Finding a Work-Life Balance

[TelesnaAg]

It depends what you class as not making money, keeoing farn clean doesnt make money, but im blowed if i want to be here with mess.

Infrastructure building costs money, payback by effeciency and qaulity of life, plus asset appreciation.

Ant...

 

[Dman2]

It depends what you class as not making money, keeoing farn clean doesnt make money, but im blowed if i want to be here with mess.

Infrastructure building costs money, payback by effeciency and qaulity of life, plus asset appreciation.

Ant...

Totally agree
Usually a tidy farm is a happy and prosperous farm.
But I see people around here going out at 6am and working till 8pm or later, but arn`t making any money.
Farms need to be ran as a business
Need to stop thinking that it has to be done in a certain way because that`s the way it`s always been done

 

[TelesnaAg]

Totally agree
Usually a tidy farm is a happy and prosperous farm.
But I see people around here going out at 6am and working till 8pm or later, but arn`t making any money.
Farms need to be ran as a business
Need to stop thinking that it has to be done in a certain way because that`s the way it`s always been done

I think its important to have your own business plan that suits own goals and dont go with the norm.

I commodity farm and i asset farm all on the one joint.

I have cattle yards bigger than full time farmers but i dont have all day to do cattle so has to hold complete farm, undercover with lights so if i start in afternoon after work i can go till done.

But try explain to farmers the economics and assets required to do the farm work when you work full time, most thinks its anotger language.

Also the comments on just employ someone...maybe 20 years ago but where i live post covid near on impossible unless you offer full time work and accommodation, good people dont have a spare day when you need them, that option is gone.

Ant...

 

[betweenthelines]

Got trained in "task analysis" in a non farming role

Every task falls into one of 4 categories:

1. Necessary, adds value (eg milking the cows)

2. Necessary no added value (eg Red Tractor)

3. Not necessary adds value (eg Register Pedigree stock)

4 Not necessary, no added value (basically anything that's done out of habit/because it's always been done that way)


If you look at what you do. it can be surprising how much falls in category 4.

 

[7610 super q]

I dunno. I've tried to take things easy this year, no rushing about, no long days, and definitely no working in the dark. Took it easy over Easter. Could have done quite a few more acres of drilling.
Now next weeks dry weather window is shrinking fast, some barley probably now won't get drilled till May, yields will be reduced, bank account will suffer......
Farming just isn't like other industries. It really isn't.

 

[Blaithin]

The big, whoa boy, this might be a disaster for you, comments that I’ve seen elsewhere involve kids. (Haven’t even touched on wives )

I know a few commenters on here have kids, and also have had rocky spots in marriages, I mean who hasn’t? Perhaps they can share if prioritizing the farm causes issues in these areas. Don’t feel like you have to though, it can be some private stuff!

Now I don’t have kids so I don’t give out parenting advice But I was a kid with some experience in this department so I’m not a completely blank slate. And maybe this is a new parent thing, maybe it’s a man thing, but the general assumption of the people who've been vocal that work towards a better balance is not necessary say they can just take their kids with them to the farm. Now I do love this, I went everywhere on the farm with the adults when I was younger.

My brother did not. He doesn’t like the farm. He got short shafted on family time because he didn’t have the same interests. Is that his fault or the adults fault because they only offer their time on their terms, at the farm?

SO has a friend who has gone out of his way to purchase ATVs because he has a son that isn’t interested in the farm while the other one beats him to vehicles. They’re working to find something the not interested son is interested in that they can spend time together doing. Which is great!

I think we all form pictures in our heads of what our marriage is going to look like, what our kids are going to be like, how they’re just going to fit seamlessly into our lives as they are right now. And then reality strikes And on the farm that reality is frequently closely linked to late nights in the shop, missed events because time got away or something broke, being late to something because of the barn, etc. All typical aspects of farm life, but also all stuff that gets old after 3 years, 5, 10.

 

[SilliamWhale]

My brother did not. He doesn’t like the farm. He got short shafted on family time because he didn’t have the same interests. Is that his fault or the adults fault because they only offer their time on their terms, at the farm?

Well its not the kids fault that's for sure

 

[Blaithin]

Well its not the kids fault that's for sure

That was kind of a rhetorical question. I’d probably fall out of my chair if someone answered that it was his fault

 

[robs1]

The big, whoa boy, this might be a disaster for you, comments that I’ve seen elsewhere involve kids. (Haven’t even touched on wives )

I know a few commenters on here have kids, and also have had rocky spots in marriages, I mean who hasn’t? Perhaps they can share if prioritizing the farm causes issues in these areas. Don’t feel like you have to though, it can be some private stuff!

Now I don’t have kids so I don’t give out parenting advice But I was a kid with some experience in this department so I’m not a completely blank slate. And maybe this is a new parent thing, maybe it’s a man thing, but the general assumption of the people who've been vocal that work towards a better balance is not necessary say they can just take their kids with them to the farm. Now I do love this, I went everywhere on the farm with the adults when I was younger.

