June 22, 2011

Several weeks ago on a trip back to the US from South Africa, I deliberately picked up a magazine about a topic I knew very little about. It is one of the common tricks I use to learn about different industries—and in this case, the magazine I ended up with was called Farmer’s Weekly.

The content was as you would expect, advice for farmers on techniques, information about regulations that will affect their industry and ads for tractors and things like that. In the middle of the issue I picked up was a feature article about what the author called the “Amish Paradox.”

This paradox describes the unexpected methods that the Amish use when farming, which are working so well that they are continuing to run their farms profitably without interruption, while many other farmers are struggling to make ends meet. What makes the Amish technique so special?

They rotate their crops consistently, planting different items at different parts of the year. They never use chemical fertilizers and use something called legume-based pastures to keep the fertility of their land. They tend to grow smaller fruits and veggies, which some say are tastier, too. Perhaps most importantly, they do something called “adding value” by producing additional products such as fresh cheese.

In an industry facing increasing pressure from large industry leaders to plant more genetically modified crops, and focus on volume above all else the Amish philosophy stands out. What can you learn from their lesson, even if you aren't a farmer?

1. Stick to your ideals

For the Amish, their farm culture is mixed together with their religion and belief system. Few of our small businesses take such a principled approach, but if you do—it can help serve as a guidepost for what your business will do and how it will evolve, and what you will avoid.

2. Think longer term

One of the biggest challenges in any business is to think of the long term. Crop rotation is a principle focused on making sure that land remains good for cultivating crops far into the future. Sometimes what it requires is passing up the opportunity to plant the most profitable thing every time.

3. Avoid following the “experts”

The Amish philosophy goes against many experts in the farming industry who push for higher production and instead follows their more traditional path. This tends to draw many critics and also probably causes them to have lower revenues from their crops.  Yet this goes back to thinking long term—and how your priorities tend to be different if you focus on taking care of your land for future generations instead of just maximizing profit today.

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Join the conversation ( 8 )

• Kizito Kiseka 4 months ago

  

  Very good insight! You've actually given me one or two ideas on how to make improvement on my small enterprise business. Feel free to share more ideas if you have any, especially on how to get and resourceful manpower at minimal cost. Thank You.

• John McGlone 10 months ago

  

  The writer is making gross generalities about a very complex and nuanced religious group to support his preconceived thesis. Among the Amish there are hundreds of communities following local ordnung and under local bishops. His statement on their use of fertilizer is flat out wrong. The analogy would be some generalizing that all Americans with South Asian surnames must be Indian, of upper caste and have their MBA's from Wharton or Tuck to support my preconceived notion of Rohit Bhargava's article. Paradoxical, isn't it?

• Tim Sanders 10 months ago

  

  Great article. This is called sustainable farming. But try to talk to the Kansas (or any other bread basket state) farmer about changing from corn or soybeans to something else and the majority would rather take the farm subsidy or buy a futures contract to insure your profitablility do nothing with their land and add to the rising prices of food stuffs the whole world depends on. In defense of some bread basket state farmers, they depend solely on rain fall. They have no irrigation. So here's a plan: CREATE JOBS by building irrigation canals from those regions we have been hearing that have huge flood problems to the bread basket states to use on their fields and lets get back to reasonable prices and feeding the hungry in the U.S.A and in other parts of the world. You can't call yourself a Christian if you have the ability to produce food but won't for fear of not getting the price you got last year. And while we are thinking in a common sense mode here, take all food stuffs out of the speculation market. That is just immoral. You have people buying contracts to insure that they make money in the gamble and that other people lose money and we are not able to produce what can be produced. INSANE and IMMORAL!!!

• Andrew Zinkan 10 months ago

  

  I live in Lancaster, PA... The average Amish couple has at least 12 kids... All of the kids work the fields or the homestead. That's how Amish stay profitable in my opinion... The family works together and the children are not paid. I'm not complaining about this - It's a culture where the children are happy to be a part of something more than themselves. However it is a huge part of their profitability.

• leo weishaar 10 months ago

  

  i am from amish country and have always had great respect for the amish. as a catholic it amazes me that catholics and church leaders fail to integrate real life with faith.i was amazed when people were amazed that the amish took care of the family of the man who shot the amish children. isn't that what christians should do?planting and farming in general is a matter of gratitude for the goodness of god and being in touch with what he has made. how do they know when to plant. they feel the dirt. god gave us the earth to till. normal farming looks to the end product. how can the man make the best for the least. the seasons don't always go right in pennsyvania. there can be a killer frost in june. the calendar can't tell you when to plant. imagine how much they save on fertiliser.in the mean time our city fathers and the christians keep saying fill it in and pave it over. some how we work from the principle that the best use of land is that which brings in the most money.i am a capitalist and a catholic christian.

  • Tim Sanders 10 months ago

    

    GREAT, GREAT POST!!!! YOU hit it on the head brother. But you don't need 12 kids, you can create a cooperative, you can import labor LEGALLY and not fear that a pregnant wife is going to have a child that will be a U.S. citizen, you can have a community based "I'll help you on your farm, if you help me on mine" program. These things do exist and work in isolated areas of the U.S.A.

• Marsha Anderson 11 months ago

  

  I am agreeing with the way the Amish farmer thinks. Its not about greed, its about being self-sufficient. Just because his apples are smaller does not mean the other farmers knows best, and of course those are the ones who the "experts" write about or draw attention to. The point of the matter is the Amish farmers do not use pesticides and they still produce good food to eat.

• Accomplish 11 months ago

  

  First of all, the concept of picking up a magazine from a completely different industry is beyond brilliant. Simple, but brilliant. Will definitely be trying that out soon!Secondly, we may not have Amish in New Zealand, but "slow and steady wins the race" is a classic Kiwi move. Just look at the jet pack. Martin Aircraft Company has been testing and building a jet pack for over 20 years! And his invention is not only changing New Zealand economy, but technology as a whole. Thinking long-term is something entrepreneurs/small business owners often forget. You may not seem as flash, but if you plan well in advance you have a much better chance of coming out ahead.Thanks for this great post!