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the right way and at the right time to create high quality products at
minimum cost’. This means staying current and introducing timeous
changes, for example we need to build a better food bank to reduce
stress and costs incurred in feeding our livestock in the dry months so
we are looking to plant more grass pastures and a diverse cover crop.
The performance productivity of any business can be analysed by
asking questions like:
• Performance effectiveness – how am I reaching my business goals?
• Performance efficiency – what costs are incurred on the path of
achieving my goals?
A manager is the person who plans, organises, directs and controls
the allocation of human, material, financial and information resources
in pursuit of the business enterprise goals and if you are the farmer
that means YOU! How clinical and analytical are you as you plan your
farming activities? Are you gathering information, monitoring the
agricultural environment, measuring the performance of your labour,
your vehicles and implements, your fields? How much critical think-
ing are you bringing to your farming?
Disrupting old familiar patterns in the agriculture sector
Sometimes change is gentle and of one’s own choosing, for exam-
ple, perhaps we need to bring a third crop into our crop rotation
system or perhaps we need to hire another field to get better rota-
tions going; but there are more times when the need for change is
so much ‘in your face’ that it is uncomfortable and very challenging.
None of us ever invited droughts or climate change into our lives but
we sure have to confront the issues and adapt our farming systems
to better cope with these challenges.
It is easy to simply say no to change but not necessarily wise
Make sure your reasons are not just excuses and an attempt to stay
in an old familiar comfort zone: I don’t have enough time; there is not
enough money; I am too old to change; I don’t know how to; how do
I know it will be worthwhile … change requires courage.
How many times have we not had to face new schools
of thought in the agricultural sector?
In the 40 years we have been farming we have had to absorb many
changes, new technologies, changes in consumer demands, better
systems, pressures on performance in the face of declining profit-
ability; changes in insurance plans and financing opportunities. Then
we hear:
• ‘Bigger is better’ – does this mean my small farming operation is
impractical or unsustainable?
• ‘Minimum tillage’, ‘no – tillage’, ‘conservation tillage’ – the new
buzz word is ‘regenerative farming’; – which one is right for me?
Which one can I afford?
• ‘Climate smart farming’ – I am a small-scale farmer; how do I adapt
to climate smart farming? Who knows what’s best in my region?
Who do I listen to?
CONCLUSION
Take courage and recognise that pressure to change is ever-present.
Not everything has to change. We do however need to network,
educate ourselves, plug in to the expert opinions and recognise
that adaptation in many forms is integral to the life and work of a
farmer. Successful and dynamic farmers are essential to building our
country. Developing both as an individual and in one’s farming is a
constant and necessary force. Being willing to listen, learn and
change is the beginning of success. And a final thought: ‘Yesterday I
was clever so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise so I am
changing myself!’
Being willing to listen, learn and change
is the beginning of success.
MADE POSSIBLE BY
THE MAIZE TRUST
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