Reading Time: 10 minutes Land is up. Inputs are up. Commodities are volatile. And that’s just a start. Climate change is getting real. Interest rates are too. And the international scene is chaos. Does it all add up to good news for your farm in 2024? Bad news? And what can you do to keep your farm on the […] Read more
Summer Series: Opportunities ahead
[Change Management] What’s in store for Canada’s farms in 2024? The news is good, mostly
Summer Series: The new farm leader
[Leadership] Six lessons from successful farms focused on boosting their leadership skills for 2024 and beyond
Reading Time: 10 minutes Is leadership learned or is there a leadership gene? Country Guide asked the next generation of Canadian ag how they learned to lead and what are the most important leadership skills.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor Agriculture has moved relentlessly forward for centuries. In a practical sense this is thanks to mechanical, scientific and technological […] Read more
Summer Series: How to get disruptive
[Best Advice] On the Charbonneau farm, the business strategy seemed clear. Go vertical. But how?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Here’s how one Quebec dairy farm decided to take the proverbial bull by the horns and make their farm a vertical integration success despite the constraints of the industry.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor Too often it seems we never hear the words “disruptor” and “Canadian agriculture” used in the same sentence. When we’re thinking […] Read more
Summer Series: How to use a situational analysis to set farm goals
[Best Advice] Consider a situational analysis in order to set goals for your farm
Reading Time: 9 minutes Knowing exactly where you’re starting from, and with what resources, leads to more efficient decision-making. Here’s a tool to help you plan for a new process, project or product on the farm.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor Stories in Country Guide often explore the latest, the most innovative and sometimes the boldest in on-farm business […] Read more
What’s your ‘best advice’ for the farm?
Reading Time: < 1 minute The theme of our Summer Series for May is best advice – and what a pair of loaded words! Because what seems like “good” advice to one person might feel outdated or unapplicable to another. And advice taken in good faith from someone you respect and admire might not turn out as you had hoped. […] Read more
Welcome to our Summer Series!
Reading Time: < 1 minute Are you headed to the field? So are we! Country Guide is all digital, all summer. We’ve got stories from farmers across the country who share their insights about how to meet the challenges and opportunities of today’s agriculture industry. We’ve got advice from Canada’s top ag experts on topics to grow your business. We’ll […] Read more
This old land: Where is farming in Quebec headed?
[The Rent Shake-Up: Quebec] Quebecers have been farming in la belle province for over 400 years. So how about 400 years from now?
Reading Time: 9 minutes In a province where only two per cent of its land is suitable for agriculture, Quebec has been losing cropland to the province’s expanding cities at the rate of 12 football fields every day, and it has been losing farmland at that speed for nearly three decades. Even now, says Quebec’s UPA, its main farm […] Read more
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a …
Guide Books Review: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Subtle Art of Not Giving a … A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good LifeBy Mark Manson Let’s start with a warning to would-be readers of this book: if you’re offended by f-bombs and a few other swear-y words, you’ll want to give it a miss. But if you choose to read The Subtle […] Read more
Mindset: Changing the way you think to fulfil your potential
Guide Books Review: Creating a 'culture of development' is essential
Reading Time: 3 minutes Mindset: Changing the way you think to fulfil your potentialBy Dr. Carol S. Dweck Failure can be difficult to handle, especially if you’ve always been told that you are smart. Failure can also be problematic if you feel that everything you do will always be deeply scrutinized and evaluated. It’s all on you. Worse, you […] Read more
Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People)
Guide Books Review: How having even one difficult person can ruin an entire team
Reading Time: 4 minutes By Amy GalloHarvard Business Review Press Farming is seldom a solo venture. Not only do the older and the younger generations overlap but as farms get bigger and more complex, more employees get hired too, so learning to work with others is essential. Negative relationships are bad for business. We know this, but there’s still […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
