Be humble, be teachable and always keep learning.

“Be humble, be teachable and always keep learning.”

Josh and I both are always looking to gain more knowledge to make our farm “better”. This includes management of our land and care of our animals as well as the business side of farming.

Our farm is truly a “family affair”. While we both are involved as a whole, the animals are Josh’s main focus while the business and marketing side are more my deal. Most of what we have learned since starting our farm has been by trial and error. Life has a way of teaching you the tough stuff whether you want it or not! But whenever possible, we do seek out other learning opportunities. Sometimes it’s a webinar and sometimes it’s an in-person event. Winters being what they are in Minnesota, what better time to fine tune and increase our knowledge in all areas!

We both recently were able to attend two in-person learning opportunities.

Josh traveled to North Dakota to attend the two day NDSU Feedlot School where he learned how to evaluate and configure the most nutritional feed and hay for our cows and their calves. He was able to network with other cattle ranchers from Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana.

I was able to travel to Willmar for a day long “Women in Ag” conference. We heard a great speaker that talked about fear marketing and also reminded us that big or little, we are all farmers and that we need to continue to support each other. So, while we do not operate our farm like a large confined hog operation, they too have their place in feeding the world and most of them are owned by families just like us.

There were some breakout sessions regarding financial records and also on dealing with the stress of farming. We recently lost an uncle to the stress of farming. A sad reminder that it can happen to anyone. Please reach out for help if you are feeling overwhelmed.

So, thinking about you, what is it that you would like to learn more about? Do you have a burning question that you've always wondered about? Please drop me a line and let me know! I’d love to cover it in a future blog post. (backhomefarms@gmail.com)

Oh, I've also been participating in a website makeover challenge with a great social media trainer which is leading us to a brand new updated farm website. Watch for it SOON!