As noted on page 1 of this website, my company is developing two food chain demonstration projects for the Omaha area, My two farms are at the center of these demonstrations.
As of this writing (November 2025) I am inviting farmland owners, elected officials, and food business owners and managers in the Omaha area to join us. These projects will including business planning, public information, and financing for scalable food chains that include farms and gardens, food processing, and distribution for Omaha area food service and grocery markets.
Leadership Responsibility
Farmland owners along with elected city and county officials and food business leaders are responsible for local food quality and food security . Farmland owners (like me) are responsible because we control the land. Elected officials are responsible by virtue of their leadership positions. Business leaders are responsible because they either own or manage parts of the food system, or because they provide financing, legal, and other essential services and inputs.
Step-By-Step Business Planning
We have started by inviting landowners near our farms to form “regenerative production units.” A production unit combines contiguous and nearby farms leased by the owners directly to a single operator. This cuts costs and builds economies-of-scale without buying or selling land.
Business plans for these “new farms” will include estimated savings from lower chemical, irrigation, equipment, and labor inputs. Lower unit costs will position the operators to negotiate better forward contracts for crops and livestock.
Production units will include housing for farmers and farmhands. Multiple production units positioned around major cities will increase landowner and producer household incomes from farming, and help stabilize taxes bases.
Non-Binding Planning Agreements
To begin, we are inviting landowners and farmers to discuss non-binding planning agreements. My two Omaha area farms will serve as open books demonstration projects for participating landowners and farmers.
Phase I
Phase I includes two main tasks. Task 1 centers on scheduling meetings and holding discussions with producers on converting conventional ground to regenerative methods and on the need for farmer-owned retail food brands. Also, farm and food industry organizations, local governments, and elected officials are being asked to host these meetings.
If there is sufficient interest, Task 2 begins with informal discussions with locally owned feeders, packers, and direct sellers of locally processed beef. The objective is to gather price estimates for selected products based on buyer requirements including volume, quality, and delivery dates. The project will end if landowner interest or buyer demand is weak.
Phase II
Next come preliminary business plans. These plans will include costs to convert conventional crop and cattle operations to regenerative and transitional organic production methods. Plans will include the costs of on-farm housing, local legal and accounting services, and periodic financial reports. Our accounting objective is track costs and income required to increase household incomes from farming.
Each landowner will receive a confidential business plan for her/his farm. Landowners will also receive a plan for the new production units. The data for the unit plan will come from the individual farm plans and from local market data – without identifying the individual farms. The farm and unit plans will show cost-of-production and income estimates for each crop, and for the selected beef operation.
Phase III
Once the preliminary business plans have been approved, our partners will invite experienced farmers to discuss production unit management and marketing positions. Interested producers will receive business plan summaries and applications for available positions. Massena Farms partners will review qualifications and recommend applicants to the landowners.
Phase IV
With preliminary business plans in hand, landowners and farmers will host public meetings with a goal of attracting local risk capital investors who are committed to contract negotiations. Risk capital investments are essential because smaller landowners and farmers cannot afford to take on debt to build local food infrastructure with the capacity to supply high-value commodity markets and farmer-owned food brands.
Investors can include individuals, private investment organizations, and publicly-funded economic development agencies. ROI for our company and its partners will come from a negotiated share of verified new farm income as determined by audited financial reports to landowners, farmers, and investors.
Contract negotiations will include landowners and farmers (with their local advisors) along with commodity buyers, direct sellers, and investors.
Project Reports
A brief report will be prepared at the conclusion to each planning phase. Taken together, these reports will show the distribution of projected capital and operating costs, revenues, and profits. If work is halted at any point due to lack of interest by landowners, buyers, or investors, a brief final report will be submitted to the funding organization(s).
Free Business Plans
If funds are available, we intend to offer free business plans to selected landowners and working farmers who are interested in organizing local production units and expanding existing or new direct sales projects.
As explained on page 4, we are building beef cow-calf operations into each production unit. Our Bennington, Nebraska and Massena, Iowa farms will serve as open books demonstrations sites for selected landowners and prospective production unit managers.
Please contact me to learn more.
Thank you.
Jim Steffen, President
Massena Corporation
402-317-2639
jim@massenafarms.com
Revised: 11-21-2025