This is book six of my personal Top 10 Farm Books Of The Decade.
I’m presenting my Top 10 in order of publication.
Next up ,,,
The Lean Farm
How to Minimize Waste, Increase Efficiency, and Maximize Value and Profits with Less Work
by Ben Hartman
I was introduced to Lean Farming in the May 2013 issue of Growing For Market with Ben Hartman’s article ‘Lean’ Principles Applied To A Farm
Lean referred to the the Lean Production system developed by Toyota. Ben Hartman described the goal of Lean in that article as “to ruthlessly eliminate waste –anything the customer does not value– from your production system.”
Emily (my co-farmer & wife) and I devoured that article. We read it and reread it, and then discussed it and rediscussed it.
Ben Hartman had put words to everything we were trying to achieve in farm management. And then he brought those ideas further than we had had ever gone.
Definitely one my Top 5 Growing For Market articles of all time. But this post is supposed to be about books!
In 2015, Ben Hartman wrote the Lean Farm.
I have never waited for the publication of a Farming Book with as much anticipation as I waited for the Lean Farm. (A big statement from a man who has waited for a number of books with a lot of anticipation!)
I was not disappointed.
The Lean Farm had me question everything I thought I knew from my first 15 years of farming, and helped me set a new foundation for the next 15 years.
How clients should pull our crop production rather than that we should push what we’ve already grown, how all our energy is either producing waste or value, how clean and organized you can actually get a workplace, how …
Four years later, I’m still unpacking this book.
Could this book have the same effect on your farm?
