Why Defining Strategic Issues Is Your Farm’s Competitive Edge 

Introduction

In the ever-changing landscape of agriculture, staying competitive requires more than just identifying challenges; it includes identifying opportunities as well. Both demand a deeper dive. Explore the power of defining strategic issues on your family farm. Taking this step can help you find creative solutions that lie beneath the surface, that can move your farm toward success and the destination you see for your farm and family.  

The 3 steps of planning your farm’s future

Defining strategic issues is a crucial bridge between steps two and three in our three-step process: 

1. Where are you now? 
2. Where do you want to be?
3. How do you get there?

Step one is gathering information to assess the current situation. Step two allows businesses to imagine their future based on their values and goals. After taking these two steps, the question is what do we do with this information? 

Assessment of the current situation should be done at the individual, family, and business levels. Navigating Your Ag Business: From Stress to Success encourages farm members to evaluate their current stressors, write a comprehensive description of the who, what, and how the business is managed and engage in comprehensive financial analysis. A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis allows all farm members to evaluate the farm from their perspectives.  

Reviewing the information gathered, the vision and goals of the members, and the SWOT analysis provides the opportunity for top issues to come to the surface. Each farm member should spend time developing their own list of concerns based on the data collected. Farm members can share their lists and determine shared concerns.  

Explore Multiple Solutions

Don’t jump to “fix-it” mode 

This is the stage where a lot of businesses will jump right to “fix-it” mode. The culture within the business may be one where the first solution offered, or the solution offered by a certain person is accepted without further discussion. Resist the urge to take the first solution without further discussion about the issue. Take the time to explore the concerns or issues that have been raised within the discovery process. One way to explore the issues is to better define them. 

Define your strategic issue 

Strategic issues are defined as critical challenges that must be addressed for a farm business to achieve its vision. They relate to big questions like: 

• What does the farm do, sell, produce? 
• Who are the farm’s customers? 
• How will the farm be competitive? 
• Who is a part of the farm and what do they do? 

Defining and prioritizing strategic issues is the bridge to step three, (How do you get there), which is developing actionable steps that will move your agriculture business forward in a positive direction. You and your family/farm members define what success looks like through your vision and goals.  

You can use the Issues Development worksheet (pg. 47-48) in the Cultivating Your Farm’s Future – Farm Succession in Wisconsin workbook to start defining the issues. It offers four questions to begin the process: 

1. What is the issue? Remember, we’ve defined a strategic issue as one that must be addressed for a business to achieve its vision. 
2. Why is it an issue? How will it affect the mission, products, the owners, consumers, the environment, etc.? 
3. What is the time frame? When will it affect the business? Generally, a strategic issue is more than a year out, while things that are less than a year are considered operational. There are other factors on page 48 of the workbook that will help you determine whether the issue is operational vs. strategic.  
4. What are the consequences of not addressing the issue? What will happen if this issue is ignored? 

You may also want to consider the issue from many perspectives, such as: 

• Financial 
• Legal 
• Emotional 
• Personal 
• Family 
• Religious 
• Community 

Selecting the top issue 

If this process of defining your strategic issues creates or uncovers conflicts among farm members, you may need to circle back and revisit the data that led to your issue development. You may need to define a new issue based on communication, conflict, and perhaps differing visions or goals for the farm.  

After you select the issue to address, now is the time to brainstorm strategies to address it and consider the barriers that may need to be overcome to address the issue fully.  

In navigating the complexities of farm management, strategic planning is the compass that guides success. Moving beyond identifying challenges, the real power lies in defining strategic issues—a bridge between envisioning your farm’s future and developing actionable steps. Your family farm’s success hinges on addressing critical questions about what you do, who your customers are, and how to stay competitive.

Utilize the practical Issues Development worksheet provided in the Cultivating Your Farm’s Future – Farm Succession in Wisconsin workbook. It offers a straightforward process to identify, understand, and prioritize strategic issues, ensuring your farm not only survives but thrives in the ever-evolving landscape of agriculture. Take charge of your farm’s future, define your strategic issues, and pave the way for a resilient future.