The administration of cash advances has become a competitive business following legislative changes to the federal government's cash advance program last year. With the passage of Bill C-18, each producer group that serves as an Advance Payments Program administrator (find a list here) can issue the short-term loans for all 45 crops and livestock types... Read More
Category: Farm Management
Canadian farm income hit a record high in 2015, and is expected to drop slightly in 2016, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The impact of a weaker Canadian dollar supporting domestic prices is evident throughout the department's 2016 Canadian Agricultural Outlook, which was published on Friday. Here are some highlights: Net cash income on... Read More
In what areas does your farm business excel? What are you poor at? And how can you respond to make improvements? Self-assessment and continuous improvement are what separates high-performance farms from the average. Rob Hannam, President and Client Director of Synthesis Agri-Food Network, joins us for episode 14 of the Mind Your Farm Business podcast... Read More
What management practices and behaviours make farmers more financially successful? A report commissioned by the Agri-Food Management Institute and Farm Management Canada attempts to answer this question. “With the Dollars and Sense study we’re trying to determine what makes a leading farmer. How do they end up in the top 25% of farmers versus the... Read More
Employees need clear expectations and timely feedback. It might sound simple, but those are the two keys to creating a farm culture where the business gets the most out of its talent and where employees feel like they're doing a good job, says Barb Dartt, a Michigan-based farm business consultant. "We tend to underestimate the... Read More
WHHOOOOOSSSHHHHHH!!!!!! What was that? That was time flying by as we approach spring and you haven't even finalized your cropping plan. In sports there are many deadlines that force general managers to make decisions by a certain date. For example, this week was the close of the January transfer window in English and European football... Read More
Finding good employees can be challenging for many Canadian farmers. The task can be even more daunting for livestock farmers when you consider the fact that the job applicant could be an animal rights activist intending to gather video evidence of animal abuse that will be posted on the Internet or turned over to the... Read More
Forget the silver bullet, whether it's some nonexistent piece of machinery or the latest snake oil crop input. In reality, the key to boosting a farm's bottom line is incremental improvements that add up. Kristjan Hebert (@kristjanhebert) is a farmer from Fairlight, Saskatchewan and a proponent of the "five percent rule" — a philosophy advanced... Read More
There's a balance that must be struck in any farm succession plan. Mom and dad (the retiring generation) need enough money to retire and enjoy what they've earned, while the succeeding generation needs to start with enough to maintain a viable business. As Jacquie Gerrard of Backswath Management explains, farm succession conversations should start with... Read More
The final push is on this week to connect with farmers across Canada, for the first-ever national mental wellness survey of those who produce our food. Back when this initiative started in the fall, survey coordinator Prof. Andria Jones-Bitton of the University of Guelph, said she hoped to have 1,000 farmers involved in the survey... Read More