In farming, we know that it’s not really a matter of if farmers will be faced with a curveball during spring planting season – it’s when.

If you’ve farmed for more than one planting season, you’ve likely experienced some curveballs in the spring. Those most often result from weather, but they can also come from other areas of the farm.

Maybe it was an unexpected equipment breakdown when you needed to be in the field. Maybe there were some supplies you thought the farm had enough for what you needed, but that turned out to not be enough. Maybe an employee got the tractor stuck in some mud – and then quit their job.

Perhaps it was a business-related curveball. The markets threw your marketing strategy a big curveball and your plans needed some adjusting. Maybe you needed to restructure some loans or debt with your bank.

How to prepare

No matter where the curveball comes from this spring, there are a few things you can do to be ready. The first thing is to acknowledge that no one can predict exactly what the next curveball for the farm business will be. Farm leaders could waste a lot of valuable time and energy trying to predict and then plan for every possible curveball, but that’s just not advisable.

Being proactive about the top potential curveballs that are most likely to happen is probably a better way to prepare yourself as a leader and your business. Top farm leaders don’t have to obsess about every potential curveball because they know they and their business are flexible, prepared, and ready to respond with adaptability when the curveball comes.

How are you navigating this market?

Farmers have found that getting some third-party perspective from our market advisors has helped ease their minds. The advisors help farmer clients with planning and execution around marketing decisions and help keep them up to speed on the current rapidly-changing grain market situation – and how it impacts their operation.

Get a free two-week trial of our marketing information service (MarketView Basic). Your free trial includes regular audio and video updates, technical analysis, recommendations and more. Learn more about our market advisor programs and offerings at www.waterstreetag.com.