The Power of Partnerships

When you think of partnership, who do you think of?  Your spouse?  Your parents or kids on the farm?  When I think of partnerships, I think of everyone who has a hand in the success of my business.  This includes the family members that are part of the business, the accountant, the banker (or preferably Credit Union financial support), and the veterinarian.

The relationship with a vet is what spurred this blog on.  You see, the other night, when we had a cow down with a calf that couldn't be pulled in need of caesarian section, my husband could not find a vet willing to come out and help.  Our regular vet was "gone away" according to whomever answered the phone at the emergency number on the clinic voicemail.  Most of the others who answered the phone were too busy or didn't have a large animal vet available.  Then there were a couple who were too far away and didn't want to leave their own area without someone for that long if they came out here, but were willing to do in-clinic work if we could get her on the trailer (fair point for the vet, but no way this cow was getting up and into a trailer).  In all of our moving and planning and buying cattle, it never occurred to us that we may end up having to euthanize an animal for lack of ability to find veterinary care in a crisis.

This is why the power of partnerships is SO important on the ranch or in any business.  As a former lender and manager at a bank and credit union, I have seen the value of partnerships from a bit different light on the other side of the desk, but always saw the need for relationships to be built rather than once a year going to visit the accountant, banker or neighbour.  These relationships are important to develop at the beginning, not just when you need them.

A great example of this is your relationship with your bank or Credit Union.  If you start out on your own and then you get into a jam and THEN you head off to talk to the local banker, you are more likely to meet resistance than if you have been in, sat down and planned with someone what you were looking at doing.  We think of banks as money lenders, but there are services beyond that which could benefit us greatly.  There are planning services, tax efficiency knowledge, utilizing different savings vehicles and more.  How many of you use your banker to the maximum of their ability? If you don't feel the banker you are dealing with has the right knowledge to assist you (we just recently went through this at a local credit union) - go somewhere else until you find someone that does.  They should be able to answer your questions or they should have someone they can go to and get answers for you.  Do not accept mediocre bankers.  You need someone who believes in your plan and is willing to work with you.

Another example is your accountant.  As a former banker, I can't even tell you how many farmers and ranchers I met with that did not use their accountant to the fullest of their abilities.  Rather than sit down and discuss where the tax efficiencies might be and what to do about retirement and succession planning, it was merely a relationship like those the average person has with H&R Block and companies of the like.  It should be a quarterly or semi-annual meeting - not a shoe box on April 15th (this one do as I say, not as I do).  A good accountant that is knowledgeable in agriculture should be able to help you look for ways to keep money in your business and ensure that you are still mindful of retirement and succession planning.  Use your accountant.  Don't take for granted that they have your best interests at heart.  Ask questions and don't forget to plan for retirement.  You may not think you are going to retire, but you need to think about what happens when you slow down or want to transition to a family member or sell.  Similarly to the banker scenario, if you don't like or trust your accountant, get a new one.  This isn't a marriage.  It's a business partnership and you need someone who is doing their part in the partnership.

The veterinarian is another integral part of any livestock operation.  You should have a herd health program and you need someone that can advise you, and assist you.  As with our example above, clearly our relationship with our vet wasn't that great or we would have known that he was going to be on vacation while we were in the middle of calving.  That is something we will not have issues with in the future.  A veterinarian has been to school for many years and they have the knowledge that we cannot possibly have, even from years of experience.  It is important that we have someone that understands our geographic location and the issues that arise due to that.  Also, when something arises of a crisis nature, it is important to have a vet that is up to date and in the know of progressive options and treatments.

I could go on about other people that should be involved and I will blog about the family connection another day as that is a relationship/partnership that is often mistreated due to us taking things for granted - often good communication skills would resolve a lot of misunderstandings and confusion.  Neighbours, renters, crop share partners, mechanics, equipment dealerships and more are out there to work with and help to ensure you are getting the best collective bang for your buck.  Don't discount the importance of relationships when you are starting up, building up or even winding down your business.  Having an excellent network of people in your corner is going to increase your potential for success exponentially.

The Kitchen Table

The office.  The boardroom table.  The coffee shop.  The hub.  The kitchen table serves as all of these things.  Though it was originally meant to be a place where people gathered to break bread, on the farm, it is much more than that.  All my life, the kitchen table was where the action happened.

My grandparent's kitchen table on the ranch was where everyone gathered for coffee, holiday meals, card games, to grieve deaths, to celebrate various occasions.  There was never a lack of coffee in the morning and in the evenings, the beer and whiskey would come out.  I spent many hours of my life at that table.  It is where Grandma taught me and my sister to cut paper dolls and clothes, where we played hours upon hours of crib and Yahtzee, where we ate meals when I got to stay overnight.  My parents home was and continues to be no different.  Morning coffees are had and plans for the day are made.  When company comes, the table gets pulled out from the wall and we grab more chairs.

