0:00Hi guys. In this video, we're going to be talking about some tips and techniques for how to tackle the overwhelm of trying to run a farm, try

0:08to get started on a farm, how to feel like you're making progress, and getting a lot of stuff done. I'm here at Bountiful Blessings Farm with my dad,

0:15John, and he's got 27 years of experience in running a commercial farming operation. So, what are your

0:24suggestions for new farmers feeling overwhelmed, feeling like they never have enough time to get everything done?

0:29I think first of all, I'd say welcome to farming. That's just kind of part of it is feeling overwhelmed at times,

0:39uh, especially starting out. Well, it's also just owning a business. I think that, you know, running a farm is not

0:48it's not entirely different than any entrepreneurial endeavor. It's just always there's a lot. I'm sure that's true. But I think a couple things to to

0:57look at. Well, I'll just start by recommending a book. I think I've recommended it before, but The Lean Farm

1:05really helps you to to know where to focus.

1:10uh you know and and he he really kind of breaks it down and and shows you, okay,

1:17these things these actions are actually going to make you money and these actions are what he would call mudaast waste of some kind. Um and for example,

1:31weeding is is a type of muda. Um, you certainly don't want to just let the

1:38weeds go, but but pulling weeds is not making you money. So, if you can

1:45eliminate as much of that muda as possible and focus on those things that are actually going to make you money.

1:53Um, and yeah, what crops to grow.

1:57There's there's a lot to look at with that. I would say the other thing to to focus on when you're starting out is is coming up with systems.

2:08You know, um you can spend a lot of time doing stuff. I'm trying to think of a simple example.

2:16A lot of time doing something that could be done much quicker if you had some systems in place. Yeah. And anything on

2:26the farm really can fit into that. Uh the word MUDA is a Japanese word. It comes from uh Ben Hartman's study of

2:33Toyota production system and lean manufacturing. Um there's a lot that can be learned and and transferred to

2:40farming, which is what Ben has done and and documented in that book. So that's great. Um I like to think about value

2:47added versus nonvalue added in a manufacturing environment like we have at Farmer's Friend. you know there is a

2:55lot of um necessary things that have to be done but that are still nonvalue added. So value ad you

3:04know the definition of that would be anything that you're doing that actually is actively adding value to the product that you're selling. So weeding is not

3:12doing that. Um, so eliminating that, but obviously if there's waste, that's to me I feel like that's a different category.

3:19Waste, Muda, you want to eliminate it as much as possible. Um, but sometimes there are just necessary things that are that are not adding value directly to to

3:28the product. Um, but systems organization I think is a a big one.

3:34Standardization, but you know, not spending a ton of time looking for tools and stuff. Yeah. you know, having a a

3:41place for everything and and forcing yourself and forcing your team to put things back in their place in their documented place.

3:51Hu huge. Yeah, that's huge. I mean,

3:54there's there's just so many things and that's what makes it overwhelming at the beginning because you feel like you're trying to go

4:03100 different ways at once. But anything you can do to to systematize,

4:10standardize, um you know, have a plan and you know,

4:16some people are much more detailed at that than others. Mhm. But it can, you know, once you get into the season, you

4:24can become so focused on what you've got to do today that you lose sight of the big picture and um two months down the

4:33road you don't have produce because you weren't thinking ahead to be planting when you needed to. You were just

4:40overwhelmed by strawberry season or whatever. Yeah. And I speak from experience on that. Um, starting out,

4:50you know, when we were doing so many strawberries,

4:54uh, I realized that about two months after strawberry season, we didn't have enough produce because I had gotten too

5:03consumed with all the work of strawberries. So, I finally had to kind of say, I'm not

5:10picking strawberries anymore cuz I've got to focus on other things. Yeah. you know, the the big takeaways I think is just focus on standardization.

5:21Um, you know, and and I guess what we mean by that is like standardizing bed lengths as much as possible. Um,

5:28standardizing your process so that everybody does things the same way if you have multiple team members and employees and stuff. And then organization, develop, take some time to

5:37develop organization and systems to where all your tools have a designated home that's ideally close to where you're utilizing it so you're not having

5:45that waste of transportation back and forth. And so many things to think about. Read the book, The Lean Farm. And we hope that some of these tips have

5:54been useful. If you have questions that you would like us to address in a future video, feel free to reply to this email and submit that question. Maybe we'll discuss it next time. Until next time,

6:04happy growing.

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