Reading Time: 5 minutes In 1991, Piet and Ina Bassa sold their dairy farm in Holland, packed up their family and headed to Canada, leaving not only Europe’s high costs but also its tough environmental regulations and manure quotas that made expansion almost impossible. Importantly, their sons, Jan and Kees, were keen to start farming, so the family bought […] Read more
Focusing on efficiency in dairy production
The good old days aren’t coming back, but the Bassas believe success is still possible for farms that focus from top to bottom on efficiency
Location, location
The Spenst family are farmers first, but with a farm that extends right to the store counter
Reading Time: 8 minutes When Garry Spenst and his sons, Paul and Garreth, heard that the Real Canadian Superstore was coming to Winkler, Man. they took the biggest gamble of their lives. The family paid $100,000 to buy the lot right next door. Soon, they were building their family-owned retail meat store, Spenst Brothers Premium Meats, a project that […] Read more
Lessons from a non-family farm succession
For Lauchie and Jolene MacEachern, a seven-year dream becomes a reality
Reading Time: 10 minutes Is it still possible to start farming from scratch? “If scratch means no farm assets and a good work ethic with a passion for agriculture, yes it can be done,” says Elaine Froese, farm succession coach from Boissevain, Man. But how? Especially when the capital assets needed to be competitive have become so huge? Today, […] Read more
Guide HR: Helicopter parenting jeopardizes your successor
Reading Time: 3 minutes Experts agree today that we have a fragile young generation with low levels of resilience, the ramifications of which we see in many spheres but especially in business. Why is this crisis so widespread, and how can we prevent it in our own children? In my years as a farm psychologist, I’ve spoken with many […] Read more
Bulletproof the farm
Extreme weather, volatile markets, government regulations, financial strains... The bullets are flying and they’re aimed straight at your farm. Here’s how Melvin Penner at H&M Farms is fighting back
Reading Time: 10 minutes Snow pelts the metal siding so hard it rattles, but inside the farm shop, it’s warm with work and energy. Lined up in various stages of maintenance are a truck, tractor and corn planter, while in the corner, pouring over their field maps, the three owners of H&M Farms near Altona, Man., discuss the upcoming […] Read more
Last of the first-born tradition
There’s less and less room for entitlement on today’s family farm
Reading Time: 7 minutes If you’re the first-born male, it used to mean you had won the lottery. You got to inherit the biggest share, you got to take over as boss, and you got to sit at the head of the family table. But today that kind of European hierarchy is quickly fading on the family farm. Except… […] Read more
Preparing women to be career farmers
Fifteen expert ideas for a better start to a woman’s career on the farm
Reading Time: 5 minutes As more women join the ranks of primary producers, they still find out there are some challenges working in an industry where they are in the minority. How can young women best prepare for a career as a farmer? How can their families help them. Country Guide asked a variety of experts from backgrounds as […] Read more
Young, smart & stubborn
Trend Setters: Katelyn Duncan says new farmers must face the core challenge
Reading Time: 5 minutes Fortunately, statistical trends don’t capture stubbornness, optimism and enthusiasm, necessary ingredients for farmers. Because the trends that the statistics do capture don’t make easy reading. Here we bring you two inspiring stories of young people meeting the challenge head on. But first, here are those statistics below, starting with some numbers from the 2011 Census of […] Read more
Is a family trust right for you?
A trust might be an efficient tool for protecting your farm business or for managing family issues at succession, but they aren’t for everyone
Reading Time: 5 minutes Family trusts are commonly used as a convenient way to own shares in a company and as a succession tool for commercial businesses, but they can also be incorporated into a family farm structure…depending on the circumstances. “A farm corporation may have at its disposal favourable tax rules that may allow it to achieve the […] Read more
Selling the farm
Inside the sale of a modern, diversified and complex family farm
Reading Time: 10 minutes Once you decide it’s time to retire from farming, there’s a pile of planning, strategy and communication to fork your way through. Here’s how one couple from Saskatchewan proactively approached the sale of their seed farm, and how they captured value beyond piecemeal selling of their hard assets. Warren and Carla Kaeding and Roger and […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
