The Importance of the Inside Farmer

What is your definition of a farmer? 

According to the Webster's Dictionary a farmer is a person who cultivates land or crops or raises animals.  

​If the dictionary definition defines someone who is outside taking care of the land and animals as the farmer, who is the one inside taking care of the business side of things?

Is a farm a business?  Sure.  For many farmers, the farm is their sole income.  So if a farm is a business, doesn't someone have to run the business side of the farm?  

Sometimes the farmer is the jack-of-all-trades, but sometimes there is an outside farmer and an inside farmer. 

When people find out that I live on a farm, they always assume that I am outside in the barn every day doing chores and taking care of the animals.  While I can do the outside tasks, and sometimes I do take on those responsibilities, on the average day I am the inside farmer.  

So what is an inside farmer?  

If a farm is a business, then the farm business should really have all the same aspects and departments of a fortune 500 company....just usually with one or two people.

1. Finance Department  - Every business has some sort of finance department.  Whether it is outsourced or kept in house, there is someone who collects the money and pays the bills.  A farm won't last long if the bank comes and picks up the tractor due to not making the payments.  Paying the vet bill, ordering vet supplies and filing taxes are all essential aspects of any farm business, no matter how big or small.  
2. Records Department - This is a legitimate department, believe me....I work at a law firm.   Records are very important to the success of a farm.  From crop records, fertilizer records, animal health records to animal registrations, there is so much information that must be collected and compiled into a manageable and workable format.  This information is essential for your taxes, buying and selling of animals, registering purebred animals and machinery maintenance to just list a few.  Without proper records, not only can you fall behind on vaccination and animal health maintenance, but do you remember what brand of wormer you used three months ago?  I certainly don't.  
3. Communications Department - Farmers spend a lot of time alone and many prefer to keep it that way.  However, at some point you have to communicate with others.  It may be that you need to call in a feed order to the mill, schedule a vet appointment or discuss fence repairs with a  neighbor.  Who are your customers?  Do you sell your animals at the auction or grain to the mill?  It all takes communication.  We sell our Miniature Herefords directly to our customers.  This means that we get lots of e-mails and phone calls from interested parties.  If we ignore them and fail to communicate, we don't sell our product and they move on to someone who has a better communications department.  
4. Marketing Department - You may not think that you need to market your farm, but you do.  How will people know about you?  In this day and age, the internet is one of the fastest growing and best ways to tell people about yourself and your product.  Even if you are a grain farmer, there are people that want to know who you are and how to get a hold of you.  We direct sell our cows.  Our website, instagram and facebook pages are how we tell people about ourselves, our breed, our farm and what we have to sell.  If no one knows about us, we won't be able to sell our product.  

Our family works very hard to make this farm work, to take care of our land and to produce great animals, but it doesn't stop there.  There is so much that needs to be done sitting behind a desk to make a farm a success.  Don't forget about the business side of the farm and how important it is to making the farm business work.  

Sometimes I feel guilty because I am not out braving the elements and getting all smelly and dirty working on the farm.  I just have to remind myself how important the role of inside farmer is.  You may find me sitting at the desk, typing on the computer, but the task is not easy.  I am constantly being interrupted by someone standing at the back door yelling "Mom!", because they have mud boots on and can't come in the house.  What do they want?  A syringe filled with Penicillin, the date of the last time the cows were wormed, a reminder to write down that a cow is in heat, and the list goes on and on.  

Whether the outside farm and the inside farmer is the same person or a different person, it is one of the most important jobs on the farm....and at tax time, one of the most difficult.

I am proud to say...I am a farmer...an inside farmer!

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