Goal setting in agriculture can be challenging. Every production year brings a new set of variables — seasonal conditions, rainfall, markets, prices, timing and plenty of factors outside your control. So how do you set meaningful farm goals when you don’t know what the year will bring?
Goal setting is hard in ag
I have said it before, and I will say it again, it’s the number of variables in the experiment that is each production year. There is variation in seasonal conditions, timing, markets and more. Goal setting can be hard because our outcomes depend a lot on factors outside our control. Depending on your location in regional Australia at this current moment you could be underwater or on fire as we speak.
This does not mean we can’t set goals, we just have to set them differently
You don’t have to give up on goal setting. Just get better at it.
Focus on actions, not just outcomes
Perhaps we need to focus on actions, not just outcomes when we are setting goals. So it’s not just about increasing carrying capacity by XXX DSE or marking percentages by ??? or yield per hectare. Perhaps it’s about working out the steps we need to take to improve those results and focusing on those, rather than just on the outcomes. When we think of bigger capital works goals that may be dependent on an unrelated financial outcome, we might need to set goals for the planning and research stage, as well as the moment when we make the “let’s go” phonecall.
Did you want to think about setting some learning goals?
This is where the magic happens. Setting a goal to learn how to do something new or better or understand something that currently seems complex has such power. The achievement of learning goals is not reliant on rain, on seasons, on markets. It’s independent. It’s about you and what you can do with what you have in front of you. It means at the end of the year you can look back and feel progress, regardless of what the season brings.
What is it you want to know more about?
A feature of a computer program or app?
Dealing with negative people?
A function of a machine you have not explored yet?
Reconciling bank accounts?
Crop chemical incompatibilities?
Setting up a functioning farm office?
Lifting livestock production?
Restoring farm machinery?
What would you like to be able to do better?
A second language?
Managing email overwhelm?
Communicate with other members of the farm family?
A yoga move?
Submitting an electronic BAS?
Swim?
Manage farm records?
Run?
Throw the straps over the load in one go?
Who is here to help you?
Learning on your own is empowering. Learning together is enjoyable and empowering. What courses are on offer to help? Do you like face to face or online learning? Does a bit of structure help you achieve your goals? Who is the guru in your local community and can they help you learn more?
What’s it going to feel like when you have achieved this goal?
It’s probably a bit woo woo for some, but take a moment to visualise what it feels like when you have achieved your goal. Perhaps you are high fiving the kids after your truck strap victory, perhaps you are sitting zen like on your verandah in some complex but strangely relaxing yoga pose while your emails sort themselves out. Perhaps you are making yourself understood in German when your are overseas visiting that mad backpacker that came out in 2018.
How will you celebrate?
This differs for everyone, but thinking about how you will celebrate your win is important. Sharing your ideas for your victory celebration with your family and friends helps with accountability.
Agriculture will always involve uncertainty.
Set goals for the year you can actually influence
We can’t control the rain. We can’t control the market. We can’t control every seasonal challenge, price movement or unexpected problem that comes our way.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t set goals.
Perhaps the trick is to set goals differently.
Set goals for the things you can influence. Focus on the actions that move you towards the bigger outcome. Give yourself permission to learn something new. Ask for help when you need it, and celebrate your progress along the way.
Because at the end of the year, success isn’t always going to look like the number you wrote down at the beginning.
Sometimes success is knowing more than you did twelve months ago.
Sometimes it’s being able to do something you couldn’t do before.
And sometimes, it’s simply looking back and knowing that you kept moving forward — whatever the season threw at you.
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