Reading Time: 3 minutes October editorial
Your farm, your conversation drives 140 years of Country Guide content
Behind every on-farm decision is a conversation — in fact, many conversations — and Country Guide wants to highlight the critical topics that form the basis of the myriad business decisions you make every day
Space and grace from season to season
Summer Series: In the final instalment of this five-part series, we find out how Kristen Raney wraps up the busy season at her Saskatchewan flower farm
Reading Time: 4 minutes After a whirlwind season, Kristen Raney, owner of Shifting Blooms flower farm in Clavet, Sask., is getting ready to shut down her farm stand and wrap up the 2025 wedding and market season. Thanksgiving weekend and the first frost of the season spell the end for her roadside garden stand and flower gardens, but Christmas […] Read more
How salmon farming transformed a remote First Nations community
How salmon farming transformed a remote First Nations community
Reading Time: 7 minutes Salmon farming at Kitasoo Xai’xais territory, BC.
What makes a leader?
What makes an effective leader? Historically, many thought the deciding factor was being male. They were wrong
Reading Time: 8 minutes It’s not gender that makes an effective leader.
What leadership means in the field (literally)
The effects of having more women leaders in ag could be economically significant for both the industry and at the farm level
Reading Time: 5 minutes In part one, we explored gendered perceptions of leadership, that is, does gender have anything to do with what makes an effective leader? We looked at how lack of fit theory, role congruity theory, expectation states theory, the think manager-think male paradigm and the double bind influence the leadership opportunities women miss out on. Now, […] Read more
Employment agreements: A tool to manage employees
Reading Time: 3 minutes The days of a one-parcel, 100-acre family farm are long past. As farm operations become larger and more sophisticated, so does the need for properly managing farm operations. And that starts with the workforce. Proper training, supervision, and safety policies and procedures are paramount when it comes to managing a workforce. Additionally, the importance of […] Read more
Moving beyond delegation on the farm
Summer Series: When everyone is too busy and delegating isn’t an option, what’s a busy farmer to do?
Reading Time: 4 minutes Farming can be overwhelming during peak seasons. A never-ending job list means you’re overloaded — which means your team is probably already operating at maximum capacity as well, so delegating isn’t an option. What can you do? Kelly Dobson, executive coach and fourth-generation Fairfax, Man., farmer says a common complaint from his clients is that […] Read more
You don’t have to be a people person to be a good leader
Summer Series: Just follow these basic tips to polish your leadership skills
Reading Time: 3 minutes If you read Country Guide you are most likely a farm manager or owner which means that perhaps you’re often focused on human resources management. But if you don’t think you’re great with people, not to worry. Many times, I’ve come across farm managers who have evolved their people skills in a short amount of […] Read more
What is a farm legacy?
Summer Series: Discussions about legacy have become more complex. How can you balance legacy and family when it comes to the next generation?
Reading Time: 3 minutes The definition of “legacy” in agriculture is changing. I have worked in this industry in some capacity for more than two decades and the one constant is that every family farm believes in legacy, the ability to create something that your children want to be a part of after you are gone. For years, that […] Read more
Flower power, with help from some feathered friends
Summer Series: The pros and cons of chickens on a flower farm
Reading Time: 3 minutes After five years as owner-operator of flower farm Shifting Blooms, Raney’s long-time love of chickens is paying off more than she initially thought. The mix of Ameraucana, Easter Egger, Swedish flower hens, Copper Marans, silkies, an Orpington and a Polish chicken create a rainbow of eggs for her farm stand. But her chickens give so […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
