Reading Time: 5 minutes For those who missed our December issue where Button thanked his readers for their almost two decades of support, you’ll have missed the announcement that Country Guide’s long-time editor is headed for retirement. What started as an opportunity to have fun producing a business publication for Canadian farmers soon transformed into the humble pursuit of […] Read more
One page at a time
After 16 years and more than 4,000 stories, Tom Button, Country Guide’s editor, has turned a page in his career
Finance 101 – What is a business plan?
There’s more at stake this winter, and more than ever to gain
Reading Time: 5 minutes A business plan is like a road map for your farm. You can plan your route, set a destination and track progress. But without a map or a plan, how does a farm business owner know what success looks like, or even what you’re capable of achieving? Or, most importantly, how do you know when […] Read more
Diversifying the farm helps build a new business
Who has time to manage a bigger, more diversified farm? The Boldts found how to say, “We do!”
Reading Time: 11 minutes When Melanie Boldt pivoted her business from a grain farm to the first vertically integrated meat producer and market in Saskatchewan, she took a “just do it” approach and leaned into the challenge to change, diversify and expand her family farm. That was 26 years ago, and looking back, Boldt says she’s not sure she […] Read more
Information sharing on the family farm
Like it or not, it makes a lot of sense to get much more formal about who you show your business numbers to, and when
Reading Time: 5 minutes Affectionately, on the farm, it gets thought of as “the boardroom.” It’s the kitchen table, but the conversation around it isn’t always so affectionate, or so gentle. The kitchen table can also be host to plenty of uncomfortable questions and conversations, especially if the person asking the questions isn’t getting to see the numbers they […] Read more
Having the right (business) stuff for your farm
For farmers like Jennifer Peart, upping their business game takes real discipline. The good news is the pay-off makes it very worthwhile
Reading Time: 5 minutes It’s less true than it used to be but it’s still safe to say that few of today’s farmers got into farming because they love business management. Instead, it’s the production side of agriculture that drew them in. It was their passion for growing and raising food and working with soil, livestock and equipment. Still, […] Read more
Seven steps to great farm management
Reading Time: < 1 minute – From the article ‘The right business stuff’ in the October 2024 issue of Country Guide. Leadership / Embody the essence of leadership in everything you do, from strategic thinking and proactive planning to embracing self-care and empathy for yourself and others. Some farm management tasks can be contracted out, but you can’t outsource leadership. […] Read more
The greatest challenge for this farm operation
Their business schedule and clear must-do’s drive farm growth
Reading Time: 5 minutes Finding the time is our greatest challenge,” Jennifer Peart acknowledges from their farm at Jerseyville, Ont., where she and husband, Charlie Anderson, are committed to making their business management as strong as their production capability. It isn’t easy. It isn’t simple. But the couple find they’re making gains by defining who is responsible for what, […] Read more
Summer Series: How these Ontario farmers are getting great at change
[Make it Count] Every new idea, challenge and decision is an opportunity to learn. Sharing the takeaways from those lessons will help strengthen and sustain Canada’s agriculture industry
Reading Time: 11 minutes What makes a farm business good at change? Country Guide spoke with three Ontario farms to find out how they meet the challenges of change and what lessons they’ve learned on the journeys to diversification and growth. Thatcher Farms Thatcher Farms was born out of necessity. Almost two decades ago, at a time when commodity […] Read more
Summer Series: What is an executor?
[Make It Count: Finance 101] What makes you so sure you’ve named the right person to make all those decisions for you when you’re no longer here to make them for yourself?
Reading Time: 4 minutes Simply put, an executor is a person you trust to carry out your wishes as you have designated them in your will, which could include the care of your children, dependants, assets and farm business after you die. Robert Graham, a lawyer who specializes in business and farm succession planning with Smith Valeriote Law Firm […] Read more
Summer Series: What is a cohabitation agreement?
[Change Management] Better ideas on prenups that will protect the farm from broken relationships
Reading Time: 4 minutes Although most of us know them as prenuptial, “prenup” or interspousal agreements, the legal term most often used in Canada is a cohabitation agreement. Within the Canadian legal system, a cohabitation agreement is used to describe a written contract between two people entering a common-law relationship or marriage. Other jurisdictions may use other terms, but […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
