Recently, the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council published their labour market forecast “Sowing Seeds of Change”. The report goes into detail on some of the workforce challenges our industry will face between now and 2030. Producers report that recruitment...
In a perfect world, Transition Planning is made easier because the process of transitioning management and ownership is already built into the long-term planning and management processes of a farm. However, most farms approach it like a task – a single event or point...
On Dec. 31, 2023, Terry Betker, founder of Backswath Management, stopped writing for The Western Producer after 13 years. The team at Backswath has big shoes to fill as we take over the reins from Terry. Our voices will be different than his, of course, but we look...
Are you approaching retirement, or are at a stage where you can see it on the horizon? Maybe you know someone in that situation, or maybe you aren’t thinking about that yourself but people close to you think you should be. If you’re struggling to figure out how to...
I teach a course in the University of Manitoba’s ag diploma program that has an emphasis on lending and how financial management information factors into lending processes and decisions. Half to two-thirds of the students typically have plans to return to the farm....