Reading Time: 4 minutes The options are endless. Companies send their employees out rock climbing. They hire fancy consultants to host trust-building days. They send their executive boards fly fishing, or arrange a day of more traditional community service work where everyone can work side by side and roles are often reversed. Less adventurous businesses can even do the […] Read more
It’s not ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to team building on the farm
It might seem something only office workers should waste their time on, but team building fits farming too
Time management for farmers can make for less stress
How do you manage today’s increased workload without hitting the red zone?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Growing up on a farm in upstate New York, Julie Gray thought she was learning lessons that she could share with executives and entrepreneurs in virtually every other line of business. It turns out she was learning lessons that today’s farmers need to learn too. From her office near Washington, DC, Gray is now an […] Read more
Planning value-add ideas for your farm
In the third of her series, Helen Lammers-Helps talks to farmers about how the time they spent planning their new value-added ventures saved them money and aggravation
Reading Time: 5 minutes There’s a business school maxim that says, “failing to plan is planning to fail.” Based on the experience of Canadian farmers, it’s certainly true of value adding. Gary Morton, a Nova Scotia ag business consultant who has helped farmers launch value-added products for more than 20 years, likes to begin talking to those farmers by […] Read more
Your value-added idea
These tips from successful farmers can help you develop that winning concept
Reading Time: 5 minutes Entrepreneurial talent seems to come naturally to many farmers. But that doesn’t mean you’ll always be a natural at value adding. There’s a world of difference between getting a good deal on a load of fertilizer versus launching a new value-added product. In fact, value adding can feel like uncharted territory. But that can be […] Read more
The mother-daughter farm team of Blythe Brae Farms
By embracing the belief that leadership is a skill you can get better at, this mother-daughter team is smoothly integrating two generations in a complex farm
Reading Time: 6 minutes Go with your strengths. Then find resource people to help you fill in the gaps. That’s one of the guiding management principles of mother-daughter duo Sharon Hart and Valerie Hobbs who own and manage Blythe Brae Farms near Woodstock, Ont. Hart and Hobbs share responsibility for operations, finance, human resources and marketing at Blythe Brae […] Read more
Be a better farm ambassador
More farmers are developing strategies that actually do connect with consumers
Reading Time: 5 minutes In her other life as a school board trustee, Okanagan Valley chicken farmer Christina Coers sees the value of education. It’s a mindset that she brought with her when she and her husband Steven became chicken farmers under the new-entrant program of the British Columbia chicken-marketing board a year ago. Coers, 46, didn’t grow up […] Read more
Will value adding on the farm work for you?
This first in our four-part series on value adding for farmers starts with the most important question of all
Reading Time: 5 minutes So you think you have a great idea for a value-added business on your farm. Before you even begin to evaluate your idea to see if it will fly, however, it’s a good idea to ask the even more basic question: Is this kind of business venture a good fit for you and your family? […] Read more
Books: The tastemaker
When consumers think food, they don’t think farmer
Reading Time: 5 minutes Sometimes the difference between how farmers and consumers think about food is most glaring when someone tries to cross the divide. Interviewer Helen Lammers-Helps wanted to put the question into the hands of David Sax, a Toronto-based business writer who is becoming a lead voice on food and on who decides what we eat. Sax […] Read more
Living with dementia on the farm
Alzheimer’s is a frightening diagnosis, but these strategies can maximize your control
Reading Time: 4 minutes Getting a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s can be devastating, especially for farmers who want to stay active on the farm. Even if you’re afraid of bad news, however, it’s important to seek a medical diagnosis as quickly as possible. Memory loss or problems with cognitive function may be caused by treatable conditions, explains Lisa Loiselle, the […] Read more
Time-saving meals for busy families
We asked chef Tony Mancini how he’d cook for today’s hectic farm lifestyles
Reading Time: 6 minutes Despite all our time-saving technology, we all seem to be busier than ever, cramming ever more things into our days. Farm work, off-farm jobs, kids’ sports, volunteer commitments plus, hopefully, at least a little time for some fun social activities and exercise for ourselves mean it can be a challenge to eat healthily. Don’t despair. […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
