Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1238445
18 Sugar Producer MAY 2020 Uncertainty. No matter where you look, you're bound to find it. This world is full of question marks, even for businesses that have been in the same family for several generations— and even for farmers, without whom the world's growing population would starve. On the surface, running a successful family farm may seem like a pretty reliable (though far from easy) gig. But is that necessarily true? Does success in the past portend success 10, 20 or 40 years from now? The folks at Aimpoint Research believe there's more to the story.. Founded by former Army intelligence officer Brett Sciotto, Aimpoint is a market research firm that blends practices from military intelligence disciplines with those of the consumer market research industry to gather what it calls "strategic intelligence" for companies, organizations and entire industries to succeed long term. Agriculture, it turns out, is a major focus of the company's work. "When I left the military and started this company," says Sciotto, "I wanted to continue to empower leaders in important industries. Agriculture is one of the most critical industries when you consider our national security." Over the course of 20 years of market research, Aimpoint observed that most entities in the agri-food vale chain were focused on a two- or three-year strategic planning process. That means, says Sciotto, that they're not looking nearly far enough on the horizon to understand what changes in regulations, consumer preferences, and the larger economy are coming and what those changes mean for them. "We believed," he says, "that if we could more deeply understand how the farmer/rancher universe was changing, we could provide the industry with a clearer view." In 2018, Aimpoint brought together a large collaborative group representing DOWN THE ROAD What does it take for a grower to achieve long-term success? Aimpoint Research's Farmer of the Future study aims to find out. By Tyrell Marchant "We should strive to welcome change and challenges, because they are what help us grow. … We need to constantly be challenging ourselves in order to strengthen our character and increase our intelligence. " –H.G. Wells, The Time Machine