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Recharge, plan and sharpen skills this winter off-season.

Darren Frye, CEO

December 12, 2022

3 Min Read
three grain bins in the winter
Getty/iStock/knapjames

When it comes to the farm’s winter off-season, here are three things the farm’s leader will want to pencil in.

Recharge it

The first is some well-deserved vacation time. Once fieldwork is wrapped up for the season, taking some time away can be a great idea – and that’s beneficial both for the farmer and for the farm business. Why? Because time to recharge your battery away from the operation can help with destressing from a long, busy year with the added benefit of greater creativity and productivity when you return.

Often, time away is what you really need in order to get back to the challenges of your business with renewed energy and fresh ideas – because you usually gain a different perspective simply from distance.

Your business will benefit even more if you decide to put your successor leader in charge while you’re gone – in charge of everything. That can help serve as a trial run for their future leadership – and if they really need your help with a decision, you’re just a phone call or text away.

Plan it

The next item is getting solid business, financial and marketing plans in place for the 2023 crop year. If you haven’t started these already, now is the time to get your 2022 numbers solidified and to start creating those 2023 projections.

Work with your advisors to create good projections and then work on scenario planning for the 2023 crop year. This will give you the best opportunity to get marketing plans going and take advantage of whatever the market may bring in 2023 – and beyond.

Sharpen it

Finally, consider choosing an area of learning to focus on this winter to sharpen your farm business skills. When you select something as an area of focus, you can prioritize growing in those skills all winter long. Here are a few ideas to consider when choosing what your focus will be.

Think about what your operation needs most from you as the leader. What are the things only you can do for your farm? What are the types of decisions that you’re the only one making right now (or in conjunction with other leaders)?

What types of skills – if you boosted them – would make the biggest difference for your farm operation in 2023? Those are a few ideas to begin thinking about.

Once you’ve selected something, look for multiple avenues to pursue learning about it. For example, if you choose to learn more about marketing tools and how to use them, search for a couple different ways to learn – perhaps a winter seminar combined with one on one learning sessions with a market advisor who can help you dig into learning the tools further.

Or if you choose to work on leadership and management skills, you could attend a business conference – maybe even one that doesn’t necessarily focus on agriculture – to develop transferable leadership skills you can apply to leading your employees and your operation at a higher level.

Whatever you choose to focus your learning on this winter, be sure to wisely use the unique opportunity that’s found in the off-season.

2023 market opportunities

Are you working on 2023 marketing plans? Farmers have found that getting some third-party perspective from our market advisors has helped ease their minds. The advisors help farmer clients with planning and execution around marketing decisions and help keep them up to speed on the current rapidly-changing grain market situation – and how it impacts their operation.

Get a free two-week trial of our marketing information service (MarketView Basic). Your free trial includes regular audio and video updates, technical analysis, recommendations and more. Learn more about our market advisor programs and offerings at www.waterstreetconsulting.com.

About the Author(s)

Darren Frye

CEO, Water Street Solutions

Darren Frye grew up on an innovative, integrated Illinois farm. He began trading commodities in 1982 and started his first business in 1987, specializing in fertilizer distribution and crop consulting. In 1994 he started a consulting business, Water Street Solutions to help Midwest farmers become more successful through financial analysis, crop insurance, marketing consulting and legacy planning. The mission of Finance First is to get you to look at spreadsheets and see opportunity, to see your business for what it can be, and to help you build your agricultural legacy.

Visit Water Street Solutions

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