Reading Time: 5 minutes Roger Pelissero gets choked up when he talks about his time in Swaziland as part of a humanitarian effort called Project Canaan. The words that come to him are the only ones he can think to say. “We take so much for granted,” he says. Pelissero sees eggs every day as an egg farmer from […] Read more
From the first egg to future hen operation
Farmers’ leadership skills are making a humanitarian difference, like Project Canaan in tiny Swaziland
Farming families and communication skills on the farm
There are times when it’s best to treat each other like business associates instead of family
Reading Time: 4 minutes While everyone seems to agree that good communication is essential for success on today’s multi-generational farms, many of us don’t seem to be making much progress. That’s not surprising to Reg Shandro, a Lacombe, Alta. mediator who specializes in helping farm families. After all, we get very little education on how to become good communicators, […] Read more
Culture of thankfulness works, even for farming
Guide Thrive 2015: These practical tips will help your farm tap the proven benefits of gratitude
Reading Time: 4 minutes Your parents might have taught you to always say thank you, but even they couldn’t have known how powerful a lesson they were teaching. In order to thrive, you must be grateful. Farmers can be skeptical, but research has proven it time and again. Gratitude is essential for living a life that is experienced as […] Read more
Make your health a priority
Guide Thrive 2015: It’s easy to manage your health so you can better manage your farm. Here’s how to get started
Reading Time: 4 minutes Often farmers overlook the first requirement for successful farming — good health. It’s too important to take it for granted. And it’s also at risk. Farmers, their families and their employees work amid myriad occupational hazards, points out Kendra Ulmer, a registered nurse with the Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture at the […] Read more
Sing and read with your child
... it sets them up for a life of farming success
Reading Time: 4 minutes When you play pat-a-cake with your baby, you might think you’re just enjoying a fun game. However, child experts say rhymes, songs, and finger play actually help our children develop early literacy skills and build the foundations for a lifetime of learning. Language and literacy do more than open up the possibility of academic achievement, […] Read more
Vegetable grower starts small to grow big
Is diversification the best way to get a start today? As Nathan Klassen is learning, even if the answer is yes, that doesn’t make it easy
Reading Time: 6 minutes Nathan Klassen might not have grown up on a farm, but for as long as he can remember, he’s wanted to be a farmer, so in 2011, in the midst of North America’s record-smashing run-up in the price of farmland, he made that dream come true. Klassen was 24 that year, and he bought his […] Read more
Need to get more done?
Fit more into your day with these time-management habits
Reading Time: 5 minutes Too many of us spend our days frustrated because there is so much to do and so little time to do it in. That frustration can even make us impatient to the point where we dismiss the advice of time-management experts, and we say, ironically, “I just don’t have time to get better at using […] Read more
Farming better through yoga
Set your skepticism aside. Just check out the science and these benefits of yoga on the farm
Reading Time: 5 minutes Across the country, yoga is catching on as a way to strengthen muscles, reduce pain and increase energy. “Yoga is good for injuries, work-related soreness and tiredness,” says Kate Stevely, a certified instructor who teaches yoga in Stratford, Ont. and surrounding communities. It’s enough to make you think yoga should be universally prescribed on the […] Read more
Avoiding intergenerational conflict in farm families
The generation gap is coming back with a vengeance, and farm families need to watch out
Reading Time: 6 minutes The concept called the “generation gap” might not have become a buzzphrase until the ’60s, but undoubtedly there have been generational differences as long as there has been history. So why should today be any different? In fact, however, today may be exactly that — different. With the current speed of cultural and technological change, […] Read more
Set them up for success
So your son or daughter wants to take over the farm. How can you help them succeed?
Reading Time: 5 minutes With more than half of Canada’s farmers over the age of 55, it’s estimated that $50 billion worth of farmland will change hands in the next 10 to 15 years. What will it take for the next generation to be successful? How important is education? What skills will be essential? How can young people best prepare […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
