Happy New Year! I think many of us are thankful for the fresh start that each new year brings. As we look back at last year, the national events that come top to mind include the continued political dysfunctionality in our nation’s capital — highlighted by the Speaker of the House elections — the breach of classified documents and the indictments of top political leaders or their family members.
Other 2023 notables include the full emergence of artificial intelligence, AI, through platforms like ChatGPT, the Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon, the Norfolk-Southern train derailment in East Palestine, the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, Titan submersible implosion, the devasting wildfires in Maui, Israel-Hamas conflict and the continued war between Russian and Ukraine. Of course, no one had a year like Taylor Swift who was chosen as Time’s Person of the Year. Swiftiemania has swept America off its feet including football star Travis Kelce.
Agriculturally, 2023 included discussions about a new Farm Bill, foreign ownership of land, interest rates, right-to-repair agreements, climate-smart practices and legislation, Mexico GM corn disputes, upward land prices, approval of lab-grown meat, Avian influenza and farm labor shortages. We also cussed and discussed two landmark Supreme Court rulings on California’s Prop 12 and Waters of the United States WOTUS cases.
As we look back on 2023, there are also a few words that resonated with Americans. Different sources cited some of the most used and searched words as fun-flation, AI, goated, rizz, zhuzh, beast mode, cromulent, coronation, Eras, deepfake, implode, doppelganger, covenant, kibbutz and my personal favorite, Smashburger.
We can’t control the word or words that will be used to describe a year in retrospect. However, is there merit in being intentional about the words we individually focus on as we start a new year? A few years ago, I followed the advice of my wife to concentrate on ONE word for the year instead of making a long laundry list of New Year’s Resolutions. Simple enough, right? Just one word.
Some of the words that I have chosen in the past include organize, transition, patience, declutter and intentional. While I focused intently on each of these words, I have to admit that I am still a work in progress.
So, what is my word for 2024? Of course, there are lots of words to choose from especially since the Merriam-Webster Dictionary contains nearly 470,000 words including 690 words that were added this year. Words such as elevate, prune, quiet, shepherd and joy bubbled up as I did my self-reflection. But after much thought, I decided on the word manage.
Manage
To handle with a degree of skill, to treat with care, to direct, to succeed in accomplishing business, to work upon or to achieve one’s purpose. I know there are places in my personal life, on the farm and in my role with OSU Extension that I can manage better. Manage my time, schedule, relationships, communication and resources more effectively.
In this Dairy Excel space, we share management advice targeted for dairy farmers. It appears from all predictions that 2024 will present tight margins similar to the fourth quarter of 2023. So, if I had to pick one word for our northeast Ohio dairy farmers for 2024, what would it be? A few years ago, I quipped that the perfect word for dairy farmers is CALF which can be broken down into four important words: components, analyze, laugh and feedback.
Components
Do not forget the value of fat and protein tests and the difference these can make in your mailbox price for your milk.
Analyze
Don’t hide from the numbers. Good records can help you control your operation more efficiently, find problem areas and identify what could work better. Start with your financial records. Compare your key costs to benchmarks to see where you can make improvements.
Laugh
Keep business as business. Focus on your family and keep laughing. Laughing can reduce stress, reduce pain, increase creativity, increase self-esteem and so much more.
Feedback
And lastly, Feedback. Is 2024 the year that you finally start an advisory team? Invite folks such as your dairy nutritionist, veterinarian, lender, key employees and extension educator and have them put a fresh pair of eyes on your situation. I think you will be pleased with the objective and honest feedback they can provide.
Final thoughts
So what word will help drive your focus, energy and work into the new year? I encourage you to ponder and then post your WORD somewhere as a reminder. This could be on the bulletin board, refrigerator, in the milk house, farm shop or in your office as a simple reminder of where to keep your focus in 2024. And remember a great reminder from Edith Lovejoy Pierce who stated, “We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” Seize your WORD and have a good and safe new year!
