Andrew McClelland
The Advocate
Sometimes all the good things in life can happen at once. And Matt and Angela Kumlin will be the first to tell you how overwhelming so many blessings can be.
“After university, Matt had started a veterinary practice that saw him checking over 30,000 head a year, and I was working for BASF doing agricultural chem sales,” Angela said, speaking over Zoom from her home in Cochrane, Alberta, 40 kilometres northwest of Calgary.
“I had a great team to learn from, and Matt’s clients were really happy that their vet was a farm boy who knew how to rope. But we started to become a bit disenchanted with our high-speed lifestyle and we had some clues that we didn’t want to continue in that capacity in the ag industry long term.”
Around this time, the couple’s first child, Wade, was born. Soon, that little bundle of joy was followed by brother Bennett and sister Rachel. A lot of good things were happening in the Kumlins’ careers, but could they fit well with their lives?
“At work, I started to question the way that we were recommending products as Band-Aid fixes rather than long-term solutions to agricultural problems,” the 35-year-old said. “Matt would come home with these ideas buzzing in his head about all of the things that he wanted to try in farming. We both really wanted to be back in primary agriculture.”
Started transition conversation
There was a means of escape that the Kumlins hadn’t yet explored. Matt’s family’s ranch — the Lazy J Cattle Co. — in Cochrane had been in the family since 1885. Matt’s father was in his late 60s, and the couple began wondering if moving and taking up farming full time could be a way to pursue their dream and spend more time with their kids.
“We started the conversation with Matt’s parents to see if there was a place for us on the home ranch,” Angela explained. “And it turned out that Matt’s dad was at a good time and place in his life, and he was graciously ready to have someone else take the reins.”
That was a promising start, but Matt and Angela wanted to do something different with the family ranch.
They’d been to a “Ranching for Profit” course together and were inspired by the idea of working with nature and testing out theories of regenerative agriculture on their own land. Angela had heard about the “visioning” process for developing strategic plans used by non-profit organizations affiliated with the Institute of Cultural Affairs International, an international umbrella group non-profit organizations.
Sharing your ideas, hopes
“The way that the first step of visioning works is that anyone who is a stakeholder in the business gets to write their ideas and hopes on sticky notes,” Angela explained at a QFA videoconference held on Feb. 12. “You’re supposed to be really selfish at this point, just asking yourself: ‘What do I want this business or my life to look like in five years, in an ideal world without constraints?’”
In a visioning process, participants begin grouping their sticky notes according to similarities. Eventually, common ground emerges and group members start formulating shared goals.
“No one’s allowed to be critical at that point,” Angela said. “You go and sleep on it. The next morning when you show up you can put your critical-thinking cap on.”
What happens in a visioning process when participants disagree?
Well, group members have a conversation about it. In the Kumlins’ case, that happened early on when the goals and concerns of Angela and her in-laws seemed to be total opposites.
Issues are discussed
“One of the members of our group wrote down that they were worried how all the changes we were making on the ranch would be viewed by the community,” Angela said, laughing as she remembered the instance.
“Matt and I had written on one of our early sticky notes: ‘We don’t care what the neighbours think!’ That led us to some really interesting conversations where we asked, ‘Is this a company decision, or a family decision, or a decision about what’s best for our land itself?’”
Since their first farm transfer visioning, the Kumlins’ have gone through several visioning sessions — about their family life, the way they use and care for their land, and what the Lazy J Cattle Co. is all about. The language they use in describing their shared vision for their cattle company is a far cry from the mission statements of corporations:
“Lazy J Cattle Company Ltd is wildly profitable,” it reads. “The business is well-run and it is fun to work here. We have ample quality family time, we follow our mission, and we learn and try new things. We maximize our forage resources, yet we utilize more than grass.”
For Angela and Matt, the exercise of visioning has been revolutionary — for both their farm and their lives. While Angela admits that many can be skeptical when hearing the word “visioning,” she also points out that the results of having a vision are something we see and admire in our communities every day.
“Vision is something you can’t actually see. It’s a figment of our imagination. But it guides us. It’s like an iceberg: as soon as you start talking about it, people can see the tip. And then when you start accomplishing things, people say: ‘Wow! Looks at all you’re accomplishing!’ But you know it’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s lots more under the water. And, gradually, the more you talk and share your vision, more of it rises above the surface.”
To read about the Institute of Cultural Affairs International’s guidelines for visioning and strategic planning visit: https://www.ica-international.org/top-facilitation/