Reading Time: 6 minutes When New Holland vice-president Abe Hughes spoke to a room full of farm media at the company’s North American headquarters in Pennsylvania in July, he wanted to talk about more than the shiny new iron parked outside. It was important, of course, to highlight the innovation in the brand’s 2015 equipment introductions, but Hughes also had […] Read more
Meeting the customer’s need for farm equipment
New Holland veers away from corporate mega-dealers
Inheriting the family farm as a gift
Succession in Agriculture: High land prices are driving innovation in how to distribute your land
Reading Time: 6 minutes Farming without some startup help from your family can definitely mean an uphill climb. But getting the gift of a farm inheritance isn’t always such a blessing either. Many farmers will tell you it would have been impossible for them to get started in the business if it hadn’t been for a “hometown discount” from […] Read more
Family farm corporations on the rise
Depending on your farm objectives, building a trust into your corporation may be your best first step
Reading Time: 6 minutes The death of the family farm is widely bemoaned. Activists ask, “What do we really know about these corporations that produce our food?” As it turns out, it’s the same question that many farmers are asking themselves, although in a very different context. How can I be sure that my farm corporation is the best […] Read more
Succession planning: Deciding who gets to farm
The buzz these days says that succession is a journey, not an event. But who has the map?
Reading Time: 6 minutes An entire industry has built up to support farm succession planning. And for good reason. With a typical farm in Canada worth millions of dollars and requiring numerous staff, and with so many farms having related businesses and supporting two or more families, transition of the business to the next generation involves a lot more […] Read more
Taking the first steps in succession planning
Reading Time: 2 minutes Are you getting more and more convinced that it’s time for succession planning for your own farm? If so, here are some thoughts from the experts on how to get started, beginning with the most important question of all: What does our retirement look like? “The retiring couple has to have a focused discussion on […] Read more
Are Canadian farmers ready for the succession challenge?
HR toolkit designed to assist farmers with transition and to help ensure the farm's continued success
Reading Time: 6 minutes Succession planning has become a pretty sexy topic in agriculture. Every hip and trendy professional office for farmers is mailing out their own shiny leaflet to everyone they know about it, and no self-respecting event planner would even think of hosting an agricultural conference without at least one workshop on transferring the farm to the […] Read more
Set them up for success
So your son or daughter wants to take over the farm. How can you help them succeed?
Reading Time: 5 minutes With more than half of Canada’s farmers over the age of 55, it’s estimated that $50 billion worth of farmland will change hands in the next 10 to 15 years. What will it take for the next generation to be successful? How important is education? What skills will be essential? How can young people best prepare […] Read more
Heritage on the move
How to keep farm and family together when you uproot after 170 years on the same ground
Reading Time: 7 minutes Farm succession is never easy, but for the Johnston family, bringing the next generation into the dairy business has meant extra challenges. You might even say it has meant miles and miles of challenges. After their family had farmed near Brampton for 170 years, Frances and James Johnston figured the time had come. Toronto was […] Read more
Great expectations
Faced with their own succession crises, ag businesses are drafting tomorrow’s star players, like Pioneer’s Andrew Lauver
Reading Time: 6 minutes Across the country, agriculture has evolved at blinding speed. Today’s farms operate on a scale and at a pace that no one could have imagined 20 years ago, not to mention the sophistication of their financial and business management, or the sheer value of the assets they must command. It’s why all eyes are on […] Read more
Execute on that business plan
If your business plan is gathering dust, here’s how to put it into action
Reading Time: 6 minutes We’ve all been there. You’ve just come back from an amazing course that has guided you through the arduous process of developing a business plan for your farm business. You have identified your core values, you have articulated a vision, and you have chosen the strategies to get you to where you want to go. […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
