Reading Time: 7 minutes Salmon farming at Kitasoo Xai’xais territory, BC.
How salmon farming transformed a remote First Nations community
How salmon farming transformed a remote First Nations community
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
Why do farmers hate paying taxes?
Reading Time: 3 minutes It didn’t take long in my accounting career to learn that farmers don’t like paying income tax. No one does really, but farmers seem to have a particular disdain for sending money to Ottawa. I think there are a few reasons for this. One is cash basis income tax treatment which means farmers can often […] Read more
Making space for a new generation of ideas in Canadian agriculture
Summer Series 'Making the Future': Exploring the perspectives and experiences of young up-and-comers in various sectors of Canada’s agriculture industry
Reading Time: 4 minutes In part four of our Making the Future series Country Guide spoke with Eugénie Officer from Hemmingford, Que. (Read part one here, part two here and part three here.) Officer grew up on a small apple farm in southwestern Quebec. After studying history and agriculture at the University of Guelph, she joined Farm Credit Canada […] Read more
Can slowing down farm succession really work?
Summer Series: Designating more time to the farm transition process can mean less stress and more choices
Reading Time: 4 minutes When I ask farmers to guess how long it will take to complete a transition plan, they usually say one to two years. The reality is that it takes much longer. In a 2017 survey by Business Development Canada (BDC), five out of six entrepreneurs believed that the transition process can be completed in two […] Read more
When it looks like there aren’t many options for farm growth what’s a growing family to do?
Summer Series: Here’s how farm families can navigate a common sticky farm succession situation — and still want to have Christmas dinner together
Reading Time: 4 minutes Keeping the farm in the family is something really special. But figuring out how to share it with siblings and cousins who want to be part of the business? That can get tricky. Especially if the farm is only so big and growth is limited. “Every farm and family dynamic is different, and the more […] Read more
Riding the tariff rollercoaster
What are producers doing to minimize the risk created by ongoing trade uncertainty?
Reading Time: 3 minutes Farmers are accustomed to roller-coaster years. But the current geopolitical windstorm is something else entirely. On his cattle operation near Birtle, Man., Tyler Fulton is making good use of livestock price insurance and has filed his annual application for AgriStability, a margin-based, federal business risk management (BRM) program that helps Canadian producers manage large income […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
