Mind Your Farm Business

By RealAgriculture

What's Mind Your Farm Business about?

Mind Your Farm Business (MYFB) is an audio series featuring thought-provoking leading business management experts in an engaging format and is brought to you by RBC.

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Mind Your Farm Business episodes:

03.12.2024
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 95: Peak performance culture
In agriculture, we love to hate on acronyms and buzzwords, but like many things that become a daily part of our lives, some words — and the topic they represent — are worth getting past the initial dislike and really...
02.26.2024
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 94: This AND that: learning farm and business skills in tandem
Did you always know what you wanted to be when you grew up? For many, their career arc is not necessarily what they planned. Many who start in one field discover and become fascinated with another. Others identify opportunities and...
01.30.2024
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 93: Don’t wait for the grave for farm transition
You can’t take it with you. In this case, the “it” is the farm, and if you’re putting off transitioning the farm to a new owner or manager, you might be missing out on a huge opportunity to mentor and...
11.24.2023
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 92: The importance of an accurate and complete cost of equipment per acre
If improving the cost of production is on your farming to-do list, starting with accurate numbers is a must. If the equipment side of the equation has you stuck on what to include, why, and how to get caught up...
11.08.2023
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 91: Being a relatable, responsible, reliable leader
What does it mean to be a great leader? For Dan Quiggle, true leadership is serving others to help them succeed, relating to staff and colleagues as real people, and taking responsibility for being focused and present in a given...
10.13.2023
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 90: Facing fear in business and in life
What would you try if you knew you couldn’t fail? Fear can be very motivating (ever been chased by a bull in a pasture?) but fear — of failure, of success, of the unknown — can also be paralyzing. Each...
09.07.2023
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 89: Making put and call options an approachable tool
We often hear that farming is a risky game, due to a massive amount of variables. When you have risk, you need to do what you can to make sure that you’re limiting the potential downside. It’s not realistic to...
07.31.2023
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 88: Putting the whole picture together
Many times on the Mind Your Farm Business podcast we focus on one issue or topic, as if challenges run independent of each other. On this episode, host Shaun Haney throws that all out the window, and attempts to cover...
07.04.2023
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 87: The new realities of people management
Agriculture has long struggled to attract and retain enough people at nearly every stage of the industry; from general labour, to skilled operators, to farm management, and in the c-suite. In certain geographies, local job markets have made things even...
06.07.2023
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 86: Strategic storytelling
Those in agriculture have been encouraged to “tell their story” for years, all in the name of maintaining the social license to operate, or to gain acceptance and understanding of farm practices by the public. But there’s another reason for...
05.09.2023
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 85: Clarifying a timeline for farm transition
If you are a farmer or farm business owner, succession planning is a critical process that you cannot afford to overlook. Succession planning involves transferring ownership and management of your farm business to the next generation, and it is essential...
04.12.2023
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 84: The payback of investing in onboarding employees
Many entrepreneurs struggle with finding the right people to join their team. Right now, the employment market is also very tight as supply is low, and competitiveness for workers is so strong. So much attention is paid to the recruitment...
03.14.2023
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 83: Team building under pressure
There are many parallels between coaching and team sports and running an effective work force. Leveraging skill sets, managing personality conflicts, goal setting, and teamwork are just as relevant during the seeding season or harvest as they are on the...
02.20.2023
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 82: Hiring right the first time
There’s a saying that goes hire slow and fire fast. But does that old adage hold true? Amber Johnson, CEO and owner of Forge Performance Group, based in Alberta, says that there isn’t a simple answer to that; if you’ve...
01.04.2023
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 81: Chase the Bears with your farm business
What’s your big, scary dream? The one you really feel you want to achieve? If you’re stuck on how to reach it, former U.S. member of congress Ric Keller says you have to do two things: write it down and...
12.19.2022
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 80: Culture, core-values, and high performing teams
Strong culture and core values are the foundation of a well-functioning team. This applies to business, sports, and, yes, families. When business meets family, as often is the experience for farmers, family members need to work together to define the...
12.05.2022
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 79: Planning for business growth
You can’t grow the farm out of a problem. If growth of the farm is in the plan — whether driven by outside influences or an internal dream, such as bringing more people in to the farm structure — it...
11.16.2022
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 78: The perks and pitfalls of the generation gap
One of the biggest rewards of working in a family business is the opportunity to work every day with multiple generations. This can provide mentorship, learning, and truly rewarding memories and experiences, but it can also present real challenges. Generational...
10.28.2022
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 77: Budgeting on the farm
If the farm is waiting for the tax filing to sort out profit and loss, decisions are being made for close to a year, and maybe more, without a full financial picture. Budgeting may be up there on the favourites...
09.13.2022
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 76: The power of peer groups
Peer to peer learning is incredibly useful in any business, and agriculture is no different. Put simply, peer groups allow for the collective sharing of great ideas. Perhaps just as valuable, they also allow for the collective learning of hard...
08.08.2022
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 75: Personality assessments and their role in business culture
The work culture of a farm is much like its reputation — whether it’s intentional or not, it still exists. What makes a work culture? It’s not just people, it’s the behaviour of the people and how well they live...
07.06.2022
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep 74: The importance of key performance indicators
You can’t manage what you don’t measure, so the saying goes, but what you measure is just as important. If you aren’t familiar with KPIs — key performance indicators — this episode of Mind Your Farm Business is for you....
04.18.2022
Mind Your Farm Business – Ep. 73: Effective managers: the why, when and how of consulting
When you are managing a farm or agriculture business of any size, some areas may feel more daunting than others, or you quickly realize where strengths are and which avenues could benefit from outside help. That’s when it’s time to...
03.21.2022
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 72: Assembling an advisory board
We’ve talked about the “why” of creating an advisory board for the farm or agriculture business, but the “how” of setting one up requires some discussion, as well. Terry Betker, founder of Backswath Management, says that putting together an advisory...
02.24.2022
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 71: The burnout gamble
There is a difference between good work ethic and commitment and pushing too hard, to the point of burnout. What does burnout look like? And how do you balance racing against the weather, but stopping at “enough”? For those answers,...
01.24.2022
