Reading Time: 3 minutes Farming on the three Aran Islands off the coast of Galway, Ireland, is quite literally, farming on the edge. Or, actually, on many kinds of edges. Winter pastures on the north coast cling to cliffs that jut into the crashing Atlantic, while on the southern side, orchid-strewn summer pastures sweep gently between ancient stone walls […] Read more
Farming on the edge
Biosecurity a crucial part of your farm’s business plan
As the list of pest, weed and disease threats grows longer, so should the list of measures to keep them away
Reading Time: 9 minutes The signs instructing you to check in at the office and to put disposable booties on over your shoes are no longer just for when you visit hog and poultry farms — biosecurity measures are also becoming a feature for crop farms, for which the list of potential threats may be even longer. On its […] Read more
A learning plan in action
Nicole Stratychuk’s sudden need for her own learning plan offers insights into how an HR pro would develop management skills on your farm
Reading Time: 5 minutes When Nicole Stratychuk moved to Alberta she didn’t think she would end up working in agriculture, something she knew nothing about. With two university degrees in kinesiology and human resources (HR), she had been working in various HR roles for large organizations such as Health Canada and a casino resort in Edmonton. In fact, when […] Read more
Job starts
Here’s how one corporation is responding to the same challenge farmers face — creating great team members out of today’s college and university grads
Reading Time: 6 minutes Maybe their parents are starting to understand that a key trend for Canada’s young people — whether they’re on the farm or off — is to look to social media to find the people and the opinions that will shape them and their careers. Still, the parents are worried, sometimes with good reason. After making […] Read more
Selling sales
When schools look down on sales, marketing and personal skills, you the farmer lose as much as the students
Reading Time: 5 minutes Ask most recruiters or human resource professionals working in ag today and they will tell you there is a growing gap between the skills needed to perform key roles in agribusiness and the skills that high school, college or university students can bring to the job. Lori Litherland, founder of agricultural recruiter Litherland and Company, […] Read more
Better steps for farm transition
Canadian agriculture is suffering a shortage of family farm advisers with the training and skills to help our farms through succession and transition
Reading Time: 6 minutes It’s expected that three in four Canadian farms will change hands in the next 10 years, many of them from one generation of the family to the next. But where will these farms find help they can trust to navigate their increasingly complex transitions? There aren’t enough trained and experienced farm advisers to go around […] Read more
How much N? A soil test isn’t the only answer
Different crops, different varieties, different inoculants, and different soil environments all affect the N-application decision these days
Reading Time: 5 minutes You need to know two things to calculate your nitrogen application — the crop requirement and the available N in the soil. At least that used to be the case, but it’s not now, not since pulse crops have become such an important part of the rotation. When it comes to fixing N, not all […] Read more
Importing the LEAN philosophy to your farm
Money Management: At first, it seemed ‘Lean’ might only work on small farms. Now it’s showing how to drive out waste and pump up profit on large farms too
Reading Time: < 1 minute Lean” is a management and organizational system originally developed by car manufacturer Toyota. There wasn’t a farm in sight. But now, after boosting balance sheets for so many other businesses worldwide, some think it’s about time mainstream agriculture got onboard. We will meet Indiana farmer Ben Hartman who has been applying Lean principles to his […] Read more
Embrace those business growing pains
Money Management: A look at how Lean manufacturing is implemented
Reading Time: 9 minutes Let’s say your farm business has been bumping along much as anyone would expect. You’ve been experimenting with some new crops, maybe investing in some updated technology along the way, all the while riding the inevitable ups and downs of the farming road. Then, out of the blue, something is keeping you up at night. […] Read more
Lean on this farm
Five steps for lean management
Reading Time: 7 minutes For the past 10 years, Ben Hartman and his wife Rachel Hershberger have been running a Lean farm near Goshen, Indiana. That’s “Lean” meaning efficient and highly productive, not in the sense of barely surviving. Today Hartman, author of The Lean Farm, is recognized as one of the United States’ leading experts on applying lean […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
