Reading Time: 11 minutes A winter wheat leaf pokes through the snow. In the frozen white, that hardy leaf means hope and even optimism. It is a promise that winter will turn to spring, and that spring will make way for summer, and that then will come the harvest. The plant thrives in spite of, and because of, weather […] Read more
Country Guide’s plan for your farm to thrive in 2015
Hitting any of these 10 targets can make 2015 a year to remember. So get inspired. Pick goals that fit your farm and your vision. The whole year is waiting
The challenge of diversification
The odds that your diversification plan will succeed are just one in five. But you can stack the deck
Reading Time: 6 minutes For decades, on-farm diversification has been talked about, ruminated on, spit at and swallowed whole. We’ve seen underdogs become successes, and we’ve also seen outrageous failures, even when they had big government backing. At the same time, economies of scale have propelled non-diversified farms to unbelievable sizes, backed by the five-year bull market in grains. […] Read more
Sharpen your pencils
It’s time for a hard look at your rental land. How much does it make sense to pay?
Reading Time: 5 minutes I know I’m not alone. the squeeze is on all across Canada, and everyone can point to sets of numbers like the ones I’m looking at in Ontario, with a short 2014 growing season and with off-the-combine corn well below $4 per bushel. So Country Guide asked the Ontario ag ministry’s farm business analyst John […] Read more
Lamb producer supply loop that works for everyone
If you’re skeptical about value chains, it’s time for a hard look at how these Ontario farmers helped build Trillium Lamb Inc.
Reading Time: 8 minutes Demand is flying high. Lamb isn’t a niche anymore. It’s everywhere on mainstream meat counters. But it isn’t on the farm, and in 2010, Newmarket Meat Packers (NMP) found only 10 per cent of Ontario lamb sales were being met with Ontario-grown lamb. Surely, that sounds like an opportunity. “Our demographics have changed,” says Newmarket’s Maggie […] Read more
What students need for future success as farmers
Top ag educators tell us the good and the not so good they see in Canada’s next generation of farm hopefuls
Reading Time: 7 minutes The future stretches and sways like a Prairie grain field, endless and heavy with possibilities. Like storm clouds, though, threats and risks also gather. What strengths and skills will farmers need to succeed in the future we’re rushing toward? With the turnover between generations accelerating, it’s a question that is coming squarely into play on […] Read more
Life insurance strategies for your farm
These 5 strategies can be serious winners -- but be prepared for some equally serious homework
Reading Time: 5 minutes If everything is tied up in fixed assets when a major change happens, even the best-managed farms can stumble and fall. Debts suddenly become unmanageable, family farms get bogged down in the mud of unachievable succession, and estates get devoured by tax liability. Setting up a rational way to deal with these situations ahead has […] Read more
Life insurance strategies
These five strategies can be serious winners for farm corporations. But be prepared to do some equally serious homework
Reading Time: 5 minutes If everything is tied up in fixed assets when a major change happens, even the best-managed farms can stumble and fall. Debts suddenly become unmanageable, family farms get bogged down in the mud of unachievable succession, and estates get devoured by tax liability. Setting up a rational way to deal with these situations ahead has some […] Read more
Family brand
In turbulent times, your family brand can be the foundation for business success… like when Jim Hole and brother Bill decided to take the farm in directions no one had anticipated
Marketing experts say your farm already has a brand, and regardless of whether you give it a moment’s thought, and regardless of whether you try to manage it, that brand is your farm’s identity. It’s how you are perceived. Indeed, the people who devote their careers to thinking about these things have an even simpler way of making their point: Your farm is your brand. For most farms, your brand is conveyed by your last name — a reputation shaped and seasoned by multiple generations. The question is, can you manage your brand to give a boost to your farm business? In the case of Alberta brothers Jim and Bill Hole, their greenhouse business has been built on a brand of trust garnered by their much-loved mother. Today, the brothers’ challenge is to leverage that brand in order to build sales among time-stretched, next-gen customers. Here’s how they plan to do just that.
Reading Time: 6 minutes Winter is disappearing in a swirl of warmth and sunshine in St. Albert, on the northwest edge of Edmonton. Airseeders are poised about the countryside, and calves are nuzzling their mothers. This is the kind of day when Canadians rediscover that their heritage rises from the soil, thanks to the sweat of farm families. Across […] Read more
Blood, sweat & deals
After a landmark 2013, Gerry Ritz sets his goals for the future shape of Canadian Agriculture
Reading Time: 5 minutes Gerry Ritz knows how to make news, whether it’s at an Ottawa media scrum, or if it’s 42 C and he is standing over a barbecue — in a leather apron — cooking beef in China. After years of closed borders to Canadian beef, China had just opened to young animals. That particular Canada Day […] Read more
Beyond a bank balance
What’s the right level of working capital for your farm? It probably isn’t what you think
Reading Time: 4 minutes Working capital can be a harsh indicator of liquidity. On a practical level, it tells you how much you’ll have on hand to buy operating inputs for next season. It’s your ability to get next year’s crop in the ground or to feed animals in the lot — before you need to tap into an […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
