Reading Time: 6 minutes We all know the basics of health: Get exercise, watch our weight, don’t smoke. But for better health success over the long term, we know we can go further. We should get regular checkups, eat more vegetables, nurture our personal relationships, maintain good sleeping habits and more. Similarly, we know the basics of farm business […] Read more
Boost the survival odds of your farm
Farm finance expert David Kohl reflects on what farms — both small and large — must do for success in the 2020s and beyond
Family Through Succession: Meet the Hunter family
One farm — seven individuals. Each with their own hopes, needs and ambitions. It’s a typically unique Canadian farm, just like yours. And yes, there is a way forward
Reading Time: 6 minutes In launching this series of columns on farm succession, our goal is to offer the readers of Country Guide something unique, something we feel you will be able to relate to and learn from. We want to introduce you to the Hunter family. Of course names will be changed to protect identities of our clients, […] Read more
Preparing the future of Canadian agriculture
Canada’s share of global agriculture tech investment was just 3.4 per cent last year
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
How to make your kids more financially literate
Don’t overlook how powerful it is to teach your children about managing money on the farm
Reading Time: 4 minutes Financial literacy is essential for everyone, but it is particularly critical for farmers. Defined as “the ability to use knowledge and skills to manage financial resources effectively for a lifetime of financial well-being,” it’s a must in modern agriculture. Parents agree. They want their children to be financially independent. Yet Stephanie Szusz, who works in […] Read more
Take a new look at the Western Grain Research Foundation
The organization is ready to embark on the next 40 years of funding vital crop and agronomic research to benefit western Canadian growers
Reading Time: 5 minutes When you do a job well for a long time, it can sometimes go unnoticed — people simply get used it. That’s why every once in a while it’s good to take a step back and see things with fresh eyes. Agricultural research, for instance — just gets done. New varieties come out regularly, new […] Read more
The ever-changing landscape of farmland rentals
The risks are growing. So is the pressure to lease more land. What does a smart rental strategy look like as we head into 2020?
Reading Time: 8 minutes There’s a small panic in the air, the muted response you might expect from farmers who hold their cards close and practise a stoic realism that helps them navigate the risks they can’t control: weather, grain prices, the impact that a single Chinese tech executive might have on an important market. Most of these are […] Read more
AGCO picks Fendt as its global brand
“It’s the year of Fendt,” as the company's new focus puts the brand squarely at the corporate core
Reading Time: 5 minutes In June, AGCO invited several machinery editors to its Jackson, Minnesota assembly plant to hear its news for the coming year. I was included in that group. As we were seated around a large table listening to the initial presentations, AGCO’s media relations manager made an off-the-cuff comment that stuck in my mind. “It’s the […] Read more
Why marketing is the test, no matter how great your idea
“It’s a mind-shift,” says value-add pro Gary Morton. Success takes groundwork, strategic planning… and money
Reading Time: 3 minutes Branding that identifies you as the producer and connects buyers to your farm product is a key strategy for adding value to farm products, says Halifax-based business consultant Gary Morton with Morton Horticultural Associates. “You are kind of in a sea of sameness,” says Morton, who has worked with all types of farms, not only […] Read more
Alberta Hutterite colony bottles water to diversify
Clear Lake Colony is challenging the definition of “value-added” with bottled water production
Reading Time: 8 minutes Across the West, Hutterite colonies are successfully diversifying into other business ventures, but this is a unique story at the very rural Clear Lake Hutterite Colony, an hour and a half southeast of Calgary. Clear Lake, it turns out, is home to a natural spring well — and to a group of very forward-thinking farmers, […] Read more
Investment model offers opportunity for farm expansion
Could Joelle Faulkner’s partnership concept work on your farm?
Reading Time: 9 minutes It’s a common scenario: Farmer Bill has been renting land from his neighbour for years but the time has come and he is ready to sell. He wants Bill to have first refusal on the land, but Bill has just financed a new barn and bought a new combine, so he’s too over-extended to raise […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
