New Lincoln University research* has isolated the main characteristics of successful intuition use by farmers.
Dr Peter Nuthall said top intuition using farmers were compared with the bottom group of users to make clear the differences that are important. “Using this approach clarifies the attributes farmers interested in improving their skills should aim for.” Attributes were put into broad groups such as Management Style, Experience, and Technical Knowledge. Successful intuition users consulted with their families and communities, sought to enhance their knowledge, utilised feedback on their decisions and learned from their mistakes (full list at end of article). “Farmers make most of their decisions using their intuition”, Dr Nuthall said. “Successful farmers work hard at improving their decision intuition. “Managerial intuition is not something farmers are born with. They pick up knowledge starting from a young age and this continues throughout life. Initially parents are important in the process, but then a farmer’s lifetime education and experience takes over and becomes the ‘teacher’. “ The good farmers, he said, according to the research, have an ability to take on board the lessons from their life’s activities covering all things both farming and managerially. The research used information from several hundred farmers to examine what made up their intuition. “In essence, analysis and decisions made in the mind can be called intuition. Decisions requiring a formal process using pencil, paper, and perhaps a calculator or computer, don’t fit this bill.” He said where many farmers need improvement is in their decision theory such as learning optimal decision rules obtained from studying production economics.
“Learning from experience is critical. It is also clear success requires ‘productive efficiency’… that is, getting the most output humanly possible from the inputs used. To help farmers work at improving all these factors Dr Nuthall put together what an “extension novel” about a group of farmers as they worked together in improving their intuition and decision skills, ‘The intuitive farmer … inspiring management success’. He said, generally, making your management personality blend into good management usually requires the help of trained people, but self-help, can be useful. “For example, too much anxiousness is counterproductive. This can be dented with self-control. However, working with a suitable mentor can be helpful. “But no matter what your personality, keeping a full diary of all actions, decisions and their outcomes is frequently most helpful provided, perhaps with help, the decisions and outcomes are constantly reviewed with the idea of discovering where improvements might be made,” Dr Nuthall said.
• Intuition research results
Percentage differences over 200% and statistically significant between top and bottom intuition using farmers.
Management Style % difference Objectives % difference
Consultative community 221 Way of lifer 398
Consultative family et al 215 Community supporter 437
Conscientious planner 315 Feedback factors
Benign manager 220 Professional conferrer 258
Anticipation factor Family/friend discusser 220
Imperative planner 236 Informal conferrer 236
Observation factors Technical knowledge
All round observer 227 Knowledge seeker 280
Diligent record keeper 208 Output achiever 236
Careful reflector 235 Determined technocrat 239
Decision knowledge Experience
Theory compliant 234 People critic experience 315
Theorist practitioner 213 Mistake learner 219
Output
Productive efficiency 251
* Nuthall, P (2019) A review of the intuition literature relative to a recent quantitative study of the determinants of farmers’ intuition. International Journal of Agricultural Management, Volume 8 pps. 31-40 DOI:10.5836/ijam/2019-08-31
• The intuitive farmer … inspiring management success is available through most international book retailers including 5M (www.5Mbooks.com), www.amazon.com, www.bookdepository.com