IT'S all very well to plan your day, but what about your week, quarter, year and as far out as two, five, 10 and even 20 years?
That's what NSW's top farmers Derek and Kirrily Blomfield, "Colorado", Quirindi, do.
They have big goals in mind for their 980 hectare cattle grazing property, and they've got a plan to guide them every step of the way.
The couple, who recently took out the NSW Farmer of the Year award, hope to one day have their own multi-layered food production system incorporating grassfed beef, pork and poultry.
They currently produce grass-fed beef sold direct to the consumer, starting out selling two bodies a month when they began in January.
Now turning off about five bodies a month, they hope to increase this to 10 or more.
But, they don't want to make themselves busier than they already are.
"We want to keep improving the quality of our life and be financially free, all while growing the business, and to achieve that we need to put planning into place, including planning for an extended team," Mr Blomfield said.
Mr Blomfield, a third generation farmer, said their focus on planning only kicked into gear in recent years.
Five years ago, they were cropping cereals and annual forage crops, but they moved away from that after holistic management training.
Today, every paddock is sown to perennial pastures for cattle.
Mr Blomfield said putting everything down on paper made a world of difference to their business.
"We are now at a very different place mentally to where we were," he said.
"We have direction and we understand why we're doing what we're doing. Before, we were just going through the motions and were unfulfilled."
Mrs Blomfield said the shift away from cropping was predominantly a lifestyle choice.
"The decision was about maximising our time with family and children and doing what we enjoy the most," she said.
In line with the dry conditions on the Liverpool Plains, the pair are running 200 head of mixed British breeds, but have capacity to run more than 500 dry cows in a better season.
Full story in the The Land's 10 of our best feature, November 27 edition
