Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 18: The Makings of an Innovative Farmer

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“Innovation” is a buzzword in today’s world, often associated with technology, but it’s not necessarily about gadgets, as our guest for this episode in the Mind Your Farm Business series points out.

“Innovation really is about grabbing ideas from other parts of the planet or other ideas you see people doing and bringing that back to agriculture and your farming operation,” explains Agri-Trend founder Rob Saik, who works with farmers around the world on making their operations more efficient.

That might mean trying a different crop or simplifying a routine task.

Agriculture is about the optimal allocation of scarce resources, so innovation is anything that makes us more efficient with those resources, he says.

I think frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do. One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out. – Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon

Rob Saik
Rob Saik

The most innovative farmers are usually competitive and playful in nature, notes Saik. They’re also persistent.

“People think that innovators are lucky or brainiacs. Most of the time innovators are just persistent people that want to seek out a better way.”

Maybe most importantly, they’re comfortable in their own skin — not afraid of making a mistake.

Saik and host Shaun Haney get into the characteristics of innovative farmers, how to manage risk when trying something new, where Canadian farmers rank in terms of innovation and more in this episode — enjoy!

Find more Mind Your Farm Business episodes here.

Disclaimer: Royal Bank of Canada and its subsidiaries are not responsible for the information provided in this podcast, and this information does not necessarily reflect the views of Royal Bank of Canada or any of its subsidiaries. No endorsement of any third parties or their advice, opinions, information, products or services is expressly given or implied by Royal Bank of Canada or any of its subsidiaries.

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