Who learns more from a mentorship — the mentor or the mentee? The answer may surprise you. As Deb Stark, former deputy minister of agriculture for Ontario, explains, a good mentoring relationship has value for all parties involved, but success requires communication and commitment from those involved. In this episode of Mind Your Farm Business,... Read More
Category: Farm Management
The senior vice president, of ag services with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) says he remains concerned about Canadian sales for the month of February. Self-propelled combines were up by 25 per cent, while two-wheel-drive tractors under 40 horse power were up by 23 per cent. “We remain concerned about some of the Canadian... Read More
When are dairy cows in the black? In financial terms, cows typically hit profitability in their second lactation, but too many cows don't make it to the break-even point, says University of Calgary graduate student Jesse Schuster. Last week at the Western Canadian Dairy Seminar (WCDS) at Red Deer, Alberta, Schuster shared findings from a... Read More
If you live in southern Saskatchewan, reporting crime in the area just got a bit easier. Residents in the south district (shown in the map below) will be able to use the new Saskatchewan Crime Watch Advisory Network to learn about criminal activity from the local RCMP detachment or to report suspicious activity in the... Read More
Statistics Canada has released its livestock estimates as of January, and although sheep numbers are on the rise it’s a bit of a different story for cattle and hogs. Comparing January 2019 to last year, it was the first year-over-year decrease for hog inventories since January 2013. Although there is small increase for cattle, inventories... Read More
Saskatchewan's Agriculture Minister has announced this year's crop insurance program will see an increase to $230 per acre for coverage levels, up from last year's total per acre of $216 in the province. The increase means premiums are also going up, but not by much. The premium per acre will increase to an average of... Read More
Taking the risk out of grain storage Deciding to store grain and waiting for the markets to pick up can be a stressful decision. Farming sometimes feels like risk after risk, with nothing helping farmers work towards a really great crop and an excellent profit. Storage is one of the risks that traditional crop insurance... Read More
If you talk about big picture stuff at the very face-to-face kitchen table, your family is far more likely to successfully navigate the farm transition from one generation to the next. Dr. Tom Deans, author and intergenerational wealth expert, says that when business owners (looking at you, farmers!) visit the topic early and often with... Read More
The B.C. government has introduced new laws under Bill 52 to strengthen the provinces Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) as part of the province's plan to encourage farming and better protect farmland. The bill was first introduced near the end of November last year and received royal assent in December 2018. The ALR is administered by... Read More
Revenue minus Expenses equals Profit...right? Mike Michalowicz, author and this year's opening keynote speaker of TechTourLIVE, says putting profit last is setting yourself up for failure — because putting it last means that profit can wait, that it's optional, that it's less important now and more important in some distance future. But that leads to... Read More