Strategic Planning is a Journey; Prioritizing Progress Over Perfection
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...
Columnist Signs Off, But Knows ‘I Didn’t Get It All Done’
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...
Farmers can take steps to increase borrowing chances – by Terry Betker
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....
Does Green Mean Go? – by Terry Betker
I have the most enjoyable privilege to drive my young granddaughter around Winnipeg, where she and I live. Like every youngster her age, she’s super observant of things and not shy in telling me what to do and where to turn to get to our destination. She’ll tell me...
Making more money doesn’t always fix financial problems – by Terry Betker
There are a couple of principles that apply to many situations on farms. The first is that you can’t borrow yourself out of a problem and can’t borrow yourself to profitability. The second being that focusing on driving revenue growth alone, without attending to...
