Farmers understand change: The weather changes, markets change, economics change. Technologies change too and, through it all, farmers keep farming. You always have. You always will.
Change is inevitable, but we can learn from how other farmers navigate their own big changes, and we can adapt to the next major shakeups on the farm.
“Change often disrupts our habits,” explains Wendy Wood, professor of psychology and business at the University of Southern California and author of Good Habits, Bad Habits. “Change can also cause uncertainties, and decision-making becomes effortful.”
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Your brain might even be hard-wired to resist change. The amygdala, the part of the brain that processes emotions, memories and fear, wants to protect you from change; it perceives change as a threat so it activates the “fight or flight” response. Resist change and it calms the reaction; step into change and it activates all of those fear-based hormones.
The good news: The more often you embrace change, the easier it gets, according to Ayelet Fishbach, the Jeffrey B. Keller professor of behavioral science and marketing at the University of Chicago and author of Get It Done, Surprising Lessons From the Science of Motivation.
“It’s harder to change if you haven’t done it in a while,” Fishbach says. “You’re losing your mental flexibility. So, you probably want to constantly seek change just to practice.”
Whether you’re eagerly planning for a big change or you’re being forced to adapt to unforeseen circumstances, change requires conscious effort and planning but it will eventually become habitual, Fishbach suggests.
Her recommendation? Do your research, and picture it in your mind: “Consider mentally simulating the upcoming change and planning your response.”
The big change: barn fire
Ron Versteeg was headed out for evening milking when he noticed smoke billowing out of the hayloft. He knew he had to act fast.
“There had been a fire in the area a few years prior and the farm lost some cows to smoke inhalation,” he recalls. “I said, ‘Let’s get the cows out and when the fire is out, we can bring them back in and there won’t be damage to their lungs.’”
Versteeg, who milks 120 cows at Rusland Farms Inc. in Russell County, Ont., called the fire department and worked quickly to move all of the cows out of the barn and into the pasture. He hoped to be back in the barn completing milking within a few hours.
The fire department blasted the blaze with 500,000 gallons of water but the fire spread fast. All of the cows were safe but the barn burned to the ground.
“In the span of a couple of hours, we went from a barn we were milking in to a pile of smoldering rubble,” Versteeg says. “It was quite a shock … to see that work being reduced to ashes.”
As Versteeg stood before the charred remains of his barn, friends and neighbours showed up to help, gathering in the dark to tend to the cows. He had no idea what the unexpected event would mean for his dairy farm.
“The night of the fire, you feel pretty alone,” he says. “You haven’t got time to feel sorry for yourself because you’re focused on other things.”
In the moments when dealing with such a massive disruption felt insurmountable, Versteeg turned to his community for support. A local farmer loaned him a barn and friends showed up with livestock trailers to move the cows; a contractor agreed to start construction on the barn less than two weeks after the fire; and local farmers rallied to haul away debris so the work could start.
“Sometimes, when you have a stroke a bad luck, there’s a lot of good luck that also falls your way,” he says. “We experienced the goodwill of the community.”
Even when the cows were settled and the milking routine resumed, Versteeg had to adjust to other changes, including travelling to a neighbouring farm to milk the cows, living in a construction zone and dealing with insurance claims.
Although the barn fire happened decades ago, Versteeg still remembers the importance of maintaining a positive attitude about all of the unanticipated changes.
“You have to know your limits (and) self-awareness is important: You have to take your pulse and ask, ‘How am I doing today? Do I need to take a break or slow down?’” he says. “You can’t worry about what you don’t control.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced restaurant closures, Shawn Dirksen lost a major market for his produce.
“The first thing we wondered was whether we should continue to plant, hire and run the farm at the same capacity (as previous years),” recalls Dirksen, founder of Northstar Organics in Victoria, B.C. “I was concerned about how we would sell all of our produce [but] we decided to go 100 percent full-steam ahead … based on the conviction that food wasn’t a discretionary purchase.”
Sales increased during the pandemic but Dirksen was forced to make some major changes in his operation to keep it running.
Thanks to the B.C. Farmers’ Market Association, Dirksen was able to access an online platform to sell the vegetables and berries growing on his 10-acre certified organic farm direct to consumers. Customers placed orders and staff packaged them for pickup on the farm or at one of the outdoor markets.
Farmers markets were still open but practices changed there, too. Staff wiped down all of the surfaces, wore gloves and picked produce for customers to minimize contact. The model required additional investments and staff.
“Despite worries and concerns that things would be difficult to sell, in the end, it wasn’t difficult,” says Dirksen. “It took a little bit of perseverance … but the pivot was so successful.”
In fact, Northstar Organics has maintained most of the changes implemented during the pandemic, proving that change, even when unexpected and stressful, can be beneficial.
The pandemic represented the “biggest forced change” Dirksen has experienced on the farm — but it was not the first time he’s navigated change.
