Reading Time: 8 minutes In terms of size, W.A. Ranches’ gift to the University of Calgary’s faculty of veterinary medicine (UCVM) is the biggest donation of ranch property ever made to a North American university, adding up to 19,000 acres of land and 1,000 head of cattle for a total value of $44 million. Although precedent setting in many […] Read more
Paying it forward
Could a philanthropic gift be the right succession strategy for your farm?
Ben Voss of Morris Industries
Learning to do your own laundry — and other stepping stones on the path to business leadership and success
Reading Time: 6 minutes Learning how to do your own laundry? Learning how to fail? They may sound like an odd combination and an even odder recipe for business leadership and success, but according to Ben Voss, shareholder and newly appointed president and CEO for Morris Industries Ltd., they’re essential for understanding how he got to where he is […] Read more
Back in business after bovine TB
When Brad Osadczuk lost his entire herd to TB, he discovered which attitudes and skills really are essential for starting over
Reading Time: 8 minutes [Updated June 7, 2017] Brad Osadczuk’s ranch at Jenner, Alta., is eerily quiet in what would normally be the start of a very busy calving season. His pens are empty, not a cow is in sight. This calving season, Osadczuk is a different kind of busy. He must find a new normal, since losing his […] Read more
Diversification the name of the game for Lewis Farms
Change Makers: From potatoes to grain to a commercial bull business, Lewis Farms has diversified to manage risk and accommodate market challenges
Reading Time: 7 minutes “Sometimes, progress simply isn’t possible without change,” says Ken Lewis, general manager of Lewis Farms in Spruce Grove, just west of Edmonton, Alta. Which means that ignoring opportunities to change, or actively resisting change when it arrives can actually be the paths of greatest risk. Because change will happen. In fact, like other farmers, Lewis […] Read more
Get off to a better start with farm succession
Here’s advice from Merle Good on how to let the business lead the conversation toward your farm succession plan
Reading Time: 6 minutes John F. Kennedy’s historic words, “… ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,” may also contain the wisdom needed to solve the complexities of today’s family farm successions. Too many young men and women are starting their discussions about the path to farm succession by […] Read more
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