Each new year in farming presents farm leaders with “unknowns”. There are many when it comes to the crop your own operation will grow that year. What will the weather be like and how will it impact the crop? What else will happen that impacts yield? What decisions will be made about crop applications throughout the growing season and what impact will they have?

Then, there are also the unknowns of the “bigger,” global picture. What will the U.S. crop end up looking like as a whole? What about production throughout the world? What else is going to impact the commodity markets this year? What will impact the farm with regard to government policies – and politics?

Get unstuck

A farm leader can easily begin to feel overwhelmed when thinking about all these questions and potential situations. And that can make it tougher to make decisions. All of the unknowns start to add up and leaders can feel paralyzed or stuck.

In the spring, it can particularly feel this way, when very little is known about your own crop and the global situation. There’s hope and optimism in springtime, but there can also be feelings of uncertainty that may expand as the growing season progresses.

Know that you’re probably going to have some of these thoughts and feelings during the growing season – basically, that it’s normal. Then, you can work to set them aside as much as possible and look at your operation through the lens of leadership. This means focusing on what you do know, what you can control, and what you can do about it.

Three ideas

During the growing season – and beyond – one aspect that can cause a great deal of anxiety for farm leaders is the markets and making marketing plans. Separating the unknowns, looking at what you can control and taking action can become easier with the support of a market advisor.

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