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Buy, Lease or Hire? When it comes to farm equipment, there is no easy answer.
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FCC Chief Agricultural Economist J.P Gervais discusses the results of the Spring 2013 Farmland Values Report and what they mean on a national and provincial level.
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Discover how sharing your business' success with your staff can help you motivate and retain your employees..
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Your smartphone can do a lot more than just make phone calls. Identify locations throughout your farm and make a virtual map, send emails and text messages.
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Machinery editor Scott Garvey takes a look at what's required to install a Wilson Electronics "Sleek" model cell phone signal booster kit in a farm truck.
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Discover how sharing your business' success with your staff can help you motivate and retain your employees..
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Journalist and author Amanda Lang discusses how asking "why?" can lead to innovation and support problem solving in your professional and personal life..
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Choosing the right successor for your operation requires a lot of planning – sometimes years of planning. Succession planning expert Dr. John Fast shares stories and wisdom on this all-too-common topic.
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Olympic human and organizational performance coach Richard Monette shares tips and strategies to overcome barriers to success..
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Find out how important it is to be part of a value chain. Martin Gooch, Director of Value Chain Management Centre in Guelph, explains how you can make better-informed business decisions and reduce your costs..
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The more time you spend doing physical work, the less time you have for marketing or managing employees. If this sounds like you, you may need to shift into a manager’s role. If your operation keeps expanding, it might be time to hire a manager and shift into the position of CEO.
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Understand the difference between being a manager and a true leader.
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Understand the difference between being a manager and a true leader.
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An extreme adventurer, author and FCC Forums speaker last year, Jamie Clarke shares with host Kevin Stewart his views on how we can all succeed in life, even when Mother Nature conspires against us.
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FCC Senior Economist J.P. Gervais takes a look at current global economic trends and how they impact Canadian agriculture.
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Developing human resource strategies is a good investment. Strategic HR specialist Dr. Sara Mann shares how to attract and retain employees that are the best fit for your operation. She also explains how to be a competitive employer without spending too much money.
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One son is a good business person who can work professionally with staff. The other son is a good worker, and gets along better with dad. Who should take over when dad retires? Wrong question, says John Fast.
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The founding generation of a farm may have succeeded by sheer hard work and 80- to 100-hour weeks, but the next one wants to replace some of that time with more professional management. John Fast offers some suggestions to resolve the conflict.
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Trust works on several levels. Members of a family farm operation can trust each other as individuals, but “trusting someone to do a good job” may not be fair if the person doesn’t have the skills. John Fast says competence and trust are different things.
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Goal setting tips from Michelle Painchaud to help you build an action plan for your farm’s future..
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Your value chain is about meaningful relationships. To ensure your value chain is right for your business, it’s important that you ask the right questions. Martin Gooch, Director of the Value Chain Management Centre, tells you what to look for when building these relationships.
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Are you considering expanding to capture economies of scale, or bringing in more equipment so you can increase production from your labour? Hear J.P. Gervais discuss the future of Canadian agriculture and how it will impact your business.
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J.P. Gervais, FCC Chief Agricultural Economist, explains landlord-tenant interaction and how communicating about crops and agriculture can help maintain positive relationships. You’ll learn the basics of setting a rental price fair to both parties, some factors that typically influence land rental contracts and why written contracts are better than verbal.
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Is now the right time for new equipment? How much profit will you see from this year’s crop? Analyzing the numbers is easy when you have accounting software designed for agriculture. There are a number of ag-specific accounting software programs on the market. Which one is right for you?
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Grainews machinery editor, Scott Garvey, takes a look at Germany's tractor and equipment test centre to see how it compares to the famous Nebraska Tractor Test Lab.
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Reid Hamre, Fend's North American brand manager, talks about the line of tractors Fendt currently offers in the Canadian marketplace. He also talks about the 500 Series models which the company expects to introduce here in the future, although the company hasn't yet announced when they will become available.
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Grainews machinery editor Scott Garvey went to the grand opening of Fendt's new tractor assembly plant in Marktoberdorf Germany and finds out why the company is excited about its new facility.
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Take a video tour of the famous Nebraska Tractor Test lab with Grainews machinery editor Scott Garvey.
