Reading Time: 2 minutes It looks like 2022-level profitability is over for farms in Western Canada. The decline of commodity markets combined with ever-increasing costs is pressuring 2025 farm budgets. So, if grain farming is back to squeaking out a profit for the foreseeable future, what can we do about it? 1. Confront the facts, but don’t lose faith […] Read more
2022-Level Farm Profits are Over. What’s Next?
Dreamer versus Doer: Harnessing creativity in farm businesses
Connecting your internal dreamer with real-world doing can lead to big wins on the farm
Reading Time: 7 minutes Is the world really made of up “dreamers” and “doers”? And if so, which one comes out ahead? Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow believed that “One half of the world must sweat and groan that the other half may dream.” Dreamers, who are more inclined towards imagination, creativity and possibilities, are in stark contrast to doers […] Read more
An evolving vision
First-gen farmers share their blueprint for business transition
Reading Time: 5 minutes When it comes to starting and growing a business, you’re only limited by your imagination. For Belmont, Manitoba first-generation farmers Lydia Carpenter and her husband Wian Prinsloo, it’s that type of unlimited, outside-the-box thinking that has become their regular way of thinking. Over the years, they’ve leveraged multiple income streams, a direct-to-consumer marketing beef business, […] Read more
A guide for farm growth
Vision statements are more common on today’s farms. How can creating one help you?
Reading Time: 6 minutes Why does your farm need a vision? To Jeannette French and her husband Brian, co-owners of Lennox Farms in Melancthon, Ont., the answer is simple. “No matter your farm size, a vision is something that drives you every day. It’s born from your values and is the backbone of what you believe.” Six years ago, […] Read more
How farmers can thrive in retirement
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to retirement and planning ahead makes it much more enjoyable
Reading Time: 5 minutes For many farmers, being a farmer is part of their fundamental nature. It’s who they are and they can’t imagine a time when they won’t be a farmer. Who hasn’t heard a farmer say they want to die farming? But the reality is that many farmers will need to exit the business whether they want […] Read more
Planning for retirement: Lifestyle versus finances
Reading Time: 3 minutes Farmers might not think about retirement often, if ever. But the sooner you start to think about retiring, you can minimize the impact of the adjustment when the time comes. A retirement plan should be part of the conversation when creating a succession plan. The emphasis of succession planning is typically on transferring the business […] Read more
Starting succession right
If you’ve resolved to start transitioning the farm this year, these insights can help you get a strong start
Reading Time: 7 minutes It’s no secret that many farm and ranch operations facing the prospect of transition to the next generation feel stuck and unsure how to proceed. “We can’t emphasize enough that retirement is a significant life transition that comes with a rollercoaster of challenges and emotions,” write Robert Laura and Colleen Drummond in the Modern Elder […] Read more
Attracting the right kind of capital in agriculture
Capital is required to grow the farm business but sometimes it takes an innovative approach
Reading Time: 2 minutes Agriculture’s future will rely on attracting capital. In the past, capital typically came from banks or family. But the changing demographic of farmers and farmland owners means that many farms and a tremendous amount of farmland will change hands over the coming decade. To add to the list of challenges, inflation and farmland appreciation has […] Read more
In the combine
Syngenta leader Jeff Rowe talks about being prepared for leadership and the importance of listening to people
Reading Time: 3 minutes Jeff Rowe, CEO of the Syngenta Group, doesn’t often get home to his farm near Princeton, Illinois. He’s usually operating from his base in Basel, Switzerland, instead. But when he does get back to the Midwest, you might catch up to him running a planter in the spring or the combine in the fall, just […] Read more
The formula for farm growth
Capital + Risk + Execution = Farm SUCCESS
Reading Time: 3 minutes “Change is inevitable, growth is optional.” That’s how John C. Maxwell said it, and he might have said it best. It’s easy to look around the ag industry and see changes in the landscape. Suppliers, competitors and customers are consolidating and growing. Yet growth is often met with more scorn in farming than in these […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
