What carries greater downside risk: having to sell in a down market to generate cash flow, or pre-selling a crop in increments? The short answer is it depends, but the in-depth explanation is that panic or stressed sales by their nature are rarely the most profitable. Pre-selling some crop carries a risk, yes, but there... Read More
Category: Farm Management
January 29th is Bell Let's Talk Day, a day focused on raising awareness of mental health through social media sharing. Started in 2011, the day has raised millions of dollars for mental health support. At this year's FarmTech held at Edmonton, Alta., farmer Christi Friesen took the time to sit in the RealAg Radio booth... Read More
Are you farming year-to-year, or looking five, 10, or even 20 years out? Edgar Hammermeister, with Western Ag Professional Agronomy, says that solid, long-term crop planning is one key piece of the long-term viability puzzle of any farm, but one that often gets dropped when short-term economics or challenges arise. For Hammermeister, long-term crop planning... Read More
In agriculture, whether it's the proverbial chief, cook, or bottle washer, there's likely a job vacancy waiting to be filled. As an industry, there's a finite number of farm kids to fill jobs in the agriculture field. New talent and ingenuity are going to have to come from outside the existing farm and rural bubble.... Read More
Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC) released its Outlook for Principal Field Crops report this week, and is predicting a slight increase in both area seeded and overall yield of field crops for the 2020-21 cropping year, compared to 2019-20. Area Seeded: AAFC is expecting to see a slight increase in area seeded, as wheat and... Read More
The federal government has opened the application process for the first Canadian Agricultural Youth Council. In a press release, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada says the Council will identify new and emerging issues, enable on-going dialogue on challenges and opportunities, share information and best practices, and provide advice on the strengths and weaknesses of policies and... Read More
As part of Manitoba’s 150th birthday, Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Blaine Pedersen announced they will be adding a new category to the province's Farm Family Recognition program. “Agriculture has changed greatly over the past 150 years and it’s important that we recognize those families that have been involved in the industry for generations,” Pedersen... Read More
When you are the executive director of an organization that emphasizes the importance of having a conversation, presentations are inevitable. Adelle Stewart, executive director of the Do More Ag Foundation, says that whether she speaks in front of an audience of five or 500, she's just happy to have people to have the conversation with.... Read More
You might think that how your parents treated you growing up has little to do with what kind of employee or manager you are (yes, even on the farm), but in fact, parenting has a profound impact on how we interact in the workplace. Everything from how we dress and present ourselves, to our priorities,... Read More
Contrary to an oft-quoted statistic, Darrell Bricker says we are not racing to a population of 9 billion by 2050. In fact Bricker, CEO of IPSOS Public Affairs and author of Empty Planet, argues that population dynamics mean Canada needs to think more strategically about attracting new immigrants and finding new export markets. Bricker says... Read More