On the farm, the leader has so much to pay attention to and so many different hats to wear. At any given moment, the farm’s leader can be called on to serve in several roles – and then needs to be able to switch back and forth between all of them seamlessly.

This is a tall order for any business leader, but I think it can be amplified on the farm. Leading a farm operation requires us to know about so many different areas and subjects for our farm to run smoothly.

Add that to the reality that most farm leaders typically start out with a background focused on production. Often, making the shift into managing all the other aspects of the operation can be overwhelming, especially for a newer leader.

Future focused

One of these key roles of the farm leader is to, along with the farm’s other main stakeholders, envision the farm’s future – one year, five years, ten years out – and then be able to communicate and execute that vision with and through everyone on the farm.

Sometimes it can be tough to imagine that future at all, especially during a tough year, as well as in the aftermath of those times. But that’s when it’s especially important as a leader to have a clear vision of the future and be able to communicate it to the other people on your farm.

Often, what’s holding us back from the success we want to see in our operation isn’t necessarily what we might first think or assume it is. It’s important as a leader to take time to step back, look at the big picture of the operation and do some serious thinking about what needs to change so we can reach the success we want.

Moving forward

Here are a few questions to ask yourself while you consider what you really want for your operation this year, the future you envision, and how you’re going to get there.

One area where farm leaders often say they want to have more success is in creating and executing effective marketing plans for their operation. A step you can take toward that goal today is talking with our market advisors.

The opinions of the author are not necessarily those of Farm Futures or Farm Progress.