two-county area," said David. "It's a great way to see what other people are doing."

The extra heads working together have given them lots of good ideas to take advantage of. Most recently, Mike has teamed up with several other farmers in the program to form an international soybean marketing limited liability company in hopes that they will get a premium for their soybeans. "We sell some of our soybeans to buyers in Japan and Taiwan," said Mike. "They don't necessarily want different types of soybeans. They're just interested in quality, not quantity for the most part."

Because they don't have enough international buyers to sell all of their soybeans through the company yet, the farmers take turns producing the high-quality soybeans for the LLC's customers each year.

"That way we don't each have to plant just 10 to 30 acres of the soybeans each," said Mike. "Just several people have to do it for that season."

When it's all said and done, 75 percent of the profits go to the producers who raised the crop that year, and 25 percent goes to the company and other partners in the company.

When to say go
Deciding what new ideas to tackle and which to leave alone may not be as hard as deciding when to actually start incorporating the idea into your operation. If you start too early, the idea still may not be profitable and cost you money. If you wait too late, you may lose profits you could have gained during the years you waited.

David said they've had some hits and misses when it comes to deciding when to incorporate new ideas and practices on the family's farm, but he has a rule he tries to go by.

"You probably ought to be in the top three-fourths to two-thirds of the farmers to incorporate a new practice into your operation," he said. "Make sure you have data that show the idea is working and then jump on. It's important to see the mistakes of others and then learn from them. Most of the time you'll be OK."

But David said his most challenging farm decision concerning timing on his farm is yet to come--deciding when and how to turn his part of the farm over to his son and grandson. "I don't think there's a right or wrong way when it comes to that," said David. "I think each person has their own individualized way of dealing with it."

And David has some words of advice to anyone undertaking a new idea. He said one of the most important things to remember is that the new idea most likely is not going to bring you instant success.

"Building a farm is a slow process," he said. "This may sound simple, but you have to take in more than you spend to advance. But that doesn't always happen. Over a period of years you'll eventually get to first base and then after a few more years, you'll get to second base and so on," he said. "It's very rare to hit a home run when it comes to farming."