I was coming into the very southwest of England, into the county called Cornwall, where there was a lot I wanted to see and do, including a visit to farmer I’d been looking forward to meeting here named Jeremy Oatey. Before going to the airport, a colleague at the Canola Council of Canada asked me[...]
Summer Series: Making a leader
On-farm leadership is more than the skills we usually think of when defining a leader. This article looks at what farm leadership is really about.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor When we think of strong leaders we often leap to examples like politicians, sport coaches and the CEOs of large corporations, so it’s little surprise[...]
This old land: Where is farming in Quebec headed?
In a province where only two per cent of its land is suitable for agriculture, Quebec has been losing cropland to the province’s expanding cities at the rate of 12 football fields every day, and it has been losing farmland at that speed for nearly three decades. Even now, says Quebec’s UPA, its main farm[...]
Share of rented land increasing
Between the 1975 Census of Agriculture and the most recent, 2021, Census, the share of rented farmland has increased from 30 to 39 percent across Canada. This percentage comes from Census numbers, as the share of “area rented or leased” compared to the total of the “area rented or leased” plus the “area owned.” A[...]
Hanson Acres: There’s a secret to happily hanging around
"I’m not going skiing with a bunch of older boys," nine-year-old Jenny said on Saturday morning. "They won’t wait for me." “They will,” her mother, Elaine, said. “The twins might get sick of waiting for her,” Jenny’s 12-year-old brother, Connor, said. “Their mom will make them wait,” Elaine said. “They won’t want to, so they[...]
Putting autonomous machinery to the test
Anyone who has operated or worked on repairing machinery has from time to time cursed the engineer who came up with an awkward design, or when fighting with a part that is nearly impossible to remove and replace when it fails. But what if one of the major brands knocked on your door and asked[...]
Making the farm less dangerous, step by step
For most of us, the sight of just one accident is all it takes to get us taking more reasonable precautions. So, imagine you are Krista Harris and you have seen what she has seen. As a career firefighter with over 20 years service with the Abbotsford Fire Department, Harris has attended innumerable motor vehicle[...]
Hanson Acres: Nothing to worry about, not on a fine day like this
Jeff walked over from the shop to say goodbye to his wife, Elaine, as she was getting into her SUV on Sunday afternoon. “Have a good meeting,” he said. “I’ll be home late on Tuesday,” she reminded him. “The kids are skating on the dugout. I left stew in the crock pot for you and[...]
The way to retire
Here’s an unpopular question. When are you going to retire from the farm? This is often a taboo topic because it’s hard to know when you’ll be ready, and just as hard, if not harder, to know what it means to retire. To a farmer, retirement could read like a death sentence. Or does it[...]
Selling the farm
You only sell the farm once. Obviously, you don’t get to this point lightly. So, what is your first step? Do you sell the whole farm, or go piecemeal? How can you be sure you get the market price? Will you get nailed for taxes? You’ve spent a lifetime — and there’s a good chance[...]
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
