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man and child in a farm field
Features, Succession strategy

Building a farm succession plan for the whole family

Today there’s more opportunity than ever to write or tweak a succession plan to drive the success of your entire family. But there’s still a lot of opportunity for it to go off the rails too

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Reading Time: 5 minutes It’s been like a strain of Covid that attacks the farm business. It even started about the same time as the bug, ramping up in late 2020 when farmland values really began heating up. In fact, when you looked at the FCC graphs showing the spikes in land prices across Canada over the following months, […] Read more
One transition advisor says, ‘unspoken expectations are the silent killers of family farms.’
Features, Succession strategy

How the farm succession landscape is changing

Eighty per cent of Annessa Good-Hassard’s clients come to her today wanting to gift or leave their farmland to non-farming children. And that may not be the biggest change in the new succession planning

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Reading Time: 6 minutes It’s no secret. Succession planning involves bringing in the experts. But that’s nothing new. Farm families have been calling in lawyers, accountants and business advisors to help with their transition planning for decades. But don’t try saying there’s nothing new about those advisors today. Or about what they’re bringing to more and more farms. It […] Read more
Farm succession fundamentals
Features, Succession strategy

Farm succession fundamentals

Despite all the social media and all the press stories, when it comes to succession, you’re still in the driver’s seat

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Reading Time: 5 minutes Sure, some of the dollars are bigger. Sometimes much, much bigger. And some of the emotions around the succession table are bigger too, possibly bigger than the farm may ever have seen. Even so, when business advisor Rob Foster sits down with new clients to start discussions about farm succession, he still begins the same […] Read more
Many business owners have their narrative down pat, though generally in their head.
Features, Guide Business

The numbers you need to know when selling an agribusiness

Learn from an industry leader how to build and generate the total value of your farm. (Hint: it’s never only about the numbers)

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Reading Time: 5 minutes It’s not easy to sell a business that you’ve poured your heart and soul into. And selling an agribusiness isn’t as simple as selling a piece of equipment or land.  Potential buyers must meet the owner’s criteria, often including that they must be a good bet to protect their legacy, which means they may also […] Read more
To debt, or not to debt
Features

To debt, or not to debt

Debt is the big question as we head into 2025. Is more debt essential for farm success?

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Reading Time: 8 minutes There are many pressures on the agriculture industry and its individual businesses. As Canadian growers and producers, our farms are expected to do more at every turn. Farms must maintain peak performance. That’s clear. And they must generate or leverage ahead-of-the-curve innovation and technology. But that’s just the start. They must also analyze and manage […] Read more
The first step to determining where a person fits and how much information should be shared with them is to establish their role on the farm.
Features, Guide Business

Information sharing on the family farm

Like it or not, it makes a lot of sense to get much more formal about who you show your business numbers to, and when

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Reading Time: 5 minutes Affectionately, on the farm, it gets thought of as “the boardroom.” It’s the kitchen table, but the conversation around it isn’t always so affectionate, or so gentle. The kitchen table can also be host to plenty of uncomfortable questions and conversations, especially if the person asking the questions isn’t getting to see the numbers they […] Read more
It’s never too late to start assembling the financial building blocks so you need to be prepared for the next opportunity that may come your way.
Features, Guide Business

The building blocks of farm finance

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Reading Time: 3 minutes In my career as a farm CPA and CFO I’ve noticed some recurring themes. Balance sheets and consolidation are increasing, debt servicing and cash – flow are top issues, and assets and growth are becoming more expensive Typically, advisors, consultants and fractional CFOs are engaged at the top of what I refer to as the […] Read more
Farm succession planning is a journey, not a destination.
Features

More owners at your farm table

Bringing more siblings and cousins on board can strengthen your farm, but be sure to do it right

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Through history, most farms ended up sold or split between siblings. Today, however, we’re seeing a big change. Rather than splitting the farm, family farm groups made up of siblings and cousins are increasingly sticking together. Sometimes these groups become active farming operations. In other families, they hold the land. While good for the continuity […] Read more
People are always at the heart of farm transition and life insurance. This plan can’t possibly work unless your family can have open and honest discussions about the future of the farm.
Features

A ‘next’ solution?

[The "Next" Issue] More farmers are looking for a new strategy so they can set the next generation up with a viable farm while also supporting their non-farming children. Could this be it? Maybe, it seems, but it takes some effort to figure out whether setting up this kind of tax-free zone will benefit your farm

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Reading Time: 13 minutes Rob Saik is excited. He can hardly hold back as he explains the succession plan he used when he sold his own company, Agri-Trend, a few years ago. Saik had two big goals. As an ag consultant and entrepreneur, he needed financing for his newest venture, the agricultural advisory network called AGvisorPRO, but he also […] Read more

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