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Seeking direction

Changes in family demands, labor make now a good time to consider priorities.

Kyle Stackhouse 2

February 28, 2020

2 Min Read
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Last week Mom and Dad were both in Phoenix for a conference. Both of them came home sick. While they were gone, my plan was to get caught up on office work. I had mostly finished the financial and tax work before I got sick. It took a full week before I started to get back on course.

Yesterday, I sent information to my banker and my accountant. Today, I hope to get caught up on some of the phone calls and messages from the last week. I still need to return to seed, fertilizer, and herbicide planning. This stuff needs to get done ASAP! I’m fearful the seed plan may get turned on its head as we are due to receive a second set of seed quality tests this week.

We’re also taking a hard look at what direction we want the farm to be going. After nearly a decade, our hired man quit a couple weeks ago. Due to travel and illness, we haven’t have a chance for an exit interview. Nonetheless, we are contemplating what to do. Dad has told me he wants to slow down. Our kids’ activities seem to be demanding more time. We are working to figure out where the balance is between family, work, and the acres required to make a living.

Areas of discussion have included reducing tillage or adding more no-till (too late for this year, we chiseled a lot last fall), widening crop maturity to help ease fall labor demand and cutting low profitability acres. We are also considering labor options. It’s going to take some time to work through details, but we’ll also find out where our priorities are.

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

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