Reading Time: 4 minutes In an increasingly polarized world, arguing seems to be a favourite pastime. Trolls (those delightful online creatures who start quarrels and sow discord for fun) treat the internet like a no-holds-barred Wild West. Others get lost in detailed rants and forget to listen — or forget what they were arguing about in the first place. […] Read more
How to argue, intelligently
It's the Old Brain vs. the New Brain
Building their Canadian base
While the rest of us had our eyes turned south, Ukrainian manufacturer Losova used CUFTA to set up shop in Canada
Reading Time: 5 minutes If we’ve heard about NAFTA and USMCA once during the past 12 months, we’ve heard about them a million times, and for good reason. As the U.S. president’s rhetoric around the renegotiations heated up, the risk to established supply chains in virtually every manufacturing sector kept business executives up at night. Now, with a new […] Read more
Keep employees on the farm
Do you really know if your employees are thinking of quitting?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Hiring and training the right people is costly, and the last thing you need as you head into the busy season is the added stress of losing a key person. The good news is there is a lot you can do as an employer to keep your staff. Even better, it’s not just about higher […] Read more
Making a splash
Starting their on-farm fish enterprise proved way more challenging, and way more rewarding, than the Reimers ever expected
Reading Time: 9 minutes It’s been 10 years since Country Guide readers first met Rudy and Leslie Reimer. They had just started their journey into aquaculture, and admit that in those early years it felt like they were swimming against the current. The tide has turned. What have they learned about building a new on-farm business? How did they […] Read more
Leader effectiveness deconstructed
Leadership matters most in tough times ... Will we have what it takes when we need it most?
Reading Time: 3 minutes In my last article I explored the important components of leader development that can improve leader effectiveness. Some who read that article might have thought, “I’m already a good leader.” Or, “I don’t have many employees — it’s mostly family, so leadership doesn’t really apply.” Wrong. Studies have consistently found that leaders who think they […] Read more
Drowning in rain
How do you shed water in wet years yet conserve water in dry? Farmers in this small Saskatchewan watershed wrestle with the kinds of issues that may soon engulf the country
Reading Time: 11 minutes In the farmyard that once belonged to Nick Schmidt, lake water now laps towards his grain bins, outbuildings and corrals. A vintage car sits in water nearly up to its bumper. Looking at the scene, Dwight Odelein, a local farmer and nephew of Schmidt, recalls that 20 years ago, the water was five or six […] Read more
Job starts
Here’s how one corporation is responding to the same challenge farmers face — creating great team members out of today’s college and university grads
Reading Time: 6 minutes Maybe their parents are starting to understand that a key trend for Canada’s young people — whether they’re on the farm or off — is to look to social media to find the people and the opinions that will shape them and their careers. Still, the parents are worried, sometimes with good reason. After making […] Read more
Selling sales
When schools look down on sales, marketing and personal skills, you the farmer lose as much as the students
Reading Time: 5 minutes Ask most recruiters or human resource professionals working in ag today and they will tell you there is a growing gap between the skills needed to perform key roles in agribusiness and the skills that high school, college or university students can bring to the job. Lori Litherland, founder of agricultural recruiter Litherland and Company, […] Read more
Is it time to rethink your farm debt?
Debt has soared with farm income. For most farms, that’s good. But what about yours?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Over the past decade, the consensus among Canada’s ag economists has been clear. Yes, farmers have accumulated more debt than ever. But the debt load is manageable. There’s no looming crisis. Now, however, with the prospect of a series of modest interest rate hikes, can we still be so complacent? First, let’s look at the […] Read more
Time to take control
When it comes to the future of Canada’s grains sector, no one is steering the ship. We can’t let that continue
Reading Time: 6 minutes In September, I challenged farmers to think about how Canada’s agricultural production should be branded. I questioned how consumers and foreign buyers view the commodities we produce. And most importantly, I wanted every farmer to ask themselves if production practices they use add or diminish that brand. That column upset some farmers. Readers felt my […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
