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Management

Guide Business, Management, Markets

Clear rules for using futures options

AME Management: Define your objectives for commodities pricing

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Many farmers say hedging is too expensive. However, there is an approach that can provide both relatively cheap price insurance plus an opportunity to enhance revenue. It’s also an approach that creates an opportunity to separate and take advantage of market movement both on commodities and on currency. Options Buying a futures option is insurance: […] Read more
Guide HR, Management

Your own HR scorecard

Guide Excellence: These tools can help you assess your skills and figure out what strengths you can build on, what skills you need to sharpen, and where you should hire help

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Reading Time: 5 minutes There was a time when going up against your neighbours in a plowing match was the best and sometimes really the only way for farmers to assess their skill level. But that was then. Today, farm businesses have grown way more sophisticated and, although they still aren’t always easy to find, skills assessments have improved […] Read more
Before Alain (l) and Jean-Pierre Lavigne make new investments, they compare their profitability against their group’s numbers.
Guide Business, Management

Farm management groups have benefits

This farm finds that belonging to a farm management group improves their decision-making, and reduces their stress

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Reading Time: 5 minutes Alain Lavigne has belonged to a farm management group for 25 years and says he couldn’t imagine farming without it. “It puts the picture of the whole farm in front of you… it helps us evaluate our strengths and weaknesses,” says Lavigne, who farms with his family in Ontario, an hour east of Ottawa. “It […] Read more
The Airseed Hoppers may be a great idea, but what makes it a great business are business skills and energy, says Kevin Lisafeld (r), who is now passing those skills on to son Brad as well as to long-term employee Cory Lischka (l).
Crops, Management

Forty years of farming requires a spirit for change

It turns out that successful diversification depends on the mindset you bring to it

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Reading Time: 5 minutes When Kevin Lisafeld was still a teenager, his mother, Evelyn, told him not to put all his eggs in one basket. That advice has served him well during a 40-year career as a farmer and businessman. But success doesn’t come from diversifying for the sake of diversification. Lisafeld has learned how to spot an opportunity, […] Read more
For Josh Fankhauser, integrating field data with the decisions he makes in the shop leads to better, more profitable crop performance the next summer.
Guide Business, Management

Gigs of data at work on the farm

Data Analysis: Rigorous analysis of numbers from the field helps this farm achieve its business objective

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Reading Time: 8 minutes When Josh Fankhauser isn’t in the shop fine tuning some equipment, he’s often at his office computer, wading through gigabytes of crop production data and analyzing numbers. Like a lot of farmers, Fankhauser is happy with a wrench in his hand, and in a world where the ethos is “throw it out, buy new,” he […] Read more
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Guide Business, Management

Assessing risk in the farm business

AME Management: Develop a heat chart to see how your business can be impacted by adversity

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Reading Time: 3 minutes The process of assessing risk in a farm business is no different than in any other business. In agriculture, however, the types of risks in agriculture can be unique. How an individual views risk, how much they want to accept and how they manage it varies from person to person. Even so, there is a […] Read more
Amy Petherick.
Guide Business, Management

The young are on board, literally

In Ontario’s Northumberland County, young farmers make up the majority on many commodity and farm boards. Here’s how we do it

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Reading Time: 5 minutes There’s nothing like an unexpected dinner invitation to get the attention of a person who is normally responsible for daily meal preparation. The invitation arrived by text, and it didn’t take long to figure out whether to accept. Accept first, I said. Ask questions later. When I did ask the question, I was right to […] Read more
The farmer as CEO
Guide HR, Management

The farmer as CEO

AME Management: What roles and responsibilities must a farmer assume in order to be effective?

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Reading Time: 3 minutes An Internet search will reveal several definitions of the roles and responsibilities for the chief executive officer (CEO) of a business. The degree of formality of the actual position and its title varies considerably from business to business, depending on size, complexity, and organizational preferences. Potential roles and responsibilities of the CEO are summarized below. […] Read more
Three key alignments for top farm management
Management

Three key alignments for top farm management

AME Management: Define your management structure for the future

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Reading Time: 3 minutes When the planets align, life on the farm can be very rewarding, like when your weather is perfect at the same time that there are production shortfalls in other parts of the world and you can price into market highs. There are other alignments, however, that are much more within your control when you are […] Read more
Farmer and His Son Leaning on a Gate in a Paddock on a Farm
Guide HR, Management

The strategic approach to managing employees

AME Management: It's important to foster a culture of employee engagement so people feel respected, motivated

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Reading Time: 4 minutes If you own or manage an agricultural business of any size, you likely have a number of employees (family members or otherwise) working with you. And you have them for good reason. Employees come with many benefits, or at least they should. Employees with specialized skills can provide missing competencies and networks, allowing the business […] Read more

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