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Case IH introduces the new Rowtrac tractor line along with a special 25th anniversary edition of the Magnum at an event near its headquarters in Racine, Wisconsin.
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Visitors to the Regina farm show this year had their first look at three new combines. Representatives from Versatile and AGCO talk about the features of the new models on display.
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Grainews machinery editor Scott Garvey was at AGCO's Jackson, Minnesota, tractor and sprayer assembly plant for the grand opening of the new Intivity Centre, which was built to show visitors the history of machines built there.
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Scott Garvey takes a ride with Sean Dorosz, New Holland's segment leader for high-horsepower tractors, in a new 2012 tracked T9 and looks at its features.
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Abe Hughes II, New Holland's vice-president, sales and marketing for North America, discusses how the company is expanding its product line to appeal to not only its traditional customer base, mixed farmers, but also broad-acre grain and oilseed growers and smaller producers.
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Scott Garvey, Grainews machinery editor, travels to Hanover Germany to visit Agritechnica, the world's largest farm machinery show.
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Here's a chance to see how some vertical and minimum-tillage implements perform in the field and hear what manufacturer and dealer reps have to say
about them. Also Todd Botterill, a tillage equipment dealer, offers his advice on how to select the right one for your farming needs.
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Mark Cresswell, R&D and marketing leader at Bourgault, discusses the new seeding equipment the company introduced to dealers just before this year's
Western Canada Farm Progress Show in Regina.
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Grainews editor Lyndsey Smith and machinery editor Scott Garvey take a look at the features and performance of a Chevy Silverado 2500HD pickup equipped
with a Duramax diesel engine and Allison automatic transmission.
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New Zealand-based Baker No-Tillage gave farmers a chance to see its seed drill, which has been updated to meet the demands of North American farmers,
perform under various field conditions during an on-farm demo in North Dakota.
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Les Hill, a combine performance expert from the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute, discusses how farmers can get the most out their combines this
season.
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Scott Garvey, Grainews machinery editor, visits the Seed Hawk factory to participate in a customer training event and finds out why the company offers
this after-sale support for buyers.
Starting a successful farm career is hard. Ending a successful farm career can be even harder. In this video series first prepared for AgVision TV, host
Kevin Stewart talks to farm family coach Elaine Froese (www.elainefroese.com) about the ways to maintain healthy family relationships while transferring
the farm to the next generation.
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Most people want to avoid conflict. But left to simmer, conflict can eventually boil over with disastrous consequences for the farm family and farm business. Dr. John Fast talks about dealing with conflict early, and head on.
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"All this will be yours someday." That doesn't constitute a succession plan. Farm family coach Elaine Froese says keeping the next generation on the farm depends on defining a clear future.
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What if the son screws up and the boss says he should be fired, but boss is mom or dad? Dr. John Fast talks about the importance of clarifying the roles in a farm family business.
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Most parents attempt to treat children equally but in a family business that approach can sow the seeds of future family disharmony and farm business failure. In business equal does not necessarily mean fair.
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"Please fix our daughter-in-law!" According to Dr. John Fast this is a very common complaint in farm businesses and a most convenient person to blame when things are not going well.
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The number one reason Dad has trouble making the changes to the business model desired by the next generation is because of Dad’s fear the new generation will run the farm better than he did.
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There is a passage in the good book that reads, "Without a vision the people perish." Dr. John Fast explains that the survival of the farm business depends on establishing and communicating a common vision.
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Farms are typically made up of enormous financial and human resources. The real value is often measured in blood, sweat and tears equity. Elaine Froese helps us to understand the value of promises and sweat equity.
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An untimely death without a will jeopardizes the financial viability of your farm and could leave your family in an absolute mess.
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Rich relationships are the real family jewels. You need to be clear on what your jewels are as you are doing your succession planning. What do you owe your kids?
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It is through your voice that you have personal power – the power to be heard, to be understood, to make a difference, to move into friendships. John Fast explains that finding your voice is important in order to negotiate for what you truly believe is right and fair.
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Every so often we have a spring that is so wet the online world begins to circulate the best stuck tractor pictures. Elaine Froese says soft issues make up the muck that has many farm families buried to the axles.
