Reading Time: 5 minutes It was never going to be easy. Gwen Donohoe knew that, the same way that every farm kid knows that taking over the family farm is going to demand total commitment. Yet it isn t the hard work that has convinced Donohoe she needs to keep a least one foot in the city. She wasn […] Read more
The City Question
What Is It Young People Want Anyway?
Reading Time: 5 minutes As questions go, this isn t exactly new. What do young people want? Every generation has wondered at the behaviour of their young, and every age has questioned the wisdom of its children s long-term goals. Granted, it doesn t help that the question sometimes gets asked with sarcasm in the voice and a raised […] Read more
Listening In
Reading Time: 8 minutes A generation ago, Sarah Wray might have gone looking for a farm organization to join. Maybe she would even have started a new club so beginning farmers such as she and her husband Logan could learn from others about getting off to a good start. Or she might have opened up a new branch of […] Read more
Better Than Gold
Reading Time: 7 minutes Farmland values are up again across the country, and with strong commodity prices, land prices seem sure to post sizeble gains well into the future. For farmers coming off two decades of tight margins, the strength in the land market is not only helping them sleep at night, it s actually giving them fun options […] Read more
Reality Check
Reading Time: 4 minutes NOVA SCOTIA Stephen North, farm appraiser in New Minas, N.S. has observed land values in his area increasing from six to eight per cent per year generally, although this rate has slowed recently. Prices tend to be flat for a period then increase rapidly and then flatten out again, rather than rising in a linear […] Read more
TOO INVESTED
Reading Time: 8 minutes For years, if you saw the word agriculture in the GLOBE AND MAIL s Report on Business, you could be sure the next word would be crisis, disaster or bailout. But now the story is different. In fact, it could hardly be more different, with ag today being paired with boom, profit and growth. Overnight, […] Read more
Retire Easier
Reading Time: 6 minutes The very nature of farming can squash all of a farmer s best intentions for off-farm investing. Busy schedules, fluctuating incomes and the constant demand for new technology can each put the reins on even a modest plan. Yet for more farmers, off-farm investing is becoming an essential business strategy, both so they can inject […] Read more
All Together Now
Reading Time: 9 minutes We aren t alone. All around the world, farmers are searching for ways to succeed in a business environment that s more intense than anything we ve ever seen. Yes, margins have been tight before, but now markets are just more volatile, input costs are soaring and the price of land is rising beyond belief. […] Read more
Succession Primer
Reading Time: 5 minutes ” ACKNOWLEDGE THE SIZE OF THE JOB Leaving a leadership and ownership role in any business requires preplanning. Leaving a farm business can be even more difficult. It s no longer a simple transaction, says Larry Morin, an independent farm business adviser based in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. who specializes in agricultural succession planning. Mom and […] Read more
Five Paths To A Fair Rent
Reading Time: 4 minutes A generation ago, crop-share agreements made up 40 per cent of land rentals. A lot of landlords were retired farmers and they wanted to retain their active farming status, says Merle Good, provincial tax specialist with Alberta Agriculture based in Olds. On the tax side, they wanted to look like an active farmer by having […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
