Latest News From Sara Schafer

What opportunities are you missing out on just because you don’t have the right people on your team?

Outsourcing, coincidentally, is also one of the top ways to help your business focus on what you do best.

Your farm’s future path might be winding and complex but starting the process can be simple.

“Please place the mask over your own mouth and nose before assisting others.” This rule shared by flight attendants is just as applicable on the farm as it is on a airplane.

Here’s how to start, continue and succeed in your farm’s transition plan

Turn the tables and seek insightful answers to better manage your farm.

When business is no longer usual, it’s a great time to reassess your strategic focus. Is your farm still marching toward its goals?

Here are a few highlights for another fun-filled and information-packed day.

Farm Journal Field Days will be back starting at 8 a.m. CDT this morning! Here are a few highlights for another fun-filled and information-packed day.

Farm Journal Field Days is days away! Plan to join us Aug. 25-27 for this free event.

Farm Journal Field Days has been designed to provide everything you need during these challenging times.

We have a full three-day agenda covering topics including strategies to deal with financial stress to balancing equipment with manpower and much more. 

The Farm Journal Field Days agenda has been designed to address the biggest issues and challenges facing the agricultural industry right now.

Imagine this: A high school teacher in Union City, N.J., receives a call. He’s asked to lead a chapel service for the New York Giants the night before their 2011 Christmas Eve game against the New York Jets. 

The Farm Journal Field Days is an unparalleled format of virtual live and on-demand learning, with discussion and networking designed to be inclusive for all farmer leaders and their operations. 

Tune into Farm Journal Field Days—Aug. 25 to Aug. 27—and enjoy all the benefits of the first virtual farm show experience.

Farm Journal Field Days is a combination of virtual and live programming to take place Aug. 25–27.

Farm Journal invites you to join producers from across America at this free event at #FJFieldDays, a virtual extravaganza. 

Ensure your time investment creates farm profitability.

Every team has one. That employee who is not contributing his or her fair share. As the boss, you must coach this employee to be an all-star — or show them the door.

A new tracking tool developed at the University of Missouri provides a continuously updated 14-day snapshot of new cases of COVID-19 in every county in the nation.

In rural America, lenders expect it to push their local areas into a recession, according to the Rural Mainstreet Index.

Researchers suggest the average American should laugh 15 times or more a day for health maintenance.

The future will definitely look different from the past. In the long run, what opportunities could farmers harvest?

COVID-19 has disrupted and impacted every type of agriculture in every corner of the globe. Farmers from across North America provide perspective.

Step up, overcommunicate and solve problems during a crisis.

You are blessed with successors who are next in line to manage the operation. Are you allowing and encouraging them to grow and be creative? 

Manage your stress to keep it from ruining precious relationships and vital business partnerships.

Take steps to balance physical and mental wellness, which is vital to staying healthy and less accident-prone.

Become a place that people want to work, and then when people hear you have an opening, they come to you.

The U.S. saw a loss of 5,800 farms in 2019 versus 2018, per USDA. But, that’s the smallest decline in recent years.

Create an emergency response plan for your farm

Create a simple, viable and active strategy for your farm.

Goal setting can pay dividends in employee engagement.

Here’s a goal for 2020: Focus on the people and work that feed your soul, not the ones that drain it. 

Here are four steps to make smart coverage decisions

Tired of losing good employees? Adopt these best practices.

Watch to see how these weather factors unfold in early 2020.

Values and rental rates look stable for 2020

Set clear expectations and accountability for fruitful family governance.

The average farm real estate values for the U.S. is $3,160 per acre in 2019. That’s up $60 from 2018, according to USDA’s 2019 Land Values Summary. 

As part of the 2020 Executive Women in Agriculture conference, a award will be given to a female producer who is a shining example for her peers.

With this year’s drawn-out and stressful planting season in the books, now is a good time to assess your financial position.

Do not ignore signs of distress or suicide from your friends, family members or neighbors.

Livestock farmers are facing a combination of headwinds and tailwinds—as well as a lot of unknowns.

Yes, creating an engaged team with a low turnover rate is difficult. But it’s vital and not impossible.

Successfully marketing grain is one of the biggest challenges most farmers face. Tight margins, weather uncertainty and global trade issues can quickly derail the best laid plans. 

By knowing what risks are the greatest for your farm, you can properly mitigate them.

The farmland market continues to be stable in Wisconsin.

One of the biggest challenges for farmers today is finding and keeping good help. Farms need sophisticated, engaged, dedicated and hard-working employees.