Lessons from Yellowstone – What can CDN farms take from a television show?

I will be the first to say it – I miss Rip and Beth.

Although I definitely was late when it came to watching Yellowstone, once my wife and I started, we never stopped. Watching all the seasons in under a month is probably why I felt like I was behind at work and tired. So why was the show so popular with rural and agricultural crowds? Because it was the truth, just a little bloodier.

The World Does Not Understand Ag

The first time I understood this was when a young child on social media told the camera that her food was grown at Safeway. Ever since then, I cannot unsee the misunderstanding of the majority of the population towards agriculture. Why would an industry that makes its profit from making sustainable production choices be trying to kill its consumers? 

Good question.

• We are not overusing or misrepresenting chemical use. My dad still has stories about the open cab sprayer and feeling the droplets on the back of his neck when the wind was in the wrong direction. And yes, my father is in his seventies and still alive to tell the tale. As producers, we require chemicals to produce the foods you eat. Not using chemicals would produce a much darker picture with the amount of weed growth and the number of pesticides (insect sprays) we would need to use to make your food edible. Would I chug a glass of Roundup to show you this, probably not, but would I show you how little chemical is actually used on the massive amount of land in our country, yes. 

 

Come out to the farm one day and learn something outside of what’s on the news.

 

• We are not using so much fertilizer that we are killing the environment. In fact, in Canada, we grow some of the cleanest and most carbon-responsible crops in the world (check out the GIFFS data). As farmers, the last thing we want to do is hurt the environment, as that is the only way we produce profit in these tight margin years. It would be fiscally irresponsible to overapply fertilizer (increase our costs for no reason), cut our crop rotations (limit the type of crops we can grow in the future), and hurt the environment we grow crops in (weather patterns, severity of storms, days of sun or rain).

The Train Station Exists

Theoretically exists that is, I have been around agriculture long enough to know that the smaller and more capable you keep your circle, the more progressive, successful and better off you will be. Most of the strongest entrepreneurs in primary production agriculture I know have very small peer groups of farms they work with, and the rest are just acquaintances. A Lamborghini has two seats; a school bus has thirty. You become the five closest people you spend your time with.

• Spend the majority of your time chasing; when I enter a room, I want to sit with the five most progressive, successful, and strongest mindsets in the room. It is a hard lesson that will shrink your circle, but don’t let those below you pull you down. I often see people who look over the fence and criticize. It used to make me generalize that agriculture hates successful farms. But in the end, I was reminded by a few individuals in our coaching program that there are still those who strive for progress. The rest are just an annoyance.
• Agriculture is not the only place to look for mentors. Some of the most interesting people I know are outside the industry, and yet the lessons I have learned from them directly apply. We often forget we are not special; we are running a business unlike any other. Weather affects us; it also affects the owner of a resort in Mexico. Markets affect us; they also hurt other financial institutions. We like to use these crutches as an excuse; they are just a part of risk mitigation in our business.

Scale Will Always Be Attacked

I used to think this was only in agriculture, but I was reminded that the family-owned hardware store probably is not a fan of Home Depot. 

This conversation came up in a coaching session the other day, and I was asked why, in agriculture, success is feared and degraded. My answer was simple: “because any of us could have done it”. Growing up, I was the same size as many of the operations that I consult for today; I turned down land that at the time was affordable but did not seem fairly priced. We all know that we would have bought more land in our time if we knew what was coming; the difference is that most of them did.

• The majority of producers today that are seen as consolidated enemies started at a humble size. The largest farm in Canada was 1,500 acres; our operation was the first quarter that Kristjan rented during his days at university. Too often, we look at the results of those around us and judge them for being given or not earned. The comments of “must be nice” or “they must have had help” are thrown around a little too much in agriculture. How about they took more risk than us, they outproduced us, or the most realistic is that they are better entrepreneurs than us. I farmed, I now work for one of those farms, and I actually look up to that farmer for how he did it. More people need to learn this lesson.
• What if I told you that the teams you build will lead to your success? In our farm (and yes, I say our because I get to be a participating member in HGV), we depend on good people and strong skillsets to grow. One of the main reasons that many of these large-scale operations outgrow their neighbours is the realization that you cannot do it alone. Find good people, pay them well, bring them along for the ride, and see what a true return on investment is. These farms will be the first to tell you that their success is linked to those they surround themselves with. They just get the hate by themselves.

If you are not one of the millions of people who have watched Yellowstone, I highly advise you to take some time. I believe it is one of those generational series that only comes around once (although now I am watching Landman and Lioness, which are also Taylor Sheridan written productions). As a producer, I believe you will see a lot of your industry in the lines that are written and the scenes that are taped. If it does to you what it did to me, you may just learn something.