Reading Time: 6 minutes George Brinkman fears excessive debt. It’s a fear that has gripped him — some might say, obsessed him — for years. Today is no different. Brinkman sees interest rates as a neutron-bomb, threatening to wipe out our over-leveraged farmers. “This could be the greatest crisis Canadian agriculture has seen in recent times,” Brinkman tells me. […] Read more
On The Brink…
COUNTRY GUIDE takes you where few farmers dare to go — openly talking about how much your little brother should earn from the farm, and your Mom, and big sister, and Dad. And what about that employee from town, who isn’t part of the family but co
Reading Time: 12 minutes If your farm is like most farms across this country, half of you are flinching as you read this, the other half are going pale. But here, in these next pages, our brave consultants bring the taboo topic into the light MEET OUR EXPERTS Brent VanKoughnet was on a parts run during harvest when COUNTRY […] Read more
COUNTRY GUIDE’S 8 STEPS TO BETTER MARKETING
Reading Time: < 1 minute What do the most successful farmers do that gives them the marketing edge? Marketing decisions are much like production decisions — doing many little things right improves yields. But there’s no denying the hard facts, some farmers are just better at it. Even so, they don’t think they do anything that other farmers can’t do […] Read more
Best-Sellers
Reading Time: 3 minutes In the world of commodity trading, timely, accurate information is crucial. So where do merchants get their information on price, analysis, outlook and strategies? “Every day we get so much to read,” says Elizabeth Armstrong, commodity trader for London Agricultural Commodities (LAC) in southwestern Ontario. “I breeze through 25 or 30 online newsletters every morning.” […] Read more
ARE YOU READY?
Reading Time: 5 minutes The Economists…. Greg Mason is managing director of Prairie Research Associates (PRA) and economics professor at the University of Manitoba. PRA is a leading consultant on ag policy and research for Ottawa and for provincial governments across the country. David Sparling is the first-ever ag business specialist at the Richard Ivey School of Business in […] Read more
Ready, Set, Jump-Shift
Reading Time: 10 minutes If you’re like me, you didn’t know you’ve already got some solid experience at jump-shifting. Instead, farmers simply went ahead and bought that line-up of no-till equipment and built that new barn, and then figured out how to use them to completely transform the way we farm. We jump-shifted. We just didn’t know that what […] Read more
Ontario’s Dairy Jewel
Reading Time: 11 minutes My father heaved great sighs as we drove along. In the seat beside him, I was a young girl accompanying her Dad to dairy cattle sales in Tavistock, in the heart of Ontario’s Oxford county, and already I knew that these were sighs mixed with admiration and jealousy. “Ohh,” he would say, “see the corn […] Read more
CMA FARMER
Reading Time: 10 minutes Why return to farming? Because, Renkema says his CMA training told him it’s a great opportunity. Certified management accountant and young farmer Gerald Renkema used his business skills to help him start farming four years ago. Today he manages his farm with his off-farm experience, and he plans for the future with the optimism of […] Read more
First Move
Reading Time: < 1 minute Even inside Canada, it’s daunting to scout out new markets and new distribution channels for grains and oilseeds, let alone for perishable goods. Making the leap into another country merely multiplies the obstacles. Potentially, though, it can multiply the rewards too. So where do you turn for help to figure out if your brainwave is […] Read more
Management Accounting The Multiple-Member Family Farm
Reading Time: 6 minutes In 1980, with a degree in ag economics, an MBA and a dream job with a bank in Washington, Dick Wittman decided to start farming. His priorities had shifted to family and he saw an opportunity to start a three-way corporation with his brother and cousin. Today, he helps manage an 18,000-acre dryland farm with […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
