Reading Time: 7 minutes Here’s an unpopular question. When are you going to retire from the farm? This is often a taboo topic because it’s hard to know when you’ll be ready, and just as hard, if not harder, to know what it means to retire. To a farmer, retirement could read like a death sentence. Or does it […] Read more
The way to retire
Especially on the farm, planning for a happy retirement really does a make a difference
PHOTOS: Happy travels
Today’s farm life means more business and pleasure trips, so check out these gift ideas
Reading Time: < 1 minute Santa may be able to set off on an around-the-world trip with nothing more than a few carrots for the reindeer and Rudolph’s glowing nose for guidance, but our travels are a little more complex. Below, we’ve shopped the market in search of great ideas for the travellers in your life, whether they are frequent […] Read more
Guide Health: Travelling with medication
Take a copy of your prescriptions. This will help at the border, and also if your medications get lost
Reading Time: 2 minutes For the past several years, no one has been travelling, but now that it seems safer to do so, many people are visiting friends and relatives or just vacationing away from home. For anyone who takes medication regularly, passing through security at airports or even answering border security agents’ questions at a land crossing can […] Read more
Great books to give as a gift for Christmas
Guide Books Review: With the season just around the corner, here are my four ideas for the farm-business reader on your list
Reading Time: 3 minutes Everything is FigureoutableBy Marie Forleo If there’s one thing farming is lousy with, it’s those “head scratchers” that stop you in your tracks until you figure things out. Forleo’s book is based on the premise that every challenge has a solution and that everything is “figureoutable.” Her approach helps you counter the thoughts that act […] Read more
The Outward Mindset
Guide Books Review: How to Change Lives and Transform Organizations
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Outward Mindset: How to Change Lives and Transform OrganizationsThe Arbinger InstituteBerrett-Koehler Publishers Do you ever think about how you think? I know it sounds flighty at first but it really is important because the way you think — whether it’s with an outward or an inward mindset — can determine the success of your […] Read more
A tasty education
This Ontario farm family uses cooking classes to help close the consumer gap
Reading Time: 4 minutes With strong interest from the public in knowing more about where their food comes from, some farms are offering on-farm cooking classes. This past year Thames River Melons near Innerkip, Ont., began offering a Harvest Brunch Experience that is part tour, part workshop, part cooking class and part meal. “It is very interactive and is […] Read more
Guide Health: Drug shortages
A multiple of factors can lead to a shortage in medications
Reading Time: 3 minutes The news these days often brings us reports of drug shortages, but sometimes we don’t hear about them until we’re at the pharmacy counter, expecting to pick up our prescription. At one time drug shortages were uncommon, but we should keep in mind that, historically, there were fewer drugs than we have today, as well […] Read more
Live your best life with exercise
A targeted exercise plan will help ensure you stay healthy today and tomorrow
Reading Time: 4 minutes Most people hope to spend their later years living independently and doing the things they love. Unfortunately, it doesn’t just happen. All of us may need to invest in strength training today to make that vision a reality in the future, says Dr. Lora Giangregorio. According to Giangregorio, falls are the number one cause of […] Read more
Getting from good to great
Guide Books Review: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t
Reading Time: 3 minutes Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’tBy Jim CollinsHarper-Collins Most business books are written for non-farm businesses. The advice in this book, however, is generally transferable to a farm business context. After all, as I frequently explain to non-farmers who want to understand how a modern farm is run, business […] Read more
Guide Health: The ache of osteoarthritis
Individuals who use their joints a lot — i.e. farmers — can be at higher risk
Reading Time: 2 minutes Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis. According to Arthritis Canada, about one in seven adult Canadians are affected. Slightly more women than men are affected, although it is unclear why. It is also thought that metabolic diseases may contribute because of their association with inflammation, although this too is unclear. Osteoarthritis is considered […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
