Articles - Business

Succession planning is one of the most crucial and challenging aspects of managing a family farm. It’s not just about passing down land and equipment—it’s about ensuring the farm’s future success and preserving your family’s legacy for generations to come.

As pig farmers, we know that every stage of production, from breeding to finishing, is crucial. But even when we’ve done everything right up until the last few weeks, there’s still a lot of money on the table when it comes to marketing your pigs.

Preparing for the arrival of new wean pigs to your barn is an exciting but important process that requires careful planning. Here’s a step-by-step checklist to ensure everything is ready: Pre-Arrival Checklist Communication Confirm Arrival Details: Coordinate with the sow farm to confirm the arrival date and the number of pigs expected.

Effective ventilation is one of the most critical factors in maintaining a healthy and productive swine operation. It influences air quality, temperature control, and the overall environment for the pigs. However, achieving the right balance in ventilation comes with its challenges, especially when factoring in barn design, fan efficiency, and climate conditions.

Running a family farm comes with unique challenges, especially when managing employee relationships. Whether your team consists of family members or outside hires, selecting the right person within your operation to manage employees is crucial. They do not need know every detail about the operation; in fact, they might not even have farm experience.

I like to give my dad a hard time that all he had to do was farm the ground and feed the livestock to make a sustainable profit. I say this jokingly, but he recognizes that there is some truth in that statement.

As someone who thrives on outdoor adventures, I eagerly anticipate the warmer weather and the lively buzz that spring brings. But it’s also the time when our barn ventilation systems kick into high gear.

Data analysis is the process of inspecting, cleansing, transforming, and modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information. However, without proper data analysis, you may draw the wrong conclusion.Without perspective, you may think things are going really poorly, when in reality, they are not; or the reverse may be true.

Ben Franklin is credited with saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” The proverb holds true today and is particularly relatable for pork producers. A disease event has the protentional to increase your production costs, reduce your production efficiency and increase your lost opportunity in the wean-to-finish phase of production.

Maurer Farms attribute increased performance to FarmTeam. In rural southwestern Minnesota, Preston Maurer works alongside his dad, Rick, on their family farm near Morgan. “We raise corn, soybeans, wheat, and hogs – finishing approximately 22,000 head each year, plus we do tiling on the side,” said Preston.

“Is my business producing enough profit to be financially sustainable in the future?” is a question that I often receive when visiting with producers. “Show me the numbers,” kind of like “show me the money,” is often my initial response. When I say “numbers” I am really referring to the financial reports.

Family businesses are often complex and making the decision to join the family farm is no different. Most young adults are exited to come back to the farm to do the work they love.