Reading Time: 6 minutes Everyone knows what “acquisition” means. A neighbour’s farm comes up for sale, you pay the price, you own it. It’s yours. But what about “mergers.” In most business sectors, the two terms — “mergers and acquisitions”— always go hand in hand. Are mergers even happening in farming? The answer from Kyle Lopez, senior BDO tax […] Read more
Is it better to acquire a nearby farm, or merge?
Because so many farms are incorporated today, the next time you expand you may actually need to be open to a merger. But, as BDO’s Kyle Lopez tells us below, it’s likely to be a merger with a very clear, very circumscribed role
Cover crop opportunity leads to higher ground
Technically, it’s called vertical integration. Instead, says Joseph Gardiner, think of it as using your experience as a farmer to get to the top first
Reading Time: 13 minutes This is a story in two halves. First, Joseph Gardiner got passionate about regenerative agriculture. Then, he and his three partners got equally passionate about building a vertically integrated business that would grow and succeed by helping regenerative ag grow and succeed too. Maybe that sounds too simple, in which case we’re all in for […] Read more
Dealing with N and S deficiencies in corn
Much of Manitoba’s corn is on sandier soils that are more prone to nutrient losses
Reading Time: 3 minutes Manitoba corn growers’ hopes for a lower nitrogen bill in 2022 disappeared with the N leached away by the wet spring. Manitoba Agriculture soil specialist John Heard tested some fields in the spring and found that about 30 pounds of N per acre leached in clay soils and 80-plus pounds in sandier soils. “We know […] Read more
A down then up year for Prairie corn
Troubles due to a wet spring, but mostly ideal conditions from then on
Reading Time: 5 minutes With fertilizer prices climbing, some corn growers in Western Canada — particularly in Manitoba — went into the 2022 season with hopes of capitalizing on large N carryovers because of the drought over the previous two years. But a wet spring washed those hopes away, especially in sandier soil regions, as N leached out and […] Read more
In search of the next big idea
How would you know if there’s an option out there that is just right for your farm?
Reading Time: 3 minutes When somebody wants to sell you something, they have to talk it up. That’s fair. Everyone knows it’s a basic business principle. They also know the importance of buyer beware. Today, though, there just seems to be so much hype around, especially if you’re talking new ideas for differentiating what your farm produces. It can […] Read more
How to become the partner everyone wants to work with
On today’s larger farms, the partners are up close. They’re your relatives. They farm out of the same yard. Shouldn’t they recognize what you bring to the farm? Maybe not, says cross-border farm advisor Andy Junkin
Reading Time: 3 minutes Maybe your partner is your parent, in-law, sibling, cousin or friend. It doesn’t matter. At some point, says advisor Andy Junkin, there is bound to be tension in the relationship. In fact, if you dig into any farm, that kind of tension is something you’re bound to see, which explains why he calls his service […] Read more
The view at year 8
Like so many young farmers, what Dane Froese wants isn’t so different from what his parents wanted at his age. But can he find his way there in farming today?
Reading Time: 14 minutes Growing up, I always admired the work that Dad did on the farm,” says Dane Froese, 30 years old and eight years into his plan to become a fourth-generation farmer at Winkler, an hour and a half south of Winnipeg. Froese doesn’t round off the edges. He knows what he wants, And he knows it […] Read more
Win, win, win
These companies have found the recipe. What ideas can you borrow?
Reading Time: 6 minutes Like clockwork every May there are big headlines and even bigger press releases from the winners when Deloitte Canada releases its list of the country’s best managed companies. Deloitte’s accolade has to be earned. It takes more than a healthy bottom line. Businesses have to be robust, and resilient. To sort the winners from the […] Read more
A clear view for a multi-enterprise agri-business
On farms like Terry Aberhart’s, the big transformation has come from learning how to manage the farm as a multi-enterprise business
Reading Time: 10 minutes As farms grow, they get connected to more people with more kinds of expertise and they get linked into more and wider networks than ever. The immediate goal may be to get on top of a problem that’s in front of them today, but almost inevitably this helps them see more opportunities, and it opens […] Read more
Have a decade-long plan for farm succession
Every farm has at least 10 jobs that take 10 years to learn. No wonder transitions are so complicated
Reading Time: 8 minutes Whatever word you use — whether you call it wisdom or if you think of it as insight — it may always be essential for running any farm but it is doubly important during transition. That’s “doubly” for a good reason, because not only does the senior generation need insight into the transition process if […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
