Over 64 per cent of North Americans are overweight and most don’t recognize the problem or the long-term health consequences. Thirty-six per cent of Americans who made resolutions, resolved to lose weight.
Diet and exercise are the common-sense solutions to this problem. However, by mid-February, over 60 per cent of gym memberships go unused. As a result, over 50 per cent of Americans will still be fat at this time next year.
The analogy of weight loss portrays the problems we have in agriculture. What is the solution to weight loss? It’s pretty simple:
1. Recognizing you have a problem. (ie: 20 lbs overweight)
2. Setting realistic goals with broken-down milestones/dates.
3. Having an action-oriented program (diet/exercise plan)
4. Measuring your actions daily and the results monthly.
5. Changing your actions if you don’t achieve the desired results.
6. Having someone hold you accountable to achieving your goals.
7. Providing yourself a reward if you achieve your goals, and also a punishment if you don’t achieve your goals.
If you implemented the same processes into your farming operations’ business culture, would you be able to improve your farm profitability? How quickly would you shed dead weight?
Anyone can develop their own diet and exercise program by going online. However, personal trainers are so successful not just because of their knowledge but their process. If you’re paying someone $50/hour, you know that you are going to show up for that lesson and give it your 110 per cent.
Sitting down with your veterinarian or agronomist at the beginning of the year can evolve their role from knowledge provider to “weight loss” buddy. Having to buy them a case of beer at year end for each goal you did not achieve is going to drive you to actually get ideas implemented into action.
Everyone loves to brag about their production numbers but few discuss the top 10 underlying metrics (ie: pregnancy rate) which really affect profitability. Putting your goals on the front door as a scoreboard is taking things to the next level.
Few farms know what their actual targeted Return on Investment is, and even fewer have broken down the top 10 critical metrics which are hardest to achieve — yet most likely affect profitability.
I would love to put the top ten metrics (ie: pregnancy rate) on a scoreboard in the front entrance of most dairy farms with targets (ie: 20 per cent) and current levels (ie: 14 per cent) in chalk beside the targets. Having everyone see these numbers would motivate most dairy farmers to making the changes required to getting problematic issues resolved, instead of swept under the carpet. It would also get everyone supporting the operation (vets, nutritionists) focused on providing solutions and holding the farm accountable to successfully implementing programs.
Yet no one wants to share their numbers. I understand why, but argue that without announcing your goals to the world you’re never going to achieve them! You’re going to stay fat.
So let me be the first to throw a goal out there and have everyone I meet hold me accountable. My New Year’s resolution is to get my weight to below 190 lbs — which is a 20 lb loss. If I am not there by 2013, then in 2013 I owe a dollar for every lb over to anyone who points that out to me.
Accountability is everything.

(Mark Caygeon Junkin specializes in Farm Succession and Human Resources out of Mitchell, Ontario. He lives to improve how farm families make strategic decisions and work together. You can order a copy of his book, “Farm Succession shouldn’t be done at the Funeral Home!” by calling 519-348-9994 or emailing president@ agriculturestrategy.com.)