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What will you do when you retire? It's a question that doesn't make much sense to most farmers since the plan is typically to go with the boots on. When we consider the word retirement it forces us to examine some very core self-perceptions.
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Showing respect and appreciation is the lifeblood that keeps a family business strong. John Fast addresses the question most guys want answered, "Does this mean more group hugs?"
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According to Dr. John Fast just about every challenge he has ever run into dealing with a family business, can be boiled down to poor communication. Fast reveals the secret weapon to making family business successful no matter what kind of operation you have.
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For children playing in a sandbox disagreement often results flinging sand at everyone and everything. One way to avoid sandbox behaviour in the farm business is to establish a Family Code of Conduct.
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Elaine uses the "bull" metaphor to help families address the "undiscussabull" which exists in nearly every family business.
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One of the toughest things to talk about openly in the farm business is "how do we treat our children with our assets?" Certified family business coach Elaine Froese addresses the key question "what do you owe your kids?"
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Family businesses face enormous complexity and this can result in role confusion and internal conflict. Who is the boss? Dad? The farm manager?
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There comes a time when a spouse who’s been working off the farm asks the question — How many farms can this family support? The answer may
not be easy.
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Recent studies have shown that only about half the farmers who plan to retire in the next few years have a succession plan. Elaine reviews some of the
excuses, and how to get beyond them.
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If we think there's no deadline, we tend to put it off, but if you want the children to take over, the deadline may be looming sooner than you think.
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It's inevitable, but too often we fail to plan for it. In this segment, Elaine suggests steps to leave a lasting legacy, and to ease the burden for
the farm and the family when a farmer passes away.
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It's inevitable — all of us will pass on sometime. Elaine recommends compiling a binder containing everything from financial information to
instructions for your funeral.
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One of the main sources of conflict in the multi-generational farm is the farmhouse. Elaine talks about how to make the transition if a new generation
is moving in.
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The brother who stayed on the farm is getting free room and board. The sister who left fills up with gas when she comes home on the weekend. Elaine talks
about ways to ensure perception and reality of equitable benefits from the family farm.
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The farmhouse is both the heart of the family, and the heart of the farm. Passing it to the next generation can be a difficult process, but there are
ways to do it which can work out well for everyone.
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After her parents and/or her husband have passed away, Grandma often ends up owning the farm. If it seems as if she’s taking too much control, it
may be because of poor treatment in the past or concern about her future.
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Changing the management or ownership of a farm need not be viewed as “the first nail in the coffin.” Elaine talks about how to make the transition
to something different and enjoyable.
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“Here you go, but you can only do this with it.” If there are conditions attached to a gift of money, it’s not a gift, but manipulation.
Lending, however, is a different matter.
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When times are good, older farmers want to share the wealth with their children. That’s a fine idea, but if there are strings attached, there can
be pitfalls.
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Mom and Dad may always say they want the kids to take over, but there comes a time when they actually have to start letting go. Elaine suggests ways to
start that difficult discussion.
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The red one or the green one? The business side of farming requires a cost-benefit, but farmers need to admit that emotions are also a factor, and now
how to manage them.
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Many of today’s farms are large, sound and well- managed businesses, but surprisingly many lack proper arrangements in the event of a death of a
shareholder. Elaine discusses the importance of both wills and powers of attorney.
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“We’ll feed the farm first.” The farm is important, but sometimes it turns into the monster that eats all the cash. Elaine Froese talks
about how farmers are important too.
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Studies show that rest and getting away from the business can help productivity. That should include the farming business.
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Making assumptions about other members of the extended farm family can lead to problems. Elaine talks about how to open helpful dialogue.
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How to get around the "my way or the highway" attitude that leads to family conflicts and delays the planning needed for the farm’s future.
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An audit isn't necessarily something to fear. Farm family coach Elaine Froese has developed a tool for each family member to define what they want from
their farming operation.
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Not every child wants to stay at home to operate the farm. Some move away to new locations and new careers. How do you fairly allocate the value for each
child in a succession plan?
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"We’ll feed the farm first." The farm is important, but sometimes it turns into the monster that eats all the cash. Elaine Froese talks about how farmers
are important too.
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It’s been called the "land mine issue." Introducing that new person to both the family and the business does not always go smoothly.