As a farm leader, you know it can often feel like there’s no shortage of challenges when it comes to running a farm operation. There are the daily challenges that are sometimes easily resolved. Often, these can be a nuisance, but you as the leader or someone else can get it figured out quickly.

Then, there are the tough, more persistent challenges that can come into play. These usually aren’t resolved as quickly and they typically require the time and attention of the farm’s leader or leadership team.

The reaction

Farmers seem to have a couple different reactions and mindsets when it comes to dealing with challenges on the farm – whether those are big or small. The first reaction might be the most common – it asks, “Why me?” or “Why do we always seem to have these problems?”

This is a pretty normal reaction. I think most of us find ourselves doing or saying that from time to time. But it doesn’t really help us solve the problem at hand. In fact, it takes away our power to solve the problem. It certainly doesn’t help us be more creative or flexible as we think about the challenge.

At the other end of the spectrum are farmers who say “Bring it on!” to challenges. This group may be a bit smaller. It might be that this is just part of the farmer’s personality, or that they’ve had quite a bit of experience farming and have dealt with many different challenges throughout their farming career. They might enjoy the process of encountering a challenge and finding a way to solve problems.

Related:The first step toward better farm decision-making

Flip the script

Most people don’t always either love or hate challenges on the farm – it’s more of a mix. Sometimes it can depend greatly on what the problem actually is, or which area of the farm operation is having challenges. It’s more of a case by case basis in terms of what the reaction will be.

I want to encourage you, whatever you may currently think about encountering challenges in your operation, to try a flexible, creative mindset when you come across a problem. If you find yourself asking, “Why does this always happen to me?” or some other disempowering question, try to ask yourself a different question right away, like “What opportunity do I have here to create a better solution or process?”

Good work

The truth is that it’s hard for most people to not feel discouraged or annoyed by challenges. But if you can flip it around and ask yourself different questions, you have the opportunity to make changes in your operation that can lead to a more efficient, better running farm. And that’s good work to be doing as the farm’s CEO.

Related:What’s your farm’s biggest challenge so far this year?

An area of the operation that can present challenges in many ways is marketing and merchandising. What opportunities do you have within the challenges you’re experiencing around marketing in 2020? You can talk with a market advisor for your farm about challenges around marketing plans.

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