Are you approaching retirement, or are at a stage where you can see it on the horizon? Maybe you know someone in that situation, or maybe you aren’t thinking about that yourself but people close to you think you should be. If you’re struggling to figure out how to move forward, it may make sense […] Read more
Stories by Terry Betker, PAg
Legacy risk formula and farm management
I met Joe Kluender at a conference in Sacramento, California, years ago. He is now retired from a well-respected career in farm business management consulting. His company, Farm Family Dynamics, was located in Minnesota. He and I collaborated on different things. The main thrust of the following article is taken from work originated by Joe. […] Read more
Farmers can takes steps to increase borrowing chances
I teach a course in the University of Manitoba’s ag diploma program that has an emphasis on lending and how financial management information factors into lending processes and decisions. Half to two-thirds of the students typically have plans to return to the farm. The balance either plan to enter the agriculture industry or are unsure […] Read more
Does green mean go? Maybe amber is a better colour
I have the enjoyable privilege of driving my young granddaughter around Winnipeg, where she and I live. Like every youngster her age, she’s super observant and not shy in telling me what to do and where to turn to get to our destination. She’ll tell me when she thinks I’ve gone the wrong way and […] Read more
Making more money doesn’t always fix financial problems
There are a couple of principles that apply to many situations on farms. The first is that you can’t borrow yourself out of a problem and can’t borrow yourself to profitability. The second being that focusing on driving revenue growth alone, without attending to all the other aspects of the business, will not necessarily solve […] Read more
Are you a duck or a goose when deciding how to lead?
Leadership is going to be more top of mind as farm businesses become more complex. It may be time to get your ducks in a row. What will leadership look like on your farm?
Asking ‘what if’ is a valuable farm management process
Do you find yourself daydreaming sometimes? I do. I spend quite a bit of time driving, which provides opportunities for scheming and dreaming. When I was farming and tired of listening to the radio, what else was there to do but think and plan and dream? I don’t buy lottery tickets but I’ve sure won […] Read more
Crop price cycles have a habit of repeating themselves
Working through a theoretical debt restructuring exercise for their farm businesses will tell a farmer their ultimate ability to manage cash flow shortfalls due to low or negative profit margins before having to liquidate assets.
Understanding farmland values helps provide perspective
Will farms continue to become larger? I think most people would think so but we don’t know what the future will bring. To gain an understanding of the financial implications of growth in farm size, any farm can use historical financial information to gain perspective on data in the recent farmland values report from Farm Credit Canada.
When farm management reaches an intersection
Make sure that you celebrate reaching your pinnacle of farm business management performance. The journey is difficult, but the destination will be worth it.
