Farmers will hear much talk of the need for resilience in the years ahead. From weather and markets, to trade, to family and managing day-to-day operations, farmers need to be able to cope with the challenges and setbacks that are routinely part of production agriculture. No one personifies resilience more than Springfield, PEI, dairy farmer… Read More

Why do family farm businesses fail? Quite often it’s not economics but rather family governance issues and relationship problems, says farmer and business consultant Dick Wittman. Many farms fail because operators don’t run the farm in a professional manner, says Wittman who learned plenty of valuable lessons managing a family-operated 20,000 acre crop, cattle, and… Read More

Terry Betker has worked with farmers to establish peer groups for more than a decade. Traditionally, farmers engage with their peers to share management ideas in informal settings  — everywhere from industry meetings to the local coffee shop — but formal peer groups are not common in Canadian agriculture, says Betker, president of Winnipeg-based Backswath… Read More

Black swan events have transformed agriculture. From the invention of canola to precision agriculture and the emergence of the African Swine Fever (ASF), these extreme and unpredictable events — both good and bad — continue to shape the industry’s future. Is Canadian agriculture and the agri-food system resilient enough to absorb the potential negative impacts… Read More

For as long as we have a supply management system, there will be debates about whether or not we should keep it. The line between for and against is predictable: dairy, egg, chicken, and turkey farmers and those with collective-leaning politics want to keep it, non-supply-managed farmers and free-market thinkers want it gone. Or so… Read More

If you look back 35 years, there have been plenty of changes in Canadian agriculture and the environment in which farmers and agribusinesses operate. There are fewer farms now than in 1980, and they make up a smaller portion of eligible voters. While the societal contributions of farmers are no less important, governments tend to offer less support than… Read More

In the day-to-day operation of a farm it can be a challenge to set aside time to chat about what the next generation expects in taking over the business. “Hey Mom/Dad/Uncle… I want you to know this is important…” sort of discussions are important because they help establish expectations, which are needed to begin a successful generational transition. So… Read More

Farm Management Canada is set to host the newly relaunched Agriculture Excellence Conference in Regina, Sask., this November 25-27, 2015. The theme of this year’s event is ‘Cultivating the Entrepreneurial Farmer,’ and that theme will be carried through a moderated debate on social license, a panel on the future of farming, roundtable sessions, engaging keynote… Read More

 

Register for a RealAgriculture account to manage your Shortcut menu instead of the default.

Register