Only One in Five Farms Has a Written Plan

Twenty one percent of Canadian farms have a written business plan. Of the ones that do not, forty percent say they do not need one because they are doing fine without it.Heather Watson, executive director of Farm Management Canada, brings that research to a table of four producers who have just finished one of the strangest years any of them can remember. Kent Erickson farms east central Alberta. Marcel Van Staveren farms twenty two thousand acres in southeast Saskatchewan with his brothers. Ron farms in western Manitoba. Franck moved his family from Saskatchewan to Montana and crossed the border the day it closed.Between them they had a drought, a flood, a border closure and a rally that saved the year. What they do with that is the episode.What's Inside- The research linking a written plan to financial performance and to peace of mind, and why so many operators say they do not need one- What each of the four would not do again, including a fertility strategy that swung too far toward soil health and cost yield- The Manitoba field that took twenty inches of rain in five days, and how hard it was to walk away from it- What twenty to thirty dollars an acre of input savings actually came from in a year when prices moved- Why one of them buys iron that is five to twelve years old, and what he found out about that the day before this was recorded- The standard operating procedures one of them wrote so the farm keeps running if something happens to himKent Erickson A farmer in Irma Alberta with a 4,000- acre green family farm and a former political lobbyist in Canadian agriculture issues. https://twitter.com/tek2541?lang=enhttps://weeklyreview.ca/erickson-family-of-irma-win-2016-farm-family-award/ Ron  Krahn A farmer from Rivers Manitoba, a province on the Northwest of Brandon. Ron farms at Rivers, MB with his brother and their families.  He grows wheat, canola, yellow peas, sunflowers, soybeans and is learning how to grow corn.  Franck GroenewegOriginally from Regina, Saskatchewan, Franck owns a farm in Three Forks, Montana.  Proud farmer, father of four and a husband, he is proud to be a steward of the land, feeding the world with the best technology available so the food that farmers produce, and that my family eats, can be nutritious, abundant, affordable, and sustainable. https://www.linkedin.com/in/franck-groeneweg-a9657717/?originalSubdomain=cahttps://www.greenatlantic.com Marcel Van StaverenBorn and raised in Saskatchewan, 2nd generation of Dutch immigrants-1960.  Owns a 23,000 -acres farm with his two brothers, two sons, and nephews.  https://twitter.com/marcelvanst?lang=enConnect with Growing the FutureWebsite: growingthefuture.caYouTube: Growing the FutureInstagram: @growingthefuturepodcastLinkedIn: Growing the FutureSubscribe 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.