Reading Time: 7 minutes There’s a saying that if you aren’t moving forward, then you’re falling behind. Never has this been more true than in agriculture today. But something else is equally true. It’s that more farmers are keeping up with this need for change by dedicating time and effort to cutting-edge studies on leadership. For 46-year-old Kelly Dobson, […] Read more
Farmers finding a competitive edge with leadership training
Across the country, more farmers are signing up for in-depth leadership training, and they’re using it to transform the way they farm and do business
Guide Life: Get organized and get more done!
Do you spend hours working in the farm office to emerge at the end of the day disappointed with how little you have accomplished?
Reading Time: 5 minutes You’re not alone. For most of us, the time we spend in the farm office is less efficient and productive than the time we spend on almost any other farm activity. To help, we asked two professional organizers to weigh in with their tested and proven ideas on how to streamline your office procedures to […] Read more
Guide Life: Avoiding work overload
Of course you take pride in how hard you work. For your own sake, however, and for the good of the family and the farm, it may be time to inject some balance
Reading Time: 5 minutes You work hard because you know the benefits are worth it. But are they? If you don’t take care to recharge, says Beverly Beuermann-King, a stress and resiliency specialist in Little Britain, Ont., sustained overwork can lead to reduced productivity, failed relationships, an increase in injuries, and physical and mental illness. In case after case, […] Read more
Agriculture’s glass ceiling
If gender isn’t a big issue on the farm, why are so many women signing up for women’s organizations and conferences?
Reading Time: 5 minutes So maybe today’s farmers don’t absolutely need the muscles of a Schwarzenegger, especially on farms with employees. Still, that doesn’t mean the door is open to women farmers, or that our modern agricultural system is really as modern as we like to think. Women who want to farm do face challenges not experienced by their […] Read more
Guide Life: Write your legacy
Writing a memoir isn’t only for celebrities. It’s a perfect way to preserve farm history too
Reading Time: 5 minutes It’s called learning by experience. Most of us get to a point where we regret that we didn’t ask our parents and grandparents more questions about their families and about what life was like when they were young. So now, we are determined to write our own stories as a legacy to our children and […] Read more
Keeping small towns alive, building communities that thrive
Saving our small communities has less to do with keeping our kids at home than giving them reasons to return
Reading Time: 5 minutes Rural communities across Canada know the challenges all too well. Populations are shrinking, and services of all kinds are getting harder and harder to maintain, not only for businesses but also for new Canadians, the disabled, the elderly and those suffering from mental health challenges or addictions. It’s not all doom and gloom though. Doug […] Read more
When being organic isn’t enough
Their consumers don’t just want organic, says Martin de Groot. They want animal welfare, cow comfort, energy self-sufficiency… and they want to see it all in action
Reading Time: 5 minutes With the milk from their 60-cow, mostly Holstein herd, Martin de Groot, his wife Ineke Booy and their family make their Mapleton’s Organic line of ice creams and fresh and frozen yoghurts in their on-farm dairy at Moorefield, Ont., shipping their winter surplus through Harmony Organic Dairy Products. What they sell is much more, however, […] Read more
Digital Marketing 101 and social media tips that help promote your farm
In this last column of our value-added series, we look at how social media can boost your value-add project
Reading Time: 5 minutes Anyone can tell you (in fact, they probably already have, more than once) that the Internet is too powerful a tool to ignore for marketing your value-added products. But exactly how can you harness its potential to reach your own goals? When creating an online presence, Nigel Gordijk, owner of Common Sense Design in New […] Read more
Which personality types are best for your farm business?
Personality testing can be a surprisingly easy and useful tool in your farm business
Reading Time: 5 minutes Have you ever wondered why one family member considers it the end of the world when another family member leaves an empty water bottle in the combine? Or why, knowing this, another family member will check the cab and toss out the offending bottle in order to keep the peace, while another family member will […] Read more
Best practices for direct farm marketing and five things you need to avoid
Once you’ve got your value-added product or service ready to go, the hard part’s done, right?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Not so fast. Chances are you are going to need to work hard to build product awareness. The experts agree you need a plan for how you’re going to let your potential customers know why they’re going to want to do business with you. The marketing plan is a vital part of your business plan […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
