I’m sure you have your own to-do list today as well. It might contain the following: feed the cows, clean the barn, repair the skid loader, read Progressive Dairyman.
Always caught up in the busywork, it can be hard to find time to focus on big-picture items. Determining how you will grow your business or transitioning the farm to the next generation are two big projects that cannot be done in an afternoon.
They will take a large amount of time to develop and accomplish. Time that is best split into small amounts and worked on a little bit each day.
As we focus on business planning in this issue, there are a number of articles throughout the magazine that can help you work on the next steps for your farm.
Click here to read as, Ann Hess shares a message from Damien McLoughlin, a professor at UCD Smurfit School of Business, urging farmers to think outside the box when it comes to creating the future of their business.
Do your future plans include acquiring more land? Elaine Froese says it is never too early to begin cultivating a relationship with landowners next door to your farm. In her article, she urges farmers to make time for these discussions on a regular basis. If farm transition is also on the horizon, don’t forget to include the next generation in these talks. Click here to read.
While developing relationships with the neighbours, don’t neglect the relationships on your own farm. The merging of multiple generations is not easy. It takes time and effort, and it should be worked on long before the assets are transitioned.
Tom Verhoog and his son, Mike, at Sutom Holsteins in Ontario realized the importance of this step and have enlisted the help of a mediator to better facilitate how they work together. Read this article (click here) to learn from their first-hand experiences.
Utilizing a third party can help farm families work through complex issues like transition and business planning. Mark Junkin, a management consultant who works with farms every day, tries not to overcomplicate business planning.
In fact, he says, “I believe that every farm should have their business plan framed and hung above the toilet.” His article (click here to read) will help producers see that a well-crafted, simple document can be just as effective, if not more so, as a “big, fancy 20-page business plan.”
Another great resource can be those farms and businesses that have already been through a transition. Click here to read how, Jerry Kozak provides four simple steps he found made the transition for his retirement from the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) in the U.S. a smooth process.
There can be many resources to help with planning the future of a farm business, but the biggest one of all is time. As you sit down to make your New Year’s resolutions, I encourage you to have one that reads, “Take time to plan and execute the next step for my farm.” PD
- Karen Lee
- Editor
- Progressive Dairyman magazine
