All three farm partners meet regularly to talk business and farming
Many farms operate with one or two people in charge and others helping.
The Woodside farm partnership northeast of Langbank, Sask., is following a different path by getting everyone involved in the discussion about their farm operation.
This third-generation farm is owned and operated by Geoff Hewson, 32, his sister, Margaret Hansen, 40, and their cousin, Mark Cowan, 30.
The 11,000 acre farm is now a grain-oilseed operation, but it once included cattle.
Hewson and his family introduced regular meetings when Hansen returned to the farm full time in 2002.
Read Also
Nutritious pork packed with vitamins, essential minerals
Recipes for pork
“It just developed from there. There wasn’t particular tension or issues before, but, looking back, I think it was a smart move, done proactively, not reactively,” said Hewson.
“Before our generation began taking a more active role on the farm, my father and uncle were running it, so they didn’t see a big need for a formalized meeting structure. They were in contact with each other all the time, and always had an unspoken connection, not feeling the need to talk a whole lot.”
As the farm grew to include more people, the consensus was to have regular meetings to keep everyone informed about what was going on.
Today the farm schedules weekly family meetings with four or five key people involved in farm operations.
The partners also hold monthly management meetings where they focus on big picture items like budgeting, human resources and high level cropping plans.
They added a yearly stakeholder meeting to their schedule that includes a Christmas party for staff, owners, families, employees, as well as a yearly stakeholder meeting attended by owners and their family members involved in the operation.
“The meetings are a good way to keep everyone in contact and make sure we’re all basically pulling in the same direction,” said Hewson.
“Having family meetings has definitely helped us financially,” said Hewson.
While the meetings are useful, the partners are also constantly looking for other ways to stay better connected.
“We are looking at how we can digitally share information more efficiently,” said Hansen.
Cowan and Hewson look after the day-to-day farming while Hansen helps out where needed and does the farm’s finances and marketing.
“It’s a natural fit … I should have become an accountant,” said the mother of three.
