As you probably have heard me say before, my son plays baseball.  The other day his high school team had their first scrimmage of the season. It didn’t go as well as he had planned, so the conversation on the way home was pretty limited.  I knew he wasn’t in a mood to talk, so I let him be.

The next day, I gave him a call to give him some encouragement.  My advice was to not let that one game change his approach, keep his emotions under control, and remember to stay the course of hard work and practice that we have had for many years.  If he does that, everything will work out and he will see success.

I think many of us could use the same advice. Don’t let something bad get our emotions all down, and don’t let something good get us too high. We need to keep our emotions under control and stay the course we have worked out.  If we do that, we will see steady progress toward our goals.

Have the same approach in your farming operation.  Have goals for what you are wanting to accomplish, and the work that is needed to get there.  If something bad happens, or the weather doesn’t cooperate, control your emotions and realize that if you follow recommended practices, everything will eventually work out.  But if you get perfect weather and everything comes up roses, don’t get too high and forget the plan. Stick with the course and don’t cut corners.

Fertilizer prices got you down? Stick with the soil testing and clovers to efficiently provide nutrients. Had a decent winter and have some hay left over?  Don’t get too high and let leftover hay go to waste.  Save it for next year and be efficient with your production this year.

Having a long-term plan and sticking to it is one of the key elements to success.  You can’t let emotions get you off course.  Keep swinging at balls in the strike zone and eventually the balls will start falling for hits. You just have to remember to put the work in and stay the course.