Know Your Numbers: See Where You Stack Up episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 25, 2026 · 1H 4M

Know Your Numbers: See Where You Stack Up

from Growing the Future · host Dan Aberhart, Travis Gerrard, Dean Klippenstine

Most operators assume the best farms in their region are spending a lot more to get a lot more out of their land. The data says otherwise. Travis Girard, a farm management consultant with MNP, and Dean Klippenstine, also with MNP, return for the second session in the Know Your Numbers benchmarking series, drawing on a database that now covers roughly 1,500 farms and 8.5 million acres across the Prairies. What's Inside - Why the production expense gap between top performing farms and average ones came in at just seven dollars an acre, not the twenty five to fifty most people guessed - Seven years of profitability data across the region, including the one year almost everyone assumes was the worst, and wasn't - The three things Dean Klippenstine says separate profitable farms from the rest, starting with crop selection - Why labor, power, and machinery costs come down to mindset more than acres under management - What bringing your three worst fields up to your own farm's average gross margin could be worth in a yearResources MentionedMNPMNP Know Your Numbers benchmarking seriesConnect with Travis Gerrard: Travis GerrardConnect with Dean Klippenstine: Dean Klippenstine Linked In: Dean KlippenstineConnect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future Subscribe to the Growing the Future Podcast wherever you listen, and register for Convergence Conference 2027 at convergence.ag. Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 25, 2026

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Travis Girard, a farm management consultant with MNP, and Dean Klippenstine, also with MNP, join Dan for the second session in the Know Your Numbers benchmarking series, drawing on a database of roughly 1,500 farms and 8.5 million acres across the Prairies. They walk through seven years of regional profitability data and reveal that the production expense gap between top performing farms and average ones is far smaller than most operators assume, just seven dollars an acre. The tension is that most producers judge their own performance against coffee room guesses instead of real comparable data, and the numbers show that spend isn't what separates the best farms, execution is. Producers walk away knowing which number to check first on their own operation and why acreage alone predicts almost nothing about profitability.

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Know Your Numbers: See Where You Stack Up

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