Farm labor used to be about hiring the next person to help when the business was short-handed, but that approach doesn’t work now, and it also won’t in the future as hiring and retaining labor becomes increasingly competitive. Today’s leading farm managers see human resources as the most vital part of sustained success. Without the right people nothing else can be accomplished. The future belongs to farmers who take a strategic approach to hiring and developing high-performing team members. Nate Richard, Owner, Scattered Acres Farms and Roaring Creek Egg Farms in Pennsylvania, and Crystal Grimaldi, Office and HR Manager at Ideal Dairy Farms in New York State, owned and operated by the Dickinson, Getty and Grimaldi families, share their perspectives.