Planning… Might Just Be The Most Critical Key to Farming Better
Have you ever got to the end of your day and thought, what’s next?
Seasons and cycles are evident in many parts of agricultural production. From the calendar to the weather and the markets and tax years, the next phase will arrive. Plants have growth stages and livestock have reproduction cycles. Families have generations and equipment manufacturers have model numbers. Patterns exist that repeat themselves. If we do not plan and prepare for the next season, we will not be ready. Planning allows us to prepare for the coming cycle instead of reacting when it arrives.
Planning ahead will often result in better results and lower overall cost to the operation. Having all your equipment serviced and desired inputs on hand before spring comes is a great example. Have you ever had to settle for a seed variety that was not ideal in May, that could have been acquired in February? Could you have pre-purchased fertilizer in December at a better price than was available in April? Even the simplest of basic Ag cycles include planning in the phases.
A key part of successful planning often occurs when the last batch of finished livestock is sold, or crops were harvested. Knowing and documenting results from your last harvest can help with how you handle your next batch or crop. Record keeping is a valuable tool in planning. Computers and electronics have made record keeping much easier, especially on recovering data. Use the system that is best for you, and you are comfortable with. The information we have been able to capture and utilize in our management efforts have not only made us more productive, but also more complex. The following chart on the Precision Agriculture Cycle focuses much more on information, planning and decision making than our grandparents’ efforts on the actual tasks of farming.
Many proactive tools are now available to assist in planning, many of which have been improved and refined. Soil sampling your fields is a very valuable tool and grid sampling has made the practice even better. Tissue sampling in crops and feed sampling in livestock both help us to plan for deficiencies and adjust.
While planning cannot always prevent negative things from happening it certainly reduces surprises. You may have heard me quote Randy Dowdy saying, “Control the Controllables”. Do your best at controlling what you can! If it cannot be controlled try to react or respond quickly, but don’t lose sleep over the things you cannot control.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, comes to mind with planning. I have put together a short list of a few things that may improve with planning:
Pre-Season vs In-Season Service Work
Early Order Discounts vs In-Season Pricing
Emergency Vet Work vs Regularly Scheduled Visits
Overnight Parts Shipping vs Regularly Scheduled Parts Orders
Estate Planning & Business Transition Plan vs Unplanned Partner Exit
Off Season Grid Sampling vs In-Season Nutrient Deficiency Applications After Stress is Evident
Post Harvest Irrigation Investment vs Ordering Pivots for A Stressed Crop in a Dry Field
Year-End Tax Planning vs Extensions Carrying into Next Season
Put Your Marketing Plan Together and Seek Options Before Harvest, or Even Before Planting
Mapping out your growth plan with carefully placed facilities or fighting through bottlenecks and traffic flows with limited space
Good planning and thinking ahead will not only improve your bottom line but will likely reduce your stress, which will probably add to making more good decisions. It will very likely improve your vendor relationships too! There are good reasons why industry groups and supply chain meetings are generally held in the off season. Good farmers are planning and making decisions for the next season.
Just because the above discussion was primarily focused on the annual calendar, don’t forget some cycles take longer. Things that will impact your farm for many years or even generations. Equipment that lasts years or even decades or longer-term facilities should include more than one season of planning data. Land acquisitions and generational business transitions certainly deserve more than a few crop or livestock seasons worth of input data. Utilize your downtime from actual day-to-day farming activities to spend as the farm manager. Gather data, plan and make sound decisions. You might just be surprised how valuable that time spent is worth!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pete is the marketing manager for Michigan Valley Irrigation, having joined the company in 2016. He was raised on a dairy farm in western New York and graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in agricultural economics. His entire working career of over 37 years has been involved in agriculture. A farmer helping farmers. When away from Michigan Valley he operates, Joyful Noise Farm, a small livestock and produce farm and spends time with his family.
