“A good farmer does not stop tilling because of flood or drought” comes from the “Self-Cultivation” chapter of Xunzi. The text continues: a good merchant does not stop trading because goods may sell at a loss, and a cultivated person does not neglect the Way because of poverty. The examples argue that adverse circumstances do not automatically cancel worthwhile work.
This is not an instruction to ignore a disaster and repeat the old plan. A good farmer must still judge water, soil and season; the point is not to make ideal conditions a permanent prerequisite for action. Read today, the sentence distinguishes persistence from rigidity: the purpose may remain, while the method changes with conditions.
https://ctext.org/xunzi/xiu-shen/zh
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