MANAGEMENT

With the current financial squeeze in agriculture, many have reduced their labour force and, therefore, asked for more work from fewer people: themselves, employees and their own family members.

An amazing group of Alberta farmers shared their deepest fears with me at the 2018 Agriculture Service Board Conference following my “Finding fairness in farm transition” presentation recapped in the May 2018 issue of Progressive Dairyman.

The transition of a farm can make or break not only the future of a business, but also the relationships among family members involved. A banker, an attorney and an accountant recently shared their advice on how to minimize drama when dealing with the transfer of farm assets.

Labour represents the second-largest category of expense, after feed, for most dairy farms. With labour representing such a large share of expense, it’s critical for managers to get the most value from their investment.

For the past few years, CanWest DHI and Valacta have calculated and released the results of the Herd Management Score nationwide.

A few weeks ago, I was talking with one of my dairy farmer friends. This dairyman is a well-respected and known leader in the dairy industry. He told me about participating in a recent meeting of agriculture leaders. At the meeting, he was asked the question,