Reading Time: 5 minutes You can’t always rely on one-off farm tours to get the info you need to make those critical decisions for your farm. One increasingly popular solution: peer groups. Here’s how to get one started.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor Every farmer gains deep perspective and a wealth of insight during their career. It’s knowledge that […] Read more
Summer Series: How to set up a peer group
[Best Advice] Peer groups are driving the performance of more farms across the country. How do you get started
Finding your farm self
How one farm is using innovative business strategies to fuel its passion
Reading Time: 7 minutes We hear much talk today about business models and strategies, and we read about new and innovative ideas to change and manage farm business. But what do the words actually mean? A “good idea” can be a proactive idea or even a reactionary one; it can be traditional or alternative. But it would seem that […] Read more
Farmers finding a competitive edge with leadership training
Across the country, more farmers are signing up for in-depth leadership training, and they’re using it to transform the way they farm and do business
Reading Time: 7 minutes There’s a saying that if you aren’t moving forward, then you’re falling behind. Never has this been more true than in agriculture today. But something else is equally true. It’s that more farmers are keeping up with this need for change by dedicating time and effort to cutting-edge studies on leadership. For 46-year-old Kelly Dobson, […] Read more
Sometimes the best advice…
Going a distance to talk business with similar farmers injects fresh thinking and insight into these operations
Reading Time: 5 minutes Farmers love to talk to other farmers, as anyone who has ever spent five minutes in a country coffee shop knows. But it’s not always easy to have productive discussions with your peers if they are also your neighbours, and if you’re competing with them to rent or purchase land, or to sell grain at […] Read more
The value of peer groups
AME Management: Farmers willing to listen and take suggestions are good candidates for a peer group
Reading Time: 3 minutes Peer groups are not a new concept. They have existed for years within different industries in several different types of applications. They are also known as peer advisory groups, business-to-business discussion groups, and peer advisory boards. Background Farmers have used external resources to help with management challenges for years. Accountants, lawyers and lenders are long-established […] Read more
The farmer as CEO
AME Management: What roles and responsibilities must a farmer assume in order to be effective?
Reading Time: 3 minutes An Internet search will reveal several definitions of the roles and responsibilities for the chief executive officer (CEO) of a business. The degree of formality of the actual position and its title varies considerably from business to business, depending on size, complexity, and organizational preferences. Potential roles and responsibilities of the CEO are summarized below. […] Read more
Three key alignments for top farm management
AME Management: Define your management structure for the future
Reading Time: 3 minutes When the planets align, life on the farm can be very rewarding, like when your weather is perfect at the same time that there are production shortfalls in other parts of the world and you can price into market highs. There are other alignments, however, that are much more within your control when you are […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
