two farmers standing beside a canola field

The farmer’s playbook

Consider these plays to arrive, thrive and survive in 2025

Reading Time: 3 minutes Walmart turns over its on-shelf inventory 9.4 times every calendar year. But farmers only get one kick at the can. In fact, it has been said that over a farmer’s career many will only hit a home run about seven times. That means the variance for errors is very small, and the planning component in […] Read more

Farm and barn in rural Alberta Canada

Farming in a high-cost environment

Reading Time: 4 minutes The cost to farm in Western Canada has doubled in the past fifteen years. What was $250/acre in annual costs to farm fifteen years ago (using accrual accounting) is now $500/acre in Western Canada. Cost increases are being seen across the farm income statement including on inputs, machinery and land. The more recent spike in […] Read more


“It’s good to investigate your options,” Bobbie says. Mark agrees: “A lot of people hang on too long.”

Summer Series: Choosing the right time to quit farming isn’t easy

[Land] Rumours flew when Bobbie and Mark Bratrud decided to leave the farm. But sometimes an exit is a carefully considered decision

Reading Time: 8 minutes The second that Mark and Bobbie Bratrud started telling people they were done farming, the news travelled faster than a Saskatchewan wind. “It was a rotating door through our house,” Bobbie Bratrud says. “Everyone was coming by to ask, ‘are you guys okay?’” Mark recalls three of the most common rumours: “Somebody’s sick, you’re getting […] Read more

From her global travels, Amy Cronin returns with a key belief: “We need to develop a risk mindset — and we need to help each other do that using peer groups.”

Summer Series: Only farmers know real risk

[Leadership] In a world that crashes from crisis to crisis, Ontario farmer Amy Cronin went on a global search for farmers who excel at risk management. Here’s what she learned

Reading Time: 5 minutes In a world that crashes from crisis to crisis, Ontario farmer and Nuffield scholar, Amy Cronin, went on a global search for farmers who excel at risk management. Here’s what she learned. – April Stewart, CG Associate Editor If it’s a new and even more volatile world for farmers (which it is) and if success […] Read more


(Geralyn Wichers photo)

Bovine flu a reminder of risk management in markets 

While recent price drops have limited options, cow-calf producers can still lock in a profit, says market analyst 

Reading Time: 3 minutes The fundamentals still look strong for cattle prices, despite recent hiccups in the futures market, says a market analyst, but for those buying stockers, a little risk management can go a long way.

(HLS.ca/virden)

Flu outbreak sees buyers balk at beef futures

Cash prices fairly level; beef producers should look into risk management tools, analysts say

Reading Time: 4 minutes Markets have seen cattle futures (mainly live and fed) decline in recent weeks as the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) strain made its way into dairy herds in six states to date. The good news, said a cattle auction leader and market expert, is that cash prices have remained more-or-less steady amid the chaos.


(Getty Images)

Ontario extends deadline to lock in RMP coverage

Final date to secure coverage moved to June 30

Reading Time: < 1 minute Grain and oilseed growers and cattle, hog, sheep and veal producers in Ontario now get until June 30 this year to secure coverage under that province’s Risk Management Program (RMP). The province on May 29 announced the deadlines for grain and oilseed producers to submit their completed RMP applications and make any coverage changes — […] Read more

(LIVINUS/iStock/Getty Images)

Foreign worker isolation support extended

Federal program extended alongside federal restrictions

Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal program helping employers of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) cover the costs of isolating new workers for two weeks on their arrival in Canada has been extended through November. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced Monday that the Mandatory Isolation Support for Temporary Foreign Workers Program will now run to Nov. 30, as the government […] Read more


(Jevtic/iStock/Getty Images)

Report links business management, mental health of farmers

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

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

Learning to identify, analyze, monitor and control risk will help you achieve your business objectives.

Thinking about risk?

Next Steps: As Seth Godin says, it’s easier to paddle a canoe on a calm lake. Here’s a practical strategy for smoothing out the waves

Reading Time: 7 minutes Agriculture is not for the faint of business heart. If ever there was a job that should come with the warning “avoid if allergic to risk” in bright red letters, it’s farming with its cantankerous and cumbersome risk factors like weather, trade agreements and regulations. Risk has been part of human lives since we crawled […] Read more