It’s been a long winter here that I have been away from FLACROPS.com. Like many in the industry, I have been a bit overwhelmed to reflect on how the income from row cropping is going to keep up with the expenses. I spent a lot of time reflecting on what was important to say and what was not important to say. I concluded that I  wanted to keep some thoughts to myself awhile. In the meantime, sometimes a career offers some challenges which must be addressed, and one of mine has been the extra responsibilities associated with assignment as Interim County Extension Director here in the Columbia County Extension Office and other Agricultural program commitments that kept me on the road often.

There is something that always comes to my mind that I read somewhere, but I don’t know where I originally read it. I’ve heard it is part of the training for 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, but rest assured my training has never been that sophisticated. I read the basis is attributed to U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower who was quoting  Dr. J. Roscoe Miller, president of Northwestern University. Ike said, “I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” This “Eisenhower Principle” is said to be how he organized his workload and priorities. Responsibilities could be urgent and important, not urgent and not important, and any combination.  I often have to couch responsibilities in my professional life and some things end up in the “not urgent and not important” category. In retrospect, I can see how characterization of responsibilities can determine a persons “effectiveness.” Some people cannot effectively categorize and eventually everything becomes important, urgent, and overwhelming.

I am thankful for the numerous phone calls and emails I received asking about my updates, and hearing that folks look forward to the comments and information that are shared here. Thanks to each of you for sharing those comments. I am proud that several readers commented that the work I do is “important” to them. I want them to know I take great pride in knowing the intended audience found some value in the information I provided. Likewise there will be times that it is “urgent” to convey some information, and others that are not very time sensitive.

Like any good professional, you have to know how to prioritize, and I chose to prioritize other responsibilities for a few months. Rest assured I have been scanning the horizon for great new information to deliver. To those of you that have asked, I’m ready to “get back on track” here at FLACROPS.com. I hope you enjoy the forthcoming information and comments and I look forward to an exciting and prosperous 2015. Thanks.