Subscribe to receive top agriculture news
Be informed daily with these free e-newsletters
Use these four ideas to create learning plans for winter.
3 Min Read
Getty/iStockphoto
When you’re stepping into a new leadership role on the farm – or if you hope to one day in the future – then the winter off season holds a unique opportunity for you.
Taking some time now to create a plan to up your learning and leadership game this winter can make a big difference in your farming career – and ultimately, to your operation. The off-season on the farm is a great opportunity to learn more and step up your leadership – but only if you plan to use the time wisely and then follow your plan.
Where to focus
As a new or future farm leader, you already know from working on the farm that there are so many different aspects of the operation that you could work to learn more about or skills that you could work on building.
I want to challenge you to focus your thinking about that a little further – down to the aspects of the operation that could potentially have the greatest impact if you learned more about them and put that knowledge to work. This usually means moving outside of your comfort zone (which for most farmers means production-related topics) and toward the business side of your operation.
If you are working with a current leader in your operation, make sure to talk with them about ideas and specific areas or topics that they think would be valuable for you to learn more about.
If you’re already in the leadership role but are new to it (less than five years in), consider working with a mentor – a more seasoned farm leader with a successful operation of their own – and get their advice and thoughts on where your time would be best spent.
Four ideas
Here are four ideas of different mindsets and skills that new and future farm leaders would be wise to work on building this winter.
Financial literacy skills. This one is so important that it’s at the top of the list. Learning to understand and also speak the same “language” as your lender is key. It can make for much better and easier communication with them, not to mention helps increase their confidence in you as CEO or future CEO of your operation. Make sure to learn how to read, understand and use your farm’s financial statements, including the balance sheet and P&L (profit and loss) statement.
Communication and people management. Most farmers, as they move toward a leadership or CEO role in the operation, will find that more of their work involves working through others (employees or others on the farm) to get things done rather than doing tasks themselves. Investing now in learning more about communication styles and the art of managing people is time well spent for a new or future farm leader. One model, known as PCM (Process Communication Model), can be a great help to better understand both yourself and others.
Adaptability and flexibility. These mindsets are critical for a farm leader. It’s so important to create plans because the process of planning itself helps leaders consider the range of what might actually happen. Then, the next step is taking a mindset of adaptability because the situation you’re dealing with as a leader can change so quickly.
Marketing plans and tools. One of the areas many farmers say they want to learn more about is how to create strong marketing plans and how to use a variety of different marketing tools. Plan to spend some time this winter working with an advisor on how to put together a solid, adaptable marketing plan and to learn more about different marketing tools.
Let’s get it started
Our team of market advisors partner with and bring education around different marketing tools. They help farmer clients with creating plans and with execution around marketing decisions.
Get a free two-week trial of our marketing information service (MarketView Basic). Your trial includes regular audio and video updates, technical analysis, recommendations and more. Or learn more about our market advisor programs and offerings at www.waterstreetconsulting,com.
The opinions of the author are not necessarily those of Farm Futures or Farm Progress.
About the Author(s)
You May Also Like
Enter a zip code to see the weather conditions for a different location.
Recommended
Aug 27 - Aug 29, 2024
Aug 27 - Aug 29, 2024
The nation’s largest outdoor farm event that annually hosts over 600 exhibitors from around the world.
LEARN MORE