Reading Time: 10 minutes In 2011, 48 per cent of Canada’s farmers were 55 years old or older. Five years earlier, the number had only been 41 per cent. If you draw a straight line, that means 55 per cent of farmers are now 55 or older. And it also means our median age is approaching 65! Whether that’s […] Read more
Plan before you retire
Whether you’re selling or if you’re transferring farm assets to the next generation, tax-smart retirement takes planning… and time
Never too young to talk about farm succession
As the Ellis family is learning, there’s no such thing as too soon for starting the conversation about farm succession
Reading Time: 7 minutes Lincoln Ellis has just got his first taste of combining. “He thought it was pretty interesting for the first 10 minutes, and then he realized how small the combine cab was, and that was about it,” says his dad, Simon Ellis, with a chuckle. “So it was short-lived, but you know, small steps for now. […] Read more
Getting serious about local food
Philly Markowitz is fired up about supporting local farmers in an effort to build up rural communities throughout Ontario’s Grey County
Reading Time: 8 minutes Generations of rugged farmers have worked this rugged landscape. They’ve run cattle, they’ve pastured sheep, they’ve planted crops. None of it has been easy. South of Georgian Bay, the county’s highlands are notoriously cold, the ground rolls unpredictably in all directions, and the soil is just plain tough. If Grey County was an old building, […] Read more
Cleaning up sweat equity
It used to show you were committed to farming. Now it’s a dangerous source of controversy on more Canadian farms
Reading Time: 11 minutes At his financial office in Stettler, Alta., Peter Boys reaches for stark language to make his point. “Slavery is alive and well on farms in the Prairies,” Boys says. Boys is referring to the practice of farmers not paying equitable wages to their children working on their farms, often under the promise of future ownership… […] Read more
Profit by putting people first
Attracting and retaining good workers on your farm doesn’t just happen — you have to make it happen
Reading Time: 3 minutes If you don’t have people, you don’t have a farm. It’s as simple as that. While most producers think about their farm in terms of their livestock and crops, they neglect to think about the people, says a rural business specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. But that needs to change, Abby Verstraete told attendees […] Read more
Where have all the hog farmers gone?
They’ve gone to Manitoba, where they’re enjoying some good years in the face of a long list of challenges
Reading Time: 9 minutes Despite losing nearly 14,000 pig farmers since 1971, Manitoba still produces more pigs than any other province, accounting for just under a third of Canada’s total pork production, and well over half of its exports. For nearly three decades, Manitoba has had a front row seat on the peaks and valleys of Canada’s hog industry. […] Read more
Common-sense thoughts on divorce
Divorce doesn’t have to get ugly, or to destroy farms and people, but that’s what it’s doing to more farming couples
Reading Time: 8 minutes Divorce is one of the biggest threats to farm family legacy,” says Manitoba-based farm adviser and coach Elaine Froese. “We need to start talking more about how to prevent the breakups and create more makeups.” Farms and divorce can be a toxic mixture. Tradition, culture, religion, isolation, community gossip, strong families — they all come […] Read more
Taking over the shop
When the big chains consolidated their outlets, business-minded locals and farmers started up their own independent farm supply businesses. They’re succeeding too, but it isn’t simple
Reading Time: 12 minutes Old habits were dying hard, even on a personal basis. Here, about two hours west of Prince Albert, Sask., the Canadian National Railway abandoned the branch line that used to run up from North Battleford, connecting the little towns that had been my stomping grounds. It happened just a couple of years after I finished […] Read more
Succession planning: Preparing for takeoff
How one Manitoba family's farm business succession plan is taking flight
Reading Time: 9 minutes Case Study Objective Four children in their late 20s and early 30s, all want to be part of this family farm and aerial spraying business. First Step The Parsonage family transferred ownership before operational management. The parents had used some of their capital gains exemption earlier when buying out of partnership, and about that time […] Read more
Taking control of their dairy future
For this young couple, the future means a multi-pronged business strategy, with cost control, diversification and a focus on efficiency
Reading Time: 5 minutes Just as the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement was being signed last fall, Cam and Stephanie Murphy were signing a very different sort of partnership agreement. They were becoming part owners of a 45-cow dairy farm near Hastings, two hours east of Toronto. Together with Stephanie’s parents, Dean and Carol Warner, they took on a seven-figure debt […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