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 70: Making time for time management
If ever you’ve been frustrated by seemingly never getting to those big jobs you’d like to work on, or you feel like all you need to do is work faster and harder to get where you want to be, Chris...
12.09.2021
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 69: BMPs for keeping up-to-date financial records
Year-end financial statements aren’t just for year-end reviews — especially if they happen months after the year-end. Realistically, if you’re not reviewing the books until months later, the decisions being made in the present aren’t fully informed by the reality...
11.18.2021
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 68: Making multi-generational farm management work
It would seem that no one has ever told the Jochums that “too many cooks spoil the broth.” Günter, Crystal, and daughter Fiona Jochum farm together just west of Winnipeg, Man. But they don’t just farm as a family, they...
11.02.2021
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 67: Generational differences, Part 2: Goal setting & capital spending
Understanding how multi-generation farms approach big-picture topics can help farm management teams (i.e. family members) better navigate difficult conversations on the future of the farm. In this second part of a discussion with Justin Funk, managing partner of AgriStudies, podcast host...
10.19.2021
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 66: Generational differences in farm management, part 1
When different generations work together in the farm business, conflict can arise over responsibility, ownership, succession, and day-to-day operations of the farm. Justin Funk, managing partner of AgriStudies, has done extensive research on what makes intergenerational farms unique in how...
10.05.2021
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 65: Dealing with chronic stress and trauma
Biologically speaking, some stress is good for the body. Stress responses are necessary at times to act quickly, to run, or to see a project through. That said, too much stress or being under stress for too long can lead...
07.28.2021
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 64: Measuring Return on Investment
What a particular cost or investment adds to the business should be easy to assess and measure, but in reality calculating return on investment (ROI) can be inconsistent and difficult. As David Widmar, of Agriculture Economic Insights explains, ROI should be...
06.23.2021
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 63: Make Meetings Matter
If your farm is not one that holds regular meetings, this is your encouragement to start small… but start. That’s because research shows that business that hold regular meetings are more profitable than those that do not. We’re not talking about...
05.31.2021
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 62: Good governance is good business
The rules of order around a boardroom table may seem unimportant to a discussion on farm management, but the more complex a farm becomes, the more important good governance becomes. Brian Hayward, long-time agriculture business leader and now author of...
04.20.2021
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 61: A plan for professional development
Professional development isn’t just for those in corporate agriculture and it’s not just for those looking at taking on a new role, either. Vik Kail, human resources leader for Corteva Agriscience, says that there’s a place for professional development, both...
03.30.2021
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 60: Unconventional succession planning
Farming with family can be rewarding, and also stressful. Transitioning a farm’s ownership from one generation to the next can be emotionally-charged and high stress, but would it be easier or any different if you were selling the business to...
02.25.2021
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 59: Learning to lead through conflict
In leadership, aggressive behaviour can actually be less harmful to business than passivity. In other words, being unwilling to discuss a problem is actually more detrimental that having an argument about it. But just knowing that doesn’t make dealing with...
01.28.2021
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 58: Establishing your farm brand
Branding a farm is a concept that is maybe in its infancy for some farm owners. We all know the power of branding, and there are certain companies out there that all of us can think of, but what about...
12.16.2020
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 57: Managing currency risk at the farm level
In the busyness of the everyday, it stands to reason that some risk management issues fall to the back of your mind. Currency risk is one of those that might seem so out of your control that it’s not worth...
11.25.2020
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 56: How to bump farm profitability at the meeting, not kitchen, table
Family farms that hold regular business meetings are 21 per cent more profitable than those who don’t. That may be, but the mere mention of “meeting” likely makes you roll your eyes or maybe grumble in disapproval. Family meetings might...
10.20.2020
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 55: Training the next generation of farm leaders
Farming is such a diverse industry with so many operation types that add value to the industry. Canadian Young Farmers’ Forum (CYFF) was established in 1997, with the goal to assist young farmers with information while exchanging ideas that lead...
09.25.2020
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 54: Leveraging the power of an advisory board
Creating an advisory board for your farm business can be an effective way to bring outside experience, perspective, and expertise on to the farm, without adding to the management team. As some farms are learning, the overall size and complexity...
08.24.2020
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 53: Data driven profit decisions
Yield maps aren’t the only data points to collect and analyze. Farms generate all sorts of information that could be useful in determining profit, wasted time or resources, or identifying opportunity. The trouble is, some farms are either generating data...
08.05.2020
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 52: Buying the farm: one share at a time
Emotion, money, and legacy are three factors that can potentially contribute to a very bumpy farm business succession. A farm transition doesn’t have to end badly, but too often farm families ignore best practices for a succession, based on the...
07.02.2020
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 51: Navigating farm support programs
If you’re frustrated by how government support programs are designed or overwhelmed by navigating the paperwork, you’re certainly not alone. The numbers speak for themselves — enrolment in the main suite of federal programs has been dropping steadily for years....
06.10.2020
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 50: Leverage and liquidity: making the most of a low interest rate
In an era of “cheap” money, farms could take advantage to solve working capital shortages, set aside savings, or plan for a business transition. But debt restructuring, or taking on more debt even at low rates, is not without its...
04.28.2020
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 49: Staying safe on the farm during COVID-19
What happens if you, someone else on the farm, or one of your employees gets sick or must self-isolate during the spring planting or calving season? It’s a scenario every farm should prepare for in the midst of the current...
02.04.2020
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 48: Avoiding marketing plan pitfalls
What carries greater downside risk: having to sell in a down market to generate cash flow, or pre-selling a crop in increments? The short answer is it depends, but the in-depth explanation is that panic or stressed sales by their...
01.09.2020
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 47: Climbing the value chain
At some point, likely every farmer has been frustrated with markets and pricing, and thought about moving past commodity production and up the value chain. But as many quickly learn, direct marketing, dealing with processors, or even becoming a processor...
11.20.2019
Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 46: Navigating multi-generational farm management
Working with family can be the most rewarding part of the farm business, but it also has the potential to be one of the most challenging aspects, full of emotion, relationship evolution, and conflict. In this episode of Mind Your...