Dirksen has also transitioned from a conventional farm that grew limited crops for wholesale markets to a diversified certified organic farm that sells direct to consumers. Dealing with unexpected change, he believes, is more challenging.
“I think we did navigate (the pandemic) well but I certainly had my fair share of anxiety over it,” he says. “With less time to prepare and making decisions on the fly, it’s hard to judge the right thing to do.”
All of the pandemic-inspired changes happened at a time when Dirksen was preparing for changes of a different kind. In 2019, he announced plans to step back from daily farm operations to focus on planning, administration and self-care — but sometimes the most effective response to change is to allow things to remain the same.
“The pandemic was a big change and an incredibly uncertain time,” he says. “I could see it was not the time to step back and that proved to be the right decision.”
The big change: unexpected death
When third-generation farmer Amanda O’Connell decided to return to the farm in 2006, she purchased shares in the corporation from her grandfather. Her grandfather retired, selling O’Connell 100 percent of his shares in Sunol Farms Limited, making her a 50/50 partner with her father.
Although O’Connell’s grandfather sold his ownership in the 3,000-acre grain and dairy farm, it was not a smooth transition.
“My grandfather was very old school and he wasn’t on board with me purchasing the farm because I was a woman and he didn’t think I’d succeed,” O’Connell recalls. “The family farm was on the market (and) we came with what he was asking for so he couldn’t say no.”
The situation became more contentious when O’Connell increased production and implemented other changes that led to several management awards for the Carleton Place, Ont. farm.
The experience, while exasperating, was also a lesson. O’Connell and her dad established a succession plan to ensure that when the time came to transfer ownership from father to daughter, the process was seamless.
Father and daughter checked in with each other often and tweaked their succession plan as needed but O’Connell needed to put that plan into action far earlier than she ever imagined. In 2021, her dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given just weeks to live.
“He said, ‘Start the process,’” she recalls. “I know my dad was proud to have one of his children take over the farm.”
Within weeks of getting the diagnosis, O’Connell lost her father, her business partner and an essential member of the farm team. His death created a domino effect on the farm and the magnitude of the change proved overwhelming.
“We’re definitely seeing holes where we don’t have someone to do the things that my dad always did,” O’Connell says. “It’s not just filling (his role), we also lost all of the knowledge he had and it’s taking longer to get things done.”
With crops in the field and cows to milk, she had to adapt. O’Connell reshuffled some roles on the farm, contracted out tasks that were once handled in-house and forged a path forward.
O’Connell is working more hours and trying to remain flexible as she creates a new normal on the farm.
“Being flexible and fluid and able to make a new plan on the go has made it easier,” she says. “I don’t expect anything to be the way it was the day before and that’s helped me navigate all the changes.”
6 Strategies for navigating change
Change is inevitable. Whether it’s an exciting, planned change like adding a new business line or welcoming the next generation to the workforce, or a devastating and unexpected change like an accident or sudden death, all producers will face change — and some will deal with it better than others.
These six strategies can help ease the transition.
1 Count on community: You may be the only one dealing with the change but that doesn’t mean you have to go it alone. Whether you need on-the-ground help to get things done while you are in transition, or if it might really help to have some friendly support to help you deal with the mental and emotional impacts of change, don’t hesitate to reach out to your network for help. “Those who can handle change often have supportive circumstances (and) people around them who are supportive of the change,” marketing prof Ayelet Fishbach says.
2 Reframe your thinking: Change can be stressful even when it’s a change you’re excited about and one that you have taken the time to carefully plan. So instead of always thinking about obstacles and challenges, make sure you frequently remind yourself of the opportunities that change creates. Research shows that thinking about positive outcomes when faced with stressful topics helped reduce worry and anxiety, making it easier to adapt to change.
3 Don’t rush: Change takes time. Even if the producer down the road recovered from a similar change quickly, your timeline may be different. In fact, there may even be some benefits to spreading a change out over time, says author Wendy Wood. “If you make changes in stages rather than all at once, you’re not making all of the decisions at the same time.”
4 Look ahead: It’s tempting to focus on the good old days especially when dealing with an unwelcome or unexpected change. Instead, focus on the future and create a plan to adapt. “We find that when people anticipate something difficult in advance, it’s easier for them to deal with it when the time arrives,” says Fishbach. That way, it won’t be long before you’re referring to these moments as the good old days.
5 Set goals: Navigating change is no different than working toward a goal. Establishing milestones and a timeline can help you move into the new phase. Studies show that 76 per cent of participants who write down their goals and share their progress with a friend achieve those goals.
6Go easy on yourself: Even if change happens overnight, adjusting to a new normal will take time. Change also requires a lot of effort. It might be a good idea to cut back on some responsibilities during the transition and, if you find yourself falling back on old habits and routines, cut yourself some slack.
“Resisting change is something that people do automatically,” says Wood. “You’re especially prone to falling back on old habits when you’re tired or stressed or distracted. You’ll have that experience and it’s normal. Be kind to yourself.”
