Sara Schafer

Sara (Muri) Schafer, editor of Top Producer magazine, grew up on a family farm where they raised hogs and cattle, along with soybeans, corn, wheat, milo and hay. Since joining Farm Journal Media in 2008, she has covered a broad range of topics pivotal to the success of U.S. farmers. In addition to being an award-winning journalist, she has played several key roles with the transformative relaunch of AgWeb.com and spearheaded the Farm Journal Legacy Project expansion. Sara graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a degree in agricultural journalism and a minor in agricultural economics. She resides in Columbia, Mo., with her husband and daughter.

Latest Stories
Question and answer session with Beth Ford, Executive Vice President and COO, Land O’Lakes, Inc.
Managers tend to focus on two groups: the overachievers and the underachievers. As a result, he says, you neglect the employees who could become high performers — aka the B players.
Become a place that people want to work, and then when people hear you have an opening, they come to you.
It might be time to expand tech expertise on your operation.
How can you reward team members for good work, increase employee retention and achieve your operation’s goals? Consider implementing an incentive pay system to reward your farm employees.
“Nearly every working manager is more competent and comfortable doing tasks,” says Bob Milligan with Dairy Strategies. “That makes it easy to avoid the people side. It is rational but not effective.”
Look at the decision makers and leaders on your farm. Are they all around the same age? Do they all have the same experience level?
Set clear expectations and accountability for fruitful family governance.
Katie Humphreys wins Wilmer Award, Memorial Day on the farm, U.S. dairy industry
Start shopping for new deals on N, P and K
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Neatness counts to maximize yield on outside corn rows.
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This boom-equipped service truck provides farmers a lift when machinery breaks down
What’'s Running Up Food Prices?