Article content Farming is a risky business. According to Kristjan Hebert, reducing that risk comes down to numbers. “You used to be able to blame financial losses on the weather,” he says, “You can’t do that anymore.” We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser, or Conversations That Matter: Reducing the financial risk of farming Back to video He uses an 8,000-acre (32 square kilometre) farm as an example. To him, that’s one seeder, two combines, one sprayer and three full-time workers plus the owner. “The cost to operate that farm runs about $400 an acre, he says. It means the farmer needs to have access about $3.2 million in cash and working capital to operate the farm from January through to harvest. The farmer also needed another $350 an acre in capital investment.