Reading Time: 2 minutes What’s your greatest farm asset? Lloyd Affleck hesitated when an advisor asked him this question, but the answer was something all farmers should consider.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor Lloyd Affleck is connected. He’s a retired pedigreed seed grower and chair of Canterra Seed’s board of directors and he has served other industry boards and […] Read more
Summer Series: Best advice from a retired seed grower
[Best Advice] What's your greatest asset?
Summer Series: How to set up a peer group
[Best Advice] Peer groups are driving the performance of more farms across the country. How do you get started
Reading Time: 5 minutes You can’t always rely on one-off farm tours to get the info you need to make those critical decisions for your farm. One increasingly popular solution: peer groups. Here’s how to get one started.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor Every farmer gains deep perspective and a wealth of insight during their career. It’s knowledge that […] Read more
Summer Series: How to get disruptive
[Best Advice] On the Charbonneau farm, the business strategy seemed clear. Go vertical. But how?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Here’s how one Quebec dairy farm decided to take the proverbial bull by the horns and make their farm a vertical integration success despite the constraints of the industry.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor Too often it seems we never hear the words “disruptor” and “Canadian agriculture” used in the same sentence. When we’re thinking […] Read more
Summer Series: Podcast with Mark Lumley
Reading Time: < 1 minute Listen in as Mark Lumley from Fairwind Farms shares key moments from his life, how he grew into the agriculture industry, and what he thinks about the future of agriculture and food production. (Don’t forget to subscribe to the Country Guide Podcast on Google or Apple so you can catch new episodes as they’re released […] Read more
Summer Series: ‘Never stop learning’
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sheila Elder and her husband Jeff grow malt barley, canola, soybeans and wheat on their farm near Wawanesa, Manitoba. Elder says the best advice she’s ever been given is “never stop learning.” This advice, she says, applies to all areas of life, but especially farming. “It doesn’t matter how much I learn — there is […] Read more
Summer Series: Bank on growth
[Better Advice] Ideas that performance-minded farmers can take to the bank
Reading Time: 5 minutes Even top-performing farmers need advice. In fact, when farmers fine-tune their operations to maximize yield and profitability, they can plan on needing more financial advice than ever before. This is for some very good reasons. Not only do risks grow with the scale and complexity of the operation, but so do the opportunities, and today’s […] Read more
Summer Series: How to use a situational analysis to set farm goals
[Best Advice] Consider a situational analysis in order to set goals for your farm
Reading Time: 9 minutes Knowing exactly where you’re starting from, and with what resources, leads to more efficient decision-making. Here’s a tool to help you plan for a new process, project or product on the farm.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor Stories in Country Guide often explore the latest, the most innovative and sometimes the boldest in on-farm business […] Read more
Summer Series: Building a better farm business
[Best Advice] Is Trish Fournier creating the new template for how Canada’s farms will inject cutting-edge financial skills and strategic business acumen into their mid- to large-size operations?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Hiring farm business advisors isn’t a new concept, but the creative ways some of them are approaching consulting is worth a second thought.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor Today’s farm operations are growing ever more complex. There are crucial production, financial, human resource, marketing and other management decisions to be made, and it is impossible […] Read more
Summer Series: Podcast with Megz Reynolds
Reading Time: < 1 minute To mark Mental Health Awareness Month, Country Guide spoke with Megz Reynolds, Executive Director of the Do More Agriculture Foundation. Listen to the full episode on our home page to learn more about what’s being done to address mental health challenges in agriculture and what resources are available. (Don’t forget to subscribe to the Country […] Read more
Summer Series: Lessons for young farmers on farm transitions
[Best Advice] As they get going on their farm transition journey, there's something all young farmers have to learn
Reading Time: 7 minutes Where can young farmers turn for help to figure out which pieces of the leadership puzzle to learn and when? And on top of all the facts and processes you must master as you step into an on-farm leadership role, how can you accumulate enough of the right insights and skills required? These three young […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
