Chris Blanchard: Making Your Farm Work for You

Hi there,

It hasn't been long since my last post, and for good reason!  I've been busy learning about the best management tools for market farmers, and compiling all of my notes to share.  Even if you're not into farming, I found many of the over-arching themes of my two days in Bonner Springs to be applicable to my own personal life and finances.  While I know that you probably won't be able to grasp as much as I did, I hope that these notes and reflections will make you think twice about your current organizational systems and future planning.

The best way I decided to organize my 19 pages for you was to create a list at the top of my typing of the most meaningful sentences I wrote.  I'll try not to go too in-depth on each one.  :)

You aren't entitled to the business you want--Seth Godin

Basically, farming is work.  It's not going to just be handed to you.  

Production without profit it just work.

I liked this because it made me think about not wasting my time.  Being more efficient about what you do is key.

Be a professional when it comes to farming.

Farming is a business, after all.  It's not just something we're all playing around with.  If you are, you're probably not making any money doing it.

Your biggest return on investment in farming is in quality of life.  If you want something that's dollar for dollar, you're in the wrong business.

When Chris said this, I felt like a light bulb went off in my head.  "So that's why you're so interested in this field!  You've always wanted to get more out of stuff, not settling for someone else's dreams.  You've been looking for meaningful work with people who could care less about how you look."  One of the things I love about farmers is that we judge each other by our work ethic.  Whatever I end up doing in life, that's the kind of environment I want to be in.

You must have a manic desire to get it right.

My inner perfectionist fell in love with this line.  You can't just hope that things will work themselves out.  There is too much that can go wrong in taking that position.  Put the necessary safeguards in place so that you're not the poor farmer.

Carve out areas of order.  Then move from one thing to the next.

I've been telling myself this all weekend as I've started re-organizing my desk space.  While it is not yet complete, I cleared off one area and it is my place of zen. :)

Money is energy, and you need that energy to do everything with your business.

As much as I may like to ignore the fact that you need money to do stuff, it's kind of unavoidable.  You might as well embrace the idea of having enough to cover your needs instead of focusing on finding that perfect commune where everyone's income is shared.  

Don't use things in ways they're not supposed to be used.

This will just create inefficiencies, wasted time, and lost money.

Any money spent to reduce labor costs is money well spent.

Courtesy of Greg Garbos, the famous Kansas City engineer.

Don't just plant stuff and see what happens.

That sounds as stupid as it is.  Yet people still do it.

If you can grow things well on a small scale, then you can grow things on a large scale.

Don’t expect your piece of new equipment to be profitable for you the first year you bought it.

There's always a learning curve with new tools, and this will be accounted for in your labor costs.  Don't doubt that it will come into play.

Collect, process, do.

This set of guiding principles is helpful for organizing all of the information that comes your way on a daily basis.  Use this rule of thumb instead of putting things in huge piles of "things to do later".  Create systems for yourself which become habit, and then it won't feel out of place from your normal routine.

Plan, monitor, control.

This one cannot be emphasized enough.  I can't tell you how many times Chris threw up a slide with one of these three words on it.  And for good reason.  Planning, the first step, ensures that there are goals/anticipated outcomes by which your success can be measured.  As the plan progresses, record what is happening.  Before things get out of hand, make small adjustments.  Repeat.

The more frequently you can make small corrections, the better off you'll be.

The most important things to talk about are the worst.

This applies to pretty much everything, which is why I like it so much.  Relationships, dealing with employees, etc.  Just because it's difficult doesn't mean you shouldn't do it.  You'll be much better off in the long-run.

Your biggest expense is labor, so focus on that when it comes to budgeting.

For most farmers, labor makes up 40-60% of their expenses.  That's a pretty big chunk to deal with, so focusing attention on your employees make a lot of sense.

Leave yourself a fudge factor.  You still have to buy groceries in June.  :)

A fudge factor of 30%, to be exact.  Chris said that when one of the farmers he interviewed gave him this advice, it was some of the best he had ever received.  

Build a business plan for yourself, not the bank.

