Think Like a Rocket Scientist

Think Like a Rocket Scientist

Guide Books Review: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life

Reading Time: 3 minutes Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and LifeBy Ozan Varol(Public Affairs • $35) Among the fascinating books I’ve encountered while writing these reviews, Ozan Varol’s Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life stands out. […] Read more

The logo and trading info for Corteva Agriscience displayed on the New York Stock Exchange in New York.  Photo: Reuters/Brendan McDermid

Investor nominates directors for Corteva, aims to oust CEO

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Activist investor Starboard Value LP said on Thursday it has nominated eight directors to the board of Corteva, seeking to oust its chief executive officer and take control of the pesticide and seed maker. Starboard, in its letter to Corteva’s chairman, said it had identified someone new for the top job, but declined […] Read more


Labour is a growing input cost and farmers need to pay more attention to it.

Gauging employee productivity

Sure, your employees seem busy enough. But are they productive? Better yet, can you improve their productivity?

Reading Time: 6 minutes Of course farmers have an excellent grasp of their input costs. As in any business, the lower the costs, the better the bottom line, so farmers are constantly experimenting with different fertilizer rates, seeding rates, equipment strategies and so much more. And for everything they do, farmers track what it costs, what it produces and […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Report shows slower pace for rising farmland values

Reading Time: 2 minutes While lower-valued farmland more often showed a higher rate of increase, and price hikes varied from region to region, Canada’s farmland values on average have booked their slowest year-over-year rate of increase in almost a decade. That’s according to the annual Farmland Values Report from Farm Credit Canada (FCC), in which the federal ag lending […] Read more


(Assnat.qc.ca)

Quebec offers aid to lessen brunt of U.S. tariffs

Reading Time: < 1 minute Montreal | Reuters — The Quebec government on Wednesday said it would spend $863 million over five years to mitigate the impact of U.S. tariffs on companies and the province’s agriculture sector. The plan would provide direct financial aid to some companies affected by the tariffs and would support investments to improve productivity, worker training […] Read more

Nicolaas and Wilma Zeldenrijk operate one of the most technologically advanced farms in Canada, with automated feeding, milking and bedding.

Deciding about technology

Why do some farms leap ahead in technology while others wait? The reasons aren’t what you think

Reading Time: 5 minutes Four robots at New Galma Dairy near Ingersoll, Ont., milk the cows while a second automated system finds its way around the barn feeding cows and heifers by itself and a third machine beds the cows without human intervention. Calves can decide when they want milk from a machine that identifies them and gives them […] Read more


Tom Button

Editor’s Note: 2018 – Is this the ‘year of destiny?’

As we head toward spring, there’s a growing ambitiousness among many Canadian farmers, and an edge to their certainty that it is crucial to make progress before the year is out

Reading Time: 2 minutes I’m an optimist. Are you? Let’s find out. Overall, our farm sector is healthier than it has been at any time in my memory. Nor do I see any precipices in our immediate future. There can always be bad news. But really, who actually thinks that interest rates are going to jump into double digits […] Read more

Files and Coffee cup

Guide Life: Get organized and get more done!

Do you spend hours working in the farm office to emerge at the end of the day disappointed with how little you have accomplished?

Reading Time: 5 minutes You’re not alone. For most of us, the time we spend in the farm office is less efficient and productive than the time we spend on almost any other farm activity. To help, we asked two professional organizers to weigh in with their tested and proven ideas on how to streamline your office procedures to […] Read more


farmer raising his arms with success

Guide HR: Don’t work harder, work smarter

We all want to be more productive, so here’s the good news. You can be. Higher productivity is within your reach

Reading Time: 3 minutes I would do it if I only had more time.” We all want to be more productive and to perform at our peak every day. We all want to manage our time better, but guess what? If there is one thing that everyone has equally, it is time. We all have 24 hours each day. […] Read more

writing a to-do list

Need to get more done?

Fit more into your day with these time-management habits

Reading Time: 5 minutes Too many of us spend our days frustrated because there is so much to do and so little time to do it in. That frustration can even make us impatient to the point where we dismiss the advice of time-management experts, and we say, ironically, “I just don’t have time to get better at using […] Read more