Farming and sports both require some grit, brains and luck. Being physically tough is important, but being mentally tough makes a bigger difference. In farming and sports, if you give me a choice between talent and heart, I’ll take heart every time.

There are many overlapping systems in play on a family farm. Your family circle is your nuclear family which relates to your parents or in-laws, and your siblings, who may also be business partners or farm heirs.

Successful transition planning begins with a first and formal transition conversation, and how the first conversation goes often sets the stage for the entire process. Get off on a good foot, and the entire process is smoother.

I led the freshly shod and saddled little buckskin mare around the front of the pickup and back to the trailer. I smiled to myself as she jumped up into the trailer, and I casually slammed the door shut.

If you were brought up in the ag industry, there have likely been several “yes, you can” moments from trusted mentors along the way. If you are bringing someone along to follow in your footsteps and take their place in the agricultural community, there is a high probability you’ve had a “yes, you can” opportunity.

While many will say they love what they do, as they should, it’s vital to the overall well-being of individuals, families, employees and the industry as a whole that ranchers and farmers take well-earned breaks, regardless of what season that happens in.

As we’ve built a cow herd and moved around to increase opportunities, almost every time we’ve moved, we’ve moved into a fixer-upper. And I’m sorry, but it doesn’t go nearly as fast as TV would like for us to think it does.