In the ever-evolving landscape of dairy farming, where unpredictability seems to be the only constant, strategic planning is a tool that guides farmers toward success. It’s not just a tool; it’s a mindset of working ON the business that transforms how a farm operates.
Why Strategic Planning?
At its core, strategic planning is about focus. It’s about honing in on what’s truly important amidst the daily whirlwind of work and interruptions. It’s about doing more of what works and fixing what doesn’t. How can farms start strategic planning? This is where the SWOTT analysis comes into play.
SWOTT – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats, and Trends – is a planning framework that helps farmers take stock of their current situation. By assessing these five elements, farms can craft strategies that play to their strengths, mitigate weaknesses, capitalize on opportunities, minimize threats, and stay ahead of trends. Think of Strengths and Weaknesses as internal, while Opportunities, Threats, and Trends are external. In other words, off the farm.
- Strengths might include an engaged labor force and low-cost milk production.
- Weaknesses could be outdated equipment or poor employee onboarding processes.
- Opportunities may arise from new market niches or new relationships with processors.
- Threats could include fluctuating market prices or regulations. I’ve often found threats can’t be fixed as much as minimized.
- Trends might involve consumer preferences shifting towards organic products or carbon credits. These areas are often disruptive to the status quo and create not only risks but also opportunities.
The Starting Point of Visioning
Strategic planning is the starting point of the visioning process. It sets a clear direction for the future. What does the ideal dairy farm look like? Visioning is not just dreaming; it’s a deliberate crafting of a future that aligns with the farm’s core values and objectives. Using SWOTT as a starting point is a great place to start.
Group Effort: Building Engagement
Strategic planning is not just a business exercise; it’s sometimes a critical tool for survival and success in the dairy farming industry. It helps farmers focus on what is important, start the visioning process, do more of what’s working, fix what’s not, and engage the entire farm team.
There is always more work than time in a day. It’s easy to fall into the daily routine and let one year merge into another. It’s not easy to carve out time and plan. It’s easy to believe that your success in dairy is driven by external factors, like milk markets, outside of your control. Yet, there is much you can control with a focused strategic planning process. And that’s reassuring in a tough dairy climate.
