How to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed on Your Small-Scale Farm
By Jonathan Dysinger and John Dysinger
Updated on
Show Transcript
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.
6:07[Music]
The overwhelm that comes with starting a farm is normal — but it's manageable. The key is building systems that eliminate waste and keep you focused on the activities that actually make money: harvesting and selling. Standardize your bed lengths, your processes, and your tool storage. Read Ben Hartman's The Lean Farm to learn how to distinguish value-added work from muda (waste). And never get so consumed by today's urgent tasks that you forget to plant for two months from now.
If you're starting a market farm and feel like you're being pulled in 100 directions at once with never enough time to get everything done — welcome to farming.
That's the first thing my dad, John Dysinger, says to new farmers who feel overwhelmed. After 27 years of running Bountiful Blessings Farm, he's honest about the fact that the overwhelm doesn't go away entirely — but it does get manageable once you build the right systems.
In a recent video, we talked through the mindset shifts and practical strategies that help beginning farmers feel like they're actually making progress instead of just drowning in tasks. Here's what we've learned.
Why Do New Farmers Feel So Overwhelmed?
Because a farm is a business, and running any business from scratch is overwhelming — there's always more to do than time to do it. Farming isn't entirely different from any entrepreneurial endeavor in that respect.
But farming has a unique challenge: everything is time-sensitive. Seeds need to go in the ground on specific dates. Crops need to be harvested at specific stages. Weather doesn't wait for you to finish your to-do list. The urgency of daily tasks can consume you so completely that you lose sight of the bigger picture.
My dad has a painful example of this from the early years. During strawberry season at Bountiful Blessings Farm, the sheer volume of work — picking, packing, selling — consumed every available hour. He was so focused on getting through each day of strawberry harvest that he stopped planting other crops. Two months after strawberry season ended, the farm didn't have enough produce because nothing had been seeded during those critical weeks.
He finally had to make the hard decision to stop picking strawberries himself so he could focus on the planting and planning that would keep the farm producing down the road. That's the kind of trap the overwhelm creates — you get so locked into the urgent that you forget the important.
What Is the Difference Between Value-Added Work and Waste?
This is the core concept that changes how you think about your farm work, and it comes from Ben Hartman's The Lean Farm — a book my dad recommends to every beginning farmer.
Hartman adapted Toyota's lean manufacturing principles to small-scale farming. The central idea is distinguishing between work that adds value and work that's muda — a Japanese word meaning waste.
Value-added work is anything that directly adds value to the product you're selling. Harvesting is value-added. Washing and packing produce is value-added. Selling at market is value-added.
Muda (waste) is everything else — activities that may be necessary but don't directly generate revenue. Weeding is muda. Walking across the farm to find a tool is muda. Reorganizing a messy wash station is muda.
You can't eliminate all muda — you obviously can't just let the weeds go. But you can minimize it dramatically through better systems. Every hour you shift from waste to value-added work is an hour that's actually making you money.
At Farmers Friend, we think about this same framework in our manufacturing operation. There's a useful distinction between waste (which you should eliminate entirely) and necessary but non-value-added work (which you should minimize and streamline). Weeding falls into the second category — you have to do it, but systems like Quick-Plant Fabric can reduce it to almost nothing, freeing your time for harvesting and selling.
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How Do You Build Systems That Reduce Overwhelm?
The word "systems" can sound intimidating, but it's really just about doing things the same way every time so you stop reinventing the wheel.
Standardize Your Bed Lengths
This one is simple but powerful. If every bed on your farm is the same length, your row cover cuts are the same, your seeding calculations are the same, your landscape fabric rolls fit the same way, and your harvest estimates are consistent. Standardization eliminates countless small decisions that eat up mental energy throughout the day.
Standardize Your Processes
If you have employees, interns, or family members working with you, everyone should do things the same way. Seed the same way. Harvest the same way. Wash and pack the same way. When each person has their own method, you get inconsistent results, wasted time, and constant troubleshooting.
This doesn't mean you can't improve your processes — you should, constantly. But at any given time, there should be one agreed-upon way to do each task, and everyone should follow it.
Organize Your Tools
This sounds almost too basic to mention, but my dad says it's huge: have a designated home for every tool, and make everyone put things back.
The amount of time farmers waste looking for tools — a specific wrench, the right pair of shears, the seed packet they set down somewhere — is staggering. That's pure transportation muda. If every tool has a documented location, ideally close to where it's actually used, you eliminate that waste entirely.
It takes discipline, especially when you're in the middle of a hectic harvest day. But the time you invest in organization pays back every single day.
How Do You Stay Focused on the Big Picture?
This is where the overwhelm becomes truly dangerous — not just because it's stressful, but because it leads to costly mistakes.
When you're buried in the demands of today — picking, weeding, filling orders, dealing with equipment problems — it's easy to stop thinking about what needs to happen two weeks or two months from now. And on a farm, failing to plan ahead has consequences you can't undo. If you don't seed your fall crops in July, no amount of scrambling in September will give you a fall harvest.
My dad's advice: force yourself to step back from the daily work regularly and look at the bigger picture. Some people are naturally good at this. Most aren't — especially when they're exhausted from a long day in the field.
A simple planting calendar that maps out your seeding dates for the entire season can be a lifesaver. When you know that lettuce needs to go in every two weeks and fall brassicas need to be started in early July, you can catch those critical windows even when the day-to-day work feels consuming.
The goal isn't to eliminate the feeling of being busy — that's just farming. The goal is to make sure the busy work is the right work, done at the right time.
The Takeaway
Overwhelm is a normal part of farming, especially in the early years. The solution isn't working more hours — it's building systems that make your existing hours more productive.
Read The Lean Farm. Learn to see the difference between value-added work and waste. Standardize your bed lengths, your processes, and your tool storage. And force yourself to plan ahead even when today's tasks feel all-consuming.
The farmers who succeed long-term aren't the ones who work the hardest. They're the ones who build the best systems.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely. Feeling overwhelmed is a universal experience for beginning farmers and for anyone starting a business. The key is recognizing that the overwhelm is manageable — it gets better as you build systems, gain experience, and learn to focus your time on the work that actually generates revenue.
Muda is a Japanese word meaning waste, adapted from Toyota's lean manufacturing system to farming by Ben Hartman in The Lean Farm. On a farm, muda includes any activity that doesn't directly add value to the product you're selling — things like weeding, looking for tools, and unnecessary transportation. The goal is to minimize muda so you can spend more time on value-added work like harvesting and selling.
Start with bed lengths — making every bed the same length simplifies seeding calculations, row cover cuts, fabric sizing, and harvest estimates. Then standardize your core processes (seeding, transplanting, harvesting, washing) so everyone on the farm does them the same way. Finally, organize your tools with designated, documented locations close to where they're used.
Create a season-long planting calendar that maps out seeding dates for every crop. Refer to it weekly, even when daily demands feel overwhelming. The cost of missing a planting window — like failing to start fall brassicas in July — is far greater than the time it takes to check your calendar and get seeds in the ground on schedule.
Ben Hartman's The Lean Farm is the most recommended resource for farm efficiency. It applies lean manufacturing principles to small-scale farming and provides a framework for identifying waste, building systems, and focusing your time on profitable activities. It's a book worth reading multiple times as your farm evolves.
Document your processes and establish one agreed-upon method for each task — seeding, harvesting, washing, packing. Train every team member to follow the same system. This creates consistency, reduces errors, and means you're not constantly troubleshooting different approaches. You can always improve the process, but at any given time, there should be one standard everyone follows.
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