Reading Time: 9 minutes There’s a story that gets told about what it’s like to work an agricultural job in Canada. In this case, though, the story isn’t told in English or French. Those telling it speak Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Arabic and other languages. They are among the thousands of newcomers in Canada as Temporary Foreign Workers on contracts, […] Read more
Diverse, and profitable
Saskatchewan’s Prairie Berries has figured out how a diverse and inclusive workplace can help it achieve growth targets that otherwise just couldn’t happen
The overseas employee
If we look to 2030, where will we find our farm employees?
Reading Time: 4 minutes Agriculture is already looking outside the agricultural community — and in some cases outside the country — to recruit workers. That’s only going to intensify if, as expected, rural populations stagnate or decline, and if farms consolidate and rely more on hired employees. It’s also worth noting that 112,000 of today’s employees (37 per cent […] Read more
A question of equity
Ag corporations are making strides toward gender equity. What will it take on the farm?
Reading Time: 8 minutes In our November issue, Saskatchewan farmer Jean Harrington triggered terrific online response — and some pushback — with her blunt assessment that today’s young farm women aren’t doing enough to break down barriers for women in agriculture. So we want to know, what exactly would gender equity on the farm look like? “I actually understand […] Read more
Why do you farm?
Whether it's passion or purpose, your answer is growing more important than anyone thought
Reading Time: 7 minutes Go to any school graduation and you can expect to hear the graduates being told to follow their dreams and find their passion, and that if they find a job they love, they’ll never have to work a day in their lives. It’s a popular message. A recent survey at Columbia Business School found 90 […] Read more
Farming in 2030: Managing risk
Innovative insurance companies reveal how on-farm data is leading to next-generation policies that increase liquidity and profitability
Reading Time: 6 minutes As farming gets ever more expensive and as margins get tighter, there’s less room for error, which means the need for risk management isn’t going away in the next 10 years. What will change, though, is the type of insurance products farmers will be able to buy, with innovations driven primarily by technology and by […] Read more
A farm advisory team that works — for you
Advisors can help take the emotion out of business decisions
Reading Time: 8 minutes A few years ago, Harvey Aberhart came to a family farm meeting looking stressed out. Like many farmers across the country, he wanted the family to find their way to a healthy, forward-looking succession plan, but the night before the meeting, he had been kept up all through the early hours by thoughts of a […] Read more
Family through succession: The Hunters create a future
The Hunter family is presented with three options for their farm transition
Reading Time: 6 minutes We continue our journey through succession with the Hunter Family as we focus on the transition and the details of what this phase of the process looks like for the family. Many of you have reached out to tell us you and your families are gaining a greater understanding since reading this series, which was […] Read more
Crafting a new human resources plan for your farm
Don’t wait any longer. An HR management plan to protect the long-term success of your farm business could be worth working on now. Here’s why
Reading Time: 10 minutes Agriculture is changing. Innovation abounds. More new technology and better automation arrive every year. So it’s worse than ironic that our biggest shortfall is people power. But there it is. Without the right people, can our farms even hope to adopt the technological marvels that are supposed to propel them into the future? Mechanization is […] Read more
Is your farm way of life under attack?
Personal online attacks against farmers are heating up, and a farm psychologist warns it’s only going to get worse
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s not just weather woes, trade issues and government inaction that’s keeping farmers up at night these days. A sense of being scrutinized by the public is taking a toll too, especially when accompanied by the online jeering, baiting and vilification that are getting flamed at the farmers too. That won’t be news to anyone […] Read more
How healthy are mid-sized farms?
A decade ago, mid-size farms were on the endangered list. Today, most are thriving while they ponder what comes next
Reading Time: 11 minutes From coffee shop to conference hall and from boardroom to classroom, it’s the question we keep asking — what’s the future of the mid-size farm? Even the 98 per cent of Canadians who haven’t been on a farm in a generation or two talk about it from time to time. It seems there’s a solid […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
