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Farm business

Farmers using digital tablet on potato farm
Guide Business, Management

Assertive, or co-operative?

A better way to drive business success on your family farm with effective communication and conflict resolution

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Reading Time: 4 minutes I have taught in the CTEAM program for 20-plus years. During sessions on strategic human resource management, participants routinely say that communication — particularly when dealing with conflict — is something they struggle with. Early participants questioned the benefits of formal communication approaches, such as information sharing and decision-making meetings. They were also hesitant to […] Read more
"It was a learning process of how we could take the business to the next level,” says Sara Wood.
Guide Business, Management

More together

Taking a group and multi-generational approach to upgrading their skills is paying off on the Woods farm

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Reading Time: 5 minutes More farmers agree that the old saying has it about right: Failing to plan is planning to fail. It’s too easy to get off-course if you haven’t set your intentions and goals to paper. Besides, how do you track your success if you don’t have goals? Having completed a succession plan that lays the groundwork […] Read more
“When we sit around the board table today, everyone has a say.” – Adam Ireland, Teeswater, Ont.-area farmer.
Crops, Soybeans

Looking ahead to farming’s future investment

For Adam Ireland, farming means more than just growing a crop, it’s doing things the right way

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Reading Time: 7 minutes These days, describing what it means to be a farmer is almost as challenging as, well, being a farmer. Part science, part art form, the job description also requires an expert understanding of agronomy, commodity markets, weather, emerging trends and technologies, consumer demand, environmental issues… the list goes on and on. And as if that’s […] Read more
Which risks should you take and which should you manage?
Guide Business, Management

Which risks should you take and which should you manage?

AME Management: Risk assessment

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Reading Time: 4 minutes Canadian agriculture’s business environment seems even more uncertain than usual. Markets are more volatile than historically. President Trump seems bent on causing new uncertainties in, among other areas, international trade. As this is written, it is not completely certain that Canada will remain in NAFTA, or exactly what shape that agreement will take. Meanwhile, the […] Read more
A professional approach to agriculture pays off
Guide Business, Management

A professional approach to agriculture pays off

Continuous improvement is important in today’s farming community

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Reading Time: 5 minutes We all know we are speaking to (and about) a different generation in today’s farming community. It’s a group that is rapidly growing in education, in financial knowledge and in their eagerness to do more, do it better and leave their legacy in the ag world. The idea at the centre of all of it […] Read more
Despite several years of successful winter grazing, Mike Buis has a Plan B of also baling a cover crop blend to have in reserve if weather doesn’t co-operate.
Crops

Another cover crop bonus – winter grazing

This Ontario producer lets the cows do the work, meaning benefits for both him and his crop-growing neighbour

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Reading Time: 5 minutes Cover crops have caught on like wildfire for corn producers in the U.S. and Eastern Canada, mainly because of their benefits for soil health. But some producers have found another bonus — a source of feed for grazing cattle. Mike Buis has been doing it for about 15 years, seeing the overall benefits in animal […] Read more
"When the successor has climbed partway up the ladder, they get hung up on the higher rungs for a long time,” finds the U.K.’s Matt Lobley
Guide Business, Succession strategy

The ‘succession effect’

Setting transition as a goal for your farm can spur growth and profitability, until about three-quarters of the way through

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Reading Time: 5 minutes All farmers, no matter where they farm in the world, share certain characteristics. They are all born worriers, and they all have lots to worry about — weather, crop prices, markets. And on top of the day-to-day production issues, and the management challenges involved in running today’s complex farm operations, farmers also have a lot […] Read more
Farmer in field
Guide Business, Management

Me, myself and I

Yes, it takes self-confidence to run a farm. But every farmer also knows a neighbour whose ego is always getting in the way. Could it be you?

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Reading Time: 6 minutes The business of farming is a constant battle with weather, prices, weeds, diseases and much more. It means identifying the risks, learning how to measure them, learning about all the tools to counteract them… and maybe it should also involve buying a mirror. Ego by itself is neither good nor bad. It’s simply a Latin […] Read more
Get over it
Guide Business, Management

Get over it

When succession talks start, it doesn’t take long for Dad to think everyone just wants to cut him down to size

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Reading Time: 7 minutes It’s impossible to think about the transition of any business — and perhaps more so the family farm — without talking about the governance structure that is going to allow that farm business to operate, thrive and be sustainable for generations to follow. It’s easy to find. Just look for the fireworks. “The flashpoints usually […] Read more
Parents at some point need to transition from shareholder to creditor,” says Merle Good. That’s a big step, because creditors don’t make the farm’s decisions.
Guide Business, Management

Who controls the purse strings on your farm?

By the time the parents hit their mid-60s, financial decision-making should be in the hands of the next generation. Really!

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Reading Time: 5 minutes Two decades ago, U.K. professor Andrew Errington identified three stages of farm transfer: succession, retirement and inheritance. He defined succession as the gradual handing over of managerial control. Retirement was the owner withdrawing from active participation in the business of the farm, and inheritance was how the assets were finally signed over to the successor. […] Read more

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