2023 marks 30 seasons for Glaub Farm Management. The company was founded in 1993 by Ted L. Glaub, who had a 14-year career managing farmland before starting his own business. “In ‘93, Lee Wilson and Company was closing its non-owned farm management division,” remembers Ted. “The Wilson family was generous by allowing me to start my business with some of the existing management accounts.” In the early days it was Ted and a college intern working out of the Glaub home. With time, Ted was able to expand the business and buy an office building in Jonesboro, which is the current location of GFM.
Over the past 30 years, Glaub Farm Management has grown to become a trusted advisor to Midsouth landowners who reside across the country and around the globe. The company offers a wide range of services, including farm management, real estate auctions and brokerage, appraisals, and consulting. “As our farm management service has grown, so has the need for additional farm and land services that are of benefit to all landowners,” said Jeffrey Hignight.
Glaub Farm Management has strived to provide high-quality services while serving as a valuable resource and information center for landowners. The company's core mission is to assist landowners in developing, implementing, and achieving their ownership goals.
“Ted and I are excited about the future of GFM and the benefits of direct farmland ownership as an inflation hedge, portfolio diversification, stability, and competitive returns compared to other investments like stock/bonds,” Jeffrey said. “Over the past ten years, we have worked tirelessly to find new technologies and improve techniques and tools that add value to clients.” Doing so has also led to the hiring of Sam King two years ago and Jim Tubbs last year. Sam brings a unique skill set of GIS technology and applications while Jim brings a wealth of knowledge in finance and farm business planning.
Like all businesses, there are new challenges as well as unwavering core principles that boil down to understanding the goals and objectives of our clients. Most often, this is a discussion so we can discover their goals and develop an implementation plan to meet those objectives. For Ted, the most meaningful part of his career has been providing the income needs and objectives of clients, improving their asset value, and allowing the farm to stay in the family. “I always enjoy giving someone a chance to farm,” he added. “This includes beginning farmers as well as working with more than one generation of farmers and landowners.”
Although the company values have not changed, technology certainly has. In five minutes we can learn more about a particular property from the office than what could be collected in a full day 30 years ago—and yet, while technology helps, laying eyes on the land and “kicking dirt” provides real insight into a farm and its potential along with analyzing the operation. With so much more information available now, one of our challenges is data overload and the analysis time required to siphon through it all to make informed decisions.
As with technology, agriculture will continue to change, and we must have both the flexibility to adapt and the desire to keep learning. “The old economic theory that in the long term there is no economic profit in producing commodities remains true,” said Ted. “Thus, we must continue to gain an advantage in production efficiency or market advantage. With cost price margins getting tighter, we have to make adjustments faster than ever before, but one thing remains constant— the rewarding feeling when you see a farm improve and all parties are made better.
"We are proud to celebrate our 30th anniversary in business and are extremely grateful to our clients who have placed their trust in us over the last three decades. We look forward to continuing to serve them and new clients for many years to come."
