Farm Management Canada Archives

How to know if your farm business skills are keeping up

In the last five years, every farm has upped its business management. So is your farm middle-of-the-pack? Above average? Below? Get ready for some surprises

By Julienne Isaacs February 25, 2021

Reading Time: 8 minutes When you ask Shawn Hass, vice-president and portfolio manager at RBC Dominion Securities in Lethbridge, Alta., what his cutting-edge farm clients are doing that sets them apart from the rest of the pack, his first answer will likely surprise you. “They’ve built an office or have one on site,” Hass says. “The most successful farm […] Read more

“We really started to ask ourselves some hard questions,” Amy Cronin says. “We knew we had to change something if we were going to give our children an opportunity to farm.”

Guide Business, Management

Farm planning for what lies ahead

How can a business plan be worth writing when farming is so unpredictable? For Mike and Amy Cronin, that’s the wrong question

By Rebecca Hannam January 27, 2021

Reading Time: 5 minutes If there’s one thing certain about farming, it’s the uncertainty. Prices, weather and other variables are constantly changing and farmers in most sectors are tasked with doing business without being able to predict future outcomes. Research released by Farm Management Canada last year indicated three in every four Canadian farmers are working at mid-level or […] Read more

“It’s been a game changer in the way that I manage the farm.” – Jake Leguee, Saskatchewan farmer.

Guide Business, Management

Do you have the tools to be a better farm leader?

Becoming a more effective leader will position you to adapt to the challenges and opportunities coming your way

By Lorraine Stevenson November 4, 2020

Reading Time: 6 minutes “Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right things.” It’s a quote that Weyburn, Sask. farmer Jake Leguee borrows from American management consultant Peter Drucker to describe how a leadership training program he enrolled in this year has helped him become better both as a leader and as a manager on his farm. […] Read more

“Our success depends on surrounding ourselves with competent, skilled team members,” says Farm Management Canada’s Heather Watson.

Guide Business, Guide HR

Does your farm team have the skills your farm needs the most?

Summer can be the best time of year to ask

By Angela Lovell June 22, 2020

Reading Time: 9 minutes First, let’s start with something everyone can agree on. Investing in developing the skills of the farm team is vital for the continued success of every farm. It’s documented by Farm Management Canada’s Dollars and Sense study too, and by the finding that the number one practice of Canada’s top farmers — in other words, […] Read more

General, Markets

Report links business management, mental health of farmers

Farm women, young farmers report higher levels of stress, difficulties coping

By D.C. Fraser May 23, 2020

Reading Time: 3 minutes Ottawa — A new report from Farm Management Canada (FMC) calls for action after determining 75 per cent of Canadian farmers reported being moderately to highly stressed about unpredictable interference, workload pressure and financial pressures. But how a farmer plans his or her business — and associated risks — can help lower that statistic. The […] Read more

The information landscape is changing, and some organizations are exploring new ways of offering that information to farmers other than traditional methods.

Guide Business, Opinion

Who’s getting educated?

It’s time for ag suppliers to get as good as farmers at technology, and to treat us with the respect we have earned

By Gerald Pilger April 16, 2020

Reading Time: 6 minutes Technology and big data have changed nearly every facet of agriculture. My tractor performance is continually monitored, not only by the operator but by the manufacturer. If the operator slips the clutch or stalls the tractor while under load, I can expect an immediate notification on my cell phone. If it’s anything more serious, a […] Read more

“It’s important to build leadership skills in younger members of the family,” Davies says. “It’s important that offspring step up and be able to explains how a new idea will work.”

Guide Business

Is your farm keeping up with the times?

These eight practices are becoming the standard for smart Canadian farmers. Are you using them all?

By Treena Hein February 28, 2020

Reading Time: 6 minutes Farmers across Canada are doing their very best to integrate business practices into their farming operations. They understand that maximizing the success of a farm business takes more than production excellence. But what business practices should they make standard, and why? Let’s first look at where farmers have started from, based on a study called […] Read more

Until the late 1600s people believed swans could only be white. The discovery of black swans meant that sometimes we get what we don’t expect.

Guide Business

Actually, black swans can be good for us too

We should expect black swans to arise more frequently than in past

By Lorraine Stevenson February 19, 2020

Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s part of our language now. A black swan is an event that is random and unpredicted and that brings broad consequences. The term originated in the late 1600s after the discovery of black swans in Western Australia. Until then, everyone believed swans could only be white. The discovery meant sometimes we get what we […] Read more

Guide Life

Learning styles

Everyone learns their own way. So what’s best for you and your team?

By Helen Lammers-Helps April 4, 2019

Reading Time: 5 minutes We’re told there has never been a time in all of human history when things have changed at such a rapid pace. And this is especially true for agriculture. Nor are farmers just letting it happen. Instead, they’re embracing lifelong learning to prepare and to adapt, whether it’s learning new software programs, farm business management […] Read more

Guide Business, Succession strategy

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

By Angela Lovell November 28, 2018

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

Bayer, Corteva in ‘two-dog battle’ over U.S. soy market

CBOT weekly outlook: Focus to shift after USDA’s largely stand-pat WASDE report

Prairies hit hard by drought

GFM Network News