CAFA Assists Farm Families And Farm Businesses

Agriculture, whether livestock or grain production, has mainly evolved from small family farms into multimillion- dollar businesses. With the transformation comes the need for knowledge and network support systems to ensure the business is successful. Many of the younger generation are equipping themselves with post-secondary education and certification to accomplish this mission. The Canadian Association […] Read more

Joint Ventures — A Business Structure To Consider

Joint ventures are pretty common in some sectors, like oil and gas exploration, but they have never been used much in farming. A joint venture is an agreement or business structure where two or more individuals or business entities (partnerships or companies) agree to contribute assets, services and/or capital to a common commercial enterprise. In […] Read more


Five Ways To Farm Better, Not Bigger

The other day I was chatting with a farmer from Saskatchewan and we talked about stocks, silver, gold, charts and as usual we got chatting about farming. He said he wondered why so many farmers seemed to want to get bigger instead of better in their farming business. He made my wheels run and I […] Read more

Six Steps To Move To Accrual Accounting

Cash accounting of farm inflows and outflows records financial transactions like sales and expenditures when money actually changes hands. It’s reasonably simple to do things this way; it meets the legal requirements of the Canadian tax system. It also gives farm managers the flexibility to level out the highs and lows in income that are […] Read more


Spirit, Mind And Body Factors Affecting Decisions

Way back in Dr. Berry’s manage-me nt class we were drilled with the mechanics of decision-making “101.” 1.Identify the problem or issue. What decisions need to be made? 2.Research the options available to deal with the problem. Gather information. 3.Choose the best option considering the pros and cons of each option. 4.Act on the decision […] Read more



Perfect For Meals In The Field

Procrastination towards patching our farm jeans has managed to give me a pile of jeans that are now too small for the children to wear but too good to just throw out. The ironic part of this is that I do enjoy sewing, I just don’t enjoy mending. So instead of using them for rags […] Read more

How To Grow Old Gracefully…

Let me do you a favour and give you a brief overview of some facts and fiction in regards to growing old gracefully. Be forewarned — my credentials regarding anything associated with the wordgracefullyare dubious at best. Fiction:Aging won’t bother you at all because you’re not that superficial. Fact:You’ll wish you could turn back time […] Read more


Ways To Discourage Those Garden Pests

Everything you wanted to know about cutworms in the home garden and then some. But first, let me allude to conversations I’ve had with Herman Swab of Andrew, Alberta, 70 miles east and a touch north of Edmonton on Highway 29. Herman seeds 400 acres to wheat and canola and grows a half-acre to garden. […] Read more

I’d Just Like To Know…

Early last month in Peace River country I encouraged the farmers to drop judgmental comments and use the words… “I was just curious… could you explain to me why you…” Curiosity is an effective tool for conflict resolution because you avoid hitting conflict trigger buttons when you stop using judgmental or defensive language. One of […] Read more