Farmers are always being told they need to innovate. But what exactly does that mean? That depends on who you ask – when it comes to innovation, the only rule is that there are no rules.
For many, innovation equals invention – usually something that involves new technology. But from a business viewpoint, innovation is change that bolsters the bottom line.
So using old technology in a new or better way counts. And so does changing the way you do things to become more efficient. You can find an example of both on Travis Toews’ ranch. The steel posts and gates in his new cattle-handling system aren’t high tech, but the design incorporates leading-edge research on cattle behaviour that has significantly reduced his labour costs while improving the health of his herd. Toews says farmers have to innovate to prosper, but admits it’s a challenge to find the right innovations for your farm, and to know when to pull the trigger.
Jean Morin first began to innovate because of agronomic problems he faced after going organic. In the process, the Québec dairy farmer developed a capacity for innovation and this ability propelled him into the ranks of the country’s top cheese-makers.
Few farming operations have embraced creativity like LaHave Forests – although many others may one day join Logie Cassells and Liam Tayler in their quest of making haskaps the next big thing in the berry world. Their approach to farming is highly unconventional, but that’s another definition of innovation.
Cassells discovered haskaps by using Google to search for new berry crops and, not surprisingly, quickly hooked up with Curtis Braaten, who began working with the crop in the cultivar development stage. The Saskatchewan plant propagator has fielded hundreds of inquiries from would-be haskap growers and, over the years, Braaten has noticed a big difference between the “dreamers” and “tire-kickers” and those who have the right approach for tackling something new and different.
“You can tell a lot by the questions people ask,” he says.
Asking the right questions is at the heart of the innovation strategy of Patrice Carle. Collecting detailed financial data for your farm and then looking for ways to improve profitability is virtually guaranteed to result in significant changes, says the Québec management expert.
This edition of the Canadian Farm Manager shows there are many ways to innovate. But that’s hardly surprising. Innovation, by definition, is about doing things differently.