Reading Time: 7 minutes If Ray and Tracey Bredenhof were solely growing chickens, Ray doubts they would have been named Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers last December. To him, what the award was really recognizing was the purposeful way they have diversified their operation and how they continue to evaluate growth opportunities. It’s a point worth looking at, so here’s […] Read more
B.C. farmers go vertical with sales and processing
For Tracey and Ray Bredenhof, getting into processing, distribution and sales is a winner
Click your way to success
This free online course promises it will open new business options for you and your farm
Reading Time: 3 minutes A new, online farm management program has come to Canada with a mission to help more Canadian farmers get equipped with the knowledge and confidence to take their businesses to the next level. The University of Guelph has collaborated with RBC Royal Bank and Farm Credit Canada to launch theFoundations in Agricultural Management certificate program, […] Read more
Five moves to make in 2022
With so much opportunity, so much risk, so much change and so much uncertainty, can this be a historic year for your farm?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Despite drought, floods and a continuing global pandemic, Canadian farm businesses came out of 2021 with a notable increase in cash receipts. While economists expect farm revenues to continue to grow, it’s a figure that will only tell half of the story for financial success. Revenue growth does not equate to profitability. The other half […] Read more
Thriving vs. surviving
Opportunities and challenges are on the horizon. Is your farm ready? This case study may help
Reading Time: 8 minutes It’s a question farm business advisors are hearing more and more from farmers across the country. “What can I do today to improve my financial position in five years?” While there are a number of reasons why seeking out this type of advice is a good idea, management consultants Gavin Betker and Jacqueline Gerrard find […] Read more
The class of COVID
These three new graduates are as passionate as ever, and even more resilient
Reading Time: 3 minutes In Canada’s colleges and universities, the last two years have seen unprecedented challenges coupled with myriad struggles to convert to virtual teaching. Few programs have been more impacted than agriculture, which relies on such an intense combination of classroom, lab, and field and barn training. But was there a silver lining from “COVID-19?” According to […] Read more
Professional farming
You see it at post-secondary schools all across the country. Agriculture has a new swagger
Reading Time: 6 minutes When parents ask Rickey Yada if their sons and daughters will find jobs after college or university graduation, his answer is always yes — as long as they’re studying agriculture. As dean of the faculty of land and food systems at the University of British Columbia, Yada is constantly amazed at how quickly undergraduate and […] Read more
Your approach to a farm business plan? Implement, review, and repeat
Adding these business planning tasks to your management routine can keep your farm on track
Reading Time: 4 minutes Writing a farm business plan is no easy feat. Whether you take the do-it-yourself route or hire an advisor to guide you through the process, the analysis, the tough conversations and the forward thinking add up to a significant investment in time and resources. Then, when your newly written business plan is nearing completion, the […] Read more
Value in your farming peers
Could a peer group be right for you? Country Guide talks to one Ontario group to find out
Reading Time: 6 minutes When Ontario’s Janet O’Rourke and her husband Kevin took CTEAM — the executive management program designed specifically for Canadian farmers and ranchers — they got their first taste of peer feedback and the benefits it can bring. As part of the program, their class of farmers met four times over two years and got to […] Read more
Making it their business
A growing number of Western Canada’s farmers are using peer groups to drive their performance. This one is ready made
Reading Time: 6 minutes It turns out that size can matter. It makes a difference. Farming at different scales doesn’t necessarily make anyone a better or a worse farmer, but it does change the kinds of problems you have to tackle every day, the kinds of decisions you have to make and, of course, the kinds of questions that […] Read more
Farm planning for what lies ahead
How can a business plan be worth writing when farming is so unpredictable? For Mike and Amy Cronin, that’s the wrong question
Reading Time: 5 minutes If there’s one thing certain about farming, it’s the uncertainty. Prices, weather and other variables are constantly changing and farmers in most sectors are tasked with doing business without being able to predict future outcomes. Research released by Farm Management Canada last year indicated three in every four Canadian farmers are working at mid-level or […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
