Reading Time: 7 minutes Figuring how to compensate Millennials can be like driving through a snowstorm. You can’t see what’s ahead, there’s a very real possibility that you’ll hit the ditch. And yet you’ve got to get there. Country Guide caught up with New Brunswick farmer and consultant Cedric MacLeod as he was driving home through a snowstorm. At […] Read more
Pay your Millennials right
Too much? Too little? What’s the right compensation for the kids coming back to the farm?
Legal insights into transition planning
Today it’s getting even more critical to keep up with your legal documents all through your business planning and succession discussions
Reading Time: 9 minutes At 45,000 sq. feet the new dairy pack barn is impressive, especially the way it captures the spirit of hope that fills the McCorquodale family at Embro, Ont. With the next generation waiting in the wings, their barn represents their shared belief in their future, complete with robotic milking system and the latest in cow-comfort […] Read more
Cloud farming
The power of deep learning will unlock much of agriculture’s future, thanks to enormous potential of ‘The Cloud’
Reading Time: 7 minutes From the ground, cloud technology is a lot like one of those fast-moving, cumulus clouds you see on the horizon in summer. It seems so full of rain, and rain would be great for the crop, but all the while you tell yourself not to wish too hard. But cloud technology is here. It’s happening, […] Read more
For food and ag startups
For food and ag startups a real life Dragon’s Den is coming to Montreal with loads of cash and a focus on ag and food innovation
Reading Time: 4 minutes The title is certainly impressive. Manuel Gonzalez Guzman is managing director, global head of banking for food startup innovation and Rabobank’s Banking for Food Inspiration Centre. Rabobank after all is one of the world’s largest banks with over $750 billion in assets, all of it focused on the food, agribusiness and beverage industry. Equally impressive, […] Read more
The right next step
Peer Think: Brooks and Jen White have always focused on improving their management decision-making. For them, that makes a peer group a key growth strategy
Reading Time: 7 minutes These new peer groups are drawing rave reviews from their members. Are they the most inspirational and perhaps the most essential business idea of the new millennium? It’s a big claim, but it’s tough to argue against this newest iteration of farmers helping farmers. Located in the extreme southwest of Manitoba, Brooks and Jen White’s […] Read more
Get there first
Agriculture is constantly moving the yardsticks, which means there’s always a new business opportunity on the horizon. So, asks Rob Saik, founder of Agri-Trend: What are you waiting for?
Reading Time: 7 minutes This fall Country Guide chatted with Rob Saik founder and CEO of Agri-Trend as the innovative coaching company celebrates 20 years in business. He talked about the struggles of being and staying ahead of the innovation curve, the stumbles and wins, and what it was like to sell Agri-Trend to Trimble, the U.S. precision agriculture […] Read more
The big 4
Where are all the mergers and acquisitions in the crop protection and seed sectors going to leave the individual farmer?
Reading Time: 9 minutes Sorting out who owns who in today’s agricultural supply sector is a bit like looking at that rat’s nest of cords and surge protectors behind your desk. Everyone’s too afraid to touch it because it’s so complicated and intertwined. Besides, it seems to be working, so why bother? Except… Canadian farmers spend billions in seed, […] Read more
A shareholder plan for farm employees
With family and non-family ownership, Marie-Claude Mainville’s management of this Quebec farm may become a new Canadian pattern
Reading Time: 7 minutes Back in 1979, friends Jan Van Gennip and Orance Mainville decided to join forces to get into the feedlot business. Van Gennip had the farm, Mainville brought his knowledge of cattle and business, and together they formed Fermes Janor. Since then, Mainville (now semi-retired) has been joined by his daughter Marie-Claude, and many partners have […] Read more
Farm feedback
On this savvy farm, feedback is mined for real value, producing a happier, more efficient workforce
Reading Time: 9 minutes On the farm, we’ve heard the jokes about feedback being a load of barley that gets rejected at the elevator, or maybe it’s how a cow chews her cud. In bizspeak, though, feedback gets taken a lot more seriously than that. As a human resources strategy, feedback is gaining global attention because of the power […] Read more
Transition to better communication
How better succession planning can lead to better decision-making and less conflict
Reading Time: 8 minutes Too many times, farm succession planning starts with a series of useless, dead-end and sometimes volatile meetings. Someone erupts into tears, someone else mutters some nasty words in anger and frustration and all our hopes crash in flames. No wonder we are afraid of stirring up this toxic mess of emotions. We’re supposed to be […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
