Reading Time: 4 minutes When I ask farmers to guess how long it will take to complete a transition plan, they usually say one to two years. The reality is that it takes much longer. In a 2017 survey by Business Development Canada (BDC), five out of six entrepreneurs believed that the transition process can be completed in two […] Read more
Can slowing down farm succession really work?
Summer Series: Designating more time to the farm transition process can mean less stress and more choices
Ground rules for farm family communications
Summer Series: For better business results learn how to shift from talking and listening to each other as family members to making decisions together as business partners
Reading Time: 5 minutes Establishing meeting ground rules can help your family find ways to communicate that work for your farm. Here are some ideas you can incorporate into your farm’s communication code of behaviour. Setting rules for how your farm will meet about business can be a difficult cultural shift for the whole farm and family, but it’s […] Read more
How to talk about your farm succession estate plans
Summer Series: Estate planning is never easy — and more difficult still is the conversations you need to have with your family. But these conversations can be a great opportunity to teach the next generation about money, family relationships and how to make decisions together
Reading Time: 5 minutes You’ve worked hard your whole life and lived within your means. Now, you want your estate to help the future generation succeed — not create problems or heartache for your family. But if you want your estate to create a legacy of positivity, you’ll have to proactively communicate your wishes through an estate plan. Like […] Read more
Summer Series: Making a leader
[Leadership] As farms get bigger and more complex, more farmers like Steve Koeckhoven are drawing leadership insights from other business sectors
Reading Time: 10 minutes On-farm leadership is more than the skills we usually think of when defining a leader. This article looks at what farm leadership is really about.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor When we think of strong leaders we often leap to examples like politicians, sport coaches and the CEOs of large corporations, so it’s little surprise […] Read more
How your farm’s numbers can help guide your dreams
Before jumping into transition planning, gather this information and have a conversation with your spouse
Reading Time: 3 minutes Many years ago, I worked under the late Andy Sirski at Grainews. He taught me to explain out loud how something worked before I wrote about it, how to write an interesting headline, and the difference between wondering and thinking. “Wondering doesn’t get you anywhere,” he used to say. Invariably these tools helped me focus […] Read more
Taking stock before your farm succession
Before jumping into transition planning, gather this information and have a conversation with your spouse
Reading Time: 5 minutes Transition planning requires complicated professional tax and legal planning plus deep communication and strategic decision-making. It’s definitely not a do-it-yourself (DIY) project. However, there are some things you can do yourself ahead of transition planning to make it go more smoothly. They will save you time, money and headaches in the future. Many of us […] Read more
When is a good time to incorporate your farm?
Incorporating isn’t right for everyone, but it can often help the farm grow and prepare for the future
Reading Time: 4 minutes Should you incorporate your farm? It’s a decision with many moving parts, combining tax planning with growth strategies. And it’s a decision more and more farmers are making. The 2016 census showed about half of all Canadian farms were sole proprietorships, 23 per cent were partnerships and about a quarter were corporations. Successful farms depend […] Read more
Benchmark your marketing
How good are you at marketing? Or maybe more to the point, how bad are you?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Does it necessarily mean you’re poor at marketing if you aren’t actively engaged in daily trading? What if you have never done a paper trade, or if you haven’t ever locked in a private contract with a processer? Does that mean you’re a bad farmer? Obviously, the answer is no. It doesn’t have to mean […] Read more
Taking on the market
Options, futures or forward contracts? Two farmers search for sustainable income
Reading Time: 9 minutes Options, futures or forward contracts? Two farmers search for sustainable income Dennis Pashovitz calls it his ’67 Cougar moment. It was the late 1990s and the grain farmer at Arelee, an hour west of Saskatoon, needed cash to open a trading account. The only way to learn about marketing, he was convinced, was to play […] Read more
Who controls the purse strings on your farm?
By the time the parents hit their mid-60s, financial decision-making should be in the hands of the next generation. Really!
Reading Time: 5 minutes Two decades ago, U.K. professor Andrew Errington identified three stages of farm transfer: succession, retirement and inheritance. He defined succession as the gradual handing over of managerial control. Retirement was the owner withdrawing from active participation in the business of the farm, and inheritance was how the assets were finally signed over to the successor. […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
