Reading Time: 12 minutes Unconventional stories are becoming conventional in today’s agriculture. In fact, they’re becoming surprisingly conventional. Yes, agriculture across the decades has always found unexpected ways to replenish itself. Still, the barriers to entry have never been as astronomic as they are today for anyone who isn’t among the fortunate few to have been born into long-established, […] Read more
Roots and branches
The popular idea is that farming is a closed shop: If you aren’t born on a farm, you will never farm. But it isn’t quite true
Value in your farming peers
Could a peer group be right for you? Country Guide talks to one Ontario group to find out
Reading Time: 6 minutes When Ontario’s Janet O’Rourke and her husband Kevin took CTEAM — the executive management program designed specifically for Canadian farmers and ranchers — they got their first taste of peer feedback and the benefits it can bring. As part of the program, their class of farmers met four times over two years and got to […] Read more
Making it their business
A growing number of Western Canada’s farmers are using peer groups to drive their performance. This one is ready made
Reading Time: 6 minutes It turns out that size can matter. It makes a difference. Farming at different scales doesn’t necessarily make anyone a better or a worse farmer, but it does change the kinds of problems you have to tackle every day, the kinds of decisions you have to make and, of course, the kinds of questions that […] Read more
Managing more, working less
For Lauren and Ryan Maurer, it’s the challenge of 2021. How do they keep from getting personally overwhelmed as the farm gets bigger and more complex?
Reading Time: 7 minutes It was 27 years ago that Lauren and Ryan Maurer moved to Lauren’s family grain farm near Grenfell, Sask., and started with 800 cultivated acres. In 2010 the couple was named Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers, and now Land and Sky Grains seeds 24,000 owned and rented acres. Another 3,000 acres are committed to pasture and […] Read more
Scaling growth at Sharpe Farm
Three Ontario brothers grow their ability to achieve their goals
Reading Time: 7 minutes In today’s business world, few concepts are more important than growth. Most entrepreneurs are constantly looking for ways to expand their business to increase profitability and improve their shot at long-term survival. Of course, farmers and other agribusiness owners are no exception, and for Michael, Paul and John Sharpe — the three brothers behind Sharpe […] Read more
Sharing succession stories
What can farmers learn from the transition struggles of Canada’s other independent, family-based businesses?
Reading Time: 5 minutes From a business perspective, whether it’s a family business, a family farm business or any other kind, succession planning is not only smart, it’s a condition of survival. According to the Family Business Institute for example, after the leader of a family business exits the picture for whatever reason, 70 per cent of these enterprises […] Read more
The challenge for Canadian beef
Battling through hard times in the beef industry
Reading Time: 5 minutes The 2020 pandemic has caused major disruptions in the Canadian beef industry, but with demand for their products remaining steady, producers are hopeful their businesses will survive through to the new year. “A lot of producers are in a pretty tough situation,” says Chad Ross, president of the Saskatchewan Cattle Feeders Association and owner of […] Read more
CNH Industrial guides for revenue fall up to 20 per cent
Reading Time: < 1 minute Milan | Reuters – Vehicle and equipment maker CNH Industrial posted a narrower-than-expected second quarter loss on Thursday and forecast net sales from industrial activities would fall between 15-20 percent this year, as a consequence of the COIVD-19 epidemic. In March the group, which is controlled by Exor, the holding company of Italy’s Agnelli family, […] Read more
JBS invests $19-million in safety measures amid COVID-19 pandemic
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sao Paulo | Reuters –Brazilian food processor JBS SA has invested more than 100 million reais ($19.3 million) in health, safety and contingency measures at all its Brazilian production units, according to a Wednesday company statement that comes as the novel coronavirus continues to ravage local meat plants. The company said the funds were invested […] Read more
BASF says dividends, asset values under review as pandemic bites
Reading Time: 2 minutes Frankfurt | Reuters – Germany’s BASF said on Wednesday its dividend policy and the value of assets on its balance sheet might be revised given uncertainty caused by the coronavirus crisis, particularly in North America and Europe. The policy of the world’s largest chemicals and plastics maker by sales to increase dividends each year and […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
