Farm Management

Goal Setting For Successful Farming

Supplied by AgriWebb

Goal Setting For Successful Farming

To survive and thrive in agriculture today, you have to bring a business approach to farming. One practice that’s common in the business world, but which is often ignored in the livestock industry, is goal setting.

Effective goal setting helps you move past “getting by” on a month-to-month basis. It means you can plan for prolonged pressures caused by uncertain weather or market failures. It reminds you of the bigger picture, as you work towards a long-term goal, which might be anything from becoming the country’s top Wagyu producer, through to setting up your kids (and their kids) to take over a productive property.

 

Getting started with goal setting 

To set goals your whole team can get behind, it’s worth gathering all your stakeholders together for the discussion. Questions to consider include:

  • Where are we kicking goals?
  • Where could we do better?
  • Are there similar farms to us, having more success?
  • What are the personal goals for staff and other stakeholders?
  • What challenges could be arising for the industry?
  • Where can this operation be in 25 years?

You shouldn’t just be talking about improving farm income, though that’s obviously part of the discussion.

 

Establishing short and long term goals

As well as having long-term goals, which may take years to achieve, you want to create short-term goals, which can be ticked off more quickly. These short-term goals should work towards the long-term goals, and be a source of positive reinforcement on the road to success.

Examples of short-term goals:

  • Prepare for an approaching audit
  • Buy a ram at the sales
  • Install remote monitoring systems
  • Implement farm management software
     

Examples of long-term goals:

  • Have a succession plan in place
  • Attain organic certification
  • Increase calving or lambing rates
  • Improve herd genetics

 

Reaching your goals

There’s a big difference between setting goals and reaching them. Here are some tips to help make yours a reality:

1. Write down your goals

Goals kept in your head won’t go much further than there. Write your goals down and display them somewhere prominent, so you are regularly reminded of them. 

2. Give people ownership of the goals

Letting people contribute to goal setting means they’ll be invested in reaching those goals. If their personal goals are tied to business goals, they will be even more motivated.

3. Regularly review your progress

Having measurable goals, whether it relates to livestock weight gain or metres of fencing, means you can track your progress objectively.

4. Adjust or revisit your goals

Situations change. If a goal becomes unattainable, don’t abandon it entirely or consider it a failure. Recalibrate and set new targets. And if you reach a goal well before you expected, take it as permission to be bolder with your business plans. Consider what your greatest ambitions are – and start a new round of goal setting to get there.

 

Farm management software and goal setting


AgriWebb farm management software allows you to update farm records through your mobile device, in the field. Accurate, up-to-the-minute records plus streamlined reporting helps you set goals – and achieve them – in a number of ways:

Automatically generated farm reports, such as livestock cost of production, paddock cost of production and livestock gross margin, meaning you can develop well-defined and measurable financial goals.
Grazing management features, with grazing history, amount of feed on offer and stocking rates, let you see where pastures can be better utilised, as you strive to improve productivity.
Being able to track livestock weight goals with ease means you are better placed to achieve those goals.
With the task management feature, you can ensure that all your staff are working towards the goals you have set.
 

AgriWebb digitises farm operations seamlessly through software. Like Te Pari, AgriWebb are helping livestock businesses become more efficient, productive and sustainable to make farming easier. Today, AgriWebb is used every day by thousands of farms across multiple regions globally, helping manage millions of heads of livestock.

agriwebb farm management software for livestock farms

Learn more about AgriWebb's Farm Management Software here