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Each Prairie province has a website with information on completing an Environmental Farm Plan.
Crops

Why Environmental Farm Plans aren’t just for livestock farmers

All three Prairie provinces offer to cost-share programs for producers who have completed an Environmental Farm Plan and adopt beneficial management practices

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Reading Time: 4 minutes The Environmental Farm Plan isn’t just for livestock producers, especially as the pressure increases on crop growers to demonstrate their sustainable-cropping practices to the food industry. But before we look at how the EFP is playing an important role in regional and global sustainable-sourcing initiatives, let’s look at what cost-sharing projects related to crops are […] Read more
The McGrath family at Round Rock Ranching has a cow-calf and backgrounding operation with over 4,800 acres.
Guide Business, Livestock

AgriProfit$ helping beef up Alberta’s farm sector

An on-farm look at Alberta’s program for harnessing multi-year farm business analysis

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Reading Time: 8 minutes There’s one word that gets used by the farmers Country Guide interviewed after taking part in Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s free AgriProfit$ farm business management research program. It’s “invaluable.” Sean and Tanya McGrath at Vermilion have participated in AgriProfit$ for 10 years; John Mochniuk at Wildwood has participated for 20. But before we hear their […] Read more
“Better is better before bigger is better,” says agricultural economics professor David Kohl. In other words, focus on operational efficiency before expansion.
Guide Business

Boost the survival odds of your farm

Farm finance expert David Kohl reflects on what farms — both small and large — must do for success in the 2020s and beyond

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Reading Time: 6 minutes We all know the basics of health: Get exercise, watch our weight, don’t smoke. But for better health success over the long term, we know we can go further. We should get regular checkups, eat more vegetables, nurture our personal relationships, maintain good sleeping habits and more. Similarly, we know the basics of farm business […] Read more
Markets

Five ways to up your grain marketing

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You know the basics of grain marketing and you have scored some solid wins. Now you’re looking for achievable ways to grow your confidence in your marketing and to improve your overall pricing percentage. Country Guide approached some of Canada’s leading experts for guidance about how you can best chart your course to the next[...]
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How realistic is it to assess the savings for every new tool or practice on the farm?
Equipment, Guide Business

How much will that new farm technology really pay?

New tech can work wonders, but is your economic analysis a bankable guide to how it will perform on your farm?

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Reading Time: 9 minutes Like everything else in farming, it’s getting more complicated to decide which technologies to invest in for the farm. Actually, make that “much more complicated.” An effective technology strategy is a key success factor, says Purdue University professor Michael Langemeier, “Early adopters of technology often reap above-average profits.” Plus, says Langemeier, it can keep them[...]
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Jordan Dahmer and Tom Teichroeb.
Guide Business, Management

The power of mentorship in agriculture

Mentorship is emerging as agriculture’s key strategy for keeping Canada a world-class place to farm. What could be in it for you?

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Reading Time: 8 minutes To be at the top of their game in the 2020s, today’s young and mid-career farmers must excel at growing crops and raising livestock. That’s hard enough, given all the new technologies that neither they nor their parents have ever seen. And that’s just a start. To secure their futures in a world with a[...]
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Processing plants are being built across the country to convert farm crops into bioproducts for essentially every sector.
Guide Business, News

The booming bioeconomy — Part 2

In part one of this feature, we introduced the bioeconomy and how Canada is working to become a world leader. In part two we look at specific sector developments from coast to coast — there are lots of them!

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Reading Time: 7 minutes It’s a surprise to most of us. What’s the hottest bioeconomy subsector on the planet? Replacements for plastic. Worldwide demand for biodegradable products is urgent and it’s growing, especially to replace single-use plastic items like straws, utensils, cup lids and plastic bags. The race is on. France banned plastic cups in 2016, and Queen Elizabeth[...]
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Much of the interest in the bioeconomy can be attributed to an increased desire around the world for natural and sustainable products.
Guide Business

The booming bioeconomy

In Part One of this Country Guide look at opportunities in the new bioeconomy, Treena Hein investigates the global picture — and how Canadians can get a piece of the action

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Reading Time: 8 minutes Farmers have been hearing about the bioeconomy, and when we learn about new uses for hemp stalks or wheat straw or corn starch, our ears perk up. After all, diversification and new opportunities mean increased sector stability and growth. What many Canadian farmers may not realize, however, is the sheer scale of the bioeconomy in[...]
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Women are talking with their families to start practising what they learned, and to take more of a team approach on the farm.
Guide Business

A better agenda

Workshops for farm women are teaching both men and women across the country how to score more with business education

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Reading Time: 6 minutes Whether you are male or female, you know you need more business know-how to thrive in today’s ag world. Also regardless of whether you’re male or female, you’re probably actively seeking to increase those skills and your knowledge base. Everyone is upping their game. It’s part of the farmer’s basic job description. Maybe, though, the[...]
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Mom and Dad, what should you be looking for when the kids come home? Are you willing to let them make mistakes?
Guide Business, Management

Up to the job

You’re home for the summer. Now, how are you going to show Mom and Dad that you’re a safe bet for taking over the farm?

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Reading Time: 6 minutes It’s a phrase that means just what it says. Leadership succession is real, and it’s catching on. If your succession plan only looks at how the financial picture will unfold down the road, that’s not enough. Increasingly, it’s clear that it has to deal with who can handle what responsibilities too. Are your kids up[...]
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AgCanadaTV

AGCanadaTV: In Case You Missed It – Your National Ag News Recap for the week ending January 17, 2020.

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