Small and deep like that mud puddle in the yard that the kids won’t leave alone… this is your pint-sized newsletter!
We believe that a handshake still matters…
– Joseph Billett
One of our core values at Agfinity is transparency! We believe that a handshake still matters. As a company we strive to be unbiased, genuine and transparent in everything we do .
After I give myself a pat on the back, because I wrote that from memory, let me explain why this core value is so hard…
Trust. I’m feeling that as a society, and more specifically, as an industry, our tanks are dangerously low on trust. Don’t get me wrong, I have an idea of what you’re thinking… it’s easy for you to ask me to trust you, “I, Mr or Mrs Farmer have everything to risk, and you Mr or Mrs broker have very little to risk…” And you’re right! You do have more to risk! We are in an industry where a superbee leaves your yard and you trust that, wherever it unloads, they’re going to weigh and test it correctly, and, if heaven forbid there is a quality dispute, you will be treated fairly… And after all that, you trust you’re going to be paid in a timely matter!! Let alone the agreed upon price!
Believe me! We get it! If one of these things were to go sideways, like a dispute on a discounted or rejected load, or if a buyer is tardy on issuing a cheque, there’s a risk we don’t get paid! … However, after almost 8 years of brokering your grain, while some deals certainly go better than others, we’re always learning and trying to build upon your trust. We strive to see every issue settled, every party paid and every brokerage fee earned.
IN OTHER NEWS!!! Have you met Nelson Neumann yet!? The newest Agfinity team member!? One of the things I love and hate about new people is all their questions! … Realizing how terrible that sounds, please hear me out! Why do I love and hate these questions…? Because they challenge me to think about why my answer is the way it is! And why and how we came to that answer four to five years ago, and if it is still relevant today.
If you haven’t met Nelson yet, he is one of the most analytical and intelligent young men I have met. He wants to know the why ! Myself, I’m more of a “ hope for the best, prepare for the worst ” type of guy. I do my best to prepare for the unlikely, and when things break, I fix them! My boy, Nelson, he wants to know how we’re going to fix something in the event that it breaks!
When Nelson asks, “What if the farmer has hail? Or their new crop barley is off spec or high moisture? Or the buyer doesn’t move it on time?” I share what we’ve done in past situations and what our best options are. And then I tell him, “Chill out, little man! We don’t know what’s going to happen! But it’s going to work out!”
It comes down to trust. At the end of the day, it’s trying to put cynicism and fear aside. Ridding ourselves of thoughts that someone is hiding something or out to cheat the other party. It happens unfortunately. And if we’re faced with it, we roll with those punches, but in reality, those events happen a lot less than we think they do. What if we were to “assume positive intent” in our dealings? In other words, trust a little more. Not to the point of naivety, but believing things are going to work out, with both parties working together to find the best resolution.
Regarding our customers, we at Agfinity are working to assume positive intent. We hope, trust and know you are doing the same! 😉
What we’re hearing in Agriculture:
CP: “We promise to try harder and meet our commitments… right after this strike!”
All of us let out a resounding WTF!?! 3,400 conductors, engineers and signal people who work at CP have been temporarily forced off the ledge. If the government hadn’t intervened, the teamsters (TCRC) would have striked at midnight on Saturday. The unions feel that the federal government’s actions only delay the possible strike. With the ongoing backlog that CP faces and now this, it’s difficult to show empathy to CP and the union with so much on the line… We’ll have to see how this unfolds!
Stats Can Canola I wonder what they’ll say…
Many of us are anticipating the Stats Can acreage report that’s to be released on Friday morning. The average trade canola acreage guess appears to be around 23.7 million acres. This compares to last year’s record of 23 million acres.
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