Reading Time: 5 minutes With the current shortage of good labour in the ag industry, putting more effort into HR planning can help you keep your staff, thereby saving the cost and aggravation of recruiting and training new people — if you can find them. Hiring new staff is worse than dating, says Jennifer Doelman, who farms with her […] Read more
Get professional with your HR
The Doelman family is finding their HR plan is an essential pillar for their farm’s success. You may too
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
Editor’s Note: Be it resolved…
We’re heading into another meeting season, and here’s a topic that’s actually worth making a resolution out of and standing up to move. Clearly, there won’t be progress if you don’t
Reading Time: 2 minutes Obviously, you don’t have to get very far away from the farm to lose sight of the fact that the real energy that’s driving agriculture isn’t some GMO breakthrough, or some new chemical innovation or even some amazingly brilliant bit of electronic engineering. Nor is it the price of grain, or the value of the […] Read more
Job descriptions
Two farm specialists build the case to prove why job descriptions will save you time, money and aggravation
Reading Time: 4 minutes Are job descriptions worth the effort? Simply put, the experts say the answer is a clear yes. Or maybe we should make that YES! Job descriptions are foundational for good management, says Jade Reeve, manager of agri-jobs at the Canadian Agricultural Human Resources Council (CAHRC) in Ottawa. Their usefulness goes beyond recruitment, she adds. “They […] Read more
JBS shareholder Batista arrested in food sector corruption investigation
Reading Time: 2 minutes Rio de Janeiro | Reuters – Brazilian police arrested one of the controlling shareholders of meatpacker JBS SA on Friday in connection with an ongoing police inquiry into illegal campaign contributions while a local news outlet reported two former agriculture ministers were also arrested. A member of JBS’ controlling family Joesley Batista is expected only to […] Read more
Construction resumes at Portage pea plant
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada – More than a year after the ground breaking ceremony was held for Roquette’s pea-processing plant at Portage la Prairie, Man., construction resumed on it at the end of October. According to a company spokesperson construction was halted last spring “to adjust and fine tune the project.” ”We took the opportunity to include […] Read more
Louis Dreyfus top shareholder gets finance to buy out minorities
Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters – Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, top shareholder of commodity giant Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), said she had secured financing for a deal that requires her to buy out family minorities, a move that has created uncertainty over the firm’s funding. Minority family shareholders asked in 2015 to sell 16.6 percent of LDC’s holding company […] Read more
ADM profit tops estimates on export sales, oilseeds
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters – Archer Daniels Midland Co reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday, as the U.S. grain merchant made export sales to buyers in countries other than China during an escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing. Strong margins for oilseeds crushing also boosted earnings. The United States and China have imposed tariffs on hundreds […] Read more
Fertilizer maker Nutrien’s profit beats on strong potash demand
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters – Canadian fertilizer and farm supplies dealer Nutrien Ltd reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit and raised its full-year adjusted profit forecast, driven by strong demand for its potash fertilizers. The world’s largest fertilizer company by capacity raised its full-year adjusted profit forecast to the range of $2.60-$2.80 per share, from its prior estimate of […] Read more
DowDuPont tops profit estimates as chemicals demand provides boost
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters – DowDuPont Inc topped Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit on Thursday, as stronger demand for chemicals used in cosmetics, paints and packaging gear helped offset slowing growth at its agriculture business. The world’s largest chemicals producer, formed last year through the $130 billion merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont, also said it would […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
