Take a stroll down Main Street in Corfu, N.Y., and you’ll find a bakery, a courthouse and even a quaint lamp shop. This small farming community, 30 minutes east of Buffalo, is home to several dairies, including Reyncrest Farm.
Often times, farmers play impactful roles in their communities, and the Reynolds family is no exception. This third-generation dairy uses their leadership skills, driven by purpose and core values, to
provide for themselves as well as their community.
“Community leadership is not just about policies, processes or procedures,” says Sarah Eaton, a professor at the University of Calgary. “More than anything, it is about people.”
Kelly Reynolds, marketing specialist at Reyncrest, knows firsthand what Eaton means. She, her husband, Tyler; his siblings Andy and Mackenzie; and her in-laws John and Shelly, are always focused on being better leaders both on and off the farm.
Learning to Lead
There’s a saying some people are “born to be leaders,” but that’s not necessarily the case at Reyncrest. From a young age, each family member learned valuable leadership skills through various programs.
“All of us were involved in 4-H and the Junior Holstein Association,” Reynolds says. “Programs like those helped us gain confidence and be more comfortable in our roles on the farm today. A big part to being a leader is knowing how to work with others, something those programs really helped us develop.”
Reynolds, who was a member of the Young Dairy Leaders Institute (YDLI), attributes some of her skills development to the national mentorship program hosted by the Holstein Foundation.
“YDLI gave me a huge confidence boost in terms of leadership,” she says. “Learning about leadership styles and personalities has helped me better interact with everyone on the farm. Knowing how I like to be motivated isn’t the same as everyone else has helped in communicating with each other.”
While some people are natural born leaders, the Reynolds’ family understands it takes determination and dedication to truly develop leadership skills.
“Some of the specific things I think leaders need to possess are good communication skills and having the ability to stay positive when others are down,” Reynolds says. “You have to work on those things at the farm level first before moving on to board roles and other leadership positions.”
According to Eaton, an efficient leader will take a task away from someone who is not completing their work in a timely manner. However, an effective leader will ensure the person gets the support they need to complete the task.
“Effectiveness often takes more time than efficiency,” Eaton says. “Community leadership is about building relationships and working together. Being patient and supporting one another builds capacity
and relationships.”
The same holds true at Reyncrest.
“There’s a lot of mutual trust and respect among our family,” Reynolds adds. “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. By playing off of those, we’re all able to become better leaders individually.”
Staying Connected
In 2017, Reyncrest Farms opened their doors to their community along with help from the Genesee County Farm Bureau. The Reynolds, who have always supported community projects, agreed to host “Kinderfarming,” an event that allows kindergarten classes from across the county to visit a local farm to experience and learn more about agriculture.
“We had more than 600 kindergarteners come out to the farm along with their teachers and parents,” Reynolds says. “It’s a unique farm experience for the kids, and a cool opportunity for us.
“It takes a lot of work to pull the whole thing together,” she adds. “Everyone on the farm pitches in to help, but it also takes a lot of volunteers from Farm Bureau. The day of the event is a blur, but we get the chance to interact with kids along with parents and teachers.”
Another way the Reynolds family stays connected with their community is through social media. The farm’s Facebook page currently has more than 4,000 followers.
“We started our Facebook page to foster good relationships with our neighbors, rather than for farm marketing,” Reynolds says. “Right now, about two-thirds of our content is dedicated to what’s going on around our farm, and we’ve found that’s been a really good way to connect with our community and spark proactive conversations.”
Keeping Spirits High
When it comes to addressing leadership challenges on the farm, one of the biggest hardships the family faces are the uncertainties that lie ahead in the dairy industry. Low milk prices and trying times can easily lead to frustration, but the Reynolds work diligently to keep spirits high.
“Keeping all of our employees and family members motivated during uncertain times can be really difficult,” Reynolds says. “Just staying positive each day can be a huge battle. But how you show up every day can have a big impact on everyone else’s mood. So, we try to stay as positive as we can even when times get tough.”
When times do get hard, the Reynolds family makes sure to set their priorities straight by taking care of each other.
“All of our employees understand and appreciate that we strive to take the best care of our cattle as possible,” says Tyler Reynolds. “My dad, John, has instilled in us that if we take care of the cows, they will take care of us. With that common theme we are able to motivate our employees and each other, always going back to how we are caring for the farm.
“Working together as a family, we are always talking about how we can be better caretakers, more efficient and better employers,” he adds. “Having daily and weekly conversations with each other keeps us improving and makes us better leaders on our operation.”
Leadership off the farm also presents its own sets of challenges, according to Eaton. As a community leader, your job is to balance everyone’s needs, as well as keep your sights focused on the work that needs to be done for the group to move forward.
“A community leader’s job is not to take on all the problems of the world themselves and fix everything, but rather to work together with everyone in the community, to mobilize and guide others, to facilitate solutions and think about the long-term health of the community and its people,” Eaton says. “Community leadership work means building a succession plan to keep the community strong as you move forward into the future.”
While the past and present have certainly shown bright at Reyncrest, the family continues to look toward the future of their operation.
“As we transition to the next generation, we are given the opportunity to take on more leadership and ownership of the farm,” Tyler says. “We are working on always keeping lines of communication open, taking time for team meetings and working together as a family to achieve our goals.”
