This article appeared in the Winter 2015 issue of Pulse Crop News.

Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development Staff

Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development has a new farm management website called Farm Manager. The website hosts a number of tools that will help you be the best farm manager you can be. The website is useful for anyone marketing livestock or crops including farmers and industry. In an easy to navigate format, it covers business planning, business arrangements and taxation, financial management, transition planning, risk management, and marketing.

The website has information for all stages of businesses including new entrants and established farm businesses. Various formats of learning are on the site including YouTube videos. Some of the video topics include grain marketing, farm financial planning, and production costs & returns. Another great tool found on the site is a comprehensive marketing guide that will assist with marketing crops and livestock. Some of the features of the marketing guide include marketing principles and how exchange and interest rates affect the agriculture market. The marketing guide also has comprehensive information about futures, options and basis and how to use them to hedge for price risk.

The website has a link to the weekly crop price market review. The prices are collected from the Winnipeg futures, U.S. futures, feed mill bids and elevator bids. The weekly crop market review includes export information and canola crush numbers. It is a great resource for following the market and keeping track of prices.

There are decision-making tools that cover a variety of topics on farm management that can be downloaded and a highlights section that features upcoming events and trending topics in the industry. Additional resources, where producers can look for suggestions on where to find even more farm management information, are also linked to the webpage.

Information will be added to the site on a regular basis, it is encouraged to check back for new information and tools.

We invite you to visit Farm Manager at www.agriculture.alberta.ca/farm-manager.