Reading Time: 5 minutes Canadian farmers are no strangers to change. Over the centuries, and especially over the last few decades, they have constantly adapted to changing global markets and government policies with new processes, technology and on-farm practices. Despite change being such a big part of farming, however, few farmers receive formal lessons in best practices for change […] Read more
Summer Series: Working through change
[Make it count] Learning to change — and to change better — is a constant process
Summer Series: The right farm team
[Land] It’s the Catch-22 of the decade. Either buy that ultra-expensive land or someone else will. How do you make that decision?
Reading Time: 8 minutes Two years ago in June, Terry Aberhart got a call from an account manager at the land investment company that, at the time, was leasing him about 2,000 acres of his roughly 15,000-acre operation. “Hey, we’ve been having some unsolicited offers come in,” the voice on the line said. The account manager went on: “In […] Read more
Summer Series: “Not just with acres”
[Land] “We had to find another way to diversify,” says Jennifer Lindgren
Reading Time: 10 minutes The question we’ve come to ask is why Jordan and Jennifer Lindgren made the strange choice to turn being a grain farmer into such a public life. Unlike most farmers, the Lindgrens’ marketing campaign puts their farm and their family right in the public spotlight. Can it possibly pay? And what’s it like behind the […] Read more
Summer Series: Business connections
[Change Management] Planning a new venture? Keep close to other innovative and entrepreneurial minds
Reading Time: 5 minutes Of course farmers are proudly independent, and of course there are huge advantages in fixing your own problems and setting your own direction. But if diversification might be on your agenda, or if you’re dreaming of launching an innovative new business, there can be big costs too. Today, there’s even more proof that mixing with […] Read more
Summer Series: Smarter training
[Change Management] Even the best employees are only as good as they know how
Reading Time: 6 minutes Training new and existing employees about the ever-changing tasks on the farm is essential if you hope to build and maintain a great farm team. But how much should you invest in training? Are you already there, or could your farm make big strides in its efficiency if you stepped up your training initiatives? Such […] Read more
Summer Series: Your next decision
[Change Management] Can you take the same path as Kristjan Hebert? Should you even try?
Reading Time: 9 minutes Agriculture already has so many buzz phrases meant to show you’re smart. There’s “Do more with less,” there’s “Work on the business, not in it,” and, of course, there’s “What got you here today won’t get you to where you want to go tomorrow.” It isn’t that they’re wrong. It’s that they’re too much like […] Read more
Summer Series: Long-distance farming
[Change Management] For Michael Carter, when a family can make the right changes at home, their odds of success with expanding across provincial borders and hundreds of kms away go up and up
Reading Time: 9 minutes The idea sounds right for the times. If you can’t expand at home, either because land is so expensive or because there just isn’t any for sale, look further afield. Maybe two hours away, maybe four, maybe even in a different province and so far away you basically have to set up a whole new […] Read more
Summer Series: Measuring success on the farm
[Change Management] We talk a lot about farm success. But how do we know if we’re getting there?
Reading Time: 6 minutes When asked to define “success,” most farmers will tell you it’s about more than money. Family often comes up. High yields and good soil health are top of mind too, and health, safety and employee relations can be as well. We know these non-financial factors are important. Still, when the farm team gathers at the […] Read more
Summer Series: Opportunities ahead
[Change Management] What’s in store for Canada’s farms in 2024? The news is good, mostly
Reading Time: 10 minutes Land is up. Inputs are up. Commodities are volatile. And that’s just a start. Climate change is getting real. Interest rates are too. And the international scene is chaos. Does it all add up to good news for your farm in 2024? Bad news? And what can you do to keep your farm on the […] Read more
Summer Series: 7 trends in agriculture for 2024
[Change Management] The long term is clear. The world will need Canadian farmers to feed a global population expected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050. But what about the short term, like next summer?
Reading Time: 6 minutes High interest rates, skyrocketing input costs, labour shortages, climate change … the exact mix varies from country to country but farmers around the world are facing threats to their ability to grow more food, which means farmers everywhere are looking for opportunities to improve production, preserve profits and protect the environment. What does it all […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
