At a recent national conference for agricultural Extension educators, I came across an old magazine in a silent auction held during the conference. This magazine, The Farm Quarterly, caught my eye because it featured a whole section of farm management articles. It also helped that it was the winter edition of 1968-69 — my first winter!
It sold for 75 cents back in 1968 and I will admit that I had to pay about 20 times that to bring it home with me.
I really cherish looking back through old magazines. This particular magazine featured an ad on Harvestore silos and one from New Holland featuring their Model 975 and 985 combines with options for a 2-, 3- or 4-row corn head.
Allis-Chalmers also had an ad promoting the 64 horsepower strength of their AC One-Eighty tractor which was perfect for pulling a 4-bottom plow. Pioneer’s ad featured Frank Rush from Kansas City whose corn broke the 200-bushel per acre mark.
Much talk was also given throughout the magazine on the new names for crop chemicals. Atrazine would now be called AAtrez, Simazine would be called Princep and chemical think-tanks were considering such names as Clobber, Wallop and Big Daddy for other chemicals.
Farm management
I bought the magazine because I was intrigued by the magazine’s special section featuring five farm management articles. These articles were written to provide insights on the shifts in the structure of the agricultural industry. I was interested in seeing how relevant their advice was almost 50 years later.
One of these articles really caught my attention. Titled “One Jump Ahead,” it featured Dale Fraser, an Iowa farmer in his seventies, who was “farming full steam ahead because there’s nothing he likes to do better.”
The editor of The Farm Quarterly quipped, “We know of many men who farm to live and a very few who live to farm.”
Mr. Fraser was one of the first farmers in Iowa to adopt no-till planting. In addition to farming over 2,900 acres, he also raised beef cattle.
He was described as a man who farms because he wants to, grows because he responds to challenge, and innovates as a matter of habit.
Farm wisdom
What caught me the most about the feature was Fraser’s philosophy of staying on top through the management of people instead of things. He summarized his management approach in three ways: simplify, manage by exception, and concentrate on people instead of things.
Fraser said the benefit of being his age was that he did not have to worry any longer about what people think. He stated he did not have to drive a tractor just to prove to the neighbor that he could. Instead, he stated that he could afford to take the time to think about making his operation as simple as possible.
One way that he made his operation simpler was to get rid of the plow and switch to no-till production. He made this switch when time was crunched due to a late planting season one year.
His simplistic approach led to managing by exception. He stated that a good manager pays attention to detail and anticipates problems before they become crises, and that a top manager needs to concentrate on those things which are “exceptions to the normal.”
As a manager, his primary duty is to manage the farm’s resources: to plan, to buy and sell, to finance and to supervise. Fraser said this requires mental skill, diligence, and an inquiring mind, but a top manager should focus on the things nobody else can do and let others do the things they are able to do.
As an example, he shared that any of the men who work for him can drive the tractor or fix the planter better than he could. This allows him time to look for bottlenecks in the operation and to be looking for ways to make his operation more efficient and effective.
Application for today
There was a ton of management information from Fraser that is still applicable 50 years later. So, as the manager of your farm, I would ask you, how are you doing?
Are you managing people and your business? Or do you allow things to manage you? How good are you at managing by exception? Are there jobs that you are doing that could be done by someone else in the operation giving you time to manage? How good are you at spotting, managing, and keeping good employees?
Fraser would ask, “Do you have the self-restraint to let them alone.”
Are there “sacred” practices that you do on your farm that could be put out to pasture? What are the bottlenecks in your business? Are you anticipating problems before they become crises?
Do you think big, really big, and treasure the small? Do you place relationships above short-term or selfish gains? Do you find ways to accomplish goals by developing the potential of others?
And ultimately, how well will you finish?
The article on Mr. Fraser could have been easily written this summer. I would encourage you to think what an article written on your management skills would say? Hmmm, good food for thought.
Peter Drucker stated, “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” Have a good and safe day!
