Weiland Farms’ human structure

We operate differently from many of our peers.

That starts with how we structure our people.

Our operation involves a wide range of work that requires diverse skills, spans long distances and often needs decisions under tight time constraints.

Over time, we’ve learned that many costly mistakes aren’t caused by lack of effort or expertise.

They happen because the right information doesn’t surface at the right moment.

As a result, we’ve evolved into a “human structure” supported by diverse perspectives and skills and a learning culture that makes our operation more resilient and adaptable to change.

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The conditions we operate under

There are three realities that shape how work happens on the farm:

1. Our work requires highly diverse tasks and skills
2. There’s a geographic barrier
3. Time is always of the essence

Each of these increases complexity.

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1. Our work requires highly diverse tasks and skills

The range of work on our farm is broad. 

For example …

On any given day, we can use three sledgehammers and five sets of steel chains with links the size of a 10-year-old’s fist. 

It can also mean working with a triple-stacked GPU for AI development, a mesh WiFi network and 100-gig fiber between farm buildings.  

No single person can be deeply fluent in all of it. That makes diversity of skills and openness to learning essential.

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2. There’s a geographic barrier

Our operation spans 80 miles across north central Iowa.

Conditions can significantly vary across that distance.

If we’re scouting field conditions after an overnight rain, we don’t just send one person. It’s more effective to send people in multiple directions to get a better sense of what’s actually going on.

That only works if people are empowered to make judgment calls in the field — and humble enough to raise concerns or ask for help when they need it. 

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3. Time is always of the essence

Days — and sometimes hours — can make a difference on the farm. 

If we don’t get into a field in the next 24 hours, the next opportunity may not come until the following week. 

Under this type of pressure, the stakes are higher. This means if we don’t execute correctly, it comes at a cost. Executing correctly under pressure depends on having a team that can think clearly, challenge assumptions and adapt quickly when conditions change.

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Why diversity matters under these conditions

When work is spread across different tasks, locations and tight timeframes, what gets noticed — and what gets missed — depends heavily on who’s looking.

The risks in farming are real and impactful.

Last year, a neighboring operation planted over half its crop with shallow/insufficient down pressure. The revenue impact from that single mistake can reach up to 15%.

This wasn’t due to incompetence. 

We’re all trying to plant eight days of crop in the two best days of the season, under tight labor constraints and with large, efficient, tech-heavy equipment.

This can happen to anyone. 

The important question is, why didn't someone catch this mistake — even on day two or three? 

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Predictable ways mistakes happen on the farm

In many cases, misses like this stem from predictable cognitive failure events.

One is the lag effect.

Moderate spacing between repetitions improves memory retention. But when the gap between repetitions becomes too long, the ability to recall information starts to decline.

In farming, long gaps between similar decisions can create similar knowledge loss.

The knowledge still exists. It just isn’t readily accessible when it’s needed.

Another is confirmation bias.

Humans are more likely to search for, interpret and remember information that confirms their pre-existing beliefs, while ignoring evidence that challenges those beliefs.

Tight decision windows make this bias worse.

These risks increase when people with the same perspectives are doing most of the observing.

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What diversity helps us do in practice

Currently at Weiland Farms:

• 4 out of 10 employees are women
• 3 out of 10 hail from other countries
• 3 out of 10 are over 40 (or, conversely, 7 out of 10 are under 40)

In agriculture — where environments are volatile and variability is high — characteristics like resiliency, multidisciplinary assessment and alternative viewpoints help reduce shared blind spots.

A diverse team may not eliminate risk. But it increases the chances someone notices something early or asks a question others might not.

And that can be the difference between a small correction and a costly mistake.

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How our human structure supports this 

To work within these constraints, we’ve tried to build a team with an empowered mindset, tolerance for making mistakes, and unique and/or multidisciplinary skill sets.

This isn’t a fixed system, and it continues to evolve as our operation does.

Instead of routing everything through a single person, we try to empower those closest to the work to flag risks early and share what they’re seeing.

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Fostering a culture of humility and feedback

None of this works without humility.

Outside of having a team that’s diverse in skillset, background and experience, we want our people to feel comfortable surfacing problems, acknowledging mistakes and learning from them.

This is something we’re still working on, and it doesn’t always go smoothly.

One way we try to reinforce this is through postmortems, or debriefs.

Reviewing what happened.

What we saw.

What we missed.

What we’ll change next time.

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Why informal structures aren’t scalable in modern farming

The traditional family farm model (having dad and son outside and mom inside doing the books, but not asking questions) worked well when farms were smaller and slower.

But that model doesn't scale well under today’s conditions.

Structure matters when variability is high.

So does perspective and the ability to surface problems and adapt.

If you’re interested in putting our diverse, multidisciplinary team to work for you, let us know.

Reid Weiland is the managing partner of Weiland Farms. He oversees the farm’s day-to-day operations and leads all land management and farmland acquisition efforts.