One privilege of my job is that I travel a lot of highways and byways to meetings and visit farmers. Visiting farmers and their families and enjoying the rural countryside is the best part of my work.
Those travels also take me around a lot of cities in the Northeast. And, from Washington, D.C., to Bangor, Maine, I’ve seen so many majestic “tombstones” – huge, new corporate and financial buildings – testimony to their executives’ fiscal astuteness – lack thereof.
The businesses that were smacked the hardest by this recession seemed to be the big ones most vulnerable to a deadly combination of arrogance and greed. Together, they breed shortsightedness.
So what’s the opportunity?
A lot of skilled workers have been let go, furloughed or given early retirement. Highly productive farm and agribusiness operations have more and better employee prospects than they’ve had for decades.
Depending on your business and your employment package, you just might have prospective business partners if they work out for you. Many people outside of agriculture still see it as a noble profession. And growing farm businesses, such as farm markets, agritourism and horticulture, need good people who can talk, think – and work.
Your comments are welcome and wanted. If you aren’t already registered, just click on the ‘register” tab at the bottom of this page. Then come back and share your thoughts.