I’ve enjoyed some really interesting farm visits in the past couple of weeks, both crop “inspections” and a visit to a dairy. It is easy to see and sense the pride farmers have in growing their crops or looking after their animals. Inevitably, however, we find our way back to the house or the office […] Read more
Stories by Terry Betker, PAg
Farm management survey results and observations
We recently asked farmers who stopped by our booth at Canada’s Farm Progress Show in Regina to answer a short survey, which included questions about farm management. Key observations from the survey results include: Almost 80 percent indicated that they struggle to attract and retain employees. Sixty-one percent said that they are worried about their […] Read more
Taking stock: where are you financially at mid-year?
I was recently talking to a farmer who had just finished seeding. The lion’s share of the investment in growing a crop had been made, and some of the urgency was gone. As a result, it was time to focus on the things that were taking up space on the “corner of the desk,” such […] Read more
Greater financial efficiency increases available cash flow
Many experts believe our weather is becoming more volatile. This appears to be borne out by recent weather events and commodity price fluctuations. A common management principle is to obtain an acceptable return on the investment made in a business. The definition of investment could be narrow, limited to the capital tied up on land, […] Read more
Taking a generational approach to farm planning
Some National Hockey League coaches break down the 82 regular game season into 10 game segments. Some go much further, thinking of and managing performance against a much narrower horizon and breaking it down into single periods of a game. How did the team perform in that period? What worked? What needs attention? Is performance, […] Read more
Managing through difficult financial situations
Management experts say identifying defined future goals makes it easier to work through difficult situations. The power of having a common goal or shared vision cannot be overstated. I’ve watched families successfully manage through extremely difficult situations, and a written, common understanding of what they were working toward was a big help. In the absence […] Read more
Return on investment for farms about more than numbers
Everyone wants the best possible return on their investments. To achieve that, we first need to determine what the actual investment is that we want a return on. Next, we need to define the return we want and determine how we’re going to measure it. For a business, this is straight forward. Take the profit […] Read more
Restructuring debt one option to address cash flow issue
For some farmers, as Yogi Berra put it, “it feels like déjà vu all over again.” It wasn’t that many years ago when farms were often required to manage with little or no working capital. I’m talking about liquidity issues, more commonly expressed as cash flow problems. There can be several reasons why this happens […] Read more
Managing farmer’s time first step in human resources
It wasn’t many years ago that the notion of managing human resources on a farm was a foreign concept. Human resource management was something other businesses did. But to quote a Bob Dylan song, “the times they are a-changin.” Management on a farm can be categorized into four main areas: marketing, operations, finance and human […] Read more
Are you the next generation? Preparing to take the torch
Have you been identified as the next owner and/or manager of all or part of your family farm? If not, do you expect to be? Do you have any idea at all? There is a broad spectrum of answers to these questions, depending on the farm family and situation. However, you need to ask yourself […] Read more
