Reading Time: 8 minutes Family businesses often fail because the family never actually tackles the question: “Who’s the right person to run this business?” Instead the question is, “Who’s next in line?” The second question sounds easier, but on scores of farms across the country, “easy” is the last word you’d use to describe the fallout. The gap between […] Read more
Leading QuestionAre you sure — really sure — that your family is picking the right person to head up the farm? – for Aug. 30, 2010
Leading question Are You Sure — Really Sure — That Your Family Is Picking The Right Person To Head Up The Farm? – for Aug. 30, 2010
Reading Time: 8 minutes Family businesses often fail because the family never actually tackles the question: Who s the right person to run this business? Instead the question is, Who s next in line? The second question sounds easier, but on scores of farms across the country, easy is the last word you d use to describe the fallout. […] Read more
“ Your parents have had it better than you will,” the speaker told the group of would-be farmers that Gary Markus had joined. So why had they all come to Guelph?
Reading Time: 16 minutes Business strategies such as case studies can help young people launch successful farm careers, says session co-founder Lyndon Stewart Lyndon Stewart doesn’t sugar-coat the message for the 40 farm hopefuls he’s talking to. “You’re entering into a business,” Stewart leads off, then follows with the punch. “Huge capital requirements make for huge decisions.” “You will […] Read more
Instant Progress
Reading Time: 2 minutes Only four weeks before the Ontario Dairy Youth Business Management School, 25-year old Aaron Smith was working as a territory manager for a baking company. Then fate played into his hands. He was offered and accepted a severance package, allowing him to pursue his dream of farming. It was an easy transition to working on […] Read more
Family Business Matters
Reading Time: 7 minutes The economy of every nation depends on family-run businesses, from mom-and-pop shops to multibillion-dollar global enterprises. In fact, if you look at any successful business in the world, chances are it will be a family firm. The University of Alberta School of Business is a world leader in the study and teaching of family business. […] Read more
Thinking of a working retirement, staying on the farm and keeping your hand in things? John Baker has just three words of advice: “Don’t do it”
Reading Time: 5 minutes The average Canadian farmer in 2006 was 52, making farming the oldest occupation in the country. And farmers aren’t getting any younger. Today, the median age of farmers is thought to be nudging 57, or perhaps even 58 because so few young people are getting into farming. If so, our farmers are the same average […] Read more
Challenge #2 Succession Planning
Reading Time: 4 minutes Corporations do give farmers access to technical strategies that you simply can’t use in other management systems, including some sometimes-sophisticated strategies for separating the land from the business, for setting up voting and non-voting shares, and for determining exactly how and when shares will be transferred. For our experts, however, the question is whether the […] Read more
Asking The Tough Questions
Reading Time: 2 minutes “I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to find an accountant who will ask the really hard questions,” says Elspeth Mclean-Wile, referring to the experience she and her husband gained in the transfer of their dairy near Bridgewater, N. S. It’s a view that’s echoed by the advisers who work on the other side […] Read more
Yes, there’s life after farming. It’s just that it’s a lot more expensive than you think
Reading Time: 10 minutes Nearly all farmers get it wrong. In fact, Len Davies, a farmer and succession planner from Muirkirk, Ont., figures that 80 per cent of farmers underestimate how much cash they’ll need to pay their bills after they’ve retired, let alone pay for vacations or those new motorcycles. It’s the same in the West, says Don […] Read more
Gone But Not Forgotten
Reading Time: 3 minutes e all let out a whoop when we heard the news that Elsie, Florrie and Bernice, the Good Sisters of the Valley, left on a road trip to Florida last Monday, heading for a house and garden tour of Sarasota. The three girls haven’t been outside the country since… well since forever, it seems. They […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
