MANAGEMENT

With the holiday season right around the corner, there are a million things that need to be done. You may still be finishing things up from the summer growing season, preparing for the cold Canadian winter ahead and, on top of all this, attending family holiday events can feel like a full-time job in itself.

Whether the dairy is a smaller operation, with the family all pitching in on whatever job needs doing, or a large operation with round-the-clock specialized crews, effective teamwork is crucial to performance.

A day in the life of a dairy farmer involves wearing many hats. One of those hats is that of human resources. No matter the size of your farm, as long as you have employees, you need to be thinking about human resources.

The 2019 corn silage season was as challenging as last year, mainly due to excessive precipitation – including flooding in some areas – leading to heavy, saturated soils. The cool, wet spring delayed planting and led to a late harvest.

Yesterday, I spent some time sucking water seepage out of our basement, the result of an early wet snow in October. This morning, I forced my way through partially frozen ground to retrieve the last few carrots.

If you have not heard of K’iche’ (or Quiche), chances are, you will soon.

No, it’s not a pastry-crusted egg bake. In fact, it’s not even in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary … yet.