Reading Time: 5 minutes Once they’ve been in the biz for a few years, some farmers wish they hadn’t followed certain advice. Others wish they had. And others are happy with what they’ve accomplished based on advice they’d still follow if they had to do it all again. Here, a few farmers share what they’ve learned and offer their […] Read more
Summer Series: Advice for Young Farmers
[Best Advice] If there was one piece of advice you wish somebody had given you (and that you had listened to) when you were just starting out on the farm, what would that be?
Farm managers take to the field (2)
Professional farm managers control huge acres south of the border. Are they coming to Canada too?
Reading Time: 3 minutes Across the U.S., the title “Accredited Farm Manager” is among the country’s fastest growing professional designations, driven by the surge not just in rental acres but also in absentee landowners and in non-ag investors. The question is, are we going to see more farms run by professional managers in Canada too? In fact, the farm-manager […] Read more
A woman’s voice at the money table
More women own farms and have key management roles running them. So why are women still ignored when the talk turns to finance?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Heather Little farms with her husband in Amaranth, Ont., and is a realtor with Royal LePage. She recalls the treatment she received from lenders when she bought her first farm with her husband nearly 20 years ago, a time when the lenders she dealt with were predominately older males and insisted they deal with her […] Read more
Farm managers take to the field
Huge chunks of American farmland are getting farmed by professional, accredited managers who work for families who don’t want to farm anymore, but also don’t want to sell
Reading Time: 6 minutes Professional farm management is serious business south of the border. Now, based on today’s trendlines, most insiders are predicting it’s only going to grow and spread. Will it grow in Canada too? Country Guide will look into that question in our next issue, but it’s worth pointing out that the share of farmland that’s rented […] Read more
Protecting the farm from divorce
Few words cause more anxiety on today’s farms, especially if a non-farmer is joining the family
Reading Time: 7 minutes Relationships are a lot of work. They always are. Adding a farm or ranch to the mix just makes it that much harder. And if the farm is a multi-generation operation, the hill gets that much higher again. So, how do couples and extended families protect the family farm in case a relationship dissolves? Can […] Read more
A farm that lasts
Founders’ fees and amortized sales restrictions are just two of the growing list of strategies that farm families are adapting to ensure their farm survives for future generations
Reading Time: 5 minutes Maybe nothing has ever been certain on the farm, but today it feels more true than ever before. There’s so much more to worry about than just weather and weeds. Who could ever imagine the global supply chain would be turned upside down by a virus? Or that you wouldn’t be able to source parts […] Read more
Do you have an exit strategy for your farm?
For whatever reason, if your farm isn’t going to get transferred to your family’s next generation, these are big questions you need to get started on
Reading Time: 7 minutes In many cases, Canadian farms are being transferred to the next generation. But that’s “many,” not “all.” And if you’re in a situation where transition is unclear, or if you know your final plan will be to sell out, it’s time to get thinking about your options for building a farm exit plan. What does […] Read more
The way to retire
Especially on the farm, planning for a happy retirement really does a make a difference
Reading Time: 7 minutes Here’s an unpopular question. When are you going to retire from the farm? This is often a taboo topic because it’s hard to know when you’ll be ready, and just as hard, if not harder, to know what it means to retire. To a farmer, retirement could read like a death sentence. Or does it […] Read more
‘No looking back’ for online auctions
Online auctions are reshaping the business of how land and equipment are sold
Reading Time: 7 minutes When the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world in March 2020, the auction business changed too. The global lockdown affected every business — including farm and equipment auctions — and has since shaped the way auctions have, and will continue to be conducted. To accommodate the traditional busy auction season, many farm auctions made the move […] Read more
Selling the farm
It’s the biggest decision of your life. More than ever, it takes planning, skilled advisors … and a resilient mindset
Reading Time: 8 minutes You only sell the farm once. Obviously, you don’t get to this point lightly. So, what is your first step? Do you sell the whole farm, or go piecemeal? How can you be sure you get the market price? Will you get nailed for taxes? You’ve spent a lifetime — and there’s a good chance […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
