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Meaningful change rarely happens overnight, but there are techniques you can employ to help ensure that the changes you make are the right ones for your farm.
Guide Business

Why you should go slow to go fast

Next Steps: Meaningful change rarely happens overnight, but the Kaizen and “5-Why” techniques can help ensure that the changes we do make are the right ones for our farms

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Reading Time: 6 minutes Abraham Lincoln famously said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” In short, if you want to do a job right and do it well, you first need to spend adequate time preparing yourself, the tools and the process. How does this translate […] Read more
Business partnerships can sometimes be tricky but they're essential to building a business.
Guide Business

Building healthy business partnerships

Next Steps: Smart thinking about farm partnerships, and whether you’re getting as much out of yours as you can

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Reading Time: 7 minutes The first four columns in this series explored planning for and managing growth, assessing and mitigating risk, and how to keep an eye on cash flow so you can bankroll your growth projects. In this column we’ll look at partnerships, specifically the underlying dynamics of what constitutes a healthy one. Business partnerships can be tricky […] Read more
Guide Business

Analyzing your farm’s cash flow

Next Steps: Ready to tweak your farm performance? These cash-flow strategies may be the ticket you’ve been looking for

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Reading Time: 7 minutes The last three of our Next Steps columns (see the ‘Related Articles’ links further down) covered the why, the when, and the what for ratcheting your farm business up a notch or two. The next logical topic to explore is the “how” of making your plans a reality, i.e. cash flow. I’m not going to […] Read more
Learning to identify, analyze, monitor and control risk will help you achieve your business objectives.
Guide Business

Thinking about risk?

Next Steps: As Seth Godin says, it’s easier to paddle a canoe on a calm lake. Here’s a practical strategy for smoothing out the waves

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Reading Time: 7 minutes Agriculture is not for the faint of business heart. If ever there was a job that should come with the warning “avoid if allergic to risk” in bright red letters, it’s farming with its cantankerous and cumbersome risk factors like weather, trade agreements and regulations. Risk has been part of human lives since we crawled […] Read more
Choosing a growth strategy that is aligned with your overall business goals is a good first step to get you started.
Guide Business

You want to grow your farm business. But how?

Next Steps: These tools are a mix of business theory and practical on-farm wisdom, which is why they’ll help you find opportunities

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Reading Time: 7 minutes In January’s column we looked at how the process of business strategy planning helps orient you on the goals map. But that still leaves a big question: How do you get there? If you’re an existing farm, this means developing a growth strategy. In 1957, Igor Ansoff, known as the father of strategic management, established […] Read more
Knowing exactly where you’re starting from, and with what resources, leads to more efficient decision-making.
Guide Business, Management

Introducing next steps into your farm operation

Next Steps: Consider a situational analysis in order to set goals for your farm

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Reading Time: 9 minutes Stories in Country Guide often explore the latest, the most innovative and sometimes the boldest in on-farm business management strategies across Canada. These stories are inspirational, aspirational, thought-provoking — but not always accessible for every farmer. In this new series ‘Next Steps,’ we focus on continuous improvement; the proven practices, the processes and sometimes just […] Read more
Research proves it. The more digital your business becomes, the more important soft skills are to your success.
Guide Business, Management

The skills you’ll need as farms become more digital

Technology is transforming agriculture at a speed we hardly grasp. Will yours be among the farms that emerge stronger?

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Reading Time: 5 minutes In October, Country Guide covered the report “Farmer 4.0: How the Coming Skills Revolution Can Transform Agriculture” published by RBC, with its emphasis on how the era of super-automation will change how we farm. “As Canadian farmers leave traditional tasks to smart machines, and focus on strategy and systems, they’ll be better positioned than ever […] Read more
Farmers are using online platforms such as social media to do what they do best: i.e. capitalize on the latest tools and technologies to promote and sell Canadian agriculture.
Guide Business

Is it time to rethink your consumer approach?

Science is telling us it’s time for a fresh look at how we approach public engagement, especially when it’s online

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Reading Time: 6 minutes Once upon a time, the standard advice was that if farmers want to connect with consumers, they should share the fascinating science and facts that make up the world of agriculture. Wouldn’t consumers be enthralled by the behind-the-scenes mechanics and science of how their food is made? Actually, most people don’t care about the mechanics […] Read more
Grumpy farmers rejoice: Research has shown that unhappiness can actually make you more creative.
Guide Business

Managing your business through stress and rough times

Make your point | Being innovative when problem solving is an essential skill

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Feeling a little grumpy and stressed these days? Seems it’s been that kind of year so far. In an age of mental health awareness, it’s no surprise to learn that stress can easily mess with your mental and physical health. Feeling foggy, distracted or listless can ultimately lead to less-than-optimal decisions as your focus is […] Read more
In Quebec, a healthy agriculture is the cornerstone of its rural sustainability policy, and a big part of the reason it will spend an extra $15 billion on farms and related businesses by 2025.
Guide Business

Different in Quebec

History makes Quebec unique. But it takes more than history to account for its approach to ag policy and why that approach is being studied by farmers across the country and around the world

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Reading Time: 9 minutes For centuries, agriculture has been a major contributor to the economic engine of Quebec and to the vitality of its rural regions. In 2016, the GDP of Quebec’s bio-food industry was 7.4 per cent, totalled $23.4 billion, and created 12 per cent of jobs in the province. From 2013 to 2016, the GDP of the […] Read more

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