Thousands of dollars are spent on living room and dining room furniture in so many farm homes and yet they rarely get used.  In our own house, despite my efforts to make it otherwise, it seems so often we gather around the table.  Many a card game has been played around our table over the years.  Probably a few wine and whiskey drank as well.  I have been using it as my office while doing bookwork and schoolwork as I can see out my front window as the world goes by.  It is where we gather to talk business as everyone can get their notebook out if necessary.

One thing that I think is so important is sitting down at the kitchen table to break bread together.  Our kids are 18 and just shy of 16 now and it was a rare week where we didn't sit down at the table together for dinner at least 5 nights a week.  That is through years of 4-H, soccer, basketball, volleyball, social lives, ranching and more.  Some nights we didn't sit til 9:30pm, but we sat.  There is something to be said for spending some dedicated time together as a family around the table.  Talking to each other, listening to each other.  Without that one meal a day together, it would be easy to lose touch with what is happening with your kids.  I think that over the years, one of the reasons we were able to have such an open relationship with our kids is because we had that time together.

There are families out there that everyone dishes up at the stove and disappears to their own space to eat.  I find that unfathomable.  It is incredibly rare that we do not sit at the table to eat.  Even if it is only two of us.  So many memories would be missed, moments wouldn't be shared, hard topics wouldn't be covered and supportive conversations would not happen in the same way.  It would be so easy to lose touch with each other if you don't dedicate some time to just be present in each other's lives.  We live in a world where everyone wear's their "busy"ness as a badge of honour, regaling friends and family with how much we fit into a week.  When we get down to basics, though, we often let the important things slide to ensure we keep up with whomever it is we feel we need to keep up with.

The kitchen table - it's a place to parent, a place to be a kid, a place to form friendships, celebrate life, grieve death, vent, drink coffee and so much more.  Where would a ranch or farm family be without this integral part of their lives?  Can you imagine your own home without this central piece of furniture?  As I think about the many friends we have in agriculture and the homes I visited as a site visit in my time as an agricultural lender, the kitchen table is where it's at.  It's where everything is at.  My only wish is that everyone would buy more comfortable kitchen chairs!  (Mom, Dad - you know I am talking to you!)

The most joyous time of the year?

It is calving season on the ranch.  And it is more stressful than joyous if you ask me.  Sure the babies are cute when they actually hit the ground and after when they are up running around, it's true.  But calving all these heifers may turn me completely grey.  More grey than my teenagers.  I would like to say it's fun and rewarding - and maybe I will in April.  Right now, it is just stressful and insane and I am not even the one doing the middle of the night checks.

Between hubby and our son, they are doing most of the work.  Other than the bottle bunters, that's my job in the morning and our daughter's in the evening.  We have had a tremendous amount of bad luck it seems, from 3 feet of snow needing to be plowed in order to create a pen to calve in, our first cow to calve dying, pulling 2 out of 3 calves to foxes dining on a cow while she was down to misbehaving dogs to calling hubby home from work 2 weekends in a row now to help us pull a baby.

It's not all bad, I am sure there are some highlights.  Let me think.  Ummmmmmmmm.  Ok, ok.  There was that time... Nope...  Ummmmmmmm. Yeah, what about...?  Nope.  Truthfully there is some good with the bad.  We had a set of twins out of a heifer unassisted.  That was a nice treat.  Then there were those 2 other cows that calved unassisted.  That was a bonus.

Farming/Ranching isn't for the faint of heart.  It is hard.  It is emotionally hard, mentally hard and physically hard.  The weather doesn't cooperate, at least not this year.  Although with all this snow and cold, scours shouldn't be an issue.  Ranching is never having a moment that you sit still and think, wow, there is nothing to do around here.  It is missing out on vacations because it is calving season or haying season or hauling hay season or feeding season.  It is worrying about whether babies are going to live or die.  It is worrying about where the cheque for feed is going to come from.

It is a lot of other things though as well.  It is pulling together as a family and making things happen.  It is working together to ensure a safe delivery of a baby like we did this morning.  It is sitting down at dinner exhausted, but feeling great because you got all the chores done in record time. It is a dad and a daughter who barely speak to each other spending 5 hours doing chores and trying to get cows in that are calving.  There are positives. Every day there are positives.  But it is not easy.  Anyone who thinks farmers have it easy because of the odd subsidy or severe weather monetary "bailout" has not spent any time on a farm.

I would highly encourage everyone to get to know a local farmer and rancher.  Find out where your food comes from.  Educate yourself.  And understand the people that are behind the food.  The people that put passion before themselves on the priority list.  The ones who give up having vacations because the timing is never right and you may need the money to buy new equipment.  The ones who work off the farm and on it to try to ensure ends are closer to meeting.  We don't need pity, but we would love more people to understand that it isn't an easy way to make a living.  It is a lifestyle choice and there is pride in knowing you are doing something to feed the population.