Every Family and Farm Have a Story

Why Is the Story Important? Remember sitting at a family gathering and hearing family members share stories from their childhood or grandpa sharing stories when you visited. Different times of the year brought different memories to mind. Some repeated often, even to the point of being annoying. Until the person was not there to share them anymore then the value of those stories soared. At that point, the details were lost if not written down and questions came to mind that could no longer be answered. The details a necessary piece of the farm and family puzzle. History, especially items talked about the least, played a crucial role in people’s actions and possibly the farm’s history because for farm families it’s all intertwined. Understanding the history helps us address and work through the tough stuff as well as embrace the victories. But I’m Not Family Farmers have an incredible close tie to their farm. After all, the farm is where both family and farm have happened. Transitioning a farm outside of the family can feel a bit like betraying one’s family and the sweat equity everyone who came before them put into it. Therefore, even if you’re not family, it’s important for you to embrace the topic and learn all you are able to about the roots of the farm you want to take over. You are the only one who can ensure the farmer and farm family that the history of the farm will not be lost at the signing of a sales agreement. It’s at this crossroad that you realize you must invest in the history of the farm as well as the land and buildings in order to have a successful farm transition. An Impact to Work Through The tough stuff is likely the things that had the largest unspoken impact on a farm. A very traumatic death of a child during birth in days when counseling was not available. The only recognition flowers lovingly placed on the baby’s grave every Memorial Day. A small marker placed on the grave in later years when money was available or maybe when the farmers realized the need to publicly acknowledge the loss. The couple lost one child; they could not bear losing another. Thus, when their only child, a son, shared an incredible job opportunity with a large farm he was told if he left the family farm he could never return. Realistically they would have welcomed him back with open arms but instead they gave a tough front, and that young man lived his life with an underlying regret and anger issue because of it. Understanding the challenges previous generations faced create opportunities for empathy, healing and ensuring the hurts are laid to rest and negative cycles broken. Celebrate the Positive Impact Grandchildren loved the stories shared by others about their grandparents. The animals they purchased from them and stories of farm visits. A plethora of the people still in the ag industry today, remembering a positive start made possible by one family farm. The positive stories give reason to celebrate and encourage the next generation of farm stewards to develop a mission not only for the farm but also a plan to positively impact people in a way that best fits the next generation. Skipping family and farm stories leaves a missing piece in the transition puzzle.,

Work Life Balance

We just finished our farmers’ market season. We are ready for a break. A break from extra early Saturday mornings and my husband working every night restocking the market trailer after working outside on the farm all day. I often spend evenings entering inventory or writing the newsletter. Therefore, the title of an old article I ran across struck me as important and something we could use a refresher course on. The article was about work life balance. It’s hard for those of us that come from what I refer to workaholic families. The unspoken rule was the more work you do the better. Family vacations could be counted on one hand with fingers left. This is not a good habit nor is never leaving the farm something to be proud of. Let me share what I learned from the article Robert Milligan of Dairy Strategies LLC wrote. Robert suggested four reasons for working “too” much. Our financial status doesn’t allow opportunity to hire sufficient labor to enable us to work reasonable hours. No one else is capable of doing the work we do. Time working is more urgent, even though not more important. There is nothing important to do in non-work time. The first reason is a challenge for many, but it’s also used to justify the next two reasons. The last reason often happens because while we’re young and able to handle all the physical labor farming requires. We don’t realize the need for hobbies and off farm activities. Sometimes we must force ourselves to get off the farm to develop other interests and nurture hobbies. It’s important to do so in order to develop interests before we don’t have other things to pursue when we need to slow down because our bodies can’t keep up with farming or it’s time to transition the farm. Those of us who work too much believe subconsciously or consciously, or unintentionally or intentionally that we are the only ones that can do the job right. We need to get past this challenge. Here are four suggestions we can learn from: Make Life Balance a Priority Steve Covey (Seven Habits of Highly Successful People) developed a four-quadrant rectangle, which included: 1. Quadrant of crisis, the goal is to reduce the time spent on these items. 2. Quadrant of Quality, the goal to expand the time spent on these items. It includes everything important but not currently urgent. The quadrant includes many work activities such as leadership, management, training, coaching, and professional development. It also includes much of our personal/family time. Two other quadrants include: 3. Quadrant of Deception and 4. Quadrant of Waste. This is where unimportant activities are located. Items we are doing that do not have value or are wasteful of our time. These can be eliminated. Success requires expanding the time available for Quadrant 2 activities. This is done by making these items a priority, by setting aside time in our schedule for these things. The first step is the hardest, start small and expand the time little by little. Remembering time management is not about time but about priorities. Plan for Life Balance We need to be off work at 5 pm to meet family obligations or evening meal but always work an extra hour or more because there are always uncompleted tasks that need to be completed. Many of us do that, we work too much because we don’t have a plan to do otherwise. Some ideas to help in this instance are: Outline what needs done. Determine what can reasonably be done in the time available. Complete high priority tasks only we can do first, even if they are tasks we tend to avoid. Delegate tasks to others. Become more efficient with work time. Train Others to Complete Some of Your Tasks Employee management, failing to recognize employee capabilities can be a huge area potential loss on a farm. Sharing responsibilities spreads the burden of tasks to be completed over a larger group of people. Stop focusing on the weaknesses of employees and look for the strengths and potential. Based on employee strengths and potential, select one task you currently do that one or more employees can successfully complete. Develop a plan: Create employee(s) excitement for the task Provide required training Establish performance expectations Coach and provide feedback, including comparing actual and expected performance expectations. When the employee is successfully managing the task, select another task to transfer from our task list. Not only are we freeing up more time for Quadrant 2 activities, including personal time, but we are also increasing productivity and job satisfaction of our employees as we trust them with the activities. Enhanced Personal Efficiency Sometimes stepping away from an activity is the best way to become refreshed to return and accomplish what needs to be done. While working through long days and nights without a break creates burnout. Failing work life balance also creates a very inefficient work style. The next time we just can’t go anymore get off the farm and do something, anything to create more work life balance. We will come back to the task refreshed and renewed, even if it’s a short break. Good work life balance makes a person more efficient at work and happier in life. It’s like a lot of things we know we should do but often don’t take time. Its time work on creating a better balance for the sake of our family, our farm and ourselves.   