It's not your job to impress the bankers.  It's your job to do what you love.

Have a new 5-year plan every year.

This relates to the plan, monitor, control idea.  Consistently re-evaluate what's occurring in comparison to what you set out to do.  Whether that's your happiness in what you're doing or expected yields, looking at the goals again will help you understand if you need to adjust.

Stress-test your budget.

Related to the fudge-factor idea, basically just design your year with some worst-case scenarios in place so that when shit really does hit the fan, you'll be alright.

Creating positive relationships is one of the best things you can do.

Speaking from the point of a management position.  The power of good relationships cannot be underestimated.

Make people feel like they're professionals. 

This was in reference to using tools.  I thought about my time as a housekeeper when Chris said this.  I remember the first time they bought us Magic Erasers after we asked for them, and it was like Christmas!  I was so excited to be able to clean the bathtubs effectively, and perform my work to the standards that I set for myself.  The same applies to being a farmer.  Having the right type of fork/shovel/hoe and knowing how to use it properly makes the work a lot less painful.

The people who put in place systems for when things didn't go right do best.

Again, fudge factors.

Stress degrades decision-making.

So stop stressing!  Find ways to control it before making your decisions.  Give yourself time to process what's going on.  Let it sink in for a moment, and then act.

Don't let tasks expand to fill available time.

I'm sure you can think of a time when something very simple suddenly became a much bigger undertaking than it should have been.  Categorize your tasks, and be realistic about how much time they will take.  Differentiate between tasks and projects.  Tasks will take 2 minutes or less.  Projects are anything that will take more than that.

Recognize that it's not your job to do everything better than others.  Learn to give the tools to them.

For perfectionists, this can be hard.  I think from personal experience I can say that it is much more rewarding to see the smile on someone's face after you have taught them to do something as well as yourself and get praise from someone else.  Without my job at Meadowlark estates I would never have known what that feels like.

Make people feel respected and that they will be rewarded for doing good work.

Again, being a good manager means that you treat people equally and make them feel appreciated.  The best managers I had gave me a raise or always said "Thank you for everything you do" with sincerity.  Even a "thank you" is enough to boost someone's confidence tenfold.

Take care of your health first.  No one else is going to do it for you.

For workaholics, this is a hard lesson to learn.  Life will go on if you miss a couple hours of work one week out of six months.

React in a way that will get you want in the long-term. 

In reference to emotional management.  Don't blow up in people's faces.  That will get you nowhere.

75% of the workforce reports that their immediate supervisor is the most stressful part of their job.

Just another reason to become a fantastic manager!

Retain employees!  It will save you money in the long-run.

For farmers specifically, even having someone come back to work a second summer will decrease labor costs a ton.  This is because you don't have to spend time re-training them.  Haha no wonder all my old bosses want me to come work for them again...

$38 million:  How much money in local foods is currently moving in the KC area

$158 million:  The demand for local foods in this area

That's pretty impressive, right?  This is why you should be working in the local foods movement.

If you can feel yourself getting cut, it's not sharp enough.

'Nuf said.

Any time you pick something up, it is wasted energy.

Never forget about efficiency!

That's all I've got for you now.  I must say, I am always grateful for time that I can spend away from my usual schedule to learn something new.  I love the opportunities I get at conferences to think about my own life, my goals, and where I'm headed.  I've come to some conclusions at this point about my career/life at this point:

1. I love working with farmers.  They are such wonderful, sincere, hard workers.  I love that they love food and often are the best cooks.

2. I need to get organized.  :)  I realized that I don't have too many functioning organizational systems in my life and I could use to benefit from them.  This evening I downloaded an app for my phone called any.do, and it is organizes to-do lists.  We'll see if it helps me at all managing my chaotic schedule.

3. Cultivate Kansas City is one of the coolest organizations in the Midwest.  If you don't know much about them, check out their programs.  And if you have the power to make their internships paid, please do!  I would be there in a heartbeat.

Thank you for taking the time to read!  I'm thinking my next post will detail an agritourism vacation with my grandpa.  :)