Reading Time: 3 minutes As more farms like Jackknife Creek Cattle & Land find success with their direct-to-consumer ventures, many experts believe it’s a good time for others to do the same. Food veteran Jo-Ann McArthur says Canada is ready and waiting. “Is it a good time? Absolutely,” she says. McArthur, president of Toronto-based Nourish Food Marketing, says now […] Read more
Right for your farm too?
Farmer Coach: Reflections on year one
Reading Time: 2 minutes When Ryley Richards learned out about Farmer Coach, he signed up. So far, he says, it looks like a good choice. The 41-year-old manages his family farm an hour south of Regina along with father Rod and three full-time crew members, plus a few additional hands at busy times. Over the years, the farm has […] Read more
Who owns the land?
Farms are consolidating, and non-farmers are getting aggressive
Reading Time: 5 minutes It isn’t always easy to get a clear picture of how the pattern of farmland ownership is changing across Canada, particularly in the Prairie provinces. In Alberta, land titles data is expensive to purchase and in Manitoba, the provincial government has to give permission for access, even for research purposes, and that can take several […] Read more
Choosing Canada
For these new immigrants, there’s no going back. Their future is here
Reading Time: 4 minutes It isn’t just the government red tape and the inevitable mountain of paperwork that comes with it that has driven some European farmers to Canada. It’s also the public’s negative perception of farmers and how it is fueling a lot of the regulations, especially around manure management, fertilizer use and animal welfare. “There is no […] Read more
The immigrant farm
Is another wave of foreign farmers headed for Canada?
Reading Time: 5 minutes [UPDATED: Nov. 21, 2023] Even into the early 2000s, Canadian real estate agents were doing impressive business flying cash-rich and expansion-minded European farmers west across the Atlantic to buy turnkey farms here at prices far cheaper than they could ever find at home. That was then. Today, the flow has slowed to a trickle, not […] Read more
The story behind the story
Reading Time: 3 minutes Country Guide was surprised to learn that the Lindgrens had hired a PR agent. Sure, everyone wants to make a good impression on social media, but most of us aren’t willing to pay for it. But then I learned how and why the Lindgrens had started retailing seed and crop protection products, it all made […] Read more
AI for data analysis
[AI for the Farm] Farms are building giant heaps of data. Somewhere in them is something valuable, call it a star of hope. But how do you pick out the useful stuff? It looks like artificial intelligence will help
Reading Time: 6 minutes Your conversation starts with a text on your device: FARMER: “Farmbot, please make me a prescription map.” BOT REPLIES TO FARMER VIA TEXT: Would you like to do variable rate seeding on field 10?FARMER: Seed costs are higher, so yes.BOT: Would you like me to produce a rate map for you?FARMER: Yes.The Bot provides the map […] Read more
Country Guide Podcast: Olivia Riddoch
Reading Time: < 1 minute In Episode 2 of our Better Advice series, Country Guide spoke with Olivia Riddoch of Fairwind Farms, where she shared the career change that brought her back to the family farm and how she’s now managing crop protection on over 4000 acres. Tune in at country-guide.ca or subscribe on Apple or Google.
Country Guide Podcast: Mark Lumley
Reading Time: < 1 minute In the first episode of our NEW Better Advice podcast series, Country Guide sat down with Mark Lumley of Fairwind Farms to chat about the evolution of his family farm and how he keeps on when it isn’t always easy. Tune in at country-guide.ca or subscribe on Apple or Google.
If you really want it
Can Canada’s farmers launch better business ventures by following Nelson Gibson’s lead at APH?
Reading Time: 6 minutes Two minutes into the conversation, you begin to see the parallels between Nelson Gibson’s job and the job that more Canadian farmers see ahead for themselves. On the farm, that job is ahead partly because of how the land market is curtailing farm expansion plans, and partly too because of the new levels of equity […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
