By Terry Betker This is a fantastic time to be entering (or be in) the business world, because business is going to change more in the next 10 years than the last 50. We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the... Read More
Category: Farm Management
Bulk buying machinery can have huge cost savings, but if it means working with another operation, it can also come with a price. Whose land is priority, should all of it be ready at once? Who's operating what? How do you manage fuel? Time? And how do you prevent conflict, in a transaction that's all... Read More
What shape is your farm record keeping system in? Do you write things into a journal? Do you write your records on a sheet of paper and then watch it blow around the truck all summer and possibly out the window as you drive down the highways at 120 km/h. There are other options. Get... Read More
According to Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting System (CAIR), 1,975 people were killed in agricultural injury events between 1990 and 2008, with 25 fatalities involving electric current. The number of fatal incidents occuring in agriculture makes it the fourth most dangerous industry in Canada, with substantial economic costs and unmeasurable emotional costs. Maintaining a safe distance... Read More
Farm safety leaders are convinced talking is as necessary as safety equipment and training in preventing farm injuries. So maybe it’s not surprising the theme for this year’s Canadian Agricultural Safety Week, which runs March 9-15, is Farm Safety: Let’s Talk About It. Dean Anderson of Guelph, Ont., the agricultural program manager for Workplace Safety... Read More
By Terry Betker When the planets align and the growing season weather is perfect, and there are production shortfalls in other parts of the world and the markets respond positively, and when you're able to price into market highs, life on the farm can be very rewarding. A possible scenario? Perhaps, but likely it'll only... Read More
I suspect there will be a lot of angst over the new federal farm review and forecast – even though statistically, it’s a good news story. The report, released last week, showed farmers produced 96.5 million tonnes of grain in 2013. That’s a major leap over the previous year's relatively dismal 76.7-million tonne crop, which... Read More
It’s time for another edition of AgNerds, where Shaun Haney and someone else equally tech-savvy talk about gizmos, gadgets and other techie things! And, yes, for this edition we do indeed have the one and only Peter Gredig back in the saddle/tradeshow chair to talk about, of all things, the cloud. The what, you say?... Read More
It’s like a scene from an old-timey western movie. A grizzled cowboy squints into the horizon and says “I don’t like the look of those clouds. Storm is a’ brewin.” I’ve witnessed similar body language as I cross the country talking to farmers about mobile technology and the new world of data management, but it’s... Read More
How did your ag education shape your career choices? Your interests in other areas of agriculture? Your willingness to continue to learn and keep learning? Watch more: Check out our corn production video series, the Corn School, here In this video, RealAgriculture’s Ontario field editor, Bern Tobin, speaks to Dave Hooker, professor at the University... Read More