MANAGEMENT

Imagine a regular day on the farm when, out of the blue, a group of unknown people arrive at your doorstep. What do you do?

The production of high-quality proteins, either meat or milk, has never been under greater scrutiny. Social media has virtually unbounded people’s ability to share their voice with the world.

In any industry, we often hear of the three tiers. The top tier is successful, thriving businesses positioned for sustainable futures, while the bottom tier is the struggling businesses that will likely not exist five years from now. In between lies businesses that could go either way.

Keith Cunningham went from zero to $100 million and lost it in a period of 3.5 years.

Emotions, excessive pride, greed and arrogance slipped into the way Cunningham ran his business, and he lost it all.

“Early retirement,” Bas Froese-Kooijenga says with a laugh when asked what he hopes the Sunnyside Creamery he owns with his wife, Martha, will accomplish.

Spring is a busy time of year for agriculture operations. One of the first things we do is prepare our fields for the new growing season. In many cases, this involves pumping manure to evacuate the pits and fertilize the soil.