Supporting growers through challenges a matter of resilience

Resilience. Is anyone else feeling the pain? I would love to do a word count on how many times the word resilience has been used in news articles, grant programs and political speeches over the past decade.

I have been part of many meetings, programs and projects whose purpose was to ‘build resilience’, and Growcom of course has a resilience focus currently, and I’d dare say into the future.

But what does resilience actually mean? And is there a better word for it? For me the definition of resilience means to bounce back. And it is this very definition which I believe puts fear into farmers. Bounce back? Again? You expect me to do what? Is it going to keep happening? When?

Growers who have already been through so much, many times pulling themselves out of it by sheer guts, determination and hard work are consistently being told to do better, plan better, build back better.

So, is this a bad thing? No way. Hoping for the best and planning for the worst is a long tried and true business practice. Every business model must adapt to new ways of working when confronted with challenges. Farming is no different. Growers have been adapting for as long as there was a seed in the ground and rain in the clouds. It’s just that the past decade has had multiple, repeated challenges.

Are there multiple options for growers to be advised as to other ways of protecting their investments into the future? You bet there are. You just have to ask, and I bet there is something out there which would suit your business.

Is resilience the new four-letter word? I can imagine it can feel like that when it’s pushed onto you. But perhaps we need to think of it this way. Growers have always been innovative, adaptable and creative problem solvers. That’s all any of us mean when we speak of resilience. The past decade has brought us multiple new challenges. At the end of the day whatever you call it, we all are just trying to support growers, to keep growing. Because isn’t that resilience in a nut shell?