Being able to work on their business rather than in it was a huge motivating factor for Donovan and Lisa Kitt when they hired their first permanent employee six years ago.

The case for hiring a full-time employee on your farm

It’s different today. Employees come with expectations. You have to work with them... but on this farm, it’s more than worth it

Reading Time: 12 minutes You may have had help on the farm before on a seasonal, casual or term basis. Most farms probably have. But farming today is different, and so are the reasons why you might be considering a full-time employee. So how do you know when it’s time to take the plunge? Will it pay off, or […] Read more

CG spoke with Kreg and Lee Anne Alde of Broken Tine Orchard about their value-added journey.

Discovering ways that your farm can do more

The value-added journey can look like a fast track to success. But as roads go, this one may not be so straight or level

Reading Time: 15 minutes When they start planning for transition to the next generation, many family farms recognize they have to increase revenue if the farm is going to support everyone full-time. But in today’s agriculture, the farm can’t always turn to the old tried-and-true solution, adding acres. So it’s little wonder they begin asking how they might raise […] Read more


Rosemary Wotske, owner of Poplar Bluff Organics, has a longtime partnership with local farmer, Cam Beard, that has been mutually beneficial to both.

‘Partner up’ to help diversify your farm

Rosemary Wotske and Cam Beard need new rules. Do you?

Reading Time: 6 minutes Farm partnerships are taking a new direction today. Of course there are still traditional arrangements — formal or informal — between farmers, like those that share the cost of equipment, and there are contractual arrangements, too, like those between a crop processor and a farmer delivering specific specs. More and more, though, farmers are partnering […] Read more

“I would say, take every opportunity available to you... you will always learn something.” – Amelia Judge.

Travelling for the sake of your farm

For soon-to-be farmers, a gap year of ag-focused travel — and the insights they get from it — can make for a great start

Reading Time: 8 minutes Back in the 60s and 70s, loads of North American kids crammed their backpacks to the point of bursting and jumped straight from high school and college into a plane seat for a year of backpacking in Europe or almost anywhere else before settling down. That was then. Today, though, a lot of those planes […] Read more


Some advice for finding a peer group is to look beyond your neighbourhood and find people farther away to connect with, perhaps via social media or at events or conferences over winter.

Finding the right peer group for you

The right peer group can be a great way to gain insight into your business numbers and your management options. But where do you find that ‘right’ group?

Reading Time: 8 minutes Peer groups are quickly taking on a new life in Canadian agriculture. But these are different groups today, about as different from the coffee gang at your nearby Tim’s as the NHL is from the local old-timers’ league. There are still multiple types of these groups, focusing on financial or business management, perhaps, or succession, […] Read more

Troy Strozek and Michelle Schram, owners and operators of Fresh Roots Farm at Cartwright, Manitoba.

How selling local works for these farmers

For smaller farms, local can seem the only option. Now, a decade of real world experience from farmers like Troy Stozek and Michelle Schram points to a better way to do it

Reading Time: 6 minutes When it comes to getting locally grown food to consumers, farmers can only do so much. For regional food systems to thrive there needs to be more collaboration among farmers and from many other people along the chain. Troy Strozek and Michelle Schram, owners and operaters of Fresh Roots Farm at Cartwright, just north of […] Read more


‘A lot of farmers tend to try a bit of everything, which is absolutely exhausting.’ – Phil Veldhuis.

Do’s and don’ts of farm direct marketing

Reading Time: 7 minutes The reality for many small farmers is that direct marketing what they raise and grow on their farms is the only way they can see to achieve the margins they need to support themselves and their dreams. “For entry farmers or those who are smaller, they don’t have the economy of scale to rely on […] Read more

Farmers have great new ideas, but, says Penny Fox (inset), many store shelves are still empty.

The infrastructure gap in Canada’s agriculture and food sector

What is the ‘Missing Middle,’ and how can your investment in venture capital fix it?

Reading Time: 9 minutes There is a “Missing Middle” in Canada’s ag and food sector — a kind of bottleneck caused by how the country’s mid-sized ventures are getting swallowed up by the few large corporations that supply most of the food that Canadians buy. As problems go, this one might seem unimportant or maybe even irrelevant, but for […] Read more


“I was just a farmer running a farm,” says Stuart Chutter, above. “Then one day I went for a run... I found so many solutions on a gravel road, running.”

Summer Series: Why it’s important for you to get fit

[Make It Count] I’m a farmer. Why on earth would I want to exercise?

Reading Time: 8 minutes So much of farming is so physically demanding. Even the easy jobs take enough running around to require physical stamina. And let’s face it, no matter where you are on the farm or who you are, if something is in front of you, the first option is always to just deal with it. This isn’t […] Read more

“To get a return on a $6,000 or $7,000 program... it’s a big payback.” – Jamie Christie.

Summer Series: Skills training that can make you a better farmer

[Make It Count] It’s a whole new world. For Jamie Christie, mid-career education means driving farm growth by adding skills no one used to think are needed on the farm. Which should be on the top of your list? And where to find them?

Reading Time: 9 minutes First, you could get process-minded about it. If you recognize it would pay to get serious about adding an education focus to your farm, there’s a logical way to get started. Make a list of the current skills that everyone involved in the operation has, then assess where there are knowledge gaps and training needs. […] Read more