Bill Gates showed us all how to get rich when he built Microsoft. According to Bill, the way to be successful in the corporate world is not to compete, but to create your own monopoly. He did that by creating a computer system with built-in obsolescence that ran with proprietary equipment. If you want to
Reinvesting In The Future Necessary
Environment And Agriculture: Talking The Talk Or Walking The Walk
The International Institute for Sustainable Development’s Lake Winnipeg Basin Summit has come and gone, and I think most participants would agree that it was a resounding success. To quote IISD director Hank Venema, “This summit has moved us closer to a unified effort under the umbrella leadership of IISD.” The issues surrounding the degraded level
Freedom Cry No Excuse For Dishonest Deliveries
Alot can be learned while waiting in line at the elevator. One day I observed elevator employees climbing up on the top of a large semitrailer to probe a load of wheat for samples. For most small elevators, this would be considered unusual since the typical load is sampled as it is dumped into the
Don’t Shoot The Messenger
If you happen to be one of those people who likes to complain about the weather, and you spent the summer in the western Prairies, chances are you hit the mother lode. For producers trying to “mud in” late crops, or bale soggy forages, the challenges were many. In many areas, it was just one
Managing Excess Water Should Be About More Than Drainage
As we pack the machinery away in the back of the shed for winter, I can’t help but think there is one tool that almost every farmer has stored away somewhere in the bottom of his tool box. Known as the crescent wrench (often with several other expletives), it’s the tool that nobody wants to
Industry Fails To Deliver Traceability Promise – for Sep. 23, 2010
Years ago, I was invited to a conference designed to look at long-term strategies for Canada’s ag sector. Representatives were there from most major farm groups, as well as stakeholders in the agribusiness and processing sectors. One break-out session in particular that stuck in my mind was on the meat sector. I listened rather intently
A Cost That Can Hit Like A Freight Train – for Sep. 16, 2010
Ask any farmer what fertilizer cost them last year and chances are you will get a very quick and accurate response. Likewise for herbicides, fuel, rent or any number of crop input costs, but what about freight? We’re not talking about trucking costs. I want to know exactly what it cost you to have grain
Controlling The Uncontrollable – for Aug. 12, 2010
Regaining our reputation and that positive public perception will take a lot longer than it did to lose it. This may sound like I’m wandering off in 20 different directions, but bear with me; it will come together. One of my friends had a prize herd of purebred cows. When the day came to take
Controlling The Uncontrollable – for Aug. 12, 2010
This may sound like I’m wandering off in 20 different directions, but bear with me; it will come together. One of my friends had a prize herd of purebred cows. When the day came to take the bull out to the pasture to service his eager cattle, he found that a scruffy crossbred bull from
Feeding Our Habit
Despite the millions of starving people in the world in the autumn of 2007, a looming expansion in use, and successive low-yielding crops, the market was telling us not to grow food. Longtime readers of my prognostications will note that I predicted the biofuel market would make grain prices more volatile, but not necessarily higher.
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
