The greatest challenge for this farm operation

Finding the time is our greatest challenge,” Jennifer Peart acknowledges from their farm at Jerseyville, Ont., where she and husband, Charlie Anderson, are committed to making their business management as strong as their production capability.

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It isn’t easy. It isn’t simple. But the couple find they’re making gains by defining who is responsible for what, by setting schedules that they stick to, and by ensuring they get effective, timely expert input.

At Erie View Farms Ltd., Peart and Anderson are equally responsible for farm management but she is in charge of the financials and reporting while her husband manages the day-to-day operations of their dairy farm.

Since they began farming in 2016, the couple have moved farm locations and have grown from milking 33 cows in a tie stall barn to 100 cows with two Lely robotic milkers in a free stall facility.

“Our roles and the time required have changed as we’ve expanded,” says Peart. Keeping on top of financials alone used to take two hours a month. Now it’s more than 12. And that’s just finance.

“Things weren’t as complicated when we first started out,” she says. “As the business expands and evolves, the time required to actually manage the operation is increasing.”

Peart notes that their management isn’t just about balancing the books and monitoring herd statistics. Now, the hours of strategic planning and performance assessments also add up.

As well, like many farmers, one of their greatest challenges is farming with tighter margins, so Peart prepares regular financial and risk management reviews. Thanks to their well-established management habits and their team of farm business advisors they are able to proactively problem solve and mitigate the impact.

“We’re committed to managing our farm as a business — the way it should be,” says Peart.

Because they’re still focused on expansion, Peart and Anderson continue to look for ways to improve their management approach and have started scheduling monthly meetings to review their farm financials and business plans.

Yes, that means that husband and wife, who talk across the dinner table every day, also have scheduled meetings, but these meetings are valued for ensuring the couple discuss challenges and opportunities, identify areas for improvement, and plan ahead.

And there’s more. Scheduled regular meetings with their expanded farm advisory team are also prioritized to improve their farm management. “Every aspect of the farm is impacted by our management abilities,” Peart says.

Peart also takes advantage of every training and personal development opportunity that comes her way. Through her volunteer experiences and off-farm career at Farm Credit Canada, she’s been able to sharpen her finance, leadership and strategic planning skills. She’s also grateful for mentors and says both she and her husband have mentors they turn to regularly for advice.

It’s also clear that Peart and Anderson are gathering the wisdom that will make them great mentors. One of her learnings, she says, has been about decision making. She’s open to learning from her mistakes but is also prepared to act and be decisive. “The only bad decision-made in farming,” she says, “is the one that’s not made.”

A change of focus

Craig Lehr’s experience of working his way up through various roles and responsibilities on his family’s Medicine Hat, Alta. farm is likely familiar to many Canadian farm managers. More than 20 years ago he returned to the family cattle and cropping business after college, and as the operation expanded and the older generation began to retire, he recently found himself in a farm management position sooner than expected.

Lehr says that when he first returned home to the farm he just wanted to enjoy working with livestock and contributing to the family farm. He admits that at the time he didn’t know everything that was required to run the farm, and that was just fine with him.

“I always knew the day would come when I would have to manage the farm, and now that I’m here, I recognize I need to learn how to work on the business, not just in the business,” says Lehr.

Today, Lehr shares his management responsibilities with three family business partners. Together they operate Short Grass Ranches, a third-generation family farm with nine full-time employees who help them manage the 1,100 head cow/calf and 7,000 head backgrounding feedlot operation, and crop 1,000 acres of irrigation and 4,000 acres of dryland grain farming and hay.

Lehr says he still loves farming, but transitioning into his new role has been challenging. “It’s harder to enjoy the everyday jobs on the farm when there are a hundred other management things that need to be dealt with that are more important,” notes Lehr, who’s still struggling to find a balance between making sure the day-to-day activities of the farm are accomplished versus keeping on top of his overall management responsibilities.

“The work still has to get done, but my new approach is to focus more on the people, not just the task at hand,” says Lehr.
“I understand now that transitioning to building an employee-focused culture will help us increase productivity and realize our long-term goals.”

Lehr also believes that investing in employee management, such as training and empowering his staff to make their own decisions, will help with retention and allow him to find more time to focus on his management responsibilities.

Specifically, Lehr realized he needed to improve his management approach in two areas: employees and family. He realized both could be addressed by building a culture that focused on communications and by helping everyone enhance their skills.

“I knew I needed to advance my skill sets,” says Lehr. “It’s not easy, but you have to keep an open mind and be willing to grow and improve yourself for the betterment of the farm and everyone around you.”

Lehr also invests in farm management coaching and training. He’s working too on his own discipline, figuring out what time of day works best for him to work in the office and developing a routine that benefits his work-life balance. By eliminating his tendency to micromanage, he’s also finding more time for his management responsibilities.

“I want to lead by example. The farm work still has to get done, but my new approach is to focus on the people around me, and not just the work,” says Lehr. “Improving on my farm management skills will pay in dividends.”

“Investing in and improving your farm management capabilities can pay huge dividends,” says Lehr. “It can also be the difference in the farm being here for the next generation, or not.”