My brother did not. He doesn’t like the farm. He got short shafted on family time because he didn’t have the same interests. Is that his fault or the adults fault because they only offer their time on their terms, at the farm?

SO has a friend who has gone out of his way to purchase ATVs because he has a son that isn’t interested in the farm while the other one beats him to vehicles. They’re working to find something the not interested son is interested in that they can spend time together doing. Which is great!

I think we all form pictures in our heads of what our marriage is going to look like, what our kids are going to be like, how they’re just going to fit seamlessly into our lives as they are right now. And then reality strikes And on the farm that reality is frequently closely linked to late nights in the shop, missed events because time got away or something broke, being late to something because of the barn, etc. All typical aspects of farm life, but also all stuff that gets old after 3 years, 5, 10.

When we had the cows I worked 100 HR wks but always made sure I was back by 8 to have breakfast with the kids and had tea at five before evening milking and in holidays they spent a lot of time outside with me, had a good few years when we didn't have a holiday but the money I made in those years has enabled me to give a fair chunk of money to both mine to lower their mortgages and to start their own businesses, we also have a family holiday flat that we all use and we have the grandkids for a few days which is great. My first marriage failed but probably working those long hours actually made it last longer as I didn't have to put up with a raging monster as much as I would if I worked longer hours

 

[DrWazzock]

Undoubtedly my marriage greatly curtailed my farming time and my free time but I don’t regret getting married ……. much.

 

[DrWazzock]

Free time is like a vacuum. Something always comes along to fill it.

 

[Kevtherev]

as an old fella i once worked for ( who was a pretty hard sorta cove ) said - no one is indispensable

Very true that
I nearly lost my life to meningitis aged 23 so that little episode gave me a different outlook tbh.

 

[Jonp]

I've sat around all day, done nothing productive, going to go out and have a stroll round the fields with the dog and look at all the sheep.
The one remaining ewe to lamb will get a very stern look...then probably pet her a bit.

 

[DrWazzock]

I dunno. I've tried to take things easy this year, no rushing about, no long days, and definitely no working in the dark. Took it easy over Easter. Could have done quite a few more acres of drilling.
Now next weeks dry weather window is shrinking fast, some barley probably now won't get drilled till May, yields will be reduced, bank account will suffer......
Farming just isn't like other industries. It really isn't.

Farming takes no prisoners that’s for sure. You can’t just “ring in sick”. If I hadn’t worked Easter Sunday I’d be seriously behind by now spraying winter crops. I haven’t drilled any spring crops yet and don’t think I will now. It feels lazy but often busting a gut doesn’t thank me either so while we can survive on the wife’s pension and while my time is spent looking after her the farm will just have take a back seat. First time in my life I’ve “let things go” but actually I am not really bothered with cereal prices slipping back. Stuff it.

 

[Dman2]

There are definitely times when we have to work, to beat the weather for example
Still to wet here to do anything ( so went flying with wife as passenger )
But in a day or so time will be out there till whatever time to get spring oats drilled fert on and spraying done.
Then I`ll go flying again, if the weather is still good

 

[DrWazzock]

The good thing about this job is at least you can have a day off in the week if you’ve caught up by working the weekend.

 

[Red Fred]

One thing I regret about my childhood was the fact that we never once took a family holiday as there were always cows calving or some other vital work to be done. Mum and dad were marvellous parents but everything had to revolve around the farm and even college graduation day was missed due to something vital happening at home.
I went on various school trips to make up for it, or else sent to my big sister's in Wales for the holidays, but even now it rankles a bit as we didn't make any shared memories, and dad died not long after I left college and just before he planned to semi-retire so we never made up the time together.
It just proves you can't buy time.

 

[czechmate]

Age forces you to improve your work /life balance. Have come to the horrible realisation that I'm no spring chicken anymore and have toned down everything. Winters are hard with the sheep but the rest of the year I enjoy laying around in the sun watching the world go by and appreciating what I've got on my small rented farm with the simple infrastructure and system that I have created.

huh, your profile says you are just 63

 

[Wink]

One difficulty with the work like balance is the different expectations people have of what is correct. This is heightened even further with influences from family and friends who may be living a life with 'normal?' jobs - regular working hours/40hr weeks/weekends off/big holiday allowance etc. compared to farming folk/self employed/small business owners. The two can be worlds apart and difficult to understand and match. And the lines become blurred even further with what's classed as a hobby and lifestyle.

 

[Farmer_Joe]

One thing I regret about my childhood was the fact that we never once took a family holiday as there were always cows calving or some other vital work to be done. Mum and dad were marvellous parents but everything had to revolve around the farm and even college graduation day was missed due to something vital happening at home.
I went on various school trips to make up for it, or else sent to my big sister's in Wales for the holidays, but even now it rankles a bit as we didn't make any shared memories, and dad died not long after I left college and just before he planned to semi-retire so we never made up the time together.
It just proves you can't buy time.

I read something about this once money/time etc,

along the lines of money you can borrow of earn more, get another job, there's ways to sort it out

time is finite, its constantly leaving you and you can never get it back or acquire more, stuck with me that...