Reading Time: 2 minutes The first warning sign seems like it should be an obvious one. But it isn’t always that simple. This red flag is a farm that can’t keep staff. The trouble is, it’s easy to blame the employees instead of taking a hard look at whether the problem is closer to home, says Leah Knibbs of […] Read more
Three red flags to watch for on your farm
Is it time to call in an HR consultant to boost your farm’s performance?
Editor’s Note: We’re making the connection
Reading Time: 2 minutes Finally we’re actually moving into an agriculture that knows exactly how to integrate business management for better, more profitable decisions in the field. I know that many of you have been following our series of financial management columns written by the faculty and teachers at AgriFood Management Excellence, the group that offers the advanced CTEAM […] Read more
Generating farm independence
Sometimes, the best solution can be for the next generation to build a farm of their own
Reading Time: 10 minutes The roads here are typical for this part of rural Ontario, running between neighbouring towns. On either side, at the end of long maple-sided lanes are well-kept dairy, beef and crop farms divided into 100-acre parcels, with red and black barns stamped proudly with farm names, usually family names. Occasionally too a lane is overgrown, […] Read more
How financially healthy is your farm?
AME Management: These two examples show how standardized financial statements can be a powerful source of insight into your operational management
Reading Time: 5 minutes Three articles in this space over the last year (see links further down) focused on the management information to be obtained from standardized farm accounting statements. This month, we illustrate it here with two farm examples, concentrating on the operating (profit and loss) statement. The organization of our operating statements is based on three principles: […] Read more
Cleaning up sweat equity
It used to show you were committed to farming. Now it’s a dangerous source of controversy on more Canadian farms
Reading Time: 11 minutes At his financial office in Stettler, Alta., Peter Boys reaches for stark language to make his point. “Slavery is alive and well on farms in the Prairies,” Boys says. Boys is referring to the practice of farmers not paying equitable wages to their children working on their farms, often under the promise of future ownership… […] Read more
Profit by putting people first
Attracting and retaining good workers on your farm doesn’t just happen — you have to make it happen
Reading Time: 3 minutes If you don’t have people, you don’t have a farm. It’s as simple as that. While most producers think about their farm in terms of their livestock and crops, they neglect to think about the people, says a rural business specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. But that needs to change, Abby Verstraete told attendees […] Read more
Pitfalls on the road to value adding
So you’ve got a great idea. But can you actually grow a solid business around it?
Reading Time: 5 minutes At first glance, creating a value-added business may seem a lucrative way to increase profits and employ family members, but the road to success can be filled with potholes. Below, our experts and experienced value-adders list the dangers, and provide advice on how to avoid them. 1. Being star-struck by your own product Gary Morton, a […] Read more
The 5 per cent solution of farm management
On the Hebert farm, the momentum for growth is internal
Reading Time: 7 minutes In Saskatoon in mid-January, Kristjan Hebert was at the podium of a banquet room, telling the crowd of farmers something that farmers have said all through the generations. Hebert and his family want to build a legacy farm. “And our definition of legacy is extremely simple,” Hebert continued. “We want to leave the land and […] Read more
Protecting your farm’s assets
These six strategies will ensure you get much more than just the tax benefits of forming a farm corporation
Reading Time: 7 minutes Many farms that incorporate do so for tax purposes. After all, there are definite tax advantages available to a corporation and its shareholders that are not available to individuals or partnerships. But farm businesses should be careful that they don’t let the tax tail wag the dog, says Jerry Lupkowski, a senior partner with MNP […] Read more
Bulletproof the farm
Extreme weather, volatile markets, government regulations, financial strains... The bullets are flying and they’re aimed straight at your farm. Here’s how Melvin Penner at H&M Farms is fighting back
Reading Time: 10 minutes Snow pelts the metal siding so hard it rattles, but inside the farm shop, it’s warm with work and energy. Lined up in various stages of maintenance are a truck, tractor and corn planter, while in the corner, pouring over their field maps, the three owners of H&M Farms near Altona, Man., discuss the upcoming […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