What's Mind Your Farm Business about?

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Mind Your Farm Business episodes:

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 95: Peak performance culture

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 94: This AND that: learning farm and business skills in tandem

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 93: Don’t wait for the grave for farm transition

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 92: The importance of an accurate and complete cost of equipment per acre

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 91: Being a relatable, responsible, reliable leader

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 90: Facing fear in business and in life

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 89: Making put and call options an approachable tool

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 88: Putting the whole picture together

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 87: The new realities of people management

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 86: Strategic storytelling

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 85: Clarifying a timeline for farm transition

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 84: The payback of investing in onboarding employees

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 83: Team building under pressure

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 82: Hiring right the first time

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 81: Chase the Bears with your farm business

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 80: Culture, core-values, and high performing teams

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 79: Planning for business growth

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 78: The perks and pitfalls of the generation gap

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 77: Budgeting on the farm

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 76: The power of peer groups

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 75: Personality assessments and their role in business culture

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep 74: The importance of key performance indicators

Mind Your Farm Business – Ep. 73: Effective managers: the why, when and how of consulting

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 72: Assembling an advisory board

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 71: The burnout gamble

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 70: Making time for time management

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 69: BMPs for keeping up-to-date financial records

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 68: Making multi-generational farm management work

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 67: Generational differences, Part 2: Goal setting & capital spending

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 66: Generational differences in farm management, part 1

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 65: Dealing with chronic stress and trauma

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 64: Measuring Return on Investment

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 63: Make Meetings Matter

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 62: Good governance is good business

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 61: A plan for professional development

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 60: Unconventional succession planning

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 59: Learning to lead through conflict

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 58: Establishing your farm brand

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 57: Managing currency risk at the farm level

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 56: How to bump farm profitability at the meeting, not kitchen, table

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 55: Training the next generation of farm leaders

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 54: Leveraging the power of an advisory board

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 53: Data driven profit decisions

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 52: Buying the farm: one share at a time

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 51: Navigating farm support programs

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 50: Leverage and liquidity: making the most of a low interest rate

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 49: Staying safe on the farm during COVID-19

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 48: Avoiding marketing plan pitfalls

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 47: Climbing the value chain

Mind Your Farm Business — Ep. 46: Navigating multi-generational farm management