The Invasives Creep Up on Us

Every time I glanced at my flower bed; I saw them. Yet others didn’t. An invasive flowering plant had gotten away from me. Very early in the season I pulled some out, but I was in a hurry and didn’t get them all. Short on time I let it go. I knew I should address the issue by setting time aside to free my flower garden of them, but I didn’t. This morning as I was finally removing the invasive flower, I realized I had a very pretty lily that was almost snuffed out by the invasive. Thankfully it still has a few small blooms and was uncovered in time for the plant to regain its strength. As I was pulling weeds and the overgrown invasive the wise words of a renowned farm succession expert rang in my head. Attorney John Baker of Iowa State Beginning Farmer Center, often remarked, “You have what you put up with.” A simply yet profound statement of truth. Farm Invasives Not all of the invasives are in farm fields, hedgerows, or forests. They can be found in the financials, equipment, structures, employees, working relationships, family members and family dynamics, to name a few. They are items that we “put up with,” avoid addressing or ignore. However, as with all invasives the issues grow bigger and out of control if left go. Examples include: 1. Financials It often starts unintentionally when savings or personal funds are tapped to pay the bills. Thinking next year, we’ll catch up and get back on track. Debt increases and the conversations around farm financials are tense. It could be financials have never been a strong point but we’re too proud to ask for help. 2. Equipment Farm equipment can present safety hazards. Unaddressed safety hazards are accidents waiting to happen. Accidents harm people, livestock, equipment and result in potential for legal action. Time and dollars spent fixing farm equipment prevent down time when you most need the equipment, time spent in court or heaven forbid lifetime regret of loss of life. If the hazard cannot be fixed, it may be time to develop a plan to replace the equipment. 3. Structures Farms often have a wide array of structures from historic to newer and the challenges are as varied as the buildings. It’s easy to let building issues go because they are lower on the project list. Be careful the issues don’t become safety hazards or prevent the building from functioning as it should to safely hold livestock, feed stuffs, or equipment. 4. People Issues The messiest invasive of all are people issues. There may be communication challenges including personality struggles or conflict resolution issues. It may be a learned defensiveness or wall that’s been put up as the result of an abusive professional or personal relationship. There may be a toxic relationship among family members or employees that has gone unaddressed. Remember you have what you put up with and it’s time to deal with the issues and set boundaries. Bad behavior is unacceptable behavior. Removing the Invasives The first step is acknowledging the issue(s) we have to admit there is a problem in order to deal with it. Working together with others on the farm to address financials, equipment and structure problems will spread the burden and creative thinking among many people and often results in the best potential solutions. The best option for the farm may be the hardest to accept. The best option may require transitioning farm enterprises to a more financially feasible enterprise for the farm. A piece of grandpa’s farm equipment may need to be replaced because it’s too dangerous and someone is going to get hurt. A farm building from the 1930’s may have outlived the remodels and need replaced. Working together the farm team can determine the best options for the farm. The Root of the Problem If people issues are the root of the problem, they need dealt with first. If inappropriate actions have been accepted in the past it will take time and patience to change. Addressing issues one on one may be the best place to start. We may uncover someone dealing with personal issues/crises and the frustration from those are spilling over on the farm or vice versa. The person may not realize their words or actions are negatively impacting others and the farm. Things may also be addressed in the group setting of a farm meeting. The best way to ensure all know behavior expectations is to provide meeting guidelines and follow them. Reminders may be required throughout the meeting until everyone gets used to the new protocol. A prop may be used to ensure everyone is heard during the meeting. For example, if one person tends to dominate the meeting, pass around a small stress ball or other object and the person in possession of the item has the floor and the rest of us listen. Once they are done speaking the object is passed on to the next person. This also gives a voice to those who normally don’t speak up. Everyone listens to learn while others are speaking. The meeting facilitator or leader should remind people there are not any wrong answers and we should use our listening skills to learn other points of view. It will require practice to adjust but the method works. The Beauty of an Invasive Free Farm The best results occur when invasives are removed root and all. It’s also the most challenging method. Don’t get overwhelmed by the immensity of the issues. Set aside time to focus on one invasive at a time. As everyone’s voices are heard and positive results seen we will be motivated to continue the process to address other farm challenges. One step at a time we can get rid of invasives and renew farm vigor.