Reading Time: < 1 minute An online tool for analyzing the performance of your farm business has been upgraded, along with some additional user assistance for the software. The Agricultural Business Analyzer is a set of Excel spreadsheets designed for a farm business. It helps producers prepare the three key financial documents: a balance sheet (that measures net worth), income/expense […] Read more
How’s business? There’s an app for that
Free online tool can tell you exactly how your farm is doing financially and create a financial plan for the coming year
Accentuate the positive in modern farming
FarmTech: Croplife CEO says farmers ‘will never win’ the debate about farming practices if their message is all about science
Reading Time: 2 minutes Watch your language. That’s the advice of Ted Menzies for dealing with people who are fearful of modern farming practices. “We all face this challenge, it’s very complicated to explain,” said the president and CEO of CropLife Canada, an organization which represents the plant biotech sector. “We lead a very scientific life on the farm, […] Read more
Look past farming — you’re in the food business
FarmTech: Pulse leader says improving health and the nutrition of people who eat your food should be a top priority
Reading Time: 2 minutes Focus on food, not farming. Health is both a huge global issue and a deeply personal matter, and farmers should be focusing on that and nutrition, said Pulse Canada CEO Gordon Bacon. “The variety registration program covers 50 tests to have a variety registered for production — none has to do with nutrition, let alone […] Read more
The dilemma of transferring land
FarmTech: The successor needs land to farm, but the parents need money for retirement and a way to keep everyone happy
Reading Time: 3 minutes There’s a perfectly good reason why so many farmers are reluctant to hand the reins to the younger generation. “With land, you need it for the farm and you need it to run the business, but it’s also your largest contributor to the family wealth,” said Greg Gartner, a partner at Moodys Gartner Tax Law […] Read more
Oregon refuge searched for evidence, explosives after occupiers leave
Burns, Ore. | Reuters — Police and federal agents searched a U.S. wildlife refuge in Oregon for explosives and evidence on Friday, a day after the last holdouts in a protest over federal control of Western land surrendered to end a six-week armed standoff. Federal authorities said the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon […] Read more
Farmers tangled in red tape
Reading Time: < 1 minute Government rules and paperwork hit farmers harder than other small business owners, according to a survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Three in four farmers surveyed cited government regulation and paperwork as serious concerns for their business, versus 69 per cent of businesses in other sectors. Among the “alphabet soup of regulations and […] Read more
The global weather stories of the year? Mine are heat and hurricanes
El Niño combined with ongoing global warming to set yet another temperature record and also fuelled major hurricanes and typhoons
Reading Time: 3 minutes I figured I would begin our look back at 2015’s weather from a global perspective and then zoom into North America, Canada, and Western Canada in particular, in an upcoming article. I have to pretty much agree with the top two 2015 global weather stories that nearly every website has come up with — 2015 […] Read more
The three common traits of profitable farms
Know your costs for every enterprise, spend money to make money, and never run short of working capital
Reading Time: 2 minutes What makes a farm profitable? “Recently, farm management expert Professor Eric A. DuVuyst of Oklahoma State University shared three traits common to all successful producers, drawing on observations and experience gained from working within five U.S. land grant universities,” said provincial farm management specialist Rick Dehod. “We definitely see these same three common traits in […] Read more
Because I love you
Two widows discuss how forward planning helped their families carry on following the farm accidents that claimed their husbands
Reading Time: 21 minutes Jay Fox and Brian Van Camp both died in farm accidents involving loaders right before Christmas, leaving their families in shock and still trying to run their farms. Jay and Angie were Outstanding Young farmers in Manitoba and leaders in the cattle industry. Brian and Maggie were also leaders in their community and agriculture. Here’s […] Read more
Nominees sought for Agriculture Hall of Fame
Deadline for nominations is April 30
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Alberta Agriculture Hall of Fame is now accepting nominations to honour individuals who have made significant contributions to the province’s agriculture and agri-food industry, and to the development and sustainability of rural life in Alberta. “Every two years, Alberta’s Agriculture Hall of Fame recognizes up to three Albertans whose outstanding leadership, innovation, and business […] Read more