While many people start the new year off with a list of personal resolutions or goals, like loosing weight, drinking less or getting in shape, why not start your new year off by getting your farm organized and optimized? Keep reading for tips on how to get organized around the farm, be more productive and efficiency, save time and money, increase profits and best of all reduce operational stresses.
1) Organize your records
One of the best ways to reduce stress is to get organized. Start by collecting all your farm records and getting them into an organization system. This could be as simple as a series of binders or a spreadsheet. Consider digitizing your farm records to simplify searching for and reporting on data and to prevent loosing important records in the future.
2) Write down & track tasks
There is never a shortage of things to do around the farm. Organize your farm work by writing down your daily, weekly and seasonal tasks and getting them into a schedule, or a task list, not only helps to make sure the work gets done, but also gets those chores out of your head so you can think about other things.
3) Understand your financials
Money is one of the leading causes of stress for people. Getting a good handle on your farm finances not only helps to reduce anxiety about farm margins and profits. It can also help to identify areas of your business that you might want to do less because they are less profitable and also identify places to invest.
4) Get your taxes out of the way
Taxes are a necessary part of running any business. Avoid tax day anxiety by prioritize getting your tax documents organized and your filing done as early as possible. Getting them out of the way will reduce stress later. To make farm taxes easier next year, make sure your farm financial records are up to date, online and categorized.
5) Plan your season
Whether you're growing fruits and vegetables for market, raising cattle for beef, breeding sheep, or keeping bees, having a detailed plan for your farm will keep things running smoothly all season long. Find a farm management system that works for you to help you plan your plantings, breedings, treatments, harvests and market dates.
6) Organize your work & team
Sometimes it feels like there's too much to do around the farm and never enough time or people to get it all done. To help, try getting your whole team aligned and organized around farm work by setting goals, breaking work into manageable tasks, assigning work out to the team and getting the tasks on a schedule that everyone can see and update.
7) Organize supplies & inventory
Nothing is more frustrating than not having the supplies or equipment you need to do a job. Start your season off right by taking stock of what you have on hand. Order seeds and supplies early to make sure you have everything you need. Keeping an accurate and ongoing record of your farm inventory can help alert you to re-order before you find yourself in a pinch.
8) Streamline farm orders
Whether you sell direct to consumers, wholesale or to grain silos you're going to want an easy way to capture orders, collect payments and manage inventory, fulfillments and deliveries. Consider an online order management system to keep all your orders in one place and integrated through the whole lifecycle.
9) Leverage digital tools
Pen & paper and spreadsheets are great, but if you really want to simplify and streamline things around the farm consider using a farm management software system. It can save you hundreds of hours of work a year, help improve your business, keep your records safe and best of all let you breathe a little easier.
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Happy Farming!
Farmbrite is an all-in-one farming and livestock software system that's purpose built for multi-species and biodiverse farms & ranches that includes everything you need to plan, manage, report, track and sell - all from one simple to use place. If you're serious about getting your farm organized, optimized and running smoothly see how farm software can help.