Alliances to Remain Profitable
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I have always been fascinated by the power of the mind. I remember watching shows on TV where people harness the energy of their minds to move objects, etc. As human beings, our minds are critical to our survival. We have all seen sad situations where some people’s bodies have outlived their minds. Then there are people like Paul Overholser who has a great mind and body for 95 years of age. The importance of the mind is illustrated by the use of it in many slogans such as “A mind is a terrible thing to waste” and “Mind over matter”. One’s future in tomorrow’s agriculture will be determined by his or her attitude. Gone are the days where a farmer’s success could be determined by the number of hours he was willing to work, his livestock genetics, his soil productivity, or his assets in the bank. No, the future will be determined by one’s “mind-set”. Just like farming today, life can change in a hurry. As I was writing this article at one of agriculture’s greatest success stories in Clark County, Young’s Jersey Dairy, the young couple next to me were laughing and smiling and enjoying a great day. Twenty minutes later I heard the young man say “are you ready to go?” and got up and left. The young lady, smiling no more, sat there, wiped a tear from her eye and left. The day had suddenly went from a sunny one to a cloudy, miserable one. A good positive attitude requires a lot of hard work today in a fast changing agriculture. The future will belong to the farmer with the “mind-set” of viewing this rapidly changing agriculture as an opportunity to become more successful than the producer who sees nothing but problems and “gloom and doom” views. There are huge economic forces that will dictate massive changes in agriculture. Those that create and seize the new opportunities will become the highly successful farmers of the future. Those that resist change will become monuments of past profits. Yes, there will be a continued decline in farms and farmers. This decline began with the invention of the tractor. It took my grandfather 14 hours of labor to raise and harvest one acre of corn. Today there are U.S. farmers that can raise and harvest an acre of corn with only one hour of labor on the average. We used to milk six Jerseys in an hour. Today, I have been on farms that can milk 400 cows an hour. Times are rapidly changing, Change always brings new opportunities. The question will be “who will seize the new opportunities in agriculture?” The past week, three different farmers have told me agriculture is dead in Clark County. My answer is agriculture as we knew it in the past is history; but Clark County will have a strong agriculture in the future because of our access to markets, our large population, and our great soils. It will be very different from today. Those that possess the mind of and entrepreneur will own tomorrow’s agriculture. Viewing change as an opportunity is the mind game we must play to remain in this great industry. Our future depends on it. Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ag. Admin. and Director, OSU Extension TDD No. 800-589-8292 (Ohio only) or 614-292-1868 Updated: June 2000 |