Labor shortages are widespread, workers are expecting higher starting wages, and after farms hire and train a new employee, there is a risk that they will jump ship for a better-paying job. Improve the retention odds on your farm by putting a plan in place to improve the employee onboarding experience.
Cyclical lows tend to be a time of greater anxiety for many and include increased exit from the industry. However, even in cyclical lows, some farms are making profits. For these farms, it is also a time of opportunity as capital asset prices for machinery, land, and cows are often lower as well. The question is: What do these successful farms look like at the end of cyclical highs that enable them to continue that success during cyclical lows?
Whether it’s fire, flood, wind, or injury- a disaster on your farm can cause devastating loss and requires pre-planning to minimize the disruption.
As the harvest season approaches, put on your pilot’s cap. Get your team together. Pull out your manuals, checklists, and protocols. Be purposeful. Make the changes that need to be made, and make sure all of your team members have their wings! It’s a lot of work, I realize. But as we see from our friends in the airline industry, it does make a difference!
Part II of this article series discusses how to clear obstacles that litter the path to implementing important decisions on the farm through the use of Fishbone Diagram and Forcefield Analysis.
Business strategies are practical actions that communicate how a business plans to reach its goals. Thinking strategically about the farm business as a whole helps determine emerging themes, issues, patterns, and opportunities. Learn how to complete a SWOT Analysis for your farm.
Part I of this article series introduces “The Memory Jogger” booklet and how brainstorming and nominal group technique can help generate your farm’s next great idea.
Host Katie Wantoch and Bill Halfman, Professor and Extension Agriculture agent in Monroe County, discuss an alternative to renting more farmland – buying high quality forages from their neighbor.
Host Katie Wantoch and Lyssa Seefeldt, Agriculture Extension educator in Eau Claire County, discuss the trend of breeding with beef bulls to the lower bottom half of a farmer’s dairy herd.
Organizational (org) charts are a visual depiction of your farm’s staffing structure. They define roles and clearly illustrate “who reports to whom,” with connecting lines showing accountability and reporting relationships. An org chart for your farm can help keep things running smoothly and efficiently by providing several benefits.
Host Katie Wantoch and Bill Halfman, Professor and Extension Agriculture Agent in Monroe County, discuss solutions for a farmer that is looking to avoid purchasing higher priced feeds.
Host Katie Wantoch and Lyssa Seefeldt, Agriculture Extension educator in Eau Claire County, discuss some of the points to consider for a farmer who is interested in direct marketing their meat to consumers.
Used extensively as a source of nitrogen fertilizer due to its relative ease of application and wide availability, the obvious downside of anhydrous ammonia use is the serious hazard it presents to workers during transfer and application. The word “anhydrous” comes from the Greek, meaning “without water.” Because of the chemical’s strong affinity for water, […]
Many commodity farms face a fork in the road at some point. The status of their physical infrastructure, labor availability, size, age, or other factors create a time where they must decide to invest in economies of scale or use their resources they have in a more value-added way. Those who invest in economies of scale are […]
Host Katie Wantoch and Jerry Clark, Associate Professor and Agriculture Agent with Extension in Chippewa County, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of neighboring farmers buying forage equipment together.
Host Katie Wantoch and Ben Jenkins, Agriculture Extension educator in Green Lake County, discuss considerations for a farmer to consider with a future land purchase from his uncle.
Host Katie Wantoch and Jerry Clark, Associate Professor and Agriculture Agent with Extension in Chippewa County, discuss the purchase of an ag bagger between a farmer and his neighbor, operating agreements, and managing forage quality.
Strategic Thinking: Using a SWOT Analysis for Personal and Business Growth Stephanie Plaster, Extension Regional Farm Management Educator, will walk through how to assess yourself and your business for strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats and use them to develop strategies to achieve your goals and improve decision-making.
