All medication certainly needs to be in original containers with individual labels. That includes non-prescription drugs as well as prescription ones.

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

Book covers, clockwise from upper left: ‘Everything is…’ (Supplied), ‘Difficult Conversations’ (Penguin Books), ‘Farmer’s Office’ (Supplied), ‘Think Like…’ (Supplied).

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


Want your team to function at an even higher level? Focus on their mindset, not on their behaviour ... really!

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

This on-farm marketer shares some of the lessons she’s learned following the launch of her latest venture.

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


When a particular medicine is in short supply, it’s important not to stockpile because this will compound the shortage.

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

While activities such as walking and gardening are good, a muscle strengthening program is also necessary to preserve muscle, bone and balance.

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

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

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


It’s unlikely you’ll get a great sleep every night, so it may be more realistic to aim for a good sleep five out of seven nights.

Get a better sleep

Take this sleep advice at night to be more productive through the day

Reading Time: 5 minutes You can’t fall asleep. You lie there tossing and turning. You look at the clock and you think, “Uggh … I have to be up in a few hours. I’m going to be so tired tomorrow.” Sound familiar? You are not alone. Surveys indicate as many as half of us struggle with insomnia. Surveys, such […] Read more

A good fluid intake is essential, and water is ideal.

Guide Health: Sweating. Not pleasant, but necessary!

Sweating plays a critical role in regulating body temperature

Reading Time: 2 minutes We all sweat during hot weather, especially if the humidity is also high. In fact, though, some of us do sweat more than others. Should you be concerned? On average, individuals have two to four million sweat glands made up of a combination of eccrine, apocrine and apoeccrine glands depending upon the body location. Children […] Read more