How much do you trust your memory? I reckon most people would say they have a pretty good memory. But can you remember what you were doing this time last week? What about last month? Now ask yourself if you remember everything about the last time you worked with your cattle. Can you remember how many animals you saw; how many you treated; how many were below average in weight or fat score.
I've been listening to a podcast series while I've been driving called Serial. Its produced in the US by a journalist exploring the story of a young man arrested for the murder of his ex-girlfriend. The podcast has explored the case and the evidence around the case. There have been interviews with witnesses, the young man, the police. Its been fascinating to listen to.
What stands out for me, is how unreliable peoples memories actually are. Where they were, what they did, who they talked to etc. And these are not unimportant details! These things are important to find the murderer of a young girl and to prove the innocence or guilt of another person. That person could face the death penalty or life in prison. So remembering things is important!
Yet in lots of cases, people weren't really sure of events. They couldn't remember, or they assumed it sounded correct and so on. In any event it proves to me that we can't always trust our memories, especially with details that happen every day.
I started thinking about this following a few client visits this year. A big part of my job is to help make better decisions regarding the herd and the way the herd is managed.
In some cases, my clients weren't really sure of important details. Details such as length of joining; number of cows in the herd; average turn off weights into the feedlot or the number of cows sold out of the herd for non pregnancy.
Its not to say they didn't know the answers, its just that in a few cases, there was a little uncertainty.
Uncertainty troubles me! More and more in agriculture we need to find ways to be certain. Either to prove the integrity of our food production systems; to prove compliance with market programs; or simply to prepare a budget so we forecast income and meet the bills as they come in!
Its often in the little things, these details, that opportunities exist for improvement. Individually these opportunities may not be very large. However the accumulation of these opportunities often results in a significant difference in production or in profitability.
The key to all this is your records. How good are they? Without good records, you are reduced to relying on your memory. And if you are still thinking about just what it was you did with your cows this time last month, you might feel your memory is a little bit unreliable. The other downside with memory, is it is very hard to analyse your memory to identify trends or anomalies that might indicate a developing problem.
One of the keys in decision making, is to make an informed and timely decision. This is so true in agriculture. In your own business the best source of information will be your records. If you can't look at them, question them or get some advice on what your records are indicating, then your decisions will never be as good as they should be!
So my challenge to you is to think about the last time you worked with your cattle. If you kept records and can be confident in what you did and saw, then think about if you can use those records to make good decisions for the management of those cows. If you didn't keep records and you're not entirely certain of what you did, do you have total faith in your decisions for the best management of your cows. If thats the case, maybe its time t discuss with me the options for keeping records in your business.