Top Producer of the Year Winner: ‘Without Values Our Business is Like a Ship at Sea Without a Rudder’
Finalists for the Top Producer of the Year award represent the best in the business of farming, specifically entrepreneurial originality; financial and business progress; and industry and community leadership. This is not an award about size or scope. Instead, it focuses on professionalism, sophistication and innovation. Congratulations to Malecha Enterprises, the 2022 Top Producer of the Year winner. Todd and Louise Malecha were recognized at a ceremony held Feb. 14 during Top Producer Summit in Nashville.
At Malecha Enterprises, owners Todd and Louise Malecha answer one question before making any decision: How can we add value to other people’s lives? This focus on family and business has helped the Villard, Minn., operation grow and evolve through decades and generations.
An accident five days before Todd and Louise’s wedding in 1989 meant they were married in the hospital. Luckily that was not a bad omen. Today they have seven children, ages 18 to 31. Five of their children and two daughters-in-law are members of the Malecha Enterprises team. The operation includes 1,200 milk cows and 1,100 replacement heifers as well as 2,500 acres of alfalfa, corn, silage, soybeans and hay. They also do custom work and own and operate a gravel pit.
When Todd and Louise realized their children might want to be part of the family businesses, they began a generational approach to business planning. Starting in 2011, when their children were still very young, they created a detailed evaluation and analysis of each business unit. They then created goals and action steps for each unit.
The Malechas stay focused on goals and values, working with a stable of professionals. They set one-, three- and 10-year goals, which they evaluate quarterly based on the needs of their businesses. They have eight core values, once of which stands for CANEi (Constant and Never-Ending Improvement).
As Todd says, “Without values our business is like a ship at sea without a rudder.”
Travel to Minnesota to visit Malecha Enterprises.
The Top Producer of the Year award is sponsored by BASF, Case IH and Rabo AgriFinance.
