Reading Time: 3 minutes Amy VanderHeide had great role models growing up. She was raised on a beef farm that was run entirely by women after her grandfather passed away in 1986. With her grandmother and aunts continuing to operate the farm throughout her childhood, she wasn’t aware of the barriers that existed for women in agriculture. “I didn’t […] Read more
A Canadian woman’s experience in ag
On the farm and in her boardrooms, here’s Amy Vanderheide’s story
Different goals for women in ag
It turns out diversity, equity and inclusion in agriculture are things we can do something about, as this case study proves
Reading Time: 8 minutes Statistics show that women in agriculture face barriers and are under-represented in the industry. But if you are female AND you weren’t born in Canada AND you didn’t grow up on a farm, imagine how high the barriers are then. But that may be beginning to change. Entrepreneur Laura Lazo, who also serves as chair […] Read more
City-bred farm workers
Is your next employee working today on an urban farm in Toronto?
Reading Time: 5 minutes In cities like Vancouver and Toronto, urban farms are creating a new pathway for the next generation of Canada’s farmers and farm workers, whether these young people see themselves destined for city or, indeed, rural operations. Toronto Urban Growers (TUG), a non-profit network that connects growers and facilitates knowledge sharing between them, will work with […] Read more
What if bigger farms aren’t better?
Canada’s largest farms are unbeatable. At least, we’re pretty sure they maybe are
Reading Time: 6 minutes Are Canada’s mid-sized farms heading in the same direction as the dinosaurs? That’s not exactly what a recent analysis by think-tank Agri-Food Economic Systems is predicting, but there’s no question it wants to raise some doubts before you grow your own farm any bigger. Large farms are booming in Canada, and they’re doing that mainly […] Read more
Meet the team
In today’s agriculture, succession means most family farms must grow. For the Siemens family, it also means adopting new ways of doing business. Success is all about building on the existing foundation, and creating a new one
Reading Time: 14 minutes When Kurt Siemens and his son Harley were planning an expansion of the family’s egg farm, they would scratch out designs on paper, then climb the feed tank in the yard so they could visualize the layout on the ground from a bird’s-eye view. “We would take marker paint and draw the building out on […] Read more
Keep the money
Here’s a concept that’s making this Oregon farm community more profitable. Could it help you?
Reading Time: 10 minutes This is not a typical Country Guide story. It couldn’t be. Jared Gardner didn’t start out as a farmer. It’s just that every step of his life has moved him inexorably and sometimes surprisingly towards not only building up a livestock farm but also a regional food system that promises to put more money in […] Read more
This is urban agriculture?
CANADA: If you want to see eyes roll, just ask Country Guide readers (and writers) if urban farmers are actually farmers. Since when was a pot of tomatoes on a balcony a farm? But maybe we need to think again
Reading Time: 7 minutes Not surprisingly, urban farming is generally defined as agriculture that is done in a city, usually on a small plot of land but really it could be on any available nook. That’s what separates it from conventional farming. But then, it’s also done as a business, producing food for commercial sale, which is what links […] Read more
A new SPIN on urban farming
CANADA: Here’s a Saskatchewan farm that defies all your preconceptions
Reading Time: 8 minutes Wally Satzewich learned from his mother at an early age how to pull weeds and tend a garden, and was grateful for those skills when he started his own urban agriculture project many years later. His parents were first-generation Ukrainian immigrants who had come to Canada in the early 1950s and settled in Saskatoon, where […] Read more
So sue me! Farm litigation is on the rise in Canada
Can you survive a legal attack from an angry neighbour?
Reading Time: 8 minutes It used to be a cheeky way of saying “C’mon, get over it.” Somebody might complain that you took the last donut, or that you stepped on their toe. And you’d reply, “So, sue me!” Not anymore. Across farm country, the phrase now is deadly earnest. Farming is no longer the isolated, rural occupation it […] Read more
Pair combine efforts for pet food business
Nicole Porterfield and Kim Good have a word of advice for your value-add project. Whether it’s big or small, you’ve got to build a great team
Reading Time: 9 minutes Whether you’re looking for a banker, accountant or lawyer, or whether you’re pursuing a new customer, what you’re actually doing is building a team that understands what you are trying to achieve, says Alberta’s Kim Good, co-owner with Nicole Porterfield of Farm Fresh Pet Foods based in Edmonton. If they don’t have faith in you, […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
