GFM Network News

More News →

Opinion — page 2

Opinion

Comment: Why does agriculture only have room for women who fight?

By
Reading Time: 3 minutes A recent article ‘Why aren’t farm women fighting harder?,‘ for the December 2019 issue of Country Guide has garnered a significant amount of attention online and on social media. Upon reading our article, Angela Straathof wrote the response below as a “call to action” for the agricultural industry. – Country Guide staff “Be bold. Speak […] Read more
Tom Button is editor of Country Guide magazine.
Opinion

Editor’s Note: How will farms grow in the 2020s?

On the lip of the 2020s, it’s a question that deserves more than casual thought. And it needs more than one perspective, for there will be more kinds of success than ever in history

By
Reading Time: 2 minutes April Stewart writes in our December 2019 issue of Country Guide to tell us the proof is in. The more technological and digital a farm gets, the more important its leadership and its soft skills become. To a degree, it’s no surprise. Technology does many things, and the technology of the 2020s will do more of […] Read more
Today’s women in agriculture know that they bring more than a plate to the table.
Columns, Opinion

Defining the culture for a successful female in agriculture (Part 2)

“By knowing my own value, I hold my own space.” These wise words from one interviewee can be a mantra for Canada’s farm women

By
Reading Time: 4 minutes In the last two columns, I have reported on my research into the lives of successful women professionals in farming and agricultural business. Their honest and engaging stories are varied, and they outline how we can create a culture of inclusion. An inclusive culture starts with parenting that offers boys and girls the same opportunities, […] Read more
Tom Button is editor of Country Guide magazine.
Opinion

Editor’s Note: Finding the next great idea

So often in any business sector, the key is to make a solid decision where to invest your willpower and your self. Decide which way to go, we feel, and we’ll get there for sure

By
Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s a great idea for a winter day. Make a list of at least five and as many as 10 farms that you know reasonably well and that you think have charted a good course, and ask yourself (a) what are the core ideas that they had, and (b), where did those ideas come from. […] Read more
Tom Button is editor of Country Guide magazine.
Opinion

Editor’s Note: Before we get to 2020

By
Reading Time: 2 minutes We’re talking in our shop about 2020 and, of course, about 2030 too. Probably you’re talking about it in your shop as well. On the brink of any new decade, it’s unavoidable. But this time, the future looks different by a country mile. The reason why it looks different is amazing in its own right. […] Read more
Women often face skepticism when starting a career in agriculture, with many being told they won’t make it on their own.
Columns, Opinion

Defining the culture for a successful female in agriculture

How women overcome challenges they've faced in business

By
Reading Time: 3 minutes In my first Trailblazer column last spring, I reported on my interviews with trailblazing women across Canada. I focused on creating a culture in agriculture that is inclusive of women, and I looked at the life of the girl and how gender has an impact on the road to starting a new business. In this […] Read more
The new age of agriculture will require a combined and co-ordinated effort from both the public and private sectors.
Guide Business, Opinion

Preparing the future of Canadian agriculture

Canada’s share of global agriculture tech investment was just 3.4 per cent last year

By
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s economic prospects have long been underpinned by trade. No industry better illustrates this than agriculture, where more than 90 percent of our producers depend on selling their goods to the world. In recent years, exports in agriculture and agri-food have grown dramatically, generating millions more in annual sales for producers and billions more to […] Read more
Columns, Opinion

Metamorphosis

Empower the people around you to be transformational leaders

By
Reading Time: 3 minutes We’ve all seen a fuzzy caterpillar make its way across our path. Inching across the pavement makes it vulnerable to the traffic and the weather, but it must get to a cocooning spot. It seems so small and sluggish but it has something more inside it. It will become that something more. It will morph […] Read more
Pundits have been pushing Alberta’s western separation narrative as a solution to the economic doldrums caused by low commodity prices.
Guide Business, Opinion

Is western separation a real possibility? The cost of Alberta secession

Why is it farmers will tour countless variety plots and study mounds of test data to find a one or two per cent yield advantage, yet are willing to bet the farm on key structural changes based on nothing more than political slogans?

By
Reading Time: 4 minutes Case in point: Once again western separation has become a hot topic. Many readers will argue this shouldn’t be taken seriously; it’s just coffee-shop talk. But is it? In February an Angus Reid Institute poll showed 50 per cent of Albertans would support secession from Canada. Since then Premier Jason Kenney on multiple occasions has […] Read more

Upcoming events

Special Podcast Series

AgCanadaTV

AGCanadaTV: In Case You Missed It – Your National Ag News Recap for the week ending May 29, 2020.

Sponsored By:
More Videos →

Daily Newsletter

You'll receive current daily news every morning free, as well as market updates and special features.