Management

When you’re a successful farmer, you shape your world. It’s your job to level mountains and create new ones by sheer determination. You have many employees who work for you – and when you say “jump,” they say “How high?”

I was walking around my business one day, and I pondered this thought: “Why am I doing this?” By “this,” I meant the business I was engaged in – automated car washes. In addition to my dairy consulting business, I had this side business operating automated car washes.

They say hindsight is 20/20, but the year 2020 contained anything but hindsight. Blindsided by what we now know as COVID-19, governments were forced to intervene in the form of financial and medical assistance.

It’s no surprise the infusion of direct government payments to farmers helped many dairy operators weather the storm that was 2020. Those payments were necessary to help operators struggling with the many effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s not something you can build a plan around.

A year ago, there was a series in Progressive Dairy on the “Three Camps,” a discussion describing the different financial situations farm businesses might find themselves in as a result of the pandemic and outlining the prudent paths forward for those businesses.

Leaders are in the spotlight. A great deal is demanded, especially right now in this time of ambiguity and unprecedented change. The rules are changing in many ways. Additionally, a majority of people say that COVID-19 is having a negative impact on their mental health. More than 50% report this to be the case.