Only 30 percent of family businesses survive the transition to the second generation. The odds of getting to a third are a tiny 13 percent (hence “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations”). And yet, family business outperforms non-family business at almost every level.

“We wish parents understood” was part of the Twitter feed from young farmers attending the AgExcellence Conference held in Regina, Saskatchewan, in November. Here is the list of the items they wish parents understood:

Automated activity monitoring systems are now the backbone of many herd reproductive management systems. This technology is helping herds achieve reproductive results that seemed impossible only a decade ago.

Challenges: They’re unavoidable in any business. While they can lead to exciting, successful growth, they can also result in the unfortunate sudden downturn of a business. What is the difference between these two outcomes? Mindset.

What do you think about new ideas to grow and sell high-quality forage? Do you like to have new things soon after they are available? Or do you wait until a new concept is well proven and tested before you adopt it?

When I’m asked to speak to groups, one of the first topic areas selected is often “managing conflict.” I surmise that could be due to one of two things: Either they want to be prepared to handle conflict when it arises or they have a large amount of conflict that has already arisen.

Agricultural production faces a monumental challenge to meet the food demand of a world population of more than 9 billion people expected by 2050.

The engine ran with a miss, but the truck was cheap, so I bought it. It was a Ford C-600, the old tilt-cab version, 1962 model, I think. It was two-tone yellow and black. I thought the engine was Ford’s venerable 292 C.I. Y-block V-8, but when we went for parts, we found out that it was the larger 332 C.I. engine.

With economies of scale driving profitability, the trend toward larger but fewer U.S. dairy herds isn’t going away soon, according to a new report from the Rabobank Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory group.