- The vet reflects on how focusing on personal happiness and positivity has transformed their work and life for the better. They believe farmers' well-being and mental health should be the top priority. - Advisors are encouraged to listen to farmers and provide simple, implementable solutions tailored to each farm instead of just listing problems. Finding solutions together will help farmers achieve their goals. - Farmers should focus on what they can control like their own attitude and goals, rather than worrying about things outside their control. Planning for both their farm and life can lead to greater happiness and success.

1. Happiness and farming
As a vet who works closely with farmers on managing the performance of their herds I have,
over the past number of months, reflected deeply on the future of this type of approach.
Farmers have all the answers!
There has never more technical data available for ‘best practise on farm’. It is like we have
all the answers to having the efficient healthy herd at our fingertips. So the question I ask
myself is; why is it that most of the herd problems I see on a daily basis are caused by the
basics being wrong?
Are we educating and advising farmers in the wrong manner?
Learning from my own journey
To explain my views I will have to start with my own personal journey over the last four
years. It is one of very much ‘being better not bitter’. I personally have improved as a person
and how I perform as a vet. I suppose, being honest, I had the wrong attitude.
By looking and focusing on the negatives in my profession I inhibited my through potential.
And I am still very much on that journey of self-discovery. What I have discovered is that by
focusing on things that are under my control such as upskilling professionally and being
more positive, I have transformed my attitude.
Essentially, I have become a very happy vet. The knock-on effects are enormous! Not just in
work but also in how I live my everyday life. This leads me to my main point and that is the
huge influence personal performance and attitude have on any of our businesses. I truly
believe that a true measure of success for anyone is happiness.
What can this mean for farming?
I have begun to look at farming in the same way. We spend a lot of time worrying about
things we simply cannot control; for example ‘milk price’. I think one of the greatest
liberators is to focus only on what you can control yourself. Things beyond our control are
distractions that can consume us and never allow us to achieve our full potential.
We will never achieve what we cannot personally conceive. For example, herd health
planning has become a buzz word. In reality I think before we ever focus on the herd we
must look at ourselves and invest time and effort in reaching our own potential.
Then when we do look at herd health, we are better able to honestly and efficiently make
differences on the farm. Our actions can be driven by your own ambitions and goals and not
those of someone like me telling you ‘what you should do’. It is about taking control and
responsibility of your own destiny.
As farmers your businesses’ are deeply interlinked with your personal lives and your
happiness... When the business is not going well it can have a huge mental drain and drag
you deeper into a spiral of negative thinking.
Mental wellbeing should be priority for all of us. But it is even more important for farmers
because of the isolation of their job. Now it is easy write about these things! But sustainable

2. and implementable actions are what’s needed. The reality is no one can do it for you
because can only truly learn what we discover for ourselves.
Let’s get focused
My own personal experience was to become more focused and most of all more positive. I
did this by writing down my ambitions and by discovering through reflection what is truly
important to me. The process was slow and it may be different for each individual.
However by persisting with it and look and planning out what we really want, we find
something worth striving for. It is a liberating process. Your vision of life infinitely expands.
While this is my experience, I am also conscious that I am not an expert in personal
performance. However, by being honest about my own experience I hope to help others.
Creating a better future for farming
For the future of sustainable agriculture we need to continually find and implement better
technologies on farms. It is imperative we take on board new research and continually
invest in the ‘science of farming’. The intensive nature of modern farming brings with it
huge challenges around disease control and animal welfare.
However, I think President Eisenhower observation from many years ago is very relevant. ‘It
is easy talk about farming when you are pushing a pen and not a plough’. We as advisors
must become more aware of the realities of farming.
Lessons for advisors
As an example when dealing with calf health issues on farms; I can investigate and list off
several actions around management that will improve things, then get in my jeep and drive
off. Thinking I have done a great job and leaving the farmer reeling from all things he is
potentially doing wrong!
Have I really made a change on that farm? Or have I added to the burden? Instead of this
approach I am suggesting; yes find the problems but then honestly ask and provide
solutions that work for that farmer. The theory and reality can be poles apart. Helping
someone discover solutions for themselves will ultimately help them to achieve their goals
much more quickly.
Better farmers are better people
So how do we help farmers be more successful and run more profitable businesses? I think
we should help them achieve this by helping them perform better themselves. How do we
do this? It’s by really listening and giving advice that is simple and most importantly
implementable. In my opinion farming has become more complex by the number of
solutions and potions that are available. This adds huge to confusion. And the basics get
forgotten when we are looking for the magic cure.
Of course, there are no magic cures. However there are solutions! Sitting down and
planning ahead for your farm and your life is a fundamental part of the solution. The nature
of the business means the two are deeply embedded in each other. To risk being cliché ‘life
is short’ and we should aim to be happy and prosperous in our lives and on our farms.

3. Plan ahead give yourself clear goals and write them down. Talk and listen to people you
trust and respect, let people help you on your journey and focus intently on things that are
within your control and forget about those that are not.
Choosing the right attitude
I have spent a lot of time looking at farms that do things well. Initially, I was looking for the
management practises that were key to their success. What I discovered is that many
different management strategies can provide good results.
The common theme on farms doing well was that of attitude. They were all were very
positive and very happy. Ultimately it can be said that their success allowed them to be so
happy. I would ask the question did their happiness lead them to their success?