Brainstorming Sessions Produce Profitable Ideas

Brainstorming Sessions Produce Profitable Ideas SPECIALTY/SERVICES Specialty/Services 2-6-14 Many farmers get their ideas from other farmers, but one of the best ways to do it we've seen is by "brainstorming", as practiced by a North Carolina crop and hog farmer. He's James Ferebee, Sr., of Shawboro, who farms in partnership with his son along the Atlantic coast in the northern part of the state. The Ferebees have been reclaiming lowland of the Dismal Swamp on the coast and were looking for new ideas in this pioneer venture. The senior Ferebee had served on a creative panel of a commercial company which was looking for outside ideas. He thought this might be just as good an idea for farmers, so he got together a group of his friends for a "brainstorming" session. "These were all people we knew," he says, "and we brought them in for an afternoon to talk. We had snacks and coffee in the office and then we went to work. After we were finished, we wound it up with a picnic." The Ferebees got ideas about land drainage, feeding, hog marketing and many other farm management jobs, and they felt it was well worth the time. But Ferebee offers one rule to anybody who would try this method. "The key to success is to tell everyone to make only positive comments. No idea, no matter how wild or crazy, should be turned down," he says.

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