October 22nd 2022
Measuring Success
“But the real products of any year’s work are the farmer’s mind and the cropland itself…The finest growth that farmland can produce is a careful farmer…”
Excerpts from Prayers and Sayings of the Mad Farmer by Wendell Berry
As we’re wrapping up field work I am beginning to reflect and anticipate planning for next year’s production. I also find myself thinking a lot about how to measure our progress, or success, if I’m feeling particularly bold. It’s a bit odd because we don’t necessarily produce anything (unless you count lots of manure…) we don’t have many income streams. We’re generally supporting the work of other departments and hopefully freeing up their time to do detailed hand work. So I often find myself stumped with how to measure our progress. I could look at how many hours we spend in the field. I could consider horse health and their fitness level. I could converse with the garden crew and look at actual production and quality. But I think where I’m settling in is taking into account field work, horse health, quality of work, and all of the little things that you can’t quantify on a spreadsheet. Are the horses content? Are they challenged? Are they learning? And even more so for myself I am asking similar types of questions. Coming to the end of a week and deciding it was flatly a success or a failure does me little good. But more importantly, am I learning? Am I aware of what’s happening at the farm and in the natural world at large? Am I cued into all of the little signals the horses give me? Am I paying attention to the needs of my coworkers? Have I told anyone that I appreciate them this week? Have I made time to be still and listen? Have I been intentional about my work or am I simply reacting to whatever the day brings? Do I have a handle on my emotions, and if something is out of balance can I uncover why? Have I been grateful? Have I found the lesson laid out in the work this week? Am I making progress? If the needle is moving, even a smidge on a couple of these questions, that is something to be proud of, much more than a supposed success or failure, or some arbitrary letter or number I might assign to justify my space in the world. So here’s to checking in every now and then, and inching our way toward more careful farming and living.