AgraCity’s recent announcement of financial problems follows complaints by farmers that they have not received herbicide they had ordered and paid for. Photo: File

AgraCity says it is unable to fill orders

AgraCity has told customers it will be unable to deliver outstanding product in a timely manner this spring due to cash flowproblems

Reading Time: 3 minutes AgraCity has told customers it will be unable to deliver outstanding product in a timely manner this spring due to cash flowproblems

Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

ADM quarterly profit falls on weak crush margins, announces layoffs

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters – Grains merchant Archer-Daniels-Midland ADM.N reported a drop in fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, pressured by weak oilseed crush margins and uncertainty over U.S. biofuel policy, and said it would be laying off up to 700 employees globally this year. Chicago-based ADM said it aimed to cut costs by $500 million to $750 […] Read more


Farmers have great new ideas, but, says Penny Fox (inset), many store shelves are still empty.

The infrastructure gap in Canada’s agriculture and food sector

What is the ‘Missing Middle,’ and how can your investment in venture capital fix it?

Reading Time: 9 minutes There is a “Missing Middle” in Canada’s ag and food sector — a kind of bottleneck caused by how the country’s mid-sized ventures are getting swallowed up by the few large corporations that supply most of the food that Canadians buy. As problems go, this one might seem unimportant or maybe even irrelevant, but for […] Read more

Summer Series: Farm opportunities

Summer Series: Farm opportunities

[Make it Count] Steve Larocque builds a case for value-add at every farm size

Reading Time: 7 minutes We’ve all seen them, even in this magazine. They’re all the headlines about the wonderful world of value-add. How many headlines have you read? A dozen? More? They seem to be everywhere, offering glowing accounts of outside-the-box thinking and entrepreneurial success. Often, though, the concept leaves a big question in the air. Is value-add only […] Read more


This was no overnight success,” Greg says. “It took us 15 years to get here.” It also took he and Cheryl learning how to combine their skills to set and achieve their goals.

Summer Series: Pivot, and then pivot some more

[Change Management] Why would this family abandon mainline commodities, and then dig in even deeper

Reading Time: 11 minutes Just making one of these moves would be a huge step for any farm, let alone both of them. First, the Haskett family switched their farm from hogs to goats. Then, years later, they pivoted their market strategy too, launching their own new brand. In this article, we dive deep into how the family made […] Read more

"We know we don’t have to get it perfect, we just need to move forward." – Karri Munn-Venn.

Summer Series: What are they thinking?

[Change Management] Like the Munn-Venns, those new small-acreage farmers down your road may have a surprisingly sophisticated approach to decision-making

Reading Time: 11 minutes This isn’t a typical Country Guide scenario. Three years ago, Karri and Trefor Munn-Venn saw a 25-acre vineyard in Quebec’s picturesque Outaouais region and they bought it lock, stock and barrel — despite having zero farming experience. For established farmers, it could look as if the Munn-Venns had turned their backs on sensible decision-making the […] Read more


“We are fortunate to have some good people around us.” – Michael Carter.

Summer Series: Long-distance farming

[Change Management] For Michael Carter, when a family can make the right changes at home, their odds of success with expanding across provincial borders and hundreds of kms away go up and up

Reading Time: 9 minutes The idea sounds right for the times. If you can’t expand at home, either because land is so expensive or because there just isn’t any for sale, look further afield. Maybe two hours away, maybe four, maybe even in a different province and so far away you basically have to set up a whole new […] Read more

“It’s having those long-term thoughts,” Jinel Ference says, when asked what it takes to build an inclusive farm. “What do you want for your farm, for your community? How does that look?”

Summer Series: Implementing changes that matter

[Change Management] Maybe there used to be one tried-and-true path to farm success. Today, for farmers like Craig and Jinel Ference, it’s about seeking new ideas and getting creative about how to integrate them

Reading Time: 12 minutes Right now, we’re focusing on streamlining, simplifying and making things more efficient,” Craig Ference says. “That’s kind of our next expansion … making what we have a lot better. Improving our production, our land and our cattle to get a better gross margin from our current asset base.” Yup, that’s a farmer. The same or […] Read more


“My experience in agriculture is lifelong, and the MBA has definitely helped me weave my way through my career off-farm and on the farm,” Steve Koeckhoven says.

Summer Series: Making a leader

[Leadership] As farms get bigger and more complex, more farmers like Steve Koeckhoven are drawing leadership insights from other business sectors

Reading Time: 10 minutes On-farm leadership is more than the skills we usually think of when defining a leader. This article looks at what farm leadership is really about.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor When we think of strong leaders we often leap to examples like politicians, sport coaches and the CEOs of large corporations, so it’s little surprise […] Read more

To help insulate a farm business in unpredictable times it needs internal strength, but what does that look like?

Summer Series: How fit is your farm business?

[Best Advice] Financial fluency helps the farm prepare for anything

Reading Time: 6 minutes Financial fluency can help your farm prepare for anything. To protect your business in unpredictable times it needs internal strength, but what does that look like? Here’s how to understand the dynamics of your business and to find out if it’s fit enough to handle risk.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor A growing number of […] Read more