Milk, milk products and calcium-fortified foods are great dietary sources of calcium.

Guide Health: How much calcium is right for you?

Young people need to focus on dietary calcium

Reading Time: 2 minutes Depending on age category, Health Canada says that somewhere between 27 and 80 per cent of adult men and 48 and 87 per cent of adult women do not have adequate calcium in their diet. Calcium is essential for healthy bones, and healthy bones mean a reduced risk of bone fracture.  The recommended daily intake […] Read more

Author and professor of linguistics illustrates many situations where men and women are quite literally hearing different things.

Women and men in conversation, and at work

Guide Books Review: 'You just don't understand,' and 'Talking from 9 to 5'

Reading Time: 3 minutes You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in ConversationTalking From 9 to 5: Women and Men at Work By Deborah Tannen(Morrow Paperbooks – $20 each) Men and women approach conversations from different linguistic landscapes, and this leads to opposite interpretations of the same words or intentions, and subsequent misunderstandings. “Misunderstandings arise because the styles are […] Read more


“You can explain that the old barn wasn’t as good for the farmer or the animals,” says CCFI’s John Jamieson. Ex-urbanites want to know why farming isn’t like in the story books.

Canada moves back into the countryside

Are all those remote workers actually good news for your community? And your farm?

Reading Time: 4 minutes Across much of Canada, many communities have seen an influx of newcomers working remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a trend that many in the real estate industry predict will continue. More people will choose to work remotely, they believe, because of the affordability and spaciousness available in areas away from major urban centres. […] Read more

Pastoral Song: A Farmer’s Journey

Pastoral Song: A Farmer’s Journey

Guide Books Review: “Diversity is a strength in farming,” Rebanks says in his best-seller. But adds, “We do need efficiency gains and we can’t live completely in the past."

Reading Time: 3 minutes Pastoral Song: A Farmer’s JourneyBy James Rebanks Like a lot of farmers, James Rebanks is thoughtful. But unlike the rest of us, his thoughtfulness has helped him write a globally popular, best-selling and prize-winning book. It has even been named a New York Times editors’ book of the year, and it’s all about the questions […] Read more


Guide Health: Colonoscopies – A really good thing!

Guide Health: Colonoscopies – A really good thing!

The process may be unpleasant, but they're essential for early detection of colon cancer

Reading Time: 2 minutes Colon cancer represents 12 per cent of all cancers, but with early detection the five-year survival rate is 90 per cent. Obviously, early detection is so very important, which brings us to colonoscopies. The Canadian Task Force on Preventative Health Care recommends a fecal occult blood test (FOBT) every two years between ages 50 and […] Read more

Bonnie Whitehead.

Farm psychology: Keep a firm grip on BioAging

Guide Psychology: What if your age wasn’t measured in years, but in health and vitality?

Reading Time: 4 minutes Editor’s Note: Bonnie Whitehead, MSc. (Psychology) continues her new Country Guide column demonstrating how the rapidly evolving science of psychology can improve your business and personal farm success. Imagine if your age wasn’t measured in years, she writes below, but in health and vitality. My son was nearly 12 lbs. at birth. When he was […] Read more


Syrian refugees who have settled in some of Canada’s rural areas are reporting overwhelmingly positive experiences.

Great rural neighbours

When rural communities offered to host Syrian families, many Canadians held their breaths. Should we send refugees into farm country? Actually, it’s been a major success

Reading Time: 5 minutes Rural people pride themselves on being good neighbours. Whether it’s a barn fire or equipment breakdown, or if a neighbour is seriously ill, they’re quick to offer help. So it’s not so surprising, at least to rural Canadians, that when researcher Stacey Haugen spoke to Syrian refugees who had settled in Canada’s rural areas, they […] Read more

Measurements such as body mass index and waist circumference are used to assess weight, but sometimes just getting on a bathroom scale is enough.

Guide Health: Are you carrying too many pounds?

Even losing five pounds will make you healthier

Reading Time: 2 minutes Obesity is getting more and more common. Today, about 26 per cent of Canadians are considered obese and 36 per cent overweight. And not only are more of us tipping the scales, but the number of extra pounds we’re carrying is growing too. And there’s an extra worry as well. Children seem to be part […] Read more


A novel approach to estate planning

A novel approach to estate planning

Guide Books Review: To your accountant, the target is to cut estate taxes. Your goal, though, can be to make your prosperity last for generations

Reading Time: 3 minutes The Naked Opus: Growing Your Family Wealth for the Long TermBy Chris Delaney This is a great read, tackling one of the most difficult topics every farm must face. How can a family build a future that lasts for generations instead of frittering away what it has worked so hard to achieve? So let’s start […] Read more

Move out, move on

Move out, move on

When it’s time to move to town or to sell off the old farm home, the whole family can feel they’ve got a stake in the decision. So how can anything get done?

Reading Time: 5 minutes Moving homes can be a very emotional experience for anyone, but for farm families, it’s doubly so. “When the family home is also the place of business, there is an interconnectedness in the heart of the family and the heart of the business,” says Boissevain, Man. farm family coach Elaine Froese. Whether the next generation […] Read more