It is sowing time on the farm and I reflect on ways to manage well.

Sowing is in full swing and the oats, canola, barley and wheat are being planted on our farm and most of the places surrounding us. We sow tiny grains today and know the type of plant that will push through the earth in a month’s time. This is probably our only certainty all year. This little grain needs rain and good soil nourishment. Long dry periods, frost, weeds or insects will stress the plant.

We will watch the weather closely for the rest of the year. The plant will be expected to be resilient, tolerant, determined and healthy. The farmer will need all of those qualities too.

It is a long road from sowing to harvest. You need to have a lot of faith in the plant, the soil, the potential for rain and the value of the crop at the end of the year. Anyone involved in farming also needs to have faith in his or her own ability to mange and adapt to the testes faced throughout the year. We all need a good plan B if the crop doesn’t perform as well as hoped and these days that involves having other areas of the business that contribute to the income.

Most farmers manage the stress of this challenging career quite well. Perhaps part of coping is all the conversations we have with each other. If you go into town after rain, everyone is comparing rainfall amounts. If you go into town during dry periods, guess what the main topic of conversation is? If your not careful it becomes all you think and talk about. That’s why I love our trips to Sydney.

It takes a bit of negotiation to get Howard to have a few days away from the farm but once we get on the road he is happy. About two hours into the trip we start talking about other things aside from our business. Last weekend we went to the Randwick races and had a ball. We also took the girls and some friends to Luna Park in the evening. We loved the ferry ride across the harbour and enjoyed the amazing light show in the city.

Perhaps we need to be like the plants and work out what nourishes us, waters us, sustains us and just how much we can tolerant before it impacts on our health. At the end of the day if the gamble of putting in a crop is too stressful than the whole lifestyle is pointless.

As we (I say ‘we’ but it is Howard who is staying up all night at times) put the 2013 crop in, lets have an intention to enjoy every season and reach for the best in ourselves. After all that is what the plants are trying to do, reach towards that sunshine and grow every day!

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