The role of farm input salespeople has changed remarkably as farming has evolved. No longer are dealers and sales reps just order takers talking features and benefits to find the most appealing fit for farmer customers. Today, the farm dealer is an order maker who uses a combination of business knowledge and key insights to... Read More
Category: Farm Management
The federal government has announced it's dropping the four-year cumulative duration requirement — also known as the "four-in, four-out" rule — from the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) effectively immediately. It's welcome news for agricultural employers and farm groups. “The feedback we received from agricultural stakeholders is very supportive of these changes," noted Portia MacDonald-Dewhirst,... Read More
Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay announced changes to Farm Credit Canada's Young Farmer Loan program in Ottawa on Wednesday. FCC will double the amount of credit available to individual farmers under the age of 40 — raising the maximum to $1 million from $500,000, said the minister. The ag lender will also lower the minimum down-payment... Read More
Cities and towns are approving land development now that may not happen for a decade. If we're to protect farmland from being swallowed by ever-expanding municipal boundaries, we need to act now to stop it, says Keith Currie, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) . Currie's organization is one of 16 farm groups... Read More
Borrowing at 0% interest is about as good as it gets. When only 20% of producers are using available cash advance programs, like the one administered by the Canadian Canola Growers, you have to question why more farmers are not taking advantage of effective borrowing programs. According to David Derwin, of PI Financial, only 5... Read More
Another Ag Excellence conference is in the books. It was actually the first one that I have ever attended and it was a great time. One of the unique aspects of the conference is that there is such a wide swath of producers in terms of the Canadian geography but also genre of production. From... Read More
Are you good at networking? Or are you more likely to wonder why, as a farmer or rancher, you even need to? Perhaps you think networking is for salespeople, lawyers, and business big-wigs. According to our interview with Marie-Helene Budworth networking is for anyone engaged in business, and you're probably much better at it than... Read More
Changes to the 2017 Farmland Health Incentive Program (FHIP) will create an even greater focus on managing water quality in the western and central Lake Erie basin. For the past two years, FHIP, part of the Great Lakes Agricultural Stewardship Initiative (GLASI), has focused on supporting and funding Ontario farmer stewardship efforts in an area... Read More
For farmers, buying land can be the biggest business decision you make. It’s also a tremendously emotional decision that many famers make without fully considering all the ramifications, explains Alberta Agriculture farm financial specialist Rick Dehod. “Is it a need or a want?” asks Dehod, who says many times buying land is what farmers want,... Read More
Trimble has announced it's combining three of its farm software products into a single data management platform. Agri-Data Solutions will be consolidated with the Connected Farm and Farm Works Software programs to form Trimble Ag Software. The integration of Agri-Data with Connected Farm had been expected since Trimble bought Agri-Trend and its Agri-Data software in... Read More