I love business and working with good businesses. Particularly so when asking the question “what makes them good”.
One answer always comes up. The people.
People created the business, and people are what keeps it ticking. It’s people that make it great, not machinery, technology or land.
Having clearly defined the individual roles and jobs that need doing is important. If a job can be systematised, mechanised and automated, then it should be. If the job is to move dirt from one pile and put it on another pile, then surely there are better and better ways to do it as technology improves!
But farming is much more than a system that can be automated. It requires constant tweaking and making changes on the fly. And these decisions can be made on gut feel.
Farming is part science, but mostly art.
This is where people shine over any machine or programmed system.
Those that treat their job as a form of art. An expression of who they are. That take pride in doing a great job and reflecting on their art at the end of a day’s work.
Great businesses, of any size, are filled with people passionate about their work. The business recognises this and evolves around them to account for their needs.
Would a great artist put up with a paint brush that doesn’t fit their hand? That’s the main reason why good people leave a job; they had grown faster than the business.