People who like to plan or have everything go according to plan may or may not want to hear what Senator JoAnne Buth has to say about navigating a career path. In this enlightening interview between Buth and Real Agriculture’s Shaun Haney, filmed at the Advancing Women — Leadership in Agriculture conference, Buth relates how… Read More
Earlier this spring while having a nice quiet breakfast at a hotel restaurant, I overheard a very disturbing, but common conversation. Let me set the stage (table?) for you: There was a couple in their 70s sitting at the table beside me chewing away at their eggs Benedict when the husband says to his wife,… Read More
Recent growth in farm land pricing has outpaced land’s earning capacity. What does this mean for the farm? It means, among many other things, that land is more than even before an indicator of wealth and a business asset in the farming economy. This is good news for farmers who own land, however, it creates… Read More
Sometimes our path chooses us, rather than the other way around. In Shirley McClellan’s case, the political life wasn’t necessarily a goal, but happened more by being willing to say yes when an opportunity arose. In this interview filmed at the first-ever Advancing Women — Leadership in Agriculture conference, Real Agriculture founder Shaun Haney asks… Read More
Farm Management Canada (FMC) is bringing back its annual Agricultural Excellence Conference, starting in Winnipeg, November 19-21 2014. The Agricultural Excellence Conference is focused on bringing diverse industry experts and stakeholders together from across disciplines, regions and commodity sectors to share and explore beneficial farm management practices, advice, and insight with leading farm business thinkers,… Read More
I’ve learned a few things about myself as my career in agriculture media has evolved — I thrive on face-to-face interaction, retain more information if I discuss a topic with someone else (or re-write notes) and that the more I learn about farming and the agriculture industry the more I feel there is to know… Read More
By Terry Betker This is a fantastic time to be entering (or be in) the business world, because business is going to change more in the next 10 years than the last 50. We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the… Read More
Bulk buying machinery can have huge cost savings, but if it means working with another operation, it can also come with a price. Whose land is priority, should all of it be ready at once? Who’s operating what? How do you manage fuel? Time? And how do you prevent conflict, in a transaction that’s all… Read More
What shape is your farm record keeping system in? Do you write things into a journal? Do you write your records on a sheet of paper and then watch it blow around the truck all summer and possibly out the window as you drive down the highways at 120 km/h. There are other options. Get… Read More
According to Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting System (CAIR), 1,975 people were killed in agricultural injury events between 1990 and 2008, with 25 fatalities involving electric current. The number of fatal incidents occuring in agriculture makes it the fourth most dangerous industry in Canada, with substantial economic costs and unmeasurable emotional costs. Maintaining a safe distance… Read More
Farm safety leaders are convinced talking is as necessary as safety equipment and training in preventing farm injuries. So maybe it’s not surprising the theme for this year’s Canadian Agricultural Safety Week, which runs March 9-15, is Farm Safety: Let’s Talk About It. Dean Anderson of Guelph, Ont., the agricultural program manager for Workplace Safety… Read More
By Terry Betker When the planets align and the growing season weather is perfect, and there are production shortfalls in other parts of the world and the markets respond positively, and when you’re able to price into market highs, life on the farm can be very rewarding. A possible scenario? Perhaps, but likely it’ll only… Read More
I suspect there will be a lot of angst over the new federal farm review and forecast – even though statistically, it’s a good news story. The report, released last week, showed farmers produced 96.5 million tonnes of grain in 2013. That’s a major leap over the previous year’s relatively dismal 76.7-million tonne crop, which… Read More
It’s time for another edition of AgNerds, where Shaun Haney and someone else equally tech-savvy talk about gizmos, gadgets and other techie things! And, yes, for this edition we do indeed have the one and only Peter Gredig back in the saddle/tradeshow chair to talk about, of all things, the cloud. The what, you say?… Read More
It’s like a scene from an old-timey western movie. A grizzled cowboy squints into the horizon and says “I don’t like the look of those clouds. Storm is a’ brewin.” I’ve witnessed similar body language as I cross the country talking to farmers about mobile technology and the new world of data management, but it’s… Read More
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