Reading Time: 5 minutes Farmers frequently take stock of tangible assets. They know how much money they have in the bank, how much machinery they’ve got ready to go, and how much of which crop inputs they have on hand. But what about intangible assets? Could we be keeping better track of our knowledge and skills, and should we […] Read more
Bright spots and blind spots
Bright Ideas: “Hugely successful businesses have been built on this principle,” says IBM founder Tom Watson. “It’s worth giving it some thought."
Is a joint venture right for you?
On Canadian farms, and especially in succession planning, joint ventures are still uncommon. That may soon change, but it means you’ll have to wrap your head around these essential concepts
Reading Time: 10 minutes They aren’t going to work on every farm. Joint ventures are common in industries such as natural resources, energy and property development, but they haven’t yet found a real home in agriculture, and certainly not as a farm transition tool. With the price of farm assets such as land and equipment soaring, though, and with […] Read more
Lessons from the 1980s
Can farm advice from those who were on the front lines 40 years ago help producers survive the challenges of the 2020s?
Reading Time: 6 minutes Roger Pelissero remembers when the 1980s farm crisis dominated headlines in newspapers and the evening news, although he didn’t need to read the paper or turn on the television to know that farmers were in trouble. “We had friends in Western Canada growing commodities and grain who had to give up their land,” recalls Pelissero, […] Read more
Farm advisors a growing trend
Farm advisors are already delivering big value to most farms. In fact, it’s growing year upon year
Reading Time: 4 minutes The number of farm advisors is growing all the time, which is probably a good thing given that over 150,000 Canadian farms still need to plan and execute a succession of some kind, whether it’s a transition to the next generation or outside the family. And the need for advice won’t stop there. Already, more […] Read more
Thriving vs. surviving
Opportunities and challenges are on the horizon. Is your farm ready? This case study may help
Reading Time: 8 minutes It’s a question farm business advisors are hearing more and more from farmers across the country. “What can I do today to improve my financial position in five years?” While there are a number of reasons why seeking out this type of advice is a good idea, management consultants Gavin Betker and Jacqueline Gerrard find […] Read more
Before you come back to the farm
More next-gen farmers are taking off-farm jobs before they return to the farm. It’s proving a very good thing
Reading Time: 6 minutes While growing up, Jackie Dudgeon figured she would go to school and then be on her way. She had no plans to join her dad growing canola, wheat and soybeans on their Darlingford farm, a couple hours southwest of Winnipeg. But after she spent a summer working off-farm blending fertilizer, treating seed and delivering chemicals […] Read more
Coping with uncertainty
A look at how senior executives are dealing with COVID-19’s effects on their firms
Reading Time: 7 minutes The disruptions to business and industry caused or worsened by COVID-19 have been well documented in the media. How, exactly, are equipment makers being affected, and how are they fighting back? Are they all experiencing similar problems, and how significant are they? To find out, Country Guide spoke with senior executives at three Canadian manufacturers. […] Read more
Above board
Pay yourself, and put the numbers right from the start in your budgets. It’s better for you, and for the business too
Reading Time: 5 minutes The thing is, you’re going to eat anyway, and probably wear clothes too. When a farmer doesn’t build a salary into their business model, they’ll still spend money on their personal needs and desires. It’s just that the money gets sucked out some other way. Of course it’s an idea that can take some getting […] Read more
These farmers call it teamwork
As these Nuffield farmers are learning, time invested in your HR makes all the difference
Reading Time: 10 minutes It is well known that Canadian farms are limited by labour shortages. Pre-COVID-19 studies say Canadian farms already faced a labour gap of 63,000 positions in 2018, set to increase to 123,000 within this decade, and research by the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC) estimates that labour shortages during COVID-19 pandemic resulted in $2.9 […] Read more
Missing the market
Farmers like the Thatchers are succeeding, but what happened to the promise that industry would make us a world leader value-adding?
Reading Time: 11 minutes Five years ago, the spotlight was shining bright on a report from the federal government’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth. Few federal reports get much attention, but this report, named after council chair Dominic Barton, generated headlines as it predicted that a new era of value-adding would not only transform the country’s ag and food […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
