Excellent farming is an art form

Yet emotional intelligence and self awareness is the most critical factor.

This was the message delivered to more than 100 people at a Wagga forum hosted by Meat and Livestock Australia at Charles Sturt University.

The MeatUp Forum featured Think Agri managing director Dr Kate Burke. Dr Burke is the author of Crops People Money and You, The Art of Excellent Farming and Better Returns.

She said emotional intelligence can explain how one person's intuition can lead to a better outcome than another's.

It's not simply a matter that some people are always luckier than other. Dr Burke studied 259 farms located in Western Australia over 11 years.

She said the differences in profitability between farms wasn't rainfall or soil type or farming systems.

There was another unique characteristic and it related directly to management and people.

"The choices you make will have way more effect than what happens on this farm ... all of the other stuff is just an excuse," she said.

"You have to understand yourself and prioritise people as much as you do your animals and your infrastructure," she said.

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Asking searching questions was seen as a tool in negotiation and understanding broader goals.

Sometimes in a family farming situation there is the issue of not wanting to hand the leadership over to the next generation. Dr Burke said writing down what is wanted is a powerful tool in understanding.

She used a box of props to convey her message. There was a beer box which had a diagram of a farming system on it. She also had a small note book plus a small whiteboard. It was suggested that the whiteboard could be a handy tool in any farm ute.