Reinvesting in Your Operation: Maximizing ROI

In this episode of the SwineTime podcast, host Dr. Spencer Wayne sits down with Damon Vander Maten, Director of FarmBooks at Pipestone, to dig into one of the biggest questions farm families face: When is the right time to reinvest in your farm assets?

Damon brings extensive experience analyzing farm financials, helping producers make sense of balance sheets, debt loads, cash flow, and long-term planning. Together, Spencer and Damon walk through practical, down-to-earth ways farmers can evaluate whether to repair, replace, or rebuild barns and other infrastructure—and how to decide which part of a multi-enterprise operation (pigs, cattle, crops, etc.) deserves capital first.

Key topics include:

• How to know if you’re financially ready to invest, using simple rules of thumb like matching your percent equity to your age.
• Prioritizing repairs vs. new construction, and why you should fix barns before they start hurting production.
• Comparing returns across your operation—hog barns vs. crops vs. cattle—and how to identify where capital truly pays off.
• Using financial ratios like current ratio and debt-to-equity to understand your “purchasing power.”
• Market cycles and timing, including why down years often present the best opportunities for expansion.
• Build, remodel, or rent? Damon breaks down how to compare the real return on each option.

Whether you’re a producer weighing your next building project or simply trying to better understand your own financial position, this conversation offers clear, approachable guidance on managing farm assets with confidence and long-term vision.