“The definition of mentorship is to empower. The meaning of empowerment is to enable, liberate, engage, free and permit. It is the drawing out of the very best in a person without the constraints of expectation or entitlement. Thus, to mentor is to guide the process so that an individual has the power to change… Read More
Category: Farm Management
Life is all about relationships, whether working with a neighbour on the farm or helping students and teachers understand science. And that’s exactly what Bonnie Schmidt, the president of Let’s Talk Science, discussed at the Advancing Women Conference East in Toronto this week, where she delved into the importance of trusting others and working together. Watch more coverage… Read More
Dairy farmers are currently employing 34,000 robots around the globe and manufacturer DeLaval expects that number will double in the next five years. Since robots began appearing on farms in the 1990s, most have been confined to smaller farms throughout Europe, including Germany, France and the Netherlands. Canada currently sits sixth in the ranking of… Read More
The majority of respondents to the Saskatchewan government’s farmland ownership review this summer said they oppose foreign ownership and investors such as Canadian pension funds purchasing farmland in the province. More than 3,200 people submitted their views during the consultation process that ran from May 20 to August 10. The results were published on Wednesday…. Read More
It’s estimated as many as 5,000 people transition out of the Canadian Forces each year. Most of them are between the ages of 28 and 35, and they’re looking for a meaningful career as they enter civilian life. At the same time, finding skilled employees is consistently one of the top challenges across Canadian agriculture — from the… Read More
Society as a whole, including agriculture, is experiencing a trend toward the use of more autonomous machines that can communicate amongst themselves and optimize their own activity using “big data” analytics. That might sound like a whole lot of high-level tech lingo, but it raises serious questions for farmers on the ground: will there come a day when farmers no… Read More
What comes to mind when you hear the term “accrual accounting?” Perhaps you flashback to filing your taxes last year when your accountant suggested switching to accrual accounting, but you’re weren’t sure what it meant and why it would be worth the hassle. Maybe your mind immediately goes elsewhere — what’s for supper tonight? Well, as dry as it may sound,… Read More
Farm Management Canada (FMC) and the Canadian Association of Diploma in Agriculture Programs (CADAP) have launched the 2015-16 Excellence Award for Agricultural Students, designed to encourage students to improve their critical thinking, communication and leadership skills through a national competition. FMC and CADAP are collecting submissions from agricultural students across Canada and will award three… Read More
Is there an ideal exchange rate for Canada’s agriculture industry? That depends, of course, on what you’re selling or what you’re buying, and it’s rare to win on both sides of that equation. What’s more, farmers have no control over currency changes, so how can farmers best prepare for managing currency risk? That’s the topic… Read More
On a freezing cold late afternoon in February, 14 women gathered in a meeting room at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs office in Woodstock to talk about big-picture issues facing women in the agricultural sector. Maternity leave issues, and their impact on a career, were the focus of this meeting. They… Read More
Grains were recently taken for a ride along with the rest of the world markets, mainly thanks to tanking equity markets in Asia. They’re calling August 24, 2015 Black Monday as markets in China crashed, and when North American markets opened up, they quickly followed. The main argument for the flash decline is lack of confidence… Read More
There are sound reasons to incorporate the farm — significant financial reasons, operation benefits and very real long-term business planning implications. But if incorporating is so beneficial, why aren’t most farms carrying the Inc. behind the business name? In this episode of Mind Your Farm Business, Shaun Haney asks veteran farm management advisor Merle Good… Read More
If you hadn’t heard of Ashley Madison before a couple weeks ago, it probably means you’re a decent person — the match-making website’s sole purpose was to connect married people looking to have an affair. The website made headlines recently after a hacking group stole then shared user account names and details for all the… Read More
The grains complex continues to deal with decent growing conditions, better than expected yields, and a tougher global markets environment. This week we saw the market volatility index spike to levels not seen since last year when Russia was invading Ukraine (translation: market participants are pulling dollars out and parking it in cash positions as… Read More
The Canadian Total Excellence in Agricultural Management (CTEAM) course offered by Agri-Food Management Excellence (AME) is open for fall registration until October 30, 2015. CTEAM is a national farm management training program for farmers and ranchers, that uses participants’ own farm data to create a strategy and develop a plan specifically for their farm or ranch. Coaching… Read More