Farming = Adapting to Change
Author: Paul Bootsma, Policy Advisor
“ Reaching other goals and achievements that will make the world a better place.”
Farming = Adapting to Change
Anyone who owns a farm or has in the past, or managed one, or just worked on a farm, knows that in one day things can change, let alone over the course of a week, month or even a year. We all know that weather can change daily plans, markets affect yearly plans, breakdowns and people issues have to be dealt with. Life is never boring and therefore success requires managing change.
Walking through the dairy display at the Milton Ag Museum one day, I mentioned to my Dad, who as a young lad milked 10 cows by hand, each morning before school, and then milked them again after school, that a lot has changed in his lifetime. Today a lot of cows are milked by a robot. That’s a lot of change, a lot of adapting.
Growing up in the pork industry, feeding and watering sows by hand, now its all automatic, a lot of change and adapting. Driving a tractor as a young guy all day, in the open air, getting sunburnt, to riding in an air-conditioned cab with a comfy seat, and all the computerized gadgets that tractors come with today, a lot of change and adaption.
Crop management has changed immensely with genetics, nutrients, herbicides and fungicides, which has resulted in great improvement in yields and soil management. Again, equipment has also changed to adapt to different soil management styles.
Dealing with change is a lifelong requirement, we can see that in ourselves as we simply age. The changes in our lives, and even our health, what we no longer do compared to when we were young. If you have been blessed with children, they change and as parents we need to adapt. Change is a daily occurrence.
Change can be good; we get comfortable in our current situation and change makes us uncomfortable. However, change can also lead to things we never thought we would do or see or become part of. It can impact who we are, to what we become and allows us to achieve more in life than we thought we would.
Organizations undergo change as well, people come and go, most often this is for positive reasons. And that’s the point. Change generally happens for the good, new opportunities, new challenges, new connections. Change should never end relationships, just establish new ones.
As a result of change, we say goodbye to friends who move on to other things, perhaps never envisioned before, but that’s what makes life worth living. Reaching other goals and achievements that will make the world a better place.
So, to those who move on, we say with the old hymn writer, Jeremiah Eames Rankin;
“God be with you till we meet again,
Till we meet,
Till we meet again at Jesus feet”
Long-Term Thinking for Today’s Issues
The CFFO Commentary represents the opinions of the writer and does not necessarily represent CFFO policy.