If you surround yourself with great people, you’ll do amazing things; and ultimately, an advisory group should take some of the stress out of making the right decisions when running a farm business. If anyone knows the value of incorporating an advisory group into their business, it’s Terry Aberhart. He farms 16,000 acres near Langenburg,… Read More
Category: Farm Management
Conference season is upon us, and joining the virtual ranks of meetings is Farm Management Canada’s (FMC) Ag Excellence conference. The virtual space can provide a lot more opportunity both to virtual speakers, and to people who otherwise can’t physically make it. Joining RealAgriculture’s Bernard Tobin to discuss the core concepts of the event is… Read More
If you’re feeling rather exhausted, anxious, and a little overwhelmed, author Timothy Caulfield might know why. In his latest book, Relax, Dammit! A User’s Guide to the Age of Anxiety, Caulfield explores how even just small decisions — like when to wake up, or if our kids should walk to school on their own —… Read More
I’ve been hearing a lot about sustainability lately. It’s been showing up in headlines more and more, and it has almost become one of those buzzwords that everyone uses: “Our farm is sustainable.” But what does that really mean? A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to speak at the Canadian Young Speakers… Read More
If you were going to build a new dairy barn, would you choose a parlour or robots? What about Jerseys vs. Holsteins? Ethan Wallace, of Seaforth, Ont., switched to robots for milking his Jersey herd seven years ago, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. On this edition of RealAg LIVE!, Wallace joins occasional… Read More
While women make up over 30 per cent of farmers, it’s only recently that they have seen an increase in representation in advertising for everything from crop protection products, to lending, to equipment. But simply casting a female model in an ad campaign, for example, doesn’t necessarily mean companies have done any real research into… Read More
Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers Program is hosting its virtual conference on December 4, starting with their annual meeting and featuring guest speakers focused on looking ahead to what the next big opportunities and challenges are for Canadian agriculture. RealAgriculture’s Shaun Haney is also a part of the event as a keynote speaker, presenting on “5… Read More
Ontario meat processors and farmers have the opportunity to apply for funding under two new program intakes of the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. The Meat Processors Capacity Improvement Initiative is an up to $4 million program that will provide up to $150,000 per project for improvements to product handling and processing equipment. It will also cover… Read More
A new Driving Back to Work grant program in Alberta will make the Mandatory Entry-Level Training (MELT) required to earn a Class 1 commercial licence more affordable. The new program, titled The Experience and Equivalency program, will reduce the time it takes for Class 3 drivers to upgrade to their Class 1. A dedicated $3… Read More
Farming with family can be a tricky situation, and being able to make sound business decisions is such an important part of it. How do you decide on management decisions, equipment purchases, crop inputs, and the like? A key strategy to tackle decision making and delegating accordingly is to have regular farm meetings for everything… Read More
Family farms that hold regular business meetings are 21 per cent more profitable than those who don’t. That may be, but the mere mention of “meeting” likely makes you roll your eyes or maybe grumble in disapproval. Family meetings might bring up some not-so-pleasant memories, but Elaine Froese, farm family coach, says it doesn’t have… Read More
Around eight in every 10 Canadians support the broad idea of a one per cent tax on people who have more than $20 million in net assets, according to poll results published by Abacus Data this week. The survey results coincide with calls from certain politicians in Ottawa to move ahead with a so-called “wealth… Read More
Three of Ontario’s ministries (Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs; Health; and Labour, Training and Skills Development) have committed to a strategy to prevent COVID-19 transmission, and protect workers and the province’s food supply chain ahead of next year’s growing season. The joint government-industry Prevention, Control and Outbreak Support Strategy for COVID-19 in Ontario’s Farm Workers… Read More
From farm level to the corner office, there are more jobs available in agriculture than ever before. But the possibility of a future talent shortage is a definite concern, and that discussion was part of the recent farm management-focused week of the Syngenta Media Summit. “It’s been a hot topic lately, specifically in Syngenta, but… Read More
Benchmarking is a comparison, but it’s not a competition. Benchmarking can be a useful tool to understand where your farm management practices can improve on yield, profit margin, operation efficiency, or gross margin. Even human resources can be benchmarked, but it’s what you do with the numbers next that really counts. Maggie Van Camp, national… Read More