If you’re looking to rent land from the new ag investment companies, you may have to convince Bryce Thompson that you’re the right farmer for the job. Here, he tells us how to do it
Reading Time: 8 minutes Saskatchewan farm boy Bryce Thompson walked into the boardroom of a skyscraper on Toronto’s Bay Street not knowing what to expect. He had an appointment to meet a wealthy landowner, that much was certain. But there was a kind of unreality about it, a clash of two stereotypes — a Prairie farmer and a Toronto […] Read moreMeet the new boss
The conciliator
Brad Wildeman speaks softly, but with a voice that unites the beef industry and drives the amazing story of Pound-Maker Investments
Reading Time: 7 minutes Brad Wildeman’s head is characteristically cocked slightly to the side as he listens intently to my questions. He carefully responds, mentally processing wide swathes of the last few decades of the beef industry and global trade into a neat windrow. Wildeman is well known in agricultural circles for creating consensus, especially when the quandary of […] Read moreRisk, reward
Reading Time: 8 minutes At first glance, you’re convinced that Nightingale Farms must have some kind of Midas touch. Everything here must always work out exactly according to plan. After all, how else could this family farm have grown to over 1,000 acres of fresh vegetables in the middle of the Norfolk sand plain, former home to Ontario’s decimated […] Read more
Emotions to the rescue
Inevitably, when farms expand to include multiple family members, family dynamics change. Before we talk about the stresses and strains that this can produce, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fundamental positives that this change brings to the farm.
Reading Time: 8 minutes “If there is stress and conflict in your family, it will almost inevitably trace its roots back to a lack of effective communication at some point in the family system,” says Richard Cressman. Cressman, a six-foot tall former dairy farmer from New Hamburg, Ont. isn’t the sort of person you’d expect to be talking about […] Read moreDiversify or expand?
Reading Time: 7 minutes It was the winter farm meeting season of 2006 and I had just driven through a blizzard to find myself hearing the same words. “Think outside the box,” I was told yet again. “Look to new paradigms.” “Don’t keep expanding production of what you already know how to do,” speaker after speaker told us. “Diversify, […] Read more
Corporate citizenship
Corporations think strategically about how to invest their donations budgets for both altruistic and business goals. Then they review the effectiveness of those dollars.
Reading Time: 5 minutes On sunny day last October nearly 3,000 spectators watched as farmers near Monkton, Ont. set a world record time for harvesting 160 acres of standing soybeans. They did it in under 11 minutes, thanks to 115 combines. In total, those combines harvested about 8,000 bushels, which were then auctioned off to raise $250,000 for the […] Read moreRetire on redeemed capital
Reading Time: 3 minutes Historically, succession was solved by lifespan. The next generation took over when the older generation gave out. Today, with the average Canadian living about 80 years, that just isn’t a solution anymore. Now we need to figure out ways for multiple generations to balance power, ownership and workload on the farm. As well, farm asset […] Read more
Signing up
For farmers like Shelley McPhail, there’s a big return on selecting the best business-education programs for your farm, and the best grants to help analyze your farm busness
Reading Time: 6 minutes Shelley McPhail’s eyes sparkle. She is telling me about the work she does encouraging farmers to sign up for professional development courses and to apply for grants, and her energy and emotion are there right at the surface, open for all to see. And that should come as no surprise for, as I quickly learn, […] Read moreFrom the brand up
Starting a new farm got a lot more practical when Shayne and Vicky Horn saw they could profit as much from their brand as from their ground
Reading Time: 5 minutes On the video blog Vicky Horn’s red hair bobs along as she pushes a baby stroller and at the same time rolls out fencing for their rotational pasturing system. It’s one image, but with it, the camera captures both the heart of the Tangle Ridge brand — pastoral family farming — and the solid core […] Read moreFarm RX
How healthy is your farm? Check these vital stats to really know — not just guess — your farm’s fitness level
Reading Time: 8 minutes When your doctor puts you through a battery of tests, you learn exactly how much heavy lifting it’s smart to do. Otherwise, that bit of pain you think you felt last week might keep you in the house. Or you might ignore the pain as a fluke, and end your day in the back of […] Read moreA message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
