Back in March we visited with Ben Potter, of Farm Futures, about the best practices in hiring temporary help.  Ben then captured the ideas in an article on Farm Futures website here.    You can download and print it here. 2021 03 How to hire the best temp help-BenPotter .  Or continue reading.... Strategies for securing good seasonal workers. by Ben Potter, Farm Futures Mar 10, 2021 Is good help really that hard to find? It can be - especially when you're in a pinch to tap quality workers for seasonal help. But there are some best practices to consider when...

Why you need different strokes for different folks. "Plug and play" is what we all want with employees. Just hire them, put them in a cab, and don't worry about them. They'll do an expert job. Plug them in and turn them loose. In reality, this management philosophy doesn't work. Plug and play is a mythical management style that doesn't exist. People aren't machines, and employees require management for you to be satisfied. Assuming you hire well, each employee needs a different management style. It may sound overwhelming but how you manage depends on the type of work and their...

As business owners we are good at adding. Adding more acres, more sales, more landlords, and more employees. More is a sign of success; at a certain point, more can limit new opportunities. Some opportunities may be growing the farm, succession planning, or building your employee team. There comes a time when you have to let go to get more of what you want. Work - Your time is valuable and there isn't enough time to get all the work done. Every year your time is squeezed even more. Has your role changed but your tasks haven't? Are you doing...

Is there a Third Question to Ask? You have probably heard the phrases, "we need the right people on the bus," and "we need the employees in the right seats" on that bus. These phrases imply we need to find the right people to join our businesses and then make sure they are in the right spot. This sounds reasonable. But is there another question you need to be asking? It's not a secret that farms have a competitive advantage when they consistently find good employees and keep them. Part of keeping an employee is placing them in a role...

All that glitters is not gold. Farm incomes are down, and it may be tempting to start an off-farm business to produce non-farm income. You are probably excellent at production ag, but how well do those talents translate to this new venture? One owner confided to me that, "We have so many business ventures come across my desk in a week we would choke if we tried to take advantage of all of these good deals." His point was the deals were good, but they took his focus away from his core business. Another farmer bought a sawmill production plant...

The farm to-do list never ends. There is always one more thing to be done, and then another chore pops up that needs taking care of. And of course, the weather always plays a factor in determining what does or does not get done and when. Many farmers are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work to be done. What is the answer? Prioritization and time management! However, prioritization is not a skill that comes naturally to most farmers. How do you decide what is more important than another equally important task? Stephen Covey's Time Management Method You may have...