Dairy farmers across North America are facing a labour crunch. Finding labourers willing to work in agriculture is nothing new. For years, many labour-intensive sectors of agriculture have relied on migrant workers seeking work that average Americans and Canadians are no longer willing to do. But this phenomenon is relatively new in the dairy sector... Read More
Category: Farm Management
World anything Day is a lot to take in. You’d think it might be easier to digest when a designated day for something global was also for something so familiar as food. But I didn’t sense that with World Food Day, which arrived and passed Sunday without much fanfare, at least in North America. Why’s... Read More
There's funding out there, Ontairo farmers — but you've got to pay attention in order to get in, says Margaret May, regional program lead with the Ontario Soil & Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA). I caught up with May at Canada's Outdoor Farm Show (as is our tradition, it seems) to quickly recap four funding programs... Read More
Harvest is a very stressful time of year that requires immense mental and physical focus for long hours over several days. Balancing the needs of a harvest staff and family is quite the challenge and can weigh heavily on our minds and bodies. It's at these times that we likely ignore the most important person... Read More
"One day, this will all be yours." If this is the sum total of succession planning you've done as a farm owner, or if, as the son or daughter, you've heard this one too many times with nothing to show for it — the interview below is a must listen. On this episode of the... Read More
Last week, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) released its report of and 21 recommendations for changes to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program. While the program applies to any industry in Canada, it is largely used by the farming and agriculture processing... Read More
It wasn't that many years ago that corn and soybean growers were riding the wave of $7 corn, high land rent, and applying all the groceries to every acre. In 2016, that wave of optimism has disappeared as suggested in the DTN / Progressive Farmer Ag Producer Confidence Index (ACI) results. The recent survey produced... Read More
Family farms involve a complex interaction between two worlds — the family and the business, and both these worlds are impacted when a new person arrives. This person can be the glue that keeps things together, or the dynamite that blows things apart. We're talking about what happens when a son or daughter-in-law marries into... Read More
For 32 years, Rob Hall worked in agricultural banking in Ontario – sometimes at the very top of the food chain, and always on the management side of the desk. Now, he’s switched sides. He’s on the farmer’s side. And he’s eager to talk in plain language. In February, Hall launched BankSpeak, a business finance... Read More
We often speak of best practices in agriculture as they relate to decisions made in the field or in the barn, but they go beyond that, to the office, to the meeting room, and even to interactions with the public. In his presentation at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference, Marty Seymour, director of industry and... Read More