My dad was what you might call a math whiz. He could run large numbers in his head before anyone had time to pull out a calculator.

Perhaps it was trudging uphill in 6 feet of snow to and from country school that sharpened Dad’s mind. Whatever the reason, I didn’t inherit Dad’s mathematical prowess. I became an English professor and writer more comfortable communicating through words than numbers.

When the running of our family farm was passed down to me, it wasn’t the slew of new industry contacts or the complexities of soil science that I found intimidating. It was ALL THAT MATH.

Story problems like, “If Farmer Jerry has 360 acres of corn and 270 acres of soybeans, how many planted acres does he have?” are deceptively simple. It takes a lot more number crunching than just counting acreage to calculate potential crop yields and how much bang for his buck Farmer Jerry can expect for his efforts.

Some folks with “math anxiety” opt for a farm manager to ease their woes. But that wasn’t the right choice for me. I subscribe to the “it’s better to teach yourself how to fish” school of thinking. Plus, it’s risky to hand over control of your operation when you lack the wherewithal to check somebody else’s work.

From one math-challenged nonfarm heir to another, here’s what I have learned six years in:

1. Farming is a numbers game. Like it or not, farms are businesses grounded in numbers. No matter the warm fuzzies we feel when looking out on our operations, the books have to balance — preferably in our favor.

Holding on to a romantic view of the family farm while ignoring the bottom line is like congratulating yourself on a job well done from the end rows. Seasoned farmers know to venture beyond the tidy exterior to see what lies within.

2. Farmers have to “read” the numbers. During my first year of farm management, I focused on organizing the ongoing onslaught of data. By year two, I was teaching myself how to “read” the numbers.

Output (production) minus input (expenses) equals income — not counting big costs spread out over time like the purchase of a new tractor or (gulp) a monthly loan payment for land.

Commodity prices (including basis, which is cash price minus futures price) feed into decisions about how much to sell and when or whether to pay storage and drying fees.

Every number thickens the plot of a larger story featuring moving players like Brazil or China and edge-of-your-seat action kicked up by everything from weather to wars. It’s hard to turn away once you start paying attention to the twists and turns unraveling at home and abroad. Just when you think you know what’s going to happen next, all those projections drift away like pollen on a spring day.

3. Farm math isn’t a one-and-done skills set. Developing a knack for farm math takes time. And the learning never stops.

During Dad’s final months, he devoured Curt Ferguson’s financial advice here in Prairie Farmer and tuned into This Week in Agribusiness on RFD. We hopped in the pickup for lunch seminars (with raffle prizes!) at local elevators.

Following by example, I keep up with industry news and enroll in the occasional virtual webinar focusing on land values and market trends. En route to my office, I scan cash bids on my phone and check in with our operators to hash out the day’s numbers.

It would take me many lifetimes to rival my father’s mathematical acuity. So these days, I’m counting the small wins.