Reading Time: 5 minutes Family ties and farming operations have long been intertwined. Indeed, family forms the backbone of many of our agricultural traditions, and today, it is often the reason why navigating farm succession is so complex. In fact, we can say even more. In an important way, family is making succession planning even more difficult in 2024 […] Read more
Summer Series: The challenge with family rental agreements
[Land] Family rental agreements are getting big attention in 2024. Just don’t rely on them as the foundation of your succession plan. They’re one piece in the puzzle
Summer Series: Choosing who gets to rent your farmland
[Land] With commercial owners purchasing more farmland, farmers need to know how to win them over
Reading Time: 5 minutes For Robert Andjelic, the largest farmland owner in Canada, this has become the top priority when he’s looking to decide who he will rent that ground to. It’s how he thinks those farmers treat the land they are renting. It isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s the core of his business model, Andjelic says. “Soil is […] Read more
Summer Series: So many landlords
[Land] Can a long-term business be built on short-term contracts? Jeff Barlow keeps his farm business stable while renting land from 43 different owners
Reading Time: 7 minutes Jeff Barlow’s 4,200-acre farm is near the town of Binbrook, about 30 km south of Hamilton, Ontario. “Technically, within the city limits,” he says. Barlow and his father grow soybeans, corn and soft red winter wheat with help from employees, Jeff’s three teenage sons, and support from Jeff’s wife, Dianne, who works off the farm […] Read more
VIDEO: Summer Series: Travis and Brad Hopcott
Reading Time: < 1 minute Travis and Brad Hopcott are third generation British Columbia beef producers, processors and retailers, and grow cranberries for Ocean Spray. They were also a 2023 winner of Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers. Country Guide caught up with them just before their win to chat about managing it all, identifying opportunities and how they feel about the […] Read more
Summer Series: What is an executor?
[Make It Count: Finance 101] What makes you so sure you’ve named the right person to make all those decisions for you when you’re no longer here to make them for yourself?
Reading Time: 4 minutes Simply put, an executor is a person you trust to carry out your wishes as you have designated them in your will, which could include the care of your children, dependants, assets and farm business after you die. Robert Graham, a lawyer who specializes in business and farm succession planning with Smith Valeriote Law Firm […] Read more
Summer Series: The dark market of farmland rentals
[Land] It’s not getting any easier to follow the market for this key farm expense
Reading Time: 5 minutes Somehow, how farmland rental rates get set remains one of the mysteries of the universe despite being so hotly debated in social media. Whether you’re a renter or a landlord, everyone is endlessly fishing for details about what the neighbour is charging or paying, although it’s easier to crack a bank vault than pry that […] Read more
Summer Series: Podcast with Christian Dionne
Reading Time: < 1 minute In this instalment of the Country Guide podcast, we hear from Québec maple syrup producer, cash cropper and podcast host Christian Dionne (Podcasts agricoles du Québec) about farming in la belle province. Tune in at country-guide.ca!
Summer Series: Build a better crop budget
[Land] Financial management is evolving as fast as agronomy. Your budget can have the best of both
Reading Time: 3 minutes Crop planning involves decisions on return on investment and cost/benefit, and also cash flow and financing considerations. Some producers now utilize both agronomists and financial consultants to help build their crop budget. Optimizing crop budget planning is increasingly important as crop expenses increase and agronomic options continue to expand. Logistics, opportunity costs and strategy Logistics […] Read more
Summer Series: The lease-back business of farmland
[Land] The future according to Bonnefield CEO Tom Eisenhauer
Reading Time: 6 minutes “Every other business in this country has access to outside investors and outside capital; why shouldn’t farmers have that too?” asks the CEO of Canada’s largest provider of land-lease financing for farmers. “Farmers should have all the same financial tools that a tech company or a mining company does,” Tom Eisenhauer tells us. “That’s what […] Read more
Summer Series: Choosing the right time to quit farming isn’t easy
[Land] Rumours flew when Bobbie and Mark Bratrud decided to leave the farm. But sometimes an exit is a carefully considered decision
Reading Time: 8 minutes The second that Mark and Bobbie Bratrud started telling people they were done farming, the news travelled faster than a Saskatchewan wind. “It was a rotating door through our house,” Bobbie Bratrud says. “Everyone was coming by to ask, ‘are you guys okay?’” Mark recalls three of the most common rumours: “Somebody’s sick, you’re getting […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
