In our introductory article to this series we looked back over our last 10 years identifying successes and messes we’ve seen in business transitions. We developed an extensive list of reasons why those transitions were successful or what caused them to go off the rails. We grouped this list into five key areas that captured […] Read more
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Success or mess?
In the third part of a series on succession planning, Management Minute focuses in on the family
Calculate your actual leverage
Leverage can provide a measure of risk on your farm. But make sure to consider the value of off-farm investments
When we work with clients, we almost always start by preparing a detailed balance sheet where we establish a fair market value of assets owned and the liabilities owed against them. This winter we met with three brothers that immigrated to Canada many years ago, Bu, Chu, and Fu. All three started farming and met with us to […] Read moreWhere do I go from here — part 3
Once Iben and Shirley Workentoohard realized they didn’t want to retire and sell the farm, taking the next steps to organize their estate was much simpler
Iben and Shirley Worken-toohard called us up again last week. Iben couldn’t wait to fill us in. Shirley had agreed that they would continue farming. They’re enjoying their farming career too much to consider starting to wind down and manage their tax liability as sole proprietors. Iben and Shirley decided that they had worked too hard to establish the farm to […] Read moreWhere do I go from here, Part 2
Iben and Shirley Warken-toohard got a bit of a shock last time we met with them they found out that if they both died tomorrow that the equity they planned to pass on to their children would be $500,000 less than they anticipated. It quickly became apparent that Iben’s plan to farm until he grew […] Read more
Five ways to survive a land value correction
Debuble runs a mid-sized grain farm and is fortunate enough to have his son and daughter-in-law returning to the operation. The farm will need to generate more revenue, and Landon is thinking of expanding. In the last five years crop margins have been good and local land values reflect this reality. Landon purchased his last […] Read more
Freddy gets fixed
We were out to see Fast Freddy last week and boy was he on cloud nine! His banker, George Gimeital, had offered him this great deal. George offered to finance a new combine and swather and provided Freddy with a pre-approval for the purchases. Freddy was intrigued by the idea but wanted to look closer […] Read more
Managing growth in the cow/calf business
We recently enjoyed a meeting with Sir Loin, a gentlemen beef farmer who immigrated from England in the fall of 2002. We know what you’re thinking. English, gentlemen, and beef farmer: is that possible? Okay, we admit, sometimes we embellish the truth for the purpose of a good column. Sir Loin’s position was this. He has toiled […] Read more
Management Minute: The true power of planning
How much time do you take to plan in the winter? There are varying degrees of planning and preparation in a business, and the effectiveness of that planning is directly correlated with long term success. Let’s consider two scenarios. Peter Planzalot is a moderate to large grain farmer who doesn’t enjoy surprises. He starts planning […] Read more
Four Approaches To Valuing Sweat Equity
A common challenge that we encounter in succession planning is the concept of sweat equity and the opinions vary as widely as to the definition of it. Recently one old codger that we began working with put his opinion very bluntly. He summarized it as follows, Boys, if you can t prod it or poke […] Read more
The Secret To This Farmer’s Success
Lucky for me, this column happens to coincide with the Outstanding Young Farmer edition of Grainews.Andrew DeRuyck, my business partner, and his wife Tanis were recently named Manitoba s Outstanding Young Farmers. I felt it was my duty as a responsible member of the media that someone shed some light on the full story of […] Read more
Grainews is written for farmers and often by farmers. It is about putting theory into practice on the farm. Each issue also features Cattleman’s Corner for cow-calf producers and farmers with mixed cattle and grain operations.