Keep the long-term vision up front. Does your farm have long-term goals or a long-range plan in place? Are those goals and plan documented? Does your farm have a way to track progress toward those goals? Creating a way to visualize the goals and the farm’s progress toward them can be a powerful reminder – for everyone in the operation – of what you’re ultimately working toward. It’s also a good way to keep the long-term front and center, even in a busy or uncertain time period. Regularly talking about the farm’s long-term goals and progress with employees and others in the operation is another way to help everyone keep the future in mind.

Look at future impact of today’s decisions. As much as possible, try to analyze and quantify (if possible) the future impact of the decisions you’re currently making in the operation. This is best done with the major business decisions you’re needing to make while uncertainty is in the picture. Take a look at how decisions now affect the farm’s key metrics – and consider any goals you have in place for making progress in those metrics. Doing this may or may not ultimately change your decision in a major way, but taking the time to weigh out the possibilities and look at the bigger impact on your operation can help as you evaluate priorities.

Remember your “why.” This might seem simple, but keeping a focus on why you chose farming as a career and what you’re most passionate about can help bring a bit more future-based outlook during stressful and uncertain times. Thinking regularly about why we farm helps put our mind in a different place and can bring a broader perspective to today’s challenges and problems.