Fall 2016

LAND / Profile
“I found that I wanted to get back to operating a farm, but on a
larger scale,” Hepler says. “I wanted to see what it was like to
operate farms throughout the U.S. and outside the country.”
After a brief stint at Monsanto, Hepler went to work for
Lehndorff Management in Dallas in 1978, where he managed
22,000 acres of farmland in four states. Next was Foxley Cattle
Company in Omaha, where he led the development of 15,000
acres of Nebraska Sand Hills grassland into an irrigated farm
operation, which is still in existence today. He then transitioned
into managing the construction and operation of the largest
beef confinement feedlot in the U.S.
Since then, Hepler has never looked back.
From 1987 to 2008, as founding partner at Westchester Group,
he brought his on-farm insights and management experience
to lead farm real estate sales and farm management throughout
the country. Then, after five years of leading the agricultural
portfolio at Wexford Capital, he went to work for Cottonwood
Ag Management (BMGI Investments), specializing in agricultural
investments ranging from permanent crops on the west coast to
vegetable production in the Southeast.
FROM FIELD TO C-SUITE
During his career, Hepler has sold, managed, or farmed in
39 different states, involving 49 different crops. He says that
staying ahead of the game has involved a diverse agriculture
knowledge and excellent communications skills.
“On my first day at Cottonwood, I flew to Valdosta, Georgia,
to oversee the management of a vertically integrated crop
production company that my company had just recently
acquired,” Hepler says. “The assignment required 24-7
management of 23 crops, and also managing the trucking,
farming, fertilizer business, and vegetable packing operations.
Above all, it required tremendous communications and people
skills. My day could start with having coffee in the field at 6:30
in the morning with farm employees, and then later in the day
communicating with corporate executives.”
With an increase in large investor owners, Hepler believes
there’s a strong need in the agriculture industry for
professionals with “real on-farm” management skills. While
Hepler has managed some of the country’s richest agricultural
land and largest direct farming operations, he points to the
American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers
(ASFMRA) as “one of my most valuable assets today.” Hepler
holds both the Accredited Farm Manager (AFM) and the
Accredited Agricultural Consultant (AAC) designations from
ASFMRA.
Hepler’s 35-year active involvement with the society has
included numerous committee assignments at both the state
and national levels, culminating into serving as President
from 2014–2015. He has also assisted in authoring several of
the consulting education courses and has been an ASFMRA
instructor for more than 20 years.
“The education opportunities within the society are second to
none, and the professional networking is incredibly valuable and
has contributed immensely to the success that I have had,” he
says. “I have so many instances when I have called up another
society member for a resource or a question, and their response
is always, ‘what can I do for you?’ And if they didn’t know the
answer, they knew who to call to get an answer.”
Hepler continues, “One of the concerns I have in our industry
is having an adequate supply of farm operators and managers
who are passionate about the business. For every three farmers
retiring today, only one younger person is stepping up to fill
the void. Organizations such as ASFMRA are vital to help us
keep building our industry so we can continue to expand
our world’s food production system to meet the demand of
feeding an estimated 9.6 billion people projected to be on the
Earth by 2050.”
CONTINUED MISSION
On the home front, Hepler and his wife, Amy, spend much of
their time off traveling to visit their three daughters and six
grandchildren. He plans to continue his involvement in the
mission to help those that are less fortunate by continuing to
prepare breakfasts for the homeless.
Another passion, golfing, may have to wait awhile; Hepler says
he is enjoying his current role at AgVictus Capital Management
working in farmland investments, where he continues to enable
and build more efficient food production systems.
“It’s a challenging ag environment today, but to me whenever
there’s a challenge there is always an opportunity,” Hepler
says. “I like the opportunities that I have today. The world is
my market.”
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