Reading Time: 3 minutes What if everyone in the farm business could lay out their expectations and at the same time determine what is expected of each to make the business work? And what if you could also design a road map for how each person exits the operation or buys out other parties? A shareholder’s agreement is an […] Read more
Formalize the family farm with shareholder agreements
People-first winery plays the long game
This Nova Scotian winery proves that focusing on the right things at the right time leads to success
Reading Time: 6 minutes The Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, an hour north of Halifax, seems an unlikely place to find a thriving winery making world-class wines from locally grown grapes. But Benjamin Bridge, which began as a passion project for the founders 25 years ago, has grown into a successful and innovative winery. Keltie MacNeill is the director […] Read more
Ontario sisters strike farm business partnership
Business partnerships can be tricky to navigate at the best of times. Throw in family members, a new on-farm business and a growing family legacy, and it’s a whole other level
Reading Time: 7 minutes For several years, sisters Kori de Boer and Casie Kuypers were informally part of their family’s original dairy farm in Palgrave, Ont., run by their dad and uncle. When their dad and uncle’s partnership wrapped up a few years ago, they knew that if they didn’t want the dairy to stay small (which would mean […] Read more
2022-Level Farm Profits are Over. What’s Next?
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
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
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
