Reading Time: 8 minutes When you’re one half of a busy couple running a farm while also raising four young children, there isn’t a lot of time left over. If you’ve got other passions or aspirations, well, they just have to wait. Except it turns out this isn’t entirely true, as Anne Lazurko was to discover. Lazurko dreamed of […] Read more
A life in parallel
It’s there in many farmers from the beginning. Of course Anne Lazurko wanted to excel at farming, but there was a drive in her that was equally persistent — to become a novelist. But how does a farmer make that kind of leap?
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
The Farm Whisperer
Guide Books Review: Secrets to Preserving Families and Perpetuating Farms
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Farm Whisperer: Secrets to Preserving Families and Perpetuating FarmsBy David Specht, with Taneil SpechtAdvising Generations LLC If you’re comfortable with whatever plan the government might have in store for your farm business in the event of your untimely death, or if you don’t care whether the farm stays in the family, of if you’re […] Read more
Look beyond ag to re-imagine your farm
Bright Ideas: Where are you going to get your next great idea?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Innovation and reinvention are the cornerstones of any industry, helping them survive over the long haul. Their role is crucial in Canada’s agriculture sector. However, sometimes we rely too heavily on insider data knowledge. This approach can make us stale. It becomes repetitive, eventually costing us our originality and objectivity. So, where can our agriculture […] Read more
Making impossible conversations possible
Guide Books Review: How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide
Reading Time: 3 minutes How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical GuideBy Peter Boghossian and James Lindsay (Da Capo Lifelong Books) If you have never had a difficult conversation, you are not human. Whether it’s with parents, siblings or kids, or even with those distant family members you only see once a year, it just happens. No one […] Read more
Think Like a Monk
Guide Books Review: Train your mind for peace and purpose every day
Reading Time: 3 minutes Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose EverydayBy Jay Shetty (Simon & Schuster) You might be surprised to learn how many lessons for farmers can be found in the wisdom of monks. After all, a monk’s life and a farmer’s life could hardly be more different. One is all about de-stressing; […] Read more
Do it. Read a book!
Guide Books Review: There are all sorts of reasons for not having time to read, but reading will improve your farm business, and your life too
Reading Time: 4 minutes For over two years, I’ve had the pleasure of reading and reviewing fascinating books for Country Guide. It’s been amazing, but it raises the question. Does it make sense for you to actually read a book, or would you and your farm be so much better off if you did real work instead? In other […] Read more
Editor’s Note: What will you read tomorrow?
Reading Time: 2 minutes It rarely gets said in print but it’s true. One of the things Canada gets right about its agriculture is its farm media. We did it well 100 years ago. I’m convinced we still do. Now we’re asking, where do we go from here? I’m not talking only, or even mainly, about Country Guide when […] Read more
Making Numbers Count
Guide Books Review: The art and science of communicating numbers
Reading Time: 3 minutes Making Numbers CountBy Chip Heath and Karla Starr (Simon & Schuster) Okay, let’s have a show of hands. How many of us have ever said we’re just not “numbers” people? I have, many times. I do get their inherent value, but I have to admit sometimes I have struggled to see the totality of what […] Read more
Think Like a Rocket Scientist
Guide Books Review: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life
Reading Time: 3 minutes Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and LifeBy Ozan Varol(Public Affairs • $35) Among the fascinating books I’ve encountered while writing these reviews, Ozan Varol’s Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life stands out. […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
