Reading Time: 4 minutes Typically banks review their clients’ financial statements annually as part of a credit review process. The goal is to understand the client’s ability to service debt and how this may have changed over the past year. “We want to help you manage your cash flow,” says plain speaking Tara Conway, BMO vice-president of commercial banking […] Read more
What bankers want to see when you go to the bank
Getting these documents ready before you meet the bank rep may mean more available financing with better terms
Get off to a better start with farm succession
Here’s advice from Merle Good on how to let the business lead the conversation toward your farm succession plan
Reading Time: 6 minutes John F. Kennedy’s historic words, “… ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,” may also contain the wisdom needed to solve the complexities of today’s family farm successions. Too many young men and women are starting their discussions about the path to farm succession by […] Read more
A shadow on land prices
Purdue University survey offers a stark look at farmland values south of the border
Reading Time: 10 minutes This past fall, harvest stumbled to a finish. In parts of Ontario, combines chewed through spindly, drought-stricken corn on the same days that Prairie farmers drove their machines into swathes that had been buried in snow. It was enough to make those sporadic reports of feedlots shutting down, U.S. crop farms going bankrupt, and Midwest […] Read more
A new leadership
When DuPont Pioneer tapped Bryce Eger as their new Canadian head, here’s the leadership style they were putting their money behind. Can it work on the farm too?
Reading Time: 7 minutes When Bryce Eger says, “Nobody has a textbook for this,” farmers across the country get it. Where Eger goes next, though, may be worth a pause. As farms rapidly get bigger and more sophisticated, the difference between running a farm versus running an ag business fades. Some might say it even begins to disappear, and […] Read more
Young farmers talk about their future
We find out what these university students are thinking as they prepare to head home to the farm. They know their opportunities are great, but their challenges are humbling too
Reading Time: 9 minutes A gaggle in ball caps, T-shirts, jeans and flannel politely stumbled off the bus. They’re third-year students in the University of McGill’s farm management and technology program, and they were on a tour of Ontario farms. They stopped at mine to discuss business structure, succession and the future of agriculture. On closer look and listen, […] Read more
How good are your HR skills? Is it time to upgrade?
If you are going to have employees, you can never run away from being a supervisor,” says HR consultant Leah Knibbs. It’s a role, she says, that pays well when it’s done well
Reading Time: 7 minutes Not only are our farms getting bigger and more complex, but farm families are also getting smaller as farming couples have fewer kids, just like other Canadians. It’s a demographic combination that has changed the ag labour dynamic, says Leah Knibbs. For many farmers, the days of running the farm by putting the family to […] Read more
Mentorships get real
Today’s mentorships are more relevant than ever, with a focus that includes business management, risk analysis, employee motivation and much more
Reading Time: 7 minutes On the traditional family farm, parents, grandparents and other family members have always been the mentors for those who follow, and agriculture today owes a tremendous debt to them for having trained generation after generation of new farmers. But today is also different. Canada’s farms are more complex than ever, and they’re only getting more […] Read more
Editor’s Note: We’re making the connection
Reading Time: 2 minutes Finally we’re actually moving into an agriculture that knows exactly how to integrate business management for better, more profitable decisions in the field. I know that many of you have been following our series of financial management columns written by the faculty and teachers at AgriFood Management Excellence, the group that offers the advanced CTEAM […] Read more
Who’s doing the books on your farm?
On your family farm, is it time to transfer the books from Mom to the next generation? These seven steps will help you put things right
Reading Time: 6 minutes Sometimes it’s a job that gets assigned by default. After all, how many farmers really want to volunteer for a job that involves sitting at a desk entering data, paying bills and sending out invoices? Sometimes, too, there can be an older generation that doesn’t want change. Managing the farm books is their last bastion […] Read more
Generating farm independence
Sometimes, the best solution can be for the next generation to build a farm of their own
Reading Time: 10 minutes The roads here are typical for this part of rural Ontario, running between neighbouring towns. On either side, at the end of long maple-sided lanes are well-kept dairy, beef and crop farms divided into 100-acre parcels, with red and black barns stamped proudly with farm names, usually family names. Occasionally too a lane is overgrown, […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
